Paul Heyman Interrupted WWE Champion Brock LesnarWhile I'm not a fan of WWE constantly going back to featuring Lesnar in the world title picture and putting one of the two top titles on him, he's been so great as a babyface since SummerSlam. I don't know what changed with him in his absence from the company, but he is legitimately hilarious and has the crowd completely behind him. His verbal exchange here with Heyman was terrific and I loved that they plugged the upcoming Madison Square Garden house show on March 5th, where Lesnar will defend the WWE Championship against an unknown opponent if Bobby Lashley can't compete (and I assume he'll be out injured for at least a few months). Raw Tag Team Champions Alpha Academy def. The Street Profits (Non-Title)I'm stoked that Alpha Academy have been pushed so aggressively since winning the Raw Tag Team Championship. They're a terrific team and Chad Gable is so damn entertaining in his current role. It would have been easy for WWE to have them lose here because that's just what they do to their champions, but they kept their winning ways alive with another victory. It was an enjoyable outing and Alpha Academy cheating protected the Profits in defeat. With all of that said, I wouldn't have Alpha Academy run through the entire tag team division just yet, if only because they'll need teams to defend against once they get done with RK-Bro. Tommaso Ciampa and Finn Balor def. The Dirty DawgsI thought Ciampa's appearance on Raw last week would be a one-off to promote the program between him and Dolph Ziggler on NXT, but it looks like WWE is interested in continuing to feature the two of them on the other's show for the foreseeable future and that's cool for Ciampa. Balor being his partner was great given their ties to NXT and it was a very well-wrestled tag team affair. Ciampa picking up the win for his team was a nice touch and it left me looking forward to Ciampa vs. Ziggler on NXT this week. The Miz and Logan Paul Attacked The Mysterios on Miz TVIt was rumored coming out of Elimination Chamber that Miz would be teaming up with Logan Paul to take on The Mysterios at WrestleMania, and sure enough, that's exactly what happened. Miz described his partner as "dashing" at one point, so I'm glad they didn't go with Cody Rhodes in that spot. Paul made more sense, but that doesn't mean I want to see him in that spot. Didn't we get our fill of him last year? This was a simple segment designed to set up the 'Mania match, but WWE's overreliance on celebrities really illustrates how thin their roster is at the moment. Rhea Ripley def. Nikki A.S.H.This "feud" has been completely one-sided since Ripley beat Nikki the first time two days removed from the Royal Rumble and I'm not complaining. Since then, she's dominated her in the Gauntlet and again at Elimination Chamber, so with this win also being decisive, I think it's safe to say that it's time for Ripley to move on. What she moves on to is the question, though. I don't think she should be added to Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair and she already wasted time in the tag title scene. Ideally, WWE could bring back someone like a Beth Phoenix for her to face on one of the two nights of WrestleMania, but it's much more likely she'll end up in the women's Battle Royal. Either way, this was short, sweet and exactly what it needed to be. United States Champion Damian Priest def. Shelton Benjamin (Non-Title)Priest is a South Carolina native, so it was cool to see him in action on this show. Granted, he never stood a chance against Priest, but they had a nice little match here. Priest finally got some promo afterward and addressed how dominant he's been as champion, only to be interrupted by Balor. They'll collide for the championship next week. They had a hell of a match at NXT TakeOver: In Your House in 2020, so here's hoping they can recreate at least some of that magic next week. Dana Brooke def. Reggie to Win the 24/7 ChampionshipThis wasn't a formal match. Rather, Reggie invited Brooke out to the ring so he could apologize for blindsiding her last week by pinning her for the 24/7 Championship. He laid down for her to pin him only to kick off at two. She ended up kissing him and pinning him that way. I just spent way more time than I should explained what the hell happened here as it was just one giant waste of time. The 24/7 Championship stuff continues to be the worst part of these shows. Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch Confronted Bianca Belair; Belair def. DoudropIt's been a while since we last saw just Belair and Lynch go face-to-face, so this felt fresh and effectively rekindled their rivalry. I love how Lynch acknowledged how it was six months ago to the day that she embarrassed Lynch at SummerSlam by beating her in 26 seconds and how Belair responded by saying that she did exactly what Lynch said to do by going to the back of the line and proving herself all over again. I didn't think WWE would actually go back to this storyline given their track record, but I'm happy they did. Edge Addressed WrestleMania 38From a storyline standpoint, it's bizarre that Edge missed the entire build to Elimination Chamber and apparently didn't give a crap about contending for the WWE Championship, yet he feuded with The Miz essentially over nothing for two months. Nonetheless, this was the usual strong promo from Edge, who dropped a bunch of hints over who he could be facing at WrestleMania. I'm still hoping and expecting it to be AJ Styles, but it's possible WWE has someone else in mind. It was also smart to not reveal his next rival right away because now viewers have something to look forward to next week or whenever they decide to do it. Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens def. RK-BroPer the stipulation, Rollins and Owens have officially been entered into next week's Raw Tag Team Championship match between RK-Bro and Alpha Academy, making it a Triple Threat. This was as entertaining as their encounter from a few weeks ago and arguably better because it got more time and wasn't put together on the fly. All four guys have excellent chemistry together and it's going to be a sad day when both teams go their separate ways. Presumably, WWE has other matches in mind for Rollins and Owens at WrestleMania, and if RK-Bro are breaking up soon, I'm expecting Alpha Academy to retain. Overall ShowA lot of people were probably thinking Cody Rhodes might show up, and although he didn't, there's a pretty good chance he still will in the coming weeks, especially with a few people hinting at him in their promos. All in all, this was along the same lines as most editions of Raw recently in that it was a thumbs-up show. WWE is doing a much better job of filling the three hours with quality wrestling, advertising stuff in advance, and delivering compelling and/or logical storylines. The thing is, Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns is officially Winner Take All, meaning the Raw roster has no top title to fight for at the biggest show of the year. I'm curious how that's going to affect the red brand's biggest names and what they'll be doing instead.
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