Monday Night Raw Review - February 4, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Becky Lynch Attacked Stephanie McMahon

I was pleasantly surprised Stephanie didn't come across like a heel whatsoever, and honestly, there was nothing wrong with her suspending Lynch. After all, Lynch refused to undergo a medical evaluation for her knee, so Stephanie was well within her bounds to suspend her until she saw a doctor. Lynch definitely felt like Stone Cold Steve Austin-lite here, but the important thing is that the crowd ate it up and was behind her. I assume this was designed to write Lynch off TV until she is cleared to compete.

Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey def. Liv Morgan (Non-title); Rousey def. Sarah Logan (Non-title)

Morgan was merely a sacrificial lamb for Rousey, so their match lasting less than a minute was expected. It was exactly what it needed to be. Rousey then challenging Logan to an impromptu bout was a bit unnecessary, especially since the outcome was never in doubt, but at least Rousey looked dominant. Ruby Riott nearly stepped up to the plate following Logan's loss but backed down, so that could be a possible addition to the Elimination Chamber card.

The Revival def. The B-Team, Heavy Machinery, and Lucha House Party in a Raw Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Fatal 4-Way Match

Yes, WWE ran almost the exact same match on SmackDown Live last week (Heavy Machinery was involved in that, too!), except this didn't have an elimination stipulation. However, this was a lot less compelling because The B-Team and Lucha House Party are glorified enhancement teams. On the bright side, The Revival and Heavy Machinery shined and made this slightly above average. The Revival just have to win the Raw Tag Team Championship now that this will their fourth title shot in the last two months, right?

Braun Strowman Saved Kurt Angle From Baron Corbin and Drew MCIntyre

This was being set up like a retirement for Angle, and based off how he spoke about his illustrious career during his promo, it certainly felt that way. Corbin and McIntyre interrupted Angle before he could officially announce his likely retirement from the ring and nearly beat him down, but Strowman made the save. That's a logical followup to the events of last week that saw Strowman outmatched by the heel duo as well, though I would've held off on the obvious tag team match until Elimination Chamber as opposed to later on in the night.

Bayley and Sasha Banks def. Alicia Fox and Nikki Cross to Qualify for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber Match

It was reported over the weekend that Banks was injured at the Royal Rumble, which caused this qualifying match to be bumped back one week. Clearly, Banks still isn't 100 percent, but WWE worked around it by having Fox and Cross ambush the babyfaces from behind beforehand and having Bayley wrestle the entire time. While it was basically a Handicap matchup, it wasn't too bad, and it was cool seeing Cross mix it up with Bayley. Plus, I was glad Cross didn't take the pinfall loss for her team, and she can always unleash her frustration on Fox if WWE wants to keep her face.

Elias def. JEff Jarrett

I'm still digging the Jarrett and Road Dogg reunion, but there's no reason for it to last more than a few weeks. To his credit, Jarrett didn't look too shabby here considering he's in the twilight of his career. There was nothing too notable about the match itself, but it was a perfectly fine piece of business. Although Elias won, Jarrett and Road Dogg attacked him afterward, so the feud isn't over yet. I'm not sure what Elias is getting out of any of this.

Finn Balor def. Lio Rush

WWE announced on social media on Saturday that Balor vs. Bobby Lashley would happen on Raw. It was then announced it would be for the Intercontinental Championship. There was no mention of the title being on the line when the show started, but it didn't matter because Rush faced Balor, anyway. Confused yet? Lashley getting booted from ringside prior to the commercial break was for the best because it became more competitive after that. Expect Balor vs. Lashley for the Intercontinental title to added to Elimination Chamber soon enough.

Nia Jax, Tamina and Dean Ambrose Crashed Moment of Bliss with Alexa Bliss and EC3; EC3 def. Ambrose

Apparently EC3's new gimmick is that he doesn't speak, which is was what got him over in the first place in IMPACT and NXT. I want to think it's leading somewhere, but I don't have much faith in this company. That said, this turned into a fun segment with Ambrose and Jax furthering their feud, Bliss hinting at having a crush on EC3, and EC3 beating Ambrose. Their match was pretty pedestrian stuff, but I was happy EC3 picked up the win. In case you missed it, WWE announced last week that Ambrose will not be re-signing with them when his contract expires in April, so Ambose losing a lot on his way out is virtually a given.

Baron Corbin and Drew McIntyre def. Braun Strowman and Kurt Angle by Disqualification

Tag team matches are probably the best thing for Angle at this point because he's limited and can let his partner do most of the work. Unfortunately, the luster of Angle wrestling is long gone thanks to the many losses he's suffered in recent months, but this was a solid main event. The disqualification finish with Strowman hitting the illegal man was ridiculously dumb because we see that all the time and no one is ever disqualified for it. The babyfaces stood tall to close the show, but I have no idea where either of them go from here. Perhaps Strowman will resume his rivalry with McIntyre, but Angle doesn't have a concrete direction going into WrestleMania.

Overall Show

Seth Rollins was nowhere to be found on this edition of Raw, and if the reports are to be believed, he's out injured and won't be wrestling for the next month or so. He'll be back before then, of course, but WWE wanted him to sell the attack he endured at the hands of Brock Lesnar last week. As for the rest of Raw, the three hours dragged per usual and only a few things piqued my interest. Ambrose not giving a shit anymore is entertaining, The Revival are number one contenders again, and Lynch is a badass, but beyond that, this was just another show that can be easily skipped over.