Monday Night Raw Review - February 7, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

RK-Bro def. Raw Tag Team Champions Alpha Academy in a Quiz Boul

I've enjoyed the hell out of these weekly "academic challenges" from RK-Bro and Alpha Academy and this was another gem, largely because of Chad Gable once again. The guy is just tremendous. The crowd ate this up and went nuts for Randy Orton correctly answering the question about metric conversions. With the win, RK-Bro have earned themselves a rematch for the Raw Tag Team Championship, though it was never said when that will take place.

Raw Tag Team Champions Alpha Academy def. The Street Profits (Non-Title)

Despite coming up short in the quiz bowl, Alpha Academy wasted no time in getting their heat back with a win here. Granted, I'm not a fan of Street Profits losing so soon after Angelo Dawkins beat Dolph Ziggler (which doesn't mean much in retrospect), but it was certainly better than the alternative. The match didn't last long at all, but what we got was good enough. I'm sure this will be revisited when WWE realizes they need challengers to the championship.

WWE Champion Bobby Lashley and MVP Addressed the Audience

It isn't often that a heel in WWE (or anyone, for that matter) is allowed to get some hometown love and not be embarrassed, but Lashley was the exception in this segment. He and MVP played to the crowd and they were hot for them the entire time. I'm glad Lashley got a chance to speak, though his promo was rough in parts. At least it addressed his Royal Rumble win over Brock Lesnar and his upcoming Elimination Chamber title defense.

AJ Styles def. United States Champion Damian Priest in a Championship Contender's Match

I really wish WWE had advertised this first-time-ever encounter in advance. I know it probably didn't matter to most, but similar to Styles vs. Austin Theory, this could've been a pay-per-view-worthy match if built up properly. I'd say Styles winning earns him a title shot and we'll soon see a rematch, but then again, Owens won his title match against Priest by disqualification and there was never any follow-up, so who knows. This was fun while it lasted with a fantastic Phenomenal Forearm finish out of nowhere, but it could have been even better with more time.

The Miz and Maryse Hosted Miz TV with The Mysterios; Dominik Mysterio def. Miz

I can't say a mini feud between The Mysterios and Miz does much for me, but maybe it will lead to Rey and Dominik finally breaking up? Then again, I've been saying that since the summer, so who knows what the plan is. Personally, I'd prefer them staying together because I don't have faith Dominik would do well on his own at this point, but time will tell. The Miz TV segment and subsequent match were serviceable and I assume we're going to get a Miz vs. Dominik rubber match out of this that I don't have a ton of interest in.

Bianca Belair def. Nikki A.S.H.

​Both of these women will be in the Raw Women's Championship number one contender's Elimination Chamber match, so this was supposed to serve as a small preview of that. I remember the matches these two had in NXT a few years ago, and while Belair has gone on to become a bigger star, Nikki is still struggling to find a character. The superhero shtick is the worst, but it was a quality contest, nonetheless. Belair winning was the right call as she's the odds-on favorite to challenge for the title at WrestleMania 38.

Kevin Owens def. Austin Theory

​I know the story here was that Owens wanted to prove he belonged in the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber over a guy like Theory, but with both men being heels, who was the crowd supposed to cheer for? That aside, this was another enjoyable affair from them. Owens always delivers and Theory has been killing it against everyone she's shared the ring with recently. Despite Owens' victory, we found out later on in the show that he won't be replacing Theory after all per Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville.

Lita Attacke​d Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch

The promos from Lynch and Lita weren't anything too extraordinary, but both were solid. The key here was furthering the feud between the two and I thought they did a nice job of that. Lynch is acting afraid in a way of facing her idol growing up and Lita is coming across as confident. I don't think anyone actually believes that Lynch is losing the Raw Women's Championship at Elimination Chamber, but the story is simple and they're telling it well. Lita laying out Lynch to end the segment was smart as it made her look like more of a threat.

Doudrop def. Liv Morgan

This was a rematch from last week's edition of Main Event. They had a really good match on that show I thought and they worked well together once again here. It didn't matter much who won because I don't see either woman winning at Elimination Chamber, but I feel like we've seen Doudrop win on Raw less than Morgan in recent months, so I was fine with the outcome. I appreciated that they got more than a few minutes and twice the amount of time as Belair vs. Nikki.​

Riddle def. Seth Rollins by Disqualification; Rollins and Kevin Owens def. RK-Bro

I was looking forward to Riddle and Rollins going one-on-one for the first time ever, and while what we got was entertaining, I wish they had given us more of that instead of transitioning into the tag team match. Riddle ended up getting pinned anyway, so it's not like he was protected in defeat. In fact, having the number one contenders to the Raw Tag Team Championship lose on the same show they earned another title shot was an odd way to go. It was a quality tag team match, and maybe it leads to something else going into WrestleMania, but it felt unnecessary.

Overall Show

WWE's programming nowadays is very hit or miss across all of its biggest brands, but I can honestly tell you that Raw has probably been the most consistent show of the three for a few months now. It isn't nearly as awful as it was around this time a year ago, and while it obviously pales in comparison to other wrestling shows out there, there's been more of an emphasis on the in-ring action and the storylines have been a bit more logical and easier to follow. This wasn't the most thrilling three hours ever, but I wasn't terribly bored and the first hour being commercial-free helped. There was a clear focus on the build to Elimination Chamber and that made the episode more meaningful on the whole.

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