WrestleRant
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
    • WWE Reviews >
      • Raw Reviews
      • SmackDown Reviews
      • NXT Reviews
      • Other >
        • 205 Live Reviews
        • NXT UK Reviews
        • Main Event Reviews
        • Superstars Reviews
        • ECW Reviews
    • AEW Reviews >
      • Dynamite Reviews
      • Dark Reviews
      • AEW PPV Reviews
    • More >
      • IMPACT Reviews
      • ROH Reviews
      • NWA Reviews >
        • Shockwave Reviews
        • NWA PPV Reviews
      • LU Reviews
  • Week in Review
    • Year in Review
  • Audio
    • WrestleRant Radio
    • Interviews
    • Audio Archive
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact Us

Columnist Corner

Monday Night Raw Review - January 11, 2021

1/11/2021

Comments

 
Picture
By Graham "GSM" Matthews

​Randy Orton Challenged Triple H

Orton was originally scheduled to take on Drew McIntyre on this show before it was announced that McIntyre tested positive for COVID-19. Triple H opened the show instead and took exception to Orton belittling the Legends last week, setting the stage for a fight in the main event. It wasn't made official here, but it was heavily hinted at and forced viewers to remain tuned in to see if Triple H would accept Orton's challenge. I know these two haven't had a ton of matches together in the last decade (other than their one-off at Super ShowDown 2019), but I'm still bored to tears watching them interact because they completely lack chemistry. Shouldn't Orton be going after Goldberg, not Triple H?

Lacey Evans def. WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Charlotte Flair

Charlotte felt her father Ric caused her to lose last week against Evans and Peyton Royce, which of course led to Ric coming out here and this time intentionally costing her the victory. So, was it because Ric wanted to get back at his daughter because of how she treated him last week, or was it because he actually has a thing for Evans? Either way, it's a stupid storyline. Where the hell was Asuka? Isn't she Flair's tag team partner? What are her thoughts? Who are viewers supposed to cheering for and why should any of us care? The match lasted longed than it should have if this was going to be the end result. 

Jaxson Ryker def. Jeff Hardy; Hardy def. Elias

I thought we saw the end of this rivalry a month ago when Hardy beat Elias in that Symphony of Destruction match, but apparently not. Ugh. Hardy hasn't had a lot of lack since then. In fact, his win over Elias here may have been his first win of any kind since that victory. All of this was a total waste of time. Ryker vs. Hardy was way too short and Hardy vs. Elias wasn't much better. It kept everyone involved busy, but that was the only purpose it seemed to serve.

Sheamus and Keith Lee def. The Miz and John Morrison; Lee def. Sheamus

Sheamus and Lee were bickering backstage before being interrupted by Miz and Morrison. That led to the tag team match, which was solid yet once again established Miz and Morrison as losers. I was wondering why Lee vs. Sheamus wasn't saved for next week, but then I realized WWE probably had to kill time if a good portion of the roster did indeed contract the coronavirus. They had another hard-hitting affair and Lee winning clean was the right call. Sheamus showing respect to Lee afterward was smart because it will mean more when he inevitably betrays McIntyre.

T-Bar def. Xavier Woods

If you're asking why this match happened, I have no idea, either. My guess is that because Kofi Kingston couldn't appear due to a broken jaw, so they threw Woods and T-Bar together randomly in an effort to fill TV time. In other words, expect The New Day to face off with RETRIBUTION when Kingston gets back. This was fine while it lasted as both guys are talented, but I still find it incredibly difficult to give a damn about RETRIBUTION. Is it safe to assume that Ricochet was absent for the same reasons as everyone else considering he's been feuding with RETRIBUTON for months and he was nowhere to be seen?

United States Champion Bobby Lashley def. Riddle; Riddle def. MVP

After Riddle beat Lashley last week (albeit in fluky fashion), I assumed WWE would wait until the Rumble give Riddle his rightful shot at the United States Championship, Well, because of the circumstances surrounding the show, they felt it was necessary to give it away here without any prior hype. Worse yet, it was over in under two minutes. Instead of having Riddle squash MVP, why not give Lashley and Riddle more time so they could have the match they were capable of? Riddle apparently remains in chase mode yet doesn't deserve another shot at the title because of how fast Lashley defeated him.

AJ Styles def. Drew Gulak

I guess one of the benefits of so many people missing the show this week is that it allowed Gulak to get some airtime for a change. He's been criminally underutilized since moving to Monday nights. He and Styles had a nice little match, even though it was nothing compared to their encounters on SmackDown last year. It couldn't be more obvious that Styles is treading water before he enters the Royal Rumble. Hopefully WWE has a plan in place for Styles come WrestleMania season.

Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax def. Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke

What's with WWE protecting Brooke so heavily? She's defeated Baszler at least twice recently and it was Rose who got beat in this bout. At one point, yes, Rose had a ton of momentum due to her win over Sonya Deville at SummerSlam and that has since gone to waste. I can't bring myself to care about this tag team feud, so this match did nothing for me. There technically wasn't anything wrong with it, but it was just sort of there. It was likely designed to get Jax and Baszler back in contention for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.

Randy Orton and Triple H Brawled Before Alexa Bliss Threw a Fireball at Orton

Since this wasn't promoted as a formal match, viewers shouldn't have expected it to be one (though that was never made clear and I was foolishly one of the one people who thought we were getting HHH in actual action). They brought the intensity during their brief brawl, but using this segment as a vehicle to further Orton's feud with The Fiend and Alexa Bliss did nothing for me. I didn't even hate the fireball spot to be honest. Rather, I thought Triple H's appearance was unnecessary seeing as how him being on the show didn't amount to anything. In fact, he randomly disappeared at the end and I don't expect him to be back for a while. It was yet another desperate attempt by WWE to pop a rating that ultimately fell flat.

Overall Show

McIntyre addressed the audience twice throughout the show with pre-taped videos from home, one talking about him testing positive for COVID-19 and another talking about accepting Goldberg's challenge for Royal Rumble. Luckily for him, the pay-per-view isn't until January 31st, so he should be back by then. On the whole, however, this show sucked. I realize multiple members of the roster weren't available for what we can only assume was COVID-related reasons, but that is hardly an excuse in my opinion. WWE could have attempted to make the most of who they had by giving the matches more time instead of rushing them and then following those matches up with another match that made no sense or didn't need to happen. This was a rough watch. Considering this show fell on the 28th anniversary of Monday Night Raw, it's sad to see how far it's fallen over the years.
Comments

    Categories

    All
    #AskGSM
    Cruiserweight Classic
    Halftime Heat
    Hidden Gems
    Lists/Rankings
    Mae Young Classic
    Mixed Match Challenge
    News
    NJPW
    Opinion
    Previews
    Retro Reviews
    Reviews
    RJ's Two Cents
    Satire
    SummerSlam Recall
    The Deadly Draw
    Tribute To The Troops
    Worlds Collide
    WrestleMania Recall
    WWE Starrcade


    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    RSS Feed

©2021 WrestleRant. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
    • WWE Reviews >
      • Raw Reviews
      • SmackDown Reviews
      • NXT Reviews
      • Other >
        • 205 Live Reviews
        • NXT UK Reviews
        • Main Event Reviews
        • Superstars Reviews
        • ECW Reviews
    • AEW Reviews >
      • Dynamite Reviews
      • Dark Reviews
      • AEW PPV Reviews
    • More >
      • IMPACT Reviews
      • ROH Reviews
      • NWA Reviews >
        • Shockwave Reviews
        • NWA PPV Reviews
      • LU Reviews
  • Week in Review
    • Year in Review
  • Audio
    • WrestleRant Radio
    • Interviews
    • Audio Archive
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact Us