Monday Night Raw Review - March 13, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Finn Balor Accepted Edge's Challenge to a Hell in a Cell Match at WrestleMania 39

We've all known it was coming for months now, but the crowd still popped big when Edge officially challenged Balor to a Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania. I appreciated how Edge acknowledged that he's spent the last year feuding with The Judgment Day and that he doesn't have much time left. The Hell in a Cell stipulation feels fitting and Balor mentioning his "demons" wasn't by accident. Edge was mega over in Providence.

The Judgment Day (Damian Priest and Dominik Mysterio) def. Johnny Gargano and Dexter Lumis

Speaking of people who were over, Gargano received a better reaction from the crowd than I thought he would considering he hasn't had the hottest main roster run so far. This was proof that if you let him go out there and do his thing, he'll get over. This was given an ample amount of time and yet I was never bored. It was quite the entertaining affair and even Lumis had his chance to shine. Judgment Day had to win, but I liked that Lumis was pinned and not Gargano.

Brock Lesnar and Omos Went Face-to-Face

It was more of a face-to-chest than a face-to-face, but you get the point. This was what it needed to be. There was nothing exciting about it whatsoever, though the "Holy shit" chants from the crowd when Lesnar first stepped up to Omos were noticeable. The botch with Omos struggling to get Lesnar over the top rope wasn't exactly encouraging when I already didn't have high hopes for their WrestleMania match, but at least this segment didn't overstay its welcome.

Cody Rhodes def. LA Knight

This was the perfect example of how the WWE style works with the right people. Obviously, both of these guys have had success elsewhere, but they fit the "sports-entertainer" role exceptionally well and had great chemistry off the bat as a result. This won't win any awards for being a brilliant technical wrestling masterpiece, but it was an enjoyable television match. Rhodes' latest post-match promo addressing Roman Reigns was phenomenal and his best piece of mic work yet in WWE, which is saying something. I realize Reigns losing isn't a guarantee, but how the hell can Rhodes not win after all of this?

Bronson Reed def. Elias

Reed continues to come out to tepid reactions before winning over the crowd with his impressive offense. The guy is a beast and has plenty of potential, but he's only been slotted against the enhancement talent of Raw so far. I don't think he'll build real momentum until he starts to beat bigger names on the roster. That said, this was short and sweet. I'm glad Elias didn't get in any unnecessary offense.

United States Champion Austin Theory def. Angelo Dawkins (Non-Title)

Theory's big rebound after being verbally obliterated by John Cena last week was by doing the same to The Street Profits. He got some good lines in, but it's wasn't a burial like what Cena did to Theory. In fact, this was hardly a strong comeback for Theory. They had a well-worked match, but Theory needed to come out swinging this week and instead it felt like business as usual. I remain worried that if he doesn't come out of his WrestleMania match with Cena looking stronger than he did going in, then that Cena promo last week will have done more to harm him than help him.

Dominik Mysterio Confronted Rey Mysterio

Rey is a SmackDown Superstar at this point. He didn't actually believe he wouldn't be interrupted by Dominik again, right? This was along the same lines of what we got on SmackDown in that they had a strong exchange but didn't make their 'Mania match official yet. What will Dom have to do in order to get Rey to accept? Crashing his Hall of Fame speech would be logical, but I'd rather they announce the 'Mania match at least a week or so in advance and not wait until the night before.

Seth Rollins def. Baron Corbin

I don't completely what they're doing with Corbin considering he's making the most of it and some of it has been funny, but as someone who was in the building for his untelevised entrance, I can tell you firsthand that absolutely nobody cared. He has zero heat at the moment and I don't know what this storyline is supposed to be headed toward, if anything. There was no reason for this to be competitive, so keeping it brief with Rollins winning decisively was smart.

Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair def. Chelsea Green (Non-Title)

I don't think Green was brought back to be a major player in the women's division based on her booking so far, which is why I was surprised she lasted roughly eight minutes against the Raw Women's Champion. It was a nice match, but it probably should have been a straightforward squash for Belair. Meanwhile, the build for Belair vs. Asuka at WrestleMania continues to be terrible and lazy. Asuka dancing around with the belt was shades of the Asuka we were getting before she returned at the Royal Rumble and the crowd sat on their hands for it. Their program would benefit from both women getting more mic time talking about the importance of their match or anything for that matter.

Solo Sikoa def. Kevin Owens in a Street Fight

This was a rematch of their opener from last week where Owens won by disqualification. The Usos getting involved here made sense with the story they're telling and Sikoa remains undefeated. It was a solid Street Fight and the crowd was into it despite it coming at the end of a three-hour show. Owens said he didn't want help from Rhodes or Sami Zayn and therefore they didn't show up. There wasn't any significant progression with the storyline, but this had to happen so we could get to what's next.

Overall Show

I haven't been to a live Raw in nearly a year and the three hours do drag even when you're in the building. However, this was a thumbs-up show on the whole with a largely energetic crowd and enough stuff to get viewers interested. It was a step down from last week in that there wasn't anything major outside of Edge vs. Balor being added to the WrestleMania card, but I can't complain about most of what we got. Rhodes' promo, the opening segment and subsequent tag team match, and the main event are all worth seeking out.

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