 Kevin Owens Addressed "Stone Cold" Steve AustinConsidering Stone Cold is advertised to speak on a talk show at WrestleMania 38, it wouldn't exactly make sense to have him appear on Raw before then and cut a promo. Owens didn't say much he didn't already say last week, but it was well delivered, nonetheless. The Stunner to the cameraman would have been more of a surprise had they not just shown a shot of the cameraman moments earlier. Oh, and bonus points to Owens for that quick tribute to the late, great Scott Hall with that "Hey yo" line at the beginning. Damian Priest def. United States Champion Finn Balor (Non-Title)WWE is so inconsistent with the Championship Contender's match stuff. Calling it that sounds silly, I know, but that's basically what this was, so if you're going to stick with it, why not call it that? Anyway, I hate that they threw this match out there with zero prior advertisement. They really should have figured out another way to set up a championship rematch for WrestleMania without having Priest beat Balor one-on-one before then, even if it was due to a distraction at ringside from Austin Theory. It was a decent match but not on the level of what they're capable of. Speaking of Theory, could they be setting up a Triple Threat for the title at or before 'Mania? Theory felt more like the focus than Priest did. Omos def. Commander AzeezSimilar to Balor vs. Priest, I'm surprised this wasn't advertised in advance. Don't get me wrong, I had zero desire to see it because both guys aren't very good in the ring, but the crowd was certainly receptive to them facing off last week. It was billed as a "battle of the giants," and thankfully, it was kept short and sweet. The aggressive Omos push does nothing for me, but if this is leading to him winning the pointless Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania, then so be it. Liv Morgan def. WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Queen ZelinaRhea Ripley being back in the tag team ranks after only two months of being on her own still bothers me, but at least she and Morgan appear to be enjoying working together. This match was nothing special, but they did once again tease tension with Zelina and Carmella with Carmella spending too much with Corey Graves at the announcers' table. I don't know who among them you turn face, but I'd love if this led to Carmella and Graves becoming an on-screen pairing, especially if Graves will be allowed to wrestle. However, this is more likely just a plug for their new reality show on WWE's YouTube channel. Seth "Freakin" Rollins Informed Kevin Owens of His WrestleMania 38 PlansRollins and Owens were already talking in the back before this segment, so I'm not sure why Rollins couldn't have told Owens all of this then from a storyline standpoint. Rollins' grand WrestleMania plan was to host a talk show at 'Mania much like Owens. Yes, we've reached the point where Rollins has to lobby to host a talk show on a two-night WrestleMania because there isn't a spot for him (yet). That should tell you how thin the roster is right now. The setup for the main event was solid in this segment, but the logic was clearly flawed. The Mysterios def. The Hurt BusinessCedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin beat The Mysterios a few weeks ago, so it made sense for The Mysterios to get their win back here ahead of their outing with The Miz and Logan Paul at WrestleMania. It was a nice little match but too short to be anything out of the ordinary. The Mysterios nearly hit Paul with a double 619 before Miz pulled him out of harm's way, so you can bet on that being the finish to the 'Mania matchup. Edge Addressed AJ StylesFirst and foremost, I love the new entrance music for Edge. People will complain that they changed his classic theme he's had for almost two decades, and while I'd normally agree, this new song by Alter Bridge (the same band that did his last theme) fits his darker character perfectly. He'll revert back to "Metalingus" when he inevitably turns face again, trust me. I like the lighting during the promos personally and I thought his mic work in this segment was stronger than last week. He provided a better explanation for why he turned heel even though it's understandable for fans to argue it was unnecessary. Styles will be back next week, so I look forward to them interacting again. Bianca Belair def. DoudropYes, this is probably the fifth match these two have had against each other since late last year, but I can't complain because they always have quality chemistry together. I appreciated that they received more than a few minutes for this match and they made the most of the time. Belair hitting the K.O.D. on Doudrop will never not be impressive. Becky Lynch's post-match attack on Lynch was well done and I'm glad Lynch is good to go after missing last week's show. By the way, what was up with Nikki A.S.H. accompanying Doudrop to ringside? Don't tell me those two are going to be teaming, too. Ugh. Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro Accepted The Street Profits' WrestleMana 38 Challenge; Raw Tag Team Champion Riddle vs. Montez Ford Ended in a No ContestPart of me legitimately thought Randy Orton might drop Riddle in the middle of their championship celebration, just because a majority the audience wouldn't have been expecting it. That said, I'm relieved that didn't happen because they're still immensely over. None of the mic work in this segment really wowed me, but at least they established a Raw Tag Team Championship match for WrestleMania. Ford vs. Riddle was enjoyable for what it was and Alpha Academy's interference should get them involved in the tag title matchup as they deserve to be. Kevin Owens def. Seth "Freakin" RollinsIf Rollins won, he would've replaced him as the host of whatever talk show Stone Cold will be appearing on at WrestleMania. Seriously, that was the stipulation. As dumb as that was, this was the usual excellent work from these two, who have had countless clashes dating back to 2016. Owens had to win and I'm happy he did, but the heel vs. heel dynamic was weird and Cody Rhodes not showing up afterward was a bit shocking. If Rollins is going to compete at 'Mania and Rhodes is indeed signed, then that has to be the match, but it's possible they'll wait until the night of the event to have him answer an open challenge from Rollins or something along those lines. Overall ShowAnother week, another show without Veer Mahaan. Oh, and that Cody Rhodes guy. All joking aside, I'm sure a lot of people tuned into this show hoping to see Rhodes appear at some point, especially since they were in Jacksonville (the home of AEW), but no such luck. This was a solid edition of Raw on the whole, albeit a bit weaker than in recent weeks. It just didn't feel like a whole lot happened. If you missed this show, you didn't miss much. Moreover than anything else, the passing of Scott Hall is so damn depressing. Thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family. The show-opening graphic along with the video package for him later on were nice, but a 10-bell salute to start the show would have been ideal (unless they just found out minutes before going live that he had officially passed). Either way, R.I.P. to The Bad Guy.
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