Monday Night Raw Review - March 20, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos Accepted Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens' WrestleMania 39 Challenge

After the amazing angle that closed out last Friday's SmackDown, this was a logical follow-up. Zayn and Owens discussed being back on the same page and The Usos emerged to accept their Undisputed WWE Universal Championship challenge for WrestleMania. The subsequent brawl was a nice preview of what to expect in their match as well. Outside of Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes, this is easily my most anticipated match of 'Mania weekend and there's still a chance of it headlining Night 1. Even if not, I expect them to kill it, regardless.

United States Champion Austin Theory def. Montez Ford (Non-Title)

I'm honestly surprised this wasn't that much more special than Theory vs. Angelo Dawkins from last week. This was an enjoyable outing, but it wasn't given a ton of time, especially due to the commercial break in the middle. I would like to see WWE revisit this rivalry after WrestleMania with the United States Championship on the line, but nothing we saw here would suggest that will be the case. Meanwhile, the build to Theory vs. John Cena has been disappointing so far. Cena returned to bury Theory on the mic two weeks ago and it's basically been business as usual for Theory since then. Will Cena show up next week for one last strong sell?

Omos def. Mustafa Ali

Ali and Dolph Ziggler are still "feuding" (if you can even really call it that), and although I applaud their effort, no one cares because of how they've been booked. Their new gimmicks are them taking turns losing to the same people. Bronson Reed was first, now Omos. This was over almost immediately as it should have been. No, Omos is no more of a threat to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania than he was previously, but I understood what they were going for.

Logan Paul Attacked Seth "Freakin" Rollins on Impaulsive TV

Paul continues to excel in the heel role as we all figured he would. He generated great heat here and got even more heat for laying out Rollins yet again. I thought Rollins might get one over on Paul on this show since he's been laid out by Paul every time they've crossed paths, but I have no problem with them saving that for WrestleMania assuming the plan is for Rollins to win. It's been an entertaining feud and the match should be even better.

Domink Mysterio def. Johnny Gargano

The Judgment Day are rolling right now against Legado del Fantasma on SmackDown and against The Way (or what's left of it) on Raw. Footage of Gargano's brawl with Grayson Waller being shown from last week's NXT was a nice touch. I thought it might lead to Waller showing up and costing Gargano the victory, but what we got instead was solid. They worked well together and Gargano was protected in defeat via the rib injury.

Rhea Ripley def. Bayley

Ripley spoke about Charlotte Flair during a pre-match promo, though it was most of the same material we've already heard from her. Bayley interrupted her and that led to this impromptu match, which I believe was their first-ever one-on-one encounter. The crowd was quiet because both of them are heels, but it turned into a quality contest down the stretch. Meanwhile, the build to the six-woman tag team match at 'Mania has been fairly basic so far, but I'm looking forward to it.

Ricochet def. Chad Gable

I appreciated that these guys got as much time as they did for a match that didn't really matter outside of serving as hype for the WrestleMania Showcase match. Speaking of which, they outright announced the participants in the men's matchup instead of holding qualifiers like with the women. It's a mess, and without stakes, who cares? On the bright side, this was very fun stuff from Ricochet and Gable, and they got the crowd invested in the action by the end.

Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair and Asuka def. Piper Niven and Chelsea Green

Niven filled in for Carmella, whose absence was not explained. I really dig the pairing of Carmella and Green and hope all is okay with Carmella so they can participate in the women's WrestleMania Showcase match. Speaking of which, why do the women have to qualify for WrestleMania Showcase but not the men? That's odd. This was an average outing, though Belair hitting her finisher on Niven is always a cool visual. Asuka attacking Belair afterward was desperately needed to inject some juice into their WrestleMania match.

Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes Went Face-to-Face

The last face-to-face these two had was wonderful and I'd argue this was even better. Both guys cut tremendous promos and I'm happy Reigns finally acknowledged Rhodes' time in AEW (without outright saying those initials). Rhodes also hinted at the possibility of Reigns losing being the end of The Bloodline and Reigns came off as rattled without anything to fire back with. Fingers crossed we get at least one more confrontation from them because they have outstanding chemistry together.

Overall Show

This was a significant step down from the past two weeks with the energy dying down as the three hours progressed. The third hour in particular definitely dragged, but at least they went off the air on a high note with that excellent exchange between Reigns and Rhodes. I also enjoyed the opening segment, but nothing in the middle seemed to stand out. The WrestleMania build has been inconsistent at times, but I am excited for the event on the whole, specifically the top of the card.

SEE MORE: Raw Reviews