Monday Night Raw Review - March 21, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kevin Owens Mocked "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

Owens is just outstanding. This was an amazing troll job and the Chicago crowd ate up every second of it. You could tell Owens was having a blast out there and it was a blast watching it from home. Not only did he make them think Austin was in the building when the music first hit, he fooled them a second time when the music hit again. Masterful. It reminded me of that iconic Raw segment from the summer of 2005 when Shawn Michaels convinced Montreal that Bret Hart was returning. This was one of my favorite Raw segments all year and it definitely did its job of getting me more hyped for whatever they have in store at WrestleMania 38 on The KO Show.

The Mysterios def. The Dirty Dawgs

Since The Mysterios were outnumbered with The Miz at ringside, I was hoping Bron Breakker would show up to even the odds, but no such luck. Part of me wishes Ziggler was exclusive to NXT for the time being, but him walking out with the NXT Championship belt around his waist was nice exposure for the NXT brand. The match itself wasn't anything out of the ordinary (especially since we've seen it what feels like a million times before),

Omos def. Apollo Crews and Commander Azeez in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match

Omos pinned Azeez in about two minutes last week, so although this was a Handicap match, throwing Crews into the mix didn't matter much because he hasn't been a legitimate threat in nearly a year. To think he's the same guy who won the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 37 is wild to me. Anyway, this was short and sweet as it should have been. Omos boasted about his dominance afterward, playing into the recent rumors that Bobby Lashley will be back ahead of schedule to take on Omos at 'Mania. It's not a match I'm clamoring for, but if it gets Lashley on the card, then so be it.

Seth Rollins Interrupted AJ Styles

New matches are being added to the WrestleMania card weekly and new people are being added to certain matches, so from a storyline standpoint, why couldn't Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce give Rollins an opponent for WrestleMania? Why did he have to potentially "qualify" for a 'Mania match with no stakes against Edge? None of it adds up. Nonetheless, this was the first promo we've heard Styles cut in a long time on Raw and did a good job addressing Edge and hyping up their upcoming clash. His verbal exchange with Rollins was solid despite the circumstances surrounding their main event matchup later on being illogical.

Shayna Baszler and Natalya def. Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan

Baszler and Natalya were officially added to the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match at WrestleMania 38 last week on SmackDown by Deville for no real reason. I should be happy Baszler finally won a match here, but I just can't bring myself to care about her teaming with Natalya out of the blue. The match was fine and put more attention on the 'Mania matchup. Carmella and Queen Zelina getting back on the same page afterward makes me even more convinced they're splitting either at or after they lose the tag titles at WrestleMania.

Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch Addressed Bianca Belair

WWE.com "reported" in the last few days that Belair would be out for an "unspecified amount of time" after being attacked by Lynch last week on Raw. Obviously, she'll be back next week, but I think this feud needs a strong segment with them face-to-face. I'm sure we'll get it on the go-home show next week, but I don't blame anyone who isn't as fired up about their WrestleMania match as I am because a lot of what they've done in recent weeks has been basic stuff. With all of that being said, this was a great promo from Lynch. The time has definitely come for her to drop the Raw Women's Championship and Belair must be the one to take it from her.

United States Champion Finn Balor def. Austin Theory (Non-Title)

Balor and Theory work well together, but we've seen this match so many times since late last year that I've grown tired of it, unfortunately. It honestly feels like the focus has been more on Balor vs. Theory than Balor vs. Damian Priest, who I don't believe made an appearance before, during or after this match. This managed to further the feud between Pat McAfee (who cost Theory the win) and Theory, but the United States Championship felt like an afterthought even though it wasn't defended.

Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro def. Alpha Academy (Non-Title)

It was made official earlier in the day on social media that Alpha Academy will also be a part of the Raw Tag Team Championship match at 'Mania, making it a Triple Threat with them, RK-Bro and The Street Profits. RK-Bro and Alpha Academy have excellent chemistry together and thus this was an enjoyable affair while it lasted. And no, Street Profits didn't turn heel afterward by attacking Riddle; it's every team for themselves at WrestleMania. I'm really looking forward to that Triple Threat.

24/7 Champion Dana Brooke and Reggie def. Tamina and Akira Tozawa

Thank the lord the Chicago crowd didn't give this crap any attention. Instead, they sat on their hands as they should have. We've seen this match at least once or twice before, so not only was it not entertaining or redeeming in any way, it wasn't anything new, either. Needless to say, this storyline has sucked and I feel dumber after every minute of television time it wastes. The sooner they can ditch the dumb 24/7 Championship stuff, the better.

AJ Styles def. Seth Rollins by Disqualification

This was billed as "Seth Rollins' Last Chance," which is so stupid. I wrote about how ridiculous the whole thing was earlier, but on the bright side, this was the expected terrific match from Styles and Rollins. I believe it's been a few years since they last went one-on-one, so this felt fresh. I didn't mind it ending in a disqualification after going so long because it made sense. Rollins shouldn't have suffered another loss and Edge furthered his feud with Styles by attacking him. Plus, why would he want to face Rollins again when his beef is with Styles? I liked the way the show ended and all signs point to Rollins doing an impromptu match/segment with the returning Cody Rhodes at the event.

Overall Show

When the Chicago crowd isn't chanting for CM Punk multiple times throughout the night, I'd call that a successful show. Okay, so we did get minimal filler by the end with that mixed tag team match, and the stipulation for the main event was silly, but Rollins and Styles delivered the goods and everything else held my interest or at least served a purpose heading into WrestleMania. The energy from the Chicago crowd helped as well. Say what you will about this year's road to WrestleMania not being the most exciting, but there can be no doubt that Raw has been the better brand in 2022 so far. SmackDown is significantly worse and more of a chore to sit through despite being an hour shorter.

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