The first Raw of March is behind us and boy, did it not disappoint. WWE returned to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York so naturally they pulled out the big guns. The show was advertised early on and the card was stacked, the only question was whether or not WWE would find a way to ruin it.

Lets review the action and let the people decide….

Segment 1- Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman open Monday Night Raw, calling the main event of Wrestlemania a sham. Heyman calls Drew McIntyre a “hyped up fraud” saying he eliminated Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble only because Lesnar had received a shot to the testicles courtesy of Richochet. Heyman says the next time Lesnar lays his eyes on McIntyre, he will get squashed like the “Bitch” he is. McIntyre’s music hits and he emerges to a loud pop from the crowd. He enters the ring and stares down Lesnar face-to-face. Brock turns away laughing and appears as though he is going to exit the ring. Lesnar turns around and charges at McIntyre, only to receive a Claymore kick and get knocked on his ass. McIntyre exits the ring and proceeds to the back, as Heyman attempts to console The Beast. As Heyman and Lesnar are slowly exiting the arena, McIntyre reemerges and delivers a second Claymore to Lesnar. As McIntyre is standing tall, the crowd erupts in a “ONE MORE TIME!” chant. Drew lines it up and drops the Beast with a third and final Claymore kick and the Segment ends with McIntyre holding up the title over an unconscious Lesnar.

Match 1- The Street Profits have their final chance at the Raw Tag Team Championships against Murphy & Seth Rollins. Prior to the match, Rollins & Murphy attack the Street Profits, neutralizing Montez Ford after throwing him into the barricade. Rollins & Murphy exploit the 2-on-1 advantage, bringing the pain to Angelo Dawkins. Ford is able to recover and Dawkins makes the tag. Ford immediately changes the complexion of the match with a flurry of high-flying offense. Rollins tosses Ford off of the top rope and to the floor and signals for AOP to attack Ford while he distracts the referee. The official turns around and sees AOP approaching and ejects them from ringside to prevent an attack. As AOP & Murphy are arguing with the official, Kevin Owens emerges and delivers a stunner to Rollins. Murphy & AOP take off chasing after Owens, allowing Ford to hit a Frog Splash from the heavens. Ford pins Rollins to win the tag team championships.

Segment 2- Charly Caruso asks Seth Rollins for his opinion on losing the tag team championships. The Messiah says that Kevin Owens stole the titles away from them and handed them to the Street Profits. Rollins says that when he finally gets his hands on Owens, he will be crucified for standing in the way of progress. As for the tag team championships, Murphy & Rollins challenge the Street Profits to a rematch at Elimination Chamber.

Match 2- Riddick Moss and Richochet square off for the 24/7 championship. The match begins with Moss using his pure size to overpower Richochet. Moss dominates Richochet at the beginning of the match, throwing him around like a rag doll. Richochet uses his athleticism to reestablish himself in the match, building momentum against the champion. Moss however proves too much to handle as he finishes off Richochet relatively quickly.

Match 3- Aleister Black seeks revenge against AJ Styles. Prior to the match, AJ Styles addresses the Undertaker costing him the prestigious Tuwaiq Trophy at Super Showdown. Styles says that Undertaker’s actions have put them on a direct collision course. He further states that he hopes the Undertaker is watching his match against Aleister Black so the old-timer can see pure domination. Prior to the bell ringing, Styles says that if Black wants a match against him, he has to go through Karl Anderson first. Anderson is able to hang with Black for a short amount of time, until Black’s quick striking ability proves too much for Anderson. Black picks up the win in short order with a Black Mass kick. After the match, Styles grabs the microphone and says that if Black wants to face him, he also has to beat Luke Gallows. Black comes out of the gate strong, delivering a series of big boots to Gallows. Gallows is able to overpower Black, trap him in the corner and deliver a series of viscous attacks. The referee has no choice but to disqualify Gallows and award the match to Black. After the second match, Gallows and Anderson deliver the “Magic Killer” to Aleister. Styles finally faces Black, and the match is a squash. AJ dominates a depleted Black and picks up the win by delivering the “Phenomenal Forearm” and pinning in the Undertaker’s signature style.

Segment 3- Charly Caruso interviews Ruby Riott prior to her match tonight against Liv Morgan. Riott says people betray their friends all the time, and she proved her ability to strike on anyone at anytime. She concludes by saying that there are no friends inside the Elimination Chamber. All three former members of the “Riott Squad” are in the ring together again, Next!

Match 4- Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan square off with Sarah Logan as the guest referee. Riott takes the advantage and attempts several pinfalls early on in the match. Despite dominating Morgan, Riott is unable to pick up the three-count. Riott’s frustration with guest referee- Logan begins to become evident. Logan and Riott come to exchanging shoves, allowing Morgan to rollup pin Riott winning on a fast count. After the match, Riott attempts to attack Logan, but receives a step-up Enziguri courtesy of Morgan. In a surprising twist, Logan then delivers a running knee to Morgan. Logan leaves her former partners laid out in the ring, proving there are no friends in the Chamber.

Segment 4- No Way Jose and his conga line are seen dancing their way through the backstage area, when they come up on Erick Rowan. Jose asks Rowan if they might be able to see what is in Rowan’s mystery cage. Rowan says all he has been waiting for is someone to politely ask to see what was inside. He then opens the cage and pulls out a very large spider, causing Jose and his conga line to flea in horror.

Match 5- Shayna Baszler debuts on Monday Night Raw against Kairi Sane. (Shayna’s match was originally scheduled to be against Asuka, but she sustained a wrist injury) Sane begins the match rather surprisingly with the upper hand against Baszler. However, Sane falls into some trouble after slapping Baszler, enraging her. From here, Shayna begins to dominate Sane, mostly targeting the legs. Baszler becomes distracted when Becky Lynch’s music hits and “The Man” proceeds to the commentary table, allowing Sane to reenter the match. As Kairi attempts to go to the top rope, Shayna reverses into the Kirifuda Clutch, picking up the win.

Match 6- Humberto Carrillo & Rey Mysterio take on Angel Garza & Andrade. Garza & Andrade get started out of the gate early, taking it to Carrillo and Mysterio. It appears that it will be a quick match seeing as neither Mysterio nor Carrillo are able to generate much offense. However, Andrade & Garza leave the door open by showboating to the crowd and Carrillo capitalizes with some high risk offense as the show goes to commercial. When the show returns, Garza has regained control of momentum and dominating Carrillo. Mysterio is able to enter the match and put pressure on Garza & Andrade. Rey hits a double-619, allowing Humberto to deliver a moonsault from the top rope. Carrillo & Mysterio pick up the win via pinfall.

Segment 5- Beth Phoenix returns to deliver a medical update on her husband Edge after Randy Orton’s heinous attacks. Before Beth can give any update at all, Orton’s music hits and the Viper emerges. Orton says after what he did that Edge will never wrestle again, but he owes Beth an explanation. Orton claims that in one of the darkest periods of his life, he dug himself into a hole so deep he should’ve been buried in it, but Edge saved him. Randy continues by saying when he saw Edge return 9 years after retiring due to neck injuries, he knew Edge thought he was back for good. Orton blames Beth Phoenix for enabling Edge’s dream to return, knowing it may endanger his ability to be a husband and father. Randy states that he knew he had to take out Edge so that he couldn’t kill himself attempting to revive his wrestling career. The Viper concludes by saying that he loves Edge like a brother and couldn’t let him miss watching his daughters grow up so he could relive the glory days. In disgust, Phoenix levels Orton with a slap across the face. When Orton responds by calling her a “bitch,” Phoenix kicks him in the gut. An enraged Viper hits Phoenix with an RKO and exits the arena. The show ends with several superstars and officials in the ring checking on Beth Phoenix.

Tonight’s show started off hot and heavy and ended rather poorly, in my opinion tonight could’ve been a successful show if they had switched the first and last segments order. Regardless, at least there was some interesting segments tonight on Raw.

Thank you for reading. Come back to Pro Sports Extra for preview/review of The Wednesday Night Wars and follow me on twitter @bordsbus for more coverage of Wrestling & other sports!

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