What did you think of the Raw after Mania? Let us know in the comments!
WrestleMania Night 2 Review! 👉 https://youtu.be/aCXr4elpGfU
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00:00 - WWE Raw Review
01:52 - John Cena Promo
05:40 - Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez vs Becky Lynch & Lyra Valkyria
06:57 - Rusev Return
07:52 - IYO Sky vs Stephanie Vacquer
08:36 - Jey Uso Promo
09:27 - WWE Commentator Assaulted
10:32 - Dominik Mysterio vs Penta
11:00 - Bron Breakker Joins Seth Rollins & Paul Heyman
WWE Commentator ASSAULTED! Rusev Returns! New Paul Heyman Guy! WWE Raw Review | WrestleTalk
#WWE #Rusev #PaulHeyman
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Youtube Channel Comments Policy
We appreciate the comments and opinions our viewers provide. Do note that all comments are subject to YouTube auto-moderation and manual moderation review. We encourage opinions and discussion, but harassment, hate speech, bullying and other abusive posts will not be tolerated. Decisions on comment removal are made by the Community Manager. Please email us at support@wrestletalk.com with any questions or concerns.
WrestleMania Night 2 Review! 👉 https://youtu.be/aCXr4elpGfU
More wrestling news on https://wrestletalk.com/
Unlock the secrets to working in professional wrestling, sign up to https://www.wrestlingmasterclass.com/
00:00 - WWE Raw Review
01:52 - John Cena Promo
05:40 - Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez vs Becky Lynch & Lyra Valkyria
06:57 - Rusev Return
07:52 - IYO Sky vs Stephanie Vacquer
08:36 - Jey Uso Promo
09:27 - WWE Commentator Assaulted
10:32 - Dominik Mysterio vs Penta
11:00 - Bron Breakker Joins Seth Rollins & Paul Heyman
WWE Commentator ASSAULTED! Rusev Returns! New Paul Heyman Guy! WWE Raw Review | WrestleTalk
#WWE #Rusev #PaulHeyman
Buy WrestleTalk Merch here! https://wrestleshop.com/
Youtube Channel Comments Policy
We appreciate the comments and opinions our viewers provide. Do note that all comments are subject to YouTube auto-moderation and manual moderation review. We encourage opinions and discussion, but harassment, hate speech, bullying and other abusive posts will not be tolerated. Decisions on comment removal are made by the Community Manager. Please email us at support@wrestletalk.com with any questions or concerns.
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00You know what? I'm done with WWE.
00:02The Rock didn't show up at all for WrestleMania.
00:05I'm just not going to watch anymore.
00:08Randy Orton is John Cena's first WWE title program.
00:11Well, that's not going to work on me, WWE.
00:14I lived through the never-ending Orton vs. Cena years.
00:16That's not going to bring me back.
00:18Becky Lynch immediately loses title and turns heel.
00:22Well, you've rushed that, haven't you?
00:23You've rushed that at the expense of Bayley,
00:25and it's just coming off as desperate from all the Becky Hogan criticism.
00:28J.D. McDonough returns to save Dominic Mysterio.
00:32Well, I mean, that's good he's recovered.
00:34Sami Zayn teases turning heel on Jey Uso.
00:38What? That's pretty interesting.
00:40Rusev is back. I remember him.
00:43And Brom Breaker is the newest Paul Heyman guy
00:46in a new top heel faction with Seth Rollins.
00:50Yes, that is amazing. Brom Breaker is one of my fa-
00:53Wait, no, no, no!
00:54You're trying to trick me into forgetting that The Rock didn't show up at WrestleMania.
00:58Honestly, Levesque, I don't think you understand how damaging that was.
01:03Cena's heel turn wasn't just built on Cena turning heel.
01:06It's inciting incident was joining forces with The Heel Rock.
01:10That's decades of backstory feeding into that relationship,
01:14which is what made it so incredibly great.
01:17Two of the biggest stars in wrestling history together as an unstoppable evil force.
01:23We did not get on board with this to see Travis Scott.
01:27You can try whatever you want, Hunter,
01:29but we are done.
01:39And Gooford choked out Pat McAfee.
01:42Son of a bitch, I'm back in.
01:43I'm Oli Davis, and this is my review of the Raw After Mania episode of Monday Night Raw.
01:48Did I say that right?
01:49Part of John Cena's TV entrance now seems to include several seconds of expectation before
01:57the music hits.
01:58It's a great example of what Cena's heel presentation is all about.
02:02Doing more with less.
02:04Like his brilliantly playing Titan Tron video,
02:06which he's keeping as just his name in white letters on a black background.
02:10Even his nameplay graphic was boring.
02:12After getting the ring announcer to redo his introduction,
02:14as the first one was disrespectful,
02:16continuing the trolling personality he set up in his post-Mania interview,
02:20he opened with the line,
02:21winners, right, history,
02:24before criticizing the crowd for cheering him now after they booed him on Friday.
02:28This is not a functional relationship.
02:31And he roasted the Raw After Mania crowd for going soft.
02:34It's spelled SWAFT.
02:36But ultimately, the fans don't mean anything to him.
02:39The only thing that matters right now is the number 36,
02:44which appeared in that same plain white font on the Tron's black screen.
02:48That is how many dates he said he had at the start of the year.
02:53And time goes quicker than you think.
02:56He's done the Rumble.
02:57He's done the Chamber.
02:58He did the European Tour.
03:00He did two nights of WrestleMania.
03:02He's here right now.
03:03And with every date he said he'd done,
03:05the number on the screen counted down by one.
03:09Leaving 27 dates left before,
03:13in Cena's words,
03:15the professional wrestling timeline stops.
03:19It's a brilliantly over-the-top line
03:21that appeals greatly to my comic book loving heart.
03:24Talking about timelines ending
03:25feels more suited to your latest favorite
03:27Disney Plus Marvel show that trust me,
03:28you've got to get through the first nine episodes
03:30before it starts to get good
03:31than a pro wrestling storyline.
03:33Makes me think he's talking ideas
03:35with his DC director James Gunn
03:36in the coolest WhatsApp chat of all time.
03:39But the true masterstroke
03:40of simply having a giant number on the Tron
03:43is this.
03:45The WWE Universe now has
03:48a ticking clock.
03:50It's one of the most effective
03:52tension building tools in writing.
03:54The need for someone to beat Cena
03:55will get more and more urgent
03:57as that number goes down,
03:58clearly signposting an epic
04:00final date conclusion later in the year.
04:03I really hope that on one episode
04:04he just walks down to the ring,
04:06watches the date count down by one,
04:07and then just leaves without even cutting a promo.
04:10It means we'll have a queue of top WWE stars
04:12trying to defeat Cena,
04:14which starts with
04:15a Randy Orton from out of nowhere,
04:17who RKO'd John as he posed for the belt.
04:19It'd be negligence to not run this feud
04:21as Randy is one of Cena's most...
04:22what's the right word there?
04:26Enduring opponents?
04:27And Backlash is in Orton's St. Louis hometown.
04:29I'm hoping for CM Punk at Money in the Bank
04:31for the PLA after,
04:33where Cena can blow a kiss
04:34after he retains and escapes through the crowd.
04:37There is still an enormous rock-shaped hole
04:39in this storyline.
04:41But I think a missing rock is better
04:42than an actually here Travis Scott.
04:45So let's just assume we're never seen either again
04:47and let's move on.
04:48Before I get into the rest of the episode though,
04:49you can relive the whole
04:51Rock vs. John Cena feud from 2011 to 2013,
04:55if you dare,
04:56in mine and Luke's epic
04:57eight-episode, 32-hour-long series
04:59on their rivalry.
05:01You can watch that all now
05:02on patreon.com forward slash WrestleTalk,
05:04along with all of this.
05:07It's viscera!
05:09Do you want more WrestleTalk videos?
05:12For $6.50 a month,
05:13you can get exclusive series of
05:15Monday Night War.
05:17You can imagine a sacrifice being made
05:19at the top of this WrestleMania stage.
05:21Tables, lists and chairs.
05:23WrestleTalk Extra and more.
05:25So I just don't want anyone to get out.
05:28Uh-oh!
05:29What was the end of that sentence?
05:31Get all that by joining us
05:32over at patreon.com forward slash WrestleTalk now.
05:37Support WrestleTalk!
05:40In a title rematch from WrestleMania,
05:42the first actual match on Raw
05:43saw Becky Lynch and Lyra Valkyria
05:45defend their freshly won women's tag belts
05:47against Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez.
05:50I actually enjoyed this one
05:51way more than their Mania encounter.
05:53And the crowd popped huge when they realized
05:55Liv was going to hit an oblivion on Lyra
05:58for the Judgment Day to win back the belts.
06:00Becky looked disheartened afterwards,
06:02but hugged Lyra to then clothesline her
06:04and turn heel.
06:05Which the fans cared so much about,
06:07they chanted,
06:08one more time.
06:09This isn't a case of fans disrespecting an angle.
06:12It's a case of terrible storytelling from WWE.
06:15We've seen so many times
06:17that if WWE takes the time and care
06:19over investing the audience into characters
06:22and their relationships,
06:24we will be appropriately shocked or heartbroken
06:26when splits eventually happen.
06:29If they ever happen at all under Paul Evek.
06:31But Becky just showed up at Mania Night 2,
06:34won the belts with Lyra,
06:35then lost them the next night and turned heel.
06:38These are all surface level moments.
06:40There is zero substance for us to sink our teeth into.
06:43It's high spots with no meaning.
06:46I assume Bayley will avenge Lyra on her return.
06:49But what could be far more interesting
06:50is the newly heeled Becky
06:52joining Heyman's group with Seth
06:54as the Hey Man.
06:57After Karrion Kross gave the New Day
06:59a nod of approval backstage,
07:01which was a good callback,
07:02Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston demanded
07:04we all thank God
07:05for the New Day being tag team champions in the ring
07:08and showing how seriously WWE
07:10are now going to take them and Raw's tag division.
07:12Alpha Academy came out as the first challengers.
07:16This was all actually just a setup for Rusev
07:18to make his return
07:19to squash Akira Tozawa and Otis.
07:21Again, this was mostly just done as a moment,
07:24so it might not be indicative
07:25of what WWE will book for the New Day
07:27and Rusev going forward,
07:28but it didn't feel like much will change
07:30for Kofi and Woods.
07:31And Rusev feels destined for Andrade levels of undercard.
07:35I've got to admit,
07:35I was still salty about The Rock during Cena's promo.
07:38I'm not into what Becky's doing at all at the moment.
07:41And I was cynical about Rusev's return.
07:44The first hour didn't really click for me.
07:46Thankfully, from that point onwards,
07:48I feel like WWE put on a perfect Raw after Mania show.
07:52The comeback began with an impromptu match
07:54of NXT Women's Champion Stephanie Vakur
07:56challenging WWE Women's Champion EO Sky.
07:59They had a really good match,
08:01with Vakur starting to work over EO's knee
08:03with a dragon screw.
08:04There was a Spanish fly off the top rope from Sky,
08:06and the crowd likely started to chant,
08:08fight forever.
08:09Joke's on you,
08:10because these are two champions of WWE's top brands.
08:14Hunter isn't going to book one of them to lose on TV.
08:17What do you think the titles are?
08:18The TNA World Championship?
08:20Roxanne Perez charged EO for the DQ,
08:23and then heel Julia attacked for Kerr,
08:25as a good follow-up angle from Stand and Deliver.
08:27Rhea Ripley then made the save,
08:29and handed EO's belt back to her,
08:31setting up them as the next title program,
08:33as Ripley was never pinned at WrestleMania.
08:36After an excellent video package recap in his career,
08:39Jey Uso then got a big title celebration Yeet entrance.
08:43I'm both happy for him,
08:45and totally not into it at the same time,
08:46but I am always, always into Sami Zayn.
08:50Sami made his return after eight weeks out
08:52to say he had to be the first to look Jey in his eyes and say,
08:56I'm proud of you.
08:58It was a lovely moment for one of the most hard-won friendships
09:01in the company, which made the brief glance,
09:04where Sami seemed to jealously look at Jey behind his back,
09:07and the crowd did a sharp intake of breath,
09:09expecting yet another heel turn for everything to be totally fine.
09:15Jimmy came out to celebrate too,
09:16expertly diffusing the tension.
09:18There was a lot to love on this episode,
09:20but that was my favourite thing on the whole show.
09:23But tied for second place is Gunther choking Pat McAfee to death.
09:27In an excellent angle,
09:29WWE came back from break with Gunther shouting at Michael Cole.
09:33Cole said it's not his fault he tapped out,
09:35so Gunther grabbed Cole to choke him out.
09:37McAfee made the save,
09:38so Gunther choked Pat to death instead,
09:41and didn't let go despite loads of officials
09:43and Pat's podcast mates from ringside trying to break them up,
09:46all with no commentary because both commentators were being attacked.
09:50But actually, Fantasy booked an angle like this a month ago
09:52as a way to make the Gunther vs Jey feud better,
09:54as Pat kept on cheering the Uso.
09:57Most awesomely, though,
09:58was Adam Pearce telling Cole backstage to take time off to recover,
10:02where Cole replied like a badass,
10:04saying he's not going to let some bully stop him from doing his job.
10:08It was amongst the coolest Cole has ever looked,
10:11which admittedly is a low bar,
10:13but it was so well done,
10:14and Joe Tessitore scrambling to help replace Pat on commentary
10:17without even a tie made it feel all the more realistic.
10:21I'm assuming Gunther was paid off by Corey Graves here.
10:23More heel factions!
10:25Karrion Kross shouted at AJ Styles backstage,
10:28showing Karrion's shoot promo from the Postmania podcast is definitely a work.
10:32Dirty Dom had his first Intercontinental title defense next against Penta,
10:36with both Finn Balor and Carlito at ringside.
10:38Yeah, Finn Balor.
10:40The guy who Dom pinned to win the title the previous night.
10:43You'd think that would cause him to leave the faction,
10:45but he told the gang earlier on,
10:46what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
10:50Yay!
10:50Even longer term storytelling with The Judgment Day.
10:55Finn wasn't very effective though,
10:56so JD McDonagh had to make his return from injury to help Dom retain.
11:00With just 15 minutes of the show remaining,
11:02Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman came out for their first promo
11:05since their shocking night one heel turn angle.
11:08Seth had the same annoying music, stupid glasses,
11:11and garish costume choice,
11:12but thankfully he seems to have dropped his laugh and vocal inflections,
11:16where he started to cut a promo with the low delivery of his authority era.
11:20Didn't get very far though,
11:21as CM Punk ran down to beat him up for Seth to stomp him.
11:24Heyman declared Rollins as the top star in the industry,
11:28when Roman Reigns' music hit.
11:30That Roman isn't immediately on a three month holiday post-WrestleMania,
11:33might have actually been the biggest shock of the show.
11:36Roman took out Seth and Superman punched Heyman,
11:39for a man in a hoodie to appear in the ring.
11:41But it wasn't Roman's father's nephew's former roommate,
11:44it was Bron Breaker.
11:46First there was confusion,
11:48but when Breaker speared Punk 2,
11:50it was obvious.
11:51Bron is the newest Paul Heyman guy,
11:55following up on Heyman endorsing Bron in NXT two and a half years ago.
11:59And this isn't just a two man power trip,
12:01it's a full on heel faction.
12:03We could get Roman and Punk teaming together to take on Seth and Bron.
12:07We could get a battle of the spears between Breaker and Reigns.
12:10And long term Bron could be the Batista breakout babyface
12:14to eventually turn on Rollins.
12:16There are many incredibly exciting directions WWE can go in here.
12:21That's what the new season feel of a Raw After Mania should be about.
12:25Angles and cliffhangers where you can't wait
12:27to see what happens next.
12:29This year's Raw After Mania was just a great wrestling match
12:32shy of perfection at 90%.
12:34Now click the video on screen now
12:36to watch my review of WrestleMania 41 Night 2,
12:39where The Rock, yeah, he ruined wrestling.