Last night's Monday Night RAW felt like a go home show, with a face standing tall at the end. It was more of a go home show before Roadblock, the network exclusive special taking place in Toronto this Saturday. Compared to last week's leap year episode, this show was thankfully enjoyable and exciting. There were some mixed reviews for this show, which is understandable considering they were focusing on Roadblock and Wrestlemania. The results can be found here.
There were a few great moments here. The first was Kevin Owens vs Neville in a non-title match. There were a few great spots from both Owens and Neville - with Neville even pulling off a Phoenix Splash from the middle rope! - but he lost to Owens via roll up. Owens has been clamoring for weeks that he doesn't have any opponents for Wrestlemania, which strangely excluded Ambrose or invoking a rematch clause, but last night saw a surprise return from an old foe, Sami Zayn. They really are destined to do this forever.
The best match of the night came from Y2AJ vs The New Day for the Tag Team Championship. It was ridiculously exciting and fast pace. AJ was at his freaking best here and so was Big E, who not only countered Jericho's Codebreaker but effortlessly reversed it to do the Big Ending and win the match and retain the title. After the New Day left the ring, AJ and Jericho were left in the ring. And it finally happened; Jericho turned heel and did the Codebreaker on AJ Styles. He did it 2 more times and even grabbed the Y2AJ shirt he wore earlier and stuffed it in AJ's mouth. Suddenly his behavior towards Ambrose and Reigns from Night of Champions last year made sense. He wasn't trying to start a feud with Ambrose, he was being a sore loser. Losing to AJ in their 2 out of 3 matches and then losing again as a tag team was the final straw.
And finally, my guy Ambrose. He's been on fire the last 2 weeks. He cut a pretty lengthy, angry, and passionate promo about coming away as the new champion after March 12. Once again, it's creating excitement and making Wrestlemania look less predictable when someone as volatile as Ambrose is set for a match against Lesnar and is getting a title shot against HHH in the network special.
Unfortunately, there has been a consistent pattern with Ambrose whenever he goes after a title: he cuts a great promo, he looks good and/or stands tall at the end of the go-home shows, and when the main event rolls around, he loses. That's what happened at Survivor Series and Fastlane, so I stopped getting my hopes up that Ambrose would win again. He is currently the placeholder for Reigns until he returns to action, possibly after Roadblock. WWE won't let anything change their plans for Reigns' coronation at Wrestlemania. For now, the fans are getting what they wanted to see after the Royal Rumble: Ambrose vs HHH for the title, Lesnar vs Wyatt, and quite possibly Owens vs Zayn.
Interesting to note, Busted Open on SiriusXM had a very heated debate about Ambrose just now. They've maintained that they don't buy Ambrose as a main eventer RIGHT NOW due to the booking and injuries. They don't hate him either but he hasn't done anything yet that can elevate him to that top tier RIGHT NOW. And I have to agree with them. As I told Vince, this is not a push, this is WWE in panic mode and it's very transparent. For now, booking decisions aside, I'm just enjoying all the exposure Ambrose has been getting.
YEEE! YEEE! YEEE! YEEE!
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