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My Thoughts on RAW (3/20/17): The Fault in our Superstars

  • We kick off the show with Mick Foley. He comes out and reads a pre-written statement, thanking Triple H & Stephanie McMahon for letting him be the general manager of RAW. He apologizes for giving Trips the Mandible Claw last week and says he doesn't want his problems with Stephanie to get in the way of WrestleMania. Foley announces that he is taking a leave of absence before ripping up the index cards. He says he'll say what he wants until his mic cuts out. Outcomes Stephanie McMahon, who chews him out for attacking Triple H and not just reading the statement. She says he can't remember anything he's supposed to say and only cares about being liked, not what's best for business. Stephanie does what everyone expected, and fires Foley. Foley starts to leave the ring before outcomes Sami Zayn. He says what she's doing to Foley is wrong and she's been wrong about a lot of things, and he's going to the one to finally tell her to her face. Stephanie blows him off and Foley tells him to let it go, but Zayn doesn't back down and says Foley's show more class in the last nine months than she has in her entire life. He blasts her for firing Foley for not being a corporate stooge. Stephanie completely buries Zayn, saying he's not important enough to talk to her and tells him to leave. That's probably the worst thing she's said about a wrestler on a show. Zayn stays put and says it might not be the smart thing, but he's staying put to do the right thing. Outcomes Samoa Joe, who marches down to the ring until Stephanie calls him off. She tells Foley to leave before booking Zayn vs Joe right now. As Joe tells Foley to leave as well, Zayn takes him out with a tope before the commercial break
  • Sami Zayn vs Samoa Joe-The match starts during the commercial break. We come in to see Joe beating down Zayn in the corner. Joe continues to control the match until Zayn hits tilt-a-whirl headscissors before going for the Blue Thunder Bomb. Joe blocks it, however, kicks Zayn down, and hits a senton for a near fall. Joe takes control again until Zayn hits a pop up dropkick, only for Joe to respond with a powerslam for a near fall. Joe dominates the match again, striking Zayn down everytime he gets up before going for the Muscle Buster. Zayn blocks it, but Joe is able to hit the corner spin kick before hitting a suicide dive before the commercial break. We come back to Joe working over Zayn with a surfboard. Zayn fights back, but Joe keeps control with the corner spin kick. The fight goes to the outside, where Joe throws Zayn into the ring post. Joe opts for a countout victory, but Zayn barely beats the count. Zayn hits a huge clothesline and starts to comeback with a diving crossbody for a near fall. Joe rolls to the outside, so Zayn tries for the tope, but Joe yanks him out of the ring. Joe tries to throw Zayn into the ring post, but Zayn reverses it and sends him into the post before hitting the torpedo DDT. Both men barely avoid a countout before Zayn goes for the Helluva Kick, but Joe catches him with a corner STO. Joe locks in the Coquina Clutch for the submission win. Pretty good match.
  • Backstage, Mick Foley thanks Sami Zayn for standing up for him. Zayn says the rest of the roster needs Foley to stand up for them, but Foley says that Zayn can do it. Foley walks away over to Cesaro & Sheamus, who thank him for the opportunities he gave them and for believing in them. He then accidentally slaps Lince Dorado while shaking some Mustafa Ali & TJ Perkins' hands. That was pretty funny. He walks over and hugs Bayley...and then Triple H shows up. He gets in close and sarcastically tells Foley to have a nice day before Foley leaves the arena.
  • We get an interview with Seth Rollins' physician. He says Rollins' reinjured his knee and says his rehab has progressed better than anticipated. On whether or not Rollins will be back in time for WrestleMania, he says it's not likely, but if he does, the fear is that he'll be right back in rehab the next day.
  • Charlotte vs Dana Brooke-Dana takes the fight right to Charlotte until Charlotte leaves the ring. Charlotte gets on the ring apron, but Dana knocks her down onto the apron before rolling her in the ring for a near fall. Dana locks in a full nelson before throwing her down. Dana continues to control the match until Charlotte starts chopping her. Dana avoids a big boot before taking down Charlotte. The crowd couldn't care less, chanting that they want Paige. You know why. Charlotte ends up hitting a big boot for the win. This was not good. Charlotte boots Dana out of the ring, cementing Dana's place as the Alex Riley of the women's division.
  • Backstage, Stephanie McMahon confronts Bayley. She mockingly offers Bayley a hug, but Bayley says she doesn't want to hug her. She says she used to admire Stephanie, but seeing her use her power to hurt other people has changed that. Stephanie says that saying those things makes her think Bayley isn't strong enough to be the Women's Champion. She then tells her that she'll be facing Nia Jax again tonight and if Nia wins she gets added to the WrestleMania title match. Also, it's a no disqualifications match so Nia can't get disqualified like last week.
  • It's the Highlight Reel with Chris Jericho! Jericho's guest tonight is the "real" Kevin Owens. He shows a goofy photo of a teenage Kevin Owens wearing a Y2J t-shirt. He says Owens was a fan of Jericho...and he was MARKIN' OUT, MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN! He says when Owens got to the WWE, Jericho came to him for advice and puts up the Twitter DMs as proof. He says he took bullet after bullet after bullet to help Owens retain the Universal Championship and at WrestleMania, he's going to turn him back into that nerd he was wearing a Y2J-shirt in his parent's basement. Jericho closes out the Highlight Reel by calling Owens a stupid idiot and prepares to put Owens on the List of Jericho...until Samoa Joe comes out. Joe comes down the ramp...BUT IT'S A RUSE! Owens pops out and attacks Jericho from behind before giving him a Pop-Up Powerbomb. Owens picks up the List of Jericho before ripping it to pieces. Kevin Owens is the worst human being alive.
  • TJ Perkins vs Brian Kendrick-Perkins takes control right away with a jumping spin kick followed by a wrecking ball dropkick to the outside. Back in the ring, Perkins hits a diving crossbody for a near fall before going for a Detonation Kick. Kendrick escapes it by grabbing Perkins hair before hitting the Sliced Bread #2 for the quick win. After the match, Kendrick blasts Akira Tozawa for not confronting him after a match, despite him being out of the country. Kendrick reveals he "found" Tozawa's passport in the locker room before telling Tozawa to be careful of what you leave lying around.
  • Charly Caruso interviews Roman Reigns. He says he only thinks about Undertaker on his back taking the loss at WrestleMania. He then tells Braun Strowman to remember that this is his yard.
  • Backstage, Stephanie McMahon confronts Sheamus & Cesaro. She says that since Foley was the one who put them in the Tag Team Championship match at WrestleMania, she can take them out. She tells them they'll be competing in a 2-on-4 handicap match against Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Enzo Amore, and Big Cass. And if they lose, they're out of the tag title match.
  • Bayley vs Nia Jax in a No Disqualifications match-Bayley tries to take the fight to Nia, but Nia overpowers her. Bayley locks in a sleeper hold, but Nia throws her off and kicks her out of the ring. Nia throws Bayley back in the ring, only for Bayley to hit a wrecking ball dropkick. Bayley goes for a hurricanrana off the apron, but Nia catches her and tries to powerbomb her. Bayley grabs the ropes for safety, but Nia yanks her down to the ground. Nia throws Bayley to the stairs and charges at Bayley, but Bayley moves, sending Nia into the stairs before the commercial break. We come back to Nia working over Bayley with a headlock. Nia continues to control the match. Nia eventually throws Bayley out of the ring so she can swing Bayley into the barricade by her hair. Nia throws Bayley back in the ring before grabbing a chair. Bayley is able to kick the chair out of Nia's hands and hits a stunner through the ropes when Nia tries to get back in the ring. Bayley gets a near fall off a running knee and goes on the offensive, hitting a running elbow drop for a near fall. Bayley hits a diving crossbody for a near fall and goes to the second rope, only for Nia to yank her down, causing her to hit her head on the top turnbuckle. Nia hits a Samoan Drop for the win. This was alright. It wasn't really worth watching but it wasn't bad.
  • Michael Cole interviews Triple H in the ring. He says he's disappointed that he won't be able to teach Seth Rollins a lesson at WrestleMania. He says it is Rollins' fault that he got hurt because he started listening to the fans and not him. He says it's because the fans wanted Rollins to fight him, Rollins ended up reinjuring himself. He says he's the reason Rollins got to where he is today and the only thing he did wrong was making it too easy for him. He says he's done with Seth Rollins as of now and gives Michael Cole some tickets in the nosebleeds to give to Seth Rollins...only to take them back and ponders about a way to have him & Rollins fight at WrestleMania. Triple H proposes a non-sanctioned match so Rollins can compete and then can't sue when he cripples him. He tells Rollins to come to RAW next week and sign a contract. But wait...wouldn't signing a contract imply that this match is sanctioned? Or am I just overthinking this? Probably the latter.
  • Cesaro & Sheamus vs Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Enzo Amore, and Big Cass-Before the match, Gallows & Anderson take out Enzo & Cass so they don't have to team with them. I don't blame them. Anderson walks right into a Cesaro Swing attempt while Enzo & Cass take out Gallows. Sheamus & Cesaro take this opportunity to hit a bearhug/Brogue Kick combo for the win to stay in the WrestleMania tag title match. After that, Enzo & Cass hit the Bada Boom Shakalaka on Anderson.
  • The New Day hype up WrestleMania from backstage. The crowd pops huge because you know exactly why. The crowd goes pretty quiet, so I'm assuming the chants got pretty risque.
  • Austin Aries vs Tony Nese-Nese wastes no time taking the fight to Aries, beating him down in the corner. Aries starts to mount some offense until Nese hits Snake Eyes before striking Aries down for a near fall. Nese continues to control the match until Aries back body drops him out of the ring and hits a suicide dive before the commercial break. We come back to see Nese applying a Torture Rack to Aries. Aries escapes and gets a near fall off a roll up, but Nese keeps control with a running elbow. Aries dodges a moonsault attempt before hitting a middle rope neckbreaker. Aries runs wild on Nese, hitting a facebuster/STO combo followed by a super flashy elbow drop. Aries hits a rolling senton followed by a missile dropkick, a corner forearm, and finally, a discus forearm smash for the win. Fine match, nothing special. After the match, Neville comes out. Neville says he could obliterate Aries right now, but he won't because Aries isn't a threat to him. He says waiting will make his win at WrestleMania even more satisfying. Aries says Neville is full of it and says Neville is scared to step in the ring with him. He says that he'll take the Cruiserweight Championship from Neville at WrestleMania and that Neville will no longer be the King of the Cruiserweights.
  • Emma is coming soon...again.
  • Charly Caruso interviews Braun Strowman. He says he'll destroy Roman Reigns tonight and that the Undertaker will have to scrap him off the mat when he's done with him.
  • Roman Reigns vs Braun Strowman-Reigns takes the fight right to Strowman before Strowman throws him out of the ring. Reigns gets back in and boots Strowman out of the ring before going for the drive-by dropkick, only to be clotheslined mid-air. Back in the ring, Strowman hits a spinebuster for a near fall before clubbing Reigns down. Strowman continues to batter Reigns and throw him around the ring until Reigns sends Strowman into the ring post shoulder first. Reigns clotheslines Strowman in the corner and avoids a chokeslam before hitting a Samoan Drop for a near fall. Reigns hits the drive-by dropkick for a near fall before Strowman throws him into the stairs. Strowman throws the stairs in the ring before throwing Reigns in the ring. Strowman tries to hit Reigns with the steps, but Reigns catches him with a Superman Punch. Reigns goes for it again, but Strowman blocks it, only for Reigns to connect when Strowman pop him up. Reigns calls for the spear...then the gong hits. The lights go out before coming back on, with the Undertaker in the ring. Reigns & Taker stare eachother down before Taker chokeslams Strowman. Reigns then spears Taker when he turns around. Reigns walks up the ramp before Taker sits up and does the throat slit gesture to close the show.

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