WWE Raw Results & Recap: April 1, 2019
This week on Monday Night Raw, Aleister Black & Ricochet challenged for the Raw Tag Team Championships, Baron Corbin took on Rey Mysterio, and Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair were forced to be partners against The Riott Squad.
We are only days away from WrestleMania 35, check out the Raw results below.
Stephanie McMahon opens up Raw
Stephanie firsts informs the crowd that they have added a fourth competitor to the WrestleMania main eventβ¦. Herself. Of course this is an April Fools joke, with the actual announcement being that both the Raw and SmackDown Womenβs Championships will be on the line come Sunday.
Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar address WWE Universe
Heyman reminds the Washington crowd that Brock Lesnar does not lose at WrestleMania, whilst trolling them about defeating The Undertakerβs streak and beating Roman Reigns in the main event last year. Seth Rollins comes down to shut Paul Heyman up, and to also show what this Sunday means to him. After low blowing Lesnar twice, Rollins hits the stomp on the Champion and throws the title down at him in the middle of the ring before walking backstage.
Sasha Banks, Bayley, Natalya & Beth Phoenix def. Peyton Royce, Billie Kay, Tamina & Nia Jax
This match actually told a great story, doubling up the 4 teams competing for the Womenβs Tag Team Championships this Sunday at WrestleMania. The IIconics were involved for most of the match on their team, working well on Sasha Banks and Bayley. Beth Phoenix then got into action for the first time in almost 7 years, and it seems that she has not missed a step, a very impressive performance by her. Tamina distracted her in a kind of botched spot, but it lead to Phoenix driving Tamina through the time keeperβs barricade out on ringside. She then hit the Glam Slam on Royce for the win.
Batista returns to the ring
Batista received a good reaction from his hometown crowd of Washington D.C. They played a very impressive video package to help explain the history between him and Triple H. When the cameras went back to the arena, the Hollywood star had very clear instructions for Triple H – βHunter, kiss my assβ.
We then got another on location promo from Elias standing outside the MetLife Stadium in New York, claiming heβll be the biggest performer to ever grace the stage this Sunday.
Apollo Crews def. Jinder Mahal
This match was just filler to build towards the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale at WrestleMania. Crews won the match pretty quickly but it soon sparked chaos with the superstars outside of the ring coming in to try to get an early advantage over the field. Apollo Crews appeared on top after all and had a good photo opportunity next to the Andre the Giant trophy.
Kurt Angleβs Raw farewell
Another video package was played for the crowd, looking back on the Hall of Famerβs incredible career. As he is soaking in the love of the crowd, Corbin comes out to interrupt the party. It was a pretty good heel promo from the former Raw GM, letting the crowd know that he sees them complaining on social media about him facing Kurt Angle in his last match. Angle invites him to the ring to have an exhibition. Corbin refuses claiming that if he faces Kurt Angle on Raw tonight then the 6x World Champion would not make it to the big stage at WrestleMania. Rey Mysterio comes out and offers to face Corbin later on in the night.
The Revival (C) def. Ricochet & Aleister Black for the Raw Tag Team Championships
Another impressive match between these two teams who have become very familiar over the past few weeks. Ricochet glides over the ring post on top of both The Revival members on the outside of the ring. The referee starts counting Ricochet out. As he gets to 8, the former North American Champion tries to break the count but is halted by Scott Dawson who holds his leg whilst hiding under the ring. The Revival retained the titles with their countout victory. Black and Ricochet get the last laugh however as Ricochet his the 630 on Dawson.
Drew McIntyre then attacks Roman Reigns backstage furthering their storyline for their match this Sunday.
Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey & Charlotte Flair def. The Riott Squad
Stipulation: If any of the main eventers cause any trouble during the match, they would be removed from WrestleMania.
Match and segment of the night right here. Lynch, Rousey and Flair handle their business well despite the few aggressive tag-ins on each other. Rousey ends the match by getting Liv Morgan in an armbar. As soon as the bell rings for the win, Rousey turns to Flair with a series of strikes before Lynch gets herself involved. Security are ordered to the ring to help calm the competitors down, and then followed by law enforcement officers.
They seem to have everything under control until Rousey breaks free to attack Becky Lynch on the opposite side of the ring. Rousey gets handcuffed. Lynch sees the perfect opportunity to attack a defenseless Rousey. This gets Lynched handcuffed. Charlotte has exactly the same idea, but it also lands her in cuffs. The 3 of them are removed out of the arena backstage, Charlotte being put in one car, and stupidly putting Rousey and Lynch in one car together.
What then follows is one of the best segments, I believe, we have ever seen on Raw. Becky and Ronda start kicking each other in the back of their car, all of which looked pretty brutal. Rousey kicks out the window to the car, causing the officers to move Becky Lynch to Flairβs car. Flair stands up out of the car to kick at Lynch. Whislt this is happening, the Raw Womenβs Champion wiggles her way into the drivers seat in her car, only to crash into the police car infront of her. Officers try and separate Lycnh and Flair outside, only to have Flair boot Ronda Rousey into the frame of the smashed window, before being driven out of the Arena. My writing does not do this segment enough justice, it was awesome!
Heavy Machinery def. Chad Gable & Bobby Roode
Not much really happened in this match apart from Lacey Evans doing her typical, pointless entrance. Otis gets the pinfall victory on Gable, much to Roodeβs disappointment.
Braun Strowman def. Local Talent
This was another filler match. Strowman convincingly beats down on two jobbers with a double powerslam.
Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush address the WWE Universe
They both are interview by Charley Carusso befofe being cut off by Finn Balor in a smokey room. Finn promises Lashley that he should be worried about this Sunday as he fades into the demon behind the smoke.
Baron Corbin def. Rey Mysterio
Mysterio manages to put on an incredible match with pretty much all of his opponents, including Corbin here. After hitting the 619, Mysterio fails to hit with the Frogsplash allowing Corbin to hit the Deep Six to pick up the win in the main event. As he celebrates on the entrance way, Angle meets him and puts him in an Ankle Lock to close the go home Raw before WrestleMania.
Overall I liked the episode of Raw. Segment positioning didnβt really make much sense, especially having the Mysterio vs Corbin match main event instead of Charlotte, Becky and Ronda. Every segment did its job however, no complaints on that.
Average Rating