With less than two weeks away from WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, the penultimate episode of WWE Raw on Netflix has headed to Target Center in Minneapolis, MN.
Announced in advance of Monday’s show:
- Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria (c) – WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship
- The War Raiders (c) vs. The New Day – World Tag Team Championship
- Penta vs. Dominik Mysterio
- El Grande Americano in action
- Appearances from Paul Heyman, Seth Rollins, Gunther and Jey Uso
Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, and Iyo Sky kick off WWE Raw
GM Adam Pearce kicked off the show this week after how the Women’s World Championship match ended last week here on WWE Raw — followed by the arrival of Iyo Sky, Bianca Belair, and Rhea Ripley.
Pearce made the big announcement saying that the Women’s World Championship match at WrestleMania 41 has now been turned into a triple threat match, also adding Ripley to the mix.
Ripley and Belair then signed the contract and started to argue before Sky attacked them both and left the ring with her championship after signing the contract. Sky clearly looked like she had had enough of both Ripley and Belair.
Ratings: 8 /10
Key Notes and Observation:
- Pearce flubbed, introducing Ripley as “representing Judgment Day” which was funny.
Backstage segment ft. The Judgment Day
WWE Raw then went backstage where Judgment Day seemed to be happy for Dominik Mysterio and Finn Bálor being added to the Intercontinental Championship match WrestleMania 41 after defeating both Penta and Bron Breakker in a tag team match last week here on WWE Raw.
Bálor told Mysterio that everyone thinks that he does not have what it takes to win at WrestleMania, and Balor believes in him.
Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria (c) – Women’s Intercontinental Championship
Lyra Valkyria gave Bayley a shot at her Women’s Intercontinental Championship last week here on WWE Raw after she helped her against the 2-on-1 assault by Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez on the Mar. 24th edition of WWE Raw — leading to this match.
The veteran Bayley brought out everything she had but it was just not enough as Valkyria found a way to retain her championship.
Result: Lyra Valkyria (c) defeated Bayley to retain her Women’s Intercontinental Championship
Ratings: 8 /10
Backstage segment ft. AJ Styles
WWE Raw then went backstage where AJ Styles met Karrion Kross who told him that he needed to pull out that other side of himself before Styles challenged him to a match next week here on WWE Raw.
LWO vs. American Made and El Grande Americano on WWE Raw
All six competitors involved in the match delivered an amazing performance, making it a fast-paced physical, and high-flying match.
After using some under-masked tactics, American Made and El Grande Americano picked up the win.
Result: American Made and El Grande Americano defeated LWO
Ratings: 7 /10
Jey Uso confronts Gunther for his actions
Ahead of his WrestleMania 41 match against Jey Uso, Gunther beat Jimmy Uso in a singles match last week here on WWE Raw — followed by a vicious beatdown as he hung Jey to the ring.
Jey met Gunther in the ring talking about what he did to his brother. Jey also talked about what he told his mother, admitting that he was too afraid to protect his brother. He then told Gunther that he ain’t afraid of him anymore
Jey expressions and Gunther’s body language throughout the segment was absolutely amazing.
Ratings: 10 /10
Backstage segment ft. Adam Pearce and Rey Mysterio
WWE Raw then went backstage where GM Adam Pearce met Rey Mysterio who asked him to give him a match against El Grande Americano aka Chad Gable at WrestleMania 41. Pearce accepted it and made it official.
The War Raiders (c) vs. The New Day – World Tag Team Championship
The New Day defeated the New Catch Republic last week here on WWE Raw to earn themself this opportunity to challenge for the World Tag Team Championship.
War Raiders had the match in control as New Day continued to struggle before Xavier Woods brought a steel chair to the ring which Ivar snatched and used on the Woods right in front of the referee, who then disqualified the War Raiders.
Kingston and Woods then continued to attack War Raider after the match, targeting the neck before referees arrived on the scene.
Result: The New Day defeated The War Raiders via disqualification
Ratings: 6 /10
Key Notes and Observation:
- Tony Hinchcliffe joined Michael Cole and Pat McAfee on commentary to promote The Roast of WrestleMania on April 20.
Penta vs. Dominik Mysterio
A big WrestleMania 41 announcement was made earlier on the show, two of the four men involved in that Intercontinental Championship match, Penta and Dominik met each other in their first-ever singles match.
Penta delivered an amazing performance to pick up the win against Mysterio. Carlito and Dominik began to assault Penta after the match before Bron Breakker arrived on the scene and took them all out, including Penta.
Finn Bálor then attacked Breakker from behind but ran away when Breakker came for him.
Result: Penta defeated Dominik Mysterio
Ratings: 7 /10
Seth Rollins meets Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman then arrived at the ring saying he is loyal to both CM Punk and Roman Reigns and that it does he would never be disloyal to any of them.
Seth Rollins then also arrived on the scene telling Heyman about how Reigns treated him and never came to his help he got attacked by Solo Sikoa. Rollins also stated how Punk never came for his help as well.
Rollins also told Heyman how Punk used him for WarGames to get this favor out of him. Saying he feels bad for him.
He then began to get physical with Heyman before Punk arrived on the scene and the fight began between both of them, with Rollins getting the upper hand. Rollins then tried to stomp Heyman as well but then stopped saying: “Now, you owe me a favor”.
Ratings: 8 /10
WWE Raw, Apr. 7: Results Highlights
Women’s Intercontinental Championship:
Lyra Valkyria (c) defeated Bayley
6-Man Tag Team match:
American Made and El Grande Americano defeated LWO
World Tag Team Championship:
The New Day defeated The War Raiders via disqualification
Singles match:
Penta defeated Dominik Mysterio
My thoughts on this week’s edition of WWE Raw:
The WrestleMania 41 countdown has now begun and WWE Raw was a pure example of that. The show had a sense of urgency, excitement, and fear as we headed to Las Vegas. The show featured incredible matches on to Mania along with some new matches being finalized for Mania.
WWE has finally given us what many of us have been asking for weeks — the triple threat for Women’s World Championship. I think it’s a great call and it would be a great match. WWE also made new turns in Gunther and Jey’s storyline. It seems like Gunther has taken Jey to a place where he would ultimately when they collide at Mania.
Overall it was a tremendous show and exactly what the fans wanted right now.
My Ratings for the show: 8 /10
