The Elimination Chamber after-edition of WWE Monday Night RAW was live from the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The show follows up on the final two title matches for WrestleMania 42, set after successful appearances in the Chamber by Rhea Ripley and Randy Orton. Ripley was scheduled tonight, but her promo was mostly used to put her partnership with Iyo Sky as they enter ‘Splitsville.’
It was important for tonight’s show to offer up something extra, considering that the Chamber PLE felt somewhat ‘mid.’ But it seems creative enjoys the challenge, as tonight’s episode was terrifically produced, with a mix of quality wrestling and story-advancing segments.
CM PUNK-ROMAN REIGNS: PROMO BATTLE II
The first promo battle set the stage for an epic encounter at WrestleMania 42 in what was certainly a night two type of program. However, immediately following that main event segment, CM Punk was forced to do the ‘heavy lifting’ as it related to Elimination Chamber and the week-to-week promotion for the event—something that Punk tapped into on the mic tonight.
Many questioned whether they could regain the momentum after weeks of nothing, and the two men answered with an emphatic ‘yes.’ They came out swinging with Roman’s tweet over the weekend, calling out both Punk and the Chicago crowd live for Saturday’s PLE, claiming the fans looked as ‘tired’ as Punk post-match.
Punk claimed he did not care about Roman’s tweets, just as Roman claimed not to care about Punk’s posts, insinuating that he is getting closer to his family members, like Jey and Jimmy, in Roman’s absence. Punk harped on Roman’s last promo, where he claimed to hate the heavyweight champion.
“You hate me, Punk asked before answering: “I’m in your head, as empty as it is.”
Punk then called on their history in Indy, reminding Roman that he debuted him as a member of The Shield, complete with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose (AEW’s Jon Moxley). That comment was refuted right away by Roman, claiming he ‘brought up the other two’ and not him—a rare reference to Mox.
“You’re not CM Punk, you’re just a punk ass to me,” Roman said in a line that he surely had in the Chamber.
The promo battle rematch was amazing, and the two reminded the world why they are considered the best in the business. And, as if things couldn’t get anymore personal, Roman said he was going to send Punk on a John Cena-esque retirement tour.
That line upset Punk, seemingly more than any other, as he grabbed Roman before he could walk off and said he was always going to beat him at Mania, but now he would ‘bury’ the Tribal Chief. This segment did exactly what it intended to as it reestablished the feud as priority one—now it will be up to this Friday’s world title match between Cody Rhodes and champion Drew McIntyre to set the stage for night one at Mania.
One final note, the inclusion of the former “Bloodline” as a narrative between the two is interesting, especially considering the storyline between Jey and Roman at the tail end of last year. It could be interesting and add even more drama to the match if Jey’s loyalty is put to the test in the course of this feud.
ROLLINS IS ROLLING
The opening segment of RAW was brilliant. First, they opened the show in the same monotonous manner we have grown accustomed to with The Vision promo, setting the tone. Paul demanded Pearce take action on Rollins after he ‘cost Logan’ the Chamber win, and Logan made a similar callout. Pearce came out contentiously as usual.
However, the entire opening was only to set up the segment’s narrative, as the first of three ‘masked men’ made an appearance. First, a masked man was used as a decoy to get Logan and Theory to commit to chasing, thus ridding them of the ring.
Then, a second masked man entered the chat as he stood in the middle of the aisle, instilling fear into a concerned Paul Heyman in the ring. The second masked man was yet another decoy, and that is when Seth Rollins popped out from behind Paul.
Rollins hit Heyman with a chair to the back and followed it up with a curb stomp. When we returned from break, Paul was in the back of an ambulance, bloodied, as a concerned Vision watched helplessly. With Rollins still hurt and not cleared, WWE had to get ‘creative’ with his usage—and this was the perfect way to open the show.
Aside from this awesome opening, it is unfortunate that none of the current Vision members had anything to do with taking Seth out—Logan and Theory were Bron Breakker additions, so they’re guilty by proxy. The hope is that Breakker will be ready by Mania, and if they can stay ‘creative’ with Seth’s usage, then they can certainly buy time until the up-and-comer is ready and activated.
‘DIRTY’ DOMINIK MYSTERIO(c) VS PENTA—Intercontinental Title
Before his title defense, we caught up with The Judgement Day just as Dom was confirming with JD McDonaugh that he would have ‘support’ out there against Penta. JD was nodding in assurance when Finn Balor entered the segment. Balor, fresh off his unsuccessful challenge for Punk’s heavyweight title in which he ordered his Judgement Day cohorts not to interfere on his behalf, demanded that Dom do it on his own.
Penta was on fire from the moment the bell sounded, and even though Dom managed a momentum turn or two, it was Penta that brought a pace that the champ had a difficult time keeping up with—though it eventually led to a shoulder injury for the challenger.
At that moment in the match, and as the ref checked on Penta’s injury, Dom ordered JD to get the timekeeper’s hammer, to which he obliged. Yet, as he made his way to Dom, Balor stood in the way and once again demanded that Dom do it on his own.
With Dom’s backup plan blown up, Penta was able to capitalize after initially missing the Mexican Destroyer, only to hit it after countering Dom’s 619. Penta picked up the pinfall victory and his first gold in WWE. We did not get a follow-up to The Judgement Day, but you can bet that next week’s show will set the stage for a Dom-Balor showdown.
AJ LEE’S OPEN CHALLENGE
AJ Lee came out to give her post-match promo and receive her flowers from the fans—they busted out a ‘you deserve this’ for good measure. Most assumed we would see AJ and Becky Lynch run it back after the former champion came up short on Saturday.
However, to the fans’ surprise, there was no Becky tonight, and instead, Lee offered up an open challenge for the IC title to any new challenger. Throughout the night, we saw multiple women seek out GM Pearce for the opportunity.
Pearce booked an IC #1 contender’s match next week between Auska, Raquel Rodriguez, Bayley, Lyra, Ivy Nile, and Iyo Sky.
OTHER TIDBITS
– Dan Housen made his RAW debut after his Elimination Chamber reveal was marred with controversy. That said, the character rebounded well on RAW tonight, even poking fun at his boo-filled ovation on Saturday. He made his first ‘curse’ official as Dom Mysterio drew the ire of the kayfabe vampire.
– Oba Femi VS RUSEV: Rusev and Oba Femi have been beefing, so Rusev took the opportunity to steal some mic time (of course, on top of the commentating desk) and challenged Oba to a fight. Oba came down in boots and pants, showing he was not prepared for the callout, and then proceeded to duke it out with Rusev. The segment ended when Oba slammed Rusev hard onto the mat, with the Bulgarian nearly touching the ceiling. A match was booked between the two for next week.
– Gunther and Dragon Lee put on a terrific match. The storytelling played well as Lee was forced to find creative offense to get around the size advantage. In the end, Gunther won the match, while Lee earned the fans’ respect.
– El Grande Americano and Ryo Americano put on a banger on RAW. This match could be the match of the week despite being used to further OG’s feud with the Ludwig Kaiser version of the character.
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