WWE Monday Night RAW was live from the TD Garden in Boston, with a jam-packed show featuring expected fireworks designed to further the rest of the WrestleMania 42 undercard. The main segment featured Roman Reigns and CM Punk, but Brock Lesnar is also booked, a week after being owned by Oba Femi. All of this, and the expected AJ Lee appearance, should elevate the feud between the women’s IC champ and Becky Lynch—former IC champ.
The last major show in Boston was promoted as a John Cena sendoff, and with WrestleMania just 26 days away, we could get some major matches booked in Bean Town.
JEY CAN CALL IT
Punk dropped some curse words in front of the kids, explaining it away as the cost of being in the “sh** talking business.” He said that superstars often say ugly things to one another to hype up the fight, but things between him and Roman have escalated past professional courtesy.
He brought up the ‘old man’ line that caught some flak last week for being a weak justification for violence, but the brilliant Punk worked it into the psychology. Punk took a fan survey about whether he was old, and they, predictably, reaffirmed his pride and ego.
Jey Uso came out eventually, and that prompted Punk to ask, ‘What’s he going to do, YEET me to death?’ The two squabbled back and forth until Punk said he would put the title on the line ‘tonight in Boston’ and give Jey the rematch he never received. Jey was all up for it until Jimmy came out to intervene, questioning his brother’s motives.
There was the brief convo where they interrupted each other, mostly, but then Jey set up the final segment with the line, ‘Roman is not here.’ That is exactly when the “OTC’s” music hit to a major pop from the fans.
Roman, on the mic, asked Jimmy if their earlier tag match was finished, and when Jimmy responded with confirmation, he was then asked to ‘get his brother,’ Jey, out of the ring. Jimmy tried until Punk mouthed off, which prompted Jey to break free of his brother’s grip to attack Punk.
Punk hit Jey with a right hand before Jimmy and Roman were able to stabilize the situation, and with Punk down, WWE officials attempted to calm the situation by first escorting out the tag team champs. As they were leaving, Roman included, Jey looked up at Roman from the aisle and said, ‘Get him.’
More than that, Jey said, ‘you know what to do,’ potentially signifying premeditation, but commentary said, ‘Jey called the shot.’ In one moment, Roman was ordering Jey out without giving him the respect of talking to him, and in the next, he followed Jey’s ‘order’.
RAW went off air with Punk smiling, something commentary acknowledged, and then the champ said: “I’m not the one that needs help.” On the surface, this felt like a slight at Roman needing the help of his cousins, something not afforded to him in their singles match at Mania (yeah, right).
However, looking at it from a different angle, if Punk’s comment is directed at the audience, it might still be a sign that he sees cracks in the foundation of Roman and Jey’s relationship (maybe not). The storytelling around Mania time is layered, and the swerve would potentially surpass Heyman’s own turn on both Punk and Roman in their past Mania match with Rollins.
BROCK LESNAR… TWO A** WHOOPINS BACK TO BACK WEEKS
Brock showed up looking for revenge, but it was, in the famous words of Biggie Smallz, ‘it was all a dream’ as Oba Femi once again came out on top in the segment. It is a rare thing to see Lesnar get owned, but it is an astronomically absurd rarity to see him go down twice to the same superstar two RAWs in a row—throw in the green nature of Oba and the numbers get into the same odds as winning the lottery… twice.
It could be argued that Lesnar is gearing up to get over on the up-and-coming Oba Femi, but the former NXT champ is gaining tons of hype from these segments with Lesnar.
PAUL HEYMAN ULTIMATUM
“This town is not big enough for the both of us,” the famous western movie quote summed up Paul Heyman’s energy in the ring for his promo. While Heyman asked for this time to address Seth, he made it seem as though GM Pearce was forcing him.
Heyman likened Rollins to a ‘crazy ex’ before calling him out, claiming he was now vulnerable considering Logan and Theory were ‘down bad’ following their match, while Lesnar had already left the building in anger. However, he first mentioned Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed as the ‘first line of defense’ down because of their injuries.
But Paul specifically said that Breakker would be out for a “long time” before issuing similar sentiments about Reed. This is the first mention of any sort of timetable, as vague as it was, as it relates to Breakker’s injury on screen.
Breakker is considered ‘penciled in’ for Mania by many in the media, but this talk could all be leading to his return. After all, when Oba Femi was placed with Lesnar, it all but assured us that Breakker would be Seth’s dance partner.
The segment ended with Heyman having Seth arrested after baiting him out to the ring, only to have Boston police ready to arrest him for violating a restraining order. Rollins broke free for a moment to get his hands on Heyman.
It would be interesting to see Breakker return in police riot gear, with the helmet covering his face. After all, Seth terrorized The Vision under a mask for months, and it would be very fitting to see Breakker ‘unmask himself’ to a likely huge pop.
THE USOS VS THE VISION—WWE Tag Team Titles
The match was very well told in terms of ‘playing to’ the bigger narrative at play. The Vision has been left decimated, and the once dominant faction on RAW is now reduced to Logan Paul and Austin Theory. The heels took a beating as the champs owned their division throughout the contest.
It was always going to be a schmoz because it was ‘The Vision,’ but this time the numbers game was against them when LA Knight came down to cause the DQ against Jey and Jimmy. The once feuding Knight and Jey now find themselves on the same side, although they were always ‘enemies of their enemies.’
Heyman had Pearce book a rematch for the tag titles with a ‘Street Fight’ stipulation next Monday in Madison Square Garden.
REHASHING THE ROMAN-JEY FEUD?!?!
LA Knight accused Jey Uso of ‘sounding like Roman’ later in a backstage segment, and Jey crashed out, exclaiming his frustrations with that narrative constantly being used against him. While the former “Bloodline” has seemed straight, even united in the wake of CM Punk’s disrespect towards Roman’s father.
This could be nothing, or it could be a hint at a huge angle before WM or at WM, because you have to assume they cash in on the creative that has hinted at a Roman vs. Jey feud. The final segment pointed us toward a united front, so naturally, this could all be misdirection.
AJ LEE-BECKY
We finally got AJ Lee and Becky Lynch booked for WM42 after months of assumptions and speculation. It seems like the WWE might have dragged this feud out a little too long, and they might have benefited from the same kind of ‘early booking’ that Roman and AJ’s husband received for their huge Mania headlining match.
AJ did get a great line off after claiming to be your ‘favorite wrestler’s favorite wrestler,’ she reminded Becky that her kid’s favorite wrestler is the current IC champ.
PENTA(c) vs DOM MYSTERIO—WWE Intercontinental Title
It was another solid first half of a match from Penta and Dom, a consistent trend when we see them work together, but the match was merely to further the Balor feud for the former IC champ.
It was JD McDonaugh who was first guilty of interference, nearly helping Dom to win the match, but just as he went for his ‘Frog Splash’ finisher when Finn’s music hit (old school). Penta retained before Finn went after Dom.
Balor chased off ‘The Dirty One,’ who left JD alone to take the brunt of his former faction mate’s frustrations. Balor got a little payback for The Judgement Day’s turn on him, but you have to assume a WM “stip” match is on deck.
Other Tidbits
– iShow Speed was at tonight’s RAW, involved in a segment with Dan Housen. Jelly Roll secured his place at WM42, though not officially, and now it looks like the live streamer affectionately called ‘Speed’ will have some role at ‘the show of shows’ with a RAW character. He teased a little ‘play feud’ with Dragon Lee as he was with Penta backstage, but Dan Housen later ‘cursed’ Speed, all but guaranteeing his return.
– Je’Von Evans defeated Grayson Waller, and the Kofi Kingston storyline was furthered in the match as he refused to assist Waller in cheating.
– Bayley and Lyra got over on The Kabuki Warriors in one of the best matches on the card. Bayley, especially, seemed to be in rare form, pulling off huge spots in the match to come out as the MVP. In the post-match drama, Auska and everyone, especially Kari Sane, got into it. That is when Sane seemed to finally break the mental stranglehold Auska has had on her, essentially tapping out from The Kabuki Warriors.
– It was announced last week that the Hall of Fame class will include Dennis Rodman as a 2026 inductee to go along with Stephanie McMahon, AJ Styles, and The Demolition.
NETFLIX…WE HAVE A PROBLEM
– The biggest storyline outside of the TD Garden, but still concerning Monday Night RAW, was the fact that fans were upset that the “rewind” and “pause” features were not available. While some iPhone users reported being able to rewind 30 seconds and pause for even longer, the disappointment was clear in the entire online fandom, which was trying to keep up with RAW, both live and at their leisure. The entire thing was a glitch, as FightsATW has learned, and all functions were restored before the final segment.
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