Monday Night Raw – April 6, 2020: The Yokozuna Treatment
IMG Credit: WWE
Monday Night Raw
Date: April 6, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton
We’re finally past Wrestlemania XXXVI and that means it’s time to start getting ready for presumably Money in the Bank, assuming they actually get to run the show. I’m not sure what they’re going to be able to do long term but they got through Wrestlemania and that’s what matters. Let’s get to it.
Here’s Wrestlemania if you need a recap (Part Two)
We open with a look at Drew McIntyre defeating Brock Lesnar to win the Raw World Title.
Opening sequence.
Asuka vs. Liv Morgan
Asuka kicks her in the ribs to start and scores with the hip attack for a bonus. Liv manages to knock her to the floor and snaps off a hurricanrana as we take a break. Back with Asuka stomping away and hitting a running knee for two. Liv gets in some clotheslines and a faceplant to stagger Asuka, with a double stomp out of the corner getting two. Asuka is right back with the cross armbreaker but Liv backflips into a cradle for two. That’s fine with Asuka, who pulls her into the Asuka Lock for the tap at 10:06.
Rating: C-. And that seems to end or at least downgrade the Morgan experiment for the time being. I’m sure she’ll come back in the near future but at least she got the Wrestlemania moment. By beating Natalya. On the Kickoff Show. That counts for something, right?
We look at Becky Lynch retaining over Shayna Baszler.
Becky is proud of her year long reign and thinks Shayna underestimated her. She’s ready for anyone.
Baszler talks about the agony of defeat and isn’t done with Becky.
Tag Team Titles: Austin Theory/Angel Garza vs. Street Profits
The Profits are defending and Zelina Vega is here with the challengers. Garza bails from Dawkins to start so it’s off to Theory, who gets dropkicked down. A double flapjack puts Garza onto Theory and we take a break. Back with Theory hitting his rolling dropkick on Dawkins and cranking on the arm. Some stomping keeps Dawkins down and the armbar goes on. It’s off to Garza to work on the legs to mix things up a bit but Dawkins manages to suplex Theory. The hot tag brings in Ford and everything breaks down, with Vega getting involved for the DQ at 10:04.
Rating: C-. If that’s where they’re going, I’m not sure if they needed the first Wrestlemania title match. The match felt tacked on in the first place and now there’s this, which felt like your usual Raw match with the angle at the end to set up something else. The tag division is nothing right now and I’m not sure who the Profits are supposed to face going forward.
Post match the brawl continues with Bianca Belair running in and going after Vega. The ring is cleared so Belair challenges Vega for right now.
Zelina Vega vs. Bianca Belair
Belair powers her down to start and flips forward, only to have Vega get in a slap to the face. That’s too far for Belair, who throws her down by the head. A missed charge goes into the post though and Vega ties her up in the ropes with something like a crucifix chinlock. Belair powers out of a dragon sleeper and Ford grabs the camera in celebration. Theory blocks a moonsault attempt though and the guys get in a fight. Everyone gets inside and the match is thrown out at 4:26.
Rating: D+. They’re going all the way with this trio of matches tonight aren’t they? Belair being out there was a good way to introduce her, though you might think she would just get a clean pin here instead of being used to set up something else. You can do that, but do you really need to let the match be thrown out?
Post match, six person challenge.
Street Profits/Bianca Belair vs. Zelina Vega/Austin Theory/Angel Garza
Dawkins throws Theory around to start and it’s Ford coming in, only to spend too much time trash talking. That earns him a forearm to the back to send Ford outside and it’s a cheap shot from Garza for a bonus. The chinlock into a front facelock keep Ford in trouble and Theory sends him outside. Back in and Ford powers out of a sleeper so Theory knocks Dawkins off the apron. Ford enziguris Theory down though and it’s off to Belair to ragdoll Zelina with a backbreaker. The handspring moonsault connects as everyone else fights on the floor. The KOD ends Vega at 5:26.
Rating: C-. Well at least they got to the right ending. The Profits are long established so having the focus on Belair here makes sense. She’s come a long way in NXT and it would be nice to see her getting a push around here. The women’s division certainly needs the boost and maybe she can do it.
We look at Lana costing Bobby Lashley the match against Aleister Black.
Lashley isn’t happy with Lana and walks away from her.
Aleister Black vs. Apollo Crews
Crews has been signed over from Smackdown. Black front facelocks him to start but Crews powers out into a headlock. Crews shoulders him down but Black flips over him and has a seat, sending Crews bailing to the floor. Back from a break with Black grabbing an armbar but Crews knocks him outside. A belly to back suplex keeps Black in trouble on the floor but he’s right back in with a kick to the chest for two. Crews backdrops him to the floor and scores with a moonsault as we take another break (In this match?).
Back again with Crews hitting a clothesline for two and the chinlock goes on. Black fights up and kicks away until a powerslam gives Crews two. A shot to the leg doesn’t do much to Crews, who hits an enziguri into the toss powerbomb for two more. Crews clotheslines him down and goes up top, only to miss the splash.
A kneebar has Crews in more trouble but he makes the rope. They trade kicks and Black is sent outside as we take a third break. Back again with Black kicking him in the face for two more but Crews hits a dropkick. Crews catches him on top and hits a superplex for a delayed two.
The knee gives out on a gorilla press attempt so Crews gets in a sitout powerbomb for two more. Now the gorilla press sets up the standing moonsault. The standing shooting star press gets the same and they’re both down again. Crews dives into the jumping knee to the face though and Black Mass finishes at 27:26.
Rating: B-. This wasn’t exactly what I was expecting when I saw these two being paired together but surprises can be fun too. Crews continues to have all of the athletic abilities in the world but not much in terms of success. Black got in some good stuff here but Black Mass is something that can make him a star for as long as he wants.
Video on Edge beating Randy Orton in the Last Man Standing match.
Cedric Alexander/Ricochet vs. Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch
Lorcan takes Alexander down into a front facelock and it’s quickly off to Burch for a chinlock. Alexander fights up and brings in Ricochet but has to fight off Burch and Lorcan at the same time. A triangle dropkick puts Burch on the floor and it’s back to Cedric for an enziguri into a front suplex. Ricochet’s standing shooting star and it’s the Neuralizer into the Benadryller for the pin on Lorcan at 3:37.
Rating: C. They packed some action into this one and that’s a good thing to see. Alexander and Ricochet are two guys with nothing else to do and the tag division certainly could use a boost. Then again I don’t know how much of a future they have as the tag division never goes anywhere for very long, but the nod is better than nothing.
Video on Kevin Owens beating Seth Rollins.
Owens has spent several months asking himself if it is worth it to spend this much time facing Rollins. Then he dove off the sign at Wrestlemania and pinned Rollins, which made it all worth it. Now he needs to find something new to do, so maybe we need to find out who needs the next Stunner.
Seth Rollins vs. Denzel Dejournette
Denzel is from NXT and gets sent outside early on. A whip into the barricade sets up the Stomp to give Rollins the pin at 1:23.
Nia Jax vs. Deonna Purrazzo
Jax says fight her and blasts Purrazzo with a clothesline. She does it again for a bonus and it’s the Samoan drop into a fisherman’s DDT to finish Purrazzo at 1:36.
Video on the Boneyard match.
Humberto Carrillo vs. Brendan Vink
Carrillo starts fast with the springboard armdrag to put Vink on the floor but he forearms his way out of a suicide dive. Back in and Vink hiptosses Carrillo down so we can hit the chinlock. Carrillo fights up with a dropkick into a moonsault though, setting up a missile dropkick. A kick to the face into the top rope moonsault finishes Vink at 3:23.
Rating: D+. Just a match here and not much of an entertaining one. I get why WWE wants to push Carrillo but he just isn’t clicking. He can do all of the in-ring stuff just fine but there is a connection issue that needs to be fixed. That isn’t something you can just turn off and on though and I think WWE might be realizing it with him. Maybe this gets better, but it hasn’t shown any signs of doing so yet.
Video on Charlotte winning the NXT Women’s Title.
Charlotte talks about everything she has accomplished and how she has done everything. Rhea Ripley is great and now she has bowed down to the Queen.
Video on Drew McIntyre winning the WWE Championship.
We get some post Wrestlemania footage of McIntyre coming back into the arena wearing the title for an interview. Drew talks about how he can’t believe that he got here and it hasn’t sunk in yet. He thanks everyone who has gotten him here, including Paul Heyman. During the match with Brock Lesnar, Heyman said keep giving Drew the F5 because he can’t keep getting back up.
That made Drew think about all the times he has had to get back up so the F5’s just angered him over and over again. Now he’s WWE Champion….and here’s the Big Show with a referee. Show congratulates him and wants a match right now, not even for the title. Drew says he just beat Brock Lesnar so that’s not happening right now. Show thinks that’s fear but Drew knows what’s going on. That earns him a slap so Drew is ready to go.
Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Big Show
McIntyre is defending. Show starts fast and slams him down to bang up the ribs a bit. A headbutt cuts the champ off and a Vader Bomb gets two. There’s another slam to work on the ribs even more and Show chokes on the ropes while asking what Drew is made of. The big chop misses and Drew swings away, setting up a slam for two in a good looking spot. Drew goes up top and dives into a chokeslam for two. The KO Punch misses though and it’s the Claymore to retain at 6:57.
Rating: D+. A competitive match here is fine but my goodness they had me worried that they would actually do something this bad. The match was the usual slow and plodding Big Show deal but at least they didn’t pull the trigger for the sake of promoting Big Show’s Netflix series. Points for the drama, but negative points for making me think about the possibility.
Overall Rating: C. Well they did something different and that’s what mattered here. This show didn’t feel boring and was as good of a post Wrestlemania show as they could have had in this situation. They kept the show moving and we had a good enough night as a result. I don’t know if we should expect it going forward, but this was a step up from the recent Performance Center TV shows. I’ll take what I can get at this point so well enough done.
Results
Asuka b. Liv Morgan – Asuka Lock
Street Profits b. Austin Theory/Angel Garza via DQ when Zelina Vega interfered
Bianca Belair vs. Zelina Vega went to a no contest
Street Profits/Bianca Belair b. Zelina Vega/Austin Theory/Angel Garza – KOD to Vega
Aleister Black b. Apollo Crews – Black Mass
Cedric Alexander/Ricochet b. Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch – Benadryller to Lorcan
Seth Rollins b. Denzel Dejournette – Stomp
Nia Jax b. Deonna Purrazzo – Fisherman’s DDT
Humberto Carrillo b. Brendan Vink – Moonsault
Drew McIntyre b. Big Show – Claymore
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:
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KB did you see the John Cena interview on “After the Bell”? He adresses the concern I had of wrestling never having another legend or household name. Or great era for that matter. And his answer makes complete sense: today’s fans won’t allow it.
I didn’t see it but I’d call that a half truth. WWE doesn’t allow it either.
Fans can only see what’s in front of them. Anything with a camera and a writer and a director and producer can basically tell you how to act
I went to the tonight show with jay leno in 2004. They basically tell you when to cheer and react. It’s a controlled environment.
As much a spectacle the firefly fun house chess match was and the visualization of a heel turn Cena is hurt by the fact that hogan and the rock did playing the heel better
Wrestling and actors are one in the same in the fact that there are a bunch of actors but not every actor can be in a big budget blockbuster. Same with wrestling
What we as wrestling fans have to do is just enjoy the product and not let the politics get to us
But if we are patient we get awesome moments that stay with us forever
I think the only times wwe was caught off guard and quickly had to put a stop in someone’s momentum was cm punk. I still to this day go back and watch money in the bank for that crowd reaction the summer of punk was short lived BUT he had the crowd
Notice a pattern here: when punk won they used triple h new authority figure role to mess with punk and help take the title off of him. By the time the belt was hot potatoed from del rio to Cena back to del rio to punk. It completely knocked the sails out of punks momentum yes he had the belt But Cena had his program with rock
Now when Bryan faced Cena and won at summerslam 2013(same day as punk Lesnar) Bryan won a huge victory over Cena only for Hhh to once again help Orton win the belt
Look I get it every face needs a heel but they basically repeated the storyline with Bryan that they Would have with punk IF rock never fought Cena. You can’t be the top guy even if you have the belt Unless you are the top guy
Not exactly the greatest post WM Raw in history but WWE is doing the best it can under the circumstances. I will say that I did like that a lot of fresh faces received a ton of airtime last night.
The Street Profits, Bianca Belair, Zelina Vega, Angel Garza and Austin Theory ate up a lot of time in their combined segments and matches last night. They probably had too much time but I very much liked this far more than the series of squash matches that would come later on during the show.
Black vs. Crews was much more than I was expecting. I thought it was pretty damn good but it’s a shame that it probably won’t lead to anything regarding Crews. He could use a good mouthpiece, a new character or maybe both. I know some hate to hear the world “potential” but Crews really does have a lot of it. Of course, so do a LOT of people on the WWE roster who’ve probably already risen as high as they’re going to.
The stuff with McIntyre was a let down to me. I was expecting something worth watching given the “shocking events” that happened after McIntyre beat Lesnar. Big Show, to me, is damaged goods right along with Dolph Ziggler. Show could have been the last truly great super heavyweight just like Ziggler could’ve been a top level player in WWE but both were sabotaged by extremely weak booking decisions over the course of the last 10-20 years. I knew McIntyre would retain, which Big Mac retaining was the important thing when it’s all said and done, as I just had a feeling that even Vince, as goofy as he is at times, couldn’t make a decision as dumb as having McIntyre drop the title to another over the hill part timer. Or, at least one who isn’t on the same level of star as guys like Lesnar, Goldberg or Taker.
As soon as I saw how Vega was dressed, I had the first hour booked. I was glad to see Crews get to show off. He desperately needs a manager though. However, they need to be done now. Take a break like everyone else is. It’s ok. AEW apparently taped enough to go into May and if we’re all still in this situation by then, they need to take a break too. Both companies are putting people’s lives in danger to produce shows that honestly, just aren’t that good. Even if the shows were good, they’re still needlessly endangering people’s lives. If fans cared about these people the way they claim to on this site and other outlets, they’d agree with me.
Sorry man I don’t understand your rating for Macintyres first defense. You want drama or you don’t Are you saying You can’t decide between the two?
I like drama. It just wasn’t a good match.
PC tapings end with NXT Wednesday I hope they can’t continue for the time being.
They definitely had me for a couple of a minutes with Big Show and Drew Mcintyre. I like Big Show but thank goodness Drew retained. I thought the Aliester Black/Apollo Crews Match was excellent, hopefully Crews gets a chance back on RAW and same for the New Team of Ricochet/Cedric. Also good to see Bianca Bel Air moved up to RAW officially.
I wad fully expecting Jinder Mahal as it’s rumored Vince wants him to return as one of McIntyre’s first feuds for the Championship.
My God that sounds horrifying. Drew is awesome and has talent. Mahal is… Well Mahal is… He’s just Mahal (and that’s not a good thing)