WWE Monday Night Raw: 2/28/2022

Slowly but surely we are getting closer to WrestleMania and already do both the SmackDown and Raw brands have some pretty high profile matches! Titles will be unified, a rowdy one will get a chance to dethrone a queen, a father/son duo will face a couple of Hollywood A-listers; this really is going to be a jam-packed and extraordinary two night WrestleMania! Raw has really been on a roll delivering solid episodes, and this week’s was no different! Without any delay, let’s see what Raw had in store.

Match 1: Tag Team Match; Alpha Academy vs Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens. (Rating:4/5)

I’m just gonna go out of my and say the following: tag team wrestling is the most exciting type of match to have in any wrestling promotion, and did these four men really help make that point crystal clear. With next week being the big triple threat tag match for the red straps, it seemed fitting for Otis and Gable to face off against their new opposition in KO and Seth Rollins. The match really did favor the second pair of challengers a bit more than the champions themselves but regardless of the decision, as usual Gable and Otis continue to prove why their pairing has been nothing short but successful. Owens and Rollins won the match via pinfall after such an awesome combination/assist that had Kevin set up the Pop Up Powerbomb, however it was Rollins that caught Gable and hit the olympian with a Buckle Bomb then followed by a Curb Stomp. Even IF somehow the rumors of Stone Cold Steve Austin possibly facing Owens at WrestleMania, I would not be disappointed if Owens and Rollins end up becoming the tag champs next week!

Match 2: 6 Woman Tag Match; Becky Lynch, Doudrop and Nikki ASH vs Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair and Liv Morgan. (Rating: 3/5)

It seems that we’re not quite done having these women be involved with each other in some sort of way, and honestly I am okay with it. After the awesome performance that all these women showcased at the Elimination Chamber payperview, seeing Bianca getting involved with Becky physically before their historic rematch at Mania just builds up more anticipation to the women’s side of the big show! Becky and Bianca did get physical with each other, in which it resulted in Belair whipping Lynch on her stomach with her long braided ponytail which looked absolutely vicious, so much so that Becky had a welt on her ribcage! The faces ended up winning this pretty entertaining 6 person tag.

Match 3: Tommaso Ciampa vs Robert Roode. (Rating: 2.5/5)

I’m really enjoying this new change for the character of Dolph Ziggler as he also hops on over to NXT 2.0 and compete with their superstars as well, hence why the feud with Ciampa started. And speaking of Ciampa, one major change happened: he no longer comes out to the “No One Will Survive” theme. Instead he comes out to a somewhat similar generic theme. Regardless of that personal poor decision that was made, he had an okay match against the other half of the Dirty Dawgz in Robert Roode. Ciampa won the match via a sneaky roll-up on Roode.

Match 4: United States Championship Match; Damian Priest (c) vs Finn Bálor. (Rating:4/5)

What a really interesting way to change things up for the Mania buildup! Finn Bálor accepted Priest’s challenge last week for the US title and man did the match deliver. This was the most impressive Finn has been in a couple of months, whereas Damian continued to prove why he definitely deserved holding this United States championship for as long as he did. Unfortunately the reign ended after Finn hit the Coup De Grace on Priest for the pinfall victory, and NEW US champion is the Prince himself! After the match, Priest did give his props to the new champion: however with an actual shocking moment that came out of nowhere, Damian Priest attacked Finn Bálor and laid him out outside of the ring; finally embracing the “Damian” side and became a full fledged heel.

Final Segment: Edge’s WrestleMania opponent… is PHENOMENAL!

This really was such a solid episode of Raw, and what better way to end the show with the Rated R Superstar yet again telling the boys in the back to step up and challenge him at the grandest stage of them all. Now who ended up accepting Edge’s challenge? It was none other than the Phenomenal One himself, A J Styles! Styles comes out and indeed accepted Edge’s challenge, but Edge had a select choice of words of what he wants at WrestleMania: he doesn’t want the former tag team champion AJ Styles, he wants the AJ Styles that was former WWE Champion and that was the hottest free agent that signed with the WWE 7 years ago. After the two men shook hands, things got physical and both men proceeded to attack one another; and in another shocking turn, it was Edge that turned heel and viscously laid out Styles! A low-blow and a con-chairto later, out left Adam Copeland and here returned the Rated R Superstar, Edge that has laid dormant for nearly a decade.

Final rating:3.75/5