WWE Monday Night Raw: 4/11/2022

After a pretty lackluster Raw after WrestleMania last week, it was time to see where the landscape for the red brand is going off to and man did it really make the show this week much more enticing! This is how last week’s Raw episode should’ve gone down instead of there being a select few amount of great moments; like how Cody Rhodes kicked off last week’s show making a promise that he’d be capturing the world championship to honor his father, Dusty Rhodes. A real emotional and impactful promo! And speaking of Cody…

Segment 1: Miz Tv with Cody Rhodes

Two weeks later and this still doesn’t feel real. Cody Rhodes being back in the WWE so far has been great, and seeing him actually honing his own persona and character that he’s developed in New Japan and AEW has been great. During this segment we found out that Rhodes was going to be facing the Miz later on in the night but one real interesting bit of information: Cody Rhodes wants Roman Reigns and the Undisputed Universal title! Planting the seeds for an eventual feud with Reigns with HOPEFULLY Rhodes coming out on top? It’s too early to predict but it’s going to be a great buildup.

Match 1: Veer vs Dominik Mysterio. (Rating:2.5/5)

Veer Mahan, after a 7 month wait, had FINALLY arrived on Monday Night Raw last week by decimating both Dominik and Rey Mysterio following Dom’s match against the Miz. Now a blowoff match between Mahan and Dominik ensued and it was a squash match. Despite this, Veer showcased himself as this deranged and unstoppable monster that’s a forced to be reckoned with. Mahan wins via submission and proceeded to continue his attack on Mysterio in a post match assault. Probably seems that Dominik will be out of television (in storyline of course) because he was carried out via a stretcher. I need to see Veer wrestle someone more his style, but not a bad debut by any means!

Match 2: Cody Rhodes vs the Miz. (Rating:3.5/5)

Cody’s first official match on Raw in six years! And what a better way to make your return match against one of the best guys on the Raw roster such as the Miz. Seth Rollins came out to watch this match by ringside. A rather quick match which ended with Cody hitting his Cody Cutter followed by a Cross Rhodes to get the pinfall victory. Following the match, Rollins threw out the challenge to Cody for Backlash; in which Cody accepted. Rollins/Rhodes 2 is going to indeed happen and it’s definitely going to live up to the hype!

Segment 2: VIP Lounge

Last week was a BIG week for MVP and Bobby Lashley. After his victory against Omos at WrestleMania, Bobby was on top of the world as he was the first man to topple down Omos. Omos then proceeded to make his way into the ring which led to MVP turning heel by betraying the Almighty and aligned himself with the Colossus. Fast forward this week and Bobby was irate and he wanted answers. MVP and Omos then come out and told the world that Omos was the new Almighty in the WWE and how Lashley was a nobody until MVP made his return to manage the former champion. Now Bobby’s out for blood as he not only wants to face Omos once more but also MVP himself. Eventually Omos will get the victory against Bobby but it’s more enticing to see how far the MVP partnership goes!

Segment 3: Bianca Belair’s first challenger

It’s rather poetic that in the span of two WrestleManias, Bianca Belair not only beat two out of four of the Horsewomen in WWE but she also captured championship gold on both occasions! But now the question is: who’s next? Who will be facing Belair for the Raw women’s championship? Was Becky Lynch going to get a rematch? Was it going to be Rhea Ripley, a former champion and a former NXT women’s champion in her own right? A possible return of Bayley or Asuka?! The possibilities were endless! But it did turn out to be a return.. somewhat. Sonya Deville revealed herself to be the woman to challenge Belair (assuming at Backlash) for her championship after a contract between the two women were signed, following a beat down on the champion of course. Interesting choice!

Main Event: The Usos vs Street Profits. (Rating:4.25/5)

We really are going to be getting a tag team unification soon, aren’t we? After RK-Bro picked up a win against Alpha Academy, the Usos made their way down the ring and demanded that the Raw champions would put up their share of gold to give us the unification match straight away! However the Street Profits had other plans which led to them facing off against the Usos in a really fun and high-octane match. Near fall after near fall and a BEAUTIFUL Frog Splash by Montez Ford, nothing seemed to work! One 3-D by the Usos later and they picked up the win! Afterwards both Usos and RK-Bro stood face to face, holding their respected championships in the air until a brawl ensues; which sees the SmackDown tag champions on top! Good idea or not, I’m curious to see what comes out of this.

Final Rating:3.75/5