WWE Monday Night Raw: 4/25/2022

A very special and monumental episode of Monday Night Raw this week. Not only because the buildup for Backlash is continuing but a certain Viper and Apex Predator celebrated a special anniversary. Yes, Randy Orton has officially been an active wrestler for 20 years after starting his illustrious career in 2002 and man do I love me some Randy Orton! Without a doubt if he were to retire today at this very moment, he’d go down as the greatest wrestler of this generation in WWE and I wouldn’t hesitate with my statement. Besides Orton’s celebration, how did the rest of the show hold up? Was it just as good? Well, it actually did! And it had some returns to go along with it!

Match 1: Raw Women’s Championship; Bianca Belair (c) vs Sonya Deville. (Rating:2.75/5)

The hometown girl Bianca Belair was ready and set to do battle with Sonya Deville! Not a bad match overall, nor was it one of Belair’s best. Sonya used her power of authority to change the match into a no holds barred match, which led to Carmella and Zelina Vega to serve as backup to make sure Bianca didn’t win. Obviously thing didn’t go as planned and with a KOD, Belair was able to successfully retain her championship. Not sure if this is going to be just a one-off match between the two ladies but I truly wonder which big name would be next for Belair to combat against.

Segment 1: A “big time” challenge

Returns galore! And what a way to kick off this night of returns than with the former Raw women’s champion, Becky Lynch. Lynch comes out and addresses the crowd about what had happened at night one of WrestleMania and how she was able to accept the fact that for the first time in 3 years, she had been not only defeated for a championship but dethroned in the rankings courtesy of Bianca Belair. Becky vows that she was going to return to the top, and how nobody can stop her until a familiar face made her grand return. It was ASUKA! Asuka returns for the first time in about a year to a great reaction by the crowd and was quick to not only drop Lynch on her feet but to also declare that nobody in the locker room would be ready for Asuka. Such a great heartfelt moment! So glad Asuka came back.

Match 2: Finn Bálor vs Damian Priest. (Rating:3/5)

Truly love the chemistry that Bálor and Priest have when they step in the ring together! These matches are always fun to watch. Damian was accompanied by Edge in this match, and their name for this newly formed stable is simply “Judgement Day”; which I personally don’t mind whatsoever! Honestly, the group could’ve been called anything else and it wouldn’t change how awesome this pairing has been. Finn loses to a Reckoning by Damian Priest for the pinfall victory, and it was also made official that at Backlash; Edge would be going one on one with AJ Styles once again. What an already stacked payperview!

Match 3: The Miz vs MUSTAFA ALI! (Rating:3.5/5)

Prior to this impromptu match, the Miz hosted a Miz TV segment with the new United States champion Theory; basically congratulating the young star and comparing himself to the Miz back in 2006/2007 when he first broke to the WWE following the Real World MTV career. Then out came out MUSTAFA ALI to yet another shocking return after Theory proclaimed that there isn’t anybody on the roster that could match up to him. Ali comes out and challenged Theory for a match with the US title on the line which prompted the Miz to step in instead; and this was quite enjoyable. I missed seeing Ali perform in the ring, and him coming back with a babyface reaction from the crowd was also really nice because even though I did like the Retribution stuff and him being a heel, he felt more naturally babyface. A surprise roll-up for the win for Ali’s return which was followed by a legitimate out of nowhere ambush by Tommaso Ciampa, who turned heel in the process! You cannot make this up, folks; wrestling’s INSANE!

Main Event: 8 Man Tag Team Match; Ezekiel, Cody Rhodes and RK-Bro vs Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins and the Usos. (Rating:4/5)

A HUGE 8 man tag to close off Raw for this week! Rivals squared off against each other and truly this was a fun multi-man tag match. The primarily focus was definitely on Randy Orton in this match, considering it was the 20th anniversary of him starting his amazing career in WWE and he scored the winning pinfall. RKOs all around to Rollins, to Owens and to both Jimmy and Jey Uso with Randy scoring the pin on Jey to win this match; building momentum to not only the unification match but giving Cody momentum for his rematch with Rollins at Backlash.

Final Rating:3.75/5