Hello again everyone! It’s the start of a new week! And what does that fresh start mean? Well, it means we get to kick things off with another RAW In A Nutshell! That should be plenty of reason to be psyched, right? Perhaps, though this RAW In A Nutshell gives us a wee bit of a diversion. Specifically, we’ve got WWE giving us another Middle East Super ShowDown and serving up a detour. In a shade under four weeks, the WWE Superstars (minus most of the women) will once again head to Saudi Arabia and do their best to come home intact. So without any further discussion, let’s crack open this RAW In A Nutshell!
Best Match of the night:
Not saying either was stellar, but both the six man tag and the main event triple threat match offered enough excitement to be entertaining.
Worst match of the night:
Aleister Black’s match. The guy seriously needs someone decent to step up and challenge him,
Star of the Night
Ricochet for winning and becoming the next Lesnar opponent.
Spot of the Night:
Nothing crazy, but Lashley had a nice dual move during the main event, where he gave a DDT to Rollins and I guess a death drop of sorts to Ricochet at the same time.
Jobber of the Night:
Eric Young sure felt the part tonight.
Upset of the Night:
How about Liv Morgan. She thought she was getting reunited with old friend Ruby Riott. Instead, she’s left crying mid-ring.
Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:
So, Ricochet wins our main event triple threat match, besting Seth Rollins and Bobby Lashley. His prize? A match against Lesnar for the title at Super ShowDown.
Except The Beast is here, in Salt Lake City. He wasn’t waiting until the next Middle East show to rough up his new challenger…
Brock’s way of challenging you to a match.
(via @WWE)pic.twitter.com/MrsMIkAiMX
— B/R Wrestling (@BRWrestling) February 4, 2020
Botch of the night:
Not going to pick on a wrestling move or match. Instead, let’s rip on how bad Lawler can be at times. Tonight was one of those, as Angel Garza’s debut was briefly a debut for Angel Garcia.
Noteworthy Moment:
So, this might be happening a bit later than we all initially thought…but it’s still happening.
We, and many others, had heard rumors indicating that Charlotte would be sh0wing up in NXT last week, in order to challenge the one high profile woman with a title whom she has yet to beat one on one.
It wasn’t exactly the direct path, nor was it even completely driven by the motivated 10 time world champion…but we now know that Charlotte Flair will be on air during the NXT show on Wednesday. This time, we expect her to make her match against Rhea Ripley official.
IT‘S ON.#WWE #RAW pic.twitter.com/aVyBdziVx4
— RealityEraWWE (@IGRealityEraWWE) February 4, 2020
Otherwise, we saw a couple Superstars in action where it seems they should have probably been grounded. Specifically, news earlier on Monday indicated that both Rey Mysterio and Riddick Moss were dealing with concussions from last week’s show. This week, both were in action, however Mysterio ate a DDT on the concrete from Garza, so perhaps WWE is going to give Rey a few weeks to recover.
Overall lowlights:
Not much to complain about, to be honest. Show had some nice segments, and sets up NXT as must-see, if only for Flair/Ripley.
Overall highlights:
Looks like Liv Morgan might be getting a new program. The recently returned Superstar did battle tonight with Lana, but at the end of that battle, Morgan came face to face with old friend Ruby Riott. Riott is back after missing a ton of time due to shoulder surgeries, and she took out her frustration on Morgan.
Liv Morgan seriously has so much potential & a feud with Ruby Riott will help her out so much. #WWE #RAW
— Get The Tables (@GetDaTables) February 4, 2020
After the final bell:
All in all, this was I think a strong show, which gives us a loaded RAW In A Nutshell. Gave fans a return (Riott) and a main roster debut (Garza), along with Ripley’s arrival. This show did enough to set up both the Super ShowDown show, as well as continue to keep an eye on WrestleMania 36.
Lost in the shuffle of a busy RAW? How about Orton’s perfect heel follow up to last week’s assault on Edge, for starters.
Or, WWE’s move to give Asuka a rematch against Becky Lynch, but likely also setting up Shayna Baszler. I’d be stunned if the Submission Magician didn’t intervene next week.