WWE Raw Results: Highlights, Analysis, and Grades for February 20

Raw, Source: WWE.com

Raw was live in Los Angeles this week as Big Show faced Braun Strowman in a battle of giants. Plus, fallout from last week’s Festival of Friendship!

Previously on WWE Raw, THE CANADIAN MEGA POWERS EXPLODED. Chris Jericho put together a fantastic Festival of Friendship for his best friend Kevin Owens. But Jericho’s night ended at a local medical facility after he was brutally attacked by Owens. Why, Kevin, why?

Last week’s main event featured a title change. After several missed opportunities, Bayley finally scored a victory over Charlotte Flair with the Raw Women’s Championship on the line. However, Bayley got an assist from Sasha Banks in the process. What is the state of the Raw Women’s Division right now?

This week, we were treated to a hoss fight for the ages. Braun Strowman faced off with the Big Show in a one on one contest. Strowman made quick work of Mark Henry last week; how did he fare against the World’s Largest Athlete?

The tag team scene is suddenly crowded with challengers to the championship, as well. Enzo Amore and Big Cass want to win the gold from Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. But Sheamus and Cesaro feel their championship rematch ended in a loss because Enzo and Cass got involved. Tonight, they faced off to determine the number one contenders for the Raw Tag Team Championships. Who will face Gallows and Anderson at Fastlane?

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Please continue reading for all the results and highlights from WWE Raw for February 20, 2017.

Kevin Owens Addresses The Crowd

Is there any doubt that Kevin Owens is at least loosely aligned with Triple H at this point?

Let’s recap: Last week, just before the Festival of Friendship, Triple H pulled Owens aside. They conversed, and minutes later Chris Jericho was left in a pile of television debris and broken artwork. Coincidence? Maybe.

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Tonight, Owens is literally in the spotlight in the center of the ring. And he’s upgraded his wardrobe – he’s back to the championship caliber suit and tie. It’s been a looooooong time since we’ve seen that, but don’t forget that right after KO won the title he dressed similarly.

How about his words tonight? “No one plays the game better than me”? The game? Hmmm, what member of WWE’s authority structure refers to himself as “The Game”?

All that aside, this was a brilliant promo by Owens, who is the most hated man in WWE right now. It’s all about Goldberg, and how he doesn’t present a threat to the Universal Championship. It’s pitch perfect. The whole thing comes from a position of logic and reality, and it’s perfectly reasonable to believe that Owens believes every word he’s saying.

To completely downplay Goldberg’s admittedly impressive stats and ability, and to outright refuse to speak of Jericho is exactly what you’d expect from Kevin Owens right now. How Triple H ultimately factors into this is going to be interesting.

No. 1 Contender’s Match for Raw Tag Team Championships
Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Enzo Amore & Big Cass

Result: Enzo Amore & Big Cass defeated Cesaro & Sheamus via pinfall

Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars

Every time Michael Cole brings up the “unorthodox style of Enzo Amore,” I’m going to point out that his offensive style is getting thrown by his tag team partner into his opponent. Definitely unorthodox, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good thing.

Just before the commercial break, Cesaro dropped probably the line of the year. As is his style, he had uppercutted Enzo into oblivion. Walking past the camera, he just casually said, “How is he doing, not so good, huh?” Beautiful. How is this man not a main event level superstar? He’s got talent, attitude, charisma, the whole package!

The story in this one was that, surprisingly, Cesaro and Sheamus worked better as a tag team for the majority of the match. In fact, it’s probably the best chemistry they’ve had as a team since being forced into teaming together.

And it wasn’t enough, because Enzo and Cass are the longer tenured team. Despite all the quick tags from Cesaro and Sheamus, the isolation of Enzo, the blind tag to slow Cass down, all it took was one little distraction to put Cesaro down for a three count.

How about Enzo finally getting some comeuppance for running his mouth? It’s been, what, just about a year since he and Cass showed up on the main roster? Enzo has been yapping like Henery Hawk from Looney Tunes the whole time, and what happens? Nothing. I don’t see it so much as a heel move from Sheamus as a reasonable response to a persistent pest.

So at Fastlane, Gallows and Anderson will defend against Enzo and Cass. We have to wait and see what happens with Cesaro and Sheamus from here on out.

Raw Women’s Championship Video Package

I touched on this last week, but it bears repeating after this (stellar) video package that hasn’t been uploaded to Fan Nation. Bayley’s victory was a great moment. I literally can’t think of anyone more likable in WWE at the moment (no, not even Sami Zayn, but it’s close).

Two things made it a million times less special than it could have been. First, it’s a random episode of Raw in February. It wasn’t a milestone episode. No sweeps week (that I know of, I’m almost 34 and still don’t understand TV ratings). No stipulation that it was her “last chance” at the title.

Second, and most important to me, it wasn’t a clean victory. Bayley can beat Charlotte clean – she’s done it several times before. But last week needed not only Dana Brooke, but Sasha Banks getting involved to muck it all up.

I’ll mention that when Bayley defeated Sasha for the NXT Women’s Championship at TakeOver: Brooklyn in 2015, it literally brought me to tears. The whole story was so well executed that it was impossible to not get swept up in the emotion of the whole thing.

This story? Not so much, you know? We’ll see where it goes when Bayley addresses the controversy later on tonight, but it’s going to take a lot to get me to come around off this stance.

The Brian Kendrick vs. Akira Tozawa

Result: No contest

Rating: N/A

I’m calling this segment “How to Alienate Your Ring Crew and Make Them Question Their Career Decisions.”

Seriously, if I had to convert the ring from “Raw” to “205 Live” for a non match that lasted maybe two minutes, I’d be a little upset.

Some positives in the segment: Kendrick is solidifying himself as a solid number two heel behind Neville in the Cruiserweight Division. I’ve been a fan of his going back to the Spanky days, and even I don’t want to cheer for this guy right now. And I cheer for all the bad guys!

Tozawa is also clearly primed to be the breakout star of 205 Live/the Cruiserweight Division. He’s actually connecting with the crowd in a way that few others in the division have. And getting beaten like this here is a surefire way to get the sympathy of the audience. Now the crowd wants to see him get his revenge on Kendrick.

I’m not a fan of the whole “respect/disrespect” thing, though. It’s an overplayed trope, and there’s got to be a better way to get Tozawa/Kendrick over.

Roman Reigns Interrupts Mick Foley

As if once wasn’t enough, Roman Reigns gets himself into a handicap match against the theoretical best team on Raw. This time, he willingly foregoes the chance at having a tag partner.

If someone can explain to me how this makes anyone look good – especially in light of last week’s match – I’d love to hear it.

Roman Reigns vs. The Club (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson)

Result: The Club defeated Roman Reigns via disqualification

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars

Congratulations, WWE. This match was even more of a waste of time than last week’s was. I don’t even know how that’s possible.

Don’t get me wrong and think that I’m insane for hating everything. I 110% understand what the purpose of this set of matches has been. Reigns wants Strowman, but can’t have him. So he’s preparing himself by doing what Strowman usually does – take on multiple opponents by himself.

The difference? Strowman faces guys like James Ellsworth, or bargain bin rip-offs of Santino Marella. Reigns has now outlasted the Raw Tag Team Champions – twice.

So once again, Roman looks strong. He’s singlehandedly taken out the tag champs multiple times. We’ll ignore that tonight he did so with the assistance of a steel chair. If he’s ever going to be ready for Strowman – and as a former world champion, he darn well should be – now’s the time.

I just hate hate haaaaaaaate that Roman looking strong comes at the expense of one of the best tag teams in the world, who have finally won gold in WWE, and now look like a bunch of jamokes who are going to drop the belts to Enzo and Cass because they couldn’t beat a drum at this point.

Rusev & Jinder Mahal (w/ Lana) vs. The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston, w/ Xavier Woods)

Result: The New Day defeated Rusev & Jinder Mahal via pinfall

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Before I let things go too far, let me say that I am 100% in favor of New Day voicing the hyenas in the Lion King reboot. That is something I didn’t realize I wanted until it was a possibility. And it won’t happen, but a guy can dream, can’t he?

Second, that was probably the best combination of Russian hacking and ice cream that will ever be executed. I am usually pretty good about seeing where things are going, but that got me. Bravo.

And then on to the match! It’s hard to get a good read on it since it started during the commercial break, but what we saw was decent. Jinder Mahal – excuse me, Hardbody Mahal – has looked really good in recent weeks, in albeit limited action. Rusev is always on point in the ring.

What’s frustrating is that the New Day has become basically nothing since losing the tag titles. It’s almost as if they were defined by setting the record, and there were absolutely no plans for what happened when the reign inevitably ended. Case in point: They’re hosting WrestleMania this year instead of competing. What’s the deal there, huh?

In Memoriam, George “The Animal” Steele

By the time I had conscious memory of watching WWE, Steele was already the lovable monster that he portrayed at the end of his career. But prior to that, he was a great actual monster in the ring.

What has always struck me is that Steele was probably one of the most intelligent men to set foot in a wrestling ring. He was a school teacher! The incongruous nature of real life and character has always fascinated me.

Sad to see him pass, it seemed like everyone truly liked and respected him.

Cruiserweight Championship Contract Signing

That poor ring crew. Again with the rope change for next to nothing!

Good on Neville for trying to avoid a typical WWE contract signing. Enter ring, sign paper, leave ring. If more people tried that, maybe “pro wrestling contract signing ends in violence” wouldn’t be the most obvious trope in the world.

I am really enjoying the Battle of the Brits in the Cruiserweight Division, too. Neville is perfect to be the “Destroyer” type character, because we’ve already seen him do most of what he’s doing to non-cruiserweights. If the guy can deadlift German an opponent like Ryback, he should be able to launch TJ Perkins into the fifth row.

His polar opposite is Jack Gallagher. Quirky, odd, but immensely talented, he’s almost an anomaly in WWE. He doesn’t look like he belongs. But of course, you can’t judge a book by it’s cover.

Playing them off each other like that is so easy that I almost want to not like it because it’s so obvious, but so far so good in my opinion. With Neville acknowledging that Gallagher is “what they wanted me to be,” it sets up a kind of parallel universe in WWE.

How about Gallagher’s headbutts, though? Man, that looks brutal every single time. I don’t know how he hasn’t concussed someone else yet – or even himself.

Nia Jax vs. Sarah Pierce

Result: Nia Jax defeated Sarah Pierce via pinfall

Rating: 1.0 out of 5 stars

Not much going on here. Jax is a monster, local talent looks scared, gets squashed, and the segment is over.

We’ve seen it a million times before with Nia Jax. For some reason, she hasn’t really gotten to evolve away from this like her male equivalent – Braun Strowman.

It’s possible that may be changing soo, however. Following the victory here, Jax speaks with Charly Caruso in the ring.

According to Nia, the only “controversy” is that she’s never gotten a shot at the Raw Women’s Championship. She scoffs at the idea of Sasha or Bayley trying to pull their shenanigans on someone like her. And she ends the segment by putting Bayley on notice.

It’s a match we’ve seen before a bunch of times. In NXT, it was one of the top feuds for a long period of time. It’s got the potential to be something special if given the appropriate room to grow and evolve.

However, based on the next segment, I don’t foresee that happening. There’s too much going on in the Raw Women’s Division right now for Nia to organically fit. If she enters the title picture, it will basically put every woman on the Raw roster in line for a title shot.

Bayley Addresses Championship Controversy

Look, I love Bayley like any good wrestling fan. She clearly loves what she does, and has passion for it. She’s got personal stories to back up everything she’s said and done. But what she doesn’t have is a good public speaking style. It’s rough, but it somehow adds to her charm. She’s just a big kid – what kid is a good public speaker?

Moving on to the segment, it’s kind of appropriate that Stephanie McMahon would choose this moment in time to reaffirm her status as Most Important Person in WWE Ever™. Mind you, nothing Stephanie said was wrong, per se. It’s just so tired to see her interject herself any time someone might seem to be bigger than her.

By the time Sasha makes her way out to join Middle School Drama Club Theater, I’m sitting here wanting to claw my eyes out. Stephanie is her manipulating self, playing Devil’s Advocate. Sasha is trying to be the voice of reason. Bayley is the most tone deaf version of NXT Bayley I’ve ever seen.

The one thing I did appreciate was the symbolism – Stephanie as the devil was on Bayley’s left, and Sasha as the voice of reason on the right. At least they got that right.

Anyway, Charlotte comes out, and yadda yadda, she’s got a match with Sasha now, and a rematch with Bayley at Fastlane.

Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks

Result: Sasha Banks defeated Charlotte Flair via submission

Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars

You don’t need me to tell you that a Charlotte/Sasha match was good, do you? I didn’t think so.

I will say this: I feel like these two have had more high profile matches than Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat. And they’ve only had a fraction of the time frame those two Hall of Famers had.

With Sasha claiming to be near 100%, there was no room for any excuses when this one ended. But Dana Brooke made an appearance anyway, because clean victories in the Raw Women’s Division are rarer than Curtis Axel appearances on television.

The action, outside of the finish, was great. Sasha’s casadora bulldog looked fantastic, and the meteora knee strike off the apron just prior to the finish was similarly awesome.

With Dana getting involved, it pulled Bayley off commentary to make the save. And with Charlotte being forced to tap out, hat state of mind will she be in come Fastlane? Is her undefeated pay per view streak in jeopardy?

DDP Entering the WWE Hall of Fame

You can take your RKOs from outta nowhere, because I’ll keep the Diamond Cutter that can be hit from anywhere. DDP is great and deserves this nod solely based on the number of lives he has literally saved with his lifestyle philosophy.

Sami Zayn Backstage

Remember a few weeks ago when Sami was teaming up with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, and he was acting like a lunatic? This was the polar opposite of that. This was a Sami I can get behind in a big way, even if he’s about to get MDK’d by Owens/Samoa Joe/both in the next few minutes.

Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn

Result: Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn via pinfall

Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars

See? Both of them this time.

I’m still of the belief that there’s a loose alliance between Owens, Joe, and Triple H. Notice that Samoa Joe was wearing a suit minus the jacket. Last week, he basically said that he was a freelancer, but would do whatever his boss (Triple H) wanted him to do.

Earlier tonight, Owens told Mick Foley that if he wasn’t careful, he’d have more guys on the injured list than in the locker room. Could KO have known what was about to happen? Tough to tell.

But Sami is the dumbest, bravest SOB there is in WWE. Most people wouldn’t force a match to get started after being assaulted by Samoa Joe. But there’s our Zayn, demanding the match get under way so he can lose with dignity, I guess.

And the match is all KO, as would be expected at this point. The commentary team says it’s to send a message to Goldberg, but I disagree. The beating comes from the fact that Owens hates Zayn with every fiber of his being. That’s it, there’s no deeper meaning. Hence the warning to Foley, if we look at it from another viewpoint.

Quick question: Is Samoa Joe pro wrestling’s Beetlejuice? Every time Sami says his name, BOOM, there’s a beating from Joe. I’d hate to see what happens if you say his name three times.

Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley Argue Backstage

If Mick Foley is still general manager of Raw by the time the post-WrestleMania Raw ends, I’ll eat my hat. And while I’m glad to see his old “Commissioner” shirt make an appearance, someone should tell him that he’s the general manager.

Maybe he can write it on his hand.

Michael Cole Interviews Brock Lesnar

Okay, maybe Michael Cole didn’t really interview Lesnar. It was more of a Paul Heyman soliloquy, with the Beast staring into a camera menacingly.

The one question Cole managed to (mostly) get out – what if Goldberg beats Kevin Owens at Fastlane – is a big one. And based on how Raw has gone tonight, and what Heyman was talking about, I have a feeling we’re in for some kind of wacky, Vince Russo-esque swerve at Fastlane.

Get ready, folks: Brock Lesnar is going to help Goldberg win the Universal Title at Fastlane.

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Hear me out. The gist of Heyman’s spiel here was “Brock Lesnar wants to beat Goldberg in the biggest way possible.” If WrestleMania wasn’t big enough, let’s add a championship to the mix.

Heyman also was quick to point out that he – not Lesnar – believes Owens has a legitimate chance to win at Fastlane. but he says Lesnar disagrees.

How about more evidence: Less than one week after Fastlane, WWE is advertising Brock Lesnar vs. Kevin Owens to take place at a live event at Madison Square Garden. What possible reason could there be (other than it’s interesting) to run that match in the middle of WrestleMania season?

It’s just crazy enough to work, isn’t it?

Braun Strowman vs. Big Show

Result: Braun Strowman defeated Big Show via pinfall

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

I was hyped for this match when it was announced. When they announced that the ring would be reinforced, I thought “yeah, right” – then they showed the ring crew actually doing it. Amazing. (Side note: I hope the ring crew is getting overtime tonight, after two pointless 205 Live set changes and “reinforcing” the ring.)

But you’re giving me Braun Strowman doing a kip up at 11:00 on a Monday night? SIGN ME UP FOR MORE.

The “This is Awesome” chant was perhaps a bit premature, because while the match was pretty good for what it was, it died a bit in the middle. Once Show started to build some momentum, the match did the same.

The teased “ring explode” moment got me, I’ll admit it. I mean, why else would they make special mention about the ring being reinforced if the ring wasn’t gonna blow up?

Let’s talk about how strong Strowman is. I don’t know if Show sandbagged him a bit, because the powerslam looked terrible, but the fact remains: Strowman basically deadlifted Big Show into a running powerslam. TWICE.

And with Strowman exhausted from having beaten the World’s Largest Athlete, down comes top babyface Roman Reigns to attack his weaker rival. Thankfully, Strowman gains the upper hand, hopefully teaching Roman that sometimes you should just step aside. Dropkicks to the face usually have that effect.

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What did you think about this week’s episode of WWE Raw?