WWE Raw: Results, Highlights, Analysis, and Grades for Feb. 12

Photo Source: WWE.com

Follow along with our live WWE Raw review, featuring a one on one contest between Sasha Banks and Bayley. Plus, who will be the final entrant into the Men’s Elimination Chamber Match?

Previously on WWE Raw, The Big Dog barked his way into an Elimination Chamber Match. Braun Strowman lost his match, but won the war. Alexa Bliss acted weird, even for her. Nia Jax beat up a teenager. And Jason Jordan ruined everything for Seth Rollins again.

This week, two matches have been announced for Raw. One has huge implications for the upcoming Elimination Chamber pay per view. The other is a continuation of a great NXT feud that turned into main roster friendship – only now the two participants are having issues with each other again.

Let’s start with that rivalry – Sasha Banks will face Bayley in a singles match tonight. Despite being BFFs and “sisters,” there’s been a lot of squabbling as of late. Banks eliminated Bayley from the Royal Rumble, after all. The Huggable One didn’t take too kindly to The Boss’s antics, and after both suffered a defeat at the hands of Asuka they’ll try and settle things.

And the Men’s Elimination Chamber match only has five participants at the moment. We need six, so four of the superstars who lost their qualifying matches are getting a second chance. In a fatal four way, Finn Balor, Bray Wyatt, Matt Hardy, and Apollo Crews will try to earn their way into the Chamber.

Add to that the uncertainty surrounding Seth Rollins, the weird possible alliance between Alexa Bliss and Mickie James, and Braun Strowman and Asuka destroying everyone and everything in their sights, and Raw should be pretty good this week.

Related Story: Bold Predictions: Seth Rollins Builds a New Feud

Follow along with our live WWE Raw review for Feb. 12 right here starting at 8 p.m. ET.

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Guess Which Face Still Runs This Place

Conspiracy theory that would require some research I really don’t feel like doing: John Cena designs his merchandise to match the WrestleMania signs/logo. He still wants everyone to associate him with WWE, so what better way to do that than look like a walking advertisement for the biggest show of the year? This year, he’s in green and purple. Last year, blue and orange. Hmmmmmmm…

Anyway, Cena makes it sound like he’s got about 14 different matches lined up for Mania this year. He mentions WrestleMania being able to “bring superstars back from the dead,” because Undertaker. He claims to be winning the Elimination Chamber to make history against Brock Lesnar. There’s a few other guys in the Chamber match with him who would probably beg to differ, like The Miz – who comes out to state as much.

The Miz making his entrance with the Miztourage is never disappointing – especially with Bo Dallas looking like Boris the Animal from Men in Black 3. Some words from the A-Lister reveal he wants a piece of Lesnar. Not going to lie, I wouldn’t be upset with a rematch of WrestleMania 27/33 between Miz and Cena at Mania this year – with just the two of them involved. No Rock, no mixed tag – just a straight-up singles match. Hey, maybe Cena could even win the Intercontinental Title for the first time!

Instead, Cena challenges The Miz to a match tonight, with the loser entering the Elimination Chamber first. Miz initially refuses – until Dallas and Curtis Axel attack. Miz accepts and requests a referee, but Kurt Angle comes out to stall – allowing Cena enough time to recover and kick out when the match does start. The Miztourage was ejected from ringside – hopefully to allow Bo to fix his ripped pants – and the match rolls on.

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John Cena vs. The Miz

Result: John Cena defeated The Miz via pinfall

Rating: 2.25 out of 5 stars

While it was a shame to see the stretch of Raw starting with a match end, the match itself wasn’t terrible. In fact, it was a little better than most of what Cena has been doing in this latest stint on Raw. His match with Finn Balor two weeks ago was goofy as hell, and the triple threat last week was just okay.

But, as I’ve said a lot lately, better still doesn’t necessarily mean good. The pacing of the match with the commercial breaks was awful. Half the segment after the promo was The Miz locking in a sleeper hold. I’m guessing it was a subliminal message of sorts to tell the viewers that it was nap time?

The other thing working against this match was that it really doesn’t matter in the long run. First off, there’s no way John Cena misses WrestleMania if he’s healthy – this isn’t 2016, after all. He’s not winning the Chamber, though, so entering first, last, or anywhere in between is irrelevant. The MiZ ain’t winning it, either, so his entry is meaningless.

The Figure Four/STF stuff was pretty bad. Cena has literally never made the STF look good, and The Miz is so hit or miss on the Figure Four it’s basically a crapshoot. Cena “crotching” himself on the top rope to make the leg work meaningful was the most awkward, I-don’t-want-to-do-this stuff this side of Kelly Kelly running the ropes.

The Miz going for a super Skull Crushing Finale was the worst decision in wrestling since trusting Jake “The Snake” Roberts. Was there any doubt that it would turn into the super AA instead? I spent half the time Miz was climbing the ropes trying to figure out if a super Skull Crushing Finale was even possible.

So Cena wins, Miz enters first, and with any luck, Miz will eliminate Cena who enters second.

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Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson)

Result: The Revival defeated Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson via pinfall

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

Prior to the match, WWE’s obsession with Adobe Final Cut continues as Gallows and Anderson get a text-on-screen promo. It’s kind of funny if you look at the still image of them and pretend they’re calling themselves NERDS.

Also prior to the match, The Revival orchestrate a sneak attack, because nothing says “great tag team” quite like a chop block from behind. That move has been spammed more than the Superman punch as of late – seems like it’s in literally every tag team bout. But it’s not enough to get the match thrown out, and The Balor Club start off with the advantage.

Eventually, the leg injury to Gallows rears its ugly head, allowing Dash and Dawson to focus their attack. And this is the problem that may persist with The Revival on the main roster – they are at their best when the pace is slow and methodical, showing off their superior ring intellect. Today’s main roster audience is less likely to have the patience or attention span to really appreciate that.

But for those who can – myself included, there’s usually a lot of good things in a Revival match. The blind tag leading to the victory was perfectly executed – even if the entire match was focused on wearing down Gallows, and Anderson was pinned. The Shatter Machine is such a money move for them, and to this point it’s basically bullet proof. It can take out anyone at any time, so it led to a logical ending.

Now that there’s been three matchers between these two teams, hopefully both move on to something else for a bit. None of the matches have been especially bad (Raw 25 was the closest), but none have set the world on fire, either.

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Kurt Angle With Some Breaking News

In a classic case of WWE burying the lede, Kurt Angle is in the ring to announce a medical update for his son, Jason Jordan. Before getting down to business, Angle casually drops that Ronda Rousey will be at Elimination Chamber to sign her Raw contract. No big, you know.

BUT THE REAL NEWS IS ABOUT JASON JORDAN, SO FORGET ALL THAT.

Angle drops the news that Jordan is out with a neck injury – he’s already had surgery, and will miss WrestleMania. After the crowd cheers, Kurt goes full “I’m Not Mad, I’m Disappointed” mode on the crowd. It’s actually pretty sweet – it seemed heartfelt, and it was a perfect thing for him to say. Put yourself in Angle’s shoes, listening to thousands of people cheering your son’s career-threatening injury. Pretty crappy, right?

Before too much of that happens, though, Seth F. Rollins comes down to the ring. He feels bad that Jordan will miss WrestleMania, but doesn’t want that to mean Rollins misses out on WrestleMania. Seth wants to be the face of Raw once again – he wants the Universal Championship, he wants Brock Lesnar, and he wants it at WrestleMania.

Because Rollins apparently pays attention to the show, he knows he needs to win the Elimination Chamber to do that. Rather than push his way into the match, Rollins asks Angle for a chance to earn his way in. That’s pretty good character development for Seth, right? He wants to finally do things the right way.

After some hemming and hawing by Angle – “oh, it wouldn’t be fair to the other four superstars” – Rollins is added to the second chance qualifier. Now a fatal five way, Rollins gets his wish without holding people hostage, or hijacking shows, or burning things down. Good for him!

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Sasha Banks vs. Bayley

Result: Bayley defeated Sasha Banks via pinfall

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

Full disclosure: This is a rematch of the first match that legitimately made me cry tears of joy. Sasha vs. Bayley at TakeOver: Brooklyn in 2015 was, to that point, the most emotionally draining match I had ever seen live. The company had done such a tremendous job of building up to that moment that I feel like it was impossible not to get emotionally invested.

Two and a half years later, so much has changed. The story isn’t there to the same level it was the first time around. It seems like, even though the Sasha/Bayley relationship literally spans Bayley’s entire main roster run, this has been rushed. The “turn,” if you can call what Sasha has done a turn, came kind of out of the blue. It didn’t happen when it logically made sense, but now they’re running with it? Okay.

All that said, this was terrific. It was by far Bayley’s best main roster match – yes, better than her championship victory over Charlotte last year, in my opinion. Even if the history between these two has been glossed over on Raw, I know what’s there. Knowing how this fits into the greater scheme of things bumps it up that extra notch. Sure, Charlotte and Bayley had history, but not like Banks/Bayley.

Sasha did everything she could to try and put Bayley away not only for this match, but for longer. The focus on the injured shoulder was a clear sign that there was little “friendly” in this friendly rivalry. Bayley picking up the victory was the right call, too.

I was waiting for the hug at the end to get rejected and Sasha to finalize her turn to the dark side, but instead Nia Jax just bulldozed both competitors. It was beautiful. Her rationale was solid, too – both Bayley and Banks had pushed Asuka to her limit, and Jax took them both out in less than 30 seconds. Faulty logic aside, if that doesn’t make you want to see Jax/Asuka even more now, you’re made of stone.

(Hey, did you all notice that Bayley pushed Sasha out of the way before Nia attacked? Little things in the story telling like that are the best.)

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Mini Shield + The Bar = Mini Bar?

Rollins is getting ready for his match when he gets a “pep talk” from Roman Reigns. They bring up the Royal Rumble, where Reigns tossed Rollins. Cesaro and Sheamus come in, only to get made fun of because WWE babyfaces. And everything calms down, Rollins yells “Nice skirt, fella!” because WWE babyface.

Another Day, Another Outstanding Hype Video

Saying the WWE production team put together another stellar hype video shouldn’t be a surprise anymore. It’s been a long time since one of them was bad, so the odds are in our favor.

If the video is about Asuka, it’s going to hype someone who doesn’t really need it. The Empress of Tomorrow has clicked with the WWE Universe faster than anyone could have anticipated. But the closer look at the numbers here was enlightening.

For example, how on earth does Asuka have 240 wins, but only 34 different opponents? That seems impossible. I know it’s probably correct, but wow. Also, 860 days sounds like a long time, but it’s a little more than two years. Long time, but not as long as it sounds.

I fear that now that these videos are being made, WWE is going to drop the ball and end the streak before WrestleMania. Could Nia Jax really win at Elimination Chamber? Who knows?

Speaking of Stats…

Where on earth has this Apollo Crews been since getting called up from NXT? Personality, charisma – it was excellent! If this Crews existed on a regular basis, he’d be upper midcard in no time.

And Dana Brooke is so adorably goofy in her role with Titus Worldwide. Her sparkly tie thing – was it a clip on, slip on, or part of the shirt? I can’t tell – was the cutest thing I’ve seen on TV since the Puppy Bowl. She seems so enthusiastic about her job, I love it.

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Ulterior Motives?

TL;DR version of the Mickie and Alexa interaction: I don’t trust you, but I’ll help you. Alrighty, then.

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Absolution (Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville, w/ Paige) vs. Mickie James & Alexa Bliss

Result: Absolution defeated Mickie James & Alexa Bliss via pinfall

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

This was the kind of match you used to see on Raw all the time back in the day. Nothing flashy, nothing fancy, just a solid few minutes that furthers a story.

Here, Absolution is the big bad, for lack of a better term. Despite being Raw Women’s Champion, Alexa Bliss is afraid of what they’ll do in the Chamber working together. So she enlists Mickie James – somewhat reluctantly – to fight the good fight with her.

The match unfolds exactly how you would think – Absolution, being the actual team – is able to work together at a higher level. This leads to Mickie getting isolated, and struggling to hold her own or tag out. Once she finally breaks free, she’s inches away from a tag – but Alexa got pulled off the apron.

With no one to tag, Mickie got hit with Mandy Rose’s Mantis Bomb Facebuster, giving the win to Absolution. A beatdown after the match is eventually thwarted by Bliss, but my guess is Mickie is going to take umbrage to the fact that Alexa wasn’t there for the tag. Once the Chamber match starts, Alexa has to be flying solo. Her only friend is Nia Jax, who’s not in the match. It’s going to be an uphill battle for Bliss in the Chamber – and I don’t think she’s going to make it.

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Braun Gets to Second Bass

Forgive any typos in this portion of the live review, I’m literally typing this through tears streaming down my face. This is relevant to pretty much all my interests, and it was – whether intentional or not – the funniest damn thing I’ve seen in a long time.

Just look at the image on top of this page. How can you not find that entertaining? But before we get to “Braun Strowman is the most over superstar this side of Dwayne Johnson,” let’s discuss Elias. Not to be too much of a broken record, but the way he has crowds eating out of the palm of his hand is pretty incredible. Even when you know what’s coming, he nails it week in and week out.

But this segment is all about Braun and his bass. No exaggeration, the second he grabbed the bass, my music teacher brain said, “He’s going to pop the bridge off because he doesn’t know what he’s doing.” Sure enough, when he realized the bass wasn’t loud enough, he plucked harder, popped the bridge, and improvised the rest of his segment. So, kudos to the flexibility to roll with the unexpected.

And really, once the bass came into play, there was no possible outcome that didn’t involve the thing shattered over Elias’s back. And the bridge being off probably made it a little less uncomfortable for Elias – the bridge would have moved, but it would have hurt like hell at first.

So we got Braun singing, confirmation that The Monster Among Men is heading down to LA and The Comedy Store after the show, and a literal interpretation of “drop the bass.” A+ segment, fellas.

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Sheamus (w/ Cesaro) vs. Roman Reigns

Result: Roman Reings defeated Sheamus via pinfall

Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars

What kind of time machine did we fall into that brought us to 2015? First Bayley vs. Sasha, now late 2015’s WWE Championship feud gets rekindled. When does Jack Swagger face Alberto Del Rio?

Snark aside, this is a match between two former world champions who have no problem hossing it up to pop the crowd. Take the rolling senton on the floor, for example – that can’t be comfortable for either guy, but it gets a reaction, so there it is.

A lot of this match was basically a string of signature type maneuvers. But when you combine the sheer power and determination of the hoss style with a bunch of signature moves, you get something exciting. Two and a half hours into the show, you need that.

The closing sequence was terrific, if a bit sloppy. Sheamus’s bicycle knee looked like it caught a bit more jaw than actually intended. Reigns countered with a spear that looked like he knocked himself out. Can we get the future face of the company a move that he can execute without concussing himself? Like, transition the powerbomb into his actual finisher somehow? For a football player, he’s got no tackling skills.

Ivory to the Hall of Fame

The cynic in me says WWE is capitalizing on the GLOW hype from last year by putting Ivory in the Hall of Fame now. She had a solid career, but this is the equivalent of the Baseball Hall of Fame inducting a guy like Tim Raines, or Jim Rice. Well, if Koko B. Ware is in, why not Ivory? Good for her.

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Bray Wyatt vs. Matt Hardy vs. Apollo Crews vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor

Result: Match ended when Finn Balor and Seth Rollins both pinned Bray Wyatt

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

Jeez, and entire segment devoted just to ring entrances at twenty to 11 E.T.? Who laid out the pacing for this show? By the time that first commercial break ended, the match was joined in progress, and there was roughly 12-13 minutes left in the show – including the usual overrun.

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So either the show was going to run late, or this was going to be one of the shortest five way matches in history. To top it all off, there was another commercial break less than five minutes after the match came back.

And it’s a damn shame, because five talented superstars stepped into the ring.

Getting short changed is bad enough, but to get the main event spot and seem like a formality or afterthought is a real slap in the face.

I’m sure the live crowd enjoyed the match, but for those of us watching at home it was awful getting into it.

Special shout out goes to Apollo Crews, who competed in the UK this past weekend for PCW. Flying from England to California probably had him jet lagged like crazy, but he went out there and killed it. I flew to Columbus, Ohio, from Long Island this weekend, and after coming home 24 hours later I didn’t want to do squat today. Imagine flying across the Atlantic, then when you come back home you head across the USA. Apollo, you’re a better man than I.

After a bit of a slow start – not helped by the idiotic pacing of the commercial breaks – the match picked up tremendously at the end. The sequence starting with Rollins attempting the Phoenix Splash and ending with Crews breaking up a pinfall after the Blackout was nuts. In fact, it was phenomenal right up until the actual finish, which was a steaming pile if I’ve ever seen one.

After Bray Wyatt broke up a Tower of Doom spot early in the match, he was the victim of a second in the finish. After he hit the mat, both Finn Balor and Seth Rollins pinned him, got a three count, and whoops we’re out of time, see you next week!

Clearly, since there’s an extra episode of WWE Raw between tonight and Elimination Chamber, we’re getting Balor vs. Rollins next week for the final spot in the Chamber. Calling it now – Balor wins to fulfill WWE’s goof post about him being in the Chamber, but there’s shenanigans that aggravate Rollins. Seth then challenges Kurt Angle’s authority, which sets up a match between them at WrestleMania.

Next: 25 Greatest Entrance Themes in WWE History

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