As you watch tonight’s episode of WWE Raw, which will feature a Gauntlet Match involving all of the Men’s Elimination Chamber participants, check back here for updates and analysis on every segment.
Tonight is WWE Raw’s go-home show before the Elimination Chamber Pay Per View on Feb. 25, and it figures to be jam-packed with action. Most go-home shows don’t have huge events, but any time there’s a “Gauntlet Match” announced, there figures to be at least some excitement.
Whereas the men get a cool match to hype up their appearances at the WWE Elimination Chamber Pay Per View when they fight over the No. 1 contendership to Brock Lesnar’s Universal Title, the women are stuck with another six-woman tag match. Mickie James, Bayley, and Sasha Banks will take on Alexa Bliss, Sonya Deville, and Mandy Rose, as all six of these women will be in the first ever Women’s Elimination Chamber match on Sunday.
Elsewhere, we could see another match announced for Sunday’s Raw-exclusive PPV. Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt, a Ronda Rousey contract signing, and Nia Jax vs. Asuka are three exciting matches scheduled to happen at Elimination Chamber, but there will likely be another match or two added to the mix. We will likely find out more about the Elimination Chamber schedule on tonight’s episode.
In between, you can expect the likes of Asuka and Braun Strowman to assert their dominance even further with strong physical- and perhaps verbal – statements. This is especially true for Strowman, who seems to do something amazing every week. He isn’t expected to win the Elimination Chamber match (Roman Reigns is the clear favorite), which increases the chances of him at least having another big moment on the go-home show. That big moment could even be a Gauntlet Match victory, though Finn Balor and Seth Rollins are two other logical candidates after their big co-win last week.
Raw has been quite good over the past couple of months, and while go-home shows are usually not as good, this week’s episode should still be solid. The writing and flow of segments has significantly improved, though it does sometimes seem like the first half of the show is of higher quality than the second half. That will be something to keep in mind tonight.
Again, check back here for more up-to-the-minute updates, grades, analysis, and highlights of WWE Raw when it begins at 8 p.m. ET.
Credit: WWE.com
Raw begins with a moment of silence for the victims of the Parkland, Florida shooting.
Gauntlet Match (Part One, First Hour)
Grade: A+
We kick things off with the Gauntlet Match, and who else makes the first entrance but Roman Reigns? He is announced as the first man in the Gauntlet Match and is asked by Charly Caruso if he feels concerned that he’s up first with the Elimination Chamber coming up. Reigns predictably said he isn’t concerned, put over his opponents, and said he would have beaten Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31.
So you know who came out next? Seth Rollins. The guy who prevented Reigns from defeating Lesnar at ‘Mania 31.
The match we got between Rollins and Reigns was basically dream match. It was a lot of brutal moves, trash-talking within holds, and Roman cosplaying as a heel. There were some nice mark-out moments, including Roman no-selling a Turnbuckle Powerbomb, merely bouncing off to smash Seth with a Superman Punch.
The two traded some more big moves, and Reigns got Rollins with a vicious Superman Punch. Reigns started to psych himself up after Rollins kicked out at the last second.
Then Rollins countered a spear and tried to hit his “Stomp”. But Reigns scouted it, turning it into a roll-up. Seth kicked out and sneakily hit Roman with a roll-up of his own, and he pinned Roman in shocking fashion.
Roman Reigns Is Eliminated
Up next for Rollins? John Cena.
And Cena starts jumping around like a goof during his entrance…Seth is having none of it. He just lays out Cena and gets a quick two-count off of it. Rollins clearly isn’t playing around.
Cena is still acting really weird. He spent most of the match putting Rollins in restholds, and the guy even tried to win by countout. John Cena. Wanted to win by countout. What the heck is going on out here?
He even started yelling “Stay down!” at Rollins. Cena went so far as to ask the ref to check on Rollins, telling “The Architect” that he should give up and quit with so many wrestlers in the locker room waiting to enter.
Mad props to Seth for all of the energy he put into this match with Cena, because he had me on the edge of my seat throughout. I still cannot believe he kicked out of the Attitude Adjustment after all the punishment he absorbed.
It got better. Cena lifted Rollins up near the top rope for an Avalanche AA, and not only did Rollins counter, but he picked up Cena off the ground. He picked up Cena off the ground, and he hit him with an AA. Of course, Cena kicked out, but, man, for a second there I truly believed Rollins had it.
And he did have it. Rollins hit Cena with “The Stomp”, and all I could do was yell “COVER HIM!” at the top of my lungs. #TheMan went for the cover and picked up the W.
That’s how you put a guy over.
John Cena Is Eliminated, Elias Enters
Credit: WWE.com
Gauntlet Match Part Deaux
Grade: C+
Elias immediately goes for the cover to take advantage of Rollins’s fatigue after getting Cena out of the way, but, naturally, Seth kicks out. But he’s clearly fatigued, and that knee. That damn knee injury that keeps bothering him!
Ultimately, Seth’s fatigue is too much, and Elias hits #TheMan with a “Drift Away” to eliminate Rollins. But Rollins was put over in a huge way. During his match with Elias, John Cena basically confirmed to Renee Young in an interview that Rollins is “Mr. Monday Night”.
As Seth walked to the back, he received “Thank you, Seth!” ovations after one of the gutsiest performances in Raw history. This man is truly one of the best wrestlers and best babyfaces in WWE today, and defeating Reigns and Cena after an hour of fighting is certainly a strong way to put over a talented wrestler.
Rollins is eliminated, Finn Balor enters
There really isn’t much to say about Elias vs. Balor, because it’s kind of hard to get into the match now that Rollins is gone after his gutsy performance. His elimination really took the wind out of my sails, so to speak. Even so, Elias and Balor traded some solid moves, but, again, it felt more like they were going through the motions than trying to tell some sort of story in preparation for the EC.
Cena was desperate, Reigns was vicious, Seth was determined, but Elias and Balor are just kind of, well, “there”. And that’s not good enough, especially if you want to follow what Seth did with both Cena and Reigns.
Elias countered a roll-up beautifully into an armbar on the arm injury that Balor has been selling throughout the match. But Balor got out of it, countering with a stomp to Elias’s injured ribs. It’s never good to face Balor with injured ribs. Just saying.
Speaking of the ribs, Balor hit Elias with a Coup de Grace for the win.
Elias is eliminated, The Miz enters
The Miz attacks Balor from behind after Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas pretend to rush the ring, and we’ll be on the lookout for a potential rivalry between these two brewing.
Well, The Miz is no fool, and he noticed that Balor is dealing with an arm injury. He put Finn in a submission on the ropes, yelling “Does this hurt?” at him. And Finn defiantly yelled, “No!” right back at Miz each time the A-Lister asked.
Balor started to get into a groove. First, he hit a Tope Con Hilo out of nowhere onto Dallas and Axel before hitting his comeback sequence. But Dallas and Axel saw what was happening, interfering to give Miz a chance to squash Balor’s momentum.
One Skull Crushing Finale later, and it was over.
Balor is eliminated, Braun Strowman Enters
Credit: WWE.com
Finish Of Gauntlet Match
Grade: B
Remember when Braun Strowman got his revenge on The Miz for orchestrating Strowman being deposited into a garbage truck at TLC? Well, that will pale in comparison to what fury The Miz will face tonight in the final matchup of the Gauntlet Match.
RIP Miz. That’s all I can say. Even your buddy Corey Graves doesn’t believe in you.
Braun was fresh, and he was predictably throwing around Miz, inflicting as much damage as possible on the A-Lister.
The Miz tried to get some kicks on Strowman going, but Braun just tossed him aside, clearly having no patience for Miz’s pretty little kicks.
TODAY I LEARNED: Corey Graves calls Braun Strowman’s dropkick the “Tyrannosaurus Dropkick”. Let’s get that to catch on!
Miz continued to take the fight to Strowman, and he even hit him with a Skull Crushing Finale. But Strowman kicked out so forcefully that Miz was sent flying out of the ring.
Braun quickly followed that up with a running powerslam to win the Gauntlet Match.
After winning the match, Strowman told Charly Caruso that he doesn’t fear the unknown. The unknown fears him. He also called out Brock Lesnar, telling him that he will get “these hands”. He then ran back into the ring to beat up Miz and the Miztourage.
Braun Strowman Wins The Gauntlet Match
Credit: WWE.com
Asuka Previews Match Against Nia Jax
Grade: B-
Renee Young asks Asuka if she’s worried about losing her streak to Nia Jax at Elimination Chamber. She reminds Asuka that if Jax wins, she will be inserted into the match at WrestleMania, making the Raw Women’s Championship match a Triple Threat.
“I control my destiny. My destiny is to win the championship at WrestleMania!”
Absolutely perfect statement from Asuka, who calls Jax’s words “very strong words from a very strong woman,” but noted that Jax didn’t look very strong in their last match when she was limping from the ring.
Nia tried to blindside Asuka, but ate some stiff kicks before using her power. Asuka did everything possible to squirm free of the Samoan Drop, but Jax was just too strong and followed that up with three leg drops.
The WWE is doing whatever they can to showcase Nia as a real threat to Asuka’s streak, and this is the way to do it. We’ve seen Asuka beat her in NXT and on the main roster, and it would be absolutely idiotic for Nia to break the streak at the Elimination Chamber. But the key is to make Nia look strong, and this segment helped achieve that, even if Sunday’s match feels like a guaranteed win for the Empress of Tomorrow.
Credit: WWE.com
The Bar vs. Titus Worldwide
Result: Apollo Crews Pins Cesaro Via Roll-Up
Grade: C+
Titus Worldwide once again shocked the world, as Apollo rolled up Cesaro, meaning that Titus Worldwide just pinned the tag team champions. This is the third time that Titus Worldwide has upset The Bar, who most recently defeated Jason Jordan and Seth Rollins for the tag titles and defended those same titles against Rollins and Roman Reigns.
It remains to be seen if this means that Titus Worldwide will be added to a match at the Elimination Chamber for the Raw Tag Team Titles.
Overall, this was a standard, quick match with a surprise roll-up finish, so there isn’t much to say here about the quality of the match. Well, other than the fact that Titus and Cesaro had some funny taunt spots.
Bray Wyatt Is Still Crazy
Grade: D
Bray Wyatt comes out on the titantron and says he hopes that the end is near, adding that Matt Hardy’s “end” will be at Elimination Chamber.
Then Hardy comes out on the tron, and the two trade insults, calling each other liars.
Bray Wyatt on Matt Hardy: “His words mean nothing. Just empty promises from a deeply disturbed, man!”
So, uh, Wyatt is a hypocrite, huh? Isn’t the “Eater of Pins” basically the king of empty promises?
Hardy says that Wyatt will be “rendered obsolete” and “deleted”. The segment ends with Wyatt laughing evily, and Michael Cole sums up all of our thoughts by stating, “I’m not sure what to make of that…”
Basically, this was the same segment as usual between these two, and it did nothing to get anybody interested in their match at the Elimination Chamber PPV.
Credit: WWE.com
Six-Woman Tag Match
Result: Sasha Banks Submits Alexa Bliss With The Bank Statement
Grade: C
The women get a lame old tag match instead of the cool Gauntlet Match that the seven men competing in the Elimination Chamber got, but at least they are in the main event. So given the fact that it’s just a six-woman tag, that means something interesting has to happen, right? Maybe Bayley and Sasha Banks really do THAT turn? Or maybe Mickie James turns to help Alexa Bliss, bringing it all full circle with the woman who “brought” her into WWE (and whom she would later feud with over the Raw Women’s Championship after she turned face on Bliss when the latter wouldn’t defend her SmackDown Women’s Title against Mickie)?
Sasha Banks and Bayley isolate the weak link on the heel tag team, Mandy Rose, by battering her head into the turnbuckle several times. But Rose gets out of it with a cartwheel and starts bullying Bayley, but Bayley quickly turns the tide in her favor.
Rose started to isolate Bayley, easily gaining the upper hand. She tried to tag out to Absolution partner Sonya Deville, but Alexa Bliss intercepted the tag herself to assert her dominance. Bliss hit Bayley with a devastating slap to the face after screaming at the top of her lungs, and her work was basically done, as she tagged in Deville.
Bayley finally made the hot tag to Sasha Banks, who started beating down Deville. However, the moronic referee somehow did not see the tag, meaning Bayley is still in the match. Bayley quickly tagged Mickie into the match, so that was a waste of getting a chance to see Sasha hit a big sequence of moves…
Mickie started cleaning house, taking Mandy and Deville out with big moves, all the while pointing towards Bliss, who has been trying to win Mickie over of late.
And then Rose had a big-time botch, as she tried to cover Mickie with the wrong leg, as the ref pointed out that one of Mickie’s legs was under the rope. But credit to Mickie for getting out of the situation with minimal embarrassment for all parties involved.
OK, thank God Sonya Deville is back in the match for Rose. Mickie hit a double neck-breaker on Rose and Deville, squirming to finally make that all-important hot tag to Banks.
Sasha and Bliss are now in the match together, and Sasha is just hammering away at the champ. She makes quick work of Bliss before hitting Deville with the “Double Knees” to the outside. Banks goes back to Bliss with more “double knees” before Rose breaks up the cover on Bliss.
The two trade roll-ups before Bliss slams Banks head-first into the turnbuckle. It doesn’t matter, though, because Banks gets the Bank Statement on Bliss for a big win.
Deville and Rose start wailing on Banks before Bayley comes in to make the save on Banks. Absolution then starts dominating both Bayley and Banks. Bliss starts smiling before Deville and Rose turn their attention to her.
Next: The Top 10 Greatest Moments In Elimination Chamber History
But guess who saves Bliss? Mickie James. And that’s your big storyline heading into the Elimination Chamber for the Raw Women’s Division. Will James help Bliss on Sunday?
Thanks for following along, and I hope you enjoyed the show!