WWE Raw: Results, Highlights, Analysis, and Grades for Feb. 26

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Finn Balor vs. The Miz

Result: Finn Balor defeated The Miz via pinfall

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

Oh, so Balor came out because Kurt Angle is abusing his power. Gotcha. (Good on Corey Graves for calling out Angle’s decision making as Shane McMahon-esque.)

Miz, rightfully not wanting to compete immediately after his war with Rollins, just directs the Miztourage to jump Balor, presumably ending the match. Gallows and Anderson, fresh off their victory over the Miztourage, come down to even the odds. But Angle pops up on the Titantron, informing everyone that all allies are being ejected from ringside, and the match will restart with no disqualifications. And if there’s no winner, Miz doesn’t go to WrestleMania at all.

This one started a little slow, with Balor selling the beating from Dallas and Axel. But once things kicked into higher gear, it was another pretty solid match. Sometimes I worry about Balor because he sells everything so over the top. Example: When The Miz went for his reverse DDT-neckbreaker combo, Balor leaned so far into the DDT onto the knee that he wasn’t quite high enough for the neckbreaker. So it looked nasty, but thankfully everyone was okay.

Major props to The Miz. Less than 24 hours after competing in the Elimination Chamber – and getting thrown off the pod by Strowman – he came out and had two pretty good matches back-to-back over the course of about 35-40 minutes.

After the match, Rollins told Renee Young backstage that he officially wants an Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania. It remains to be seen what Balor says, but I’m still guessing at least triple threat.