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

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Follow along with our live WWE Raw review. Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns will meet face to face, plus more!

Previously on WWE Raw, almost the entire show was eaten up by a seven-man Gauntlet Match. And it was really good! Some other stuff happened to build to the Elimination Chamber – which was a better than decent pay per view. But now that Elimination Chamber is over, it’s time for Raw to focus on the last leg of the Road to WrestleMania.

The big story coming out of the Elimination Chamber pay per view is Roman Reigns going to WrestleMania again. The Big Dog survived the Chamber, earning the right to face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship in NOLA. Paul Heyman promised on the Elimination Chamber Kickoff Show that the winner would come face to face with Lesnar on Raw. How will the Beast and big Dog handle their encounter?

The other Elimination Chamber match ended when Alexa Bliss retained the Raw Women’s Championship. In that same match, Sasha Banks once again betrayed her BFF, Bayley. Even though Bliss is still champion, there may be bigger things on Bayley’s mind. Factor in Asuka’s victory over Nia Jax – and the post match beatdown – and the Women’s Division has a lot going on.

That doesn’t even include Raw‘s newest superstar – Ronda Rousey. The former MMA superstar officially signed her contract at Elimination Chamber – but not before putting Triple H through a table. Rousey also took a vicious slap from Stephanie McMahon – all this because of what happened at WrestleMania 31. What will Rousey’s next move be?

And then there’s John Cena, who moped his way through a promo following his loss in the Elimination Chamber. Perhaps we’ll find out how Cena will actually get himself on the WrestleMania card?

Related Story: WWE WrestleMania 34: Undertaker Facing John Cena?

Be sure to follow along with all the action right here once WWE Raw gets underway at 8 p.m. ET.

PHoto Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Oh, We’re Still Doing This?

Two major gripes about how Raw kicked off tonight:

1. Taking five minutes to basically replay all the important stuff from the Rousey contract signing is exactly why that didn’t need to happen on a pay per view.
2. Despite getting zero play during the Elimination Chamber last night, WWE is still rolling with the “alliance” between Mickie James and Alexa Bliss.

I’ll talk more about the Rousey thing later, since commentary said she’s in the building (welp, there goes one of my bold predictions for the week already). But as I mentioned during the EC review last night, one of the biggest missteps during the Women’s Chamber match was not playing off the partnership. The entire reason Bliss basically conned Mickie into being her friend was to survive the Chamber. Turns out, she didn’t need her – but here they are together again.

Bliss then goes into a George Lucas-esque exposition filled monologue, putting over pretty much everyone in the women’s division. Her delivery is great, which helps the rather lousy material. One mention of Asuka, though, is all it takes to get the Empress of Tomorrow in the ring – no dancing or showboating, she’s all business.

Bliss points out that Jax belongs in the Raw Women’s Title match at WrestleMania because of the beating she dished out last night. Things get a wee bit on the racist side as Alexa mocks Asuka’s English skills, but it wasn’t anything super egregious. And it turns out that the whole promo was a trap, as Nia came down to attack Asuka again.

But Asuka wasn’t alone for long, as Bayley and Sasha Banks apparently made up again and headed to the ring to even the score. Haha, didn’t work, and Nia, Mickie, and Alexa put the three babyfaces down and headed out. So looks like we’re in for another six-woman tag match tonight – perfect, it’s been so long since one of those was booked!

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Bayley, Sasha Banks, & Asuka vs. Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, & Nia Jax

Result: Bayley, Sasha Bankks, & Asuka defeated Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, & Nia Jax via submission

Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars

Well, that was quick. I’m glad that, at least on Raw on a weekly basis, there’s actually multiple storylines running concurrently in the women’s division. But can’t we spread them out throughout the show a little? There’s no one left in the division besides Absolution and Ronda Rousey – doubtful they would cross paths, so I’m guessing no Deville or Rose on the show tonight.

But speaking of the concurrent storylines, the hard tag from Banks to Bayley shows that while they may have made up, Sasha is still embracing the antagonistic side of her persona. The Boss was in charge for a while – until Nia ran through her with a nasty shoulder tackle on the outside of the ring. Gotta love the fan yelling, “WHY ARE YOU SUCH A BAD FRIEND” to Sasha while she was out.

Speaking of Nia, I like this whole “Irresistible Force” nickname WWE is using for her now. It’s a clever play on words – not only is she the irresistible force in terms of power, they’re playing up her natural beauty that she’s impossible to resist. I mean, I’m pretty sure that’s intentional, but you never know with WWE. Could just be a happy accident, or me reading into things too much.

After a cheap shot to Asuka left her unable to accept a tag, Sasha went to finally tag out – but Bayley dropped off the apron and refused to tag. Wow. She had to respond somehow to Sasha literally following the rules of the non-team matches they’ve competed in at the past two pay per views.

I’m more okay with the decision to have Bayley act totally and completely out of character because she did return to the match – to save Asuka. She wasn’t bailing on the match, just Sasha. What’s good for the goose is good for the, uh, other goose.

Asuka picked up the win via submission over a likely concussed Mickie James (JOSHIMANIA RUNNING WILD), combining a kneebar and an armbar because why not? Oh, and we still haven’t actually heard whether Asuka is facing Alexa Bliss or not – we’re just being told that’s what’s happening. Maybe let Asuka say that?

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Big Match John Needs a Better Plan

Hearing John Cena talk about failure is the most surreal thing in recent memory. The last time Cena had “his back against the wall” was way back in 2012, after he lost to The Rock in the first of their “Once in a Lifetime” encounters. Remember that WWE spent an entire year talking about how Cena was having the worst year of his life – he was getting divorced, he was on a “losing streak,” yada yada yada.

But here’s Cena, complaining that he’s a failure. He couldn’t win the Royal Rumble. Then he couldn’t win in the Elimination Chamber. And the demoralizing losses (both of them) piled up, and his appearance on Raw Talk was part of his pity party.

However, he said he would figure things out. And apparently, along the way, he remembered he’s John Freaking Cena. All he has to do to get on the WrestleMania card is say, “Hey, put me on the show.” So his grand plan is to do something he should have done a long time ago – challenge the Undertaker!

Amid the thunderous applause, Cena lists off all the accomplishments the two have had at WrestleManias past – conveniently leaving out the fact that Undertaker can barely walk, and most likely retired. Twice.

Then it’s SWERVE time, as Cena says lol I don’t make the matches, and I’ve been told this match is impossible. So instead he’s going to SmackDown tomorrow as a free agent, and he’ll try to get on Mania through that avenue.

So tune in to SmackDown Live tomorrow to see John Cena challenge Shinsuke Nakamura for his spot in the WWE Title match, and when he fails at Fastlane we’ll still have four weeks to trot Taker out to set up this “impossible” match that is obviously happening.

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Bray Wyatt vs. Heath Slater (w/ Rhyno)

Result: No contest

Rating: N/A

Or maybe it was Wyatt vs. Rhyno, I don’t know. Wyatt just wiped out both guys before any bell even rang. It’s the start of the same old Bray Wyatt cycle – look tough, beat up some guys at the bottom of the card, say nothing while trying to say something, challenge someone on his level, lose, and repeat.

And of course, Wyatt looks like a million bucks beating down guys who haven’t been on Raw in weeks. You know what else looked like a million bucks? The 2017 Mets roster. As a Mets fan, I can tell you that looking like a million bucks means jack squat.

After the non-match, Wyatt grabs the mic, and immediately references Matt Hardy. Oh, good, that’s still happening. Wyatt claims that Hardy “made him do this.” Man, you would think Wyatt would be so used to losing at this point in his career. But apparently not, because THE GREAT WAR IS FAR FROM OVER.

That, my friends, is the most threatening sentence I’ve ever heard Bray Wyatt speak.

Without saying it’s happening at WrestleMania, it’s pretty clear Wyatt/Hardy 3 will take place at NOLA. Maybe they’ll play up the Southern/Cajun aspect of Wyatt’s character and actually do a Hardy Compund/Wyatt Compound segment, a la the Hollywood Backlot Brawl from WrestleMania 12.

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

The Miz Slams A-Town

Do they call Anaheim A-Town? If not, they should. But good on The Miz for calling out Anaheim for not being Los Angeles. It really is a suburb – and a Hollywood A-Lister would know.

I know he’s playing it up for heel heat, but when you really think about it, The Miz could be the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time. Think back a few years, and remember that the title was pretty much garbage. It had no meaning, it was next to useless. But then former WWE Champion The Miz set his sights on the IC title, and here we are.

The entire segment was beautiful. I will never get tired of hearing The Miz talk. Hell, I may actually watch some of his movies, because he is that compelling on my screen. (Actually, I have seen Santa’s Little Helper, which was trash, but Miz was solid in it.) He owns everything he says, whether Raw, SmackDown, or Talking Smack back in the good old days. Regardless, the Intercontinental Championship is definitely more recognizable on Raw than the Universal Title.

And Miz is right to be furious about not having direction for WrestleMania. Once he lost the Elimination Chamber, a match should have been set for him immediately, as one of the top champions in the company. But he’s being strung along by Kurt Angle, which isn’t cool. Angle said he “might” find out who his Mania opponent is tonight, and it “might” be related to his opponent tonight – Seth Rollins.

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Seth Rollins vs. The Miz (w/ Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel)

Result: Seth Rollins defeated The Miz via pinfall

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

So let me see if I’m thinking straight – Rollins gets his chance against Miz tonight in a non-title match. Guessing next week is Finn Balor, then probably Braun Strowman because Reigns/Lesnar has to stay 1-on-1 this time. And at Mania it’ll be an Intercontinental Championship fatal four way, because MORE SUPERSTARS IS BETTER.

There was a long time where I felt Rollins was one of the most talented men on the roster, but had no in-ring chemistry with 90% of his opponents. His long feud with Bray Wyatt (post-Shield/Wyatt Family) was terrible, and even the Samoa Joe matches weren’t terribly great – or at least not as good as I felt they should have been. But his work with The Miz has been fantastic, going all the way back to last year.

This match was more of the same. Miz is a perfect heel, has the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand the whole match. Rollins is on the biggest hot streak this side of the Golden Lovers. It was a terrific match, with everything seeming to click.

I’m not a fan of champions losing in non-title matches, but leaving that aside this was exactly how you build towards a possible Mania match. I like the frog splash being used as the finish, because it gives Rollins more weapons to use to his advantage.

Not sure why Balor came out after the match, and even less sure as to why Rollins just left. That was all a bit strange. Either there’s going to be a confrontation, or not.

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

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.

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Quit Complaining and Pay Attention

I only need one word for this promo: Yes.

I don’t care what kind of kayfabe is being destoryed. Forget about fourth walls coming down. It may have been a little inside baseball, but this is the promo Reigns has needed to deliver for the past three years. I’m not so naive to believe that this was off the cuff and unscripted – not a chance. This was calculated from the top down, and Reigns knocked it out of the park.

So a quick recap: Brock Lesnar, despite being advertised, “isn’t in the building.” Reigns is fed up with Brock’s entitled behavior, and just lays into him. It’s a calculated risk to go for something of this nature, but in the “Reality Era,” it has to be done.

Reigns mentioning he was born into the wrestling business got a chuckle out of me. Sure, they were going for the whole “Samoan wrestling dynasty” thing, but all I could picture was Vince McMahon literally birthing a fully-formed Roman Reigns in Titan Towers in Stamford.

The past three years may not have done Reigns any favors on the mic. But in this one promo here tonight, he proved that “sufferin’ succotash, son” is far behind us. Less heavy scripting of promos is what Reigns needs, because look what happens when he cuts loose. This was more passionate than almost every promo he’s cut in the past.

If this is what we have six weeks of, I’m all in, baby. Especially if at least Heyman shows up to play off Roman.

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Raw Tag Team Championship 2 out of 3 Falls Match

The Bar (Cesaro & Sheamus) (c) vs. Titus Worldwide (Titus O’Neil & Apollo, w/ Dana Brooke)

Result: The Bar defeated Titus Worldwide 2-0

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

Now this is how you start a 2 out of 3 Falls match. Having the heel team score a fall in the first 30 seconds of the match so the babyfaces have to work from behind is some of the simplest booking out there. Plus, having the first fall happen so soon shocks the audience a bit. Who would expect a pinfall to happen so quickly? (Although, it was off a Brogue Kick; just ask Daniel Bryan how quick that can take you out.)

The second fall was a pretty good match in and of itself. The only trouble was, it was basically a rehash of everything that the two teams have been doing for the past few weeks. Titus’s hot tag tonight was almost step for step exactly the same as what he did at Elimination Chamber. It’s fine to do similar things from one match to the next, but a little space between them wouldn’t be a bad thing.

I like the recent trend of these 2 out of 3 falls matches not going the full three falls. A few weeks back, The Usos defeated Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin 2-0. Tonight, The Bar wins 2-0. It shows that there’s unpredictability to the match type, and you can’t assume anything.

Where Titus Worldwide goes from here, I have no idea. Even The Bar doesn’t seem to have anything to do right now. But if Cesaro and Sheamus can keep doing promos like the one they did after the match, that would be fine.

Jarrius “JJ” Robertson to Receive Warrior Award

No, you’re crying.

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Elias vs. Braun Strowman

Result: Braun Strowman defeated Elias vis disqualification

Rating: 1.75 out of 5 stars

You gotta love that big ol’ country boy Braun Strowman. Referencing both AC/DC and Megadeth in his cell phone promo – not to mention a “smash hit” pun – is a surefire way to get on my good side. Not that he needed any help, just saying I’m a simple man who can be easy to please. Have a good match, pun it up, flip over some motor vehicles – you know, the usual.

But aside from the novelty of Strowman being Strowman, this match was pretty booty. It was way too slow paced, and nothing of consequence actually happened. Things didn’t get interesting until the finish and beyond, and even that was kind of ho hum. Elias picked up the victory, even though his OSHA training is clearly lacking (use PASS – Pull Aim Squeeze Spray – to operate a fire extinguisher).

Somehow, despite being blinded by the extinguisher foam, Braun is still able to chase Elias, which – as much as I love Braun – is kinda dumb. Let Elias just get away, like the coward he showed himself to be. Instead, Braun has little trouble tracking down his rival, even coming close to powerslamming him through the announce table.

Thankfully, Elias booked it backstage after a rake to the eyes, getting out of Dodge as the Monster Among Men stumbled around blindly. We got one more “I’m not finished with you yet!” before a limo pulled up and Strowman walked away.

All I can say is, thank goodness there was no Kane around.

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Sorry Mrs. McMahon, I Apologize

Oh, man, WWE is going to screw up Rousey’s first few weeks, aren’t they?

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Let’s rewind to Elimination Chamber first. After Rousey made her passioned speech about how big a fan she is, and how much she wants to make everyone proud, the segment became all about – surprise, surprise – Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Kurt Angle acted all weird, revealing the deep, dark master plan H and Steph allegedly had. A table toss and slap later, Rousey signed her contract.

Tonight, it was a time for apologies. First, Triple H and Stephanie set the stage, once again proclaiming that Angle was lying or mistaken. They try to bring him out for his side of the story, but instead Rousey marched down to the ring with purpose.

Before anything could happen, Angle came down the ramp to talk Ronda down. Because that’s the approach we should be taking – try to stop the fighter from fighting. Surprisingly, Kurt admits to lying, and goes along with the whole “I’m sick” angle. Rousey has no problem with that, but she has a big problem with getting slapped.

And so, Ronda demanded Stephanie to apologize. In truly hilarious, pathetic, sad, overacting fashion, Stephanie did just that. But rather than just let things be, Triple H took a cheap shot at Angle, knocking him out before leaving.

Am I the only one making the Survivor Series connection here? I’m sure it’s asking a lot for any references to the whole Angle/HHH/Stephanie thing from 2000ish. But Survivor Series was less than six months ago. Triple H turned on Angle for no apparent reason during the main event – Angle’s actions at Elimination Chamber were probably payback. The change in attitude tonight was just to keep his job.

This is all very clearly building to Rousey/Angle vs. HHH/Stephanie at WreslteMania. Let’s see what happens over the rest of the six week build before we cast aspersions.

Next: WWE Elimination Chamber 2018: Review

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