WWE Raw: Results, Highlights, Analysis, and Grades for March 19

Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt wage war in The Ultimate Deletion (Photo Source: WWE.com)

Follow along with our live WWE Raw review. Tonight features the long-awaited Ultimate Deletion between Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt, plus an appearance by Universal Champion Brock Lesnar.

Previously on WWE Raw, Roman Reigns got maaaaaaad – then he got suspended by Vince McMahon. Nia Jax got maaaaaaad, too. Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns keep bickering. Brock Lesnar kicked his feet up at home. And Braun Strowman took his first step to becoming the Raw Tag Team Champions.

This week, Raw has a big spectacle planned. After weeks – no, months – of build, Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy will have the rubber match of their series of matches. Only this time, it won’t take place in a WWE ring. It’s going down at the Hardy Compound – and it’s billed as The Ultimate Deletion. If you’ve ever seen the original incarnation of “Woken” Matt Hardy in TNA/Impact, you know that this has the potential to be insane – in a good way. Will any of the extended Hardy clan get involved in this Great War?

On to WrestleMania worthy news, Brock Lesnar will be in the house tonight. Yes, I know I’ve written this two other times since Elimination Chamber. But this time, Vince McMahon has guaranteed an appearance by the Universal Champion, “special privileges” or no. And just ask Bret Hart about Vince’ guarantees…

Asuka is on her way to a WrestleMania match against Charlotte Flair – the SmackDown Women’s Champion. But first, she’s putting her undefeated streak on the line against Raw Women’s Champ Alexa Bliss. The Goddess of WWE needs to be looking over her shoulder, though – Nia Jax (and the whole world) overheard Little Miss Bliss’s true feelings about the Irresistible Force. Will Nia get her hands on her former BFF?

And Braun Strowman is the number one contender for the Raw Tag Team Championship. No, that’s not a typo. Strowman won the tag team battle royal last week solo, and Kurt Angle is letting the victory stand and will award Strowman his title match at WrestleMania. There’s one condition, though – Braun needs to find a tag team partner. Is there anyone on the Raw roster willing to team with The Monster Among Men?

Related Story: WWE Bold Predictions, Week of Mar. 19

Follow along with our live WWE Raw coverage starting right here at 8 p.m. ET.

Roman Reigns is read his rights. (Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter)

Welcome to the Fireworks Factory

Right off the bat, Kurt Angle “confirms” that:

1. Roman Reigns is still suspended and won’t be at Raw, and;
2. Brock Lesnar “hasn’t arrived yet” but is on his way.

Clearly, “Stone Cold Big Dog” Roman Austin is the tactic we’re taking, because before Kurt reaches the period in his sentence, out comes Reigns through the crowd. It’s a nice touch that he’s not really in his ring gear – and pretty damn funny that he’s wearing a tank top with slacks. Gym casual?

And you know what? As silly as it might seem to the smarkiest part of the WWE Universe, it’s actually working. Tell me you didn’t hear more cheers at the end of Roman’s tirade than he got at the beginning.

In typical Stone Cold fashion, Reigns refuses to leave until he gets what he wants, so Angle narcs him out and brings out security. Oh, sorry, US Marshalls. I don’t know what I liked more – Texas indie standout Ricky Starks getting some WWE time, or the other dude pulling a Channing Tatum and not being able to memorize the Miranda rights. It’s 2018, hasn’t everyone watched enough TV to know the words?

After Reigns is handcuffed, he clearly dispatches the marshalls, which brings Brock Lesnar to the ring straight from his limo. Reigns attempted to fight Lesnar off with a chair while still handcuffed, but it’s futile. Lesnar smokes him with a couple of suplexes and wallops him with the chair before delivering an F5. The look in Lesnar’s eyes said, “I wish this was 2003 and I could hit him in the skull with this chair.”

But again – Lesnar was booed quite vocally at the end of his tirade. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but WWE may actually be getting this story right. A lot of people have told me that they find Reigns’s promos to be too derivative of the Rock-Cena rivalry from WrestleManias 28-29. These same people tell me that Reigns doesn’t have the vocal chops to pull off those kinds of promos. To that, I say Tommy Wiseau doesn’t have the acting chops to do anything, but I’ve seen The Room. Sometimes talent  isn’t everything, it’s the total context.

I could have done without Lesnar coming out after Reigns was on the stretcher. It was just a bit too much, you know? But the point here is that you don’t tug on Superman’s cape, spit into the wind, pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger, and you don’t mess around with Bork.

And to the jerks who tried a “You deserve it” chant at Roman after the beating, just, no.

No, Mickie, the arrest bit was the first segment, put your hands down. (Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter)

Alexa Bliss (w/ Mickie James) vs. Asuka

Result: Asuka defeated Alexa Bliss via countout

Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars

As is often the case, the WWE production crew put together a heck of a video recapping everything leading up to this match. It’s followed up by Mickie James looking like a million bucks as she channels Bull Nakano’s overall aesthetic, with a bit of modern club goer thrown in.

Oh, and Alexa said a bunch of words about Nia Jax, but it’s nothing that wouldn’t be expected – even if it went a bit over the line. It’s a tremendously personal storyline – you have to be either really close friends or the worst enemies on the planet to go through this script. I get Alexa is the “mean girl” of the promotion, but “dropping 300 pounds of sad pathetic loser”? Yeesh. I’ve legit smacked people for saying waaaaaaay less about me – family members, too!

Once that promo was finished, you knew Jax was going to have some kind of impact on this match before all was said and done. Before that, though, it was two segments worth of “can Asuka overcome the two on one disadvantage to keep her streak heading into WrestleMania?”

By now, I’ve written that this focus on The Streak™ is taking away from Asuka’s matches more times than I can count. I think the world understands the concept of undefeated – we don’t need a reminder every nine seconds. Regardless, the match mostly delivered. I think the added time between the Reigns/Lesnar opener and the actual start of this match helped a great deal – the crowd had some extra time to breath and regroup.

Honestly, my only real complaint about this match was Alexa constantly bailing out too soon on Asuka’s attacks. You can chalk it up to “cowardly heel” a bit, but not to the extent it happened. A count out victory is akin to eating a nice dinner at a mid-level restaurant, then your dessert order is replaced by a Christmas fruitcake, too – not a great finish. But the sunset flip bomb was near perfection, so it wasn’t all bad.

But out comes super fire babyface Nia, and I’m pretty sure the crowd popped louder for her pursuit of Alexa than they did during large parts of the Reigns/Lesnar fracas. Amazingly, we’re 2/2 on storytelling heading into Mania. Uncharted waters, friends…

Braun Strowman addresses his potential partner. (Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter)

This Would Have Been Better as a Dating Game Skit

After Kurt Angle officially signs Bliss vs. Jax for WrestleMania, Braun Strowman comes out to the ring. The number one contender for the Raw Tag Team Championships needs to find a partner, as per management. There goes my dream of Strowman & These Hands going at it with The Bar.

Speaking of The Bar, out come Cesaro and Sheamus to make things a bit homophobic. Dudes, you’re in Texas – know the room before you say things. Braun shows us that he’s been watching his Dwayne Johnson videos as he tells his opponents to shut the hell up.

Braun said he’s got two things to bring up to The Bar. Sadly, they were not “These Hands.” Instead, Braun tells his WrestleMania opponents that he knows he doesn’t need a partner, but he has one anyway. The second thing? He’s got the power via Kurt Angle to have a match with either Cesaro or Sheamus – and it happens now.

A brief little cat and mouse game between Sheamus and Cesaro leads to The Swiss Cyborg being Strowman’s opponent. Hey, Sheamus has to spend the time coming up with more Rick and Morty references for his next promo. Plus, Cesaro vs. Braun? Hell, yeah!

Before we get to the match, can I say how disappointing it is not to get a series of segments featuring Braun traveling backstage to try and recruit tag partners? Remember when Chad Gable campaigned in NXT to be Jason Jordan’s partner? (oh, god, don’t let a magically healed Jordan be the tag partner) Or when R-Truth begged Goldust for weeks to team up with him? Imagine Braun just walking up to a guy like Curt Hawkins and saying, “BE MY PARTNER OR YOU’LL GET THESE HANDS!” and Hawkins pooping himself and running away.

Braun Strowman (Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter)

Braun Strowman vs. Cesaro (w/ Sheamus)

Result: Braun Strowman defeated Cesaro via pinfall

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

Look, you know what I’m going to say here. Braun is one of the best big men in WWE ever, but especially today. Cesaro has the talent to be a multiple time world champion at this point. If Braun wants to go up against The Bar solo, he needs to assert dominance over the members of the team individually to make it believable.

So we’re treated to a decent chunk of HOSS ACTION. Just two big strong guys throwing each other around, trying to wear the other one down. It wasn’t a squash either way, but the presence of Sheamus at ringside was enough to keep things more even that would be expected in a Braun singles match – even against a guy like Cesaro.

The strength display was nice, but I personally would have liked to see a bit more. I know they’re going to save the really big stuff for WrestleMania. But why not let Cesaro really get Strowman up? Maybe not hit the Neutralizer, but lift him into position. Something to show that Cesaro isn’t going to take things lying down.

Prepare the Battlefield

I love that the entire cast of characters is making their way to WWE for The Ultimate Deletion. It’s clear that Hardy and the rest of the creative force behind this storyline isn’t messing with the formula. And why would you?

The Revival enter the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. (Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter)

The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder) vs. Titus Worldwide (Apollo Crews & Titus O’Neil, w/ Dana Brooke)

Result: The Revival defeated Titus Worldwide via pinfall

Rating: 2.25 out of 5 stars

The best word I can use to describe this match? Meh. It’s like the kiss of death, though. The match was there, not great, not bad, just… there.

And I like all four of these guys, I do! It’s just that WrestleMania season is a tough time for those not in the main event or upper midcard. Even with like 12 hours of programming, and 82 matches on the card, there’s no room for some of these guys outside of the battle royal spots.

Also, how many times are either of these teams going to challenge for the tag titles? You can’t just keep throwing the same two or three teams into title matches and expect things to magically change. So the champs go one direction, and the former challengers go another. It’s the way of the business.

I appreciate the effort being put into making the Shatter Machine a finisher that can come from “outta nowhere.” The Revival are so good at blind tags (even though tonight’s was a bit sloppy) that they really can crack you with it from out of the blue.

I also want to say that the idea of a tag team winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal is ridiculous, and it’s going to be a disaster.

Mark Henry to Hall of Fame

It’s an easy joke, but how great would it be if Henry wore the salmon blazer to the induction ceremony, gave a touching, heartfelt speech to lure us in, and once again hit John Cena with the World’s Strongest Slam?

Is the friendship mended? (Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter)

Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. Absolution (Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose, w/ Paige)

Result: Absolution defeated Bayley & Sasha Banks via pinfall

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

Before the match, it’s another installment of WWE Women’s Division Middle School Community Theater. I swear, William Shatner pauses less when he talks emotes overacts. But lost in the bad acting and inability to sound like a convincing human being, Bayley finally makes a good point to justify her petty behavior for the past few weeks.

Despite the way things had been portrayed, Bayley does understand the whole “every woman for herself” aspect of both the Rumble and the Elimination Chamber. That’s not why she’s pouty. No, she doesn’t mind being “betrayed” by Sasha – she’s mad at how it was done. And the look in Sasha’s eye after she dropped Bayley like Scar dropped Mufasa told Bayley all she needed to know. Before we can find out if the friendship is patched up, Paige brings out Absolution, and the match is under way.

There’s only so much you can do with a “these two are on the outs” storyline, though. Absolution is a cohesive unit, with absolutely ZERO signs of dissension. And if we take talent and curve it based on how well the team works together, then Absolution is the better squad in a walk. Sasha and Bayley may be two of the best WWE has to offer, but Deville is killing it, and Rose is Eva Marie with talent. (Long time readers will recall how much I adored Eva Marie, especially when no one else did.)

So Deville works the submission holds, before Bayley refuses a tag (but stays on the apron, so progress!) and Sasha prevents the referee from seeing Bayley attempt a pin. The lack of unity allows Absolution to attack from behind – sending Bayley into Sasha – before pinning Bayley for the victory.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Bayley and Sasha are going to conclude this angle in the

Fabulous Moolah

WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal. The crowded card seems to limit the possibility for a singles match, and the battle royal needs bodies. So let’s just do it.

John Cena addressed his challenge to the Undertaker. (Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter)

Cena Wants Answers, But Can’t Handle The Truth

Short version: Cena is peeved that he hasn’t gotten an answer from the Undertaker. Seriously, that’s the gist of what John just took 15 minutes to spit out.

Yeah, there’s more to it. Cena claims that Taker’s lack of a response is disrespectful to the fans. The same fans who still chant “CM PUNK” when they’re presented with something they don’t like. And the same fans who bring beach balls to pro wrestling shows because they have the attention span of a flea. “We want to see great matc- wait a second, I need to Instagram a Snapchat from this Twitter account – okay, what’d I miss? WHAT, THE MATCH ENDED?” I’ve seen it on every level – local indy, big time indy, major promotions, WWE.

So Cena calls the Undertaker a coward, because being nearly 53 with a bump card longer than Chris Jericho’s list of wrestling moves doesn’t earn you the right to stay home. I’ll admit, I would have loved to see Taker roll down to the ring in street clothes, hit Cena with a chokeslam, and just say “NO” before leaving the ring.

Instead, Kane’s music hit (lol) and he came to the ring. I guess he found his way from that medical facility down to Dallas after all these weeks! Cena wants an answer from Kane, but he just gets the aforementioned chokeslam – no answer.

It would be the funniest damn thing if Cena faces Kane at WrestleMania. It’s not going to happen, but it would be HILARIOUS. We’ll get Undertaker as the biker, getting a live musical performance intro by new Hall of Famer Kid Rock, and Taker will ride his Rascal Scooter down to the ring.

The Miz, flanked by Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel (Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter)

The Miz, Bo Dallas, & Curtis Axel vs. Finn Balor, Luke Gallows, & Karl Anderson

Result: Finn Balor, Luke Gallows, & Karl Anderson defeated The Miz, Bo Dallas, & Curtis Axel

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

You know how you can tell The Miz is a great heel? Because he can spit forth logical points, but still deserve a punch in the face. He’s got evidence – the WrestleMania program – to back his points, and you actually have to think when he says, “Am I the bad guy?”

But, yes, of course he’s the bad guy. Miz doesn’t deserve to be treated as he has by Kurt Angle in recent weeks. In general, though, Miz is a sneaky weasel who takes shortcuts left and right. That makes you less honorable, which makes you morally weak, which generally tends to equal bad person. And dropping old indy names? Savage, Miz. SAVAGE.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/975923845172310016

But the Miztourage is out for a six man tag match, so they get interrupted by their opponents in the Balor Cub. And it’s perfectly serviceable for what it is. No one crapped the bed, the action told a fairly coherent story, and Miz and Balor were kept mostly apart to help build to the triple threat match at WrestleMania.

Speaking of the triple threat match, the third guy – Seth Rollins – joins the broadcast team. And it was probably one of the best guest commentary spots in a long time. The focus was pretty much only on a) the match in the ring, and b) the match coming up at WrestleMania. That’s how you do it. And for a guy who resorts to “man” and “dude” a lot in promos,

Tyler Black

Rollins was pretty solid on commentary.

So of course, keeping Miz and Balor apart results in Balor picking up the pin on the Intercontinental Champion (check off “champion loses non-title match” off your list now if you didn’t do it when Cesaro lost to Strowman earlier). A post match beatdown left Balor at a three on one disadvantage, but Rollins (stupidly, if you ask me) ran in to make the save.

I get that Rollins is a “good guy” to Miz’s “bad guy,” but why run in to help and still be outnumbered? It’s a grey area in my opinion, and Rollins has pretty much always been black or white. The Blackout looked sick, though, so there’s that.

Special shout out to Karl Anderson for being way better in the ring on a regular basis than anyone notices. Best spinebuster in WWE, non-Bobby Roode division, and his karatay kicks complete with “HIIIII-YA!” are awesome. Keep doing you, hoot.

Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle take a training brake. (Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter)

Ronda Rousey Retrospective

If it wasn’t already abundantly clear, WWE is going to make Ronda Rousey the face of the company before too long.

Like the Bliss/Jax video earlier in the show, this is a masterclass in video marketing. They are selling Rousey as the baddest human being on the planet, no matter sex or gender. All the main points are there: big WWE fan, hard worker, tough, dominant in UFC for a time, and so on.

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Honestly, I think it’s a huge gamble, but it’s ultimately going to pay off. Don’t forget, Rousey has been a champion in UFC, but she has had as many pro wrestling matches as I have: none. And unless I didn’t get a message a few months ago, I’m not headed to New Orleans in three weeks.

But Rousey is. I don’t want to compare her to Lawrence Taylor, because he was a coked up football legend and not a wrestling-based mixed martial artist. However, Taylor did make his pro wrestling debut at WrestleMania – in the main freaking event – and it was the hottest of hot garbage.

Going all in on Rousey is nowhere near as big a risk as putting so much faith in Taylor. WWE isn’t going to have to surround the ring with a bunch of other ex-football guys, like future Horseman Mongo McMichael. And as much as I love Bam Bam Bigelow, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon are a totally different animal. I think Ronda will be fine at Mania and beyond.

Brother Nero, I knew you’d come. (Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter)

The Ultimate Deletion

Bray Wyatt vs. Matt Hardy

Result: Matt Hardy defeated Bray Wyatt via pinfall

Rating: 1 star out of 5? 7 stars out of 5? I honestly don’t even know

Bravo, everyone. This was the complete opposite of the House of Horrors match from last year’s Payback. It just goes to show that Bray Wyatt is terrible at mind games, but Matt Hardy is amazing.

I don’t want to keep comparing The Ultimate Deletion to the House of Horrors, because while similar they were very different. When the House of Horrors involved a broken refrigerator, it was like the producers had never seen any “horrors” in their lives. But here, while nothing really made sense, everything fit. Get me? (You can say no, I really have no idea how to respond to this segment.)

Let’s just run it down, because I don’t know how much analysis I can come up with that actually makes sense:

Vanguard 1 providing the Jedi/Sith hologram image of Hardy was a perfect start. I have no idea why “Broomstick Protocol” meant “shoot fireworks at Wyatt,” but that’s apparently what it meant. The travels through the Hardy Compound were quite illuminating – why on earth would Matt build a replica of Sister Abigail’s shed?

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The journey to the “Land of Obsolete Men” would have been better if you could actually read some of the names on the, uh, tombstones? They look more like classic Team Extreme Hardy logos to me. But the Benny Hill/Scooby Doo chase sequence? Magnificent.

Then there was the Dome of Deletion, complete with ring number two, a Chair of Wheels and a Mower of Lawns. I believe this is the first time we’ve ever seen attempted murder via John Deere – even the Mexicools didn’t pull that.

But Wyatt regrouped, and dragged Matt to the Lake of Reincarnation. Skarsgard, the dilapidated boat, was hiding Señor Benjamin – who taunted Wyatt with his old hymn. As did Jeff “Brother Nero” Hardy, which freaked out Wyatt long enough to give Matt time to recover.

And now the rub – after a pinfall victory, Hardy tossed Wyatt into the Lake of Reincarnation. Benjamin tried to fish him out now that the Great War is “ovah,” but – dun dun DUUUUUUUNNNNNNNN – he disappeared!

I swear, if Bray Wyatt is done, he officially becomes the character with the worst transition from NXT to main roster. And he’s a former WWE Champion! But his entire run can be summed up with the word “disappointment.” And if Husky Harris comes back, I officially complain online.

Where any of this goes from here, who knows? If Jeff is healthy, we can have a true Broken Hardys tag run – but putting them up against Braun Strowman and These Hands™ for the tag titles seems unfair.

Overall, I think I liked the Ultimate Deletion more than I expected? Maybe? It wasn’t bad, it wasn’t great, but it was different, which I like. So perhaps more can be on its way?

Next: 15 Underrated WrestleMania Matches

I have to try and figure out what I thought of this episode overall – what did you think of WWE Raw this week?