Strowman is War – Raw Recap – Monday, May 1, 2017

Welcome to Monday Night Roman.  Distinct possibility The Big Dog will not be here tonight, as he was mauled last night and has probably died of internal bleeding somewhere, but it’s still the Roman Show, just like Smackdown is Styles.

So let’s kick this thing off.

• The show kicks off with the women’s division awaiting their new champion in the ring.  Alexa was given too much time to talk before she started in about Bayley’s family watching her disappoint them and Bayley pounced.  The 8 women then went into a brawl, so in the commercial break they got the Teddy Long special, changing the previously announced Women’s Tag Match to an…..
• 8 Woman Tag Match Playa – Bayley, Sasha, Mickie and Dana vs Nia, Emma, Alexa and Alicia Fooooooooxxxxxxxx –  Dana was given a brief period to show off, which she did.  She hit a cartwheel splash on a downed opponent, it was kind of a cool move.  Alicia Fox, being much like Jeremy refers to Nikki Bella as a “Diva trapped in a women’s revolution”, sells like a champ.  This match probably could have been better if it were Tornado, but I’m starting to think that anything beyond a standard tag match should be tornado rules.  Alexa Bliss rakes the eyes of Bayley, hitting the DDT and picking up the pinfall for a second win in two nights over the Hugger.
• A recap of Strowman-Roman with Michael Cole focusing pretty heavily on the fact that Roman wasn’t 100% going in.  This match did a lot for both guys, it showed the fight in the Big Dog that he kept fighting hurt and it furthered the monster towards an inevitable meeting with Brock Lesnar.
• Enzo and Gallows were supposed to have a one on one match, but during the Enzo and Cass trash talk, the Good Brothers came out of the crowd and jumped them.  Enzo and Cass appeared to stand tall as they went to commercial, though Enzo looked a little dizzy.  Enzo vs Luke Gallows – Back from commercial, we do get the advertised match.  It went back and forth, but Gallows would get the pinfall on a slight distraction from Karl Anderson.
• Seth Rollins talked a bit about what’s next.  Now that he’s cleared out Triple H and he’s taken down Samoa Joe, there’s only one thing left for him to do, “I want the Beast”.  Finn Balor would emerge, you know, the guy that should have already had a shot at at least the Number One Contendership.  The line should start behind Balor, as he indicates.  Dean Ambrose would then come out and explain that a Championship that matters is a championship with a fighting champion, and seeing as how Lesnar never shows up, his belt is the most important one on Raw right now.  So now, The Miz is on his way out.  I smell some more Teddy Long booking with these four in the ring.  This was an interesting way to get these guys all involved in the IC title picture with Lesnar most likely not defending until The Beast meets the Monster Among Men where Balls of Flame are Great.  Tonight, the Intercontinental Championship number one contendership will be defended in a Triple Threat Match, PLAYA!!!!
• 6 Man Tag Cruiserweight Match – Rich Swann, Akira Tozawa and Gentleman Jack vs Tony Nese, Noam Dar and The Brian Kendrick – I’ll take this opportunity to, once again, exclaim just how much I enjoy 205 Live.  It really has quickly become my favorite hour they put on TV each week.  It’s the perfect complement to round out the third hour for Smackdown.  Gentleman’s Dropkick in the corner and Jack Gallagher picks up the pinfall over The Brian Kendrick.
• Cesaro and Sheamus are out to explain themselves for last night’s assault on The Hardyz.  Raw needed another team that could get over as bad guys, and with Sheamus in the fray this made the most sense.  They talked for a while, but as they went to leave, The Hardyz would emerge.  While he didn’t say it, Matt Hardy said they were coming to give their response, did the DELETE motion, and ran to the ring.  They’re just going to keep teasing on the show, but follow @MattHardyBrand on Twitter, it just keeps getting better.
• Kurt Angle makes his way to the ring to explain that Roman Reigns has further injured his already injured ribs as well as other undisclosed internal injuries (like spitting up ridiculous amounts of blood from internal bleeding), and Braun Strowman (in kayfabe) has a torn rotator cuff.  He’s joined by Bray Wyatt, who needs him to know that while Raw is Angle’s show, this is Wyatt’s World.  That is all.
• Austin Aries vs TJP – This match was fantastic.  Angry TJP is pretty great, and it’s really revitalized an amazing talent’s failing character.  A Double picks up the submission with the Last Chancery but TJP attacks him after the fact with a dropkick to the back of the knee and locks in a lengthy kneebar.
• Finn Balor vs The Miz vs Seth Rollins for Number One Contendership for the Intercontinental Championship – This is a decent triple threat match, Miz plays his character well by constantly trying to avoid the action and pit Rollins and Balor against each other, then attempts to form an alliance with anyone who will listen to no avail.  Rollins is on a tear at one point, but Samoa Joe comes out of the crowd to slam him on the outside of the ring.  Balor then takes control and climbs up for Coup de Grace, only for the Bray Wyatt screen and lights to go out.  When they come back on, Wyatt tosses Balor from the top, climbing in the ring to hit him with Sister Abigail.  The lights again go out, coming back on with Balor laid out in the ring and Miz confused looking over at him.  Miz crawls over to make the pin.  The Miz wins via pinfall over Finn Balor.  Balor vs Wyatt could be a damn good feud for Demonic Supremacy.

Not a bad episode of Raw, but seriously, it’s only like an hour long when you don’t have commercials.  The Hulu version is so great.  Anyway, Jeremy is on tap for Smackdown this week, and I’ll be back on the beat Wednesday night for The Other Two Hours.  See you then.