WWE Raw advertised the continuation of Edge’s “open challenge” WrestleMania storyline in addition to Finn Balor vs. Damian Priest for the WWE United States Championship.
The conclusion of Raw saw AJ Styles emerge to answer Edge’s WrestleMania challenge, despite a Cody Rhodes tease with Edge saying his “Roads (Rhodes) to WrestleMania” will become a lot clearer.
Last week’s broadcast of Raw was up with 1.825 million viewers for the fallout from Elimination Chamber.
WWE Raw Ratings, Last Five Weeks
- February 21, 2022—1.825 million
- February 14, 2022—1.602 million
- February 7, 2022—1.387 million
- January 31, 2022—1.865 million
- January 24, 2022—1.766 million
WWE Raw Ticket Sales
- WWE Raw Venue: Nationwide Arena (Columbus, OH)
- WWE Raw Tickets Distributed: 6,874
- WWE Raw Tickets Available: 493
Booker T Shoot Interview (Pro Wrestling Bits)
WWE Raw Total YouTube Viewership Last Monday—8,905,842 (Up from 6,443,625)
- Most-Viewed: Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman Confrontation (2,548,031 views)
- Least-Viewed: Veer Vignette (150,739 views)
- Median Viewership: 595,280 views
WWE Raw Results | Monday, February 28, 2022
Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins def. Alpha Academy
Kevin Owens referred to Seth Rollins as his best friend. Famous last words, however I don’t think they’ll have time for the breakup because he may be too busy transitioning into a feud with you-know-who.
Kevin Owens continued to troll Texas by wearing a ten-gallon hat sideways and even called out Shawn Michaels and JBL. No mention of Victoria, Texas though.
This segment felt designed to get Chad Gable’s catchphrases over, namely “a-thank-you” and “shoosh!”
Despite being presented as something of an afterthought in this feud, I still expect Randy Orton and Riddle to win the upcoming Raw Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Match.
Omos def. T-BAR
T-BAR is the biggest man to ever face T-Bar, but you’d never know it based on how this match was booked.
It’s like WWE remembered that they wanted to push Omos and heated him right back up. With WWE in the midst of WrestleMania season, the timing for Omos is impeccable.
Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley def. Becky Lynch, Doudrop and Nikki A.S.H.
Both teams were given a promo prior to this match. Liv Morgan pitched a strategy during the babyface promo, prompting Corey Graves to question why she’s coming up with a strategy 30 seconds before a match.
Last week, Bianca Belair threw Doudrop all around the ring, yet this week, she needed help from Rhea Ripley to pull off a double suplex.
To protect their WrestleMania match, I didn’t think Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch would even touch, yet when they came back from commercial they were pretty much having a full-blown match.
Bianca Belair’s first hair whip to Becky Lynch sounded like it was bolstered by a sound effect. It looks like Belair’s pony tail will play a key part in the WrestleMania storyline. I predict Lynch demands she wrestles against Belair without her pony tail.
Tommaso Ciampa def. Robert Roode
Tommaso Ciampa appears to be a full-fledged member of the Raw roster after giving a swan song speech last week in NXT.
Ciampa will return to NXT afterall as the Dirty Dawgz will face Ciampa and Bron Breakker tomorrow night on NXT 2.0.
Reggie and Dana Brooke def. Akira Tozawa and Tamina
How can Reggie and Dana Brooke trust each other after last week?
WWE is moving forwards with Dana Brooke making out with Reggie, and once again she got her makeup all over his face. not to be outdone, Tamina pondered making out with Akira Tozawa for several seconds before kissing him herself.
The Hurt Business def. The Mysterios
Miz and The Mysterios had a talking segment before this match that went on way too long.
Corey Graves: “Every time I say Logan Paul’s name, I get nine new followers.”
This match was essentially background to the announce team putting over Logan Paul.
All the Mysterios do is lose tag team matches.
The Street Profits def. RK-Bro
There was a very awkward finish where Montez Ford hit a routine Frog Splash on Randy Orton, who seemed shaken up and was unable to get his foot on the bottom rope (though Angelo Dawkins was supposed to push it off).
RK-Bro are definitely winning the tag team titles soon. They’re not being beaten like this to go in and lose yet again in a big match.
Damian Priest vs. Finn Balor—WWE United States Championship
This was another instance of two Superstars having to wait in the ring forever until their match.
During the long waiting period, there was a segment between Austin Theory and Vince McMahon where Theory referenced McMahon’s infamous interview with Armen Keteyian was referenced.
Fans had really got into Balor vs. Priest by the time they came back from commercial.
I couldn’t believe Damian Priest lost. I felt a heel turn was inevitable, and that’s exactly what happened during a post-match promo.
AJ Styles Answers Edge’s WrestleMania Open Challenge
Edge said “my Rhodes to WrestleMania is going to be a lot clearer tonight,” only for the big reveal to be AJ Styles.
Part of me was hoping AJ Styles was stepping up to Edge to introduce him to Cody Rhodes.
To their credit, the live arena seemed excited for this match. It’ll definitely be a good match, just not the one some people thought they were getting.
Edge seemed to turn heel by delivering a low blow to Styles, but his actual heel turn came moments before when he trolled this crowd by teasing his “Rhodes to WrestleMania.”
