A Room with a Review: Raw 02/10/20

California knows how to party. At the very least they know how to bandage necks with chunks taken out of them. Intrigued? Then read on!

• Oh boy, Rollins and his crew are already in the ring. He claims that we gave him the name Monday Night Messiah. I will not be including that on my CV. He recaps last week when Kevin Owens almost beat them after his team went down 3-1 in the elimination match. Seth is mad that KO and the boys cost him a shot at the title during his main event match last week. Cue KO’s music, but he says he’s not here alone. The Viking Raiders come out and all three head down the ramp and are met by Murphy and AOP. Rollins is left alone in the ring, and Samoa Joe grabs him from behind and applies the Coquina Clutch. Good thing that they didn’t announce that we were getting a 4-on-4 match with all of these participants before the show started. It might have ruined the surprise. The heels powder and the faces celebrate in the ring. Becky Lynch’s music hits and she comes to the ring, ahead of her championship match with Asuka tonight. After the commercial, of course.

• Asuka comes to the ring with Kairi Sane and she cuts a promo in Japanese. I like how they’ve just gone all-in on Asuka never learning English. Big Becky chant at the start of the match. Some nice mat wrestling early, but a Kairi Sane distraction allows Asuka to knock Becky out of the ring with the hip attack. After a quick break for a Miz and Mrs. ad, Asuka is still in control, focusing on Becky’s arm. Lynch starts a comeback and is able to knock Asuka down for a two-count. Becky goes to the ropes to hit her leg drop, but Asuka gets the knees up and almost gets the win. Asuka tried to hit Lynch with the hip attack again, but Becky moves and applies the Disarmher with Asuka tied up in the ropes. Asuka fights back and puts Becky in an armbar. Becky breaks the hold, but Asuka is able to put her in the Asuka Lock. The two trade pinfall attempts until Becky hits the Rock Bottom (Beck Bottom?) and scores the victory. Afterward, Shayna Bayzler attacks Becky from behind and puts her in the Kirafuta Clutch, which looks eerily similar to the Asuka Lock. She then BITES HER NECK!!! Shayna looks right at the camera, her mouth covered in “blood”. I guess Edge must be reforming The Brood. They let Becky act her way to the back and to a commercial break.

• Back from the break and it’s Mojo Rawley and Riddick Moss vs the Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford). It must be time for their monthly match. They win fairly quickly, hitting the Cashout on Moss as soon as he tags in. Mojo goes to check on him and Riddick puts him in a small package to win the 24/7 Championship! Nice swerve.

• Becky agrees to go to the hospital, but she pulls the driver out of the ambulance and decides to drive herself. She’s still got a little of that Stone Cold streak in her.

• Up next is the VIP Lounge, hosted by MVP. His guest is Royal Rumble winner, Drew McIntyre. Drew makes sure to point at the sign when MVP says WrestleMania. MVP says that some people are saying that Drew isn’t ready to be WWE Champion. MVP is angling to be McIntyre’s business partner and advocate. MVP makes the mistake of grabbing Drew’s arm as he walks away and McIntyre hits him with the Glasgow Kiss headbutt, followed up by a Claymore kick sending MVP over the leather couch. 

• They show us a video package of Randy Orton’s heinous attack on the returning Edge. Randy will be live later to answer for the attack. Sure he will.

• It’s Angel Garza w/ Zelina Vega against Cedrick Alexander. I wish this was a Takeover match or something. Give these guys 20+ minutes, please. Before the match starts, Humberto Carillo runs down and beats on Garza. Security and refs have to separate them and they escort Carillo to the back. The match starts and Cedric tries to get the jump on Garza, but Vega distracts him. Garza moves to the outside and Alexander goes for a baseball slide dropkick. Garza blocks it and pancakes Cedric on the outside. He tries to pull up the padding, but Cedric recovers too quickly. They move back to the ring and Garza wins after the Wing Clipper. Man, Garza could rule the mid-card for years to come.

• Backstage, Charly Caruso is with Rhea Ripley. She’s not waiting for Charlotte to make a decision about WrestleMania. Sarah Logan shows up and gets verbally punked out by Rhea.

• Bobby Lashley and Lana are backstage and Sarah Schreiber wants to find out Bobby’s feelings about his match with Ricochet. Lana started talking and I zoned out.

• Back in the ring and Sarah Logan calls out Rhea Ripley. Logan apparently doesn’t realize that microphones exist so you don’t need to yell. Ripley answers the challenge, but they get interrupted by Charlotte Flair, who is going to watch the match from the top of the ramp. Rhea wins with the Riptide, keeping her eyes on Charlotte the whole time. Rhea asks Charlotte where her answer is. Charlotte says that Ripley might not even be champion after Takeover: Portland this Sunday, live on the WWE Network.

• They announce that LA is the site of WrestleMania next year. I guess they are getting a new stadium that may secretly be an Elon Musk spaceship.

• It’s Bobby Lashley w/ Lana vs Ricochet. I guess this is Ricochet’s prep match for Brock Lesnar, since they probably won’t get many reps in before Super Showdown. They decide to do a picture-in-picture ad for the new Sonic the Hedgehog movie, who is sponsoring this match. Ricochet gets the win after a 630 that lands squarely on Lashley’s chest and head. He looks shaken up after that. Lesnar does NOT come out to attack Ricochet, so his 2020 Raw streak may be over.

• They show a recap of what transpired between Becky and Shayna earlier and say that Becky has left the medical facility and is on her way back. I guess she’ll be driving the ambulance down to the ring.

• Randy Orton heads to the ring to address his actions against Edge, just like he was supposed to last week. As Orton finally starts to talk, Matt Hardy interrupts him. Matt talks about how close the Hardys and Edge and Christian are, how they invented the TLC match together. No mention of Edge stealing his girlfriend and having sex with her in the middle of the ring on live TV. Orton goes for an RKO, but Matt is too smart and avoids it. He starts beating on Randy, but Orton is able to get enough room and hit the RKO after all. He grabs two chairs and gives Matt Hardy a Conchairto. Based on Matt’s contract status, that was either his last WWE appearance or the impetus for the return of Broken/Woken Matt Hardy. Either choice would be WONDERFUL! 

• They show the Sonic trailer again. Can we get the wedding angle back instead?

• Speaking of which, they show us a recap of Ruby Riott’s attack on Liv Morgan. Sarah Schreiber is backstage with Ruby, who says that Liv will always be a follower and that she’s back to remind her. 

• Next up is Aleister Black against the severely underused Akira Tozawa. Black is great but I want Akira to win everything. Of course, he doesn’t, but Tozawa does last longer than the last few opponents that got laid out by the Black Mass. It was also the best sell of that move yet. 

• Becky Lynch pulls up in the ambulance but leaves it outside. She has to walk long enough for a commercial break to air. 

• Back from commercial and Becky Lynch is heading to the ring. She tells Shayna that she better find Becky before Becky finds her. 

• Main event time. It’s an 8-man tag match between Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe, and the Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) vs AOP (Akam and Rezar), Murphy (RIP Buddy), and Seth Rollins. All of the participants start brawling before the bell rings and they take a commercial break to get things under control. 

• We’re back and Samoa Joe is lighting up Murphy. AOP uses chicanery (shoutout Dave Schilling) to take control. Hot tag to Joe and Seth and business is about to pick up. Joe and the Viking Raiders perform suicide dives in triplicate to Seth and AOP. KO hits a cannonball from the top to a mass of humanity outside the ring. Joe has Murphy in the Coquina Clutch, bet a distraction by AOP allows Rollins to come in and hit a stomp, allowing Murphy to make the pin. 

• This was a bit of a filler episode but had enough big moments to keep it interesting. Like, why is Shayna a vampire now? If you think you know why let me know in the comment section below.

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