A Room with a Review: Raw 02/24/20

Posted: February 25, 2020/Under: Belts/By: Richard Phillips

Raw is in Winnipeg for the first time in 15 years. Good for WWE that they are doing all of these Canada shows, but why in February?

Once again the show starts with the Viper, Randy Orton. He apologizes for what he did to Edge, but Kevin Owens doesn’t believe him. KO wants to know why Randy did what he did. Randy walks away and it looks like we are going to get a match between the two later tonight.

Backstage, Charly Caruso is with Angel Garza and Zelina Vega. They are trying to get Garza over as a ladies man. They won’t have to try hard. I think they’re leaning into a Latino Heat 2.0 gimmick, which would be perfect for him.

After a commercial, it’s Garza vs. his cousin, Humberto Carrillo. He’s Angel’s Chavo. They do some great back and forth stuff, with neither one gaining the advantage. I’d be good if this match was the whole show. They trade kicks on the apron and Carrillo tries to slingshot Garza into the ring post. Garza lands on his feet and hits a moonsault. Back in the ring, Angel hits Humberto with a top rope Spanish Fly, but only gets a two count. Somewhere, Jim Cornette is yelling at his TV, but that may just be because there were two Mexicans in the ring. Garza gets the win after reversing a pin attempt by Carrillo.

Next up is Ricochet vs. Luke Gallows w/ Karl Anderson and AJ Styles. Ricochet gets the win after a Shooting Star Press.

After a commercial, the OC are arguing backstage. They see Aleister Black walk by and decide to PICK a FIGHT with HIM.

Brock Lesnar heads to the ring with his advocate, Paul Heyman. Time to sell the WWE Network Special That Shall Not Be Named.

Aleister Black is stumbling around backstage and Tom Phillips says he is heading to the ring. They know it will take a little while, so we get another commercial break.

I guess Black is still walking because Erick Rowan is heading to the ring, along with his mystery pet. He’ll be facing Aleister, who eventually found his way to his hydraulic coffin. He’s still shaken up from the backstage beating, so Rowan gets an early advantage. They move to the outside and Black throws Rowan into the steel steps, which causes the mystery pet cage to go flying. Rowan angrily power bombs Black into the ring post and throws him into the ring. Rowan checks on the cage and narrowly beats the count to get back in the ring. Aleister takes advantage of that momentary distraction to hit the Black Mass twice for the victory.

Charly is having a sit-down interview with Drew McIntyre. Does that mean they’ll have a match next week? They recap his original WWE run and Drew notes that he never received a WWE title shot.

Apparently we are getting an episode of Truth TV, featuring Bobby Lashley and Lana. The real reason they are there, though, is that they are scheduled for a match. Lashley wins quickly after a spear.

Next up is a contract signing between all of the members of the Women’s Elimination Chamber match, with the winner facing Becky Lynch at WrestleMania. This includes Asuka, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, Natalya, and Count Shayna Baszler. Asuka takes the mic from Jerry Lawler and speaks better English than he was. Shayna is conspicuous by her absence. After the other five sign, Baszler’s music hits and she comes to the ring through the crowd. Of course, since this is a contract signing, all hell breaks loose. When Shayna is the last one in the ring, Becky’s music hits and we got us a donny, boys. They are separated by WWE officials and we get a commercial.

After the commercial break, it’s Angelo Dawkins w/ Montez Ford vs. Murphy w/ AOP and Seth Rollins. Seth interferes after Dawkins hits a Sky High and goes for the pin, resulting in a DQ. Afterward, Ford goads Rollins into a match, even though they had already announced it at the top of the show. Dawkins, Murphy, and AOP are all ejected after some shenanigans. Rollins wins a great match after hitting the stomp.

It’s main event time, as Randy Orton takes on Kevin Owens. About two minutes into the match, Rollins and his crew come out to the top of the ramp. After a commercial, the Street Profits and the Viking Raiders come down to take of them. Rollins gets loose and distracts KO long enough for a draping DDT. The ref counts a fast three and immediately goes outside to check on Rollins. Seth grabs two chairs and urges Randy to use them. KO recovers in time to grab one of the chairs. Orton drops his chair and leaves and Owens chases down the crooked ref. He tears off the ref’s shirt and to reveal a Monday Night Messiah shirt! KO responds as one might expect, hitting a stunner on the ref and putting him through a table.

Not a bad show and I popped hard for the crooked ref gimmick. As a former referee who turned heel myself, it made my heart swell. What are your thoughts on the crooked ref? Let me know in the comment section below.

Please follow and like us: