Monday Night Raw | A night of Returns | WELCOME BACK ROMAN! |

Roman Reigns returned to the WWE to a fantastic reception since October. Chants of Welcome Back were heard, This is your Yard. He thanked everyone for the messages of support via social media. He announced during the promo that he is now in remission which is amazing news! Seth walks out to congratulate the big dog. 

After the segment and throughout the show, I saw people on social media claiming to be "doctors" talking about Reigns' illness was a "work" I say to them to click on the link HERE, you might learn something. educate yourself before making pointless assumptions.

NXT stars Aleister Black and Ricochet defeated RAW tag champions Revival via the Black Mass kick. 

It looks like they are going to push Lacey Evans for a big match at Wrestlemania (vs. Asuka for the SmackDown women's championship) she did the usual walking out to the arena and walking back to the backstage.  

That's getting boring to watch, Ambrose challenged McIntyre to a no DQ match. Prior to hitting Elias with Dirty Deeds. 

The tag match between Riott Squad vs. Natalya and Ronda Rousey didn't have a decisive winner after "The Man" interrupted and hit Natalya and others prior to being arrested. This was reminiscent of Stone Cold Steve Austin in the WWF days. 

Ronda called out Vince but got Stephanie instead, stating she wants Becky in the match at 'Mania but that proposal was predictably turned down. Ronda issued a ultimatum to Vince and dropped the title and walked away. 

Phase one of Ronda leaving the company has begun here. 

I'm just going skip past the Mahal Angle match. No surprises to see who won. Finn Balor defeated Lio Rush to remain intercontinental champion. 

Drew McIntyre defeated Dean Ambrose thanks to an assist from Elias's guitar leading to the Claymore kick for the win. Lashley and Corbin walked out to help the other heels in the ring take out Ambrose until Rollins and Reigns walked out to fight the heels and standing tall after. 

It was interesting to see they left Ambrose in the ring. I sense a final Shield reunion is on the cards. Which would be awesome. 

Bayley defeated Nia Jax in the final match of the night to continue the build up to Fastlane. 

And finally we move on the to Ric Flairs celebration, we saw Hall of Famers: Shawn Michaels, Ricky Steamboat, Kurt Angle and Sting join the party, with the main roster stood on the entrance way. 

When Flair was introduced and he didn't walk out, I thought Becky attacked him, but it turned out to be Batista who then asked Triple H if he had his attention now. 

Batista v Triple H at Wrestlemania is a certainty, hopefully it has a great build up in the weeks leading up the match. 

So there you have it. An impromptu review of Raw. I never planned on writing up on this weeks episode but I'm happy I did because this was good to watch.

I'll be posting my predictions for Fastlane next week. Enjoy Smackdown and NXT also if you're watching. 

Thanks for reading. 

Raw and SmackDown | Review

RAW Review - LIVE from Lafayette, Louisiana.

Triple H opened the show talking about Becky interfering at the Elimination Chamber event, he thought it was pretty cool, I'm not surprised by that comment considering Triple H himself used to interfere in matches where he didn't need to. 

He mentioned DX were being inducted in the Hall of Fame (aka the WWE website) 

We know that he is in charge of running NXT. so it was a matter of time till superstars from that brand were being called down to the main roster. 

They were Ricochet, Aleister Black, Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. Four of the best on the NXT roster, I hope the WWE writers are creative with there future stories. I'm just going to skip through the next match: Braun Strowman v Baron Corbin in a tables match. (Seriously, who cares?) 

Following that match Paul Heyman walked out and cut a standard promo about Brock etc, this match vs Seth Rollins is a long way away from taking place, so I didn't pay attention to what was said. I guess Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush aren't broken up at all but they lost to the debuting Ricochet and Finn Balor, who make a excellent tag team, I want to see them fight for the intercontinental championship. They would bring the house down. 

Drew McIntyre defeated Dean Ambrose with the Claymore kick, nothing else to say about that, Aleister Black didn't walk with Elias, he won his match instead. Sasha and Bayley look like they will defend the tag titles at Fastlane in a few weeks time. 

Am I forgetting somethings? Yeah, you could say that, the NXT guys continued to impress as Gargano and Ciampo took the win against tag champs, the Revival. The crowd were so quiet in Lafayette, that was bad to see. The atmosphere made the matches seem so average. 

Your main event was Ronda Rousey putting her RAW women's championship on the line against Ruby Riott, this was a much more competitive match between the two than the one on Sunday. Which was won by Ronda Rousey via a impressive roll through into an Armbar to end the show. 

Lets talk about SmackDown. LIVE from New Orleans. 

Shane o'Mac followed in his brother in laws footsteps by opening the show, introducing the same NXT talent that was showcased on RAW. Miz interrupted him and admitted he used Shane and then went on to talk about the past leading up to this segment. 

The Usos were next out and the rematch for Fastlane was made. The breakup of the Shane and Miz will 100% happen at that event.

Aleister Black defeated Andrade in a match that continued there rivalry from the NXT days. They put on a very good, fast paced match. These two can easily headline Wrestlemania one day. 

Up next was: The Bar vs. Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa.

SmackDown was raising the bar (no pun intended) with the matches here tonight, Gargano and Ciampa picked up the win after a decent tag team match, if it was at a  pay-per-view this would get more time. 

Asuka was finally back on TV, later defeated by Mandy Rose in a "shock" win. That will probably get the victor a title match at Fastlane or at Wrestlemania in her hometown. 

Hey look! Sanity were finally back on tv, albeit in singles competition. They didn't even get an entrance on this episode, probably due to time constraints. Ricochet defeated Eric Young via the 630 splash. 

In the main event: Kofi Kingston, Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles defeated Samoa Joe, Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan after Kingston pinned Bryan after hitting Trouble in Paradise. Shane announced that it will be Daniel Bryan defending the WWE championship at Fastlane as SmackDown went off the air.

That wraps up the RAW and SmackDown reviews. I'll be back in a couple of weeks to predict the winners for Fastlane. Thanks for reading. 

Elimination Chamber | Review

It's now time to look back at, what turned out to be a very good Elimination Chamber event so let's begin!

Match 1: Women's Tag Team Championship (Elimination Chamber): Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Nia Jax & Tamina vs. Riott Squad vs. The IIconics vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville vs. Naomi & Carmella

It was a slow start to the match, Naomi and Carmella were the first ones eliminated by the IIconics, 

who were surprisingly impressive. 

The match picked up soon after, with the usual high spots and tag team tandem resulting in Sasha Banks and Bayley winning the WWE Women's tag team championships. Well deserved because they were poorly booked by the WWE creative team last year. 

Match 2: SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The Miz & Shane McMahon (c) vs. The Usos

Your usual tag match here, Shane did the usual coast to coast spots and elbow drops from the top rope, which are getting ridiculously boring to see nowadays to be honest with you. 

Jimmy Uso rolled up the Miz to pick up the win for him and his brother Jey and become the NEW SmackDown tag team champions. It looks like this is the start of the break up of Shane and Miz. 

Match 3: Intercontinental Championship: Bobby Lashley (c) & Lio Rush 

Now, before this match there was a backstage interview with Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush, they were asked if they were worried about losing the Intercontinental title because of other champions crowned during the night. 

I don't know about you, but to me that felt like it was a spoiler that Finn was winning the title here, and that proved to be the case.

Match 4: Raw Women's Championship: Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Ruby Riott

(Charlotte Flair at Ringside) 

This was a surprisingly quick match, Rousey was always going to win here. It was all about the Wrestlemania main event being built up a step further with "The Man" making another appearance despite being "suspended" she sold her "injury" really well by taking out Flair and Ronda here with crutches.

We are still a while away from Wrestlemania, WWE need to cool down the build for a few weeks to maintain the fans interest so the storyline doesn't get boring before April.

Match 5: Baron Corbin v Braun Strowman (No Disqualification) 

I missed the majority of this one because of the lack of interest I had in wanting to watch this matchup. I guess McIntyre, Corbin and Lashley are back on the same team again. 

Corbin won this one after Strowman was put through tables via a triple powerbomb. This kinda me reminded of The Shield.

I wanted this feud to be over, but it looks like it's going to continue (unfortunately) 

Match 6: WWE Championship (Elimination Chamber): Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton vs. Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Kofi Kingston

A fun main event from start to finish, It looks like we are set to see Aj Styles vs. Randy Orton later down the line after Styles was eliminated by the viper thanks to a top rope RKO. 

The crowd was fully behind Kofi here, the way the match was going, there was a sense that he was going to win the title for the first time, but it wasn't to be as Bryan won and remains your WWE champion. 

Another superb performance by Kofi here, it's a shame that he didn't win here, hopefully he'll get an other opportunity in the future because he deserves it. 

Elimination Chamber is now in the past as we are now on the FASTLANE to Wrestlemania! 

Elimination Chamber | Preview and Predictions

The Elimination Chamber is this Sunday night (Monday morning here in the UK) its now time to predict the winners from the following matches.

Cruiserweight Championship: Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Akira Tozawa

I believe this contest scheduled for one fall (one fall) is on the Kick-Off show. To be honest with you, I haven’t been following this storyline, if there is one, on 205 Live.

Winner: and still champion. Buddy Murphy.

Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin

I don’t care about this match, it’s dull and uninteresting. Here is your winner: Braun Strowman.

SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The Miz & Shane McMahon (c) vs. The Usos

I believe the Miz and Shane friendship is coming to an end and this match is the start of the tag team’s demise leading up to a match between the two at WrestleMania. I feel there will be some sort of mis-communication and the Uso’s will take advantage and pick up the win here.

Winners: AND NEW SmackDown Tag Team Champions! The Uso’s

Raw Women's Championship: Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Ruby Riott

Charlotte is going to be at ringside, she will no doubt be involved in the finish and probably end up costing Ruby Riott instead of Ronda.

Winner: and STILL Raw Women’s Champion: Ronda Rousey.

Intercontinental Championship: Bobby Lashley (c) & Lio Rush 

vs. Finn Balor

Winners: Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush.

This story will continue up to WrestleMania ending with Finn Balor finally winning the Intercontinental Championship.

Women's Tag Team Championship (Elimination Chamber): Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Nia Jax & Tamina vs. Riott Squad vs. The IIconics vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville vs. Naomi & Carmella

For me it’s a lock that Sasha and Bayley are winning this match, The tag titles are made for them, I’m sure this will be a very good match.

Winners: your Women’s Tag Team Champions: Sasha Banks and Bayley.

Staying with Sasha and Bayley for a second here, I’ve read reports that the Total Bellas show rating is declining per episode, which leads me to think Nikki and Brie are going to be back on TV soon and are going to be facing Sasha and Bayley at ‘Mania. I don’t want to see the Bella Twins having a tag title match, I’m sure you don’t either.

WWE Championship (Elimination Chamber): Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton vs. Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Kofi Kingston

First of all....A superb performance from Kofi Kingston on Smackdown during the Gauntlet match which was won by Randy Orton, lastly eliminating AJ Styles to become the last participant to enter the Chamber match on Sunday.

A Kofi Kingston win here would be great; he has been in the WWE for many years. I say give him a short run with the title, up to Fastlane where he can lose it back to Daniel Bryan. It’s meant to be a ‘NEW ERA’ after all right? Here is my pick for this match overall.

Winner: and still WWE Champion. Daniel Bryan.

That wraps up the Elimination Chamber predictions. Not sure how many I’ll get correct. But we will find out. The review of this event will be up on this here blog on Monday during the day. 

Thanks for reading.