QUINIX Sport News: WWE Raw results, highlights (April 7): Seth Rollins, Paul Heyman add new wrinkle to WrestleMania 41 main event

WWE via Getty Images

The penultimate episode of “WWE Raw” before WrestleMania 41 took place on Monday night at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. Despite absences from both John Cena and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, the momentum on the road to WrestleMania didn’t slow in the slightest.

Monday featured two championship matches, some new tweaks/additions to the WrestleMania 41 card and an address from Paul Heyman, who finds himself at the center of the CM Punk, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins triangle.

Playing favor-ites

The big draw of the show was Heyman addressing the chaos that unfolded last Friday with Punk cashing in his favor, demanding his longtime friend back him instead of Reigns at WrestleMania 41.

Rollins wasted no time interrupting Heyman and launching into his usual diatribe against both Punk and Reigns before threatening the beloved manager/wise man. This drew out Punk to make the save and launched a brawl between the longtime rivals. 

Rollins stood tall after hitting Punk with a stomp and then lining up Heyman for one of his own. Instead of sending Heyman’s forehead to the canvas, Rollins pulled up and what we got was the…

👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑

Rollins revealed that by sparing Heyman, he was now owed a favor, throwing another huge wrinkle into what might be the most anticipated match of WrestleMania 41. This has been a masterful build from all parties involved.

Angry Uso

If last week cemented Gunther as the villain as Drake Riggs put it in his recap, this week was about establishing Jey Uso as a confident and credible threat to the Ring General at WrestleMania.

Uso, Gunther and WWE accomplished what they set out to do on Monday, even if it took a little bit longer than I would have liked to get there. The wonderful thing about pro wrestling is that so much of it is subjective. In this case, I didn’t need all of the preamble and family talk from Uso. 

After he was bound and forced to watch the beatdown of his brother Jimmy last week, Uso screamed “I’m going to kill you” to Gunther. Jey could have cut 85 to 90 percent of his promo Monday and possibly come across even stronger.

“I said I’m going to kill you. At WrestleMania, I make good on that promise because I’m not scared of you anymore.

Boom, nice and simple.

Anyway, this was good enough and finally has us moving in the right direction for this feud.

WWE via Getty Images

Three to tango

I understand the need to extend programs as we get closer and closer to WrestleMania, but was there any more-telegraphed booking move than adding Rhea Ripley to the mix with Iyo Sky and Bianca Belair at Allegiant Stadium? 

To be clear, that isn’t a complaint — my expectations are VERY high for this match.

Raw kicked off with Adam Pearce announcing Ripley’s addition to the match and seeking signatures from the three women in yet another ill-fated WWE contract signing. It seems we’ve been inching toward this for a little while now, but Bianca’s promo and even her all-black EST gear appear to be pointing to a looming heel turn, which feels like something the Raw women’s division could really use. 

Belair and Ripley — despite neither being champion — are the focus of this title triangle and their rivalry is building to a point where they’ll undoubtedly cost each other the match against Sky in Las Vegas. Regardless, this is the best build WWE has going in its women’s division currently.

Flying high

One of the major ways professional wrestling differs from more traditional sports is the role that the crowd plays in setting the atmosphere. A good crowd can make a match, but a bad crowd can just as easily hold one back.

Watching Lyra Valkyria and Bayley battle for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship was frustrating because the Target Center crowd took forever to really get into the match — which was one of the best of the night. Valkyria remains a rising star and impresses every time she steps through the ropes. Bayley is as good as it gets in the women’s division in her own right.

This was a PLE-level contest, even with a slightly wonky finish that needed to be explained twice by commentary. We still don’t have a match on WrestleMania card for either mid-card women’s championships, but we may get Valkyria and Bayley on the card as they’re set to team up in the gauntlet match on SmackDown to determine the No. 1 contenders for Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez’s Women’s Tag Team Championships.

👍 MONDAY NIGHT MONEY 👍

1. The El Grande Americano/American Made feud with LWO had its latest entry on Monday night with a 6-man tag match. It was predictably great, with a unique finish and spots like this:

The outcome of all of this is that Rey Mysterio will face El Grande Americano at WrestleMania 41.

2. It’s no WrestleMania X7 “My Way,” but we love a good WWE match promo montage here at Uncrowned. 

3. Dominik Mysterio faced Penta to close out the in-ring action for the show. It was a solid match that was more of a vehicle to promote the newly announced fatal four-way for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 41. After Penta won, Carlito and Mysterio attacked, drawing out Bron Breakker and Finn Balor.

Just look at this spear-filled segment:

👎 RAW DEAL 👎

1. War Raiders and New Day were in the middle of a really fun Tag Team Championship match that ended abruptly after Ivar hit Xavier Woods with a steel chair. New Day attacked War Raiders in the aftermath, targeting Erik’s neck in particular. It feels like we’re continuing to kick the can down the road with the tag division and the New Day.

👑 Was it a perfect episode of “WWE Raw?” No, but it was damn close. I give “WWE Raw” a Crown score of: 9/10. 👑

​

The penultimate episode of “WWE Raw” before WrestleMania 41 took place on Monday night at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. Despite absences from both John Cena and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, the momentum on the road to WrestleMania didn’t slow in the slightest.

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Monday featured two championship matches, some new tweaks/additions to the WrestleMania 41 card and an address from Paul Heyman, who finds himself at the center of the CM Punk, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins triangle.

The big draw of the show was Heyman addressing the chaos that unfolded last Friday with Punk cashing in his favor, demanding his longtime friend back him instead of Reigns at WrestleMania 41.

Rollins wasted no time interrupting Heyman and launching into his usual diatribe against both Punk and Reigns before threatening the beloved manager/wise man. This drew out Punk to make the save and launched a brawl between the longtime rivals.

Rollins stood tall after hitting Punk with a stomp and then lining up Heyman for one of his own. Instead of sending Heyman’s forehead to the canvas, Rollins pulled up and what we got was the…

Rollins revealed that by sparing Heyman, he was now owed a favor, throwing another huge wrinkle into what might be the most anticipated match of WrestleMania 41. This has been a masterful build from all parties involved.

If last week cemented Gunther as the villain as Drake Riggs put it in his recap, this week was about establishing Jey Uso as a confident and credible threat to the Ring General at WrestleMania.

Advertisement

Advertisement

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Uso, Gunther and WWE accomplished what they set out to do on Monday, even if it took a little bit longer than I would have liked to get there. The wonderful thing about pro wrestling is that so much of it is subjective. In this case, I didn’t need all of the preamble and family talk from Uso.

After he was bound and forced to watch the beatdown of his brother Jimmy last week, Uso screamed “I’m going to kill you” to Gunther. Jey could have cut 85 to 90 percent of his promo Monday and possibly come across even stronger.

“I said I’m going to kill you. At WrestleMania, I make good on that promise because I’m not scared of you anymore.

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Advertisement

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Boom, nice and simple.

Anyway, this was good enough and finally has us moving in the right direction for this feud.

I understand the need to extend programs as we get closer and closer to WrestleMania, but was there any more-telegraphed booking move than adding Rhea Ripley to the mix with Iyo Sky and Bianca Belair at Allegiant Stadium?

To be clear, that isn’t a complaint — my expectations are VERY high for this match.

Raw kicked off with Adam Pearce announcing Ripley’s addition to the match and seeking signatures from the three women in yet another ill-fated WWE contract signing. It seems we’ve been inching toward this for a little while now, but Bianca’s promo and even her all-black EST gear appear to be pointing to a looming heel turn, which feels like something the Raw women’s division could really use.

Belair and Ripley — despite neither being champion — are the focus of this title triangle and their rivalry is building to a point where they’ll undoubtedly cost each other the match against Sky in Las Vegas. Regardless, this is the best build WWE has going in its women’s division currently.

One of the major ways professional wrestling differs from more traditional sports is the role that the crowd plays in setting the atmosphere. A good crowd can make a match, but a bad crowd can just as easily hold one back.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Watching Lyra Valkyria and Bayley battle for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship was frustrating because the Target Center crowd took forever to really get into the match — which was one of the best of the night. Valkyria remains a rising star and impresses every time she steps through the ropes. Bayley is as good as it gets in the women’s division in her own right.

This was a PLE-level contest, even with a slightly wonky finish that needed to be explained twice by commentary. We still don’t have a match on WrestleMania card for either mid-card women’s championships, but we may get Valkyria and Bayley on the card as they’re set to team up in the gauntlet match on SmackDown to determine the No. 1 contenders for Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez’s Women’s Tag Team Championships.

1. The El Grande Americano/American Made feud with LWO had its latest entry on Monday night with a 6-man tag match. It was predictably great, with a unique finish and spots like this:

The outcome of all of this is that Rey Mysterio will face El Grande Americano at WrestleMania 41.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

2. It’s no WrestleMania X7 “My Way,” but we love a good WWE match promo montage here at Uncrowned.

3. Dominik Mysterio faced Penta to close out the in-ring action for the show. It was a solid match that was more of a vehicle to promote the newly announced fatal four-way for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 41. After Penta won, Carlito and Mysterio attacked, drawing out Bron Breakker and Finn Balor.

Just look at this spear-filled segment:

1. War Raiders and New Day were in the middle of a really fun Tag Team Championship match that ended abruptly after Ivar hit Xavier Woods with a steel chair. New Day attacked War Raiders in the aftermath, targeting Erik’s neck in particular. It feels like we’re continuing to kick the can down the road with the tag division and the New Day.

👑 Was it a perfect episode of “WWE Raw?” No, but it was damn close. I give “WWE Raw” a Crown score of: 9/10. 👑