WWE RAW Recap, April 17: Braun and Big Show bring the ring down

Recapping the April 17 edition of WWE RAW, where Braun Strowman and Big Show brought the ring down

Braun Cleans House

This week’s RAW started and ended with the same sound: the mating call of Braun Strowman. At the beginning of the show, Strowman came out to let everyone know that Roman Reigns wouldn’t be in attendance tonight, due to a separated shoulder and busted ribs that Strowman happily takes full responsibility for.

New — and amazing — RAW General Manager Kurt Angle came out to tell Strowman that he will be fighting Reigns at the upcoming pay-per-view (are we still calling them that?), Payback. This pissed Strowman off enough for him to violently take out random superstars throughout the night, including Goldust and R-Truth — who were heading towards the ring for a match with The Club — and Kalisto, who Strowman called “garbage” before throwing him into a pile of … well, garbage.

Over the years, you find yourself creating fantasy matchups with superstars during different eras. Imagine Stone Cold stompin’ a mudhole in Roman Reigns and walking it dry? Would the ring explode if AJ Styles and Shawn Michaels actually fought at WrestleMania? Wouldn’t you put Braun Strowman vs. Big Show on that list somewhere? If you did, you’d most certainly pick 1996 Big Show, and not 2017 Big Show, because 2017 Big Show vs. Braun Strowman just happened, and it ended as ugly as you’d think it would.

Not only did we see Strowman vs. Big Show end in a draw, but the end of the match itself set a world record: never before had one person been involved in three ring collapses. “Hold my beer,” said Big Show, who added Braun Strowman to the record books, alongside Brock Lesnar and Mark Henry, Show’s first two destructive dance partners. Strowman Suplexed Big Show off the turnbuckle, and the end result was a broken ring, and a broken ref. (Give that ref a raise!!!)

It’s great to see Strowman getting another main event rub so recently after being pushed into the same match that featured Jinder Mahal, Gronk, and Tyler Breeze. I’m hoping Strowman gets back on his impressive win streak, and it starts with a defeat of Roman “This Is My Yard, Now” Reigns.

RAW-cycled Material

When WWE decided to have a Superstar Shakeup last week, I expected the unexpected. I wanted to see Dean Ambrose talk some smack to Finn Balor. I wanted to see The Miz try and get past Seth Rollins. Granted, I know both those RAW guys are involved in storylines at the moment, but did they really have to put two SmackDown Live guys in a feud together immediately after coming to Monday nights? Might as well have just kept them on Tuesdays. I know Dean Ambrose vs. Titus O’Neil doesn’t sound great on paper, but at least it would have been fresh, and Ambrose could prove to people that he doesn’t need to work with someone who is completely over to get a big reaction from the crowd (even though he totally does).

This is a far fall for The Miz, who was having a Chris Jericho type of year.  Miz had a blood feuds with John Cena, which was far better by comparison than the actual match, Dolph Ziggler, and we can’t forget he was singlehandedly responsible for the RAW after WrestleMania dismantling of Zack Ryder, and the feel-good story he came in with.

While Miz vs. Ambrose isn’t exactly a barn-burner, both these guys are entertaining enough to have their own talk shows. The match — not officially announced yet — will be 12 minutes of crazy body sacrificing, and I’m okay with that for the meantime. I just hope this doesn’t carry over as we build toward SummerSlam.

New No. 1 Contender

Admit it, if Las Vegas was offering the prop pet of “Over/Under one week it takes to successfully replace Alexa Bliss for Charlotte on RAW,” you’d pick the over every single time. Well, you are absolutely wrong, you degenerate gambler.

Alexa Bliss not only won her debut match on RAW, but it happened to be a Fatal Four Way match for the No. 1 contender spot. Bliss outwrestled and outsmarted Sasha Banks, Mickie James, and Nia Jax, and now will face Bayley for the RAW Women’s Championship at Payback.

While Alexa will be a huge asset to RAW, I can’t help but feel like they prematurely pulled the plug on the Sasha/Charlotte feud. Those two women had some classics, and I have to think they had one more in them. Those two were the only hope the women would have in this current pool of talent to main event WrestleMania. Alexa may prove me wrong, as her and Sasha will surely blow the roof off of some buildings. And of course, Charlotte and Becky Lynch have quite the history between them as well. It’s an interesting scramble of talent, and once we see Charlotte’s debut match on SmackDown Live, I know she’ll make it seem like she should have been Team Blue all along.

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Highlight Reel

• Samoa Joe made Chris Jericho tap out to the Coquina Clutch, while Seth Rollins was on commentary. Post-match, Joe said some words to Rollins that visibly upset him, some regarding Rollins’ ligaments popping, and his pleads for mercy when Joe injured his knee just a couple of months ago. Rollins, ever the company man, gave us the obligatory “Payback’s a bit**” line that will be instilled in our heads for the next two weeks, leading up to it’s namesake show.
• Enzo & Cass filled in for The Golden Truth in their match against The Club. This could have been The Revival’s spot, but Dash Wilder has a broken jaw, and he is expected to be off television for the next eight weeks. The Club won the match, as Luke Gallows caught Enzo in midair and flipped him on the top turnbuckle, which made Enzo limp enough to not be able to kick out. Just as the tag team division got a healthy injection of Top Guys, they get hurt, and we’re stuck seeing Enzo & Cass vs. The Club for the millionth time. The New Day is now on SmackDown Live, which means even less competition.
• This week TJ Perkins defeated Jack Gallagher, as Cruiserweight Champion Neville and Austin Aries were watching ringside. Perkins and Gallagher were just pawns for advancement of the Neville and Aries storyline, but it’s always a delight to see The Gentleman do his best Mary Poppins impression. It’s the little things in life. Aries is set for another opportunity at Neville’s belt at Payback, and I think Aries will finally slay the King of the Cruiserweights.
• Finn Balor was the newest contestant on the weekly game, “Pin the Loss on Curt Hawkins.” Balor has some water-treading to do until Bray Wyatt finishes his never-ending feud with Randy Orton. Speaking of, Wyatt gave Orton a verbal preview of what’s to come in their House of Horrors match, but we still don’t know anything about it. My guess is the Demon will make a better dance partner for Wyatt than the Viper.
• ELIAS SAMSON MADE THE LIST!!!!!!
• Piggybacking off the point I made earlier regarding fantasy matchups between eras, I have a new addition to the list: Cesaro vs. Jeff Hardy. Wait, that just happened? And Jeff won?! Someone splash water on me! I would never have guessed this match would happen in 2017 — and be executed so perfectly — nevermind the fact that Jeff and Cesaro are part of a tag team championship storyline that also includes Sheamus, and Jeff’s brother Matt. This storyline can last forever, and I’ll never get bored with it. Bring on Matt vs. Sheamus!