Monday Night Raw Review – March 29th, 2021
As we head towards WrestleMania at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Monday Night Raw continued to build towards the biggest event of the year. With a shocking breakup of the Hurt Business making headline news, lets dig into the news worthy stories from last night’s show.
Hurt Business Over?
The Hurt Business, led by WWE champion Bobby Lashley, strolled out to the ring to kick off the show. MVP would lead the charge on the microphone as he explained that there was no room for weakness in his faction. Lashley went on to remind the locker room of the bounty he’s put out against Drew McIntyre and that a WWE championship match at WrestleMania awaits to the person who takes out McIntyre. After reminding Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander of their failures to defeat McIntyre last week in a handicap match, MVP & Lashley went on to disband the Hurt Business, a move that would shock the WWE universe.
If this segment proved nothing else, it reminded us of the creative room and their inability to create a moment that fans can believe in. After showing good chemistry for months and garnering such a positive response from the WWE universe, the Hurt Business came to an abrupt end. It’s rare for a faction to work and feel authentic in today’s WWE. We haven’t seen another Evolution, a Shield, or even a D-Generation X in years. MVP’s Hurt Business had serious potential that saw them at one point, holding almost every championship on Raw. It’s a shame that this group has been broken up for what seems to be a permanent move. My only hope for Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander is that they don’t drift into mid card / pre show purgatory.
A Monster’s Steel Cage
Of all of the storylines heading into WrestleMania, the Braun Strowman & Shane McMahon saga has been a torture for fans up to this point. Week after week we’ve been forced to see Shane being booked as the “bully” to Strowman. I’d like to point out that I don’t believe a man of Strowman’s size has any problem dealing with bullies, especially from a 51 year old Shane McMahon. Last night’s segment saw Shane bringing up Strowman’s report card from grade school. Yes, you read that right. Sometimes I wonder if Raw should be reduced back to 2 hours.
After being interrupted by Braun Strowman (thankfully), Braun went on to announce that their match at WrestleMania would be contested inside a steel cage. Now although this storyline has been anything but entertaining, the addition of a steel cage makes the match at WrestleMania a bit intriguing. I’m sure that Shane and Braun will put on a fun match, but the road getting there has been filled with potholes.
Bad Bunny’s Sucker Punch
For me at least, the premier of Miz & John Morrison’s hip hop single was the most cringe worthy thing I’ve seen in all my years of watching professional wrestling. This time last month, the Miz was the WWE champion. Fast forward to today, the Miz is releasing a comedic hip hop single in retaliation against his celebrity WrestleMania opponent, Bad Bunny. It’s hard to see the Miz go through things like this when a superstar of his caliber deserves a high profile match at the biggest event of the year.
With all of that being said, this match has potential to be a decent one. I say that because the punch that Bad Bunny landed on the Miz was actually well executed. Bad Bunny has expressed in the past that he’s always wanted to work a match in the WWE, it could be possible that he puts in extra time and rehearsal to give the fans a quality match to the best of his ability.
Randy Orton Addresses the Fiend
One of the highlights of last night’s show was none other than the Legend Killer, Randy Orton. In the short amount of time we saw Orton tonight, he showcased his top tier promo skills and the ability to convey emotion from any angle he’s given. Orton went on to explain the long history he’s had with both Alexa Bliss and the Fiend. He vowed to vanquish his nightmarish opponent at WrestleMania and finally move on with his life. Whether or not the Fiend will let that happen remains to be seen.
Drew McIntyre vs Ricochet, Corbin returns
After demanding somebody to step up to him in the locker room, Drew McIntyre would be challenged by Ricochet in a match that would close out the show. Ricochet showcased his amazing in ring ability with ease but would ultimately come up short against the two time WWE champion. Although we all knew that McIntyre would come out victorious as it would be silly to derail his momentum for WrestleMania, it was fun to see Ricochet in the main event. It’s a shame that he hasn’t been given more moments like these.
After the match, WWE champion Bobby Lashley would storm the ring. After harsh words were exchanged on the microphone, the two would engage in a psychical altercation that would end with Corbin emerging from behind the cameras to attack the number one contender. The onslaught of Lashley and Corbin would prove to be too much for McIntyre as the show closed with the two standing above him.
The addition of King Corbin in this feud is about as random as the Hurt Business breaking up to start the show. If the faction disbanded just to reunite Lashley with Corbin, that would be a shame. It seems as if the creative room running Monday night’s is about as confused as we are. Nonetheless, we’re 12 days away from WrestleMania. Next week’s addition of Raw will be the go-home addition, so let’s hope things get better before we roll into Raymond James Stadium for WrestleMania.
Tonight’s grade: D
