Raw Rebound 2/17/20 (Murphy/AOP vs Owens/Raiders)

By
Halbert Richardson

This week’s RAW pits Murphy and the AoP against Kevin Owens and The Viking Raiders. Throw in some Aleister Black, Ricochet and “The Man” Becky Lynch and you’ve got a great show. But first, Matt Hardy wants to address some things with Randy Orton…

Monday Night Raw opened with “The Viper” Randy Orton in the ring. He said that his “no holds barred” match with Matt Hardy wasn’t happening after what he did to him last week. A hobbled and neck-braced Matt Hardy came out and said that he couldn’t get cleared to fight but like Edge, he had grit. The Viper told Hardy that he’s always respected him, but he loves Edge like a brother. He apologized profusely before leaving Matt Hardy in the ring.

Halfway up the ramp, his music hit and he stopped. Orton took off his vest, and ‘slithered’ back to the ring while Matt Hardy grabbed a chair. Orton got up on the apron and ducked a swing from Hardy then hung him up on the top rope. After an RKO and several chair shots, Orton set Matt’s face on the steel ring steps outside and hit two Con-Chair-To’s. He left the ringside area repeatedly screaming, “I’m sorry!” to Matt Hardy.

Aleister Black battled Erick Rowan in a one-on-one matchup of two hard-hitting superstars. They started with a bang and were off! Rowan nailed Black with his signature flying cross body attack outside the ring. Black countered a powerbomb by sending Rowan flying into the post. Back inside the ring, the first Black Mass stunned Rowan. The second put The Redwood away to give Aleister Black the win.

Charlotte Flair came to the ring and talked about why she accepted Rhea Ripley’s challenge to a match at WrestleMania with the NXT Women’s Championship on the line. She said that for all the years she put in to help make NXT what it is today, if there’s anyone who should be taking that brand’s title at Mania, it should be The Queen.

In one of the fastest triple threat matches ever, the WWE 24/7 Champion Riddick Moss defeated both Mojo Rawley and R-Truth to retain his title. Similar to last week, Moss slipped in for the rollup after Mojo dropped Truth. He ran through the crowd after it was over. That left Mojo and Truth alone in the ring. Rawley tried to attack R-Truth but ended up eating a scissor kick for his trouble.

The 2020 Royal Rumble winner, Drew McIntyre came out to the ring to address the WWE Universe. He also did a little WrestleMania sign pointing. He was interrupted by the WWE Champion, Brock Lesnar’s advocate, Paul Heyman. He assured Drew that Lesnar wasn’t there and then introduced his opponent for the night, MVP. Remember that he Claymore kicked him last week. MVP trash-talked Drew on his way to the ring, but just like last week, a Claymore ended his night as Drew stood tall.

“The Man”, Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch hit the ring with a bag of money. She called herself paying her presumptive fines for what she’s going to do to the Queen of Spades, Shayna Baszler. Shayna hit the big screen and told Becky that her entry into the Women’s Elimination Chamber matchup is where she’ll start so she can get to Mania and “tear the sh*t” out of her. Becky told her that she’d be rooting for her.

Bobby Lashley and Angel Garza, with Lana and Zelina Vega in tow, took on Rusev and Humberto Carrillo. Garza worked over Carrillo before he was able to hot tag in Rusev. The action broke down outside the ring soon after. Carillo hit Garza with an outside dive, only to be drilled with a giant spear by Lashley. Who himself was next clobbered with a running tackle by Rusev. Back in the ring, Lashley distracted Rusev long enough for the Bulgarian Brute to hit him with a kick but turn into a rollup with a handful of tights by the winners, Angel Garza and Bobby Lashley.

Natalya took on one half of the Women’s Tag Team Champions in Kairi Sane. Asuka accompanied her to ringside. Nattie wanted revenge for the black eye she suffered last week. But alas, it was not to be. Asuka attacked Natalya outside the ring while the referee’s back was turned. This lead to an eventual count-out victory for Sane.

The Monday Night Messiah and his disciples came to the ring for his sermon. Seth then proceeded to tell the WWE Universe that it was time for phase two. It was time to seek out and eradicate. The Viking Raiders hit the ring to start a brawl, as Rollins left his disciples to fight. While retreating up the ramp, Kevin Owens snuck up behind him and hit him with a Stunner.

The Phenomenal AJ Styles returned with Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. Styles said that he is back in time for WrestleMania and that he needs to be on that card no matter who he faces. Ricochet came out for the interruption to say that after Super Showdown, he’s going to be the WWE Champion. The O.C. clowned him before Karl Anderson accepted Ricochet’s challenge to a match. The match started and shortly thereafter. The referee saw AJ hit Ricochet outside the ring and he banned both Styles and Luke Gallows from ringside. Ricochet then went on to pick up the win with a Recoil.

The main event was a six-man tag match pitting The Monday Night Messiah’s disciples. Murphy and the AOP against Kevin Owens and the Viking Raiders. Just as Kevin Owens hit Murphy with a Stunner and was making the cover for the win, Seth Rollins broke up the count and caused a disqualification. He and his disciples pressed their four-on-three advantage until the Street Profits hit the ring and helped clear the heels to end the show.

Halbert Richardson
What's up folks, I'm Hab and I've been a wrestling fan for more than thirty years. I grew up on the NWA and Crockett Promotions in the Triad City of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. My favorite wrestler of all time is Bret Hart. At the moment, I'm a Cesaro hipster and The World's Biggest Luke Harper fan. I was at the Smackdown! taping when Brock Lesnar threw Zach Gowen down a flight of steps in the New Orleans Arena and laughed about it for the next two days. I have a few loves in my life, my beautiful daughter, my family, professional wrestling and hip-hop are just some of them.

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