Raw Rebound for 3/2/20 (Phoenix confronts Orton)

By
Halbert Richardson

Monday Night Raw opened with WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and his advocate Paul Heyman. Heyman talked about Brock’s dominance at the Royal Rumble and the fact that Drew McIntyre simply took advantage of a situation in order to eliminate The Beast. Come WrestleMania, Hey went on to say, Drew will have to face off against Brock and there’ll be no sneak attacks. The Scottish Psychopath’s music hit and he walked down to the ring. Will Beth Phoenix confront Randy Orton?

He got face-to-face with Brock before the champion backed away and acted as if he was going to leave the ring. Suddenly, Lesnar dropped his title belt and charged at Drew, only to be met with a Claymore Kick. Brock recovered and was able to get up the ramp rather slowly. As he stood at the top of the ramp and turned around to look back at the crowd, Drew McIntyre hit him with another Claymore and laid him out. The crowd chanted “one more time” and he obliged, nailing Brock with yet another Claymore. He stood over a fallen Lesnar and pointed at the WrestleMania sign.

Raw Tag Team Championships

Seth Rollins and Murphy vs. The Street Profits

The Street Profits came out to the ring after going through the crowd with their red party cups. In the ring they said that they’re ready to defeat the “Monday Night Moron” and “Murphy the Smurf” and take the Raw Tag Team Championships. Murphy and Rollins jumped the Profits before the bell rang but Ford and Dawkins turned the tables and drove them out of the ring. Montez Ford attempted a suicide dive onto the pair but they caught him and threw him into the outside barricade. The AOP stood at the top of the ramp looking down at the action.

This was a ‘now or never’ match for the Street Profits, as in if they lose, they won’t be able to challenge the champions again. As the match progressed, the AOP slowly came down the ramp while Ford was outside the ring. Before they could interfere, the referee banned them from ringside. While the referee’s back was turned, Kevin Owens snuck in and hit Seth Rollins with a Stunner. Montez Ford ascended the top rope and nailed a splash for the 1-2-3 and the Street Profits captured their first tag team gold on Monday Night Raw!

Winners: AND NEW Raw Tag Team Champions The Street Profits

Charly Caruso interviewed an angry Seth Rollins and Murphy backstage where the Monday Night Messiah said they were going to face the Street Profits at Elimination Chamber and take back their championships. He also issued a warning to Kevin Owens saying that no matter where they face-off, K.O. is going to be crucified.

Ricochet took on 24/7 Champion Riddick Moss in a one-on-one contest. The announcers talked about this being a good opportunity for Ricochet to get back on track after his loss to Brock Lesnar at Super Showdown. Riddick used his height and weight to press his advantage over Ricochet throughout the match. He would go on to pick up the win with a combination of a reverse neckbreaker/DDT.

Aleister Black vs. Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows and AJ Styles

AJ Styles and the OC were in the ring and the Phenomenal One said he was in a bad mood due to what the Undertaker did to him at Super Showdown. Styles said that he was on a collision course with the Undertaker, who is trying to hold on to a spotlight that belongs to AJ Styles. Aleister Black, whom the OC beat down last week, made his entrance. Before the bell rang, AJ grabbed the mic and told Aleister that he didn’t read the contract and that in order for Black to get to him, he has to go through Karl Anderson. The bell rang and Anderson attacked Aleister as the show went to commercial. A Black Mass ended Karl Anderson’s night and Styles jumped on the mic to say that Black still had to go through Luke Gallows.

Gallows attacked Aleister before the bell ring and threw him out of the ring. Once the match started, Gallows continued to pound on Aleister, so much so that he ignored the referee’s five-count in the corner and got himself disqualified. Karl Anderson joined the beatdown, as he and Gallows hit a Magic Killer on Black.

Having gotten passed Gallows and Anderson, a weary Aleister Black had nothing left for AJ Styles. A Phenomenal Forearm put him down and Styles covered him in the same manner the Undertaker covers his victims.

Winner: AJ Styles

Ruby Riott vs Liv Morgan

Former Riott Squad members Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan faced off in single’s action with Sarah Logan as the guest referee. She called the match down the middle until what seemed like an inadvertent kick from Ruby during a kick out. That was followed by what Ruby seemed to think was a slow count, leading to her getting in Logan’s face. The distraction allowed Liv Morgan to roll Ruby up and Sarah administered a fast three count to make Liv the winner. After the match was over, Sarah laid out both Liv and Ruby.

Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane

Shayna Baszler made her Raw in-ring debut against Kairi Sane, one half of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. Asuka accompanied her partner to ringside. The Man, Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch joined the commentary table halfway through the match to get a better view of the woman who bit her in the neck a few weeks ago. Baszler was unfazed by the distraction and locked in her Kirifuda Clutch for the submission victory.

Winner: Shayna Baszler

After the match was over, Becky Lynch held her championship up and trash-talked the Queen of Spades. This enraged her even more so she grabbed Kairi again and locked in the Kirifuda Clutch.

Rey Mysterio Jr and Humberto Carrillo vs. Andrade and Angel Garza

Rey Mysterio Jr and Humberto Carrillo finally got a chance to face off against Andrade and Angel Garza, with Zelina Vega ringside. Garza and Andrade isolated Humberto for most of the match. He was eventually able to get the hot tag to Rey Mysterio who went about his business looking twenty younger and cleaning house. He ended up positioning both Garza and Andrade against the second rope to hit a double 619. That led to Humberto hitting a moonsault on Andrade and securing the victory for himself and Rey Mysterio Jr.

Winners: Humberto Carillo and Rey Mysterio Jr

Beth Phoenix was the featured guest on Raw so she and Randy Orton could talk about his actions against her husband Edge. Orton said he owed Phoenix an explanation. He went on to say that after he and Edge spent so many months and years traveling together and making history, he made some poor life choices and ended up paying the price for it. He says it was Edge who helped pick him up, dusted him off and showed him how to maintain a good work and family life balance.

Phoenix Orton
Photo / WWE

Orton was able to flourish in the ring and still make it to his children’s games and be there for his wife. He was grateful to Edge for showing him that. The reason he says he did what he did to Edge was so that he could continue to be there for Lyric and Ruby, Edge and Beth’s daughters. Orton then called Beth Phoenix an enabler, saying that she should have stopped Edge from trying to unretire. Phoenix responded with a kick to Randy’s gut. Orton answered quickly with an RKO, laying out the Hall of Famer, Beth Phoenix and leaving the WWE Universe stunned.

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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