“WWE Raw” after WrestleMania 42 arrives this Monday, April 20, as WWE sticks around in Las Vegas, moving over to the T-Mobile Arena after two nights in Allegiant Stadium. After the big weekend, Roman Reigns is back on top, having dethroned CM Punk to start his first run with the World Heavyweight Championship.
Reigns promised in the immediate wake of WrestleMania to be a full-time champion, pivoting from his part-time role over recent years. What was once a title respawned into the WWE universe because of his absence in the weekly shows is now in Reigns’ possession — where he goes from here begins tonight.
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Of course, the big story to start WrestleMania 42 Night 2 circled around the incredible, continued rise of Oba Femi. With a massive Fall From Grace, the former NXT Champion defeated Brock Lesnar in less than five minutes. Femi has already teased a pursuit of Reigns, which would be the right call. Lesnar, on the other hand, teased a potential retirement in defeat when he removed his gloves and boots in the ring. His longtime best friend and on-screen manager, Paul Heyman, will address Lesnar’s future on tonight’s show. Don’t forget that SummerSlam this year takes place in Lesnar’s home state of Minnesota.
New women’s world champions Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan are also billed to make their first appearances tonight. Intercontinental Champion Penta and Logan Paul will be in the building as well.
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Check out the full “WWE Raw” lineup below, which starts at 8 p.m. ET on Netflix:
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Finn Balor vs. JD McDonagh
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Je’Von Evans vs. Ethan Page
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RHIYO (Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky) def. The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane)
For complete coverage of “WWE Raw” on Netflix, follow along with Uncrowned’s live blog below:
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
CM Punk walks out to the ring without any music and a blacked-out ‘tron. The Vegas crowd has completely turned on him since last night. He’s getting showered in boos, before his theme ends up playing, and he continues down the ramp.
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
As is tradition with Raw after ‘Mania, we have our first call-up of the night in the form of Ethan Page. Finally. It’s about time some of the AEW-to-NXT stars got a proper shine.
To start, Page will debut later against Je’Von Evans. While that’s essentially just an NXT match on Raw, we’ll take it.
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
Sky started to roll after Ripley made the tag. She hit a pair of Bullet Train Attacks to both Kabuki Warriors before tagging back in Ripley. That allowed for a big double-team combo of Ripley’s Razor’s Edge and Sky with a missile drop kick to Asuka. Sane wound up tagging in for a Codebreaker-Neckbreaker combo. Sky breaks up the pin and rolls through an Asuka attack for a counter double stomp.
Sane accidentally gets Asuka hit with a Sky suicide dive. RHIYO capitalized, planting Sane with the Riptide-Over the Moonsault combo for the win. The Kabuki Warriors lose to this duo again, in a fine match, but one we didn’t at all need to see again. I’m pretty sure Sane has taken the pin every time, too.
👑 Crown score: 3/5 👑
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
Ripley maintained her usual hot-tag role to start the match, as she generally does in her tag matches of any ilk. Yet, she tagged in earlier than usual this time. The tag built around her face-to-face with Asuka, before she was overwhelmed and taken out of the ring. That allowed for Sane to land a wild In-Sane Elbow off the top rope to Ripley outside the ring.
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
To start the matches tonight, WWE is running back these tag-team matches that we’ve seen several times. Poor Iyo Sky received zero reaction to her entrance. They’ve got to get to a pay-off with this rivalry eventually.
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
“The ‘Ruler’ has arrived,” Femi said, before a literal mic drop.
OK. Nothing there, but the man is completely over. If he returns at the end of the night to destroy Roman Reigns, this will have been a perfectly simple piece of business. Otherwise, there definitely should have been more to sink our teeth into.
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
Talk about a fitting start. The “Ruler” arrives to kick off the Raw after Mania. He’s suited to the nines, looking like a billion bucks. Get this man right in the world title picture, Paul
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
Traditionally, Raw after WrestleMania gets treated as a grand reset to the WWE season. Last year’s admittedly fell quite short of the typical expectations, but this year, WWE will do its best to get back on track after a rollercoaster ride of a two-night weekend in Las Vegas. Here’s what’s on tap.
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RHIYO (Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky) vs. The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane)
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Finn Balor vs. JD McDonagh
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Appearances from Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman, Oba Femi, Liv Morgan, Penta and Logan Paul
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