Opinion

Andrew’s WWE Raw & SmackDown Live Ratings & Analysis (4/29 + 4/30/2019)

WWE Raw and SmackDown were surprisingly entertaining last week. Does this week follow in the footsteps?

Published

6 years ago

May 2, 2019

Andrew Balaz

WWE Raw and SmackDown were surprisingly entertaining last week. Does this week follow in the footsteps?

We got War Raiders adjust name last week, we got a few more shakeup reveals and we know that Money in the Bank needs some participants.

Also on SmackDown we had Kevin Owens turn on the New Day to no one’s surprise.

So, some of these things could fall flat, but maybe we’ll get 3 good WWE weeks in a row!

Raw Ratings:

Braun Strowman & Ricochet vs Drew McIntyre & Baron Corbin: Ricochet wins via Shooting Star Press – **
The Usos vs Gallows & Anderson: Usos wins via Uso Splash – **
Lashley vs The Miz: Lashley wins via Spear – N/A
Viking Raiders vs Lucha House Party: Raiders win via Thor’s Hammer – *
Naomi vs Alexa Bliss: Naomi wins via Thicc Legged Moonsault – * ¼
Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins vs The Revival: Ryder wins via Back Slide – *
Samoa Joe vs Rey Mysterio: Mysterio wins via Stack Pinfall – * 1/2

Analysis:

In the most boring way to decide people for Money in the Bank, Alexa Bliss kicks things off by just announcing the 4 Raw participants. And to make matters worse, it’s just all four talking over one another, and people try to run down Ricochet…which isn’t hard since he has the promo skills of a toddler learning the alphabet. This was bad and the obvious tag match ending made no real sense aside from it being a wrestling trope.

The match itself was painfully uninspired and, save for Drew’s interception Claymore on a rampaging Strowman, who really cares? Yes Drew remembers Corbin sucks after 1 week of getting screwed, not really clever writing.

Now we get a throw away tag match with the Usos and a team that hasn’t mattered in what feels like 6 months or more. Who thought this was a good idea? The match was fine, but again, who cares?

THEN we get some moronic back shaving candid camera moment? I lost IQ points watching this garbage this week.

Lashley comes out and thinks he’s Bo Jackson with the third person stuff. Okay…sure, but then even The Miz wasn’t great. The crowd reacted which allowed Miz to just drop out, instead of trying to carry the bad segment. But come on now…nothing has been good so far. Oh but Lashley insults Miz’s dad, so “impromptu” match time.

The match was just a plot device to get Shane to come out, continue the feud and then instigate Miz into demanding a Steel Cage match.

Lucha House Party is on my TV….that’s always negative for me. They felt embarrassed by Viking Raiders, tried to get the jump…but failed. The House Party sucks. Even if they’re decent wrestlers, they have no real personality and their existence is beyond pointless. This show is pretty damn bad so far.

Alexa is back to announce the Women’s MITB Raw participants. Natty and Dana Brooke aren’t interesting, but at least Dana Brooke needs to be built up, so she’s a good addition. Naomi is third, and we have the same issue as the Men’s MITB. A bunch of worthless bickering that feels forced and poorly scripted, then Alexa announces herself as number 4. Naomi takes a shot at Alexa’s ego which prompts a match.

YOWIE WOWIE! Firefly Fun House! Rambling Rabbit looks like he enjoys Donnie Darko, Abby getting annoyed after the painting was revealed, Sociopath being the Word of the Day and Bray’s mannerisms being a little creepier were all fantastic. Not as good as the first episode, but now this is the best thing on the show so far!

This match wasn’t good, but Alexa tying her shoes and complaining the entire time is amusing. So when her shoes come off and she asks for time to get her shoes back on, Naomi takes advantage of it and wins. Alexa has the built in excuse of not being dressed to wrestle and wearing borrowed shoes, so story wise this was fine…and continuing the momentum of the Fun House.

Becky insinuating that ‘currying favor’ is basically being a whore, is amusingly catty. But the way Lacey responds with “I told you not to let your emotions get the best of you, but you didn’t listen…I’m done talking”. Was a nice mic drop into a solid back and forth brawl. Hey look Sonjay Dutt!

Oh great, another useless tag match. So we tease The Revival for something that’s not even funny and then have them lose in a fluke way to a nostalgia act that are the definition of transitional champions. Ugh…

I’m not completely over Sami’s new gimmick, but if they don’t introduce a foil, I got nothing. I don’t watch Raw for an IWC parody Ted Talk.

50/50 booking pal. Since Mysterio wasn’t announced for the MITB match, it made sense that he would get a win to drag this Samoa Joe feud out further.

Oh our main event is a contract signing with two guys who aren’t good promos. Again, just fantastic, in a laughably sad way. God this was bad.

Overall Score: 3.75/10

This show was crap. It makes complete sense why it fell out of the Top 5 in TV ratings because this sucked hard. Coming off of two shows which I enjoyed and were generally well received, we get this worthless pile of disappointment.

SmackDown Live Ratings:

Becky Lynch vs Bayley: Becky wins via Disarm Her – **
Kair Sane & Asuka vs Jobbers: Sane wins via Insane Elbow – *
Handicap Match: B-Team & Elias special Enforcer vs Roman Reigns : Reigns wins via Spear – **
Finn Balor & Ali vs Andrade & Randy Orton: Ali wins via 450 Splash – ** 1/4

Analysis:

The show opens with Michael Cole? Why the hell is he on Tuesday? Then Kofi comes out, says a lot of nothing, tries to validate why they gave Owens a chance and Owens interrupts. Owens plays up being an ass, Woods tries to jump him, but Owens lays his out and then bails. Really? Okay I’m already getting that sinking feeling that this show is gonna suck.

Becky faces Bayley! This is actually kinda interesting since Bayley gets a better reaction than the last few places, but she has a different energy about her. The match was fine, but my favorite part was the finish when Bayley got her Elbow Drop disrupted, Becky goes for the Disarm Her and Bayley looks annoyed at herself for being in the situation. The Charlotte attack isn’t surprising and I don’t care.

Aleister Black says a whole lot of nothing, in a deliberate and uninteresting way. Huzzah.

Hardys vacate the tag titles because Jeff is hurt, Lars Sullivan comes out to finish what he started. Ugh..

SmackDown MITB reveals, in such a lame matter of fact way. Go Andrade, McIntyre or Orton.

Kairi and Asuka kill some jobbers. They didn’t even mention their gimmick names because the IIconics and Graves were busy saying nothing and trying to be clever, but failing. This was a heard segment to sit through.

Sonya gives Mandy the MITB slot without an argument. So we’re either going to see them split soon, or Sonya is really just a good friend.

Roman gets put in a handicap match against a joke tag team and Elias. Yeah…was anyone supposed to care about the B-Team? I mean I’m looking around, but I can’t find anyone.

The match was plodding and corny, but I guess some story beats were hit since they’re just trying to stack the deck. I wasn’t impressed but I suppose it was okay.

Heels versus Faces, because that’s what is expected. Imagine a normal tag match, involving these four, no real tension and no excitement for them to clash. Yup, that’s this match.

Women’s MITB SmackDown participants are finalized, and I’ve hit the point of not caring. Love Ember, but I still don’t care.

KO Show – so wait, Raw and SmackDown are both main evented by a crappy talking segment? KO wanted Woods, Woods didn’t come out, but he starts talking to action figures. I had flashbacks of Clint Eastwood talking to an empty chair. KO is great, but this segment sucked. Kofi coming out for the attack doesn’t even save this.

Overall Score: 5/10

Lame show. I feel like this wasn’t much better than Raw, but the 2 hour made it easier to swallow and didn’t overexpose the problems. Still just a generally sad and underwhelming episode.

Such a huge let down since the last few weeks were trending upwards. Again, this show ending up outside of the Top 5 didn’t surprise me either, since bad shows with no sense of intrigue, feel like a wasted 2 hours.

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Opinion

Chairshot Staff Picks: Money In The Bank

Extra, extra read all about it… Chairshot Staff picks are in!!!

Published

2 weeks ago

June 6, 2025

PC Tunney

Sing it with me… money money money money moneeeeeeeeeyeeeeee… everybody’s got a price! MONEY IN THE BANK is here!!! How money will our staff picks be?!?

AJ – Roxanne Perez
Andrew – Stephanie Vaquer – *Bubba Sparxxx Impression* I don’t tell stories, I let them tell theyself.
Dave – Guilia – A stacked field but I just like her here.
DJ – Naomi
DPP – Roxanne Perez
Jason – Alexa Bliss
Patrick – Roxanne Perez
Rey – Naomi – If Naomi loses, we riot!
Rob – Naomi
Greg – Alexa Bliss – Bliss has had huge reactions since returning and is moving a ton of merch. While I can see them wanting to build Roxanne Perez, Giulia, or Stephanie Vaquer, I think Alexa Bliss.

Tunney’s Take: Rhea Ripley – I’ll make my case short and sweet… Mami in the Bank! You can’t leave that money on the table.

Chairshot Pick – Tie – Naomi 3 & Roxanne Perez 3 (Alexa Bliss 2, Giulia 1, Rhea Ripley 1, Stephanie Vaquer 1)

AJ – LA Knight
Andrew – El Grande Americano – Feels correct given his push and the fact he’s over.
Dave – Seth Rollins – Got to push that new faction.
DJ – LA Knight
DPP – El Grande Americano
Jason – LA Knight
Patrick – Solo Sikoa
Rey – LA Knight – Looks like another push, and he does have history with Cena.
Rob – Solo Sikoa
Greg – Seth Rollins – This company is extremely high in the El Grande Americano gimmick, but this match comes down to Seth Rollins or LA Knight. Given the Rollins storyline, it’s his briefcase to win.

Tunney’s Take: El Grande Americano – Picture this: Chad Gable wins the AAA Mega Championship and El Grande Americano wins MITB! WHAT A SATURDAY in LA!!!

Chairshot Pick – LA Knight 4 (El Grande Americano 3, Seth Rollins 2, Solo Sikoa 2)

AJ – Becky Lynch – Sadly
Andrew – Becky Lynch – I still don’t care about Lyra.
Dave – Lyra Valkyria – Starting to warm up to her and Becky has a lot to do with that.
DJ – Lyra Valkyria
DPP – Becky Lynch
Jason – Becky Lynch
Patrick – Lyra Valkyria
Rey – Becky Lynch – Put some fire on the Irish Beef.
Rob – Becky Lynch
Greg – Becky Lynch – I don’t think you do a rematch here just to have Becky lose again. Unless Bayley shows up to help Lyra.

Tunney’s Take: Becky Lynch – A big part of me feels that winning this title checks off a major box for Becks in her HOF career.

Chairshot Pick – Becky Lynch 8-3

AJ – Cena & Paul
Andrew – Rhodes & Uso – Easy way for Cena to lose without eating the pinfall.
Dave – Rhodes & Uso – Get the QB back on the winning track.
DJ – Rhodes & Uso
DPP – Rhodes & Uso
Jason – Cena & Paul
Patrick – Cena & Paul
Rey – Rhodes & Uso – Heels usually lose these kinds of matches. Logan takes the pin.
Rob – Cena & Paul
Greg – Rhodes & Uso – I hope Jey isn’t an afterthought here like Cody was last fall when he was paired up with Roman. I think Cody pins Cena to set up Cody-Cena 2 at SummerSlam.

Tunney’s Take: Cena & Paul – I don’t think Cena is involved in another loss until he loses the WWE Championship. I also think Logan Paul is NOT done trying to capture Jey Uso’s World Heavyweight Championship. …Travis Scott in the house?

Chairshot Pick – 6-5 Rhodes & Uso

In closing I want to thank everyone on the panel for participating with their picks! You can follow each prognosticator/podcaster on X @ the handles below. We all enjoy Pro Wrestling so remember three things… be respectful of others, comparison is the thief of joy and HAVE FUN!

AJ – @PhenomenalAJB
Andrew – @IWCWarChief
Dave – @AttitudeAgg
DJ – @TheMindlessPod
DPP – @itsmeDPP
Jason – @JediFett
Patrick – @WrestlngRealist
Rey – @itsreycash
Rob – @rbonne1
Greg – @gregdemarco44
PC – @PCTunney
TheChairshot.com – @ChairshotMedia

prowrestlingtees.com/TheChairshot – a PLETHORA of GREAT designs…MAKES A GREAT GIFT!

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CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE’s PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS…IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O’Dowd’s 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

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About Chairshot Radio Network

MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)

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THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)

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SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

Chairshot Radio Network Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts... Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!

All Shows On Demand

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Opinion

Chairshot Staff Picks: Backlash St. Louis

Chairshot Staff picks!!!

Published

1 month ago

May 9, 2025

PC Tunney

May is upon us and with that, so is Backlash from St. Louis! What does the first PLE after WrestleMania have in store for the WWE Universe? Let’s see if the Chairshot Staff can properly interpret the crystal ball of rasslin’ future.

AJ – Pat MacAfee – Gunther has to start losing control and who better than an announcer.
Andrew – Pat MacAfee – Goldberg getting involved does seem correct here.
Dave – Gunther – He’s not losing to a broadcaster.
DJ – Gunther – Pat is sent to the shadow realm until football season is over.
DPP – Gunther – Post match beat down leads to Pat time off.
Jason – Gunther – One massive spot and or bump from Pat.
Patrick – Gunther
Rey – Gunther – RIP MacAfee, t’was a good life.
Rob – Gunther
Greg – Pat MacAfee – Why? Goooooldbeeerrrrrgggggg!

Tunney’s Take: Gunther – Seems like the right pick here. Pat may be getting some time off and Gunther needs more heat.

Chairshot Pick – GUNTHER 8-3

AJ – Lyra Valkyria – Becky’s hopefully putting her over, still mad about Dakota.
Andrew – Becky Lynch – I have no real interest in Lyra currently.
Dave – Becky Lynch – Lyra is boring AF!
DJ – Lyra Valkyria – Bayley interferes.
DPP – Becky Lynch – Becky cheats and steals the title.
Jason – Lyra Valkyria – Bayley costs Becks.
Patrick – Becky Lynch
Rey – Becky Lynch – Story needs to jump up a bit, Becky Charlotte’s Lyra.
Rob – Lyra Valkyria
Greg – Becky Lynch – It’s been fun, Lyra. (It kinda hasn’t)

Tunney’s Take: Lyra Valkyria – Bayley’s interference should set up some type of program with Becky as we head towards Summer(Slam).

Chairshot Pick – BECKY LYNCH 6-5

AJ – Jacob Fatu – Great way to put him over w/ two former WHCs and LA Knight.
Andrew – Jacob Fatu – He’s Jacob Fatu!
Dave – Jacob Fatu – Too soon to pull the belt off him.
DJ – Jacob Fatu – Priest and LA can’t decide who’s is bigger.
DPP – Jacob Fatu – Your hardcore match, tables and chairs involved.
Jason – Jacob Fatu – The Champ retains due to or in spite of Solo.
Patrick – Jacob Fatu
Rey – Jacob Fatu – All gas. No brakes. Ain’t losing.
Rob – Jacob Fatu
Greg – Jacob Fatu – Someone from The Samoan Dynasty ain’t winning a title just to drop it.

Tunney’s Take: Jacob Fatu – Uncle Mo is on Fatu’s side and other than Knight, I don’t see Drew or Priest holding the US title in the current circumstances of this title’s landscape.

Chairshot Pick – JACOB FATU 11-0

AJ – Dominic Mysterio – Judgement Day shenanigans just leading up to Finn turning on Dom later.
Andrew – Penta – Dom’s fine having a short reign, could also work for pushing AAA.
Dave – Dominic Mysterio – He’s probably more over than Penta.
DJ – Dominic Mysterio – Dirty Dom takes home the gold and the girl.
DPP – Dominic Mysterio – Big Head helps Dom pull out the win.
Jason – Dominic Mysterio – By hook and crook.
Patrick – Dominic Mysterio
Rey – Dominic Mysterio – Latino Heat keeps burning. Finn gets closer to the edge.
Rob – Dominic Mysterio
Greg – Dominic Mysterio – Someone from The Guerrero Dynasty ain’t winning a title just to drop it.

Tunney’s Take: Dominic Mysterio – That belt looks good with the king of chicken tendys. I can see Penta and Rey reforming as a tag team sooner than later.

Chairshot Pick – DOMINIC MYSTERIO 10-1

AJ – John Cena – Why? Cena wins, lol.
Andrew – John Cena – Shenanigans ensue so it’s not a clean win.
Dave – John Cena – The last time is now.
DJ – John Cena – Randy hears voices telling him he needs an Attitude Adjustment.
DPP – John Cena – Cena tries to cheat but the ref doesn’t call for a DQ.
Jason – John Cena – Nefarious means, Randy not ready for Evil John Cena.
Patrick – John Cena
Rey – John Cena – Cena just counting down the dates. Should be fun though.
Rob – John Cena
Greg – John Cena – You know they want Cody to be the hero in the end.

Tunney’s Take: Randy Orton – Once upon a time Randy got himself intentionally disqualified and it cost John. Saturday, history repeats itself with a 180-degree twist. Cena retains via Orton DQ victory. This time, Travis Scott’s appearance takes care of that task.

Chairshot Pick – JOHN CENA 10-1