Bodeen’s Top 5 Moments: Monday Night RAW (4\26\21)

Bodeen is back with your look into WWE Monday Night Raw! Love it or hate it, here is what stands out to him!

After two terrible weeks of Monday Night RAW following WrestleMania, this week’s edition of Monday Night RAW did little to improve on the red brand’s recent poor form. Most of the matches and promos on RAW this week dragged on as the build for WrestleMania Backlash continues to feel lackluster and slow with there being very little interest heading into the pay-per-view. However, I am here to look at all the positives from RAW this week, so with all the negative stuff out the way, it is time to once again take a look at the top 5 moments that stood out on Monday Night RAW this week.

5. Rhea Ripley asserts her dominance in a 6-woman tag match against Lana, Naomi and Asuka 

While on paper this may not have been a star-filled match, Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler and Rhea Ripley would put on a great match against Lana, Naomi and Asuka with Rhea Ripley looking extremely strong as she stayed in for most of the match, rarely tagging in her tag team partners. This match would also help advance the feud between Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler against Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke after Brooke and Rose once again distracted Nia Jax.

Ripley would dominate most of the match with Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler being distracted by Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke. The Raw Women’s Champion’s dominance would cut short by Lana, who hit Ripley with a crossbody for a near fall late in the match. Lana would continue to push Ripley late in the match scoring more near falls against Ripley, getting closer to victory with each near-fall.

Unfortatanly, for Lana it would not be enough as Ripley quickly regained control in the match with Ripley hitting Lana with the Riptide. Ripley would then tag in Nia Jax, with Nia hitting a leg drop on a vulnerable Lana for the pinfall victory. 

4. The New Day and Damien Preist take on Elias, The Miz and Jaxson Ryker in a 6-man tag match 

After a lackluster opening of RAW involving Braun Strowman, Drew Mcintyre, T-Bar and Mace, it would be up to The New Day, Damien Preist, The Miz, Elias and Jaxson Ryker to help revive RAW. Despite the match being a bit sloppy and slow at times, the match did a solid job in making Damien Preist looked strong as well as advancing the rivalry between The Miz and Preist with Preist getting the upper hand in their feud this week after Preist and The New Day beat Elias, Miz and Ryker.  

The New Day and Damian Priest would secure the advantage early in the match as their quick tags and teamwork caught Ryker, Elias and The Miz by surprise. However, it wouldn’t take much time for the heels to fight back as they began to work on Preist and The New Day. The New Day would then use their experience to isolate Jaxson Ryker with The New Day and Damian Priest all working together to hit a triple team move on Jaxson Ryker for a close near fall. 

While Ryker, Miz and Elias would fight back once again late in the match, it was The New Day who got the last laugh after Xavier Woods pinned Jaxson Ryker with an inside cradle in a solid match that was a solid highlight on a show that was less than solid this week. 

3. Charlotte has her suspension lifted thanks to Sonya Deville  

After Charlotte was suspended last week on RAW, it was only a matter of time until she would later return to RAW. In a surprise, this amount of time would be just one week as Charlotte appeared on RAW thanks to the help of Sonya Deville who lifted Charlotte’s suspension to the disagreement of Adam Pearce. Charlotte would apologise for her actions last week after attacking a referee when she lost a match against Asuka due to Rhea Ripley interfering, allowing Asuka to pin Charlotte.

After apologising Charlotte would then reveal her true colours forcing the referee to apologise for his mistake last week. Later in the night, Sonya Deville was confronted by Adam Pearce, with Deville paying little attention to Pearce’s protests. Deville would later talk to her former tag partner, Mandy Rose informing Rose that she would have to face off against Charlotte.

Despite Mandy Rose getting a little offence in against Charlotte due to Charlotte being distracted by the referee, Charlotte would make short work of Mandy Rose, pinning Rose after hitting her with the Natural Selection to finish a busy night after being suspended last week. 

2. Riddle and Randy Orton team up for the first time against Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexender  

After beating Randy Orton in a shock win, Riddle would be interviewed backstage this week. Riddle would then be interrupted mid-promo by Randy Orton. Orton would then talk about how much Riddle surprised him last week and how talked about being interested in Riddle’s idea of forming a tag team, much to Riddle’s surprise. 

Riddle and Orton would then get a chance later in the night to show off their tag team skills as they teamed up against Cedric Alexender and Shelton Benjamin. Riddle would look strong in the match early, but Benjamin and Alexender would regain control in the match isolating Riddle from Orton. 

Despite this though, Riddle would pin Orton, with Orton performing a great hot tag which included an amazing RKO on a flying Cedric Alexender. Orton would then hit the hanging DDT on Shelton, tagging in Riddle who hit the floating bro on Shelton for the win in what could be the start of an entertaining team.  

1. Braun Strowman takes on Drew Mcintyre for a chance to take on Bobby Lashley  

After teaming up with each other to take on T-Bar and Mace, Drew Mcintyre and Braun Strowman would face each other later in the night in the main event as the WWE Champion, Bobby Lashley watched on with MVP as Strowman and Mcintyre would destroy each other in a great big man vs big man main event with neither men looking weak in this match.  

Drew would try to get the early advantage against The Monster Among Men, hitting him with a shoulder tackle which did nothing against Strowman. After some back and forth, Strowman would throw Mcintyre outside the ring and get ready to attack Mcintyre, only for Bobby Lashey to come out as RAW went to the ad break. 

Both men would continue to punish each other as Lashley and MVP watched on. Late in the match, Strowman would attempt to hit a powerslam on Drew, only for Drew to be saved by MVP. Drew would then attempt a Claymore only to be distracted by T-Bar and Mace, allowing Strowman to hit the powerslam on Drew for the win, making the WWE Title match at Backlash a triple threat. 

These were my top 5 moments from Monday Night Raw this week? What were your top 5 moments and what do you think of the quality of Monday Night RAW after WrestleMania? Let us know in the comments below