Raw Talk will Live Forever with the Ravishing Glow!

After another big week, Damian Priest, Naomi, Lana and Montel Vontavius Porter will all be joining in for some Raw Talk!

Kevin Patrick welcomes us back to the show!

“A night of upsets, deception and surprising allegiance.” We’re heading for WrestleMania Backlash and there’s so much going on! Welcome to the ThunderDome, Kevin and “Antonio Banderas” are here. Well Xavier Woods is learning the guitar so he brought out his new baby girl to give her some love. He didn’t quite inspire Kofi, but Kofi’s had so many matches. It’s like the Viking Raiders said last week, you might lose the match but you never lose the fight. And Elias has something going, so maybe Woods gets after Ryker.

Meanwhile, Drew McIntyre is on a rocky road going after Bobby Lashley at Backlash, but he has to get by T-bar & Mace. Woods has felt the “wrath” of T-Bar 7 Mace, too. You don’t take them lightly. But McIntyre has overcome so many obstacles before, even the whole locker room, but now he has to go after these towering titans. Sheamus then had an open challenge, Humberto Carrillo came out confidently, but got pulverized. Sheamus said last time what eh showed tonight, that he’s scratched and clawed to stay at the top. Carrillo is incredible, but Sheamus has the experience edge. Carrillo felt what Sheamus fights like, and that Brogue is just rough.

Kevin wants to then ask about how Raw ended. Charlotte VS Asuka, Rhea plays a role in how it ended, and Charlotte took her frustrations out on the official. How much of a lack of respect is that? You never put your hands on officials because you’re taking out the part of the match that is the rules, and then things are just chaos. So to do something like that, you’re past anger and rage. Charlotte stomped away on a person not trained for the physicality. Corey Graves speculated the road ahead for Charlotte, but Woods says this makes sense, in her mind. She has had millions of people rally behind her, only to turn on her.

And then she calls the newer stars, the ones making names for themselves, “rats and snakes!” But then she’s the one who does that? Kevin isn’t so sure. But can he get a drumroll please? Of course. Woods gives us the drum roll and Kevin lists tonight’s guests: the Vice President of the Hurt Business; the Archer of Infamy who got another win over The Miz; and the Ravishing Glow, who got a big win over the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. But that said, we start with Montel Vontavius Porter!

MVP joins Raw Talk!

MVP says Kevin downgraded on cohosts. How’s that? Just an observation. Woods says that he can’t stand MVP but as a grown man, he will see that what MVP has done helping Bobby Lashley get that air of confidence, they are unstoppable. Congratulation, even though Woods doesn’t like it. Well the saying goes, you don’t have to like it but you do have to live with it. MVP is sure Woods learned that from being in the Hurt Lock. Or, no, that was Kofi. Woods says there won’t be time in the ring tonight so there will juts be time talking her. Kevin feels like a third wheel. MVP says Kevin better have questions because he has much better things to do than hang out with “video game boys.”

Kevin goes back to WrestleMania in Raymond James, just 9 days ago. What were MVP’s thoughts on that match? It was all expected that the All Mighty, the Chief Hurt Officer, would walk in champ and walk out champ. MVP told McIntyre he would lose consciousness, his dignity, and the match. But what was it like to be there with fans? Woods intercepts that question by asking what “Chief Hurt Officer” even means. You don’t understand? MVP skips that to have an intelligent conversation. He doesn’t want to explain something obvious to people who don’t have the intellect. Well, Woods almost has his PhD in psychology. Well MVP has a PhD in criminology so there. Just go google it.

Kevin asks about T-Bar & Mace. This is a safe space, tell the world about what’s going on here. For the last time, and MVP will speak slowly: Bobby Lashley is the CHO of the Hurt Business and he recently had the Hurt Business downsize. There is no recruiting, and MVP and Lashley have no idea why T-Bar & Mace are doing this. MVP respects McIntyre, though he doesn’t like him, but he is excited in seeing what T-Bar & Mace are doing to McIntyre. But there is NOTHING the Hurt Business has to do with that. Woods respects that. Does MVP respect T-Bar & Mace and what they’re doing? If those two want to make an impact, not that MVP isn’t speaking for them, but he gets that they are operating under “by any means necessary.”

So things are really rosy for MVP and Lashley right now, huh? McIntyre is coming back for the world title and MVP is poking the beast. MVP laughs and says McIntyre looked angry while he was unconscious. Woods says Kevin is talking to someone with an ego so you can’t really get through. And Lashley has been dominant, so you can’t argue against that. MVP sings Everything’s Coming Up Roses. These aren’t rose-tinted glasses but from MVP’s perspective, yes, things are looking good. Business is going exceptionally well. Kevin thanks MVP and MVP says the pleasure was all Kevin’s. MVP takes his leave and we go to break.

Raw Talk returns and Kevin discusses MVP talking down to Woods. Woods says MVP obviously came in with no intention of listening to the other side so there was nothing they could do but let MVP talk. Wait, Adam Pearce walks in? And discusses something with them quietly. Woods is surprised, “A hundo?!” This is about Charlotte Flair’s actions for assaulting the official! Woods says it so we can hear: Charlotte Flair has been suspended indefinitely, with a $100,000 fine! That’s a LOT of money. They thank Pearce for that breaking news, and they repeat that Charlotte has been suspended indefinitely for what she did to the referee.

WWE is clearly making an example of Charlotte after she tried to make an example of the ref. Kevin asks what “indefinitely” means and how long that translates to. Pearce is the one to decide that. That little surprise is leaving us all reeling, so Raw Talk takes another break before getting back to their guests. ONE, HUNDRED, THOUSAND.

Naomi & Lana join Raw Talk!

The Ravishing Glow is here and they are feeling it! The beat about to drop so bring it! Don’t take a bump now. BOOM! Kevin admits he just can’t. How are they feeling? Great! Well they look great, they are coordinated like a real team! That is what Woods loves! Naomi says Lana picked these out but yeah they’re great. What a great win over the women’s tag team champions. Would they have gotten it done without Dana & Mandy, though? Of course! This isn’t the first times they’ve pinned the champs. This also isn’t the first time they got screwed over. What goes around come around.

Lana reminds us that Reggie ruined their tag title match, and where Nia is already bigger and Shayna is already more technical, Reggie was an even further unfair advantage. But they were contenders before, they’ll be contenders again. A win is a win and they’ll take it. So they deserve another shot? Of course! They are ready to be Women’s Tag Team Champions. Woods knows what this is about. Lana & Naomi are ready to be future… Well of course future. But… Let’s get this together, hold on. They are your future women’s tag team CHAMPIONS~!

Woods likes that. They slid into the #1 spot after pinning the champs, but Woods also loves that they’re proving they’re more than just “sports entertainers.” Y’all have been crushing it on the TikTok! And that has helped them mesh together, work together, get the chemistry going. Do they feel that bond has been created in and out of the ring? Absolutely. Dance brings people together, so these two have formed a bond through dancing and TikTok dancing. The New Day have always been inspirational because they have fun and kick ass. They can do it all, from TikTok to dance to fight, and becoming the future Women’s Tag Team champions!

Naomi says people underestimate them because they see the dancing, the fun, and just feel they can’t be serious, or don’t take them serious. Naomi disagrees, she’s been there, and trust her that she can get serious. Ready to snatch people bald. Yes, dancers have more body control. They might just moonwalk up out of here. But over 20,000 were dancing at Mania, so what did that feel like? Being out on stage was emotional because they missed the fans. Lana realized this is nothing without fans. You can keep going, but it’s not the same. The fans are everything and they do what they do for the connection with the fans. There’s nothing like it!

Kevin brings up, having seen it shared on social media, all the work Lana has put in to have her moment alongside Naomi. They want to be future champions, but have they had that moment where they thought, “This is me, I can do this.” Lana says yes, she personally dealt with people doubting her just because she wasn’t wrestling for 20 years before the WWE. But she was putting in 40 hours a week getting in shape at just 10 years old. Dancers have discipline, work ethic, perseverance when you’re told, “You’re too fat, you’re not pretty enough,” this and that. But it’s instilled in them, that discipline and resiliency and adaptability. Why not even create WWE TikTok Championships? Kevin wants to know what TikTok is. Woods says he’ll explain after the show.

Woods has one quick question before they go. There was a moment months ago where Woods and Naomi hadn’t seen each other in so long and finally got to talk. This tag team with Lana, getting the fans back, what is the journey back like? It gave Naomi a new perspective, and made her much more appreciative of being here and being around and staying positive. A lot of the time, things don’t go the way you want, but you’re blessed to still be here. Naomi working with Lana is special, too. That entrance at Mania was difference because they were side-by-side. Just focus on moving forward.

Lana says what Naomi has taught her is self-confidence. And if you don’t believe in yourself, have someone who will tell you to believe in yourself. Inspirational! The future champions head out as we go back to break!

Damian Priest joins Raw Talk!

Woods rocks out to the theme and so does Priest. Woods hasn’t heard this with headphones and now that he’s got the ear piece, that bass is kicking! Kevin says it’s awesome to have Priest here after his awesome win over Miz tonight. But not awesome: that cheap champagne. Priest does interrupt Miz’s “moment,” and then tasted their champagne. It was just trash. Anyone who followed Priest back in NXT knows he’s a champagne guy, but that was just not good. And Miz & Maryse can’t get the good stuff? C’mon. Only the finest of “cham-pag-nas.”

But does Priest realize that he got in between the It Couple? Maryse threw down the challenge, Miz was reluctant, and then Priest beats Miz in front of Maryse! He might be causing a divide between them. Well, after last week, Maryse helped Miz get one over on Priest, perhaps because Miz is lacking a little something. And then this week, Priest proved it. Bring Maryse along, this is just what Priest does. If they’ve got beef at home, that’s on them. He didn’t start it, but he’ll finish it. Woods jokes, is Priest a homewrecker?

Kevin asks Woods how impressed he was to see Priest & Bad Bunny win at WrestleMania. That was crazy! It blows Woods’ mind. They talked before that it’s wild to have Bunny here at all, and then they debut on the main roster and get into all this, what has this feeling been like? Especially with WrestleMania and now Priest’s path. Priest knows Woods can relate to this. You can be successful and achieve things and it’s awesome, especially when it’ syour dreams. Now do that with your friend, and how you can feed off each other’s energy and have a blast. THat’s Priest & Bunny and that was great at Mania. They ha dfun, ha da great entrance, they won! It’s everything you want in the business!

The only thing missing, and Woods has his guitar now… What’s up? Wasn’t he gonna play PRiest out or something? Well Woods has to learn the tabs and stuff. Priest thinks they should form a band. Woods would do that! What does Priest play? Oh he’s the front man, bruh. Nice! Well, they’ll have to have different pieces, a little bit for everyone. That can even be the band name, “A Little Bit for Everybody.” They’ll work on it. Kevin admits he’d never even be able to do what the superstars do, so how impressive was Bunny’s dedication? Miz even admitted to it.

Priest says Bunny wasn’t even supposed to be successful in music, the way he went about it. He was told to dress a certain way, speak a certain way, sound a certain way, but it still didn’t work so he just figured, “Why am I doing this? I’ll do things my way.” At least he’d have fun. And then boom, he’s hitting it big. Wrestling was another dream of Bunny’s, because every since he was a kid, he saw it. He thought it was unachievable, but then he’s given this chance and he works hard to get his dream. And he put in the work! Priest watched Bunny get lumped up and even bloody during training, but also get up and say, “Let’s go again.” That’s what you don’t see and probably couldn’t get. So Priest was so happy when Bunny shocked the world! That was awesome. And when it’s one of your friends, it’s even better.

Woods wants everyone to understand Priest’s journey. How long has he been wrestling? 17 years. So having this worldwide experience, from the indies to NXT to Raw and Bunny, beating Miz, what is next? All this knowledge and experience, what does Priest do next? Moments. Moments people talk about the next day, week, year. Things that withstand the test of time. #LiveForever. He’s not a vampire. People get that confused but he’ snot. Priest just wants his name to live forever, do things that are meaningful and people are happy to have witnessed and they pass down the stories. And he wants the titles, the main events, everything else. Maybe he won’t get all of it but it’ll be one hell of a ride trying. Oh, and the celebrations.

Kevin says Priest sure left his mark on Miz. He is top class, and thanks Priest for his time. And on behalf of “Antonio Banderas,” aka Xavier Woods, and the classy crew, take it easy and see you again soon! Woods gets in an “OoOoOoh~!” before the show ends.

My Thoughts:

This was a very fun episode of Raw Talk, especially with Pearce making a surprise appearance to give us the kayfabe news of Charlotte’s “suspension” and “fine.” I feel like the “indefinitely” part is so they can keep her out of #WrestleManiaBacklash and have her go after the champion on the road to Money in the Bank in June. It’s a bit of a shame because I literally said in my Raw article that I thought we were getting a Raw Women’s Championship Triple Threat but I guess not. They uncomplicate things by just removing Charlotte, so now it’s just Rhea VS Asuka, unless Charlotte defies the suspension. That’d be pretty cool, actually.

MVP had a good segment, where he keeps up the mystery of his connection to Mace & T-Bar, and he sure tries to get at Woods just because Woods questioned the nickname, “Chief Hurt Officer.” If we ever get New Day going against just MVP & Lashley, as in Kofi getting another chance at the world title, I feel like there should be an intellectual showdown between Woods and MVP. Lana & Naomi had a good segment, though they said a lot of what Lana said in the past and what everyone already understands about having fans live in attendance.

Priest had the best segment, which makes sense since he was third. His motivation is the same whether he’s Face or Heel, but saying it in a Face way makes his mission to #LiveForever more relatable. Also I do like that he acknowledged the confusion about his gimmick being vampire. I wonder if Priest gets to be Sheamus’ first real opponent for the US Championship. That is going to be an awesome match from some big, strong strikers/brawlers.