Raw Talk has a warrior, a Priest and a Nightmare!

With tonight complicating things, the Raw Women’s Champions here for some Raw Talk! What is Rhea Ripley’s response to the TRIPLE THREAT?

Kayla Braxton welcomes us back to the show!

Wait, really? Well yes, Kayla is back instead of Kevin Patrick, and Kayla has missed hosting with R-Truth! Likewise! Kayla feels like he should’ve given the intro because this is his show. Nah, now it’s their show. Truth has had his problems in the past but now it’s their show. Theirs and his baby, the 24/7 Championship. Kayla wants us to know she’s just filling in for Kevin, because congratulations to him and his wife, Meg, they just had a baby! Little baby Maisie Rose Egan, as Kevin posted on his Twitter. Maybe Kevin will bring her to Raw Talk some day, spend time with “Uncle Truth.”

But on to tonight’s Raw and how it ended: Drew McIntyre stood tall ahead of #WrestleManiaBacklash and the Triple Threat for the WWE Championship! Does Truth have any ideas as to who will walk out of there with the title? Truth’s thing is, will we see what we saw tonight happen then? McIntyre stood tall but Lashley and Braun just destroyed each other! And as was announced right as Raw was going off the air, McIntyre VS Lashley happens next week! McIntyre distracted Braun, and if you don’t handle your business, business will handle you! McIntyre was very confident, Kayla can attest to that. There is no doubt in McIntyre’s mind he’ll win the title, and he’ll be here later as a guest. Truth is surprised, and it seems no one gave him the guest list.

Now, let’s also talk about a new popular tag team, as RKBRO is undefeated at 2-0! Truth and Riddle want to be a team, but for now he supports Riddle’s team with Orton. Would he have ever put them together? Nope. It’s crazy cool, like you can’t always trust Randy but you can trust a bro. Somehow, this works. And another team that works is AJ Styles & Omos, they defended their Raw Tag Team Championships their first night back, and against the New Day. Styles & Omos won against one of the best tag teams in WWE history, so how long does Truth think Styles & Omos will reign? For a while. Omos is almost too big to do that. Is that an accidental pun?

But that mountain of a man and the Phenomenal One are working. We’ll have to see how long they can maintain this, because the New Day will never stop. They’re not a joke, they know they rock. New! Day Rocks! And of course, Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax are still WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, they’re still having some problems, but they’re still a force to be reckoned with. Who does Truth think will take those titles off them, if anyone? Truth still has to give it up to Naomi & Lana, though. They just need to be better prepared so stuff like what happened tonight doesn’t happen. Nia & Shayna took forever to get on the same page, but now they have, and that’s why they’re dominant.

There’s plenty of exciting stuff to talk tonight, from McIntyre to Rhea Ripley to Damian Priest! DP! Does Kayla like DP? Umm…

Rhea Ripley joins Raw Talk!

The Raw Women’s Champion and her new hairstyle are here, and surely she’s a bit “irked” about being in her own Triple Threat match now. Truth is just hearing this news and feels bad on Rhea’s behalf. Kayla lets Rhea speak on how she feels. Rhea isn’t sure how to feel about this, but she knows that she’s mostly mad about it. “Charlotte seems to work her way into my life at every opportunity. She’s mad because she didn’t get to go to WrestleMania, and I understand that. WrestleMania is the greatest stage of them all, and you want to be there.

“But what Charlotte doesn’t realize is that, and I said it before, there’s a new era of females coming through.” Charlotte doesn’t have to leave, but she has to move over. Rhea is taking her opportunities and taking her stage. Charlotte is salty and that’s why she attacked the referee. Charlotte is mad because she’s not getting what she wants. Kayla asks if maybe, because Sonya Deville is also part of this, has Sonya been a bit reckless? She’s a boss, though. Yes, but she’s the only reason this is happening.

Rhea agrees, “reckless” is the perfect word for it. Sonya isn’t thinking, she’s just acting. Charlotte might be talking to Sonya, slipping her money, something, because Sonya is handing Charlotte everything and Rhea doesn’t agree with that. You put your hands on the ref, that’s not how this works here. You get suspended and fined. Coming back just after a week angers Rhea. Truth says Charlotte did apologize and admit she made a mistake. He isn’t justifying, but he’s just trying to understand that Sonya wanted to make things better for everyone. So you let a thief into your house? No! Well that’s what Charlotte is doing! She’s trying to take things she doesn’t deserve from Rhea!

Kayla agrees, and knows Rhea is a threat to Charlotte being on top. Exactly, Charlotte knows Rhea’s a threat. Truth didn’t see it like that so now he knows. Kayla recaps that Charlotte kept saying Rhea wasn’t the rightful champion, but Truth says Rhea handled her business. Rhea vows to walk in then walk out the champion. It doesn’t matter what Charlotte says, she isn’t walking out with Rhea’s title, it’s not going to happen. Is Rhea worried at all about Asuka, though? Rhea has something to prove, she hasn’t beaten Charlotte, and then there’s the Empress. Truth is surprised Rhea hasn’t beaten Charlotte yet. He’s just asking. The keyword is “yet.” Truth likes that!

But again, Triple Threats are tricky. But Charlotte also knows that very, very well. That’s how Charlotte lost titles, too. Charlotte has beaten Asuka, she’s beaten Rhea, and Rhea will give her that. But it’s been a year, and Rhea’s learned a lot. Charlotte doesn’t know what she’s getting into. That’s why she is getting in here and looking for an easy way out. That’s not to say Asuka IS the easy way out in this match, but that’s what Charlotte is thinking. But none of this is easy. They were tag team champions together, Charlotte knows Asuka very, very well, and that’ll be her target. But if she tries it, Rhea will give it all back to Charlotte.

Kayla and Truth love the confidence, Rhea is deserving to them, so hopefully they have her back as a champion again. Rhea thanks them, and Raw Talk takes a quick break.

Damian Priest joins Raw Talk!

Truth is pumped to see Priest again, they do a quick handshake, and Kayla says Priest is on a roll! Priest beat The Miz, he beat John Morrison, it’s been a great few weeks. Since joining Raw, The Miz has been a thorn in Priest’s side. Priest gets it, someone new is getting attention, that makes Miz feel left out, a little jealous, he’s yesterday’s news, all that. But he picks on the wrong person in Priest.

Kayla says Truth’s known Miz a long time, what advice does he have for dealing with Miz? Well just keep going like he has. Priest beat Miz, beat his teammate, Morrison. Priest takes nothing away from either guy. We heard Miz’s accolades and how he measures up to the greats. And Priest agrees! Miz is just as good, and Truth says Miz doesn’t get enough credit. But Priest to roll Miz like that, Miz won’t sit there and take it. Miz is like Alfalfa from the Little Rascals, he’ll get scrappy. But Kayla says Priest clearly shows respect, but it can only go so far. Yes, Priest doesn’t respect the attitude Miz has for him or his friends. But Miz will keep going until someone quits.

Well, Miz better get ready because it isn’t ending here. Kayla admits throwing rotten tomatoes is pretty extreme. Truth laughs, he couldn’t believe those were rotten. But Miz, Morrison and so on, Priest is surely ready to put them in their place before moving on to the next phase. Great aim on the tomatoes, by the way. The Six Man last week, the singles matches, Priest is surely looking forward to moving past them. So what’ll be next? The goals are always the moments, something special. He had a Mania Moment with Bad Bunny, but that was just this year. The days don’t stop, Priest can’t stop, he’ll go for the next moment. This better be the end with Miz, but who knows. And then it’s come what may.

At some point, Priest says he wants to #LiveForever, so that means titles. Kayla is sure he’ll get those titles. The journey will continue, and WWE Chronicle: Damian Priest debuts this Sunday! Priest doesn’t wear emotions on his sleeve, so this gets through to the heart of Priest. He hopes his story inspires someone else to keep going. Priest is an example of someone “not supposed to be here.” Then Kayla and Truth hope he keeps on keeping on! And after another break, we’ll have the Scottish Warrior!

Drew McIntyre joins Raw Talk!

Truth is pumped again to se McIntyre, and brings up how he started something at the end of Raw. McIntyre says it wasn’t like Lashley and Braun tripped into his space out there. But he was minding his own business on commentary with a great “at home” experience, and then Braun falls in his lap. McIntyre “tripped’ and gave everyone Claymores. Kayla says it was a great main event, but McIntyre is coming back for his title. Yeah, McIntyre lost his focus, that’s on him, there was a lot of stuff going on. That was his moment, he let himself be distracted, and he vows to never let that happen again. McIntyre will keep focus to get the title back.

WrestleMania Backlash has a Triple Threat, but McIntyre has Lashley 1v1 on Raw next week. Truth says McIntyre took on everyone practically, so he’s ready. McIntyre’s been thinking: “I can’t be angry with Lashley. Lashley’s a competitor, he’s a fighter, he does what has to be done inside that ring. MVP, he’s the one talking all the talk, I’m trying to enjoy myself, he’s running his mouth. Even inserts himself into the coin toss, the puppet master pulling the strings.” Lashley is doing what he does, but McIntyre won’t let MVP distract him again. It will be a war, McIntyre has eyes in the back of his head because maybe Mace, T-Bar and even Braun might show up. He doesn’t know, but we all better tune in! Truth loves that! 24/7 life! McIntyre might as well wear his gear in the streets.

Kayla asks McIntyre’s assessment of Lashley as champion. He’s worked hard, earned the right to be champion, and McIntyre can’t say anything negative. That Claymore tonight was coming, but other than that, it’s really MVP that keeps distracting McIntyre. McIntyre is in for an unknown situation, it could end up a Fatal 4, 5, 10! He’ll get his baby back! Truth gets it! He’s got McIntyre’s back with that. Now between the two, Lashley and Braun, who is more of a threat? McIntyre says they’re equal. Truth says they’re like KitKat, they all look the same. Yes, they’re big, dangerous KitKat bars.

But #WrestleManiaBacklash will be about who can take the most punishment. Who can show the most heart and stay standing, because all three will unleash hell and make it uncomfortable to watch. With that, the last man standing will be champion. Kayla knows McIntyre has something more to share, and he plugs his new book! He managed to slip it in on Raw, but he’ll talk more about it here. “A Chosen Destiny,” available starting tomorrow! Truth is in there because of their first match together. Truth loves it!

McIntyre says a company came to the WWE, and they wanted to tell his story, and McIntyre thought, “Who wants to hear about some kid from Scotland who wrestles for the WWE?” But it isn’t about the wrestling, it’s about his life, his struggles, and how he overcame all that. If he can help people see there is a light at the end of the tunnel, learn from his life lessons, then that’ll be great. This is for all fans, even non-wrestling fans, let him hear what you think about it! It’s crazy, he has a book! He even lets Truth have this copy. Maybe he’ll autograph it. Kayla thanks McIntyre for his time, wishes him luck for Backlash, and he thanks them. With that, Raw Talk signs off, see you next Monday!

My Thoughts:

A very fun episode of Raw Talk, and it seemed to go by very quickly. Rhea was a good first guest, but I feel like they could’ve hit a bit harder on her shared time in NXT with Charlotte, and how a Triple Threat at TakeOver: In Your House was where Charlotte lost her title. Granted, it wasn’t to Rhea, so that doesn’t really help Rhea’s case, but it’s still good evidence towards the Triple Threat not actually making anything easier on Charlotte. Priest’s segment was good, but it didn’t seem like he gave all that much in the way of new material. He said he wants titles, but I feel like he should’ve maybe namedropped what Sheamus did to Humberto Carrillo and Mansoor tonight to spark up a feud.

McIntyre’s segment was good, Truth’s energy with him helped out a bit, and I do like that McIntyre is spinning this as more a problem with MVP than with Lashley. It’s also really great for McIntyre to have an autobiography, he is definitely someone with a story that, whether he is a pro-wrestler or an athlete or some other line of work, coming back from being denied the dream to then completely ace it is a great story for anyone with an even remotely similar story in life to find encouragement in.