WWE RAW Review (2/20): Who Was This Week's MVP?, Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, Standout Moments

Standout Moments

1) No, not again! ? WWE decided to kill their fans dead, right off the bat by making us watch Kevin Owens break Chris Jericho's heart all over again. "How come my name's on this?" still got me and it's one of the greatest (worst) lines ever in WWE. Loved the transition to Kevin Owens sitting in the ring with the spotlight on him and how he smoothly moved to his feud against Goldberg. Owens putting it out there that Goldberg has garbage stamina and all he needs to do is outlast and outsmart "Bill" to keep the title.

"I know how to play 'The Game' better than anyone else." After last week's chat with Triple H, some more foreshadowing of a possible alliance? After a lengthy and very well done promo, he circled back to Chris Jericho?with a simple mic drop, ouch. Owens is no longer receiving cheers, turning on his best friend is finally getting him true heat and it's a joy to watch to watch the Kevin Owens of old come back to our screens.

2) Two Weeks Straight ? Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson looked like chumps, yet again, against Roman Reigns. Last week they were running for the hills, this week, Reigns used a chair (losing the match), but destroying both guys during and after the match. Anderson looked doubly stupid by pretty much staring down at Reigns before pulling off a Flying Nothing into a (very sweet looking) spear. I don't get it, yes, they have the titles, but this weird booking against Roman isn't doing them any favors. Interested to see how they are booked against Cass and Enzo; are they just transitional champions or in it for the long haul?

3) Lana, The Hacker ? WWE tends to fall into the topical jokes and they often are terrible. In what I thought was going to fall completely flat, Big E saved the joke with the "You know she's Russian, right?" line that was delivered perfectly. No worries though, Xavier manage to scare Lana and get the ice cream plans back, which he promptly destroyed in dramatic fashion. I could see people either loving or hating this segment, I found it goofy, yet entertaining.

4) Jolly Good Contract Signing ? Neville continued to be amazing in his current form, first by simply walking in, signing the contract, and heading out. Jack got his attention though and Neville proceeded to ether Jack calling him a "cartoon," a "caricature," and that he is what the WWE Universe wanted from Neville. Great segment from both Superstars, the story should be fairly easy to write as they are total opposites of each other. Jack is a regal man, who doesn't mind getting down and dirty, while Neville is the gritty King, hell bent on keeping the title and everyone in the division, beneath him.

5) Stephanie, Outta Nowhere! ? After Bayley gave the babyface promo of the century, out came Stephanie McMahon and demanded honor and purity from Bayley, after she won the title under somewhat shady circumstances. Yes, Stephanie McMahon, was demanding someone be righteous and true, when in reality, she seems to hate underdogs, first Daniel Bryan, now Bayley. Sasha Banks backed up her buddy and Charlotte came out to give her two cents, which ultimately led to Bayley and Charlotte getting a rematch at Fastlane. I could nitpick at this segment, but overall it kept my attention and I'm just happy to see the Women's Division get solid chunk of time on WWE TV, never forget how garbage that division once was.

6) Sound Off ? Well, looks like our article from last Saturday (where we asked who could replace Mick Foley) might just come true. Stephanie and Mick are clearly having some issues with Mick not putting up with Stephanie's disrespectful words, while the Commissioner seemed to indicate harm just might come to Foley, if he isn't careful.

7) Way To Go, Big Show - At 45, Big Show's prime years are very much in his rear view mirror, but thanks to his commitment to dropping weight, he went out there and had a heck of a match against Braun Strowman. Was it some five star classic? No, but it's not often we see two massive human beings go to war and actually put on a really good show. They each kicked out of finishers, but in this case, it worked, it actually helped build the buzz in the crowd for when Braun was able to put away the big man.

Trending Up

Neville ? Just when I thought I couldn't like Neville any more, he comes out with another fire segment. Don't get me wrong, Jack did a fine job himself, but everything Neville does is solid and so appropriate for his character. The disrespectful sign and leave, the awesome promo with a touch of reality, tossing aside the table, and stoically walking straight towards Jack, it was all good. It truly is amazing how consistent he's been since returning as the evil King.

Samoa Joe - "You gonna say my name again?" *Completely destroys Zayn* "Say my name again! This is your world now!"

Trending Down

Cesaro ? Whenever these guys are booked to lose, it seems like he is always the fall guy. Obviously, Vince has always been bigger fan of Sheamus over Cesaro, but they could mix it up once in awhile. Felt like Cesaro had a lot of buzz when he first returned from injury, but that has really trended downwards since he and Sheamus dropped the titles, where Cesaro also was the one to take the pin. With Enzo/Cass winning a title shot at Fastlane, it seems likely Cesaro/Sheamus will be in the Andre Battle Royal at WrestleMania, maybe a multi-tag match, at best.

THIS IS WREST-LING ??-??-?????? pic.twitter.com/Bi96AZn9X9

? TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) February 21, 2017

This Week's MVP

Braun Strowman ? See above. Plus, he kicked out of Big Show's chokeslam and KO Punch (not sure if that's ever been done). Braun then took down Show and somehow got the best of Roman Reigns post-match, just a fantastic job of building up the big man last night.

Overall Thoughts

Overall, it was a fun show, I could see some people hating the Bayley and Stephanie and The New Day vs. Russian Hackers segments, but I find myself just rolling with them. After Kevin Owens opening segment, thing did go downhill for a bit and the show didn't have a classic segment like last week. Didn't even mention Brock and Paul, but Brock really shouldn't sit so close to the TV. Raw recovered in the last hour with the main event delivering, so I'm going with a grade just slightly below last week.

Grade (out of 10): 7.5 (Last Week: 8)