Braun Strowman and Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss def. Sami Zayn and Becky LYnch in a First Round MatchStrowman and Zayn as well as Lynch and Bliss have plenty of history with each other from their feuds in 2016-2017, so the chemistry was already there. Thus, I wasn't too surprised by this being a good match. It wasn't must-see by any means, but I liked it for how long it lasted. It's such a shame Zayn and Lynch were bumped from the tourney early because they're such perfect partners for each other, but Strowman and Bliss had to advance. Afterward, they called each other "cute" and Bliss made a joke about going "all the way" with Strowman. Watch out, Buddy Murphy! The Monster Among Men is coming for your girl! Overall ShowFor the third straight week, Mixed Match Challenge featured an entertaining match with a cool dynamic among the four stars that you wouldn't normally see share a ring together. Beyond that, though, I wouldn't recommend anyone go out of their way to watch it. It's short and sweet, sure, but is it necessary viewing on top of Raw, SmackDown Live, NXT and 205 Live? Absolutely not. It's essentially the equivalent of what Saturday Morning Slam was to WWE years ago, except this has actual stakes.
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Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn Interrupted Shinsuke NakamuraI have been fairly critical of Nakamura's mic skills since his arrival on SmackDown Live last year, if only because the material he is being given to work with is horrendous. Thankfully, he did well for himself here and cut his best promo on the main roster to date. He didn't speak for too long before being interrupted by Owens and Zayn, and they too played their roles well, along with Styles. This successfully set up the night's tag team main event. Rusev def. Zack Ryder, Kofi Kingston and Jinder Mahal in a United States Championship No. 1 Contender's Fatal 4-Way MatchConsidering this consisted of four wrestlers who aren't feuding at the moment (with the possible exception of Mahal and The New Day), this was a fun Fatal 4-Way. You had to figure Rusev was winning because the other three didn't have much of a chance, but I enjoyed the in-ring action, nevertheless. I'm glad they aren't waiting until Fastlane to hold the match, though I truly believe both Bobby Roode and Rusev would benefit from a double turn if this turns into a real program.
Bayley def. Sonya DevilleI was actually surprised to see this match relegated to Main Event, if only because none of these girls ever appear on the program, but it was a nice get for Main Event since Raw was too stacked with other stuff this week. The match was actually solid with Bayley carrying Deville through most of it, though Deville held her own. Bayley is basically a glorified enhancement talent at this point, so I don't know how smart it was to have her beat Deville coming off Deville's recent clean win versus Sasha Banks. Gran Metalik, Kalisto and Lince Dorado def. TJP, Gentleman Jack Gallagher and Ariya DaivariI've really been digging the trio of Metalik, Kalisto and Dorado lately. Sure, they were probably put together because they're all luchadors, but their similar styles in the ring have led to them having great chemistry together. This was a fun little sprint, even if it didn't last long. Metalik pinned TJP to further tell the story of his recent losing ways, but this was taped before he advanced in the WWE Cruiserweight Championship tournament on the latest 205 Live.
Sasha Banks Confronted AsukaI could have done without Stephanie McMahon kicking off Raw and putting over the "women's revolution" for the millionth time, but this segment did lead to the announcement that we will be getting the first-ever women's Elimination Chamber match next month for the Raw Women's Championship and tease what's next for Ronda Rousey. I liked the little back-and-forth Asuka and Banks had that set up their match for later on in the night. Braun Strowman def. Kane in a Last Man Standing Elimination Chamber Qualifying MatchLast Man Standing matches are known to be tedious, especially when they feature stars such as Strowman and Kane, but this was exactly what it needed to be with Strowman completely dominating Kane and making short work of him to earn his entry into the Chamber match. It definitely looked like WWE's way of writing Kane out of storylines for the time being, and I surely hope that's the case because this feud with Strowman has been boring beyond belief. Plus, there isn't much else for him to do now that it's over.
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