WWE Raw RETURNS to Detroit (4-11-22)! An audience member’s Top 3 Moments.
The red brand of wrestling RETURNS to the Motor City!
Wrestling is an industry all about creating moments and making your mark. Whether it be in the ring, or in tension filled promo segments, creating that larger-than-life moment can come in many different ways. On screen, in a dark match, on the mic, against or for the crowd, it’s always a toss-up with this industry. For the first time in two years, WWE made its stupendous return to Motown in the great state of Michigan. With a packed-out crowd, and a match card of intense battles, this was a Monday Night Raw for the ages. The WWE universe showed up and made sure all of the superstars knew exactly how they felt about each of them. Loud pops, deafening boos, and chants that could be heard all the way to Woodward Avenue, Detroit showed up, and showed out! I, Summer Reigns, had the opportunity and privilege to attend this edition of Raw, with some awesome lower bowl seats. In this edition of RoX-TV, I’m going to give my personal top three best moments from the night. Now, without further ado, let’s get on with how the red brand fared in the Motor City!
3) Riding the wave of the American Nightmare
With his explosive return to WWE at WrestleMania 38, ‘The American Nightmare’ Cody Rhodes made his splash back into the company. Kicking the show off, The Miz invited Rhodes onto his talk show “Miz TV.” Within these segments, Miz gives superstars an opportunity to come out and give their own takes on current happenings on the show. Once settled into their seats, Miz took every opportunity to go after Rhodes and his career, in classic Miz fashion. But in turn, Cody was able to counter many of Miz’s remarks, getting over with the crowd. If Rhodes’ ten-minute entrance didn’t upset The Miz, Rhodes’ rebuttals sure did. Cody’s demeanor overpowered Miz’s in this segment, and the crowd even let the two know how they felt. Loud chants in favor of Rhodes circled the arena, an immense welcome back to The American Nightmare. The tensions grew within the ring, and soon this lead to an intense argument. Rhodes, unlike Miz was able to keep his cool. This heated interaction lead to the two scheduling themselves a match for later in the evening. With the crowd on it’s toes, Rhodes left the ring with five words.
“May the best man win.”
Rhodes, later on that night would go to defeat The Miz, with Seth ‘Freakin” Rollins on commentary. This gave a great transition into Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins at Backlash.
2) Belair’s title reign bruised by Deville
Bianca Belair has been an extremely accomplished woman in the business of WWE, and at WrestleMania 38, she proved it. The EST of the WWE had an amazing win over Queen Zelina on Raw, but soon interrupted by the Raw GM Sonya Deville. Earlier in the night, Deville announced she had an opponent for Belair, someone on par with her, and her next number one contender. After her win, Belair watched as Deville walked down the ramp, contract in hand. The GM spoke, dropping small hints to whoever was in the folder. Which superstar would be the next one in line to go
against Belair for the Raw Women’s Championship?
Sonya Deville, after getting the crowd on their feet in anticipation, would attack Belair from behind. All her hints would soon reveal that not only was Belair’s next opponent nearby, but right in front of her. Raw GM Sonya Deville had inserted herself as Bianca Belair’s next number one contender for the title. Personally, this inserts Deville into a great spot for a heel rivalry with Belair. The abuse of power storyline could really become something special if done correctly. That is why this is in the top three moments in this article. It’s an amazing segue into an extremely heated main event rivalry, but only, once again, if done correctly.
1) Tag Team Turmoil!
Kicking off the main event, Randy Orton and Matt Riddle, or better known as RK-BRO were challenged by the Alpha Academy. The Double A is made up of the loudmouth Chad Gable, and the tree trunk of a man, Otis. As The Alpha Academy took their ‘shooshes’ around the crowd, it soon escalated into a quickfire match. The match alone was amazing, a perfect balance between technicality
and character. After a back and forth, high intensity match, RK-BRO came out victorious, retaining the Raw Tag-Team Titles. But little did the duo know of the speedbump they were going to hit. The week prior on Smackdown, Jimmy and Jey Uso, of the Bloodline, spoke on how they were going to invade Raw. The Usos are the current Smackdown Tag Team Champions, and in light of The Bloodline, their sights were set on RK-BRO. Since Roman Reigns had unified the Universal Championship and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, The Uso brothers wanted to do the same. The two planned to invade the Red Brand, challenging Randy and Riddle to a title unification match. As they made their challenge, the bloodline brothers were interrupted by The Street Profits, who thought they had been cheated out of a title opportunity. This confrontation led to The Usos going up against the Street Profits in a very technicality filled tag team match. Despite the team’s best efforts, Jimmy and Jey Uso came out on top. With this win, RK-BRO accepted their challenge, and now we anticipate their title unification match.
Final Thoughts
This edition of Raw was definitely entertaining and being there in person really made the intensity skyrocket. Despite the great show, a few small things wracked my mind walking out of Little Caesars Arena. My first thought was easily
‘Where was the Women’s Tag Title Match between Boss ‘n Glow, and LIV4BRUTALITY?’
As us, the crowd could not hear the commentators, we didn’t know what happened. Halfway through the show, I decided to check Twitter to see if there was anything said. Then was when I found out Rhea Ripley, one half of LIV4BRUTALITY, was out on some sort of ‘protocol’. Whether it be COVID, Sickness, or injury. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed. I am glad that WWE is taking the health of their superstars seriously, but still a letdown. But no need to point fingers, it was no one’s fault. It was good to see Liv Morgan in a match though! Awesome square off with Naomi. Another rivalry that seems a little forced to me is Veer Mahaan VS. Dominic Mysterio. The flow of the match felt strange, along with the stretcher segment. Maybe I am reading too far into it, but I can’t find myself being excited for that one. Overall, awesome show, great use of talent, and awesome segues into new rivalries.
