Monday Night Raw April 11, 2016

Monday Night Raw April 11, 2016

Shane McMahon is kicking off the show, like last week, he is in charge of Raw for the second week in a row. Shane, promising some new match ups, he states a few matches that are going to take place during the show. This is WWE though, it wouldn’t be if someone didn’t get interrupted. Queue the music, after announcing that Sami Zayn is going to get an opportunity in a match against AJ Styles, Kevin Owens music starts. Of course Kevin Owens believes he deserves an opportunity at the IC Title. Shane makes a match between Kevin Owens and Cesaro to see who will go up against the Miz for the IC Title.

Cesaro versus Kevin Owens for number one contender for the IC Title is the first match of the night. Both guys do a great job show boating and reacting with the crowd. This is where Kevin Owens shines, doing things like saying he is the headlock master and in frustration hitting the announcers table, then after picking up JBL’s hat to put it back. The crowd, wither they are cheering or booing him, is laughing and reacting to whatever Owens does. Both Cesaro and Owens have the crowd eating out of their hands, but Cesaro gets the win in the end.

Now I’m not the biggest of Dr. Phil fans, but that segment with Flair and Charlotte was pretty funny. Nothing like a little advise to stop letting your dad bring you down to his level. Dr. Phil didn’t miss a beat, I dare say he made Charlotte hesitate for a moment. Outside of that though, who does Dr. Phil think he is? Wooing at Flair, ridiculous.

Now Owens is complaining to Shane McMahon about being screwed over again, Owens threatens to take action against Sami Zayn. Not willing to let Owens ruin another opportunity for Zayn though, Shane tells Owens he is going to be escorted out of the building to prevent him from getting involved. We will have to see if Owens goes against McMahon later in the show.

Now for some tag team action, the New Day comes out, of course, with plenty to say about their Booty O’s and the tag team tournament. The first match being the Lucha Dragons up against the Dudley Boys, unfortunately a lot of the match seems to have happened during the commercial break. When the show comes back Kalisto is hurt on the out side and Sin Cara is doing his best to keep them in it, but the Dudley’s pull off a 3-D for the win and advance in the tournament.

Roman Reigns comes out next. While talking about what could potentially be the match for the World Heavyweight Title at Payback, the League of Nations comes out and they have something to say to the champ.  It doesn’t long for the lads to rush the ring, the unexpected, no like seriously the unexpected happens. The Wyatt’s come out and work with Reigns to get the Lads out of the ring. Shane McMahon comes out and makes a tag match for later in the show, two members of the League of Nations go up against the tag team of Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt. I can honestly say I never thought I would see these two as a tag team.

Now for Charlotte’s first title defense as the Woman’s Champion up against Natalia. The match over all flowed well, but the ending didn’t go as smoothly as it should. It was a bit confusing because Charlotte tapped out, but Flair got involved so the ref didn’t see the tap. Natalia ended up winning by disqualification, but Charlotte retains her title.

Continuing the tag tournament, we have the Uso’s versus Heath Slater and Curtis Axel of the Social Outcasts. It looks like there is a chance the Social Outcasts are going to pull this off, but because of a little premature celebrating the Uso’s are able to pull off the victory and advance in the tournament. While celebrating their win though, the Uso’s are attacked by Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. Man did that beat down look brutal. I’m really excited to see what this does with the tag division and also how things may or may not tie in with AJ Styles and Finn Balor.

Now for what I consider the match of the night, if not tied for match of the night. AJ Styles versus Sami Zayn to see if Zayn gets to join the match with AJ Styles and Roman Reigns at Payback. It’s rare for me to get into a face against face match, maybe I just like bad guys, who knows. Either way, both guys got great opportunities to shine. Even though AJ Styles pulls out the win, this match proved that Sami Zayn can perform for big matches. I was sad that there was no run in with Kevin Owens, it leaves us with suspense for what will happen between them.

Its time for the Highlight Reel with Chris Jericho and his guest is none other than himself Chris Jericho! After asking himself a few questions and then answering himself, Jericho gives the audience the gift of himself. Of course this is a perfect opportunity for an interruption, enter Dean Ambrose caring a potted plant and some sort of sign. Looks like Ambrose has some payback for Jericho after Jericho so rudely came out early on Smackdown. According to a “memo” Ambrose has from Shane McMahon, the Highlight reel has been cancelled and replaced with the Ambrose Asylum hosted by Ambrose himself. Ambrose being all jokes seems to get under Jericho’s skin a little and after Jericho hits Ambrose’s mic out of his hands, Ambrose his Jericho with Dirty Deeds.  I just love it when two wrestlers with good mic skills and up against each other. It is always entertaining. Also I think I would support more of the Ambrose Asylum, there is some real potential there.

Now like I said earlier I honestly never thought I would see Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt as tag partners. It is clear pretty quickly that these two are not very happy about the arrangement.  While the match was good, it was the little things that stood out. It was the moment between Wyatt and Reigns and how they coexisted together to get the win in the match. Even though Reigns has an opponent in AJ Styles for Payback, Bray Wyatt is so good at reminding everyone that the Wyatt’s are there and they are a force to watch out for.

Click here to listen or right click and choose "Save As..." to download.

Maskerpiece Theatre is sponsored by MoviePass. See unlimited movies at a theater near you for a low monthly rate.

You can also support our show by using our Amazon banners or donating on our Support Us page.