Monday Night Raw April 18, 2016

Monday Night Raw April 18, 2016

Starting the show we have the new talk show The Ambrose Asylum with Dean Ambrose. After some cheesy talk show fun in front of a hot London crowd, Ambrose introduces his first guest and it is none other than Shane McMahon. Shane gets some time to talk about his goals are for WWE and what he wants out of his return, but things come to a halt when Kevin Owens comes out. Owens has a few things to say to Shane about his former best friend Sami Zayn and about how he feels Shane treats him. Not wanting to be talked about with out giving his two cents, Sami comes out to make some statements of his own. It is short lived though as Jericho makes his way out to the ring. Things are getting a little crowded here on The Ambrose Asylum. Things quickly get heated and Shane McMahon makes two matches for Payback. First it will be Dean Ambrose versus Chris Jericho and Sami Zayn versus Kevin Owens at Payback.

Because of how things geared up during the Ambrose Asylum, Shane also made to matches for Raw, kicking off the action is Chris Jericho versus Sami Zayn.  Both guys hit some of their bigger moves. Jericho, though, took a page out of Flair’s book and delivered a thumb to Zane’s eye, with Zane disorientated Jericho was able to hit a code breaker and get the victory.

We get a brief introduction for Carl Anderson and Luke Gallows from AJ Styles. Bullet Club fans eat your hearts out. Oh the possibilities in the future!

Tag Team Tournament time, first out is the new best talkers on the main roster Enzo and Big Cass! They spelled it out for ya again while talking about the Dudley’s Boys. Enzo’s eccentric ways come to light during the match, which is refreshing to see up on the main roster. The Dudley’s clearly were not fans of what was said about them before the match and they take that out on Enzo for a good portion of the match. After Enzo gets the tag to Cass though, the match takes off for them as they beat the Dudley’s with the rocket launcher.

Oh man, no love for Roman Reigns as he makes his way to the ring, Well there were some cheers but it is hard to hear of all the boo’s. Haters are gonna hate. At this point it’s comical, embracing it is the best course of action. Reigns lays it out there that any one that wants to challenge him is going to get punched in the mouth. AJ Styles comes out to the joy of much of the audience. After some talking between them, Roman states he would “rather be respected with the title than liked without it.” AJ responded with “I would rather be liked and respected because that makes me phenomenal.” After that he leaves the ring smiling as he walks up the ramp. As Reigns watches in the ring he is attacked from behind by Carl Anderson and Luke Gallows, they leave Reigns laying in the ring as they walk up the towards what appears to be a not to happy looking AJ Styles.

AJ approaches Roman Reigns back stage after to try to explain that he didn’t know that was going to happen. Reigns isn’t convinced though, not after they attacked his cousins the Uso’s last week and him this week.  Roman states that it doesn’t mater though, at Payback AJ can bring all of his friends, it will be one versus all.

Before we get into the Women’s match Charlotte has an interview that is interrupted by Natalia. Natalia announces that she gets a rematch at Payback and her Uncle Bret Hart will be in her corner.

That leads into an 8 women tag match between Natalia, Becky Lynch, Paige and Sasha Banks versus Team Bad with Naomi and Tamina along with Summer Rae and Charlotte. Honestly woman’s wrestling is so hot right now it WWE. It is also nice to see Tamina get a chance to show her strengths rather than being on the outside. Several women actually get to show some moves off in this match, which is nice to see. Not gonna lie, I love Naomi’s shoes, you could make a drinking game out of how many times they change colors during a match. Natalia gets the win with the sharp shooter on Charlotte in the end and gets the win for the team of Natalia, Becky Lynch, Paige and Sasha Banks.

The next match in the semi finals of the tag tournament is the Vaudevillians up against the Uso’s. I don’t think I will ever get tired of the Vaudevillians entrance, but it could be the old school slap stick comedy fan in me. It’s a pretty short match but it flows well and works for what they were doing. The Vaudvillans pull out the win and go up against Enzo and Big Cass at Payback to see who will be the #1 contender’s for the Tag Team Titles.

Main Event for the night is Dean Ambrose versus Kevin Owens.  They are both hitting hard and in your face from the start, but Ambrose’s unique offense has him getting the upper hand. They go back and forth in true Owen/Ambrose fashion, but that frog splash Owens delivers on Ambrose from the apron to the floor out side looked brutal. The crowd is chanting pretty much through this entire match for both guys.  Ambrose wins the match after nailing Dirty Deeds on Owens. While Ambrose is celebrating his victory, when he turns around he is nailed with a code breaker from out of nowhere. The show goes off the air with Chris Jericho looking down at Ambrose lying before him.

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