
WWE Raw with The New Day vs. Omos and AJ Styles
WWE Raw advertised Bobby Lashley vs. either Drew McIntyre or Braun Strowman in addition to the return of Omos and AJ Styles who are to defend their Raw Tag Team Championships against The New Day in a WrestleMania 37 rematch. WWE also revealed the return of Eva Marie as part of an Eva-lution character.
WWE Raw viewership was down last week with 1.774 million viewers.
- April 26, 2021—1.774 million
- April 19, 2021—1.907 million
- April 12, 2021—2.026 million
- April 5, 2021—1.701 million
- March 29, 2021—1.701 million
WWE Raw—Key Competition
- Cable News Programming
- NBA Monday Night Slate
Pro Wrestling Bits—WWE’s Adnan Virk Problem
WWE Raw Total YouTube Viewership Last Week—8,378,666 views (Down from 9,573,071)
- Most-Viewed: Drew McIntyre vs. Braun Strowman (1,676,000 views)
- Least-Viewed: Bobby Lashley is Outraged about Potential WrestleMania Opponent (267,667 views)
- Median Viewership: 677,241
WWE Raw Results—Monday, May 3, 2021
Opening Segment Featuring AJ Styles and Omos
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The Raw opening segment reminded me of a cold open for Saturday Night Live during a Writer’s Strike, and the poor acting throughout didn’t help either.
Omos continues to have the worst gear in WWE, but at least this time he had his fists taped.
AJ Styles explained, to all the fans who may not have watched WrestleMania, that he and Omos are the new Raw tag team champions. That’s great, but even fans who didn’t see WrestleMania 37 have had about a month to read spoilers about it.
AJ Styles shrewdly called out Kofi Kingston for gimmick infringement based on the hood and gloves.
Kofi Kingston turned an awkward promo exchange into one of his best promos.
Omos’ trash-talking before the break was excellent. They need to do more of this with him, but not too much.
AJ Styles and Omos def. The New Day—WWE Raw Tag Team Championships
Poor Kofi had a nasty landing to the floor after AJ Styles was late in catching him.
Omos was very careful in delivering his backbreakers, almost to the point where they looked harmless.
Omos was so extra throughout this match but it hilarious. He reminded me of a Final Boss in a Blaxploitation film. I don’t know if that’s what they’re going for with this character, but they’re onto something with Omos.
WWE took that New Day/Elias-Ryker segment from last week, connected it with a New Day segment from this week, and used it to spin forward to an Elias vs. RKBro tag team match. Tomatoes or not, that’s impressive continuity from WWE.
Charlotte Flair def. Dana Brooke
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Charlotte Flair was really committed to telling the story of Dana Brooke being her former pupil, unfortunately the announce team wasn’t.
Dana Brooke used her own theme music for this match, which appears to be new.
This was a bad match with a near-catastrophic spot where Dana Brooke almost landed on her neck while delivering a Victory Roll.
During her longwinded promo after this match, Charlotte Flair took forever to get to her point.
Had Charlotte been added to this match before a full crowd, imagine the heat.
By far, Asuka said the least of these four, and by far, she accomplished the most.
Clearly, Adam Pearce is giving Sonya Deville infinite warnings before he plans to take any action.
Damian Preist def. John Morrison
Between the seeds planted in the opening segment, and The Miz accidentally costing John Morrison this match, a Miz-Morrison split is now inevitable.
Damian Priest and John Morrison wrestled a helluva match, but John Morrison was the star of it.
Lucha House Party def. Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander
Shelton Benjamin was booked like a monster for much of this match, until he ultimately took the losing fall.
Cedric Alexander’s promo was almost too real, but Shelton Benjamin’s response was also fire. Suddenly, this feud seems very intriguing.
Angel Garza def. Drew Gulak
Angel Garza threatened to perform an unspeakable act with a rose on Drew Gulak, which made me so nervous when Garza ended up winning this match.
Garza won the match and ultimately made good on his promise to sodomize Gulak with a rose.
Randy Orton and Riddle def. Elias and Jaxson Ryker
Randy Orton used the infamous “I’m not your bro” line in honor of Goldberg.
Their instant chemistry in a passing backstage segment, and the promise of matching snakeskin gear, are just a couple reasons why WWE cannot break these two up for several months.
Sheamus def. Mansoor via Disqualification
In the interest of protecting Mansoor’s win streak, I’m hoping this match will be ruled a No Contest instead of a DQ loss for Mansoor.
Despite a pretty good match, nobody got over by the end of this match but Sheamus at Age 43.
Alexa Bliss’ Playground
Alexa Bliss teased she has decided who her first opponent will be, and whoever the unlucky foe is will be in for some turbulent waters creatively.
Alexa Bliss has essentially become the new Bray Wyatt with no sign of the Firefly Fun House for weeks.
Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler def. Lana and Naomi
Corey Graves calling Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler dominant women’s tag team champions was hilarious.
There are no zero clear-cut No. 1 Contenders for these women’s tag team championships .
Bobby Lashley def. Braun Strowman
The ease of which Bobby Lashley tosses around Braun Strowman will never stop being impressive.
If there was any theme that was beat to death on tonight’s show, it was “strange bedfellows.”
Braun Strowman was way too easily distracted by Drew McIntyre’s presence.