WWE Raw Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from February 20
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Edge and Beth PhoenixWWE
Welcome to Bleacher Report's coverage and recap of WWE Raw on Feb. 20.
Saturday's Elimination Chamber pay-per-view delivered some amazing action and put a few deserving names in the spotlight, but most of what we saw was table-setting for WrestleMania 39.
This week's show dealt with the fallout from the weekend's event as well as beginning the journey toward the biggest show of the year.
Austin Theory had just two days to recover from his brutal Chamber match before defending the United States title again. This time, Edge was his challenger.
We also saw Mustafa Ali take on Dolph Ziggler after several weeks of back-and-forth arguments between the two backstage.
Let's take a look at what went down during Monday's show.
Sami Zayn Opens the Show, Zayn vs. Baron Corbin
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Raw opened with a recap of the main event from the Elimination Chamber PPV between Sami Zayn and Roman Reigns.
Zayn came out to a huge ovation once the show went live inside the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. The crowd continued to sing his song and chanted "Olé" at him as he soaked in the reaction.
Once he calmed down, he said he felt guilty for letting people down by not winning on Saturday, but he also said the story is never over and we are entering the final chapter. He asked Kevin Owens to join him in the ring, and his fellow Canadian arrived to another huge pop.
Zayn thanked Owens and said he was sorry, but he also said they might be past words at this point. He told KO that if they worked together, they might finally be able to take down The Bloodline once and for all.
Owens said he didn't do what he did for Zayn and he is willing to fight The Bloodline alone. He said he was still mad and that if he wanted help, he should ask Jey Uso.
WWE has several weeks until WrestleMania, so it was smart to keep the tension between Zayn and KO going for now. There is no need to rush their reunion.
This was a fantastic way to open the show.
As the broadcast was about to cut to a break, Baron Corbin came out of nowhere to attack Zayn. We watched in picture-in-picture through the break as he beat down the Canadian hero near the stage.
After the break, WWE official Adam Pearce gave Zayn the go-ahead to face Corbin in a match. The former Honorary Uce was all over The Modern Day Wrestling God.
This ended up being a longer contest than expected. They went back and forth a bit and fought through another commercial break.
This bout was designed to build even more support for Zayn. He went through a war on Saturday and still had the scars on his back to prove it, so feeding him Corbin was an easy way to give him a victory without bringing The Bloodline into it.
Zayn scored the win with a Helluva Kick. This wasn't meant to be a five-star classic, but it did exactly what it needed to do. He looked like a valiant fighter, and Corbin played a petty heel like usual.
Winner: Sami Zayn
Grade: A (Promo), B- (Match)
Notable Moments and Observations
- The video package recapping Zayn vs. Reigns was great. The WWE production team never fails to amplify a story with these clips.
- Zayn might have one of the best babyface theme songs of all time. How can you not cheer for a guy when you hear that upbeat music hit?
- Owens and Zayn's story is going to be made into an awesome documentary at some point.
- It's so weird that Corbin, of all people, is the last person to beat Reigns.
- Corbin always makes the Deep Six look cool. It should be his finisher instead of The End of Days, but it's a bit too late to make that change now.
Mustafa Ali vs. Dolph Ziggler
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Commentator Byron Saxton conducted a sit-down interview with Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio about what happened at Elimination Chamber.
After the discussion and another break, we got Dolph Ziggler vs. Mustafa Ali. These two have been having verbal and physical exchanges for several weeks, so this was their chance to let out their frustrations on each other.
Ali feels as if Ziggler is always being handed opportunities while The Showoff thinks the former leader of Retribution is trying to blame his failures on everyone else. Both men had valid points, so there wasn't a clear heel in this situation. Ali was definitely acting more bitter, but he wasn't being outright evil.
Ali mockingly offered a handshake, so Ziggler took him down for a quick two-count to show he wasn't messing around.
These two have a lot in common. Ali might use a few more high-flying moves while Ziggler keeps it a bit more grounded, but they can both work at a break-neck pace.
After a beautiful counter to the Fame-asser, Ali pinned Ziggler with a crucifix. This was short but fun. This feud definitely isn't over.
Winner: Mustafa Ali
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Dominik's delivery of his lines was so wooden in his interview.
- Ali's Tron graphics are really cool.
- Ziggler is one of those guys who seems like he was born to be a pro wrestler. Everything he does in the ring has a purpose. He should be on TV and in bigger storylines way more often.
- The way Ali countered the Fame-asser looked great.
Asuka vs. Nikki Cross
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Cody Rhodes came to the ring for a promo, but he was quickly interrupted by Paul Heyman, who had a neck brace to sell the attacks he took on Saturday.
The Wise Man got under Rhodes' skin a bit by bringing his family into it. The American Nightmare warned Reigns not to send Heyman to speak to him again and said he would see him soon.
The next match featured Asuka taking on one of the women she battled on Saturday inside the Elimination Chamber, Nikki Cross.
Right as they were preparing to get started, Bianca Belair's music hit. She danced down to the ringside area so she could watch the match in person. Asuka had a huge smile on her face the whole time.
This match was aggressive and saw both women take and deliver some stiff strikes. These two have worked together for several years and had some great encounters, so they have a lot of chemistry as opponents.
Asuka applied her trademark submission to get the win, but Cross still had a maniacal smile on her face as she gave up.
Winner: Asuka
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Heyman interrupting Rhodes before he could ask what we wanted to talk about was pretty funny.
- Asuka has the best paint and mask in pro wrestling right now. The only other person who has been able to do both on this level is The Great Muta.
- Asuka and Cross are both supposed to be unhinged characters, but they do it in completely different ways. The former is still focused while the latter seems all over the place.
- The sound of Asuka kicking the ring post was loud because of the hollow LED setup they use now. It actually made it sound more painful, too.
- There was a DDT from the middle rope that looked like it was supposed to be a superplex before they adjusted because Cross wasn't going to make it all the way over. If they adjusted on the fly, they did a good job.
The Miz vs. Seth Rollins
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Seth Rollins told interviewer Cathy Kelley that he was going to find and hurt Logan Paul for costing him his chance of winning the U.S. title at Elimination Chamber before he made his way out to battle The Miz in the next match.
The Visionary ran at The A-Lister as soon as the bell rang and took him down with a forearm to the face. These two aren't in their own feud right now, but they were fighting as though they had a grudge.
The Miz had the upper hand through a commercial break, but Rollins began to make his comeback as soon as we returned.
There were one or two spots that didn't work so well, but for the most part, this was a pretty good performance from the two men. We didn't see anything groundbreaking, but they both played their part well.
Rollins hit a Stomp, but he didn't rush to make a cover. He hit a second and lined up for a third, but the ref tried to tell him not to. He ended up hitting it anyway, so the official called for the bell and declared The Visionary the winner because Miz could no longer compete.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- The Miz and Maryse had a backstage segment where The A-Lister was handed an envelope. He seemed excited about the contents but said he wouldn't reveal it yet.
- The Miz was sent over the announce desk by a dropkick. The whole thing looked awesome.
- It always looks so much more painful when someone hits a turnbuckle chest-first instead of turning so their back hits it.
- There was an awkward moment when they were trading pins, and Rollins had to adjust so The Miz's shoulders actually touched the mat.
Chad Gable vs. Bronson Reed
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Bayley hosted an episode of "Ding Dong, Hello!" with Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky, but they weren't the only ones who appeared. Becky Lynch and Lita came out to announce their intention of challenging for the women's tag team titles in the future.
The next match featured Bronson Reed taking on Chad Gable. Otis was at ringside to support his teammate, but his attention has been split ever since he found out Maxxine Dupri wants him as a client.
Reed was definitely the aggressor here, but Gable was not about to go down without a fight. Unfortunately, he was distracted by Otis talking to Dupri and ended up losing to Reed.
This was a quick bout that had a few great moments, but it definitely could have been a few minutes longer.
Winner: Bronson Reed
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Otis might be the only person who can make this whole Maximum Male Models thing work on TV. He is just funny enough to be great at that.
- Gable being able to lift Reed off the mat, even for a second, was an impressive display of power. The fact that he actually got him up for a German suplex is nuts.
Austin Theory vs. Edge (U.S. Title)
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Elias came out to try to issue a challenge for WrestleMania, but he was quickly taken out by Bobby Lashley. The All Mighty then gave a quick promo directed at Brock Lesnar.
WWE built up the match between Edge and Theory throughout the night with a few interviews, so this felt slightly bigger than the usual midcard title bout on Raw. They were given the last 25 minutes of the show, so they had plenty of time to tell a story.
Edge was looking to win his first title since returning while Theory was looking to take out a living legend after retaining his title inside the Elimination Chamber on Saturday. This was all about the up-and-coming young star vs. the grizzled veteran.
The Rated-R Superstar used his wits to keep the upper hand for the opening minutes, but Theory had the speed and power advantage, so he was able to keep himself in the fight without looking like he was having his butt handed to him.
They did a great job making this a competitive match that followed a logical progression from start to finish. Edge is a pro at this kind of thing, but his opponent was doing good work, too.
Finn Bálor ended up interfering toward the end, allowing Theory to hit his finisher for the win. The crowd erupted in boos as The Judgment Day leader kept attacking The Rated-R Superstar.
Winner: Austin Theory
Grade: A-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Edge getting a huge pop in Canada is as reliable as a Swiss watch.
- The way The Rated-R Superstar dropped Theory on his face at ringside was funnier than it should have been.
- The U.S. champion took a hard bump on the floor during the first commercial break.
- The counter Edge used to hit a powerbomb when Theory tried to slingshot himself into the ring was an awesome spot.
- Theory tried to hit a monkey flip and the veteran landed on his feet like it was nothing. That's the kind of thing we expect from Kofi Kingston, not Edge. It was cool because it was unexpected.