Welcome to Bleacher Report's coverage and recap of WWE Raw on February 21.
With the Elimination Chamber event in the history books, it's time for WWE to put all of its focus on building up the card for WrestleMania 38.
Saturday's event only saw one title change hands, but it was a big one. After Bobby Lashley was unable to compete in the Chamber, Brock Lesnar proceeded to eliminate the other four competitors to claim the WWE Championship for himself.
We also saw Bianca Belair pick up a hard-fought win inside the Chamber by last eliminating the returning Alexa Bliss. This earned her a shot at Becky Lynch's Raw Women's Championship at WrestleMania.
This week's Raw dealt with all of the fallout from Saturday's show and began the final stretch on The Road to WrestleMania. Let's look at what happened on Monday's Raw.
Raw opened with Brock Lesnar making his way to the ring with his newly won WWE Championship. He interacted with the crowd and looked psyched when the crowd chanted "Suplex City." Before he could say more than two sentences, Paul Heyman interrupted from the stage.
Lesnar warned him not to come closer and chanted "You suck" with the crowd. Heyman talked his usual trash on behalf of Roman Reigns, but The Beast was not going to fall into his trap of mind games.
Lesnar eventually promised he would be at SmackDown whether Reigns and Heyman want him there or not.
Grade: B
Analysis
Even when Lesnar is by himself, WWE finds a way to have Heyman interact with him. However, The Beast does not appear to need his help.
The new WWE champion was over with the crowd and seemed more comfortable on the mic than he has been in past years. Babyface Lesnar is something fresh, and fans seem to be digging it.
This segment was fine, but it didn't need to open the show since nothing major happened as a result of what we saw here.
The first match of the night was a tag team match between The Alpha Academy and The Street Profits. Chad Gable and Angelo Dawkins started for their teams and had a nice exchange of counters and takedowns before Dawkins was able to tag in Montez Ford.
Otis came in, and he and Gable beat on Ford at ringside until Dawkins hit a huge dive over the top rope to take everybody out as the show went to a break.
We returned to see Ford starting to make a comeback, but Gable planted him with a northern lights suplex for a quick two-count. Dawkins tagged in and took control, but Otis broke up the pin when Ford came back in with a huge splash.
The Dozer drove Dawkins into the barricade, but Ford kept on rolling. He almost slammed Otis but fell onto his back. Gable held his legs down so Otis could get the dirty pin without the ref seeing it.
Grade: B-
Analysis
The finish to this match was a little wonky, but it's a specific kind of dirty finish we don't see too often, so it wasn't like it was the usual disqualification stuff we get.
This was a fun tag team match that showed off why these teams both deserve the spotlight in 2022. If WWE puts effort behind its tag team division, it can compete with any other company on the planet.
Dawkins hitting that huge dive and Ford almost slamming Otis were the biggest highlights.
Tommaso Ciampa made the trip from NXT to team up with a returning Finn Balor to take on Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. This was Balor's first match in a month following the beating he took at the hands of Austin Theory.
Roode and Ciampa started with a basic lockup and shoulder tackle exchange. Ziggler tagged in, but Ciampa was able to take him down with a clothesline.
Balor helped Ciampa clear both men out of the ring so he could hit a dive over the top rope. We returned from a break to see Ziggler trying to mess with Ciampa. The former NXT champion hit a clothesline out of desperation. Both men made the tag, and Balor came in hot.
He took out Roode with a few well-placed strikes. Ziggler broke up a pin, and Roode planted Balor with a spinebuster for a near-fall. Ciampa tagged in and managed to pin Roode with an improvised sunset flip.
Grade: B
Analysis
WWE put on two solid tag matches in a row, but this one was a little different because it was done to help drive a feud from NXT 2.0, not something that will play out on Raw.
Balor and Ciampa work well together as rivals and partners. As usual, Ziggler and Roode made everything they did look as smooth as silk. This was good work from start to finish.
It's cool to see Ciampa show up on Raw from time to time, but WWE has gotten a little too relaxed with the brand split. It either needs to end it or reinforce the barriers between shows.
After The Miz revealed Logan Paul as his tag team partner for WrestleMania against the Mysterios, we got Rhea Ripley vs. Nikki A.S.H.
Nikki yelled at Ripley until the Aussie delivered a stiff headbutt that knocked her down hard. The powerhouse continued to dominate her former partner for a long time. Nikki left the ring and berated the announcers until Ripley slammed her head into the table.
Nikki pounced on her when they got back into the ring, but one roundhouse to the head stopped her in her tracks. Ripley hit the Riptide for the pin.
Grade: C
Analysis
This match was short and made Nikki look weak as a competitor. It made Ripley look strong, but she always comes across as dominant. She didn't need to squash her former partner.
If anything, all this did was drop Nikki's stock because Ripley already had great performances in last week's Gauntlet match and Saturday's Elimination Chamber. She doesn't benefit from this win.
After successfully defending his U.S. title against AJ Styles last week, Damian Priest was back in action against Shelton Benjamin.
Cedric Alexander distracted Priest so Benjamin could get the upper hand, but Priest was able to turn things around quickly. Benjamin sent him out of the ring so Alexander could hit a kick while the ref was looking the other way.
The Archer of Infamy hit a back elbow and started to look angry. He unloaded on his opponent with a series of strikes to the head and body. He dropped The Gold Standard with the Reckoning for the pin and the win.
Grade: C+
Analysis
This match was decent but too short to be memorable. Priest even had time to give a promo after it was over, so the bout didn't even fill an entire segment between commercials by itself.
It sounded like some people in the crowd were booing Priest, so it's possible some fans are beginning to turn against him. If he gets a lot of heat, WWE should consider turning him heel before WrestleMania.
Priest said he wanted his next challenger to be a world title-caliber opponent, so Balor answered the call. That match should be awesome.
Reggie came out and made it look like he was going to let Dana Brooke pin him so she could win the 24/7 title back, but he kept kicking out and laughing. She eventually kissed him to keep him down for the pin and won back the belt.
This was followed by a promo from Bianca Belair to hype her upcoming Raw Women's Championship match against Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 38. Lynch joined her in the ring to trade some insults. This led into Belair vs. Doudrop.
Big Time Becks joined the commentary team as they locked up. The EST backed Doudrop to the corner, but the Scottish Superstar did not let her keep the upper hand for long.
Belair leapfrogged her in the corner and hit a dropkick. Doudrop prevented Belair from getting her up for the K.O.D. and hit a big headbutt. The EST knocked her off the apron and hit a crossbody. Doudrop hit her own crossbody a moment later to send us into a break.
We returned to see Belair grab Doudrop for a spinebuster. She hit a moonsault, but when she tried for a suplex, Doudrop overpowered her. She went to the well again and hit the suplex on the second try. Doudrop slammed Belair on her face but missed a follow-up cannonball.
Belair got her up for the K.O.D. and brought her to the middle of the ring to hit it for the win.
Grade: B+
Analysis
The stuff with Reggie and Brooke isn't worth getting into. It was just a quick comedy segment that saw Brooke regain the 24/7 title.
Despite having seen Doudrop vs. Belair a handful of times already this year, they still haven't completely worn out their welcome. It's always fun to see them mix it up because they both force the other out of their comfort zone.
The match kept getting better as it progressed. Every time it looked like Belair would be unable to do something, she would power through and get it done. How anyone could see her as anything but a star is a mystery.
Randy Orton and Riddle took on Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens in a tag match with a stipulation that stated if Owens and Rollins won, they would be added to the upcoming tag title match between RK-Bro and Alpha Academy.
Riddle took Owens down in a waistlock right after they made contact. Rollins tagged in, but Riddle was able to maintain control and bring in Orton for some quick double-team spots.
Owens saved Rollins from being suplexed onto the commentary table, but The Viper was able to slam Owens on it instead. This allowed Rollins to hit Orton with a suicide dive that sent him over the table.
We returned from a commercial to see Orton and Rollins both trying to make the tag. KO came in first and prevented Orton from reaching his corner. Otis and Gable watched backstage as Riddle and Rollins both tagged in at the same time.
The Bro went on a rampage and hit several of his signature moves in a row. Owens was able to stop his momentum with a fisherman's buster for a two-count. Riddle somehow kicked out after a senton from Owens and a frog splash from Rollins.
Rollins hit the Stomp to Orton at ringside before he and Owens took turns hitting their finishers on Riddle for the win.
Grade: B+
Analysis
As expected, this was a fun back-and-forth exchange with four entertaining athletes. Seeing Owens and Rollins get the win helped close the show on a high note.
Orton and Riddle's time as a team needs to come to an end soon. Both guys are better off as individuals, and the tag team division won't suffer without them.
Rollins and Owens, on the other hand, could be our next tag champs. Considering how over Rollins is with the crowd right now, it would make sense for management to put a belt on him.
This week's Raw had some good wrestling with some hot and cold segments mixed in throughout. It didn't feel much like a post-pay-per-view show, but it did accomplish a few things to set up WrestleMania matches.
