Category: RAW

Elias Returns To WWE RAW As Ezekiel

Elias has returned to WWE RAW with a new clean-shaven look and a new gimmick.

Tonight’s post-WrestleMania 38 edition of WWE RAW saw Kevin Owens come to the ring and admit how good WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin was at WrestleMania Saturday. Owens then said Austin’s win should be wiped from the record books because Owens wasn’t 100% going into the match as he had a bad back injury. Owens went on ranting about how great he is until the music hit and out came the former Elias.

Owens recognized this as Elias, but the man introduced himself as Ezekiel, the younger brother of Elias. This confused Owens but he insisted he was talking to Elias, while the former Elias reiterated that he is actually the younger brother to the former WWE Superstar known as The Drifter.

Owens ended up marching out of the ring without any physical action. Ezekiel watched Owens head to the back with a smirk on his face, and that was the end of the segment.

WWE began airing multiple vignettes for the re-branding of Elias last summer, but the last vignette aired on August 23, and that was the last we’ve seen of Elias until now. It was later reported that WWE had no end plan for the vignettes, and that WWE just filmed them to kill off Elias’ musician gimmick. At one point Elias had a new look in the works, reportedly similar to the look we saw on RAW tonight, but word was that WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon nixed it because he felt like it looked too much like WWE Hall of Famer Randy Savage.

Elias, or Ezekiel, has not wrestled since his Symphony of Destruction loss to Jaxson Ryker on the July 19 edition of RAW. He has also been quiet on social media since last summer.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 4/4/22

The biggest WWE RAW of the year will take place tonight from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas with fallout from WrestleMania 38.

No WrestleMania-related matches or segments have been announced for the RAW After WrestleMania as of this writing, but it’s expected that new Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will be appearing. It’s interesting to note that Reigns is not being advertised by the WWE website or the arena, and Brock Lesnar is also not advertised.

WWE has confirmed that Veer Mahaan will finally make his red brand re-debut tonight after months of vignettes and squashes on WWE Main Event. There is no word on who he will face tonight.

Cody Rhodes is expected to make his RAW return on tonight’s show for a follow-up to his WrestleMania win over Seth Rollins. Rhodes will reportedly be a regular member of the RAW roster moving forward, and noted on Instagram that he can’t wait to have a live mic on tonight’s show.

RAW will also likely feature more on the new alliance between WWE Hall of Famer Edge and Damian Priest. Edge was reported to be leading a new heel stable on RAW, and then Priest provided a distraction that helped Edge defeat AJ Styles at WrestleMania.

The WWE Events website has the following Superstars advertised for tonight – Priest, Styles, Rollins, new RAW Women’s Champion Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch, and Kevin Owens.

There’s no word yet on potential surprises for tonight’s RAW.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 3/28/2022

The WrestleMania 38 go-home edition of WWE RAW will air live tonight from the PPG Paints Arena from Pittsburgh, PA.

WWE RAW Preview 3/21/22

The Road to WrestleMania 38 will continue tonight as WWE RAW airs live from the Allstate Arena near Chicago, IL.

Corey Graves Invites Gable Steveson To RAW Following Second NCAA National Championship

Now that Gable Steveson has won his second NCAA National Heavyweight Championship, he will soon set his focus solely on WWE. As noted in the past, Steveson signed with the company shortly after his Olympic Gold Medal win in wrestling and has begun training for sports entertainment while finishing school.

But one person wants Steveson to show up on WWE television again sooner rather than later. As seen below, WWE announcer Corey Graves congratulated Gable Steveson on his second NCAA National Heavyweight Title and then invited him to WWE RAW.

“Congratulations @GableSteveson on an untouchable amateur career. Now, let’s get that next chapter started. You busy Monday? #wweraw,” Corey tweeted.

Steveson was actually a surprise pick for the 2021 WWE Draft, being chosen by the RAW brand. He officially signed with WWE back in September 2021 with a contract that allowed him to finish up his senior year at the University of Minnesota while training for WWE.

WWE set up a remote training facility for Steveson near the University of Minnesota campus, where he works with WWE coaches when he has time outside of class. He also has access to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, where his brother Bobby Steveson is training under his WWE contract.

Reports from September also note that Steveson’s multi-year WWE talent contract will officially begin once he graduates college in May 2022. The idea has been that he will be a full-time performer with WWE at that time, but will also appear on WWE TV as he finishes the school year.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 3/14/22

Tonight’s WWE RAW will air live from the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

WWE has announced the following segments for tonight’s show:

* Kevin Owens will respond to the WrestleMania 38 promo from WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin

* New RAW Tag Team Champions Randy Orton and Riddle will host a RK-Bro Championship Celebration after last week’s title win

WWE is also teasing that we will find out the WrestleMania 38 opponents for RK-Bro on tonight’s show.

For what it’s worth, WWE Champion Brock Lesnar is not advertised for tonight’s RAW but WWE Hall of Famer Edge and AJ Styles are. Lesnar is scheduled to be on Friday’s SmackDown with WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.

Becky Lynch Reportedly Legitimately Injured

RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch is reportedly suffering from a legitimate injury.

Lynch took to Instagram yesterday and announced that she would miss RAW due to Bianca Belair damaging her voice box during the main event of Sunday’s WWE live event in Allentown, which saw Lynch retain her title over Belair and Rhea Ripley. She posted a photo from what appeared to be a hospital room, but did not elaborate.

PWInsider reports that Lynch is legitimately hurt, and is expected to be out of action for around two weeks.

As long as Lynch is back in the expected timeframe, she will be able to make her WrestleMania 38 match with Belair, which takes place during Night One of the big event on Saturday, April 2.

While Lynch stated that she would not be at RAW, she was backstage at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland. There is no word yet on if the “fracture” of the voice box is legitimate, or just a storyline excuse for another issue.

There is no word on what led to Lynch’s injury or what the real issue is, but a correspondent at Sunday’s WWE live event in Allentown noted that Lynch seemed fine, but Ripley and Belair did work most of the match.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

NXT Champion Bron Breakker Debuts On RAW

NXT Champion Bron Breakker made his RAW debut last night, teaming up with Tommaso Ciampa to take on Dolph Ziggler & Bobby Roode.

It all went down at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio on Monday, March 7. Breakker made his debut on the red brand alongside his NXT colleague and mentor Tommaso Ciampa during a backstage interview with Kevin Patrick. The importance of the moment was not lost on the second generation Superstar, who acknowledged that it was a dream come true.

Later on, Ciampa and Breakker joined forces to take on Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode, with whom they have been feuding since Dolph Ziggler gatecrashed NXT 2.0 several weeks back. The NXT Superstars defeated the main roster tag team in a little under 10 minutes, with Breakker picking up the win for his team by pinning Ziggler clean.

On the next edition of NXT 2.0, Breakker will defend his gold against Ziggler and Ciampa in a Triple Threat Match.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1501025882718281735

Breakker (real name Bronson Rechsteiner) signed with WWE in February 2021. The 6ft, 230 lb athlete is a former NFL player who was waived by the Baltimore Ravens in 2020 has now made a name for himself in sports entertainment. The 24-year-old comes from wrestling royalty, so his success in WWE was almost an inevitability. As The Steiner Brothers, his father (Rick Steiner) and uncle (Scott Steiner) were one of the most formidable tag teams of the 80s and 90s and won titles with NWA, IWGP, WCW, and WWE.

WWE RAW Preview 3/7/22

Tonight’s WWE RAW will air live from the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio.

Backstage Notes On Randy Orton And What Happened With The Injury Scare On RAW

Randy Orton and Riddle were originally scheduled to defeat The Street Profits on last night’s WWE RAW.

As noted, RAW saw Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins defeat Randy Orton and Riddle after Ford performed a Frogsplash on Orton, leading to an awkward finish and a post-match conversation between the two teams and the referee. Orton was seen clutching his right shoulder on the way to the backstage area.

In an update, Orton and Riddle were originally scheduled to win the bout after a series of RKOs to The Profits, according to Fightful Select. Orton took the rough splash from Ford and because of his condition, the planned finish did not happen.

 Ford made a post-RAW tweet and indicated that Orton was OK, despite the injury concern. WWE officials planned on monitoring the situation as a lot could change with Orton’s condition overnight, but word now is that this was a case of Orton getting the wind knocked out of him, his ribs crushed, and not being able to move at first.

There is no backstage heat on Ford for the spot as it was considered to be a “s–t happens” situation.

Next week’s RAW is scheduled to feature RK-Bro vs. Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens vs. RAW Tag Team Champions Alpha Academy, with the titles on the line.

Source: Wrestling Inc.