Montez Ford had a breakout moment of sorts after a great match against Seth Rollins.
Credit: WWE.com
WWE Raw was highlighted by an entertaining match between Seth Rollins and Montez Ford, who went toe-to-toe with the Monday Night Messiah in one of the better television matches of of 2020. Ford quickly became a trending topic where he remained long after the show went off the air.
Kevin Owens lost to Randy Orton in the night’s main event amid shenanigans from a disciple referee as an apparent showdown awaits between Orton and Beth Phoenix next week.
Last week’s episode of Raw drew 2.437 million viewers, the best number of 2020 despite an aggressive first-to-third hour decline.
WWE Raw Viewership—Last Five Weeks:
- February 17, 2020—2.437 million viewers
- February 10, 2020—2.337 million viewers
- February 3, 2020—2.168 million viewers
- January 27, 2020—2.402 million viewers
- January 20, 2020—2.380 million viewers
WWE Raw Key Competition:
- The Bachelor
From the Forbes WWE Vault:
WWE Total YouTube Viewership for WWE Raw Last Monday: 7,576,281 (Up from 7,284,820 views)
- Most-Viewed: Randy Orton Attacks Matt Hardy After Apology to Edge (1,233,278 views)
- Least-Viewed: Natalya vs. Kairi Sane (213,370 views)
- Median Viewership: 462,780
Estimated Attendance at Bell MTS Place: 11,800
WWE Raw Results: Monday, February 24, 2020
Opening Segment Featuring Randy Orton and Kevin Owens
After thwarting Matt Hardy, and after it made logical sense to see Christian next, Randy Orton’s opposition is getting too young too quickly.
Randy Orton said “you think you know me?” and he pulled it off so naturally it blew my mind.
After a great last two weeks, another compelling Randy Orton segment unfortunately ended with a whimper.
Angel Garza def. Humberto Carrillo
Angel Garza is nearing a record pace of getting over with main roster crowds.
These two felt like they had wrestled this match in their sleep before and the crowd ate it up.
Andrade is coming back next week and all but Angel Garza hardly feels like his days are numbered.
Ricochet def. Luke Gallows
Not a single person in Winnipeg was truly taking Ricochet seriously as a No. 1 Contender for Brock Lesnar.
WWE is essentially using Ricochet to tell the world that Superheroes are real but their dreams don’t always come true.
At one point, as Ricochet was going for a win over Luke Gallows, Tom Phillips exclaimed “could he change his whole road to WrestleMania?!” That call felt at least three days premature.
Given the fact that Karl Anderson wants no part of Saudi Arabia, AJ Styles talking about Saudi Arabia right in front of them felt a little awkward.
Aleister Black def. Erick Rowan
I legitimately felt that the beatdown of Aleister Black earlier was done to give him an out for a 50/50 loss to Erick Rowan, and it would have personified everything wrong with WWE today.
WWE appears to have missed its window for people caring about what’s in Erick Rowan’s cage. At this point, it might go the way of GTV.
Drew McIntyre Sit-Down Interview
Pro wrestlers are supposed to be these charismatic wild men but whenever they’re asked “who would you rather face?” they typically take the PR-friendly response of “it doesn’t matter.”
This interview was fine and all but I didn’t learn anything about Drew McIntyre that I haven’t heard on a few podcasts.
Bobby Lashley def. R-Truth
I had no idea Riddick Moss was still the WWE 24/7 champion and, at this point, I do not care.
Bobby Lashley is lost without Rusev.
Shayna Baszler and Becky Lynch Brawl During Elimination Chamber Contract Signing
All this segment did was tell me “don’t worry about watching the women’s Elimination Chamber, Shayna Baszler and Becky Lynch are already on a collision course to WrestleMania.”
WWE is getting really good at doing these unrealistic “one woman overlooks another woman but doesn’t suffer a shocking defeat for looking ahead” storylines.
Angelo Dawkins def. Murphy via Disqualification
This match felt like WWE throwing a bone to Murphy, but shockingly, Murphy couldn’t eve beat the slightly less charismatic Street Profit.
Murphy’s gear used to be so original but now he just looks like a televised version of Kurt Hawkins. I’m sure blending in will serve him well in this business.
Seth Rollins def. Montez Ford
This was the most excited I’ve been for a Seth Rollins match in months, and it was all because of Montez Ford.
I look at Montez Ford and I just sit in awe knowing that WWE is fully capable of wasting such an immense amount of talent.
Seth Rollins’ current gimmick could be saved by a Booker T vs. Chris Benoit-like rivalry with Montez Ford.
Not the greatest look to have an African-American performer Curb Stomped during Black History Month but there is somewhat of a precedent for this.
Randy Orton def. Kevin Owens
Beth Phoenix is set to appear next week. Some people may freak out if she takes an RKO, but that’s an RKO that could make this WrestleMania feud a top-three match.
By this point I was certain this show was going to end with Kevin Owens taking a Con-Chair-To.
The fact that the referee was a disciple makes Seth Rollins feel more like The Joker.
