WWE Network Review: WWE Raw Talk for 02/15/21

This week’s Raw Talk begins with Char-Truth (Charly Caruso & R-Truth) discussing the loss of the 24/7 championship. We see a clip of Truth losing his 24/7 championship to Akira Tozawa who then loses it to Bad Bunny a few seconds later. While Bugs Bunny and Bad Bunny have his “baby”, Truth is given a few words of encouragement from his co-host who believes he will win it back. Charly believes when Truth wins it back from Bad Bunny, it will bring eyes to Raw Talk. They then transition to the ending of Raw with Sheamus winning the Gauntlet match which he will be the last person to enter the Elimination Chamber match. Charly admits that Sheamus has been speaking nothing but the truth and adds that the two former best friends (Sheamus and McIntyre) are now bitter enemies. Making a bet on the Elimination Chamber match, Truth thinks Drew will win while Charly goes with Sheamus.

Aneil’s Take: It was a smart move by WWE to give the 24/7 championship to Bad Bunny, who will be performing on this weekend’s Saturday Night Live (check your local listings). I am pretty sure Truth will win the championship back on SNL, it’s just when will he do it? Will he win it back during a skit, during his performance, maybe during the cold opening?

The first guests are The Hurt Business’ MVP (who is walking with crutches) and the United States Champion Bobby Lashley. When asked about his condition, MVP says he is great but his only regret is being ” hard for the game”. While he might have been injured a few weeks ago from a heel hook by Riddle, MVP says he is not like this soft generation who needs to take time off to heal. MVP talks about the “All-Mighty” Lashley, saying he will be United States champion until he chooses not to. MVP adds that Bobby can best anyone in one-on-one competition until Charly brings up the triple threat match at Elimination Chamber. MVP brought up Lee not being on Raw because he recovering from the hurt brought on by Lashley. MVP speculates that Lee might not be at Elimination Chamber although Truth disputes this. The other challenger Riddle is brought up which MVP says the same results will happen whenever he faces Lashley. Charly asks Bobby and MVP for any final thoughts before the match. MVP tells them that they are in the business of hurt and no one in the WWE does it better than Lashley, before predicting nothing but pain in the match.

Aneil’s Take: Great promo by MVP here to put over his champion Lashley. I did find it funny that MVP added that “soft generation” line, in light of the controversy from Undertaker’s recent comments. Interesting that Lashley did not say a word on this appearance. However, I think with his ass-kicking persona and MVP as his manager, he does not have to say much. He lets his actions do the talking for him. With Lee entering the title picture, I anticipate a United States Championship match between Lashley and Lee at Wrestlemania.

The next guests are the Women’s Tag Team champions, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. Both women appear, seemingly not too pleased to be on the show. Truth says he smells something from a bakery before pulling out a donut cushion. Nia rolls her eyes as Baszler tells Truth to cut it. Charly adds to it, saying she thought Truth’s joke was a “hole in one”. Baszler grabs the donut from Truth before sneakily telling Jax to sit on it. Truth and Charly continue to make hole-themed jokes until Nia interrupts. Charly tells Nia a lot has had, as she laughs about her she suffering an “injury”. Nia requests to be asked a real question before calling Charly a “fake ass Gerardo” which makes the host laugh even more. Truth asks Nia what kind of fish would she want to be when Shayna answered “Northern Pike”. Shayna questions the integrity of Raw Talk, telling them she and Jax are one of the most dominant tag champions who are defending their titles on all three shows. They believe the fear they bring to their challengers makes the title prestige increase. Charly mentions the Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament winners as potential challengers which Shayna called a “JV tournament”. Charly also mentioned Lana & Naomi in addition to Bianca & Sasha aiming for their titles. Nia says it shows how valuable the titles are because of who holds them which Truth asks if she meant “holds” or “holes”. Nia throws down the mic and walks off the set. Truth continues to ramble until Nia returns and throws the donut at him. Following her partner, Shayna leaves as well.

Aneil’s Take: The “My Hole” running gag from Nia was funny but now it is starting to become overkill. As for the tag team champions, I hope we see Dakota and Rachel challenge for the titles, possibly at Wrestlemania. While winning the tournament in itself is an accomplishment, giving the winner a tag team title shot also brings an added incentive. Not much to take away from this interview other than the hosts laughing at Nia for the running gag.

The final guest is “The Celtic Warrior” Sheamus. Charly asks Sheamus about his feelings when he answers that he just beat the WWE champion which gives him a feeling of vindication. Sheamus tells them he has Drew’s number and he proved it with his victory on Raw. Sheamus speaks about his history with Drew for the last twenty years, adding that McIntyre is a two-time WWE champion because of his guidance. However, Sheamus believes that does not matter to Drew McIntyre. Charly asks Sheamus about his mindset going into the Elimination Chamber after feeling vindication on Raw. Sheamus says a lot is going through his mind when Truth asks him if he feels bad. Sheamus asks why would he feel bad before claiming he is the MVP of the WWE for the last twelve months. Sheamus claims he has the match and promo of the night every time and elevates people to levels they never thought they could. He says he has been overlooked yet is the one bringing everyone up. Sheamus believes he was supposed to have a one-on-one match but thinks management does not view him as a draw. The Celtic Warriors states he will “Brogue Kick” McIntyre week after week until he gets his match so he can show who is the dominant Celt in the WWE. Sheamus hopes McIntyre learned from what happened on Raw because he will be at the top again after beating his former best friend for the WWE Champion. Sheamus ends by calling McIntyre selfish and claiming his time is now before leaving the set. Charly says this is deeper than anyone realizes before we see a graphic of the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match to end Raw Talk.

Aneil’s Take: After the 2020 WWE Draft, Sheamus versus Drew McIntyre is a match that I was hoping to happen when The Celtic Warrior moved to Raw. I think their smashmouth style will make a great match between them. Also, I know WWE is playing up to the history of Sheamus and McIntyre being friends for twenty years, but I think they could have displayed this better on the show. Maybe show a video package with pictures highlighting their friendship on the independent scenes.

Final Thoughts

Raw Talk is terrible in comparison to Talking Smack. While Truth is a fan favorite, he does not help further storylines as Paul Heyman does for Talking Smack. Just watching this episode of Raw Talk kind of felt pointless. For me, I find it distracting when Truth starts doing his antics and Charly struggles to keep it on track.