Reviews

WWE Network Reviews: WWE Raw Talk for 5-24-21

By Aneil Komal • Published 25th May 2021

Raw Talk kicks off with Kevin Patrick apologizing to his co-host R-Truth after costing him the 24/7 championship to Akira Towaza on last week’s Raw. Truth says while people found the 24/7 title was ugly, he took the championship to levels it was never seen before. Patrick says he will do whatever he can to help Truth get his title back. They fist bump each other before talking about the main event of Raw which saw Natalya and Tamina retaining their Women’s Tag Team championships against Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. Patrick mentions Reginald’s interference which seemingly cost the match for Nia and Baszler. They then talk about Drew McIntyre facing off against Kofi Kingston which ended in a no-contest due to MVP and Bobby Lashley interfering. It is announced that McIntyre and Kingston will have a rematch next week on Raw with the winning facing Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship in Hell in a Cell. Patrick speaks about Cedric Alexander taunting Shelton Benjamin and then defeating him. Truth says in Benjamin’s case, you win some and you lose some but the lesson will be taught. It is announced that Charlotte Flair, Riddle, and Ricochet will be guests on today’s show.

Aneil’s Take: Good opening to Raw Talk. Unfortunately, I missed last week’s Raw Talk so I did not know the interaction between Patrick and Truth after the 24/7 championship incident. While there were fans on Twitter who were not thrilled about the Women’s Tag Team Championships as the main event, I thought it was cool for Natalya and Tamina, along with Nia and Shayna to close out the show. As for the WWE Championship, I think Drew will most likely be victorious, but how cool would it be to see Kofi have another title shot for the WWE Championship? I think Kofi’s Cinderella story ending with him losing his championship in eight seconds left a sour taste in many fans’ mouths. However, putting Kofi in the title picture might help make up for that. One last thing, it feels like Charlotte and Riddle are guests on Raw Talk every other week.

The first guest is “The Queen” Charlotte Flair. Charlotte and R-Truth do a little shoulder dance while singing Petey Pablo’s “Raise Up”. Patrick congratulates Charlotte on beating Asuka on last night’s Raw which he called a “big win”. Charlotte responds that it was not a big win since she beat Asuka at Wrestlemania to end her undefeated streak. As for Rhea, she says the Raw Women’s Champion does not respect her but will make her bow down to her at Hell in a Cell. When asked what has improved with Rhea, Charlotte says her presence has grown. However, she believes Rhea should worry about herself, not her, and uses her match against Nikki Cross as an example. The Queen continues, saying when someone can match her accolades, then they can talk. Patrick ends by asking Charlotte how she feels, which she says she is the best she has ever been.

Aneil’s Take: Great interview by Charlotte, especially talking about her rivalry with Rhea. However, I believe they should have held up on putting Rhea and Charlotte in a rivalry this early. I think they should have saved it for maybe Money in the Bank or even Summerslam. Maybe have Rhea extend her feud with Asuka while having Charlotte enter the title picture. My only guess is they are putting Rhea and Charlotte together now because Becky will return soon and will start a feud with Rhea for the Raw Women’s Championship.

The next guest is Ricochet wearing a Philadelphia 76ers Ben Simmons jersey. Patrick mentions Sheamus defeating Humberto Carrillo and then Ricochet coming out to make the save. Ricochet says while Sheamus won the match, he did not have to beat Humberto the way he did. He jumped in to let Sheamus know he cannot do that anymore. Ricochet says while he likes messing with Sheamus’ hat and coat, he enjoys pushing the United States Champion to his limits in the ring. When asked what else he can do to get into Sheamus’s head, Ricochet says he will do anything to get into his mind. They all start talking about some random stuff before Patrick asks Ricochet if he is in line for a United States Championship opportunity. Ricochet says he believes he is especially having pushed Sheamus to his limits twice.

Aneil’s Take: Good to see Ricochet getting some mic time, although he won’t win against Sheamus if he wears that Ben Simmons jersey again. Anyway, Ricochet, along with Ali are two superbly talented superstars I still have hope will break out into the main event scene. Having Ricochet feuding with Sheamus is a great start, which I hope he can continue with and lead to another United States Championship run. With that said, I think still it was a missed opportunity not to add Ricochet to The Hurt Business.

The final guest is “The Original Bro” Riddle. Dancing with R-Truth, Riddle shows off his new shirt and slippers. On his match against Xavier Woods, Riddle says The New Day member took him to his limit and says people forget how good he is. However, while the match was physical, Riddle says he did it for redemption for Randy. He mentions talking to Randy who was impressed by his victory. When asked about hitting the RKO for the first time, Riddle described it as exhilarating. He adds that the 10-year-old kid in him would not believe he hit an RKO on Monday Night Raw. As for the next step for RKO-Bro, Riddle says the sky is the limit especially adding RKO to his arsenal. Truth asks Riddle what if Orton did not want him to use the RKO. Riddle answers that while he did not ask Orton to use the RKO, he thinks he knows Randy well enough that he would cool with it. If he made the move look back, then maybe Orton would be upset but he made it look good. Riddle shouts that RK-Bro is coming for the championship before Raw Talk ends.

Aneil’s Take: I like this tag team between Riddle and Randy Orton. You got opposites between Orton and Riddle but seemingly making it work. It is also cool to see Orton working in a team with Riddle rather than feuding. How far can this team go? I think depending on the crowd reaction, I believe RK-Bro will be Tag Team Champions soon. One thing I would like to say is I agree with Riddle that people forget how good Xavier Woods is. While I was not too excited about Woods and Riddle’s match announced, they put on an amazing match. With Kingston possibly in the WWE Championship picture, maybe Woods can branch off on his own for a while and challenge for the United States Championship.

Thanks for reading.