Raw airs tonight (Mar. 23) with a live show from TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. This is the fourth episode of Raw during the seven week build to WrestleMania 42, which takes place on April 18 and 19.
Roman Reigns is right on the money about old man Punk
Roman Reigns took the high road last week on Raw when he didn’t mention CM Punk’s dead dog Larry in response to Punk’s low blow about his dead father. Roman instead pointed out a straightforward fact; Punk is an old man. Roman is faster and stronger than this delusional old guy who actually thinks he is the favorite to win their world heavyweight championship match at WrestleMania 42.
In most sports, the prime age for peak performance is typically a range of numbers below 30 years old. However, in recent WWE kayfabe, I’d guess that a wrestler usually needs to be older than 30 to be world champion. At 47 years old, current world champion Punk blows right by any of those numbers. He’s an old man.
Do you remember how ridiculous many fans thought it was when old man Triple H won the WWE championship in the 2016 Royal Rumble match? Triple H was 46 years old at the time, which is actually younger than Punk. In other words, Roman is correct when he said Punk becoming world champ wasn’t supposed to happen. The guy should be too old to compete at the same level as him, and it’s the biggest reason why fans should expect a title change at WrestleMania 42.
On the other hand, the kayfabe results speak for themselves, and it suggests CM is an anomaly who defies the data about age. He simply doesn’t lose singles matches anymore in WWE. Going back to last summer, old man Punk has proven to be better in the ring than the likes of Bron Breakker, Finn Balor, Jey Uso, and even GUNTHER. Why can’t he add Roman Reigns to that list at WrestleMania?
Well, the clincher for why Roman was right on the money with his argument is the way CM reacted to his words. He punched Roman in the face because it’s a sore spot and the truth hurts. Roman laughed in response because it meant he successfully turned the table and is now in CM’s head, after weeks of Punk asserting himself as the master of mind games.
Punk and Reigns are back on Raw tonight, presumably for one more promo battle where Roman will now boast about being in Punk’s head. But they need to take it up a notch if this one is closing the show again, as last week’s one punch ending didn’t exactly make for the most exciting way for Raw to go off the air. WWE still may try to hold off on things getting too physical between Punk and Reigns since this isn’t the go home show. GM Adam Pearce is very paranoid about the WrestleMania main event getting ruined, and he will shut this segment down quickly if violence ensues.
Who will win the war of words (and maybe a few fists) when Roman Reigns and old man Punk go at it on the mic again tonight? Tune into Raw to find out.
There is some confusion about tonight’s match on Raw between The Usos and The Vision. WWE’s web site says Jimmy and Jey’s world tag team championship is on the line, but GM Adam Pearce said yesterday that non-title rules are in effect. Either way, Paul Heyman has made it clear that Austin Theory and YouTube douchebag Logan Paul need to win championship gold in order to have some stroke in WWE. Will Seth Rollins or LA Knight interfere to thwart The Vision’s latest plan?
Intercontinental Champion Penta defends his belt in a rematch tonight against Dominik Mysterio. Dirty Dom is looking to prove that Penta’s win over him earlier this month as a fluke. Will Finn Balor get involved once again in Dom’s title match to make sure it’s a fair fight?
Brock Lesnar will appear on Raw tonight, one week after he was crushed by Oba Femi. Is this one of those appearances where Brock gets paid a bunch of money to silently stand there while Paul Heyman does the talking for him? Will Oba come out for an encore performance to slay The Beast again?
Becky Lynch is also in the building to address her attack last week on Women’s Intercontinental Champion AJ Lee. Will Lee vs. Lynch for the title be official at WrestleMania by the time Raw is over?
Bayley is on the verge of missing out on WrestleMania again after failing to win the Intercontinental title last week. However, the WWE women’s tag team titles are still potentially in play for WWE’s biggest how of the year. With that in mind, Bayley & Lyra Valkyria vs. Kabuki Warriors is booked on Raw. Will the winning team join the Bella Twins and Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss as top contenders for the gold? Will the losing team fall apart and move closer to a breakup?
Finally, Je’Von Evans is scheduled to go one-on-one with Grayson Waller. Kofi Kingston suggested last week that maybe Grayson doesn’t belong in the New Day anymore. It’s hard to argue with the logic considering Grayson hasn’t won a match on Raw since 2024. If Grayson loses yet again (thanks to Danhausen’s curse, perhaps), will Kofi kick him out of the group in order to make room for Evans?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– Is Seth Rollins’ army of jabroni masked men finally gone from WWE after Brock Lesnar just about murdered them all last week? If so, how soon does Seth go back to wearing his ridiculous clothes?
– WWE creative seemingly has nothing for GUNTHER at WrestleMania 42, which sounds crazy considering he recently ended the careers of John Cena and AJ Styles. Can WWE find a blast from the past with name value to bring in so that GUNTHER gets to kill his next career at WrestleMania? Where is Chris Jericho?
– Can Nattie finally move on from Maxxine Dupri after making her tap out to the sharpshooter last week?
– WWE commentators say Dragon Lee is on a roll, but the results say otherwise. Can he find a way to win a match on Raw before WrestleMania 42?
– Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer proved to be better than Raquel Rodriguez yet again last week. Is Liv Morgan starting to realize she’s in over her at WrestleMania 42? Will the Judgment Day try to make IYO SKY pay for getting involved in their business?
– Where the f*** is Royce Keys?
What will you be looking for on Raw?
