Big Takeaways From WWE RAW (2/20/2023) and SmackDown (2/24/2023)

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The fallout to Elimination Chamber and while WrestleMania has some matches that are coming to together, the shows this week were a little lacking outside of Sami Zayn and The Bloodline which is no surprise, and as we head into the big show, that is the big mystery as it pertains to The Usos as well.

Sami Zayn wants Kevin Owens help

So now that Sami is a babyface again, the first thing he did on RAW was ask for Kevin Owens to come out, and talk about taking down The Bloodline together. However, Owens is sticking to his word that he said after War Games. That Owens wants nothing to do with Sami, and he will take down The Bloodline himself. It was the high point of RAW and the build begins to the two coming back together to team up eventually. But Owens even said here, “why don’t you ask your buddy Jey?”. When referring to help taking down the Bloodline, so it just adds another layer and it’s fantastic.

Then on Smackdown, we had Jimmy and Sami going against each other on the mic, Jmmy still mad about what happened at the Rumble and one of the best parts of this was Sami bringing up how Roman has manipulated the rest of the Bloodline, and even pointed out when he did that to Jey back in 2020. Now Jey appeared in the middle of the segment, and when Sami looked up, Jimmy took the chance to attack. Jey didn’t show any emotion and kept walking through the crowd, then Jimmy is distracted and ends up being hit by a Helluva Kick from Sami. Sami quickly got out through the crowd and we effectively had a three way stand off in a way, with Sami and Jey being on their own, and Solo Sikoa backing up Jimmy. Next week Roman will be back so things are going to get a whole lot more interesting.

Edge and Balor back on track for Mania

So after what may have seemed like a blowoff at Elimination Chamber, was not, which is the right decision based on the fact that the Edge and Balor match has been rumoured for quite some time. Edge had a United States title match in the main event of RAW this week, and he lost the match via a Finn Balor interference and Austin Theory retained. Balor was attacking Edge continuously and stood tall as the show ended. I like how Balor was alone here, and we should definitely be getting that rumoured Hell in a Cell match at Wrestlemania between the two. Edge may end up off the show this coming week, then returning the week after, but regardless this will probably happen.

Austin Theory vs John Cena all but confirmed

I’d say after RAW, the Cena vs Theory match may finally become a reality. Theory announced during the show, even though it was announced before the show, that John Cena will be returning to RAW on the March 6th episode. I think all of the teases and Theory using the old Cena catchphrases has done well so far and the match will probably be made on that episode, most likely for the US title. It’s something that should be very good and a big deal for someone like Austin Theory, so hopefully there will be some promo time for both of them.

Rey, Santos and Dominik

On Smackdown, once again, we saw Santos Escobar come up to Rey Mysterio and the new found respect between the two was appreciated by Rey. This was a backstage interview and this is where Dominik shows up and tries to egg Rey on again, Santos defended him though. The out later for the Rey vs Kross match, Dominik got involved in the finish and cost Rey the match. Then after the match Dominik was really egging Rey on to hit him and finally snap, but he just refrained. I like the comradery between Santos and Rey, it’ll probably help get Legado over which I like, so we may see that become an association following Wrestlemania. So it should be within the next two weeks that we finally see Rey snap at his son and hit him, which should set their match at Wrestlemania up.

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