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WWE Raw After Mania recap, review: Cody Rhodes speaks from the heart
By Ryan Satin
FOX Sports WWE Analyst
DALLAS, Texas — Cody Rhodes spoke to the WWE Universe in a goosebumps-inducing promo on the Raw After WrestleMania this week, but something was missing from the overall show.
Welcome back to my "Highs and Lows," this time covering the 4/4/22 edition of Raw, featuring Cody speaking to the WWE Universe, MVP turning on Bobby Lashley, the debut of Veer and a guy named Ezekiel (who for sure isn't Elias).
Here’s a quick recap of the results:
- Sasha Banks and Naomi defeated Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley via pinfall
- The Miz defeated Dominik Mysterio in under one minute via pinfall after hitting the Skull Crushing Finale
- Bron Breakker defeated Dolph Ziggler via pinfall to regain the NXT Championship
- Austin Theory and The Usos defeated Finn Balor and RK-Bro via pinfall after Theory hit his finisher on Balor
WWE RAW HIGHS
Cody Rhodes makes his intentions known
Cody Rhodes shares Dusty Rhodes' legacy during his return to Raw I WWE on FOX
Cody Rhodes is an A-plus player, and the way he was positioned on Raw this week made it clear he’d be treated as such this time around.
I’ve written numerous times about WWE having a lack of top babyfaces right now, so adding one on the level of Cody Rhodes and making him feel special was a welcome change. It was like a new main-eventer had arrived to save the day, and the fans in attendance ate it up.
That being said, the sign of respect between Rollins and Rhodes to finish this segment wasn’t necessarily the ending fans seemed to be hoping for.
At the very minimum, I think most assumed Cody would start a new program with someone else, not just shake hands with Rollins. That didn’t get fans hyped, especially since Rhodes should be racking up wins on his path to a World title, not potentially going 50/50 with Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins.
Omos and MVP
The decision to pair Omos with MVP was brilliant.
Instead of a mentor in AJ Styles, Omos now has a mouthpiece with a proven track record of taking someone to the top. This could be a big step in the right direction for WWE’s 7’3" powerhouse.
MVP’s turn was well done, too (even if it probably should’ve happened before WrestleMania to strengthen Lashley versus Omos). Either way, this was a good way for The Colossus to recover from his loss at WrestleMania and start on a new path of destruction.
Elias’ brother Ezekiel
I dare you to try telling me this wasn’t funny with a straight face. If you can, you’re a cold-hearted S.O.B. and your opinion doesn’t count.
OK, it does, I was just being dramatic. Sorry. But you have to admit that this was a unique reset for whoever this Superstar is, and it’ll be interesting to see where they take it from here.
As it stands, we didn’t get much info on who Ezekiel is, why he’s in WWE, or what happened to Elias — but the segment was still entertaining. So, for now, I’ll just enjoy it for what it was.
WWE RAW LOWS
Lack of "Raw After Mania" magic
Prior to the pandemic, Raw After Mania was a special show that featured surprising debuts, NXT call-ups and an idea of where things were going.
This show, however, didn’t really have that — and it was a bummer, because this was the first Raw after Mania with fans since 2019.
Sure, Veer actually had a good debut attacking the Mysterios, but that was someone who’s been teased on Raw since last year. This wasn’t a surprise. It was finally following through on six months of advertising.
Veer unleashes on Rey and Dominic Mysterio during his Raw debut I WWE on FOX
Bron Breakker could’ve been intriguing, but winning the NXT title on Raw didn’t get much of a reaction, and the appearance didn’t seem to be a call-up. It just looked like WWE wanted more eyes on the title change.
Bianca Belair celebrated her title win and, for some reason, wasn’t interrupted by a new challenger to tease what’s next for the division.
There wasn’t even a package hyping the return of an injured wrestler — such as "Asuka will be back soon" or "Bayley’s getting better" — and that was done in the past with Superstars whose recovery times weren’t even close to being complete.
As for Roman, fans really wanted to know what a Unified Universal title entails, and we got nothing on that front. Is he on both shows now? Will there be a new belt? Who is his next challenger? Will new challengers emerge in the title picture?
Some sort of information or indication would’ve been nice.
As great as two days of WrestleMania were, the final cap to the weekend was unfortunately a bit lackluster in the end.
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Ryan Satin is a WWE analyst for FOX Sports. Satin previously appeared on FS1's "WWE Backstage" and founded Pro Wrestling Sheet, where he broke countless news stories as editor-in-chief.
