2025-04-28 WWE RAW - REVIEW
2025 Malapert Smark Podcast Review System (Rev2):
🤯 - Mind Completely Blown!!! [+10]
🔥 - This Was Fire!! [+5]
❤️ - Loved It! [+3]
👍👍 - REALLY Liked It! [+2]
👍 - Liked It [+1]
½ - Kinda Liked It [+0.5]
👊 - Indifferent [0]
👎 - Didn’t Like it [-1]
👎👎 - Really Didn’t Like It [-2]
🤬- Hated It [-3]
🤮 - Made Me Sick [-5]
🙋♂️- Chris Jericho Bad [-10]
Or any combination of the like…
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Blog Note: This is not meant to be an in depth summary, but a “bare bones” description of which segments I am reviewing. I will assume you’ve seen this show before reading my review, but if you’re looking for more detailed in-depth summaries, i would direct you to search for this show by date on Google.com …
If you are new to my blog, here is a link to the Welcome Page and links to every review we’ve done:
https://malapert-smark.blogspot.com/2025/04/welcome-to-my-blog.html?m=1
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STORYLINES:
(1) Smackdown GM Nick Aldis filling in for Adam Pierce tonight as Interim Raw GM…
Participants:
Peripheral Participants:
Pat McAfee, Penta, AJ Styles, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Dominik
Details:
-Nick Aldis is involved in Storylines # 2, 5, 11, 12 … He booked two matches and also was involved in the Dom/AJ Styles backstage angle, and kayfabe approving time off for Liv Morgan...
🌪️REVIEWS🌪️
TheMalapertSmark - 👍
➡️COMMENTS⬅️
⭐️TheMalapertSmark: seemless. did a professional job. great performance as always… no real crazy scuffles tho that had to be broken up. it was a relatively easy night…
(2) Interim GM books Nick Aldis books Pat McAfee vs Gunther for Backlash...
Participants:
Details:
-At announce desk, then announcers introduce themselves and say they are at work despite the attack from the “spiraling” Gunther, Michael Cole calls him… Gunther has been suspended by Adam Pierce…
-Replay: Gunther’s attack from last Monday…
-At announcer’s desk, Pat McAfee cuts a promo standing on announce desk, calls out interim GM Nick Aldis to lift Gunther’s suspension because Pat McAfee wants a fight… Nick Aldis won’t do that but instead books a match for Backlash!…
🌪️REVIEWS🌪️
TheMalapertSmark - 👎
➡️COMMENTS⬅️
⭐️ TheMalapertSmark: Im giving this a thumbs down for Pat McAfee's cringe promo, although I knew they were gonna put them in a match together!...
(3) Seth Rollins gives his friend Sami Zayn a way out of the path of destruction he must leave, but Sami is too proud to accept the offer…
Participants:
Peripheral Participants:
Otis
👉Subplots:
(A) Sami Zayn offers a path out of Raw… Sami Zayn’s contemporaries (Otis, Karrion Kross, Jey Uso) offer their views… Sami turns down the offer…
TheMalapertSmark SubPlot Review: 👍👍
(B) Bron Breakker & Sami Zayn feud rekindled…
Details:
-Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker & Paul Heyman head to the ring to open the show…
Seth Rollins cuts promo…
Enter Sami Zayn… Sami Zayn calls out Seth Rollins for wanting to be like Punk & Roman...
DISCUSSION…
Seth makes Sami an offer to help him get off of Raw, so their paths won't cross...
-Backstage, Sami Zayn is talking w/ Otis…
Enter Paul Heyman… Exit Otis…
Heyman speaks w/ Zayn…
Bron Breakker is shown watching from the doorway…
-Backstage Segment w/ Sami Zayn & Karrion Kross… Kross pressures Zayn to “make the right decision.”
-Backstage Segment w/ Sami Zayn & Jey Uso… Jey Uso gives his cents…
-In Ring Segment w/ Seth Rollins & Sami Zayn has Sami Zayn’s decision… Sami will not run away, and refuses Sami Zayn’s offer and tells Seth Rollins to go to hell…
Enter Bron Breakker & Paul Heyman…
-Match: Sami Zayn vs Bron Breakker w/ Paul Heyman & Seth Rollins…
Bron Breakker beats down Sami Zayn but wont put him away. Sami Zayn won’t quit despite Seth Rollins’ pleas… Ref stops the fight…
Winner: Bron Breakker
-Afterbirth: Post Match, Seth Rollins holds back Bron Breakker from continuing attack on Sami Zayn, but curb stomps Sami himself to end Raw…
🌪️REVIEWS🌪️
TheMalapertSmark - 👍👍
➡️COMMENTS⬅️
⭐️ TheMalapertSmark:
(A) No one helped Sami? no one’s joining this war? i guess Jey Uso got laid out, but still, you’d think someone would wanna fight these guys, who say they’re gonna run roughshod…
(B) These two had a really solid Intercontinental title feud, but now that it’s part of an important angle, the stakes are higher and this seems more important. still cool that they have all that history…
(OVERALL THOUGHTS) Paul Heyman rubbing Bron Breakker’s back trying to get him to calm down is just comedy gold. i will say that sami is the first one who mentioned as i did that Bron Breakker seems like a lackey here, but it ok. Bron Breakker can turn on Seth eventually and that would make it ok. he can say he’s just doing this to get the step up he needed and will eventually wanna be the man himself… so i’m good with all this… this is going well, and i expect it to continue to go well… ALSO, i guess Roman & Punk got beat up real bad because they couldn’t make it… ONE SLIGHT CRITICISM of today’s angle, is that there was no freakin way Sami was gonna accept that disrespectful offer. he would have looked like a major B*tch. so there was no real anticipation for his decision, but i’ll ignore that and say the angle overall is still entertaining…
(4) Giulia backs up Roxanne Perez against Rhea Ripley… Iyo Sky jumps in to fight alongside Rhea Ripley…
Participants:
👉Subplots:
(A) Roxanne & Giulia cement alliance…
TheMalapertSmark SubPlot Review: ❤️
(B) Iyo Sky & Rhea Ripley recent rivals, now strange bedfellows…
Details:
-Match: Rhea Ripley vs Roxanne Perez…
Enter Giulia…
There is physical interaction between Giulia & Rhea but no DQ…
Giulia enters the ring and attacked Rhea in front of the ref…
Winner: Rhea Ripley by DQ…
-Afterbirth: Giulia & Roxanne Perez beat down Rhea Ripley…
Enter Iyo Sky… who fights the two off for a bit until they get the advantage…
Rhea Ripley recovered and runs off the heels…
🌪️REVIEWS🌪️
TheMalapertSmark - 👍👍
➡️COMMENTS⬅️
⭐️ TheMalapertSmark: I gotta say, i know the Roxanne Perez / Giulia alliance made no sense when it came out of no where, but i’m here for it! they seem to have found some common ground, and just pulled the trigger to help each other out… i gotta say it’s great to see Giulia just out there working. she’s great at taking bumps and she needs to be out there on the main show w/ her talent. if they need to use her as a heel to do that, that’s all good. it happened faster than i thought it would, but heck 🤷♂️ i’m likin this…
(5) Finn & JD McDonough’s quest for world tag title shot ruined by Penta, but who holds grudge over last week’s screwjob…
Participants:
Judgement Day (Finn Balor, Dominik, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Carlito, JD McDonough), Nick Aldis
👉Subplots:
(A) Finn left out of the loop on JD McDonough’s return, but calms down w/ prospect of world tag title opportunity, although he was left out of the loop for that too!…
TheMalapertSmark SubPlot Review: 👍
(B) Every member of Judgement Day a champion or in title hunt. Carlito to seek gold too?…
(C) Penta costs Judgement Day tag match, stalling their push for world tag title shot… this is revenge for Judgement Day costing Penta last week… Penta to face JD next week...
(D) New Day are there but no one cares… they get disrespected during the tag match but do nothing about it and talk smack as they leave…
Details:
-Tag Match: Judgement Day (Finn Balor, JD McDonough) w/ Carlito vs War Raiders (Erik, Ivar)…
New Day watch from ringside as match has world tag title implications…
War Raiders throw Finn Balor into New Day on the outside…
Enter Penta…
Physical Interference from Penta leads to fall…
Winners: War Raiders…
-Post Match, Penta showboats…
-Backstage, Nick Aldis warns Penta not to ruin any more matches, but feels where he’s coming from, and books Penta in a match w/ JD McDonough for next Monday…
🌪️REVIEWS🌪️
TheMalapertSmark - +1/2
➡️COMMENTS⬅️
⭐️ TheMalapertSmark: I’m amazed at how they can keep this drama with Judgement Day just going and going and going. every day it’s something new that looks to be the start of a break up, and then they somehow sweep it under the rug. i am not falling for it any longer 😄. i think the Judgement Day breakup will just happen out of no where all of a sudden eventually. god knows finn is gonna have a laundry list of reasons why he turns on them…
(6) Logan Paul & Jey Uso promo battle… night ends w/ backstage sneak attack as Logan Paul leaves Jey Uso layin…
Participants:
Details:
-Logan Paul cuts in ring promo…
Enter Jey Uso… PROMO BATTLE…
Jey Uso super kicks Logan Paul…
-Backstage, after Jey Uso got done talking to Sami Zayn and is alone, he is sneak attacked by Logan Paul and left layin…
🌪️REVIEWS🌪️
TheMalapertSmark - 👊
➡️COMMENTS⬅️
⭐️ TheMalapertSmark: I guess i could say this was useful in a way to the seth/zayn angle. with this i can make sense of a reason why one ran in to help sami as the show ended…. but as for Jey Uso and Logan Paul, they can go ahead and do the program. there’s a lot of time on this show to kill, so why not, but i already know i won’t be too invested, as i just haven’t enjoyed either one of them very much recently…
(7) Becky Lynch addresses turning on her friend and compadre Lyra Valkyria… this leads to argument and fight… Lyra thought she got over on the night but is cleverly sneak attacked by Becky, who had looked to have powdered out…
Participants:
Details:
-Becky Lynch cuts in ring promo…
Enter Lyra Valkyria… DISCUSSION… FIGHT…
Lyra Valkyria sends Becky Lynch running…
After replays, Lyra Valkyria showboats to the crowd in the entrance way and is attacked from behind by Becky Lynch, who went around the other way…
🌪️REVIEWS🌪️
TheMalapertSmark - 👍
➡️COMMENTS⬅️
⭐️ TheMalapertSmark: Nice trick 😄. wasn’t expecting it. i was honestly kind of expecting lyra to get one over here, especially since she’ll probably drop the title to becky. but they wanted to make becky looks smart here. she’s on the comeback trail too so she needs something. i don’t have a problem with it either way. becky winning the Intercontinental title would bring it some decent legitimacy and i think it would be the right move rn.
(8) Penta defends his brother’s honor…
Participants:
Details:
-Backstage Segment w/ Penta, Chad Gable & Ivy Nile has Chad Gable disrespecting the Lucha Bros… Penta kicks Chad Gable…
🌪️REVIEWS🌪️
TheMalapertSmark - 👍
➡️COMMENTS⬅️
⭐️ TheMalapertSmark: Ahh. so this is how they introduced the Lucha Bros in WWE… i was wondering how they would do it. decent little segment. i don’t mind Chad Gable sniveling his way out of this scene. it’s what a wresting heel should do. although the kick itself didn’t seem to land close to gable…. i will, penta has been doing a good job reciting lines since he’s joined WWE.
(9) Newly FIXED Rusev promises to hunt the Flawed, Arrogant, and those who waste their talents like he did and fix them like he fixed himself…
Participants:
Details:
-Video Package has Rusev cutting a promo on fixing himself in Bulgaria, no longer fighting for a woman who isn't his, and his goals in WWE…
🌪️REVIEWS🌪️
TheMalapertSmark - 👍👍
➡️COMMENTS⬅️
⭐️ TheMalapertSmark: Not as good as the redeemer promos, but i still really liked it...
(10) NXT’s champion picks up win on Raw…
Participants:
Details:
-Match: Stephanie Vaquer vs Ivy Nile w/ Chad Gable…
Distraction Interference from Chad Gable gives Ivy Nile a temporary avantage, but regardless…
Winner: Stephanie Vaquer…
🌪️REVIEWS🌪️
TheMalapertSmark - +1/2
➡️COMMENTS⬅️
⭐️TheMalapertSmark: I’ll give at least a half a point just for seeing Stephanie Vaquer… always a good booking…
(11) Liv Morgan pulls Dominik away as AJ Styles gets heated at the disrespect… AJ & Interim Raw GM Nick Aldis look keen to book a match…
Participants:
Details:
-Backstage, Nick Aldis talks w/ AJ Styles about opportunities to climb the ladder…
Enter Judgement Day (Raquel Rodriguez, Liv Morgan, Dominik)… Dominik’s request for time off is denied… Dominik & Liv Morgan disrespect AJ Styles… Judgement Day retreat as AJ wants to fight… it looks like AJ Styles is going to want to fight Dominik after this…
🌪️REVIEWS🌪️
TheMalapertSmark - 👊
➡️COMMENTS⬅️
⭐️TheMalapertSmark: oh man. idk. is this what AJ Styles’ retirement tour is gonna be about? just struggles and losses until he has to retire? and now i’m sure he won’t even be able to beat Dominik to further this angle. idk. i wish there could be more for AJ Styles, as this has been kinda boring. but who knows? maybe they’re planting seeds for something bigger later on? maybe eventually he WILL listen to Karrion Kross. at this point, i would root for that over this…
(12) Liv Morgan is getting time off to shoot a movie…
Participants:
Peripheral Participants:
Dominik, AJ Styles
Details:
-Backstage, Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez verify their time off w/ interim GM, Nick Aldis…
🌪️REVIEWS🌪️
TheMalapertSmark - 👊
➡️COMMENTS⬅️
⭐️TheMalapertSmark: well Liv Morgan the big movie star, huh? i can see it… probably be better for her than taking bumps…
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