Raw Talk has some powerful guests!

Sonya Deville, Matt Riddle and the All Mighty Bobby Lashley are all here for some Raw Talk about how tonight went down!

Kevin Patrick welcomes us back to the show!

What a chaotic and exciting Raw! Charlotte Flair’s suspension is already over, Braun Strowman is heading for a WWE Championship opportunity at #WrestleManiaBacklash, and biggest news of all, R-Truth is back hosting Raw Talk! Truth and #KPeezy are back at it! But where has Truth been? That’s neither here nor there. But they’re friends, Kevin wants to know. Truth was waiting at the stadium for WrestleMania 37. Did he go to the wrong one? Well no one told him the switched it to the right one. Don’t laugh at him, Kevin. Well, which one did Truth go to? The one for the baseball team or the football team?

Oh, it’s so funny for you! Truth missed Mania! And weeks of this show! But you act like it’s his fault?! Laugh it up, K Peezy. Mary had a little lamb, and Truth still has his baby. Kevin got the same emails as Truth, though. Well where did he go? Raymond James, where Mania was. Where did Truth go? Tropicana? He had it on his itinerary. Didn’t Kevin get the affidavit? Kevin contains his laughter for Truth’s sake and gets to business. Things were chaotic, but it ended with Strowman securing a spot at WrestleMania Backlash and in the WWE Championship match. He beat Drew? Yep. But T-Bar & Mace got involved, and even MVP had his say. Why are they all up in the mix?

Kevin asks if there’s something going on where people have it out for McIntyre. Well McIntyre had sore ribs. Yeah, Kevin would feel rough after that, too. But now, Bobby Lashley is in a Triple Threat against McIntyre AND Strowman, in just two weeks! He’s got his hands full! Looks good, very dapper, and is dangerous, but still, that’s a lot even for him. And Miz & Morrison had their hands full with Damian Priest, #DP! Priest and the New Day were a great team. Woods was a great cohost in Truth’s absence, by the way. Why’s Kevin gotta keep bringing up the past? Sorry… But Elias, Ryker, Miz & Morrison got tomatoes thrown at them. What? To-mah-toes. To-MAY-toes, bro!

But Priest, Woods & Kofi got a big win, too, with a clutch cradle. They had fun with that. To wrap things up, and to get Truth caught up, Charlotte Flair physically assaulted referee Eddie Orengo, was suspended and fined by Adam Pearce, but then Sonya Deville brings her back just a week later! All behind Pearce’s back! Trouble in Paradise! Who suspended Charlotte? Pearce. Whoa, sni-zap! Sonya made an executive decision, becoming a big boss. They have Sonya on the show so they can hear all about it! What a blockbuster episode! Not just Sonya, but Matt Riddle who won alongside Randy Orton of all people, and of course THE WWE Champion, “D-Bo” Bobby Lashley, all with Truth back at the desk!

Matt Riddle joins Raw Talk!

Truth jams out with The Bro, who could not feel any better! Truth is excited, Riddle defends that the emails are wrong. Riddle had to get his scooter and hurry to Raymond James. Someone is against these two fun loving bro stallions that could maybe team one day. #TrueBros! But the seed was planted, we’ll see if it blossoms one day. But first, #RKBRO! Truth is all there for it! Last week, Riddle beat Orton in the center of the ring. Say it again! Riddle beat Orton in the center of the ring! Riddle knew the RKO was coming, turned him and was a bit torn, but he got a win! YAH~!

But then Orton took the week to sit on it, tweeted that he liked #RKBRO, but he is a viper so maybe it was a trap. K Pizzle was there to see it happen. Wait is it Pizzle or Peezy? Well, Riddle goes Pizzle but Truth goes Peezy. Point being, but when they talked, Riddle thought he was getting a confrontation. He was down to fight, but when Orton said RKBRO was cool and already made tag team plans, Riddle was touched! Orton is actually one of the greatest guys and knows how to warm a bro’s heart. This is just the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Truth is happy for Riddle, RKBRO is dope! Truth is rooting for them. And this seed is like a bamboo seed. It might take years to sprout, but it will be strong when it grows!

Riddle is excited to get the Raw Tag Team Championships, have their reign, and make it RKBRO all day! Kevin likes that! Riddle says Kevin is a good cohost and Kevin thanks him. But that mix-up is fine. New guys get info better than the veterans. Kevin says he got a limo to get to Mania. Really? What about Truth’s? What are Truth and Riddle doing wrong? Kevin didn’t ask for one, they just sent him one. Limousine riding, jet flying Kevin Peezy? That’s not right! Riddle says it’s been a little too long since Truth was here, but this has been a blast. Riddle and Randall as a duo, Cedric & Shelton were strong, but Orton was always reaching out.

So does this make them friends? Have coffee and stuff/ That might be too much. One day at a time, so Riddle said he got that. They can Facetime and stuff a few times a day instead so they can mesh. Maybe get the families together, get in there and marinate the relationship, nurture it! They can help RKBRO grow into a full grown stallion dripping in gold! Truth and Riddle are fired up for #RKBRO4LIFE! But Raw Talk’s gotta take a break, so Riddle chants us to commercial, “R K BRO! R K BRO!”

Sonya Deville joins Raw Talk!

Kevin again recaps the situation for the audience: Charlotte assaults a referee and is both suspended and fined, only for Sonya to bring her back. Sonya is happy to be on Raw Talk, but she feels misunderstood. She is calling things straight down the middle, no bias towards or against anyone on either Raw or SmackDown. She thought Pearce was being unfair towards Charlotte because he didn’t hear her side of things and then made a dramatic decision. So she didn’t need to consult with Pearce? Well, it’s really complicated. Truth agrees, this gets complicated. There was a last minute thing, Sonya had to make the decision, and so she did. She doesn’t always have to consult with Pearce, like how he doesn’t always consult with her. So Sonya will step up and do what she must.

Truth feels that, but isn’t Pearce the senior official? Sonya did make a good decision, but Kevin say sit’s a bit of undermining. Sonya doesn’t see it that way, and neither does Truth. Sonya had a split second decision to do something and followed her gut. Truth can’t fault her for that. She’s only human, but she was trying to help someone out. Sonya agrees, Charlotte is only human, she made a simple mistake. Charlotte is a top star, why would you want her gone? That’s just not smart to Sonya. Then why was Eddie Orengo apologizing? Well everyone got an apology, it almost made Sonya dizzy. It was all nice, kumbaya, water under the bridge.

Well one person who wasn’t feeling kumbaya was Mandy Rose, who was basically fed to an angry, hungry Charlotte, and that was Sonya’s choice. Why Mandy? Well Mandy’s tough, skilled, Charlotte needed someone like that to face. And it has nothing to do with Sonya’s history with Mandy? Not at all. Charlotte and Sonya aren’t being devious, are they? No! Dana and Mandy were both there, Mandy looked ready to fight, so the decision was easy. In fact, this was the most intense Mandy looked in the ring, and not to toot her own horn, but Sonya brings the best out of Mandy no matter what. That is a good point, because it was a good match. Perception is reality, but you’re welcome.

Truth double checks: there’s nothing devious? No! She doesn’t want bad things for anyone anywhere. She said this is a different Sonya. She won’t play the games she did, she wants to go forward, not backwards. She’s doing what’s right and fair, and maybe Pearce saw it a different way, but Sonya is a boss doing what’s best for the brands. Truth again can’t fault her with that, and Kevin has to admit that is good. They both look forward to what Sonya is going to do in the future now that she’s on Raw.

Bobby Lashley & MVP join Raw Talk!

The All Mighty WWE World Champion, as well as Montel Vontavius Porter, sit with Truth and Kevin, and Kevin asks Lashley directly about Braun injecting himself into the title match. It was supposed to be 1v1 with McIntyre, but now it’s a Triple Threat. Lashley says this is so disrespectful, but at least Kevin pointed it out. They came here because they were told to, but didn’t they all explain this earlier tonight? Truth defends that he’s been gone, got sent to the wrong arenas and all that. K Peezy has his ideas, Truth has nothing to do with this, because Lashley might have his hands full, but he’s the man!

MVP says this is the situation and it’s very simple: Lashley is THE All Mighty WWE Champion. We’ve seen that McIntyre can’t defeat Lashley. Braun has been beaten by Lashley, too. Neither man can do this 1v1, but there seems to be someone in the decision making process that thought it’d be a good idea to let Braun into the match so that together, Braun and McIntyre could take Lashley out to settle things themselves. There is some “nefarious plan” going on, but how do you conduct business in regards to the WWE Champion without consulting the champion? Just saying.

Kevin asks what Lashley thought about the main event. He just noticed all the mistakes. A lot of holes in both men’s games, Lashley has beaten both of those men anyway, so he just wanted to see if the other could figure things out. Both men did, and that was very interesting. Lashley is now coming around to the idea of the Triple Threat. At first, it felt like a cheap way to get the title off Lashley because one opponent beats the other. But now, Lashley looks forward to beating both men at the same time. Watching the holes in their defenses, all these simple things, it’s going to be a lot of fun! Truth says that’s badass.

MVP says everyone brings up Lashley’s size, strength, athleticism, ferocity, all that, but no one every really thinks about his fight IQ. Does Truth know what that means? Nope. Then here’s an example: Floyd Mayweather, arguably the greatest boxer of all time. When you step into the ring and take on his fight IQ, he’s using the first round just to feel things out. Then when it’s all said and done, he’s figured out your strengths and weaknesses, how he can cut you down. Lashley’s fight IQ is amazing. he’s always in the gym, always watching game tape. He doesn’t just beat you up on sheer strength, but on strategy.

Lashley went from beginning to end, and saw that McIntyre has a little attention span. One little thing happens in their match at WrestleMania 37, McIntyre loses focus and boom, Hurt Lock. Every single time Lashley and MVP moved at ringside, McIntyre looked over. Lashley even just leaned forward and McIntyre looked at him when Braun was in the ring. Truth admits he has a bad attention span, too. But McIntyre is that easy to beat because of that. Kevin is surprised Lashley would say this when McIntyre is surely still in the building and watching this right now. Is that so? MVP asks McIntyre if he’s watching right now. Is he happy that he doesn’t have to take Lashley on alone?

Lashley says they saw McIntyre’s whole game plan against Braun, and there are so many holes! MVP is surprised there’s no holes in McIntyre’s neck from the Hurt Lock at Mania. But McIntyre and Braun teaming together is the only way. If that happens, kudos to them! If they somehow find that way to win, then Lashley will just get a rematch against only one anyway. He can get McIntyre first, then take care of Braun. MVP says Lashley is the All Mighty, and he will walk into Backlash champion and walk out as champion. Then before they go, how would MVP define the All Mighty Era so far? #BlackExcellence. Truth likes that. Kevin thanks the Hurt Business for their time, and signs off for the week!

My Thoughts:

A pretty good episode, and how great to have Truth back! I like that with Truth, you can kayfabe any absence as his usual goofy absentmindedness. The energy was off the charts with Truth and Riddle in the opening segment, though it didn’t add too much new other than Riddle being a goofball about how #RKBRO can work out. As I said for the Raw article, I hope Riddle and Orton continue on to face AJ Styles & Omos for a showdown of makeshift teams.

Sonya had a good segment to put her new role on Raw in perspective, and I’m sure she’ll be continuing things with Pearce on both Raw and SmackDown, week after week. A part of me hopes this doesn’t turn out to be how WWE will revert themselves back to having GM’s on Raw and SmackDown. It’s just a new way for WWE to keep themselves in a time loop without having titles “unify” then “split.”

Lashley & MVP had a good segment, too, and it’s interesting that Lashley is turning around on the Triple Threat so soon. I feel like Raw might be dabbling with making Lashley the parallel to Roman Reigns on SmackDown. Head of a faction with a manager that can talk up a storm, beating big names in a Triple Threat, Spear and a submission in their arsenal. Other than getting rid of Cedric & Shelton as his henchmen, Lashley really is like Roman, just a self-made man as opposed to someone inheriting a legacy. I almost want these two to have the top titles all the way to Survivor Series and their Champion VS Champion format.