WWE Raw live results: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair
Date: April 19, 2021
Location: Yuengling Center in Tampa, FL
The Big Takeaway —
Not much happened on another weak Raw show.
Riddle beat Randy Orton in a good match, while T-Bar and Mace were unmasked by Braun Strowman and Drew McIntyre.
Bobby Lashley was not on the show. AJ Styles and Omos were absent for the second straight week as well.
Show Recap —
Drew McIntyre entered. He spoke about the opportunity he earned last week by beating Braun Strowman and Randy Orton. (He claimed Strowman and Orton were “triggered” by his comment that he would get a title rematch, and made a random remark that people are too easily triggered these days.)
He also spoke about the opportunity that T-Bar and Mace took last week, trying to make a name at his expense. He knew that the mastermind was MVP. He wondered if they would take off their stupid masks and start wearing suits. McIntyre planned on getting himself some retribution.
MVP interrupted. He said he didn’t recruit T-Bar and Mace. In fact, Bobby Lashley tried to downsize the Hurt Business and already beat McIntyre on his own. McIntyre reminded him that Lashley tried sending the entire locker room at him before WrestleMania.
McIntyre left the ring to confront MVP when he was attacked by T-Bar and Mace. They gave him a double chokeslam in the ring. They left up the ramp without acknowledging MVP. MVP was amused.
T-Bar and Mace were interviewed by Kevin Patrick when they got to the back. Using incredibly convoluted dialogue, they said that they would make McIntyre extinct.
After a break, McIntyre confronted Adam Pearce and demanded a match against T-Bar and Mace. Pearce told him to find a tag partner. McIntyre didn’t want a partner and told Pearce to make the match happen.
The Viking Raiders defeated Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin (5:12)
Benjamin and Alexander controlled a lot of the match but the Raiders won with the Viking Experience, pinning Alexander for the second straight week.
(Adnan Virk called the Viking Experience move the “Viking Express.” It could have been a mistake, but he said it a second time after the match as well.)
In the back, Randy Orton told Patrick that nobody could have done what he did to the Fiend at WrestleMania. He admitted McIntyre won last week but he’d be waiting for the winner of the WWE title match at Backlash.
Riddle scooted in to interrupt Orton’s interview. Riddle always wanted to meet an apex predator and wondered what an apex predator even was. Riddle said neither of them had titles so they should form a team named R-K-Bro. As Riddle continued to speak, Orton simply walked away.
Orton approached Pearce after a break. He didn’t know what Riddle’s name was but told Pearce he wanted a match against the guy who rides around in a scooter tonight.
(Orton vs. Strowman was advertised earlier today, but they didn’t acknowledge that here.)
Charlotte Flair promo
(They aired Charlotte’s promo from last week, she entered, they went to break, and she came out for another promo.)
Charlotte said she didn’t plan on hurting anybody’s feelings last week, she was just telling the truth. She claimed that all the women in the back hate each other as much as they hate her, but they pretended to like each other. She said none of them had any reason to complain, because unlike her, they didn’t have a scheduled Mania match taken away from them.
She said she could beat both Rhea Ripley and Asuka. She didn’t mean to disrespect Asuka, because Asuka is one of the best, but she doesn’t have to like her. Charlotte said she would show Asuka why she’s the queen.
Asuka interrupted. Before she could say a word, Ripley interrupted. Charlotte invited Ripley to sit at ringside for her match later so she could take notes. Ripley agreed to take her up on that offer but already figured Asuka would win tonight.
Asuka tried saying something but Charlotte kept interrupting. Charlotte spoke very slowly at Asuka and told her that she didn’t understand her. Asuka told Charlotte, “I will beat you, bitch.”
This was awful.
Riddle rode past Orton on the back.
They aired a replay of T-Bar and Mace attacking McIntyre for about the fourth time even though the show is not an hour old yet. A handicap match was made official for tonight.
Riddle defeated Randy Orton (13:31)
They had a good match that Riddle won clean.
Riddle kept locking in a sleeper despite Orton’s attempts to counter. Orton finally got enough separation to drop Riddle on the apron before giving him a back suplex on the announce table.
[Second hour]
After a break, Orton stomped away at Riddle, particularly targeting Riddle’s bare feet. Riddle fired back until Orton cut him off with a powerslam, followed by a vertical suplex. (Orton might’ve landed awkwardly on his arm/shoulder on the powerslam because he seemed to be favouring it after that.)
Riddle fired back again until Orton poked him in the eye. Orton applied a chinlock as they piped in “bro” chants. Riddle dodged a charge and Orton went shoulder-first into the post. Riddle fought back and hit a Pelé kick, running forearms, and a senton for two. They fought on the ropes which led to Orton hitting a superplex for two.
Riddle applied a choke in the ropes but after he let go, Orton hit a draping DDT. Orton went for an RKO but Riddle countered into a crucifix pin for the win. Riddle celebrated big.
Pearce congratulated Sheamus on winning the US title. Sheamus asked him why he invited him into his office. Pearce recalled the great US champs of the past and noted how some of them did open challenges. John Cena even did it weekly. Pearce said Sheamus was not Cena, and Sheamus agreed. Sheamus also agreed to do an open challenge — just not for the title.
Naomi & Lana defeated Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler in a non-title match (4:14)
Naomi and Lana worked over Jax and used frequent tags to stay in control. However, Jax took them both down with a double suplex before tagging in Baszler.
Baszler stomped Lana’s arm when Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke interrupted to their music. In the middle of this match, Rose and Brooke cut to multiple replays of the two of them attacking Jax and a replay of Jax tripping on the apron.
Jax left and marched up the apron after Rose and Brooke who went to the back. Naomi and Lana used the opportunity to give Baszler a double facebuster and Naomi pinned her for the win.
This was very dumb.
They aired a post-Mania interview with Bad Bunny and Damian Priest. Bad Bunny spoke about how happy he was and put over Priest. Priest talked about how hard Bad Bunny worked and said he deserved the moment. Bad Bunny said it was incredible to be able to work with everyone. He thanked the Latin community and Priest. This was nice.
MizTV
John Morrison wasn’t there. Maryse hosted with Miz, who claimed to make Bad Bunny a household name. Maryse called him the greatest superstar of his generation. They gushed over each other and kissed, which set off fireworks. They poured champagne and toasted each other but were interrupted by Damian Priest.
Priest said Miz was as delusional as Jake Paul thinking he was a real fighter. Priest said Miz was boasting about his win last week but didn’t mention how he won the match. Priest showed a replay of what actually happened. Priest wondered what kind of man would brag about a win like that.
Priest said Miz lost his pants and the whole world saw that he had no cajones. Maryse said if Priest wanted a rematch he could have one (which caught Miz off guard). Priest thanked her. He took a sip of the champagne but spit it out because he thought it was trash. Maryse chucked her drink in his face and left with Miz.
New Day spoke with Riddle in the back. Kofi Kingston congratulated him on beating Orton, who he hates. They spoke for a bit and they all got excited about pancakes. (After Riddle left, Kingston asked Woods if he ever understood what Riddle was talking about.)
Elias (w/Jaxson Ryker) defeated Kofi Kingston (w/Xavier Woods) (4:42)
Elias tried playing his guitar before the match but was once again interrupted by Xavier Woods who played something on an electric guitar instead of his trombone.
During the match, Woods played Steve Austin’s theme on his guitar which distracted Elias long enough for Kingston to attack. Elias cut him off anyway and dropped him over the top rope before hitting a vertical suplex.
Kingston came back with a flying crossbody for two and an SOS (which took some time to execute because Elias didn’t budge on Kingston’s first attempt) for two. Kingston tried a hurricanrana off the top but Elias blocked it and hit a flying elbow drop for the surprising pinfall win.
Alexa’s Playground
Alexa Bliss told us all about her doll Lilly. She claimed Lily wasn’t new, she has been in Alexa’s life. They showed photoshopped images of Bliss as a child with the doll. She told a story about pushing another girl off the swing because Lilly told her to do it. She warned us that Lilly didn’t like “him” and didn’t like any of us. The CGI version of Lilly giggled at us before snarling.
Sarah Schreiber asked Rose and Brooke if they thought their behaviour tonight was appropriate. Rose sounded like a child justifying her actions by basically saying that Jax started it. Jax approached them so they bailed. Baszler then entered the frame and warned her to focus or else. Jax responded, “or else what?” Angel Garza entered the frame next to ask Jax what she saw in that circus clown Reginald. Another dumb segment.
[Third hour]
2-on-1 handicap match: Drew McIntyre defeated T-Bar & Mace via DQ (5:57)
T-Bar and Mace attacked McIntyre in the corner and wouldn’t stop so the referee disqualified them. Braun Strowman entered to his music so T-Bar and Mace left the ring.
T-Bar & Mace defeated Drew McIntyre & Braun Strowman via DQ (6:24)
Strowman was in full control pretty much over both guys until T-Bar took him down with a chop block. Strowman came back with a back body drop before tagging in McIntyre who hit Mace with an overhead suplex and neckbreaker.
McIntyre ripped Mace’s mask off and told him that he did him a favour. Mace slapped him in response. McIntyre smacked him with the mask and attacked repeatedly with it until the ref called for another DQ. Strowman ripped off T-Bar’s mask too and hit him with it.
T-Bar and Mace posed on the ramp as they were announced the winners by DQ.
Damian Priest defeated The Miz (w/Maryse) (5:03)
Miz took over after Maryse grabbed Priest’s leg to distract him. As Miz hit It Kicks, Virk noted that he stole those kicks from Daniel Bryan, and Corey Graves congratulated him on doing his homework.
As Priest mounted a comeback, Maryse jumped on the apron. Priest told her, “we’re not doing this again” but was still distracted enough for Miz to use a schoolboy with his feet on the rope like last week. Priest kicked out and used Hit the Lights for the pinfall win.
Asuka was shown warming up.
Sheamus segment
Sheamus was in the ring wearing his street clothes. He boasted about becoming US champion and (sarcastically) claimed he would be a fighting champion.
Humberto Carrillo came out, presumably to answer his challenge. Sheamus attacked him from behind and chucked him to the outside. Sheamus repeatedly drove Carrillo into the barricade and clubbed away at him. Sheamus posted him before giving him a Brogue Kick in the ring. Sheamus posed with his title.
This was a good segment for Sheamus, who was openly mocking the open challenge gimmick. (Bad news for Carrillo, though.)
Charlotte was shown getting ready.
Asuka defeated Charlotte Flair (9:15)
Ripley entered last to watch the match from ringside.
The match started with just over ten minutes left in the show. The fight spilled to the outside after just a minute, conveniently right in front of where Ripley was sitting. This led to a break and they returned with seven minutes left in the show.
Asuka hit a German suplex and sliding kick for two. Charlotte hit a facebuster but this was followed by Asuka using a Codebreaker, which didn’t look good. Charlotte came right back with a spear for a nearfall.
Charlotte targeted Asuka’s leg and applied a Figure Eight but Ripley yanked Charlotte down from outside the ring (which the ref somehow didn’t see) which allowed Asuka to escape the hold. Charlotte grabbed Ripley by the head and they struggled until Asuka kicked Charlotte and used a crucifix pin for the win.
Charlotte attacked the ref after the match and beat the crap out of him until two other referees jumped in and told her to leave. She attacked the ref twice before the show ended. (Asuka and Ripley disappeared.)