WWE Raw 3/12/18 Match Ratings And Podcast Notes From Sean Ross Sapp

THE BIG DOG

• Kurt Angle comes out and says Brock Lesnar isn't here again tonight. 
• Roman Reigns comes out and says Lesnar should be fired just like he would be if he no-showed work.
• Reigns says that he saw Vince McMahon backstage, who didn't even have the courtesy of telling him what happened, and he won't be disrespected by the guy he stays on the road for. Reigns is really good in this promo. Nothing too long.
• Roman takes off backstage and confronts Vince McMahon at Gorilla position. McMahon says that they need to speak in his office.
• We come back from commercial and Vince says that Lesnar isn't "his boy" but has special privileges. Vince says Roman Reigns is suspended and should "know his role and shut his mouth"

Sasha Banks (w/ Bayley) defeated Sonya Deville (w/ Absolution)

• That match should have been longer, but the build was for Sasha, not Sonya so I get it. This went 6-7 minutes, with the majority of it during a commercial.
• Sasha hits a nice double knee off the top and counters a Mandy distraction with the Banks Statement to get the tap out.
• Bayley leaves, dejected.
• Absolution jump Sasha. They don't even let Paige stomp people.

Backstage Crappenings

• Kid Rock is in the Hall of Fame. He got booed. 
• A Fabulous Moolah Battle Royal is announced. The reactions to this are going to be….wild. 
• We get a preview of the Ultimate Deletion.

Miz TV

• Miz brings out Finn Balor and Seth Rollins. 
• Miz says that Finn Balor is the man…in bingo halls. Finn Balor worked like 7 Wrestle Kingdoms, so the bingo hall line doesn't really work that well on him, but I get it.
• Rollins and Balor go back and forth with each other, and The Miz is loving it. They tease fighting tonight in Detroit, and the crowd is all about it. They turn their attention to the Miz, but Rollins ends up punching Balor.

Tag title MAYHEM

• Miztourage attack The Bar, who have been challenging everyone. 
• The Bar fight back, but then every Raw team attacks them. All of them. Balor Club, The Revival, Slater & Rhyno, Titus Worldwide.
• "THEY CAN'T POSSIBLY DEFEND THE TITLES AGAINST ALL THESE TEAMS"
• Rhyno is over in Detroit. If Alex and I would have made a trip to Raw, we'd be in the tag title picture.
• The Bar want traded to Smackdown. They also mention a Superstar Shakeup after WrestleMania. They want everyone on Smackdown. Angle announces a tag team battle royal later tonight to determine the WrestleMania opponents for The Bar.

John Cena

• John Cena says that he'll be at WrestleMania as a fan, and pretends to be a fan and starts a few chants. "This is awesome," "let's go Cena," "Let's go Roman." I think he got drunk off of one sip.
• Cena says he's not supposed to do this, but doesn't care because he's going to do it anyway. He challenges Undertaker to a match at WrestleMania to a huge ovation.
• Cena tells Undertaker to get over his own ego. He calls Undertaker a self centered, conceited egomaniac and references the fact that he's showing off his workout videos on Michelle McCool's Instagram.

Elias and Braun

• We get a recap of last week's Symphony of Destruction. 
• Elias is in the ring all bandaged up, but leaves. Then we get a fucking Braun Strowman promo with all these dumb graphics. Strowman rightfully wants to know who his WrestleMania opponent will be.

Finn Balor defeated Seth Rollins
6.5/10

• Solid work per usual coming from these two in the early going, not a surprise. I want to see a series of Slingblades and Slingblade counters from these two. It seems like everyone is using that move these days. The Slingblade is going to be the floatover DDT of the new WWE 2K games. Everyone has it. 
• I'm glad Balor is using the 1916 lately. It's amazing how someone who has been in wrestling for as long as Balor has been is still able to improve as much as he has over the past 8 months. My criticism used to be that he was all stomps and kicks, and he's stepped it up and became the most exciting I've seen him since his New Japan days. 
• Rollins catches Balor on the top rope and goes for a superplex, but Balor counters the Falcon Arrow and gets a small package for the pinfall victory. Good stuff from these two, as expected.

Asuka defeated Mickie James (w/ Alexa Bliss) 
5/10

• Asuka is in the ring to address her decision to face Charlotte. She's interrupted by Alexa Bliss.
• Bliss says that Asuka is afraid of her, as she's flanked by Mickie James. 
• Asuka says "to be the woman, you have to beat the woman," and that she wanted to face the best champion in WWE. 
• Mickie attacks Asuka and we have a match.
• Asuka kicks the ring post is makes a loud ass noise. This match is not very good. The chemistry isn't there, and the crowd chants "Rusev Day."
• Mickie hits one of the better sunset flip powerbombs in recent WWE memory. She gets put in the Asuka Lock, though. That's it. 
• Backstage, Alexa Bliss tells Nia Jax that she'd planned on them all beating up Asuka. They exchange a hug and Nia Jax confirms that she'll be in Alexa's corner against Asuka next week.
• Nia Jax also comes out and completely jobs out an enhancement talent. She looked really good in this performance. 
• Nia looks at the tron and sees Alexa Bliss and Mickie James talking trash about her. They're making fun of her size and looks. They're waiting for Charly Caruso, who was late. Charly lets them know that the boom mic was on and everyone heard what they said. 
• Nia tears apart the locker room area. 

Tag Team Title Top Contender Battle Royal
Braun Strowman wins

• BRAUN comes out and eliminated Apollo immediately, then Heath Slater is sent into the barricade.
• The Revival pick off Rhyno, which is a great heat spot in Detroit. The show goes to a commercial here, rather anticlimactically. 
• Braun is taken to ringside and sent through the barricade.
• Titus lands Clash of the Titus in the ring, and Axel eliminates the last of The Revival. Miztourage are booked stronger than The Revival. Here's to hoping they land on Smackdown live.
• Braun Strowman eliminates Titus O'Neil, Luke Gallows, Bo Dallas. Karl Anderson is trying to fire up with lots of big kicks. None work. 
• Braun screams "I'M GOING TO WRESTLEMANIA!" and heaves Anderson over the top rope.