WWE RAW Coverage: Asuka Makes a Statement, Balor Shows Up Against Big Match John

Three solid Elimination Chamber qualifying matches and a match of the year candidate in Asuka vs. Sasha Banks made for an excellent episode of RAW following the Royal Rumble.

Matches:

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Last Man Standing: Kane vs. Braun Strowman: This was a wild one as Strowman through the entire announce setup on top of Kane to score the win.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Matt Hardy vs. Elias Sampson: Hardy was in the driver seat until a distraction from Bray Wyatt allowed Sampson to hit the Drift Away for the win. After the match Wyatt laughed at Hardy, making sure this feud is far from over.

Intercontinental Champion The Miz with Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel vs. Roman Reigns: The Miz worked on Reigns knee throughout, but it was Dallas and Axel that paid dividends and allowed The Miz to retain thanks to a Rollup and handful of tights.

The Revival: Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder vs. Heath Slater and Rhyno: The Revival got the relatively easy win on Rhyno with the Shatter Machine.

Sasha Banks vs. Asuka: Probably the best match of the night as these two were evenly matched. This was definitely Asuka’s biggest test to date. However, Asuka turned it up late and nailed Banks with a slew of Strong Style strikes and the one-handed GTS. Although Banks did fight back with Double Knees on the outside and the inside, as well as the Bank Statement, Asuka countered into the Asuka Lock for the win.

Apollo Crews and Titus O’Neil w/Dana Brooke vs. WWE RAW Tag Team Champions The Bar: Sheamus and Cesaro: A hard-fought match that saw The Bar get the win with the White Noise Double Team.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Finn Balor vs. John Cena: Balor kicked out of the AA and stayed with Cena every step of the way. Cena was clearly frustrated and Balor stuck around and escaped the STF, but Cena got the win with an Attitude Adjustment from the Top Rope.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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