Winners And Losers From Raw - Roman Reigns Shines On The Mic

Monday's Raw was sure to be an interesting show. The night before, at the Elimination Chamber, WWE set the stage for a number of angles that would likely remain WWE's focus heading into WrestleMania 34. That meant that Raw would begin to answer some of the questions and further those ideas, giving the WWE Universe a better of understanding of what to expect leading into the biggest show of the year.

In many ways, the show didn't disappoint. Roman Reigns cut one of the best promos of his WWE career, Ronda Rousey had a chance to get some answers as to what was going on with Triple H and Stephanie, and a somber John Cena would address the fans and answer the question he and everyone was thinking - what's his plan for WrestleMania?

The Miz and his Intercontinental Championship was a large area of focus on Monday and the women kicked off the show in a segment that was well delivered.

Winner: The Raw Women's Division

The Elimination Chamber was a strong showing for the women despite a few slow spots but Bliss deserved to win. The match between Asuka and Nia Jax was also strong protecting Jax dominance and Auska's undefeated streak. It only makes sense that there's no clear way to make for a fair Raw Women's Title match at WrestleMania even though Bliss vs Asuka is, on paper, the way things are shaping up.

The segment to open Raw showed that all the women (perhaps less Mickie James) deserve to be the women's draw for Raw at WrestleMania and the fact that the next few weeks will sort out that mess should be entertaining to watch. That it started with Bayley turning on Sasha is only the beginning of things to come.

Winner: John Cena

After Sunday's pay-per-view, John Cena left a lot of fans asking what's next for the 16-time World Champ. In a promo that wasn't too unlike many of his past promos, he added that extra touch of passion and the fans bought it. Cena made it clear, he wanted The Undertaker, it wasn't happening, so he's heading to SmackDown Live on Tuesdays.

Whether this is a promo set to reintroduce The Undertaker when fans aren't expecting it or he's actually taking on new challenges, Cena will work his way onto the WrestleMania card that's good for the show, him and WWE.

Loser: Bray Wyatt

He came out and tried to avenge his loss to Matt Hardy on Sunday with furious anger, but at this point, is anyone buying it? WWE has done so much damage to the Bray Wyatt character it's hard to believe he can get wins over anyone other than guys like Heath Slater.

The way this feud has gone over the last few nights is how this feud should have gone since it started, but now it's too late. The only thing better would have been not putting these two together until WrestleMania and letting them both tell their own stories until it became inevitable to pit them against each other in a one-time bout.

Winner: IC Triple Threat Match

It appears WWE is heading towards a Triple Threat Match for the Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania and that's a match this writer could get stoked for. The Miz deserves a major spotlight after the year he's had and Seth Rollins and Finn Balor would both make fantastic IC Champs if either were to win the belt.

The match itself would be top notch and it easily gives all three competitors something to really fight for over the next few weeks. The teased tension between Balor and Rollins is welcoming and just visualizing the promos The Miz could have at the expense of these two will make for fun programming.

Winner: Roman Reigns

If the WWE planned his promo, they made the exact right call. If the words that came from Reign's mouth were all Reigns, it's about time the company let him loose. This was easily one of, it not the best, promos he's ever delivered and within minutes he went from being booed out of the Elimination Chamber to cheered for saying exactly what so many people, fans and other wrestlers are feeling.

When WWE blurs that line between wrestling story and real life, it's some of the best television they can offer. That seems to be what happened here and just trying to visualize the promo that's coming next from Paul Heyman will be magnificent.

Losers: Titus Worldwide

Well, any scrap of opportunity Apollo and Titus had left before this match is pretty much wiped out now. No one likely expected Titus Worldwide to win but to have them lose in straight falls and really show no chance of coming out on top displays the fact that WWE never really had plans to make them credible.

The only good thing to come out of this is whatever feud is coming next which appears to be the Revival. Hopefully WWE gives them a chance to shine when they only teased with with Apollo.

Winner/Loser: Braun vs Elias

The segment between Elias and Braun Strowman was actually pretty well done, so in that respect it was a winner. It was fun action, creative and different and the two participants left the WWE Universe with unfinished business that will be fun to watch for.

The loser part of this is that it might seem this is going to culminate at WrestleMania 34, and while that's not terrible and gives something for both competitors to do, one might have envisioned something bigger for Strowman.

Loser: Rousey Segment

This segment, in a way, was understandably slower than how it was booked on Sunday when Rousey signed her contract. This is a storyline that has to mature over time and keep fans interested for a number of weeks. That said, it felt a lot like Sunday was a huge step forward and Monday was a couple steps back.

The idea that Angle wanted to keep his job makes a little sense but the action was a lot slower. Not a disaster but it could have been a bit more lively.