WWE Raw recap, review: AJ Styles steps up to WrestleMania challenge
By Ryan Satin
FOX Sports WWE Analyst
This week on WWE Raw, AJ Styles stepped up to Edge's challenge for a WrestleMania match against someone on the roster. Then "The Phenomenal One" got his butt kicked.
Welcome back to my "Highs and Lows," this time covering the Feb. 28 edition of Raw featuring AJ Styles answering Edge’s WrestleMania challenge, Finn Balor capturing gold and lots of tag team action.
First, a recap of the match results:
— Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens defeated Alpha Academy via pinfall in a non-title match.
— Omos defeated T-Bar via pinfall in less than a minute.
— Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan defeated Becky Lynch, Doudrop and Nikki A.S.H. via pinfall.
— Tommaso Ciampa defeated Robert Roode via rollup pinfall.
— Dana Brooke and Reggie defeated Tamina and Akira Tozawa.
— Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander defeated The Mysterios via pinfall following interference from The Miz.
— The Street Profits defeated RK-Bro via pinfall.
— Finn Balor defeated Damien Priest via pinfall to become the new United States champion.
RAW HIGHS
AJ Styles and Edge
I’ve practically been begging on social media for this match to happen — and even discussed the idea with AJ Styles on my show — so you knew I was going to be hyped on this program coming to fruition.
Without question, this is a dream match, and getting full-blown villainous Edge on top of it (for the first time since his return) is icing on the cake.
It also comes at a perfect time for both Superstars.
Styles recently switched back to a babyface role, and facing off against mega-heel Edge will help solidify his good-guy status again. Plus, another WrestleMania classic with a legend of the industry such as "The Rated-R Superstar" will further add to his incredible legacy of matches.
As for Edge, I predicted at the end of 2021 that a heel turn was coming for "The Ultimate Opportunist," and pulling the trigger on the whole thing with a kick to AJ’s "Phenomenal Ones" was a solid start.
Quality tag team action
I’m a big fan of tag team wrestling, so this was my kind of show.
The six-woman tag match was entertaining, let each individual competitor shine, furthered the program between Becky Lynch/Bianca Belair and reminded everyone that "The EST of WWE" has a lethal hair whip.
KO/Seth Rollins vs. Alpha Academy had great action from bell-to-bell and created additional intrigue around next week’s Raw tag team title match. Same for Street Profits vs. RK-Bro, given that the winning team is not currently part of the upcoming triple threat match for the tag titles.
Furthermore, it was nice to see Shelton Benjamin/Cedric Alexander pick up a win against The Mysterios, and the Dana/Reggie vs. Tamina/Tozawa affair gave me a good chuckle.
Finn Balor becomes United States champion
After a shaky return to the main roster these past few months, Balor having gold around his waist again is a step in the right direction.
A match against Priest at WrestleMania is the right call, too.
Both Superstars deserve a spot on the card in Dallas, and they’ve already proven to have great chemistry against each other in NXT. My only issue with this is …
RAW LOWS
Damian Priest heel turn
Priest got a huge start on the main roster at last year’s WrestleMania, when he teamed with international recording artist Bad Bunny in a well-received match. In the months that followed, Damian continued to get over as a babyface performer and eventually won the United States title.
For some unknown reason, however, he began to "lose control" of his anger during matches — which greatly slowed his momentum.
Now, in just a year’s time, he has already turned heel, and I can’t help but feel like it’s a waste of someone who had serious potential as a good guy. I, personally, saw him as a future challenger to Roman Reigns once they landed on the same brand.
Instead, Priest is going to be positioned as a villain like most other members of the roster, and I worry he might get lost in the shuffle.
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Ryan Satin is a WWE analyst for FOX Sports. Satin previously appeared on FS1's "WWE Backstage" and founded Pro Wrestling Sheet, where he broke countless news stories as editor-in-chief.
