There's a slice of good news and bad news for Kofi Kingston, who followed up his memorable Elimination Chamber performance by pinning Daniel Bryan in a six-man tag-team match to close out SmackDown Live. Shane McMahon announced Kofi will get a title shot, but it will come at Fastlane, not on the grand stage of WrestleMania. And the truth is, it's hard to believe Bryan will enter Mania without the title, so perhaps a rematch would be in order at that point? We'll find out soon enough.

Matt Wilansky, ESPN.com2d ago

On a day in which there was virtually no Becky-Charlotte-Rousey discussion, we got a glimpse into the future of Asuka, who made a televised appearance for the first time since winning the SmackDown women’s championship at the Royal Rumble. Could it be Lacey Evans after she made another runway walk during Asuka’s non-title match against Mandy Rose, or Rose herself after feigning an eye injury, leading to a roll-up win? Either would be worthy candidates. In tag-team news, The Miz and Shane McMahon were able to solidify a rematch against The Usos at Fastlane, leading to more speculation that the challengers will walk away at odds with each other.

Matt Wilansky, ESPN.com2d ago

Just like they did a night earlier on Raw, some of NXT’s finest stars made successful appearances on the main roster. In their first match since NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, Aleister Black beat Andrade, while Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa were able to get past The Bar in a physical, action-packed battle. Finally, Ricochet overwhelmed Eric Young, highlighted by a match-ending 630 splash. The obvious question now is whether this is a brief promotion for the NXT stars to showcase the brand to a wider audience or if this is a harbinger for the near future. After two days, I think most would vote for the latter.

Matt Wilansky, ESPN.com2d ago

On paper, Monday's post-Elimination Chamber edition of Raw was tremendous. Four of NXT's top talents made their debuts and were victorious, and tag team wrestling was put under the spotlight throughout the night. Ronda Rousey and Ruby Riott had the type of Raw women's championship match many were expecting and hoping for on Sunday night, just one night later. Dean Ambrose fell further off the deep end, and Braun Strowman drove Baron Corbin through a table. In execution, it was a bit messier than that. The Lafayette crowd was ice cold throughout the night, and everything from Triple H trying to hype up the NXT debuts and DX's Hall of Fame induction, through some really good matches, did little to get them out of their seats. Commentary felt over-produced and pressured to hype up the new debuts, rather than letting the characters and their actions speak for themselves. Overall, there was a lot to be excited about, but it didn't quite live up to a WrestleMania season standard.

Tim Fiorvanti, ESPN.com3d ago

It's been almost two years since The Revival stepped into the ring with #DIY, but it didn't feel as though they missed a beat in that time. Those two teams produced some of the most memorable matches in NXT history together, and they were at it once again as Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano made their Raw debuts against the newly crowned Raw tag team champions. The NXT champion and North American champion shocked a lot of people by pulling off the victory Monday night, and though the short-term future is a bit hazy between their NXT and main roster statuses, this match tends to lean towards bigger plans on Monday nights. Ricochet made a similarly explosive debut, as he teamed up with Finn Balor and defeated the team of Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush. Aleister Black completed the clean sweep with a victory over Elias.

Tim Fiorvanti, ESPN.com3d ago

With only one set of women's tag team title, it's been unclear as to how they would be defended after the first champions were crowned. Bayley and Sasha Banks seemingly clarified that statement on Monday night, insisting they'd defend those titles on Raw, Smackdown, and "even NXT". Tamina and Nia Jax appear to be the first team that will step up to challenge them. Rounding out Raw, Dean Ambrose slapped Drew McIntyre upside the head, ate two claymore kicks and lost a match in just a few minutes. An awkward backstage moment with Seth Rollins was the cherry on top of the crazy sundae. That backstage appearance was Rollins' only moment on Raw, while Becky Lynch was not in attendance Monday. Closing out the action from Raw, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder failed to snap Hawkins' never-ending losing streak against the Lucha House Party.

Tim Fiorvanti, ESPN.com3d ago

Kofi Kingston, who is a last-minute sub for Mustafa Ali (concussion) at Elimination Chamber, stepped up in a massive way and put on an unforgettable performance Tuesday in a gauntlet match to determine the last one to enter Sunday's WWE title match. In an ironman feat, Kingston lasted over an hour and defeated three opponents. First, he stunned Daniel Bryan, thanks to a Trouble in Paradise kick after well over 20 minutes against Bryan. Then Kingston defeated Jeff Hardy with an S.O.S., and then rolled up Samoa Joe to pick up his third pinfall. Even after a frustrated Joe caught Kingston in a Coquina Clutch outside the ring, the New Day member refused to go away and fought AJ Styles tooth and nail before Styles eventually locked in a calf crusher and forced Kingston to tap out. Ultimately, Randy Orton would emerge from out of nowhere, and within seconds nailed Styles with an RKO to win the match and the final slot. But this was Kingston’s night, and while he likely won’t walk away from Sunday’s PPV as champ, he reminded WWE fans what he is capable of in big spots.

Tim Fiorvanti, ESPN.com9d ago

As we found out Tuesday on SmackDown Live, the Becky Lynch suspension from Monday came with one major upside: That effect is elevating Charlotte Flair’s heel status to an all-time high ahead of her scheduled match against Raw champion Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania. Flair was vociferously jeered as she made her way down to the ring and delivered a sarcastic, combative promo directed in Lynch's direction. “I am in the backbone of the division, the franchise player, and I am a winner,” Charlotte said. Flair then called Becky a "flash in a pan" before heading back to the locker room. This was a really smart way to garner more heat for what's likely to be a main-event match on the biggest day of the wrestling year.

Tim Fiorvanti, ESPN.com9d ago

Ahead of Sunday's women's tag team Elimination Chamber match, Naomi (along with her partner Carmella) pinned Mandy Rose (and her partner Sonya Deville) in a triple threat match Tuesday night. By virtue of their loss, Rose and Deville will start Sunday’s Elimination Chamber match against Bayley and Sasha Banks -- a big disadvantage for all four women. In a subtle, yet creative move, The IIconics refused to tag into the match to avoid taking the loss and then attacked the winners after the bell. On the men’s side, Shane McMahon and The Miz invited their upcoming opponents, The Usos, to the ring on “McMiz TV.” After a string of fighting words, The Usos simultaneously superkicked both SmackDown tag team champions to make a statement heading into Sunday.

Tim Fiorvanti, ESPN.com9d ago

The closing moments of Monday Night Raw brought a long-rumored change to one of the main events of WrestleMania 35. After Becky Lynch was forced to apologize for attacking Triple H and Stephanie McMahon to preserve her Raw women's championship match against Ronda Rousey, Vince McMahon overruled the process and suspended Lynch until after WrestleMania -- and inserted Charlotte Flair in her place to face Rousey. By all indications, this is a mechanism to ultimately make this a triple threat title match at WrestleMania, but many fans are already voicing their displeasure with this move. In reality, there's plenty of story between each of these three women, and this change should accomplish two key goals -- covering up for Rousey's occasional issues on a live microphone, and making Flair the unapologetic villain on the way to WrestleMania.

Tim Fiorvanti, ESPN.com10d ago

From the time The Revival had their Raw debut in April 2017, it took them over a year to get their first televised shot at the Raw tag team championships. In six subsequent shots at that title -- three of which came against Bobby Roode & Chad Gable -- Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder failed to cash in. Monday night changed all that, with The Revival finally capturing the Raw tag titles in a tremendously entertaining match against Roode and Gable on Raw. In other action, Ruby Riott defeated Nikki Cross and Dean Ambrose beat EC3 in a return match from last week via roll-up. Lastly, after an aborted one-on-one match between Finn Balor and Drew McIntyre, and a subsequent six-man tag team match that was restarted midway through, Balor, Kurt Angle and Braun Strowman defeated McIntyre, Bobby Lashley and Baron Corbin.

Tim Fiorvanti, ESPN.com10d ago

Tamina and Nia Jax won a triple threat women's tag team match by pinning Bayley, who lost her tag team partner Sasha Banks due to injury early in the match. Banks and Bayley will now be one of the two teams to start the women's tag team Elimination Chamber match on Sunday. Rounding out Raw, Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman engaged in a war of words, and we saw a video of Kevin Owens bowling -- though the point of the latter promo was to deliver a message that Owens is only about a month away from returning to in-ring action.

Tim Fiorvanti, ESPN.com10d ago