10 Things We Learned From WWE Raw (April 17)

7. King's Landing

Sasha Banks Alexa Bliss
WWE.com

Seth Rollins' impassioned celebration on last week's edition of Raw was a rare case of humility from a WWE babyface, as the 'Kingslayer' basked in the glory of his WrestleMania 33 victory over Triple H.

He was brought back down to earth with a thud this week though, as Samoa Joe bulldozed through Chris Jericho en route to a Payback pay-per-view showdown with 'The Architect'.

Rollins' pre-WrestleMania injury provided an in-built storyline between the pair, with Joe making reference to the sound of Seth's ligaments and joints snapping alongside his screams of agony following 'The Samoan Submission Machine's devastating debut.

Ignoring Seth's hackneyed 'Payback is a b*tch' retort, the rationale is solid and the prevailing match has a chance of stealing the show on April 30.

The contest seems genuinely unpredictable, and may stretch beyond their maiden meeting.

Joe is currently undefeated in singles action on the main roster, which is a trope that has served him well in the past. Meanwhile, the Triple H victory requires a solid follow-up for Rollins, especially with audiences rallying behind the once-loathed Authority suck-up.

Rollins and Joe will be looking to shake off the jinx of their first interaction together, and both have proven capable of producing something truly special when in there with an opponent of equal or greater calibre.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett