New WWE Raw WrestleMania Build-Up 03.16.26: Oba Femi Shocks Lesnar

If the appearance of Femi wasn’t a big enough surprise, he hit Lesnar with an enormous powerbomb while Rollins rolled out of the ring. He went as far as to rest his foot on his lifeless, supine body before pointing to the WrestleMania sign.

There’s no bigger rocket than throwing the relatively green Femi in the ring with Lesnar at WrestleMania. It may be too fast; where does he go from there?

Battle Of The Americanos

El Grande Americano versus “Original” El Grande Americano was the next match, as WWE continues to waste two of their better talents in this tired gimmick. It went just like the others. The match started with elite technical wrestling, only to be finished with the steel plate in the mask.

WWE Raw WrestleMania Build-Up: Women’s IC Title

WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion AJ Lee defended her new championship against Bailey. There was a back-and-forth, even reversals, but neither one looked strong or athletic. Lee made her opponent tap out with her Black Widow submission.

Becky Lynch blindsided Lee on her way back up the entrance ramp. This is another played-out rivalry, and another waste of the Women’s Intercontinental Championship. It may be presumptions, but it seems WWE is shoving it down throats through WrestleMania.

WWE Raw WrestleMania Build-Up: Men’s IC Title

WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta defended that title against Dragon Lee in an open challenge. The company is trying to push this babyface gimmick of the champ being a hard worker, and the WWE Universe can come from nothing, too, if they try their best. The gimmick may have its place, but it’s not with one of the most dangerous luchadores of all time.

These are two of the best at mixing the classic, high-flying lucha style with hard-hitting, modern-day American style, and this match delivered just that. The reversals and false finishes had the WWE Universe jumping out of their seats. Penta picked up the pinfall after a Mexican Destroyer.

Maxxine Dupri Vs. Natalya Rerun

Maxxine Dupri continues wasting main roster television time with tryout-level capabilities. Not on that, she had yet another match with Natti. It was a couple of minutes of vanilla stuff before Dupri tapped out to a sharpshooter.

WWE Raw WrestleMania Build-Up

After a violent heel-turn on Cody Rhodes last week, Randy Orton cut a promo on Raw via the jumbotron. In short, he’s a killer, and wrestling has more than one royal family. This was both a shot at Rhodes and a nod to his family’s contribution to the business.

WWE Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer and Raquel Rodriguez faced off in a non-title match with Vaquer’s championship challenger for WrestleMania at ringside, Liv Morgan. Rodriguez controlled the action early, with numerous power spots, including the announce desk and ring post.

Morgan was running distractions for Rodriguez when Iyo Sky rushed to even the odds, only to be thrown like a ragdoll over the announce desk. It was just enough for Vaquer to regroup and win the match.

Roman Reigns & CM Punk WWE Raw WrestleMania Build-Up

Roman Reigns came to the ring to much admiration, before calling out WWE World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk for calling Raw his show. These two have been putting on entertaining promos, and this one added on nicely. Reigns explained Phil isn’t a main-eventer and is too old. The show ended awkwardly with Punk striking his challenger with a microphone, and everyone left calmly as the show faded to black.

• Click here to catch up on the latest episode of SmackDown, including Orton’s heel turn.

End Of My WWE Raw WrestleMania Build-Up

This WWE Raw WrestleMania build-up answered questions and juiced up storylines. Stay tuned to Stadium Rant for the latest as the biggest event in wrestling grows near.