Triple H starts the show, Cody Rhodes demands a rematch
After a long WrestleMania recap package, Triple H came down to the ring to thank all the superstars, staff and fans for their contribution to this weekend’s WrestleMania event. He then said WWE isn’t going anywhere before he welcomed out the Tribal Chief Roman Reigns who got booed by the LA crowd. Cody Rhodes quickly interrupted Roman and after a long promo, he said he wants a rematch tonight. Both Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns rejected this request, but they did accept Rhodes’ request for a tag team match. Paul Heyman then said that this tag partner had to have wrestled at WrestleMania 39 and they also aren’t ever allowed to challenge Roman Reigns for the titles again. This is when Brock Lesnar’s music hit and apparently, he wasn’t able to fight for the title anyway which is something I don’t recall being a part of their Summerslam match. The segment itself just felt like it went on too long.
Grade: C+
Omos VS Elias, Austin Theory VS Rey Mysterio
The first match of the night saw the Nigerian Giant Omos take on Elias. When I say this was a match, it was a literal squash match which Omos won in under 2 minutes and Elias didn’t connect with a single move. Nothing else to add other than this wasn’t very good.
Grade: E
The Usos were backstage when they knocked on the door of their cousin Roman Reigns. Paul Heyman came to them and told them to go to the jet as Roman was out talking strategy with Solo Sikoa. As soon as the Usos left, you could hear Roman Reigns asking “have they left”. I’m really intrigued to see what happens in The Bloodline going forward. Bad Bunny was then at ringside and he said to Cathy Kelley that he was just here to have fun and be a fan (after talking about BackLash). Rey Mysterio then came out and thanked everyone for their support before Austin Theory came out and took shots at the Hall of Famer. This led to a match that was pretty competitive and both men looked pretty good. However, as Rey Mysterio was looking to go for the 619, Dominik Mysterio ran down to cause a distraction which allowed Austin Theory to get the win with the A-Town Down. Both Dom and Damian Priest beat up Rey before Dominik went over to Bad Bunny. Bad Bunny ended up punching Dominik twice which angered Priest so he sent his “friend” through the table. Seeing Priest and Bad Bunny on the other side is actually pretty cool.
Grade: B-
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn VS The Street Profits, Bobby Lashley VS Mustafa Ali
Damian Priest told Adam Pearce that he shouldn’t be worried about what happened with Bad Bunny because “he likes the guy”. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn then came out and thanked the WWE Universe for everything. They then said that they want to celebrate by having another match so the Street Profits came out and they had a decent match. Why, because everyone involved is talented, but I still struggle to enjoy Street Profits matches because they’ve been doing the same thing for an eternity. The brand new Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions were able to get the victory as Sami Zayn pinned Montez Ford after hitting the Helluva Kick. This was fine.
Grade: C+
Seth “Freakin” Rollins said to Cathy Kelley that the party is clearly out in the ring so Seth’s music hit and stood in the ring whilst the crowd sang his song. This was literally it and then the camera cut backstage to Bobby Lashley. I don’t know what to say. Bobby Lashley said he was happy to win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but he was angry over not wrestling at WrestleMania. Bronson Reed then came over and said he’ll beat Lashley at some point. Mustafa Ali then came over to Bobby and tried to help him which resulted in Bobby Lashley beating up Ali to the ring before he made the Heart of 205 Live tap out in the Hurt Lock after 30 seconds. I like Bobby Lashley and I think he should be booked strong, but god they’re making Ali look crap.
Grade: D-
Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez VS Damage CTRL, Matt Riddle returns
Roman Reigns was backstage and he clearly didn’t seem happy about Brock Lesnar being Cody Rhodes’ tag team partner. Bianca Belair then made her way down to the ring as she celebrated her third WrestleMania victory in a row. Rhea Ripley’s music then hit and the SmackDown Women’s Champion got into the ring and said Belair was lucky that she didn’t choose her at WrestleMania. Basically, the whole point of this was to say that at some point, we will get Belair VS Ripley. We then got a WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Number 1 Contenders match as the team of Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez took on Damage CTRL. It’s a bit silly to have two teams that lost at WrestleMania be in a number 1 contenders match, but I thought the action was solid which isn’t much of a surprise. Liv Morgan ended up picking up the win after hitting an awesome-looking ObLIVion to Dakota Kai. I hope they win the belts next week.
Grade: C+
The Miz then came down and he was not happy about what had happened to him at WrestleMania. His promo was actually the funniest thing on the entire show and he said he doesn’t want any more surprises. As soon as he said that, Matt Riddle made his surprising return with brand-new gear and after a quick promo, he laid the A-Lister out with Broderick. Cool, I guess? Becky Lynch, Lita and Trish Stratus then cut a promo backstage where the reigning Women’s Tag Team Champions said they’re going to retain next week.
Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa VS Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar
Roman Reigns got his long entrance for what was going to be his first match on Monday Night Raw for a long time. However, just before the match started, Brock Lesnar delivered a shocking F5 to Cody Rhodes. Reigns and Sikoa then left as Brock beat the American Nightmare up for over 5 minutes. At one point, Brock F5’d Rhodes through a table and he also delivered another F5 onto the Steel Steps. It was a shame that the tag match didn’t happen, but I thought Brock taking out Cody was a nice surprise.
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