Rey Mysterio VS Finn Balor, Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus VS Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez: WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships
Rey Mysterio kicked off Monday Night Raw before Corey Graves said a bunch of WWE Superstars are struggling with “travel issues”. Rey came out and said it’s been a wild week for him before Dominik Mysterio interrupted to a chorus of boos. After a back-and-forth argument regarding Bad Bunny, Rey Mysterio challenged his son to another match. Dom said no before he brought out Finn Balor who was more than happy to fight the legendary luchador. I thought this match was pretty decent, both men put on a good show and the story was told well. Rey had to keep fighting off the interference of his son which he was able to do for the most part, but eventually, Dominik was able to blast his father with a steel chain before the Prince hit the Coup de Grace to get the victory. Solid stuff.
Grade: B-
The Alpha Academy were being interviewed backstage by Cathy Kelley before Maxxine Dupri walked in and even though she was in awe of Otise, she wasn’t at all impressed with Chad Gable. You could then hear screaming in the background and that was because Lita was down injured whilst Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez checked on her. Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus then walked into shot and the Man definitely had her suspicions about who attacked her tag team partner. After Liv and Raquel did their entrances, Becky Lynch said she will defend the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships tonight with another Hall of Famer in the form of Trish Stratus. I didn’t like this match at all, I thought it was really clunky and clumsy. I don’t know what it is with these Hall of Famers, but they just don’t look good enough anymore. Becky also looked pretty sloppy at times which isn’t great as even though Liv and Raquel have won championship gold in the past, they’re still nowhere near as experienced as their opponents. However, one thing I was happy about was the ending as Trish missed the Chick Kick which allowed Liv Morgan to roll her up to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. It’s fair to say that Becky and Lita’s title reign didn’t elevate the belts at all. After the match, Trish attacked Becky from behind (this also looked a bit messy) before she dropped the man with the Chick Kick. I have no interest in seeing that match.
Grade: C-
Bobby Lashley VS Bronson Reed, The Usos VS Alpha Academy, Iyo Sky VS Piper Niven VS “Michin” Mia Yim
Paul Heyman spoke to Cathy Kelley backstage and the Wiseman said Kevin Owens has no chance tonight because neither Sami Zayn nor Matt Riddle are here tonight whilst the Usos are. Trish Stratus then completely ignored Byron Saxton when he tried to ask her a question before Bayley came out of Adam Pearce’s office and told Damage CTRL that she’s in a number 1 contenders match tonight. Iyo Sky really didn’t seem happy about this and she and Dakota said that one of them deserves an opportunity as Bayley’s already lost to Bianca Belair. Bobby Lashley then made his way down to the ring as he was about to have a match with the Colossal Bronson Reed. I didn’t enjoy this match particularly, I just thought it was a bit scrappy. I think Bronson Reed is great, but part of the reason he looks so good is the way his opponents sell for him. Bobby Lashley is a big guy who’s not going to sell like the likes of Mustafa Ali, Cedric Alexander and Akira Tozawa which definitely does hurt the overall enjoyment of Bronson Reed matches. This match also ended in a double count-out which felt really lazy. Just give Reed the big victory.
Grade: C
Cody Rhodes came out to cut a long promo about his loss to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania and the attack he received at the hands of Brock Lesnar last week. Cody apologised to the fans for losing at WrestleMania before he challenged Brock Lesnar to a match at “WrestleMania” BackLash. Cody always delivers his promos well, but this one felt like it went on way too long. The Usos then made their way down to the ring as they were about to face the Alpha Academy in tag team action. This match started slow and was mostly Otis dancing which is always good fun. When we got into proper action for the final few minutes of the contest, it was great. Is that a surprise? Not really given these two teams have arguably been WWE’s best in the past 18 months and Chad Gable is just such a joy to watch when he gets going. In the end, though, he was the one who ended up losing the match as the Usos delivered the 1D to get the victory.
Grade: B-
Iyo Sky took on Piper Niven and “Michin” Mia Yim in a triple threat Number 1 Contenders match. All three women are good in the ring so it was nice to see them all get a decent spotlight on Raw this week. Mia Yim hit some really nice strikes, Niven showcased her immense power whilst Iyo proved why she really is the Genius of the Sky. In the end, it was the former NXT Women’s Champion who got the victory after she hit Over the Moonsault onto Mia Yim who was already pinning Piper after delivering Eat-De-Feet to the Scot. Iyo Sky VS Bianca Belair should be great if they get time.
Grade: C+
Kevin Owens VS Solo Sikoa
The main event of this week’s Monday Night Raw saw Kevin Owens take on Solo Sikoa. I like both of these guys, I think they’re terrific, but I’ve seen this match so many times now to the point where it’s hard to really care about it. Don’t get me wrong, I thought Kevin Owens selling was brilliant in this match, but the match ended the same way nearly every Bloodline match ends as Solo Sikoa hit the Samoan Spike to win after Jey Uso hit KO with a Superkick. The three brothers then beat up Kevin Owens some more before Sami Zayn and Matt Riddle ran in to make the save. This was fine.