Rhea Ripley gets a brand new Championship, Cody Rhodes VS The Miz
Rhea Ripley’s music hit as soon as this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw started as the SmackDown Women’s Champion made her way down to the ring. However, Rhea is no longer the SmackDown Women’s Champion because Adam Pearce gave Ripley the brand-new “Women’s World Championship”. It’s the same design as Seth’s except with a white strap, but I like it so it’s fine. Dominik Mysterio then arrived to celebrate and put Mami over before Cody Rhodes arrived. The American Nightmare challenged Dominik Mysterio to a match at Money in the Bank which Rhea accepted on Dom’s behalf. The Miz then arrived which allowed Mysterio to get in another cheap shot on Rhodes. This was an alright opening segment, but the focus should’ve been on Ripley, not Rhodes and Mysterio.
Grade: C+
This also led into the first match of the night as Cody Rhodes took on The Miz. The Miz targeted Cody Rhodes’ injured arm to good effect, but he wasn’t able to keep the American Nightmare down. The match itself was alright, both men know what they’re doing in the ring, but I’ve also seen this match/feud before so it’s not super exciting. Cody Rhodes was eventually able to pick up the victory after delivering a Cross Rhodes.
Grade: C+
Becky Lynch VS Chelsea Green; Damian Priest VS Matt Riddle: Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
Becky Lynch was speaking to the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn backstage before she walked past Maxxine Dupri and the Alpha Academy. Becky then walked out to the ring and talked about her love for power before Zoey Stark interrupted her. Stark insulted Becky and told her she would make sure she’s famous once again once she’s done with her. Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville then came out which didn’t amuse either Becky or Zoey before it was time for Chelsea Green to go one-on-one with the Man. The match didn’t go super long, but what took place was pretty decent. Chelsea Green is finally starting to show her capabilities inside the squared circle whilst Becky Lynch has enough star power to keep the crowd invested. In the end, Becky reversed the “I’m Prettier” into the Dis-Arm-Her to get the victory. Zoey Stark watched on from on top of a ladder.
Grade: C+
The Judgment Day were joking backstage as Damian Priest made his intentions clear when it came to facing Matt Riddle. Priest wanted to go out to ringside on his own whilst Finn Balor said “he was deep in thought”. This led into the final men’s Money in the Bank Qualifying match of the year as Damian Priest battled his old buddy Matt Riddle. This was probably the best match of the night as both guys put on a good show for the crowd whilst also trying to do everything they could to earn their way into the O2 Arena in London. Riddle looked in a great position to win a few times, but it was an epic Razor’s Edge that got Damian Priest the big victory. After the match, Imperium arrived and we got a small stare-down between Gunther and Priest which was awesome. The Punishment of the Judgment Day told Imperium “to pick the bones” which Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser gladly did. Good stuff and a part of me really hopes Damian Priest wins at Money in the Bank.
Grade: B-
Bronson Reed VS Ricochet, Finn Balor challenges Seth “Freakin” Rollins, Raquel Rodriguez VS Shayna Baszler, Chad Gable VS Erik
Cody Rhodes was interviewed backstage by Cathy Kelley and the American Nightmare continues to ask where Brock Lesnar is. Natalya then spoke to Byron Saxton about how being herself is getting her nowhere before Saxton then went over to Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Imperium quickly interrupted them and annoyed KO to the point where Owens agreed to put their Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships on the line when the two teams meet in the main event later on tonight. Indus Sher then cut a promo where Jinder Mahal said Veer and Sanga would give Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin a proper match next week before it was time for Ricochet to try and get revenge on Bronson Reed. This was a decent match between two talented wrestlers whose styles work well together. Shinsuke Nakamura arrived midway through the contest and he eventually got taken out after Bronson through Ricochet into the Shinsuke. However, this angered the King of Strong Style so he took out Bronson Reed to cause the DQ which annoyed Ricochet greatly. However, the One and Only and Nakamura worked together to drop Mr. Nice Guy with a superplex. This was fine, but I don’t get why Bronson Reed isn’t in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match considering he’s feuding with two guys who are in the match.
Grade: C+
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn spoke in a locker room backstage and Sami told KO that he needs to chill out a bit. Owens didn’t seem to agree with what his tag partner was saying. Adam Pearce was then interrupted by Ricochet who asked for another match against Bronson Reed for next week, but Pearce told Ric that Reed’s already booked in a match next week. That match is against Shinsuke Nakamura (who walked in) and the two babyfaces clearly didn’t seem too happy with one another. Good. Finn Balor of the Judgment Day made his way down to the ring as he called out Seth “Freakin” Rollins. The Visionary accepted the call, but it took him a while to speak due to the crowd singing his song for ages. This really annoyed Finn Balor who wanted to get something off his chest and it ended up with Balor telling the World Heavyweight Champion that he’s going to ruin his momentum like Rollins did to him in 2016. The two then agreed to fight for the Championship at Money in the Bank which should be fun. It was then time for another match as Raquel Rodriguez battled one-half of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, Shayna Baszler. Shayna actually came out to Ronda Rousey’s entrance theme which is stupid and the match itself wasn’t great either as it can’t have gone more than 150 seconds. Raquel looked good during the match, but she quickly lost to a Shayna Baszler roll-up which was assisted by Ronda Rousey. I don’t think this accomplished anything.
Grade: C-
We then went straight into another match as Chad Gable looked to “teach” Maxxine Dupri when he went one-on-one with Erik of the Viking Raiders. This match didn’t go much longer than the previous match, but there was more to this. For starters, Chad Gable got a really good reaction from the crowd which was nice and Maxxine Dupri hit a pretty good-looking arm drag on Valhalla who charged at her. This distracted Erik and allowed Master Gable to pick up the victory with a roll-up. Whilst Gable probably could’ve won with his finishing move, him winning at all is something to be happy about.
Grade: C
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn VS Imperium
Rhea Ripley got both a cool and a weird video package before Finn Balor was talking with JD McDonagh. That’s pretty cool. JD then left as Damian Priest walked in and congratulated Finn on his match against Seth “Freakin” Rollins at Money in the Bank. Finn then asked Damian whether he’d cash in on him which Priest replied by saying “absolutely not”. The best part about this is I believe Priest, but I wouldn’t believe Balor if he said it. However, WWE cannot afford to break up the Judgment Day under any circumstances. Seth Rollins then cut a promo backstage where he announced he’s going to be holding an Open Challenge for his World Heavyweight Championship next week. Please let it be Johnny Gargano. It was then time for another set of titles to be on the line as Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn looked to retain their Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships against Imperium’s Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser. This was a good match between 4 really talented competitors. Kevin and Sami have been two of the best in WWE since they arrived whilst Gunther is arguably one of the top 3 best wrestlers in the world right now. However, it’s unfair to ignore Ludwig Kaiser who continues to show how flipping good he is. Some of the best moments of the match came when the Ring General continuously tried to take Sami Zayn’s head off with Lariat’s and Big Boots. However, Matt Riddle arrived and whilst he also got kicked in the face by the Intercontinental Champion, this allowed Kevin Owens to deliver a DDT on Gunther onto the steel ramp before Sami Zayn hit the Blue Thunderbomb to get the victory. I enjoyed this main event.
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