The United States Championship picture, Bobby Lashley VS Mustafa Ali
This week's edition of Monday Night Raw started with the United States Champion Seth Rollins. Rollins is definitely a babyface now, but his character hasn’t changed which is really cool. He talked about how he has challengers coming from everywhere before Bobby Lashley’s music hit. Lashley told Rollins that he will hurt anyone that stops him reclaiming his United States Championship before Rollins took the mick out of Bobby losing to Brock at Crown Jewel. Mustafa Ali’s music then hit and he came down with an official as he was determined to make Lashley pay for costing him a shot at the United States Championship last week. Lashley dominated this match and every time Ali tried to get back into it, Lashley just stopped him. In the end, the All Mighty wrecked Ali with a spear before he locked in the Hurt Lock to get the win. In the end, I thought this was alright. Lashley probably should be winning comfortable right now, but this didn’t make Ali look bad. WWE are doing a good job when it comes to his “never give up” attitude.
Grade: B-
Mia Yim VS Tamina, Chad Gable VS Matt Riddle
Cathy Kelley was backstage with the OC and Mia Yim and the HBIC talked about how she is going to get her first win since her return against Tamina. She then had a match with Tamina and she did just that. It wasn’t the greatest match, neither woman is particularly amazing inside the ropes and it just didn’t feel like this worked. However, this was good from a story point of view. Yim managed to beat the Powerhouse Tamina meaning you can now believe that she can beat Tamina. The Nightmare is a whole different animal though.
Grade: C-
Matt Riddle was backstage and he is still playing with his bongos. Riddle said that Elias is currently away sorting out merchandise for their band before Chad Gable came up to him and told him that he is going to follow in the footsteps of Otis’ win last week. The match was pretty decent but that shouldn’t be a surprise given Chad Gable was in it. That’s not to say Riddle isn’t good either because he brought some good stuff to this match. At one point, Gable hit this crazy suplex onto Riddle off the top of the ring post which was just ridiculous. In the end, Chad Gable managed to steal the win due to Otis holding his feet down on the ropes. It was a good win for Chad Gable and most importantly, it looks like the Alpha Academy might finally go on a winning run.
Grade: B
Miz TV, Dominik Mysterio VS Shelton Benjamin
Happy Corbin and JBL were backstage playing poker where they were taking lots of money off of this random guy (I had no idea who he was). After this, Akira Tozawa came in and asked to join in despite not knowing the rules. After this, it was time for Miz TV, but this edition was actually being hosted by Byron Saxton. The Miz was acting like a victim who just wants the WWE Universe to appreciate him. He then told the full story of what happened before Johnny Gargano came out and questioned what the Miz had been saying. He then told the Miz that he will face Dexter Lumis in two weeks and if Lumis wins, the Miz will have to pay everything he owes to Dexter and Lumis will also get a WWE contract. Johnny Wrestling then told Miz to turn around and as he did, the camera man revealed himself to be Dexter Lumis. This was all solid stuff; Johnny is great and Miz is actually a really good actor.
Grade: B
Shelton Benjamin was being interviewed backstage by Cathy Kelley before Dominik Mysterio took shots at Benjamin’s lack of wins. Mysterio then “hid” behind Damian Priest before Benjamin accepted “Dominik’s” challenge. Evil Mysterio’s mood then went down. The match itself was alright, Dominik’s getting better but he definitely still needs to improve. Shelton is a consistent worker who is very good at making others look good, so this was solid overall. The distractions from Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest proved to be too much for Benjamin as Dominik managed to pick up the win with a frog splash. I’m intrigued to see what’s going to happen with Shelton.
Grade: C
Iyo Sky VS Dana Brooke, Austin Theory VS Dolph Ziggler
Austin Theory was backstage and he cut an excellent promo about how much pressure he is under. He then talked about the fact that he was never going to be able to cash in on Roman Reigns due to their always being too many people around to stop him. This showcased just how smart the 24-year-old is. Dolph Ziggler then came up to him and talked about their history from a few months ago before Theory challenged old DZ to a match later on in the night. Dana Brooke then had her own promo where she said she was incredibly upset that the title she loved so much was just thrown in the trash. This then led into a match between her and Damage Control’s Iyo Sky. This match was pretty short and it wasn’t something that’s really worth watching. However, Iyo is super talented and her “Over the Moonsault” is a thing of beauty. After the match, Mia Yim came out and declared that she would be in War Games. However, she wouldn’t be with Damage Control and in fact, she’s going to be with the good guys. If you remember back to 2019, Dakota Kai attacked Mia Yim meaning she wasn’t able to compete in War Games. I really hope that gets brought up.
Grade: B+ for the promo, C- for the match
We cut back to the poker room to see that Akira Tozawa had absolutely destroyed Baron Corbin and JBL. Tozawa then caught Corbin cheating before he challenged him to a match inside the squared circle. After this, we then got the match between Austin Theory and Dolph Ziggler. I would say that this is the best match the two have had against one another. The transitions were nice and they both got in some nice offense. Theory even kicked out of the Zig-Zag which I was a little surprised about. In the end, Austin hit two A-Town Downs but he didn’t cover him. Theory then clearly snapped and he destroyed Ziggler outside the ring to the point that the referee had to call for a disqualification. WWE officials then tried to break this up but Theory kept on pummelling the former 3 time World Champion. Even though I would have had Theory pick up the win before he destroyed Dolph, it was the character reset he needed. Also, he kept mumbling to himself “I’m not that kid” which is really interesting. Good stuff all round.
Grade: B+
Baron Corbin VS Akira Tozawa, lots of promos
Backstage, Rhea Ripley aligned herself with Damage Control for War Games. That really is a game changer. After this, Baron Corbin went one-on-one with Akira Tozawa. This match shocked me because Tozawa was all over Corbin. Baron barely got any offense in against the quickness of Tozawa but in the end, he caught him mid-air to hit the End of Days to get the victory. It was nice to see Tozawa looking strong in the ring, but I have to question what this does for Baron Corbin. Hey, at least it makes his finisher look devastating.
Grade: C
Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss, Asuka and Mia Yim talked about how they know how important their War Games advantage match is next week. The Alpha Academy then walked past and Chad Gable told Cathy Kelley that the Alpha Academy is on a roll. Seth Rollins then came past and sang his song with the word “Shoosh”. It’s so cool to see a face still hanging out with the heels. Finn Balor was then being interviewed by Byron Saxton and Balor said that he accepts AJ Styles’ challenge for Survivor Series but right now, his focus is on winning the United States Championship.
United States Championship: Seth “Freakin” Rollins VS Finn Balor
The Main Event of Monday Night Raw saw Seth “Freakin” Rollins put his title on the line against former rival Finn Balor. This was a highly competitive matchup between two guys on the top of their game. Both men sold each other's offense really well and both men came close to winning it at certain times. In the end, the Judgement Day came out to try and help Finn Balor win before the OC and Mia Yim came to stop them. After Styles tripped Balor off the top rope, the two teams brawled into the crowd leaving Seth Rollins to hit the Stomp to retain his championship. After the match, Seth Rollins was celebrating before he was attacked by Austin Theory. Theory destroyed Rollins inside and outside of the ring and stood over him, holding the United States Championship to close the show. It was a good match and an even better ending. The United States Championship picture is so good right now.
