Rhea and Dominik get interrupted by Cody Rhodes, Shinsuke Nakamura VS Ricochet
Dominik Mysterio and Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley started off this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw, but they couldn’t say much as the crowd heavily booed Dom. Cody Rhodes then arrived to a “home state” pop which saw Mysterio and Ripley quickly get out of the ring. Cody called Dom “dangerous” before he offered Mysterio the opportunity to get another shot in. However, Dominik was happy just to leave. I’d be intrigued to know why WWE chose this segment to start the show as not much happened.
Grade: C
It was then time for Shinsuke Nakamura and Ricochet to continue their rivalry as they faced off in the first match of the night. Bronson Reed watched on from ringside and he seemed to be enjoying himself as he watched the action closely. However, the Big Aussie wasn’t for long as he was laid out by both of his rivals before the referee ejected him before he could get properly involved in the match. Thank goodness for this because what followed after the ad break was a really entertaining contest. Ricochet is so, so good at professional wrestling and he showed why once again here with some ridiculous flying moves and combinations whilst Shinsuke, who’s been a bit hit-or-miss in recent months, put on a good performance whilst making his opponent look good. The King of Strong Style missed twice when it came to hitting the Kinshasa and that cost him as the One and Only picked up the victory after a delightful Shooting Star Press. Good stuff all-round and Ricochet winning was the right call as we know he’s not going to win on Saturday whilst it keeps Nakamura’s chances of winning at a fairly decent level.
Grade: B-
Ronda Rousey VS Raquel Rodriguez, Finn Balor and Seth “Freakin” Rollins promos
We got a video from earlier on in the day where Matt Riddle challenged Gunther to a match for the Intercontinental Championship at Money in the Bank. We then cut back to the live feed as Matt Riddle was once again being interviewed by Byron Saxton, but this time, he was quickly interrupted by Ludwig Kaiser. Kaiser trash-talked the Original Bro before Riddle punched him in the face. However, this didn’t work out to well for him as he then received a massive boot from Gunther before the Ring General stomped on his injured foot and excepted his challenge for MITB. I’m glad that Gunther’s wrestling in London again, just a shame that it’s not against someone who’s British. Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio then stormed into Adam Pearce’s office and Dom demanded that he gets a match with someone “big” tonight to prove to Cody Rhodes just how dangerous he is. When Pearce asked him who he had in mind, Mysterio responded by saying “we’ll get back to you”. Sometimes Adam Pearce is awful at his job, but other times I genuinely feel sorry for him. We then got a video package showing “Money in the Bank in Numbers” and as someone that likes facts, statistics and numbers, this was really cool. What wasn’t really cool was the next match as Ronda Rousey and Raquel Rodriguez battled each other for what must be at least the 12th time now. Liv Morgan and Shayna Baszler supported their partners from ringside and the two quickly went at one another as well. Meanwhile, back in the ring, Ronda Rousey picked up the victory with a roll-up/armbar combination. The match couldn’t have gone more than 150 seconds and I don’t get why WWE always has Raquel losing to Rousey. She gets built up to be a beast every week, but her momentum faults every time she faces Rousey because she always loses.
Grade: C-
Finn Balor cut a video promo where he said the old Finn Balor from 7 years ago is dead. The Prince then continued by saying that he’s going to punish Seth “Freakin” Rollins for laughing at him at his weakest point. I love it when WWE mentions things like this before he said “I didn’t turn bitter, you made me bitter” which is a brilliant line. He then finished off his excellent promo by saying he’s going to take his World Heavyweight Championship from him “and that’s going to be a bitter pill that you will have to swallow”. This was excellent and made Balor look the best he’s looked since he probably won the Universal Championship at Summerslam 2016. Seth “Freakin” Rollins then arrived as everybody in the arena sang his song. The Visionary welcomed NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes who was watching from ringside before he thanked the A-Champion for helping him last week. Rollins then called out Balor and told the Prince that “the best version of Finn Balor isn’t good enough to beat the best version of Seth “Freakin” Rollins”. Finn Balor then arrived and the two brawled before Finn grabbed a chair. However, he wasn’t able to use it as Carmelo Hayes grabbed it away from the former NXT Champion before Rollins sent Balor into retreat. When you put Finn Balor and Seth Rollins’ promos together as one whole segment and the involvement of the NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes, this was great.
Grade: B+
Tommaso Ciampa VS The Miz, Dominik Mysterio VS ?, Women’s Money in the Bank Summit
Tommaso Ciampa cut a great promo backstage about why he attacked the Miz and he spoke about all these different questions surrounding him. However, the best question was definitely “why is Ciampa running around in Neon colours being the Miz’s sidekick.” Tommaso Ciampa then made his way down to the ring as he was meant to face the Miz again, but the A-Lister attacked him from behind on the entrance ramp before he laid him out with the Skull Crushing Finale. Having Ciampa get beaten up this easily only a week after his return isn’t the smartest or best decision, but I am a fan of the Miz when he gets super serious. WWE just needs to make sure they keep him serious and he doesn’t just appear to be smiley on Miz TV next week.
Grade: C+
Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens went up to Imperium as they weren’t happy with what they did to Matt Riddle earlier in the night. I say they weren’t happy, but Kevin Owens really didn’t seem to care too much before Owens went off at both Ludwig Kaiser and Gunther. This segment was another fun one involving these four and it ended with Sami Zayn challenging the Ring General to a match. Dominik Mysterio’s music then hit as the “ex-con” was ready for his match against a “big superstar”. However, it wasn’t a big superstar (in WWE’s eyes) as Akira Tozawa happened to be Mysterio’s opponent. Tozawa got in quite a bit of offense early in, but one distraction from Rhea Ripley was curtains for the former Cruiserweight Champion as Dominik dropped him on the mat before he delivered a Frog Splash to get the victory. Mysterio winning like this is fine and Mysterio picking Tozawa to be his opponent is fine and clever. However, it’s a shame that Tozawa is seen as a lesser opponent to Dominik as Tozawa is really good and entertaining.
Grade: C
The Viking Raiders cut a video promo where Valhalla proclaimed that the Raiders need to do terrible things to the Alpha Academy in order for the “gods to speak to them again”. I’m not sure that this presentation is working at all. Corey Graves was then in the ring as he was about to host a Summit for the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match. However, Graves was quickly booted out as Bayley said she was going to once again become Miss MITB before Iyo Sky said “let the best woman win”. Zelina Vega then spoke about being overlooked before Trish Stratus called all of them (except Zoey Stark) children. Becky Lynch then punched Stratus just like that before a brawl ensued that saw Iyo Sky take out most of the field with a moonsault. This left Becky Lynch in the ring who climbed up the ladder and grabbed the briefcase to confirm that the Man’s definitely not winning on Saturday. This wasn’t a good segment as it just came across as children bickering. Trish Stratus was the only person that cut a somewhat decent promo whilst Becky Lynch didn’t even speak. However, I’m still excited for the match which is a good thing.
Grade: C-
Gunther VS Sami Zayn, Finn Balor VS Carmelo Hayes
Carmelo Hayes was interviewed by Cathy Kelley backstage and the A-Champion said he was at Monday Night Raw due to Seth “Freakin” Rollins inviting him. Melo then said he’s going to beat Finn Balor tonight and Baron Corbin tomorrow to prove why “Melo Don’t Miss”. Becky Lynch then bumped into Rhea Ripley backstage and Rhea warned Becky of what would happen if she was to win Money in the Bank and try to cash in on her. Lynch fired back by saying the title needs her whilst the same can not be said for the Nightmare. Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champion Kevin Owens then joined commentary as it was time for his tag team partner Sami Zayn to face the Intercontinental Champion Gunther. Kevin Owens was hilariously brilliant on commentary like always and the in-ring action was just as good as Sami Zayn and Gunther put on a great show. The action was fast-paced and hard-hitting at the same time and some of the near-falls were great. Gunther kicked out of the Blue Thunderbomb at the last second whilst Sami kicked out even later after the Ring General nailed the Master Strategist with a massive dive. However, the ending came when Kevin Owens dropped Ludwig Kaiser before Gunther wrecked KO with a massive boot. Zayn then dived over the top rope to take out the IC Champ before he got back in the ring and got hit by the crutch of Giovanni Vinci whilst the referee was distracted. This allowed Gunther to hit his signature Powerbomb to get the victory. After the match, Imperium attacked Owens before Matt Riddle ran down to make the save. KO hit a Stunner to send Ludwig Kaiser packing. All of this was really good as Gunther, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens all proved why they are so damn great.
Grade: B
Carmelo Hayes got a video package which was done as an introduction for people that only watch the main roster product. Alpha Academy then responded to the Viking Raiders challenge in a fun segment before Natalya cut a promo about how her hardest battle right now isn’t in the ring, but in her head. Natalya then decided it would be a good idea to challenge Rhea Ripley to another match and trust me, that’s not a good idea. It was then time for the NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes to make his Raw debut as he battled the Number 1 Contender to the World Heavyweight Championship, Finn Balor. The action in this match was really good and that’s not really a surprise given how talented the two men are. Finn Balor once again looked good whilst Carmelo Hayes proved straight away that he’s good enough to be pushed straight to the top once he does eventually lose his NXT Championship. However, the ending saw Finn Balor just win with the Coup de Grace. I like Finn Balor and this was a big win for him to pick up less than a week from Money in the Bank, but the NXT Champion losing in his first match on Monday Night Raw isn’t a good look for either the brand or the Champion. Considering how many times WWE likes to book screwy or DQ finishes, there really needed to be one here.
Grade: C+
Cody Rhodes VS Damian Priest
Cody Rhodes was hanging out with his dog backstage before Cathy Kelley interviewed him. Cody said that whilst he enjoys these chats, he can’t wait to get to the stage where he no longer needs to talk about the Judgment Day. I doubt that’s happening any time soon. This then led into the main event of the show as Cody Rhodes took on Damian Priest in a sort of warm-up match for both competitors. Both guys are very good at what they do and the in-ring action was fun. Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley joined ringside early on, but that didn’t detract from letting Rhodes and Priest showcase their abilities. However, Dominik Mysterio tripped the American Nightmare up and this allowed Damian Priest to hit South of Heaven for a close near-fall. Whilst this was a great moment in the match in terms of excitement, I never want anyone to kick out of this move so that was kind of a shame. Rhodes then used Dominik’s interference against Priest by throwing him into Mysterio before he delivered a Cross Rhodes to get the victory. After the match, Dominik Mysterio got in another cheap shot to end the show. Of course, Cody Rhodes wasn’t going to lose this match, but Damian Priest went from being on an amazing run to losing nearly every match he competes in. It’s gotten to the point where all of this seems like a waste unless he wins the Money in the Bank Ladder Match on Saturday. Even though I really like LA Knight, Santos Escobar and Shinsuke Nakamura, I’m kind of rooting for the Archer of Infamy to retrieve the briefcase.
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