Seth “Freakin” Rollins kicks off the show
Seth “Freakin” Rollins got introduced by Samantha Irvin as the brand-new World Heavyweight Champion made his entrance through the crowd. Seth said he now has the opportunity to be a fighting champion and that’s exactly what he wants to do. Before he could say anything else, AJ Styles arrived and congratulated his Night of Champions opponent. He then said that Rollins doesn’t deserve anything because he earnt everything. The Judgment Day’s music then hit as Finn Balor, Damian Priest, Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley made their way down to the ring. Finn Balor took the mick out of Roman Reigns before he said any member of the Judgment Day could take the World Heavyweight Championship off of the Visionary. Rhea Ripley seemed particularly excited by this and the segment ended with Rollins accepting the JD’s challenge for a tag team match. This was a solid opening segment, but WWE isn’t helping themselves by putting SmackDown superstars on Raw.
Grade: C+
Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Ricochet VS The Miz, Trish Stratus Promo, Indus Sher in action
Adam Pearce was talking on the phone and he got the tag team match made official after Seth questioned whether AJ was scared of Rhea Ripley. It was then time for the first match of the night as Ricochet battled The Miz in the first Money in the Bank Qualifying match of 2023. This match was alright, both men can go in the ring, but it was kind of obvious who was going to win. Ricochet is a great guy to put in a ladder match due to his crazy high-flying ability whilst The Miz hasn’t been credible for ages (unfortunately). The action was solid and ended with the One and Only hitting a Shooting Star Press to book his ticket to London.
Grade: C+
Trish Stratus cut a promo on how she beat Becky Lynch before she welcomed Zoey Stark down to the ring. Zoey said that it’s smarter for her to align herself with a Hall of Famer rather than wait for opportunities before Becky Lynch’s music hit and the Man made it clear to Stark that she was going to “ruin her life”. Becky then dropped Stark in the aisleway before she got in a few shots on Stratus. However, the numbers game was too much for Big Time Becks as she eventually got laid out in the corner to end the segment. This was solid stuff, Trish is a really good heel and it’s just cool to see Zoey Stark get put in this position.
Grade: B-
Indus Sher then made their way down to the ring as they were about to have a tag team contest. I say contest, it was a literally squash where their opponents got no offense in whatsoever. One of the “jobbers” was Javier Bernal which made me happy and sad at the same time. There’s not much to add other than this isn’t helping Veer and Sanga get over.
Grade: C
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, Imperium VS Alpha Academy, WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships Fatal 4-Way
The Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn came down to the ring as they talked about their successful title defense at Night of Champions. Sami said he has nothing more to say about Roman Reigns before Imperium arrived. Kevin Owens was furious about this because they broke the unwritten rule that you can’t come out unless they say your name! KO’s the best! Ludwig Kaiser was not happy about this and he especially wasn’t happy with “two clowns” representing Monday Night Raw. Owens was then at it again as he wanted to know what Giovanni Vinci had to say about all of this before Alpha Academy arrived just to annoy Kaiser some more. Gable then announced that Maxxine Dupri is now a part of the Alpha Academy which was interesting before KO asked Master Gable to say “Thankyou” in his weird voice because it makes him laugh. This segment was just the best mainly because it was genuinely funny.
Grade: B
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn joined commentary as they watched the match between Alpha Academy and Imperium. This was good stuff as every time Chad Gable was in the ring, he would have a technical masterclass with either Ludwig Kaiser or Giovanni Vinci whilst Otis being in the ring was a joy because of Owens and Zayn on commentary. Valhalla arrived at one point and got kicked in the face by Maxxine Dupri which I didn’t expect before Valhalla chased the model away. In the end, Imperium hit the Imperium Bomb onto Gable to get the victory. These two segments put together are very worth watching.
Grade: B
Raquel Rodriguez and Shotzi tried to cut a promo backstage before Damage CTRL interrupted. Bayley said they were dedicating the match to Dakota Kai before they took the mick out of Liv Morgan. Candice LeRae then got a video package which I liked before it was time for Raquel and Shotzi VS Damage CTRL VS Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville VS Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler for the vacant WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. This wasn’t a great match, the only person I thought looked good in this contest was Raquel Rodriguez. Obviously, Bayley and Iyo Sky got in some good moments and I do like the tag team of Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville, particularly as they were wearing matching gear. However, you knew how this was going to end as Ronda Rousey tagged herself in after not doing much (she did more than she did at Mania at least) and made Shotzi tap out in the armbar. I’m really getting sick of seeing Rousey tapping out Shotzi, it’s happened at least 4 times now.
Grade: C-
Dolph Ziggler VS JD McDonagh, Cody Rhodes Promo, Bronson Reed VS Shinsuke Nakamura: Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
JD McDonagh and Dolph Ziggler was the next match to take place on the night and it was easily the worst. JD dropped Dolph with the Devil Inside after about 20 seconds, but instead of covering him, he chucked DZ to the outside, beat him up for a bit before the referee called for a double count-out. This made McDonagh look stupid as he could’ve easily done this after the match was over.
Grade: D
Cody Rhodes came down to the ring to talk about his match with Brock Lesnar that took place at Night of Champions. The American Nightmare said he didn’t tap out because that’s not the type of man he is before he challenged Brock Lesnar to a decider. Cody always delivers his promos well, but this one didn’t feel special as he has an in-ring promo nearly every week. Matt Riddle was then being interviewed backstage by Cathy Kelley before Gunther interrupted and said he hopes Riddle wins the Money in the Bank briefcase and cashes in on him. This Gunther is a very strange individual! Ronda Rousey then cut a really crap promo about her and Shayna being the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions before Shinsuke Nakamura looked to takedown Bronson Reed in a Money in the Bank Qualifying match. On paper, I should’ve really enjoyed this, but I just didn’t. It felt like Shinsuke kept missing moves to start with and he also wasn’t able to sell for Bronson like others. Mr. Nice Guy is always entertaining, but both guys should’ve been in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match. In the end, Shinsuke got the victory after hitting 3 Kinshasa’s so at least WWE protected Reed in defeat.
Grade: C
Seth “Freakin” Rollins and AJ Styles VS The Judgment Day
The Judgment Day cut a pretty good promo backstage before it was time for their main event match against AJ Styles and the new World Heavyweight Champion Seth “Freakin” Rollins. It looked like it was going to be Damian Priest and Dominik Mysterio representing the JD, but it was actually a ruse so Finn Balor could gain control early. I thought this was really clever and I also liked the bit between Rhea Ripley and Seth. The rest of the match was good, everyone involved is super in the ring and the ending saw Damian Priest nearly pick up the victory with the Razor’s Edge only to be met by a stomp from the Visionary. Rollins then hit a second Stomp on Priest to get the victory. Seth “Freakin” Rollins was always going to win on his first appearance as the World Heavyweight Champion so I’m glad they protected Priest.
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