Becky Lynch VS Nia Jax
After Michael Cole and Wade Barrett hyped up tonight’s special edition of Monday Night Raw, Day 1 Raw kicked off with a match between Becky Lynch and Nia Jax. I actually thought this match was pretty decent as both Becky and Nia put on a good showing whilst also avoiding making any mistakes. The storyline here was also pretty simple as Nia continued to try and “break the face” of Lynch, and in the end, Jax succeeded with a vicious right hand to The Man before The Irresistible Force hit the ANialater to get the victory. Yeah, I thought this was a good match and I was glad to see Nia Jax pick up the victory.
Grade: B-
Cody Rhodes Promo, Imperium VS Jey Uso and Kofi Kingston, Miz TV (Featuring The Judgment Day)
Cody Rhodes came out to cut a promo about how angry he was with the fact that his feud with Shinsuke Nakamura is still going on. Shinsuke then appeared on the titantron to tell Cody that he is the author who will finish Rhodes’ book and that will all take place next week. Honestly, this wasn’t much of a segment and I don’t really understand why they didn’t just have their match this week.
Grade: C
The next match of the night saw Imperium take on the team of Jey Uso and Kofi Kingston in what could’ve been a really good match. Unfortunately, after Kofi caught Giovanni Vinci in the face with a dropkick, the referee had to stop the match due to Vinci being too hurt to compete. This was a shame and all that matters now is that Vinci’s doing ok.
After a cool video package highlighting Ivy Nile, The Miz arrived as it was time for a “Day 1” edition of Miz TV. The Miz’s guests were supposed to be The Judgment Day, but it was ultimately R-Truth who made his way down to the ring “on the group’s behalf”. This angered JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio and after some (not very funny) comedy, a match began between The Judgment Day’s B-Team and Awesome Truth. This match was harmless in the sense that it didn’t hurt anyone, but it did feel a little bit pointless. After JD tried to use Truth’s belief that he was a member of The Judgment Day to his advantage (it didn’t work), The Miz dropped McDonagh with the Skull Crushing Finale to get the victory.
Grade: C (Segment and Match Combined)
Women’s World Championship: Rhea Ripley VS Ivy Nile, A former WWE Champion Returns, Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark VS Tegan Nox and Natalya
After Chelsea Green and Piper Niven challenged Katana Chance and Kayden Carter to a rematch for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships, it was time for the Women’s World Championship to be on the line as Rhea Ripley looked to retain against the “up-and-coming” Ivy Nile. I was always impressed with Ivy Nile when she was on NXT and it was nice to see her get a spotlight on her here. Rhea Ripley is obviously one of the Best Female Superstars in the business and she also looked pretty good here too. In the end, after Rhea delivered a nasty headbutt to Nile, Ripley delivered the Riptide which was enough to keep The Pitbull down for the 3 count. I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing this match again down the line.
Grade: B-
After hyping up the return of a former WWE Champion for most of the show, Jinder Mahal’s music hit in what was actually quite a hilarious moment. Jinder cut a promo about how much America and Americans suck before he was interrupted by none other than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to a huge pop. The Rock came out and fired shots at The Modern Day Maharaja before he dropped Mahal and delivered The People’s Elbow. Whilst this mostly was a fun, yet pointless segment, The Rock mentioning that he should sit at “The Head of The Table” is certainly an intriguing thing to remember for a future date.
Grade: B-
It was then time for some Women’s Tag Team action as Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark teamed up to take on Tegan Nox and Natalya. This match barely went three minutes, Shayna and Zoey dominated for the most part before Stark dropped Nox with the Z360 to get the victory. I don’t really know what else to say about this other than I get the feeling that this Tegan-Natalya dynamic is going to be over pretty quickly.
Grade: C
World Heavyweight Championship: Seth “Freakin” Rollins VS Drew McIntyre
And in the Main Event of Day 1 Raw, Seth “Freakin” Rollins put his World Heavyweight Championship on the line against Drew McIntyre. I thought this match was pretty good for the most part, with both guys bringing out their big moves and proving why they’ve both been WWE Champions in the past. And then, towards the end of the match, Damian Priest’s music hit as Senor Money in the Bank came down and clobbered Seth Rollins with his MITB Briefcase (whilst the referee wasn’t looking). Priest then went to cash in his contract only to be dropped by a Drew McIntyre Claymore before McIntyre got back in the ring and nailed Rollins with the Claymore Kick which would’ve been enough to get the victory if it wasn’t for Rollins' foot falling on the rope. This infuriated Drew which ultimately cost him as in the end, a Seth Rollins Pedigree onto the announce table followed by a Stomp was enough for The Visionary to retain. In my opinion, Drew should’ve won this match as it felt like his time. In my opinion, Seth “Freakin” Rollins absolutely shouldn’t have walked out of this match as the Champion. Day 1 Raw was meant to feel like a big show, but really, it just felt like another normal episode of the Monday Night show.
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