Kevin Owens interrupts Jey Uso, The Judgment Day VS Kevin Owens and Jey Uso
Monday Night Raw kicked off with “Main Event” Jey Uso, but he was quickly interrupted by Kevin Owens. Kevin told Jey that he understands what he’s going through because he’s been there too. However, KO told Jey that he’s got a long way to go before Owens can trust him. The Judgment Day’s music then hit as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions alongside the NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio made their way down to the ring. Senor Money in the Bank Damian Priest offered Jey a spot in The JD, but that didn’t really work out as Uso and Owens agreed to team up to take on the Tag Team Champions. This was a decently fun match that told a simple but effective story of Kevin Owens not trusting his tag partner Jey Uso. I was concerned throughout this match that Owens and Uso were going to win given WWE’s track record of having the Champions lose. However, that didn’t happen as “Main Event” Jey Uso accidentally nailed KO with a Superkick before Finn Balor hit the Coup de Grace on the Prizefighter to get the victory. All of this gets a thumbs up from me.
Grade: B- (Promo and Match Combined)
The Miz VS Akira Tozawa, Gunther’s Championship Celebration, Drew McIntyre VS Xavier Woods
Kevin Owens was angry with Jey Uso backstage and told him to dye his her Purple and join The Judgment Day. I later understood what KO was talking about as the back of Jey’s hair is dyed Blue. Imperium then pulled in a fancy car wearing fancy suits before The Miz made his way to the ring as he was looking to get some revenge on Akira Tozawa. This match really surprised me as The Miz dominated Tozawa for about 2 minutes before he hit 3 Skull Crushing Finale’s to get the victory. This was the definition of a squash match and seemed pretty pointless. I don’t see how this gives Miz much momentum heading into his match with LA Knight on Friday whilst I also feel quite sorry for Tozawa as he continues to get treated terribly.
Grade: C-
Raquel Rodriguez was then interviewed by Byron Saxton and Raquel said she’s going to prove to Rhea Ripley (in tonight’s Main Event) why “she’s not like most people.” I heard this and thought “Change the word people to girls and she’s singing Nia Jax’s theme song!” Chelsea Green then went up to Shayna Baszler and asked her if she wanted to be her new tag team partner as they are both equals. Baszler laughed at that statement and challenged Green to a match before Piper Niven returned and took her Tag Team Title off of Chelsea’s shoulder. Ludwig Kaiser then did his grand intro for Gunther as The Ring General marched to the ring to celebrate his record-breaking Intercontinental Championship reign. Gunther said none of the previous IC Champions matter anymore and that he’s only competing with himself nowadays. Chad Gable then arrived and told Gunther that he wants, no he deserves another shot at the gold, and seeing his daughter cry last week is all the motivation The Master needs. The Ring General then called Gable “a crap parent” (or something like that) before Chad attacked the Champ, only to be beaten up by the rest of Imperium. Otis ran down to make the save which didn’t really work before Tommaso Ciampa of all people ran down and scared the Heels off with a steel chair. Ciampa being involved in the Championship picture will always be a positive in my mind. As for the rest of the segment, it was totally fine, but I don’t really get why Chad Gable should get another opportunity at the Intercontinental Championship.
Grade: C+
Xavier Woods found Drew McIntyre backstage and asked Drew why he was so mean to Kofi last week. Drew didn’t seem to care before Woods said that McIntyre is jealous of Kofi because “he got to win the WWE Championship in front of over 82,000 people at WrestleMania whilst your biggest moment came in an empty Performance Center”. I can not do this line justice, it was absolutely superb and something I’ve been waiting for someone to say for a long time. Jackie Redmond then spoke to Alpha Academy and Tommaso Ciampa backstage and Otis came up with the idea to face Imperium in a six-man tag team match. Ciampa walked off, so Gable took it as a yes (because why not). Drew McIntyre’s music then hit as it was time for The Scottish Warrior to go one-on-one with Xavier Woods. I liked this match, it was quite hard-hitting at times, especially when Drew started chopping Xavier. I think the main reason why I liked this match though was Drew McIntyre was presented as the badass/unstoppable force that he should be whilst Xavier Woods looked like a star, something he doesn’t really get the chance to do on his own very much. In the end, McIntyre nailed Woods with a beautiful Claymore to get the victory and after the match, Drew ushered the words “it didn’t have to be this way”. More thumbs up from me.
Grade: B
Cody Rhodes Promo, Chelsea Green VS Shayna Baszler, Seth “Freakin” Rollins Promo, Imperium VS Alpha Academy and Tommaso Ciampa
Cody Rhodes arrived to cut a promo, but he was interrupted almost immediately by the NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio who was accompanied by JD McDonagh. Dominik told Cody that he was going to regret bringing Jey Uso to Monday Night Raw before a brawl started and ended with Cody laying out Dom with a couple of Cross Rhodes. This was very short and quite bizarre really. However, I quite liked it as it felt different (and better) compared to the normal 10-minute Cody Promo.
Grade: C+
Drew McIntyre found Jey Uso backstage and told him that he doesn’t like him. Jey then challenged Drew to a match for next week which McIntyre gladly accepted. McIntyre-Uso on Raw is a big-time matchup and I’m looking forward to it. The WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Chelsea Green and Piper Niven then made their way down to the ring as Chelsea was about to face Shayna Baszler in singles action. This was fine, there was nothing wrong with it, but it was too short which stopped Green and Baszler from being able to show what they’ve got. Shayna was in control during this match, but she couldn’t “squash” her opponent due to Piper Niven being on the outside. However, The Queen of Spades did pick up the victory with the Piper’s Pit before Piper (Niven) attacked Shayna. Zoey Stark then ran down from out of nowhere and forced Niven to retreat and by the looks of it, that’s going to be the next feud over the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles. That’s fine, but it also screams out that WWE doesn’t know what to do with any of these women, especially Shayna and Zoey.
Grade: C
Shinsuke Nakamura cut another awesome promo in Japanese where he questioned Seth “Freakin” Rollins’ integrity and said the WWE Universe would no longer sing Seth’s song if they remembered his past. We then got a bunch of clips of Rollins’ work as a Heel in WWE which was very cool. Seth “Freakin” Rollins then made his way down to the ring as the World Heavyweight Champion agreed with Shinsuke's comment that he’s a manipulator. Rollins then talked about trying to find himself, something he was unable to do whilst being in The Authority, being “what everyone wanted him to be”, and being The Messiah! Seth said he realised that he just needed to be himself (which he’s doing right now) before he once again challenged Shinsuke Nakamura to a World Heavyweight Championship match. We then cut to the back to see Shin beating up Ricochet before he turned down Rollins’ challenge, saying they’ll fight on “his terms”. I’m still enjoying this feud, it’s been really, really good up to now and this was another good segment.
Grade: B-
Finn Balor came up to Jey Uso backstage and told him there’s still a spot in The Judgment Day if he wants it. Cool. It was then time for a six-man tag team match as Imperium took on the Alpha Academy and Tommaso Ciampa. This was a good match, everyone involved is not only super talented in the ring, but they’re also fantastic entertainers. Imperium and Alpha Academy are two special groups whilst Tommaso Ciampa is pretty awesome so all of this worked for me. The ending saw Chad Gable force Giovanni Vinci to tap out whilst Ciampa had Gunther locked in the Gargano Escape. The visual ending of this was great.
Grade: B-
Women’s World Championship: Rhea Ripley VS Raquel Rodriguez
After The Judgment Day spoke backstage, and Tiffany Stratton and Becky Lynch signed the contract for their huge NXT Women’s Championship match, it was Main Event time as Rhea Ripley put her Women’s World Championship on the line against Raquel Rodriguez. There was definitely a faster pace to this contest than there was at Payback which definitely helped this match feel better than their first one (on the main roster). The only problem was I never ever believed that Raquel was going to beat Rhea, and that’s always a problem. However, I certainly wasn’t expecting the match to end the way it did because out of nowhere, Nia Jax (foreshadowing from earlier) made her return to WWE by laying out Raquel which allowed Ripley to hit the Riptide to retain her Women’s World Championship. After the match, Nia Jax attacked Rhea and stood tall to end the show. I actually haven’t got a problem with Nia Jax returning in the sense that her versus Ripley is a big-time match. However, I feel like you have a better wrestler on the roster who brings the same characteristics as Jax in the form of Piper Niven so it’s a shame that she’s not being used for this role. Also, Raquel Rodriguez needs to turn Heel now because she doesn’t work as a Babyface.
Comments