Raw Flashbacks
Last week’s Raw was all about the Superstar Shake-Up, with Raw’s biggest coup of the night being The Phenomenal One himself, AJ Styles, while their biggest loss was The Big Dog, Roman Reigns. Raw would also take The Miz, Rey Mysterio, Andrade (who has since moved back to SmackDown), The Usos, Naomi and more. Since last week, there have been two extra shake-ups, as Cesaro and United States Champion Samoa Joe were switched for El Idolo and The Dutch Destroyer, Aleister Black.
Announced segments for tonight’s Raw were Cedric Alexander vs. Cesaro, the returning Alicia Fox vs. Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, and two #1 contender’s qualifier matches leading to a singles main event to earn the right to face Universal Champion Seth Rollins at Money In The Bank.
Raw emanated from the Wells Fargo Center in Des Moines, Iowa.
Triple H, Seth Rollins & Challengers Segment
Speaking of Iowa, Raw would kick off with Iowa’s own Seth Rollins. After being introduced by his once-friend, then-enemy, and now-friend again Triple H, Rollins talked about how he has a “target on his back” and the importance of Money In The Bank to him, with the Universal Champion having cashed in the briefcase and being cashed in on in the past. This brought out the six men who would be vying for the number one contendership to face the Kingslayer. Rollins claimed that the “challengers have been heard” before saying he would be keeping a close eye on all three matches tonight.
#1 Contender’s Main Event Qualifying Match
AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio
This match was a great opener to kick off the show, and gives a new feeling to the Raw brand with all three Superstars being moved over through the Shake-Up. Some of the huge spots in this match included a double backdrop off the top rope by Samoa Joe on his two opponents, as well as a Stan Hanson-esque lariat by Joe on AJ that flipped the former two-time WWE Champion around. All three men came close to winning, with Joe locking in the Coquina Clutch more than once, as well as Mysterio nearly getting a rollup win on AJ. In the end, though, the Phenomenal One got the W, capitalising on a 619 from Mysterio on Joe as AJ caught a spring-boarding Mysterio and hit with a powerbomb and a dead-lift Styles Clash before pinning the US Champion.
A clip was shown of John Cena hosting The Ellen Degeneres Show. With no comeback scheduled anytime soon for the 16-time Champ, this may be the only thing we see of John for months.
Billie Kay w/ Peyton Royce vs. Naomi
In a follow-up to last week, the Iiconics targeted Naomi, especially now that they have a numbers advantage on their side. On their way to the ring, The IIconics gloated about being Women’s Tag Team Champions, and that they are “Grande” like Arianna and “IIconic”. The match itself was kept to a minimum, only going for a short while and with the commentary focusing on what they get at Starbucks. The finish saw an opportunistic Naomi use Peyton’s distraction to her advantage by knocking her off the ringside apron to get a dazed Billie Kay with a sunset flip for the win.
The creepy doll promo from last week was repeated. More on this shortly.
#1 Contender’s Main Event Qualifying Match
Drew McIntyre vs. The Miz vs. Baron Corbin
On paper, this didn’t have the appeal that the first bout did, but it exceeded expectations regardless. This started off exactly as one would expect with Corbin and McIntyre teaming up on the A-Lister before Corbin blindsided McIntyre with a right hand. This had more brawling than the other three-way, with none of the participants having complete control for an extended period. Some big moments were Miz finally hitting his It Kicks on Corbin including a final kick to the head, a reverse End Of Days into a snap DDT by Miz, a Deep Six on Miz by the former US Champion, and an attempted Future Shock DDT by McIntyre. However, Baron Corbin was victorious, capitalising on a Claymore Kick by Drew and pinning Miz to face AJ in the main event.
Afterwards, Charly Caruso interviewed AJ Styles about his chances tonight against Baron Corbin. AJ focused on the belief to win and how he is stronger in the ring than Corbin.
Sami Zayn Promo
The focus of the segment for Sami Zayn here was to tell the crowd that what he’s been doing for the past few weeks in New York and Montreal is telling fans the “truth”. Zayn said the fans are “typically negative” which garnered boos, proving the former NXT Champion correct. Zayn would go further, claiming he’s not bitter as fans would claim but “jubilant” and having the time of his life. Sami focused on how a return to WWE was making him feel sick and blamed the WWE Universe for its negativity and “toxic culture”. Zayn ended by telling the fans that they can go to hell (which was ironic as it’s a place in Norway which Zayn focused on during this promo).
The Viking Raiders vs. Lucha House Party
This is put down as a match, but the match never started. This was due to Erik and Ibor blindsiding LHP beforehand and laying all three members out with big power moves, showing off their arsenal and most likely sending a message to Raw Tag Team Champions Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder. Also, the fans complaining about their name change (from War Raiders to Viking Experience) actually led to a superior switch here.
Hawkins and Ryder were interviewed backstage about The Viking Raiders’ destruction of LHP. They emphasised The Raiders’ power, but noted that they’ve got experience which The Raiders do not have.
Cedric Alexander vs. Cesaro
This was very much a showcase for both newcomers to the red brand, and by looking at it that way, this did not disappoint. It was dominated by the power of Cesaro trying to keep the former Cruiserweight Champion at bay. Cedric got some of his high-flying moveset in though, with a headscissors takedown and jumping Michinoku Driver being highlights. Cesaro’s power was also shown multiple times, with a catch of an Alexander flatliner into a suplex being very impressive. In the end, it would be the Swiss Cyborg that was victorious, catching a spring-boarding Alexander with an elevated uppercut for the three-count.
Becky Lynch vs. Alicia Fox
Prior to this match, Becky Lynch cut a promo about her Money In The Bank opponent Lacey Evans, claiming that the Sweet Southern Belle is nothing but another “bleached blonde who curried favour”. This brought out Evans, who kept a close eye on the match. This wasn’t very good in simple terms, with a collapsed head scissors by Fox being the perfect image of this match. Despite that, Becky Two Belts was able to hit two Exploder Suplexes and then lock in the Dis-Arm-Her for the win over the former Divas Champion. Post-match, Lacey laid out the Champ with two Women’s Rights. This feud seems to be falling on to the side of needing to end quickly in order to help Becky keep any of her momentum so she can feud with a bigger name.
Charly Caruso interviewed Baron Corbin about the main event tonight and its implications. Corbin claimed he deserved the Money In The Bank title match and that only basement dwellers would disagree.
Robert Roode vs. Ricochet
This was very similar to Cesaro vs. Alexander, being a showcase match as it was Ricochet’s first singles match on the roster against the new and improved Robert Roode (some would argue “off the chain”), now with a moustache and no beard, going solo following Gable’s move to SmackDown. Roode called Gable a “piece of waste he’s removed”, but he had to prove himself on his own. That initially seemed unlikely, with the quick pace of Ricochet forcing the former US Champion to back off, followed by a moonsault to the outside. Despite the early onslaught, Roode was able to overcome and, following a jumping Glorious DDT, he was able to gain a victory and begin his clean slate with a win.
Firefly Fun House
After the creepy vignettes of a supposed Buzzard in a box and a creepy black-haired doll, we finally got the reveal, which was … kids TV host Bray Wyatt. There is not a lot to say about this, other than to watch it for yourself as it is something to be loved or hated. Wyatt would claim his old self is dead, and now he wants to be the light for everyone to see. This seemed very much like a Johnny Karate sketch off Parks and Recreations, which is not anything to complain about.
A Moment of Bliss was announced for next week, in which the Goddess Of WWE will announce who will be competing in both Money In The Bank matches for the Raw side. The most likely candidates would be the loser of the main event, McIntyre, Miz and Mysterio for the men, and Natalya, Naomi, Sasha Banks and Alexa herself for the women, with Bliss looking to win the briefcase again.
Also, earlier in the show, Charly Caruso spoke to new Raw acquisitions The Usos. The former three-time SmackDown Tag Team Champions said that they had SmackDown on “lockdown” and are now going to take over Raw, running down all the other tag teams including a joke on themselves over drink driving. This led to an interruption by former Raw Tag Team Champions The Revival claiming Raw is “top guy territory” and “The Revival Reformatory”, which put The Usos to sleep. This was a funny segment which will likely lead to a match within the next few weeks.
#1 Contender’s Match
AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin
Now for the main event, we got a new match-up for the Raw brand as AJ Styles faced Baron Corbin one-on-one for the first time since Corbin beat AJ to retain the United States Championship. This was portrayed as the wrestler AJ against the opportunistic Corbin, both of which were showcased earlier in their respective matches. AJ nearly won multiple times with a few roll-up opportunities and a Calf Crusher which Corbin was able to get out of, similar to Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series 2017. AJ finally hit the Phenomenal Forearm on #the former MITB winner to get the three-count and become #1 contender. Raw ended with an AJ Styles-Seth Rollins staredown.
Overall, Raw was a strong show, with the build towards Money In The Bank as well as three really good matches. The only issue if any was that Braun Strowman seems to have fallen off the face of the earth the last two weeks, but a feud with Joe could start next week.
