Hey hey, it’s Tuesday! Time to get into some Monday Night Raw, the go home edition for Sunday’s WWE Hell In A Cell pay per premium live event! So far we’ve got one match that actually will take place in the Cell; will they add more tonight?
Becky Lynch was out to welcome us to the big time, and to Monday Night Raw. She tells us that she runs on spite and coffee (I hear ya, sister) and doesn’t need us for her to win the women’s championship on Sunday. She then talks about the monster she created by giving Asuka the title WHEN SHE LEFT TO CREATE LIFE LIKE THE GOD SHE IS. Becky was on FIRE for her first Raw hosting duty in a while!
Asuka came out to defend herself. Bianca Belair then came out to defend herself from both of them, and to remind Asuka that she hasn’t forgotten getting kicked in the head last week. From there, we moved into our…
Opening Contest: Bianca Belair vs Asuka
Becky stayed out for commentary, and she dropped Chris Jericho’s “I’m a wizard” line before switching to “I’m a magician, I made Bianca’s title disappear in 28 seconds.” It was some good stuff!
The match was good too, with Bianca showing off her strength and also hitting that taunt button a lot. Asuka played the role of wily veteran well, dodging and countering attacks before tweaking her knee while escaping the KOD. The inevitable distraction from Becky indirectly led to a victory for Belair, as Asuka’s magistral cradle was rolled through into a pinfall.
Becky immediately ran in after the bell, tossed Bianca out of the ring, and attacked Asuka’s leg to end the segment. I thought this was a good WWE style opening match, adding some heat to the feud before we get to the triple threat at Hell In A Cell. I was also surprised there was a clean win, especially with Lynch at the commentary table!
A video package rehashing Kevin Owens’s rivalry with Ezekiel leads us into our next match.
Match #2: The Mysterios and Ezekiel vs Alpha Academy and Kevin Owens
This match was a blast! The Mysterios seemed to be putting their all into making this a fun watch, and I thought it paid off. There was a great sequence where Dominik tossed Rey into a dropkick on Otis, followed by Ezekiel tossing Dom, followed by both Mysterios hitting dropkicks to bring the big man down.
Rey flipped out of an Owens pop up powerbomb, but missed the follow up 619. That led to a double 619 from Dom and Rey, and a stalling spinning brainbuster to finish the match with Ezekiel pinning Owens.
Owens was very displeased after the match, screaming at commentary and destroying their booth.
A recap of the Rhodes vs Miz match, and of Rollins’s subsequent attack on Cody, followed.
Cody was out next, in a nice suit but with full pyro. He spoke about how much he still respects Rollins, and mentioned that his father called Seth a generational talent.
Rollins headed out from a crowd entrance, cackling and telling Cody that he doesn’t like him, and doesn’t want him in WWE. “You don’t get to break the throne and then come back to claim it,” was a great line.
Cody challenged Seth then and there, and Seth headed to the ring but stopped at the barricade to say he’d see Cody Sunday. Rhodes disagreed and ran Seth down, and a good old fashioned punch fight in the crowd ensued. Cody put Seth through the corner barricade before security pulled them apart.
The two would break away from the officials a couple times to resume their punching, before we eventually went to commercial.
We then got a video recap of the thing we literally saw before the commercial, but I can’t stay mad because Alexa Bliss headed to the ring next. A recap of her winning the 2018 Money in the Bank briefcase, and then cashing in on Nia Jax to win her fifth championship.
Match #3: Alexa Bliss vs Doudrop (w/Nikki A.S.H.)
A countdown clock for tonight’s Championship Contenders’ Match between the Usos and Riddle and Nakamura popped up as the match began, so I guess that takes the Cody Countdown’s spot tonight. Doudrop controlled early, using the match as a teachable moment for Nikki. Doudrop went for a top rope body drop, which Bliss avoided. Nikki tried to knock Alexa off the turnbuckle and ate a boot for her efforts. Twisted Bliss and a three count got Alexa another notch in the victory column.
A video segment recapped Olmos and Lashley’s past matches, and led into MVP announcing that the stipulation for Lashley’s match at Hell in a Cell will be a handicap match against Olmos and MVP.
Miz came out to host some Miz TV next, and he began to plug his USA show Miz and Mrs. when the Street Profits interrupted him. They proceeded to really sell the card for Hell in a Cell on Sunday, and then used some Rock quotes against an unsuspecting Miz.
The 24/7 belt competitors ran into the ring to interrupt this interruption, and the chaos led to Tamina slamming Dana Brooks and winning the 24/7 championship!
To celebrate, Tamina grabbed Akira Tozawa and kissed him. Didn’t she just have Truth serve him divorce papers last week? Anyway, that led to Tozawa hitting Tamina with a surprise rollup, and winning the 24/7 championship from her. I will admit, I laughed a few times at this whole mess.
We went to a recap of Ali getting murdered by Veer.
Match #4: Mustafa Ali vs Ciampa, if Ali wins he gets a US Championship match
Theory was on commentary for this match. It was a good, if short match! I just found it hard to enjoy when the commentary was so focused on rehashing the story between Ali and Theory, rather than even making a passing mention of the action in front of them. It ended as one may have guessed, with Theory interfering for Ali to win via disqualification.
Theory then challenged Ali to the US championship match RIGHT NOW, and Ali did what every stupid face does in wrestling and agreed to it.
Match #5: Mustafa Ali vs Theory © for the United States Championship
Ali was barely alive at the beginning of the match, and Theory gloated while slapping him around. A surprise tornado DDT woke Theory up, and he finished Ali with his A-Town Down.
Adam Pearce was at the entrance, and announced that Mr. McMahon liked Theory’s plan but wanted to see a fair fight. The rematch was set for Sunday’s Hell in a Cell.
Shinsuke Nakamura and Riddle talked to the camera backstage, comparing themselves to a couple of ronin walking the road. So the Ronin and the Bro-nin (I love it) versus the Usos is coming up next.
Match #6: The Ronin and the Bro-nin vs The Usos, Championship Qualifier
I’m surprised this wasn’t the main event! A good match, with Nakamura adding a new wrinkle to the expected spots. Riddle gained the upper hand and started going full Orton, hitting draping DDTs and even an avalanche RKO. A couple powerslams and setup for another DDT, but then Riddle got bonked in the head with his scooter for the DQ victory.
The good guys recovered and stood in the ring to end the segment.
This next match had a WILD series of booking decisions before it. We had Liv Morgan’s entrance, a promo by Mustafa Ali, a rundown of the Hell in a Cell card, Rhea Ripley’s entrance, a commercial break, and a Memorial Day video before…
Match #7: Rhea Ripley (w/ Damien Priest) vs Liv Morgan (w/ AJ Styles)
It was a decent match, although mostly a retread of things we’ve seen before from these two. Rhea pounded on the smaller Liv, but Liv eked out some offense and was about to hit her finisher when Damian Priest held the ropes (which Edge did last week) to prevent the move. AJ then sprinted to attack Damian, and Rhea was stared down AJ and went to, I assume, murder Liv Morgan. Liv countered into a backstabber and got the 3 count!
The Judgment Day went for some revenge, as Priest took out Styles and stalked Morgan. Finn Balor then sprinted to the ring, and he and Styles hit the Coup de Gras and Phenomenal Forearm on Priest. Ripley then stood against the guys, who smirked as she turned away and ate a top rope dropkick from Liv, allowing our heroes to celebrate over the corpses of their enemies with a “Too Sweet”.
We recap Seth and Cody yet again before the…
Main Event: Contract Signing between Olmos, MVP, and Bobby Lashley
Let’s be honest, if you’ve seen one of these you’ve seen all of these. The guys sit down, Adam Pearce asks for three signatures. MVP reviews his talking points with Lashley, that Bob would be nothing without him. Lashley rebuts, saying MVP was a leech and Bob never needed him. All three men sign the contract, then Bobby flips the table and it’s a melee! Security runs down to get murdered by both Lashley and Olmos, and MVP and Olmos escape as Cedric Alexander runs in and attacks Lashley from behind. Bobby drops Alexander but eats an Olmos boot, and the heels set up a table in the corner of the ring. Olmos goes for a powerslam but Lashley evades him and hits a spear to end the show.
Man, that sure was a lot of wrestling show. The recaps were a little much, but at this point we know how WWE does things so what are you gonna do? Some fun sounding matches were added to Hell in a Cell, although I’m pretty sure Cody v Rollins remains the only match that will actually take place in the cell for now.
If watching three hours of wrestling isn’t your jam, let’s catch you up with tonight’s Five Good Things:
1- Becky’s opening promo and the ensuing Asuka vs Bianca match were a fun, exciting opening to the festivities! Becky was throwing out some fantastic lines tonight, and Asuka and Bianca Belair are two amazing talents who can put on a great match weekly.
2- The Mysterios, Ezekiel, Alpha Academy, and KO had a really fun, action packed match as well. The story between Owens and Ezekiel continues to make me laugh, and the Mysterios looked really good and motivated tonight as well.
3- Miz TV with the Street Profits was funny enough, and the interrupting 24/7 stuff was silly but not terrible. The Profits are so good on the mike, it’s almost to their detriment.
4- The Usos and Riddle / Shin was a decent match as Riddle summoned his inner Randy Orton in several spots. The finish wasn’t the best, especially since it was the same as the one used in the previous match on the card, but I think it sets up a match (maybe in the Cell) on Sunday? We’ll find out on Friday.
5- Rhea and Liv did their best, just fast forward past the interminable beginning sequence. But not the entrances themselves, as Rhea got some new music and I kinda like it!
Rhea and Liv pair well as enemies and since WWE retains their boys vs boys/ girls vs girls formula, I imagine they’ll stay opponents for a while longer.
And that’s it! We have Hell in a Cell Sunday night, so I’ll probably watch SmackDown for the combo pack of Rampage Report/ Side of SmackDown on Saturday. I’ll put together some predictions on Sunday and recap the show on Monday, as per usual.
I appreciate you stopping by, and would love it if you drop your thoughts in the comments section below. You can also follow me on Twitter @ElOsoPequeno, where I try to remember to post whenever I update the blog. I recap Raw, Dynamite, and Rampage weekly, and also plan to write about any other wrestling that I happen to watch. There’s also a weekly wrap up on Fridays, and I’ll do predictions before any big AEW or WWE pay per premium live events.
Have a good one!
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