Results
- Otis def. Austin Theory (7:03) (DQ)
- Bron Breakker def. Rey Mysterio & Ethan Page (Men’s Money in the Bank Qualifier Triple Threat) (11:55)
- Sol Ruca def. Lyra Valkyria & Maxxine Dupri (Women’s Money in the Bank Qualifier Triple Threat) (11:21)
- Joe Hendry def. JD McDonagh (3:39)
- Liv Morgan def. Stephanie Vaquer (WWE Women’s World Championship) (17:47)
Otis returns, immediately looks for revenge against The Vision
This week’s episode of Monday Night Raw, the first live edition of the show in a few weeks, took place at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. Wrestler arrivals to start the broadcast included The Usos, who carried metal pipes into the venue. They aren’t planning on getting jumped by Royce Keys and OTM like they did last week.
We then saw a recap of last night’s match between Oba Femi and Bron Breakker at Sunday Night’s Main Event. Their battle was to decide who would be the future of WWE. The verdict? Unclear, as the match ended via DQ after the returning Bronson Reed attacked Femi.
The first segment of the night saw a now “full-strength” Vision faction appear in the ring. An updated look at the group includes Reed, Breakker, Logan Paul, Austin Theory, and Maxxine Dupri. I mentioned this in my live coverage last night, but it’s worth mentioning again: Reed has lost a ton of weight and looks great. Leaner, but still menacing.
Breakker got on the mic and said The Vision is “complete” and “runs WWE.” They only really run the Raw tag division currently, but I appreciate the enthusiasm. To try and mute “Oba” chants, Breakker said that Femi isn’t medically cleared following a brutal attack last night and thus won’t be showing up tonight.
Despite losing via DQ, Breakker declared that last night’s bout showed he is the future of WWE. He handed the mic off to Reed, said Femi might be “the ruler,” but he’s a man who doesn’t respect the crown. “Now that I’m back, there’s no place for you on Monday night,” he said. Reed had a short but solid promo here.
Theory talked about how Dupri and Breakker are going to win their respective MITB qualifying matches tonight. Dupri got on the mic and started to fawn over boyfriend Theory, but this promo was cut off by Akira Tozawa.
Theory chuckled at Tozawa’s decision to confront the stronger-than-ever group. He challenged Tozawa to a match, promising a beating. Tozawa had a plan, though: “You’ll be fighting, but not against me,” he said. The Alpha Academy theme played once again… And Otis came through the curtain! Otis is back, and he’ll meet Theory next.
The Vision lays out Otis & Oba Femi
Otis was on a roll early on against Austin Theory, tossing him around the ring in this opener. Theory rolled to the ringside area for a breather, but Otis followed him to the floor and ran him over with a high-speed pounce. Slight interference from Maxxine Dupri, grabbing a leg of Otis, allowed Theory to take control of the match during commercials.
Otis countered a rolling neckbreaker from Theory into a clothesline right as the show returned, kicking off a comeback run from him. The Alpha Academy member was gaining some momentum and was about to go for his caterpillar senton, but then suddenly Bronson Reed hit the ring and interfered, ending this one in seven minutes.
The Vision cared less about a win than simply hurting Otis. A few of the group’s members propped him up as Bron Breakker connected with a high-speed spear off the ropes, knocking Otis out of the ring.
With Otis down and out, the group started to pick on Tozawa. Reed laid him out with his Jagged Edge DVD. The group were standing tall, but then noticed a camera feed playing on the big screen: An enraged Oba Femi was walking into the venue!
A staffer was seen warning Femi that he wasn’t medically cleared. He couldn’t care less, shoving this member of WWE personnel away before charging down the ramp. Femi laid out Reed and Breakker with a series of hard uppercuts. Theory tried taking a chair to Femi’s back, but it didn’t drop him. Unfortunately for Femi, the numbers game caught up to him here. He was eventually caught by a spear from Breakker, which provided the opening for Reed to give him two more Tsunami top-rope frogslashes (a total of six Tsunamis within 24 hours, Joe Tessitore noted).
They gave Femi another spear and Tsunami for good measure to end the segment. I think the Femi vs. Reed feud could be a fun program to help kill some time over the next few months; I’m looking forward to how this goes in the coming weeks.
Jacob Fatu says a ‘warning shot’ might not be ideal
A very well-shot vignette showed Royce Keys and OTM (known collectively as “946”) celebrating their sneak attack on The Usos from last week. “Look what type of play I can call … Ain’t nobody safe,” Keys said.
Backstage, The Usos asked Jacob Fatu if he would join them in the ring to call out Keys and OTM. Fatu didn’t like this idea, warning that Keys and his crew have nothing to lose and are dangerous. They asked Fatu to “call the play” and decide what they should do instead.
“Lay low, play it slow,” Fatu said. “And our next move gotta be our next move.”
Backstage, Becky Lynch tried to make a deal with Stephanie Vaquer. Lynch said she would help fend off Judgment Day during her title match tonight, as long as she gets promised a title shot after she dethrones Liv Morgan. Vaquer shot down this idea.
We saw a segment where Birmingham’s own stand-up comedian Matt Mathews (misspelt “Matthews” on the broadcast) was interviewed at ringside. I know nothing about this guy, other than he has a gigantic social media following and showed up on a pair of NXT episodes earlier this year. This interview was cut off by The Miz and Kit Wilson, who threw some insults at Mathews.
Mathews said he knew who The Miz was but thought he had already retired. This enraged The Miz, who tossed Mathews over the barricade for a brawl. Wilson was surprisingly dropped by a hurricanrana from Mathews. The Miz took out Mathews with a Skull Crushing Finale to end the segment. Well, there’s your celebrity cameo for the night.
Bron Breakker, who was scheduled to wrestle in the next segment, took out all three men with spears during the commercial break.
Bron Breakker advances to MITB
This year’s first Money in the Bank qualifying match saw Bron Breakker, Ethan Page, and Rey Mysterio compete for a spot in the upcoming ladder bout.
Page tried to get Breakker to team up with him to start, but Breakker wasn’t interested in alliances. He tossed Mysterio into Page to get this match going. Mysterio tried for an early 619 to Page, but Breakker prevented the move, instead grabbing Mysterio by the legs and tossing him into a ringside barricade.
Breakker came flying off the ring apron, knocking Page over the announce desk with a huge clothesline. Mysterio leaped off the top of a barricade and gave Breakker a West Coast Pop onto the announce desk as the show went into a break.
Breakker tried to take out both Mysterio and Page with his huge, fast spear at ringside. Both men got out of the way, causing Breakker to go full-force into a set of steel steps. With Breakker out at ringside, Mysterio scored a series of moves ending with a Bulldog onto Page for a near fall.
Page reversed a move into a powerslam for a two-count of his own. Mysterio catapulted Page into the ropes then connected with a 619. He climbed to the top for a follow-up frogsplash, but was distracted after Breakker briefly got onto the ring apron. Page joined Mysterio at the top, where they got into a struggle for control.
Breakker scored a hurricanrana out of the corner which took out Page, who was carrying Mysterio on his shoulders (this looked awesome). Breakker came charging off the ropes with a spear to Mysterio for the pinfall win in 12 minutes. In the least shocking news of the night, Breakker won his match. This was a fun one (at least more fun than this dead crowd made it out to be), although Breakker winning was incredibly easy to project.
Backstage, Solo Sikoa told LA Knight that he needs help getting revenge on Royce Keys and his group after suffering an attack last week. Focused on his orbit around Roman Reigns and his world heavyweight title, Knight didn’t seem too interested in getting into backstage brawls. Knight said they need to “pick their spots” when trying to attack the group. Sikoa said he’s not going to wait.
We saw a vignette featuring Penta, who will challenge WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns next week in Mexico City: “I respect you, but I don’t fear you.”
Another video package also aired teasing the arrival of Lola Vice, which will be next week.
Bayley returns, prevents Lyra from winning MITB qualifier
Tonight’s women’s Money in the Bank qualifying match was next, with Sol Ruca, Lyra Valkyria and Maxxine Dupri facing off. This match came just a week after Valkyria cost Ruca an Intercontinental title match against Raquel Rodriguez.
Dupri scored a nice bridging Fisherman Suplex onto Ruca for a two-count during a commercial break. Ruca wiped out both Dupri and Valkyria with a springboard crossbody as the show returned. She gave them both splashes in the corner, then scored a crafty German Suplex to Valkyria.
A dual missile dropkick from Ruca connected out of the corner. She got a near fall after knocking over Dupri with a running knee strike. Dupri plucked Ruca out of the corner and scored a huge slam, but had a follow-up pin stopped by Valkyria.
Later in the match, a Sol Snatcher from Ruca was prevented by Valkyria, who pushed Dupri into the corner. With Ruca down and out, Valkyria hit Dupri with a Nightwing and went for the pin. It looked like Valkyria had it won, but then the referee was suddenly pulled out of the ring by… Bayley! Back after weeks away and tons of free agency speculation, Bayley is back and searching for revenge against her former tag partner.
A taken-aback Valkyria stared at Bayley, allowing Ruca to hit her with a Sol Snatcher for the win in 11 minutes. Ruca is heading to Money in the Bank. This match had a fun twist but, wow, this crowd was dead silent for most of it.
Bayley hit the ring and attacked Valkyria after the bell. The brawl went to ringside, where Bayley scored a nasty Death Valley Driver onto the floor. Bayley tried to deliver another move on top of the commentary desk, but Valkyria got out of the move and escaped through the crowd.
Joe Hendry beats ‘Funko Pop’ JD McDonagh
We saw a video from OTM and Royce Keys, who shot a clip of them standing in the Legacy Arena parking lot. This fired up The Usos, who believed they should walk out of the arena and attack the trio. Jacob Fatu once again convinced them to back down and not strike just yet.
In a pre-taped video package, Joe Hendry “revealed” that JD McDonagh’s dad is a huge Funko Pop, making a joke about why his head is so huge. This felt like an old-school Hendry video from the BritWres or early TNA days, paper head cut-outs and all.
This led into our next match, McDonagh versus Hendry. Just a few minutes into the match, Je’Von Evans appeared on stage. Wearing the huge Funko Pop McDonagh head that Hendry used in his video package, Evans’ presence at ringside distracted McDonagh.
Hendry dodged a moonsault from McDonagh, then scored his Sound Effect Uranage for the pinfall win in three minutes. Was this anything meaningful or just an elaborate ad for Funko Pops? Or neither? No matter the answer, at least it lasted just a few minutes.
Backstage, The Vision approached Paul Heyman and asked if he saw what they did tonight. Heyman gave Bronson Reed a stare, then hugged him. “On your first night back, you shook the entire WWE universe. On your second night back, it went even bigger. That’s important business, and I’m very, very proud of you.”
He then turned to Bron Breakker. “The Vision runs the joint? … Is Oba Femi still breathing?” he asked Breakker before walking off frustrated.
Leaning on Judgment Day support, Liv Morgan retains against Stephanie Vaquer
The final bout of the night, a rematch from Wrestlemania, saw WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan face off against Stephanie Vaquer. The challenger had a strong start before the break, sending Morgan out of the ring and coming off the apron with a crossbody.
Morgan gained control of the match during the break. She connected with a Three Amigos at one point. Vaquer started to mount a comeback at the eight-minute mark, going on a run of moves including her Devil’s Kiss attack.
Vaquer scored a two-count after hitting a meteora in the corner. The fight went to the ring apron, where Vaquer escaped a Sunset Flip Powerbomb attempt from Morgan, then instead struck the champ in the chest with a knee. The fight went on top of the commentary desk, where Vaquer delivered a second Devil’s Kiss.
Back in the ring, Vaquer scored a two-count after coming off the top with a crossbody. Morgan countered a move out of the corner from Vaquer into a powerbomb, giving her a near fall as well. A back-and-forth sequence saw Morgan connect with a Crucifix Bomb.
Morgan climbed to the top rope and teased an Eddie Guerrero-esque frogsplash but was stopped by Vaquer, who delivered a superplex followed by a powerbomb onto her knee. Still, it wasn’t enough to put away Morgan.
Another meteora in the corner was avoided by Morgan, who came off the middle turnbuckle with a Codebreaker. She tried for Oblivion, but Vaquer blocked the move with a superkick then an Angel Wings.
With Morgan in trouble, Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez came to ringside with the goal of causing problems. Perez distracted the referee while Rodriguez got a cheap shot in on Vaquer. While Vaquer said she didn’t want any help from Becky Lynch, the Irish star came to ringside and helped take out the two Judgment Day henchwomen.
Before Perez was chased away by Lynch, she slid the women’s title to Morgan. With the referee distracted, Morgan struck Vaquer over the head with her title. She then connected with her Oblivion DDT finisher for the pinfall win in just under 18 minutes. Morgan’s long-lasting, quite inactive run as champ lives on.
This was an okay main event match. We were definitely waiting for the first 15 minutes until the eventual run-in spot took place, as made obviously from a segment earlier in the night that it would be part of the finish. But, the action during that time was good. I personally thought we’d see a title change here, so that part definitely surprised me.
It was announced on the broadcast that Raw newcomer Lola Vice, Raquel Rodriguez and NXT women’s champ Kelani Jordan will compete in next week’s women’s Money in the Bank qualifier. The men’s side will feature Je’Von Evans, Big Cass, and Austin Theory.
Royce Keys sends a warning shot
Backstage, The Usos were once again getting anxious about attacking OTM and Royce Keys. They were done letting Jacob Fatu call the play, they said, and had decided they wanted to get their hands on the trio before the show ended. Wielding weapons, The Usos came to the ring alongside Fatu for the final segment of the night.
Jey Uso said Keys and OTM got the best of them two weeks in a row, but it won’t be three. They called for them to hit the ring and try and fight with The Bloodline. Big screens in the venue showed a feed from outside the arena, where Keys and OTM were standing around a black SUV. “This is your car, right?” Keys said.
OTM started to destroy the vehicle with sledgehammers. They dropped a canister of gasoline into the front-seat area. “Y’all said I was crazy,” Keys said. “Nah.”
Keys dropped a lighter into the SUV and, while standing dangerously close to the car, wanted the interior burn. “Like I said, ain’t nobody safe,” Keys said before walking away. Fatu was seen shouting at The Usos as the show went off air.
A burning SUV is a cool shot. But, this felt like a kind of flat end to the show? I mean, how much could a rental car really mean to The Bloodline? This didn’t feel like… That much of a statement from Keys and Co. At least, not compared to the brutal, bloody attack they unleashed a week prior.
