Results
- Logan Paul & Austin Theory def. Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso (WWE World Tag Team Championships) (Street Fight) (8:47)
- Nia Jax & Lash Legend def. Bayley & Lyra Valkyria (WWE Women’s World Tag Team Championships) (DQ) (10:44)
- Penta def. Kofi Kingston (WWE Intercontinental Championship) (9:58)
- Raquel Rodriguez def. IYO SKY (10:25)
Stephanie McMahon warns Cody Rhodes
This week’s episode of WWE Monday Night Raw, live from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, kicked off with an appearance from Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. This was a bit of a surprise, as Rhodes actually wasn’t announced for tonight’s show. As we know, Rhodes will be defending against Smackdown rival Randy Orton at Wrestlemania next month.
There were some boos but it was mostly cheers for the champ. Before he could really get his promo started, he was interrupted by Stephanie McMahon, of all people. McMahon is notably going into the Hall of Fame during Wrestlemania weekend.
“I am surprised to see you here,” Rhodes said.
“The last time I checked, my name is Stephanie McMahon,” she replied. “And this is the house my grandfather built, Madison Square Garden.”
McMahon said she wants to talk about Rhodes’ Wrestlemania match against Orton, but warned that she doesn’t have good news. She believes that to beat Orton, Rhodes must, like his father Dusty Rhodes did with opponents, understand what being Orton is like.
“From what I’ve seen so far, you are not your father,” she said. “This version of Cody Rhodes can’t beat this version of Randy Orton.”
Rhodes gave a fired-up reply and ended it with a jab at Steph: “With all due respect [to fathers], you’re not yours either.”
McMahon slapped Rhodes. “I’m out here because I care about you … You don’t understand what this Randy Orton is capable of.” She continued to warn Rhodes about how dangerous Orton is.
McMahon was about to leave the ring but was stopped by Rhodes, who violently turned her around by yanking her wrist. “Stephanie McMahon, I’ve got two words for ya: Thank you,” he said.
I’ve been pretty cold on the Orton & Rhodes feud this far, but this felt like good way of hyping up the match. It still feels odd to bring up Vince McMahon, so I didn’t love that. But otherwise, this was a nice opener.
The Vision capture tag gold in hectic street fight match
The first of three title matchups was next, with The Usos defending their WWE World Tag Team Championships against Austin Theory and Logan Paul of The Vision in a street fight. This title match was made after The Usos lost a non-title meeting against these two via disqualification. LA Knight, who has been feuding with The Vision recently, was at ringside on commentary. Knight was quick to mention that Paul Heyman was nowhere to be seen.
The Usos scored dual dives to the outside before the show went to a break. The Vision got heat during commercials by unveiling a table, only to put it away moments later. The Usos started to make a comeback as the show returned, wrapping a garbage can on Theory’s head then unloading with kendo stick shots.
The Usos set up a table and put Theory through it with a double-team superplex. Paul retreated to ringside, where his mother was seated. His mother slipped him a pair of brass knuckles, which, to be clear, are totally legal in a street fight. Knight came from the commentary booth and took the brass knuckles away. As Knight and Paul brawled at ringside, streamer IShowSpeed, who was sitting in the front row as well, was unintentionally pulled over the barricade and to the mat.
IShowSpeed picked up the brass knuckles. Knight approached IShowSpeed, who panicked when he felt a hand touch his shoulder, turned around and struck Knight in the head with the weapon. IShowSpeed fled to the back, realizing that he is now officially beefing with a WWE wrestler. The curse Danhausen put on him last week continues to haunt him.
Back in the ring, The Usos scored stereo superkicks to Theory. Jey hit a spear then climbed to the top rope for a move. Jimmy tried to deliver a tope suicida to the outside onto Paul, but was hit in the head with the brass knuckles as he came through the ropes. Paul rolled him back into the ring right after. Jey decided to take out Paul with a dive off the ring apron, completely taking his focus off the action in the ring. This would come back to bite him just moments later, as a hurt Theory put his arm on the chest of Jimmy and pinned him for the three count, ending the match in eight minutes.
The Vision are the new tag champs. This all happened very quickly, I actually had to go back a little in the player to make sure I got all the details.
This was quick and full of gimmicks, maybe the only way to have an acceptable Usos tag match. It seems like we’re heading in the direction of Knight & The Usos facing The Vision and IShowSpeed at Mania, possibly. You can hide Speed’s lack of skills when buried in a six-man match like that.
Roxanne Perez returns, takes out Stephanie Vaquer
Liv Morgan, the opponent of women’s champ Stephanie Vaquer at Mania, hit the ring for the next segment.
Morgan addressed getting attacked by Vaquer last week, a brawl which got Dominik Mysterio involved as well. “I’m not surprised [you attacked my family], because you don’t have any family here, do you? … What are you scared of, Stephanie? Are you scared to confront me one-on-one?”
Morgan called Vauqer’s mom trash in Spanish, which was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Vaquer came to the ring looking for a fight, and that’s exactly what she got. Vaquer dropped Morgan with a superkick, then pulled out a steel chair from ringside. But, just as she was about to inflict more damage, she was stopped by the returning Roxanne Perez! This was the first appearance we’ve seen from Perez in a long time, she has been out due to injury for months.
Perez scored a flurry of punches to Vaquer then set up an Into Oblivion from Morgan to end the segment.
Backstage, Logan Paul and Austin Theory broke the news to IShowSpeed: He has enemies now. “You’re cooked, bud,” Paul said. Paul Heyman told IShowSpeed that, as long as he sticks with The Vision, he’ll be safe. As much as he doesn’t want to, it seems Speed will be staying around the heel faction for his own safety.
Raw General Manager Adam Pearce went up to Heyman and asked if he had seen his email from earlier. Heyman mocked Pearce for trying to communicate with him via email then walked off.
The broadcast plugged a Wrestlemania after-party happening in Vegas involving Rob Gronkowski, Tiffany Stratton, Trick Williams, and Lash Legend. Michael Cole also said he’d be there but I don’t think he was being serious. They also keep teasing “Club WWE,” which Neal Flanagan wrote about for the site a couple of days ago.
Women’s title match ends in DQ after other contenders get involved
After seeing men’s tag titles represented in the opening match, the next bout saw WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Lash Legend and Nia Jax defend against Lyra Valkyria and Bayley. The story with Bayley is that she has been desperately trying to find a way on this year’s Wrestlemania card, and her latest plan to get on the lineup is to win the women’s tag belts with Valkyria.
The broadcast reminded us that the tag champs got involved in a match between The Bellas and Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair on Friday’s Smackdown, causing Bayley and Valkyria to make a run-in.
Both Legend and Jax were taken out with dives to the outside early on. Valkyria got isolated by the champs during the break. Valyria reversed a DDT from Legend into a suplex, giving her the opening to finally get Bayley back into the contest.
Bayley came running off the ropes and ate a nasty front kick from Legend. Jax got back in and earned a near fall with a leg drop to Bayley. The fight went into the corner, where Bayley powerbombed Jax. Valkyria tagged back in and scored a moonsault out of the corner to Jax, but had her follow-up pin attempt stopped by Legend.
There was a fun sequence where all four women took eachother out. It was at this point that the aforementioned duos of The Bella Twins and Flair/Bliss appeared at ringside. We knew this was going to happen eventually and ruin the match, as they’re clearly setting up for a four-way at Mania. The match went to ringside, causing the champs to take out the four onlookers. The match returned to the ring but ended via disqualification after Flair attacked Jax. The crowd kinda fell silent as this segment came to an end.
This was just the inverse of what we saw on Friday, which was really lazy and easy to telegraph. There was some fun stuff late in this match nonetheless, they’re doing a good job at putting over Legend’s size.
Danhausen announced during commercials that WWE will return to MSG for Saturday Night’s Main Event on July 18. Credit to WrestleVotes, who got the scoop on this last weekend.
Lesnar and Oba nearly come to blows again
Brock Lesnar, fired up after getting attacked by Oba Femi two weeks in a row, came to the ring alongside Paul Heyman for the next segment.
Heyman said that, unlike this week, Lesnar wasn’t dressed to fight last week. “Oba Femi decided to pick a fight when Brock Lensar just wanted a conversation,” he said.
A long-winded promo was uncharacteristically interrupted by Lesnar, who snatched the mic and demanded that Femi come to the ring immediately. Instead of Femi coming down the ramp, Raw GM Adam Pearce showed up with a mob of security. Pearce was willing to catch heat from the crowd for refusing this face-to-face from happening, but made it clear that he doesn’t want to endanger a high-value Mania match.
But then, the lights went out and Femi’s theme played. The former NXT champ took out the security guards one by one, including a guard he tossed really high into the air. I hope those extras are getting paid nicely. Femi shoved Pearce into a guardrail then started to circle his prey, walking around the ring while looking at Lesnar. Commentary noted that Femi was making Lesnar feel like the hunted instead of the hunter, a rare feeling for him.
Femi climbed into the ring and started to stare Lesnar down, a face-to-face which was interrupted by Paul Levesque, who seemingly came from the crowd and got in-between these two. Levesque was able to make Lesnar leave the ring, telling him to save his frustrations for Mania.
An upset Lesnar picked up an already hurt security guard and gave him an F5 to the floor before leaving. I thought this was a creative tease. As much as Femi attacking Lesnar again would’ve torn the roof off MSG, and I kinda feel like it’s a letdown that we didn’t get that, we can’t just see the same segment every week. Femi has been presented as one hell of a star and that might be the most hyped match on the card this year, at least right now.
In a pre-taped promo, Finn Balor called for a match against Dominik Mysterio at Wrestlemania. He claimed responsibility for making Mysterio into the “jackass” that he is nowadays. “I’m responsible for destroying you at Wrestlemania,” he said.
Penta defends title, calls for Wrestlemania match
WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta defended against New Day’s Kofi Kingston in an open challenge match next. Grayson Waller got some cheap heat from the New York Crowd by sporting a Boston Red Sox hat.
It was a theme throughout this match that Waller tried to get involved but would be waved off by Kingston, who didn’t want any help.
A top-rope move from Kingston was countered into a Codebreaker for a two-count. Kingston had the momentum during a break, then got a near fall with an SOS after the show returned. He got another two-count after a leg drop.
Kingston tried for a dive to the outside but was caught by Penta, who dumped him onto the commentary desk. Back in the ring, Penta came off the top but was caught mid-air with a Trouble in Paradise from Kingston – this looked awesome.
The fight went to the top, where Penta slammed Kingston to the mat then came off the middle rope with a Mexican Destroyer for the pinfall win in just under 10 minutes. This match felt like it could’ve been built up with a couple more minutes of action, but was a fun one nonetheless.
In an interview after his win, Penta said he wants to defend his title in a ladder match at Wrestlemania. I dig it.
The Ring General takes out Rollins
Backstage, Adam Pearce asked Paul Heyman where Brock Lesnar had gone. Heyman said that Lesnar has left the building. Pearce once again asked if Heyman saw his email.
Heyman hit the ring for a promo but was, once again, interrupted by Pearce, who was still stressing the importance of this email sent earlier today. “There is nothing you will tell me that I don’t already know,” Heyman said.
“So you know the Boston Police Department has dropped all charges against Seth Rollins?” Pearce asked.
Heyman was clearly shocked to hear this news but tried to play it off. Pearce also had another reveal: “As of this very second, Seth Rollins is medically cleared to compete.”
Moments later, Rollins’ music hit. Rollins came from behind and dropped Heyman with a chairshot to the back. “The Oracle” was about to take out Heyman with a Curbstomp onto a steel chair but was stopped by… Gunther!
Gunther peeled Rollins out of the ring and put him out cold with a sleeper. It looks like Heyman has the career-killer on his side.
They needed to find a way to put Gunther and Rollins on Mania, and this is how. There weren’t any good options for Rollins this year with Bron Breakker out due to injury. With that being said, part of me wishes Gunther had something bigger this year after retiring John Cena and AJ Styles.
Kabuki Warriors beef costs IYO SKY her match
The final match of the night saw IYO SKY go one-on-one with Raquel Rodriguez. SKY hit a springboard moonsault to the outside before the show went to commercials.
SKY wiped out Rodriguez with a springboard dropkick shortly after the show returned. She followed up with a meteora in the corner then tried for a top-rope moonsault, but Rodriguez blocked it by putting up her knees. Rodriguez scored a pounce of sorts onto SKY for a near fall.
A powerbomb from Rodriguez was countered by SKY into a hurricanrana then a double-stomp to her stomach. It was near the end of this match that The Kabuki Warriors came down the ramp, with Kairi Sane getting on the ring apron. Rodriguez took Sane off the ring apron with a big boot, but this distraction allowed SKY to get a near fall with a roll-up.
SKY jumped off the top rope for a high-angle DDT. She hit another meteora. Rodriguez was positioned perfectly for an Over the Moonsault, but SKY was distracted by Asuka abusing Sane at ringside. SKY came through the ropes with a tope suicida which took out Asuka but absolutely did not go as planned – SKY landed on the top of her head and I was shocked that she just got right up from this. But, this distraction caused her to get caught with a Tejana Bomb in the ring from Rodriguez for the win in 10 minutes.
Three matches were confirmed for Wrestlemania:
- Penta vs. Dragon Lee vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Rusev vs. JD McDonagh (WWE Intercontinental Championship) (Ladder Match)
- Lash Legend & Nia Jax vs. Nikki Bella & Brie Bella vs. Bayley & Lyra Valkyria vs. Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss (WWE Women’s World Championship)
- Finn Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio.
It was also confirmed minutes later that Gunther vs. Seth Rollins has been added to Wrestlemania as well.
CM Punk sends a message to Roman Reigns, takes him out to end Raw
The final segment of the night opened with Roman Reigns coming to the ring. After asking New York City to acknowledge him, Reigns was cut off by CM Punk.
Punk came to the ring, taking off his title along the way. It became clear quite quickly that he wasn’t in the mood to talk. They started brawling in the ring. Reigns came running off the ropes with what looked like a Superman Punch attempt, but he sorta just body-checked Punk instead. That looked a little awkward.
The fight went to ringside, where Punk ignored the pleas of Adam Pearce and others, undressing the commentary desk and setting up for a big spot. Reigns knocked over a few officials, then tried for a powerbomb, but Punk escaped. Reigns similarly evaded a GTS attempt.
Reigns took out an agent with a spear. This distraction allowed Punk to pick up Reigns and wipe him out with a GTS. Punk put his hands up to signal that he was done, but he wasn’t. He picked up Reigns and powerbombed him through the announce desk as Michael Cole shouted “Deja vu!”
Punk unloaded with punches on Reigns as he mockingly chanted “Roman, Roman Reigns! Roman, Roman Reigns!” He then celebrated on top of a guardrail as the show came to an end. We had seen weeks upon weeks of these two, and honestly, it was starting to become a little stale. This segment was a nice change of pace, which put the momentum back on Punk after Reigns got the better of him last week.
Final thoughts
This was a productive episode of Raw, building up many new Wrestlemania matchups, shooting some effective angles, and providing a few surprises, which made their return to MSG feel bigger than the usual Monday Night show. The main feature this show lacked, to me at least, was any meaningful matches. All the matches were relatively short, and the in-ring action didn’t stand out too much by the end.
