Photo credit- WWE
Last week’s Raw was a rather…. interesting episode. And not in a good way. Many questionable booking decisions like Karrion Kross losing his debut match on the main roster and Keith Lee putting up a decent but underwhelming showing against Bobby Lashley were baffling booking decisions. However, in the world of wrestling it’s all about the follow up. Can Raw find a way to salvage this? Let’s find out!
AVERAGE: The show starts off with the new Raw Women’s champion Nikki A.S.H. talking about her big win from last week. She talks about how elated she is to be champion and that her lifelong dream has finally come true. However, she’s quickly interrupted by Charlotte Flair, who bashes Nikki and says she’s not cut out to be champion. Charlotte continues making excuses as to why she lost last week, like saying she literally wasn’t standing when the referee rang the bell. Charlotte then challenges Nikki to a rematch for the title at Summerslam. Charlotte continues preaching about how she’s a victim of injustice until Rhea Ripley soon comes out. Rhea says that she should be the one to face Nikki at Summerslam because while Charlotte won last week, it wasn’t by pinfall or submission. Both go back and forth, claiming that they should be the one to “defeat” Nikki. Nikki is insulted that both Charlotte and Rhea are insistent that they’ll have no problem beating Nikki for the title and says that she plans on putting the women’s division through a “metamorphosis” and that she’s gonna lead that change. Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville come out and say that at Summerslam it’ll be a triple threat between the three women for the title. Charlotte is upset however and says that she wants to face Nikki tonight and see if she can hang in Charlotte’s league. Nikki accepts and Sonya makes it official. The three women brawl with Nikki eventually emerging victorious. Overall, a decently good way to start the show, however the segment went way too long in my opinion. This could’ve been condensed into maybe two separate segments as opposed to one longer one. However for what it was, Nikki came off as very genuine and I’m coming around on her winning the title if it means more growth for her character, which I still feel it needs.
AVERAGE: Damian Priest has a pre match promo hyping up his match with Sheamus tonight. He says that Sheamus doesn’t deserve to be the United States champion because of how he treats people like Humberto by attacking them from behind. He says that Sheamus is not a champion, but rather a coward and a bully and Priest will prove it. A short but good segment for Priest. I’m really looking forward to him hopefully winning the title at Summerslam.
GOOD: Up next is Sheamus vs Damian Priest in a champion contenders match. This was a really damn good showing for both men here. Both men came off looking great and the crowd really got into this opening contest. Priest eventually takes Sheamus’ mask off which gets a big pop. A lot of really good near falls in this match before Sheamus gets caught by Priest who hits Reckoning and wins. Post match, Sheamus screams that Priest broke his nose again. Overall, a really good opening match and Priest beating Sheamus was a great decision to justify him hopefully winning the title soon.
Result: Priest defeats Sheamus via pinfall
John Cerenzio WR Star Rating: 3.5 stars
GOOD: Up next is a rematch for the Raw Tag Team Titles as AJ Styles and Omos defend the titles against the Viking Raiders. Not really sure why this is happening again considering AJ and Omos won clean at Money In the Bank but sure why not. The Raiders start off hot and heavy and take out Omos immediately which is a good strategy. They hit the Viking Experience on AJ and almost win the belts straight away, but are stopped by Omos. Omos eventually hits the Punjabi Plunge and AJ hits the springboard 450 splash to retain the titles in a good, fun match.
Result: AJ and Omos retain after AJ pinned Ivar
John Cerenzio WR Star Rating: 3.25 stars
AVERAGE: Jinder Mahal cuts a promo on his way to the ring calling Drew despicable for his actions last week destroying Shanky with a chair. However, before Veer “destroys” Drew he’ll give him a chance to apologize. He then introduces his personal attorney and threatens to sue Drew for his actions unless he apologizes. Drew tells Jinder to shut up and asks the crowd what he should do. Obviously the crowd wants him to kick Veer’s ass and he starts a new chant for Jinder which is “Drew is gonna kill you.” A decently good promo from Jinder and this is some natural progression from last week’s segment. I also think this version of Drew serves him best. He’s best when he goes out there and hurts people as opposed to trying to be overly charismatic.
AVERAGE: Immediately after is Drew McIntyre vs Veer. Veer is honestly not as bad as I expected him to be, but he still comes off as green and Drew definitely had to carry him through this match. Jinder holds a chair on the outside for the duration of the match until he hands the chair to Veer. However, Drew claymores the chair into Veer’s face. Mike Rome weirdly says that Drew wins this match, but commentary says that Veer won the match? Someone definitely botched a call here but Veer winning the match makes much more sense considering that even though he brought the chair into the ring, he never actually used it.
Result: Veer defeats Drew via disqualification
John Cerenzio WR Star Rating: 2.5 stars
SATISFACTORY: Up next is a women’s tag team championship contenders match as Eva Maria and Doudrop take on the champions Natalya and Tamina. Overall an ok match up until the finish. The finish was….. pretty stupid. Lily comes on the screen to do a parody of Eva’s “Eva-Lution” gimmick called the “Lily-Lution.” This causes Eva to get distracted and Tamina picks up the win. Post match, they show Natalya being helped to the back, so she could potentially be legitimately hurt, hoping she’s ok. With that being said the match itself excluding the Alexa stuff was ok but nothing that special either.
Result: Natalya and Tamina defeated Eva and Doudrop via pinfall after Tamina pinned Eva.
John Cerenzio WR Star Rating: 2 stars
GOOD: Up next is Keith Lee vs the NXT champion Karrion Kross. This HAS to be a troll for all of the negative attention of the booking these two got last week. However with that being said this should be rather interesting. Overall, a MUCH better showing for both men as opposed to last week. Kross got a much needed win after last week’s questionable debut and Keith got in just the right amount of offense to make him look credible but still ultimately come up short. His wide array of suplexes and comeback spots got the crowd into him and surviving the Kross Jacket for as long as he did before ultimately succumbing to it did put over both the move and Lee’s determination. I still would’ve preferred if this match never happened because neither man should lose here. But for what we got, much better than last week for both men. Good stuff here.
Result: Kross defeats Lee via submission
John Cerenzio WR Star Rating: 3.5 stars
GOOD: Nikki A.S.H. is backstage being interviewed about her match later tonight with Charlotte and her title defense at Summerslam. She says that no matter what happens, no one can take away the feeling she had winning the title. She says that she’s going to carry the love that children around the world have for her and carry that positivity into Summerslam and retain the title. Rhea Ripley shows up and says that she’s confident she’s gonna beat Nikki at Summerslam, but as for tonight she wants her to give Charlotte hell. Another really good genuine promo from Nikki and the exchange with Rhea was simultaneously wholesome and fit into Rhea’s character nicely. A nice little segment.
GOOD: Up next is a tag team match as Mace and T-Bar take on Mustafa Ali and Mansoor. Mace and T-Bar have a weird pre match promo where they talk about animals and the law of the jungle or something. Mansoor and Ali have a pre match promo as well where Mansoor is hyped to team with Ali, but Ali simply tells Mansoor to follow his lead. Honestly, this was a fun, short little match. The dynamic between Mansoor and Ali is very fun and Mace and T-Bar are a decent powerhouse team. I just wish they ditched the retribution gimmick already.
Result: Mansoor and Ali win via pinfall after Mansoor pinned Mace.
John Cerenzio WR Star Rating: 3.25 stars
GOOD: Up next, the WWE champion Bobby Lashley comes out to address Goldberg’s challenge from last week. MVP says that Goldberg disrespected him last week and asks Lashley what his answer is. Lashley says that he won’t dignify his challenge with a response and says that this is his ring and no one will disrespect him in his ring. Cedric Alexander then surprisingly comes out and says that Lashley is bold to speak of disrespect after he unceremoniously dumped Cedric from the Hurt Business earlier in the year. However Cedric says that he realized that the reason Cedric was dumped was because Lashley knows Cedric is better than him and issues a challenge to Lashley. Shelton Benjamin comes out and says that Cedric is annoying and issues Lashley a real challenge. MVP says that neither of them are worthy of a challenge and that they’re not even on the agenda. However Lashley says that he’ll simply take them both on at the same time. A really good segment and a fun little Hurt Business reunion.
GREAT SQUASH: Immediately afterwards is Bobby Lashley vs Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin in a tornado handicap match. Lashley absolutely destroyed these men in a fantastic showcase for Lashley. Cedric and Shelton had one great hope spot, but this was pretty much all Lashley. Lashley wins with a Jackhammer on Shelton followed by a dominator to Cedric onto Shelton and then pins both men. Great stuff here.
AVERAGE: The Miz and John Morrison are backstage prepping the drip sticks for Morrison’s upcoming match talking about getting “wet” when AJ and Omos show up. AJ offers Miz and Morrison a proposition of sorts, however Omos stands in front of them as they quietly conduct business so we don’t know what was said. However, I’m interested to see where this goes.
GREAT: Up next is John Morrison vs Riddle. Morrison and Riddle have had great in-ring showings on Raw over the past couple of weeks and putting them together should make for a great match. The Miz sprays Riddle with the drip stick, to which Riddle retaliates by kicking Miz out of his wheelchair. The two have a really good back and forth until AJ and Omos come out. I’m interested to see what the deal is that was brokered between the two teams. Riddle goes for the floating bro before Omos destroys Riddle’s scooter! This destroys Riddle and causes Morrison to take advantage, hitting Starship Pain for the win. The execution of the move was a bit botchy, very rare for Morrison, but that doesn’t take away from what was a really damn good match between these two. Post match AJ and Omos beat up Riddle, hitting him with the Styles Clash.
Result: Morrison defeats Riddle via pinfall
John Cerenzio WR Star Rating: 3.75 stars
AVERAGE: Up next is Reginald defending the 24/7 Championship against R-Truth. Truth has a headset microphone on during the match which is an interesting choice but I love it. It adds another element of comedy to the match. Truth takes off Reginald’s shirt to try and slow him down, but Reginald is far too fast for Truth. Reginald eventually wins after tiring out Truth. A fun, serviceable comedy match. Reginald as 24/7 champion is honestly really fun so far and I hope he has a good run with the belt. This is a good fit for him.
Result: Reginald defeated Truth via pinfall.
John Cerenzio WR Star Rating: 2.5 stars
AVERAGE: Charlotte cuts a pre match promo saying that she doesn’t lose to almost superstars and that Nikki got lucky earlier, but now she’ll rectify it. A decent promo from Charlotte before her match.
GREAT: Main event time as Charlotte Flair takes on Nikki A.S.H. in a contender’s match. This was a really fun match and an excellent showcase for Nikki. The match told a great story of Charlotte outclassing Nikki at every turn. Nikki had several great spots where she almost beat Charlotte but Charlotte proved to be too much for her. A really solid TV match, adding a new layer to Nikki finally eating a loss and potentially hurting her confidence and positivity.
Result: Charlotte defeats Nikki via pinfall.
John Cerenzio WR Star Rating: 3.75 stars
GOOD: Post match, Kevin Patrick goes to congratulate Charlotte, but she cuts a promo saying that her beating Nikki was inevitable and that there’s no reason for her to be congratulated. Nikki says that she can admit when she got beaten, but says she has the confidence to beat Charlotte and challenges her to a rematch next week. Charlotte says she can defeat Nikki any week and accepts. She ends the segment and the show by beating up Nikki and saying that she’s a false symbol of hope for her fans.
Overall, this episode of Raw was much better than last week’s. A lot of really good in-ring action this week like Sheamus and Priest and Morrison and Riddle. Lee and Kross also had a fun match with a much better showing from both men as opposed to last week. Nikki A.S.H. is also slowly but steadily improving and I really hope she has a good reign as champion going into Summerslam. However with all of that being said, the show still has its problems like the Alexa and Eva feud being not that good and the heavy insistence of championship contenders matches that most of the time don’t mean anything anyways.
Show theme & presentation: 7/10
Production: 9/10
Watchability: 8/10
Crowd Reaction: 8/10
Storyline Progression: 7/10
Overall show rating: 6.6/10
