Happy 4th of July everybody, this was a fun edition of Monday Night Raw. The crowd was into it for a lot of the show. Liv Morgan got a huge reception both during her promo and match. The Mysterios got the hometown treatment from the San Diego fans and their Eddie Guerrero finish against Judgement Day was really fun to see. Lashley and The Street Profits had a really exciting 6 man tag with Alpha Academy and Theory. As gross as the ending was, it was a well told story given the party segments backstage. The main event delivered as well as Becky Lynch overcame Asuka in a brutal No Holds Barred match. Oh yeah, Logan Paul didn’t sign to team with The Miz, he signed to fight him at Summerslam.
It is the 4th of July and if you’re celebrating with WWE it will be Monday Night Raw, live from San Diego, California. Fresh off of the Money In The Bank Premium Live Event we will see both the newly crowned United States Champion Bobby Lashley and our new Mr. Money In The Bank, Theory, in action. We will also here from the new Smackdown Women’s Champion Liv Morgan, and in the main event Becky Lynch takes on Asuka in a no holds barred match.
GOOD Bobby Lashley in ring Promo: New United States Champion Bobby Lashley opens the show and welcomes us to Monday Night Raw. He is a true babyface now and the crowd showers him with love. Bobby says there isn’t another man in any promotion that can beat him for the US Title. Theory interrupts and he walks in carrying the briefcase and asks why Bobby gets to kick off Monday Night Raw. He compares himself to Michael Jordan and Tom Brady and the crowd really starts to boo him. Lashley responds by calling him entitled and he’s actually doing a great job on the microphone. Theory announces that they’ll be seeing each other later in a 6 man tag match. He also informs Lashley that he will be getting a rematch for the United States Championship at Summerslam, and after he wins that match he’s going to cash in his MITB Contract against the winner of Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. Theory then cheapshots Lashley with the briefcase but Bobby stands tall to end the segment after connecting with a one armed spinebuster.
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.25 Stars
GREAT The Mysterios vs Finn Balor and Damian Priest: This is Dominik’s debut in his hometown of San Diego and the crowd loves them! Priest and Balor immediately attack them from behind before the bell. Rey is dominated early in the match but he’s able to tag in Dominik who does well against Finn Balor but is slowed down quite a bit by the power of Damian Priest. Rey is tagged back in and he hits a seated senton on Damian Priest. We head to a commercial break where both Balor and Dominik are tagged back in, inside of the picture in picture. Immediately out of the break Rey and Priest are back and Rey nearly scores a quick victory on Priest with a roll up. He hits another senton off the top but Finn Balor breaks up the pin. Dominik sends his Dad into Priest for a hurricanrana off the top rope. Rey tries for a 619 but Damian has it scouted and he knocks Dominik off the apron. Balor tries for a coup de gras and misses. Both members of Judgement Day are set up on the middle ropes and the Mysterio’s hit a double 619. Rey tries for a frog splash but Balor gets his knees up. Damian Priest throws a chair in the ring and when Finn Balor picks it up Rey Mysterio hits the mat hard and pretends as if he was hit with the chair. The referee has no choice but to disqualify Judgement Day and the Mysterio’s are the winners.
Result: The Mysterios by Disqualification
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.50 Stars
GOOD The Miz Promo: After a video shows Logan Paul signing his contract and explaining that he signed because he wants to fight Miz at Summerslam. The Miz oddly enough is proud of Logan Paul for this, he also says he surrounds himself with people that tell him what he should do. He says the WWE is a different animal and he reminds us that he was on The Real World. Next, Miz suggests that Logan retract his statement, and he guarantees that if he does they will become tag team champions. Then, he says if Paul does not accept his offer he will humble him. Finally, he’s asked about his match with AJ Styles last week and it looks like there will be a rematch this week.
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.00 Stars
Street Profits Party segment: Before the Styles and Miz match starts there is a backstage video shown of the Street Profits throwing a 4th of July party for the locker room. The Alpha Academy interrupt the Profits and they will be in a 6 man tag match also featuring Bobby Lashley and Theory. Otis then challenges Dawkins to a hot dog eating contest. The contest will take place before the match later. Too short to rate this segment but it was entertaining. Immediately after footage is shown of Judgement Day attacking The Mysterios backstage.
GOOD AJ Styles vs. The Miz: We are once again reminded that The Miz walked out on his match against Styles last week. The Miz jumps on Styles pretty quickly but Styles is such a veteran he’s able to turn things around with a beautiful dropkick and then a clothesline over the top rope. He follows that by going over the top for a forearm as we head to a break. Out of the break Miz is in control but when he tries for a figure four leglock AJ Styles has him scouted and he hits a Phenomenal Forearm to pick up the win. Immediately following the match Ciampa attacks Styles from behind and he throws Styles into the ring post before pulling down his knee pad to try to deliver a running knee. Styles evades and hits a pele kick but when he tries to follow up he’s smashed with a Skull Crushing Finale by The Miz.
Result: AJ Styles by Pinfall via Phenomenal Forearm
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.00 Stars
GREAT Liv Morgan in ring Promo: Liv gets a huge reception from the crowd when she makes her entrance. The crowd showers her with the “you deserve it chant,” and she responds by saying, “Thank you guys, but we deserve it!” She talks about how difficult the Ladder Match was at MITB and she thanks the fans for getting her through it. Liv follows by saying that the championship isn’t just for her it is for all of us. Natalya interrupts and says that the one person Morgan should be thanking is her. Morgan suggests if she wants a shot at the title that they can settle things on Smackdown. Carmella interrupts and she asks why either one of them is here? She and Natalya attack Morgan and it’s a two on assault briefly until Bianca Belair inserts herself into the situation to make the save. Adam Pierce now comes out, and we’ll have a tag match tonight between the two champions and two of their potential challengers.
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.50 Stars
GREAT Bianca Belair and Liv Morgan vs. Carmella and Natalya: The match actually starts during the picture in picture commercial where Belair is all over Carmella. The majority of the match happens during the break and when we get back it is Liv and Natalya in the ring. Morgan is nailed in the face with a kick from Natalya that looked a bit snug. Natty follows by throwing Morgan off the ropes and Liv lands hard again. Morgan is caught in a sharpshooter but Liv is close to Belair in the corner. Bianca uses her hair to pull Liv to the corner for a tag and then she is all over Natty. Carmella makes a blind tag as Belair hits a stalling suplex on Natty. She comes from out of nowhere and kicks Belairs head into the ring post as we are sent to another commercial. Back from the break Mella has Bianca in a headlock, and Morgan is firing up the crowd on the apron. Belair powers out and scores with a backbreaker but Natty is tagged in and she stops Bianca from making the tag to Morgan. Bianca once again fights out and brings in Liv Morgan who goes back and forth with Natlaya. She lands a double knee facebreaker on Carmella but Natalya is the legal competitor for their side. Liv Morgan hits Oblivion and she is the winner of the match!
Result: Liv Morgan by Oblivion
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.50 Stars
Street Profits Party Segment: We head back to the Street Profits party for the hot dog eating contest. Dana Brooke is running from the 24/7 title crew and Omos is accidentally bumped by Reggie. Ezekiel accidentally spills on Seth Rollins shirt, which he laughs about at first before walking away. Unrateable segment.
GREAT Seth Rollins vs. Ezekiel: Seth Rollins will have a chance at redemption against Ezekiel right now. Zeke gets a nice reception from the crowd when he makes his entrance but Rollins is all over him out of the gates. Seth is completely dominant for the entire first half of the match until Ezekiel can finally throw Rollins out of the ring. Zeke military presses him and throws him over into the timekeepers area as we are sent to commercial. Out of the break they are back in the ring and Zeke is back in this match. This is a long and back and forth match in the latter parts but Rollins is able to kick out of a backslide and land a stomp to pick up the win. Post match Rollins tries to Stomp Ezekiel again but he is it by an RKO out of nowhere from Riddle and the crowd goes crazy.
Result: Seth Rollins by Pinfall via Stomp
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.50 Stars
GOOD Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits vs. Theory and Alpha Academy: Before the match the hotdog eating contest is shown, where Akira Tozawa is the surprise winner with 48 hot dogs. Theory starts the match with Dawkins who is dominant in the opening moments. Otis is tagged in though and he clubs Dawkins a few times before tagging in Gable. Chad hits a dragon screw on Angelo and then does his signature thank you to the crowd. He tries for an Ankle Lock but Dawkins escapes and tags in Montez Ford. Montez uses his peak athleticism to lay Gable out with a clothesline and then he and Lashley hit stereo stalling suplexes. Angelo Dawkins puts the exclamation point on the sequence with a flipping senton onto all three of the opponents outside the ring. After a commercial Ford spikes Theory with a DDT and then almost tags in Dawkins but Gable interrupts and then Otis follows by flattening Angelo outside the ring. Lashley is still available in the corner though and he’s brought in by Ford. Theory runs away but Gable can’t and Chad is slung all over the ring. Bobby hits a flatliner and then knocks Otis off the apron. Dawkins shoulder blocks Theory over the announce table and then Lashley Powerslams Gable in the ring. Otis breaks up the pin but he is holding his stomach with some apparent nausea. Lashley Spears Otis and then Ford hits him with a frog splash. Gable changes the momentum for his side though and hits a moonsault on Lashley for a near fall. He tries a german suplex but Lashley cuts him in half with a Spear for the victory. After the match unfortunately Otis loses those hotdogs he ate in the contest earlier in an unsightly way right on Gable.
Result: Bobby Lashley by Pinfall via Spear
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.25 Stars
Becky Lynch backstage interview: Becky Lynch says noone cares about Otis and she is upset about losing at MITB. She says Asuka isn’t ready for No Holds Barred Becky. It will be her vs. Asuka in a no holds barred match in tonight’s main event.
R-Truth In Ring Promo: R-Truth is dressed as Uncle Sam and he makes an entrance to a sort of confused reception. He starts a USA chant and then he talks about honoring Great American Heros. Then he starts to read his favorite passage from the constitution which is not from the constitution at all. Ludwig Kaiser interrupts Truth and introduces Gunther who will face Truth in a match right now.
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating –
SQUASH Gunther vs. R-Truth: The crowd chants USA but Gunther seems completely unconcerned and he slaps R-Truth’s Uncle Sam hat off. Unfortunately the bell is rung and the match is underway as Gunther drills him with a boot to the face. He follows with a gigantic clothesline and a powerbomb to end the match. What an absolute squash.
Result: Gunther by Pinfall via Powerbomb
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – SQUASH
GREAT Becky Lynch vs. Asuka no holds barred: Becky enters first and she is truly being booed by this San Diego crowd. Asuka walks in carrying a trash can and this will definitely be no holds barred! Asuka starts quickly with a trash can shot and then a shining wizard. She follows that with a chair shot and the ringside area is surrounded by chairs. Asuka tries for a suplex on an open steel chair but instead she lands a bulldog on it. Becky is able to hit an exploder suplex onto a pile of steel chairs. Next Lynch removes the cover for the announce table and then tries to deliver a chair shot on Asuka. This leads to a hip attack through the barricade. Becky recovers and places Asuka on a pile of chairs. Asuka recovers in time and hits Becky in the gut with a steel chair. She scores on a massive superplex into the pile of chairs, and it’s a near fall. Next Asuka puts a trashcan over Lynch’s head an delivers kicks and punches to the trashcan before going up to the top rope for a missile dropkick into the can on Beck’s head. Asuka looks under the ring for more weapons and she pulls out a second table to the delight of the crowd. This allows Lynch to recover and she is the one that actually brings the table into the ring. Asuka recovers while the table is being set up though and nearly has Becky in the Asuka Lock. Once again Asuka looks under the ring and she pulls out an umbrella, she swings it at Becky but Lynch catches it and opens it in time to block the green mist from Asuka. Becky has Asuka in an electric chair and places her on the top rope. A Manhandle Slam off the top rope through the table earns Becky Lynch the massive victory over Asuka.
Result: Becky Lynch by Pinfall via Manhandle Slam off the second rope through a table
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.75 Stars
Overall: Happy 4th of July everybody, this was a fun edition of Monday Night Raw. The crowd was into it for a lot of the show. Liv Morgan got a huge reception both during her promo and match. The Mysterios got the hometown treatment from the San Diego fans and their Eddie Guerrero finish against Judgement Day was really fun to see. Lashley and The Street Profits had a really fun 6 man tag with Alpha Academy and Theory. As gross as the ending was, it was a well told story given the party segments backstage. The main event delivered as well as Becky Lynch overcame Asuka in a brutal No Holds Barred match. Oh yeah, Logan Paul didn’t sign to team with The Miz, he signed to fight him at Summerslam.
Matches: 0.50/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.50/1 Stars
Atmosphere: 0.75/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.50/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating. 3.00/5 Stars
Photo Credit: WWE
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here:
