Triple H’s influence is very apparent these last few weeks and Raw has been a breath of fresh air. While the Monday night show has yet to creep over the 4 star marker in the past few weeks it seems any minute they are due to deliver a show of that caliber as they continue to get closer and closer each week. Judgement Day laid out Rey Mysterio in the opening segment and set the stage for next week’s explosive matchup featuring Edge and Damian Priest. Theory was able to pick up a massive win against Dolph Ziggler, and Miz and Ciampa won a tag match as well. Bobby Lashley retained the United States Championship against AJ Styles and Dakota Kai won her match against Dana Brooke. Seth Rollins talked trash on Riddle who he assumed was not in the building, until he found out the hard way that Riddle was in fact in attendance. Oh yeah, there was another Dexter Lumis sighting as well.
Monday Night Raw is live from Washington D.C. tonight and we are only a few more weeks from the Clash at The Castle Premium Live Event. Tonight there will be women’s tag team action with Asuka and Alexa Bliss taking on Doudrop and Nikki ASH. Bobby Lashley is set to defend his United States Championship against AJ Styles, and Theory will take on Dolph Ziggler in the Main Event.
GOOD Judgement Day, Rey Mysterio Segment: Judgement Day starts the show and they say that the Mysterios will not be here tonight. Finn Balor then passes it off to Damian Priest who discusses his match next week in Toronto against Edge. After a pretty good promo from Priest, the crowd chants for Edge but that is not what they get. Rey Mysterio runs in and briefly clears Judgement Day from the ring using a chair but he is caught by Rhea Ripley. She takes the chair from him and now the numbers game takes over. After a ddt on a chair from Ripley and a Coup de Gras onto a chair by Finn Balor, the group stands tall of Rey Mysterio as we head to commercial to end the segment. This was a nice opener, the crowd booed the result heavily as Mysterio writhed in pain, and they did an excellent job of building towards next week.
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.25 Stars
GOOD Asuka and Alexa Bliss vs. Doudrop and Nikki ASH: Bianca Belair joins at ringside to watch this one. This was a very physical tag team match for sure. Asuka and Doudrop in particular really brought some violence to this match. Alexa Bliss had a great back and forth with Nikki ASH before tagging back in Asuka for a huge flurry. Nikki is able to fight her way back into the contest and Doudrop hits a cross body on Bliss. Doudrop is then officially tagged in but Asuka lands a spinning backfist but is caught with a michinoku driver. Alexa Bliss tags herself in for a spike ddt and then she brings Asuka right back in where she is able to lock up an armbar to pick up the submission victory. Bayley, Iyo and Dakota Kai confront Bliss, Asuka and Bianca at the top of the ramp as the segment ends.
Result: Asuka by Submission via Armbar:
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.25 Stars
GREAT Theory Backstage interview: Theory says that his cash wasn’t less than successful because he’s still Mr. Money in The Bank. The interview is interrupted by Dolph Ziggler, and he reminds us of his Money in The Bank cash in. Theory mocks him and Ziggler isn’t having it, he strikes Theory and it looks like we will see that match tonight.
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.50 Stars
GREAT Miz and Ciampa backstage promo: Miz and Ciampa are in matching gear this week and this odd pairing is actually working nicely of late. This was a really fun segment, the Miz makes Ciampa a card inside of a necklace with a picture of the two of them on it.
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.75 Stars
GREAT Ciampa and Miz vs. Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali: Miz and Ciampa enter first followed by their opponents Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali. Cedric starts the match against Ciampa who grabs a quick headlock. Both Alexander and Ali are so agile and athletic they are an incredibly fun pairing. The crafty nature of both Ciampa and Miz is actually blending together really well as they dominate the early action. Alexander gets the first near fall of the match but Ciampa is able to put Miz’s foot on the rope before the 3 count. Ali dives to the outside and knocks Ciampa over the announce table. Alexander has another near fall attempt and tags in Ali who tries for a 450 splash on the Miz but doesn’t realize that Ciampa had made the blind tag. Ciampa cuts Ali off with a running knee and then he hits the Fairy Tale Ending to pick up the win.
Result: Ciampa by Pinfall via Fairy Tale Ending
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.50 stars
GREAT Drew Mcintyre promo: Drew cuts a very serious promo and he’s got this crowd in the palm of his hand. Kevin Owens interrupts and he’s upset with Drew and his callouts. Mcintyre is upset with Kevin and he is as intense as he has ever looked. It looks like they will have a match next. This was such a high level promo between these two it was very interesting.
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.75 Stars
GREAT Kevin Owens vs. Drew Mcintyre: This is such a physical match between these two. Owens looks as fresh as he ever has. They go for such a long time in an incredibly physical and back and forth match. KO lands a moonsault off the second rope and then follows that with some big shoulders into the gut of Mcintyre. Drew fights his way back into it and he nearly suplexes KO outside the ring but he’s instead thrown into the ring post. Owens follows with a frog splash off the apron and we head to a commercial break. Out of the break KO is still in control but Mcintyre hits an overhead suplex and then a neckbreaker. He tries for the Future Shock DDT but Owens is the one able to score with a DDT. No doubt both men are exhausted after nearly 12 minutes in and we’ve had numerous big spots from each competitor. KO hits both a Swanton and a Frog Splash and somehow Drew is still in this match. Mcintyre hits White Noise off the middle rope but once again it is a near fall. Drew hits a Glasgow Kiss and then a clothesline but can’t make the cover. Owens is actually the first one to his feet, but Drew follows shortly thereafter. Drew is finally able to hit a Future Shock but the Uso’s do not allow him to follow up with the Claymore and they storm the ring to stop this match via disqualification. Although Drew is able to clear the Uso’s from the ring Kevin Owens is able to take advantage of the distraction and he hits Drew with a Stunner. The Uso’s then climb back in the ring to try to pick up the scraps but somehow Drew Mcintyre recovers to hit Jey with a Glasgow Kiss and Jimmy with a Claymore.
Result: Drew Mcintyre via Disqualification
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.75 Stars
GREAT Seth Rollins Promo: Rollins is giving another inspired promo about Riddle and how he’s going to retire him. Riddle interrupts him and calls Rollins a piece of trash. Seth then tells Riddle to give an announcement. That announcement is that he is medically cleared and that the next time he sees him it’s on. It seems Seth doesn’t care and then, it turns out Riddle is actually in the building and he runs down to the ring after Rollins. Seth is caught and Riddle lays in right hands and kicks on Rollins before landing an exploder suplex. Riddle is slammed on the apron however and Seth follows up by throwing Riddle over the announce table. Rollins seemed to be in control but Riddle chases him up the ramp into the crowd and they cheer for him as the segment ends.
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.75 Stars
SQUASH Veer Mahaan vs. Beaux Keller: Veer is all over poor Beaux and he quickly disposes of him with his signature series of moves, capped by the Cervical Clutch.
Result: Veer Mahaan by Submission via Cervical Clutch
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating –
Bayley, Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai backstage segment: Bayley takes the microphone to not only call out their opponents for Clash at the Castle but also essentially the entire women’s division. This is an entertaining promo but it is also too short to rate.
GOOD Bobby Lashley vs. AJ Styles: Lashley and Styles had a very physical match. It took them a bit to really get going and AJ may be working around some kind of injury. Styles is always sublime in the ring but he looked like he had a bit of trouble getting loose in this match. During our weekly watch party we all saw him as being a step slow, but at the same time had the same, there must be something hurting him because of how good his timing is normally. The finish however totally delivered as Bobby cut Styles in half with a massive spear.
Result: Bobby Lashley by Pinfall via Spear
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.25 Stars
SQUASH Dakota Kai vs. Dana Brooke: This is a total squash. Dakota comes out and she is dominant early. Brooke mounts a little offense but Kai quickly lands a Running Big Boot for the victory.
Result: Dakota Kai by Pinfall via Big Boot
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – SQUASH
GOOD Theory vs. Dolph Ziggler: Theory goes after Ziggler and is much more violent than usual in this one. While Dolph is able to fight valiantly in the middle stages of the match this is very much a showcase of Theory’s skills. Dolph hits a Zig Zag and nearly wins the match but it is not to be. Theory is able to score with his patented A-Town Down and he picks up a huge win against the Show Off.
Result: Theory by Pinfall via A-Town Down
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.25 Stars
Overall: Triple H’s influence is very apparent these last few weeks and Raw has been a breath of fresh air. While the Monday night show has yet to creep over the 4 star marker in the past few weeks it seems any minute they are due to deliver a show of that caliber as they continue to get closer and closer each week. Judgement Day laid out Rey Mysterio in the opening segment and set the stage for next week’s explosive matchup featuring Edge and Damian Priest. Theory was able to pick up a massive win against Dolph Ziggler, and Miz and Ciampa won a tag match as well. Bobby Lashley retained the United States Championship against AJ Styles and Dakota Kai won her match against Dana Brooke. Seth Rollins talked trash on Riddle who he assumed was not in the building, until he found out the hard way that Riddle was in fact in attendance. Oh yeah, there was another Dexter Lumis sighting as well.
Matches: 0.50/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.75/1 Stars
Atmosphere: 0.50/1 Stars
Storytelling: 1/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating. 3.5/5 Stars
Photo Credit: WWE.com
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here:
