Money In The Bank is over, and there's plenty to look out for on this upcoming Monday Night Raw. We're, of course, only weeks away from the upcoming WWE event SummerSlam. No doubt tonight's show will lay the groundwork for major matches set for the Detroit show and maybe even feature a surprise return of a superstar or two. I wouldn't expect John Cena after his surprise return, but there are certainly other options to return before Summerslam that I'm excited about. We'll see what happens tonight!
Monday Night Raw opens with a title card tribute to Darren "Droz" Drozdov, who passed away recently.
Monday Night Raw kicks out with Seth Rollins strolling out in all-white with the World Heavyweight Championship around his waist. He's in the middle of a recap of how Money In The Bank went when he's interrupted by Cody Rhodes. Rhodes barely has a chance to speak before Brock Lesnar arrives, and the two start battling in the ring. Lesnar attempts to hit an F5, but is knocked out of the ring by a Cody Cutter. Brock leaves the ring while Cody stands strong.
Monday Night Raw returned to Seth Rollins back in the ring, with Cody and Brock nowhere to be found. Rollins is seemingly about to welcome another person to answer his open challenge but is interrupted by Damian Priest, Dominik Mysterio, and Rhea Ripley. Rollins immediately jumps into mind games and attempts to challenge Priest to a match. Priest rejects that but says that Dom would love to challenge him. Dom is unable to speak over the boos as usual. Rollins accepts the challenge for the match based on the crowd's reaction, despite it being a possible trap for Priest to cash in his contract and take his title.
Damian Priest is set to be in action against Shinsuke Nakamura when Monday Night Raw returns.
Shinsuke Nakamura versus Damian Priest begins. Priest seemingly had the upper hand from the jump, but he's getting worked over by Nakamura. If I had to guess, he won't be in any condition to cash-in on Seth Rollins after tonight. Nakamura put up a good fight, but Priest was ultimately able to conquer his foe and secure a victory.
Damian Priest defeats Shinsuke Nakamura via pinfall.
Ronda Rousey arrives on Monday Night Raw. Before she has a chance to speak Shayna Baszler walks out and starts trashing her former tag-team partner. Baszler tells Rousey is that she owes the wrestling community an apology for bringing Rousey in. Baszler says she fought tooth and nail to get into the WWE and that Rousey walked into WrestleMania without much effort. Rousey drops her mic and starts throwing punches. She initially gets the upper hand, but Baszler is able to trap her in an ankle lock. Baszler finishes Ronda with a brutal knee to the head and leaves.
The Alpha Academy is training backstage for their upcoming match with The Viking Raiders. They're feeling confident they're going to win.
Women's Tag Team Championship #1 Contenders Tag Team Turmoil is up now. Here's who is competing:
-Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green
- Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell
- Dana Brooke and Tegan Nox
- Kayden Carter and Katana Chance
- Nikki Cross and Emma
Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville are up first in the ring against Candice LeRae anand Indi Hartwell. Green and Deville succeed in round one, and Nikki Cross and Emma are up next against them. Deville and Sonya win again, and Dana Brooke and Tegan Nox are up next. Green and Deville are on a tear, and it's down to Kayden Carter and Katana Chance. Green and Deville eek out a victory and tease Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan on their way out of the ring.
Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green win the women's tag titles number one contender match.
Becky Lynch is here. She's upset about not winning Money In The Bank. She's not all that upset about that, but she is over Trish Stratus and Zoey Stark. Lynch invites Stratus to the ring for a fight, and Trish makes her way down. Stratus is wearing a face mask and apparently had it broken during the match. Stratus is allegedly not cleared for in-ring activity, so Lynch offers to fight Stark instead. Stratus pretends it's going to happen but tells Lynch she's going to have to wait until next week to get a fight with Stark.
Cody Rhodes is welcomed out for an interview on the ring ramp. Rhodes says he's ready for Brock Lesnar, and they are not done yet. Rhodes says he'll fight Brock Lesnar any night and every night.
Alpha Academy and Viking Raiders kicks off for a mixed tag-team match. Maxxine Dupri makes her in-ring debut with the team, and scores a victory with a pinfall over Valhalla.
Alpha Academy defeats The Viking Raiders via pinfall.
With Monday Night Raw over halfway over and two major matches still on the card, it would appear there won't be an appearance from Gunther, Imperium, or Drew McIntyre. That's a shame because I was really excited to see McIntyre after his surprise return, but it seems as though the WWE is going to make fans wait.
Ricochet appeared backstage to address his post-match scrap with Logan Paul. Ricochet said he didn't appreciate Paul getting in his face, and wants to meet him next week at Monday Night Raw so they can hash it out.
Rhea Ripley makes her way to the ring for the Women's Heavyweight Championship match. She's blindsided by Natalya who roughs her up immensely before the start of the match. No one from Judgment Day is there to intervene. The match is officially started, and Ripley is slowly able to turn the tables on Natalya. This is more shocking than when she posted photos of her and Dominik Mysterio with fake children. Ripley wins, but barely holds on against Natalya.
Rhea Ripley defeats Natalya via pinfall.
Matt Riddle makes his way out to the ring and is in action against Giovanni Vinci when Monday Night Raw returns. Could this mean McIntyre will finally show up?
Rhea is frustrated backstage, and angry about Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez interfering with her match. She promises to get even if the tag champs try to get in her way again.
Giovanni Vinci arrives with Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser. Kaiser immediately causes a distraction to give Vinci an edge over Riddle in the match. Vinci loses but is jumped by Kaiser before he can celebrate. Drew McIntyre arrives to lend a hand and takes out Kaiser and Vinci. McIntyre stares down Gunther before delivering a Claymore to Vinci.
Matt Riddle defeats Giovanni Vinci via pinfall.
Dominik Mysterio arrives in the ring with Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest by his side. There's a possibility Priest could try and cash in tonight!
Drew McIntyre and Matt Riddle interview backstage. McIntyre agrees to team up with Riddle to take on Imperium, and they leave to go get drinks.
Seth Rollins arrives in the ring, and the match with Dominik Mysterio gets underway. Rollins is predictably dominating Dom, but it's possible Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest could run enough interference to throw Rollins off his game. The crowd hates Dom more than that grandma CinemaBlend's Mack Rawden talked to at a show months ago. With that said, I'm loving the heat he has and hope it's capitalized on at upcoming WWE events.
As for Priest threatening Rollins, I'm not fully on board with it yet. It's entirely possible I'm still upset L.A. Knight lost, and feel that a win would've stopped critics like Kevin Nash from talking smack about his gimmick. In any case, Priest has been a great help to Dom in the match and helped him gain the upper hand on Rollins. The match is ended via disqualification by Priest, who is destroying Rollins.
Rollins briefly gets the upper hand, but Dom blindsides him with the briefcase. right before Priest can cash in, Finn Bálor arrives and ruins Priest's chance at cashing in. Rollins escapes, but not before hitting a pedigree on Dom. It looks like trouble is brewing in the Judgment Day, and will be addressed as the weeks drag on.
