Opening segment
- Elias makes a reference to the Anthony Davis trade, and says he was invited by Baron Corbin and chosen to be the special referee this Sunday.
- Seth Rollins comes out and cracks him with a chair.
- Rollins says that he's tired of playing games. Anyone who accepts the special ref role for Sunday will meet the same fate as Elias.
- The Miz, Bobby Lashley, Cesaro, Ricochet and Braun Strowman all attack Elias. This was fun stuff.
- I liked the opening segment of Raw and transitioning into the first match. Quick and to the point. Furthered the story, too.
U.S. Title Top Contender Match
Ricochet defeated The Miz, Braun Strowman, Bobby Lashley and Cesaro
6/10
- It is so good to see Cesaro in the ring after last week.
- Strowman immediately hits a big double dropkick.
- Cesaro does an Alphamare Waterslide on Strowman. INSANE.
- Strowman powerslams Lashley onto Cesaro and gets the pin on Cesaro. Yep. Gimme Cesaro vs. Strowman at 100 MPH please.
- Strowman eliminates Lashley with a powerslam, but both Lashley and Cesaro do their finishes.
- Ricochet hits a 630 and Lashley & Cesaro help him pin Strowman.
- Strowman goes off and kills everyone.
- Miz is going to work on the leg of Ricochet, but the crowd is largely out of this.
- They're working fine together, but there's no real heat.
- Ricochet wins with a 630 and BOUNCES off of the Miz.
- Samoa Joe tries to attack, but Ricochet beats him up and stands tall.
Becky & Lacey
- Becky Lynch calls out Lacey Evans, who hasn't won a singles match since May 6, and has won two of them on the WWE main roster ever.
- Lacey says some overused stuff about LA, and Becky Lynch attacks here. Well, there we go.
The Viking Raiders defeated JOBBERS
- This is a phenomenal squash match.
- A great Erick shotgun dropkick, followed by a German suplex/Clothesline.
- The Viking Experience hits and that's it.
24/7
- Carmella and R-Truth are in disguises in the front row.
- The herd chases them under the ring, but find Titus O'Neil. I'm done with the Titus slide jokes.
- Carmella and Truth escape.
Backstage party.
- We see The Revival sharply dressed showing up to Shane McMahon's office, where Drew McIntyre is. This is a little bit of a different setting than usual, which I like.
- Heath Slater approaches, but we can't hear anything he's saying. He asks for a raise. Revival laugh and Shane McMahon rejects the raise.
- Heath is on the phone with his wife outside and Drew approaches and offers him money, but beats the shit out of him. The Revival pockets all the money that Drew dropped.
- This has felt like a different Monday Night Raw, and that's a good thing.
KO & Sami Show
- Baron Corbin says that while Elias was his original pick to be his ref, but Seth Rollins attacks him and says he still has work to do tonight
- BOB didn't update the graphics for the Sami and KO show.
- Sami Zayn and KO won't be referees this Sunday because of how Zayn was treated as an official last week. KO is doing it in a sign of solidarity.
- Baron Corbin picks EC3 as his special guest referee. He gets attacked by Rollins.
- New Day come out and Sami Zayn says they aren't wild cards. Kofi says he's the champ and goes where he wants.
- The crowd was even like "No Kofi, the Wild Card kinda sucks man."
- They pick up EC3 unconscious and make him sanction a six-man tag team match by voicing him over.
- Poor EC3. At least he's hilarious.
2 Out Of 3 Falls
New Day defeated Baron Corbin, Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
5/10
- Why the hell is this random ass six-man tag match a two out of three falls match?
- Either way, New Day get a quick pin after Xavier gets worked over and we go to four minutes of commercials.
- Owens hits Big E with a nice superkick after Zayn misses a Helluva Kick.
- Kofi Kingston is very over with the crowd.
- Baron Corbin accidentally clotheslines Zayn and Owens superkicks him. Owens and Zayn leave.
- Kofi hits a Trouble in Paradise and wins.
- Kofi Kingston has won sixteen consecutive televised matches, and is unbeaten in his last 42 matches.
THE CLUB
- AJ Styles is backstage trying to get cleared.
- Gallows and Anderson show up in lab coats.
- AJ Styles in storyline scolding Gallows and Anderson is a nice reset because they need it, but also dumb as shit because they've had some of the worst main roster booking in recent memory.
- Gallows and Anderson don't need to be "serious" to be over. They're amazing, colorful personalities. They need to be on TV and win matches and have creative things happen.
Usos defeated The Good Brothers
4.75/10
- I wonder how annoying it is to Anderson and Gallows to have wrestlers and commentary imply that they didn't take their careers serious when they both got in awesome shape and were booked like total shit in the rare occasion they were actually booked.
- They hit a Boot Of Doom, but kind of slack off on the Magic Killer.
- Usos come back, superkick Gallows and with with the Uso Splash.
HEYMAN?
- Paul Heyman comes out and says he doesn't want to be special guest ref and anyone who does would have to be a dumbass.
- Heyman says that the Lakers and Rollins both traded away their balls.
- Heyman teases Lesnar showing up Sunday, Monday, whenever. This is a great way to use and not use Lesnar.
Backstage Crappenings
- Corbin approaches Eric Young about being the ref. Young runs into Rollins, and says he's not going to do it. Rollins beats his ass anyway.
- Firefly Funhouse skits are about two months in now. This one is about "fear is power" and features worm imagery. There are several iterations of the MuscleMan Dance. We still have no idea when Bray is showing up.
LE BIG DOGE
- Roman Reigns says he wants to entertain my whoopin' someone's ass tonight. He calls out Shane McMahon.
- Shane McMahon pops up on the TitanTron and calls himself best in the world when The Revival are in the background.
- As soon as Drew McIntyre mentioned Reigns' family he went backstage and kicked everyone's asses.
- He threw the Revival around and put Drew through a table. Shane is chased out to the ring and Superman punched and Speared.
- This is a way to book Roman Reigns that I like. This was GOOD SHIT PAL.
- One of the better Roman Reigns segments I've ever seen. They built it the whole night without even featuring him. Just really great, creative stuff.
- He tells Shane to let Drew know he's kicking his ass tonight.
WWE Women's Tag Team Titles
The IIconics (c) defeated Nikki Cross & Alexa Bliss
4.75/10
- Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss are fantastic together. Alexa got them a tag title match tonight, and Nikki is excited. Bliss tells her to switch to decaf.
- Bayley is backstage with Naomi and Natalya and Charly asks about her refusing to take a picture with a Nikki Cross fan. Bayley wants to go shut up Alexa Bliss about it, and Natalya & Naomi buy it.
- IIconics cut a Laker-hating promo.
- Bayley comes out and we go to a commercial.
- Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss had never teamed together in a 2-on-2 match prior to their Tag Team Title opportunity.
- Nikki Cross is a breath of fresh air.
- I don't want a Nikki/Alexa split. They're wonderful together
- IIconics are working snug. Alexa attacks Bayley outside and Nikki Cross gets rolled up.
- Production missed it. This match would have been at par if not for that.
- Nikki Cross is backstage and is livid about Bayley costing them the titles.
- They've built Nikki Cross great from a character standpoint. Just really good stuff.
Seth Rollins defeated Daniel Bryan
6.5/10
- Daniel Bryan runs down LA for SMOG.
- Rollins and Bryan start off, but Rowan quickly gets involved and Bryan knees Rollins.
- All kinds of people come out. New Day, Usos, Revival. They're all thrown out and the match restarts.
- Bryan is in control and applies an ankle lock, he turns it into a German suplex.
- Rollins manages a superplex, but it's not doing the job.
- Lebell Lock is turned into a Rings of Saturn.
- Rollins counters the running knee with a Buckle Bomb.
- Knees up on a Frog Splash, into the Lebell Lock. Rollins gets out and hits a Stomp.
- This was a damn good one.
- Baron Corbin attacks Rollins with a chair after the match. He also hits End of Days and holds the title up.
Rating guide
10- Perfect, 9- MOTY Territory, 8- Excellent, 7- Great, 6- Good, 5- Average to above average, 4- Slightly below average, 3 or below: Poor
Each match starts at a 5 and slides up and down based on entertainment, execution, time, environment, reaction and stakes. The ratings are in no way an indication of a "star rating," which is a completely different system. A standard, non-offensive "TV match" lands at a 5.The gap between 5.75-6 is generally the largest, with anything reaching 6 being recommended viewing.
These are opinions, and incredibly inconsistent ones. Don't take them too seriously, and have (and share) your own!
Get exclusive pro wrestling content on Fightful Select, our premium news service! Click here to learn more.
