Monday Night RAW begins with a Miz TV interview between The Miz and Roman Reigns – one of the four wildcards that is allowed to move between RAW and Smackdown. Miz quickly reverts to the “old Miz” during the interview, an opportunistic Hollywood-minded flake who thinks he and Roman Reigns, who is now appearing in Hollywood films himself, should team up.
Reigns chastises him for being a shill and says that he’d rather talk to the new Miz, the one who disrespects authority and stands up for what’s right by chasing Shane McMahon down and getting revenge on him. To hammer the point home, Reigns has them play footage from last week’s RAW when The Miz did just that, and Miz gets extremely heated in his defense of himself, saying that he’s earned the respect of the rest of the WWE Universe unlike Shane, who has been given everything he’s ever had by his privilege and his family.
Shane McMahon seems to have had enough, though, because he interrupts Miz TV to remind everyone that he’s their boss, and as the boss, he declares Miz TV “over,” bringing out Elias – another wildcard – and Bobby Lashley. He sets a tag team match.
Miz and Roman Reigns v Bobby Lashley and Elias
Miz goes after Elias first, eventually taking Roman Reigns in. Elias seems a little scared of the big dog and retreats out of the ring amidst a barrage of boos from the crowd. He tags Lashley in to take on Reigns instead, and while Roman Reigns has Lashley in the corner, Miz tags himself in and goes after both his opponents. Elias tries to walk with Miz by very impressively walking the entire rope, but Reigns interrupts the pin.
Elias eventually gets cocky and tries to take a shot at Reigns while he’s ringside, but Reigns fights back long enough to distract him, and Miz tries to use this as an opportunity to lay out Elias. Both men end up disoriented and in a race to tag in their partners, but Elias tags Lashley first. Before Miz can tag Reigns in, Shane interrupts and attacks Reigns, leading to a disqualification. It turns into a melee before Miz gets them all with a steel chair and Reigns lands his superman punch on both Lashley and Elias. Shane flees.
A video package about the Universal Championship that focuses on the life and careers of both Seth Rollins and AJ Styles. It’s a little confusing the way this paints this as a feud between two friends considering they’ve never necessarily been close (or even in the same brand), but it’s an interesting feud between two competitors who are neither heel nor face, just two fan-favorites with a great deal of talent.
Backstage, Braun Strowman is interviewed about throwing Sami Zayn in a dumpster last week, and says that he intends to be Mr. Monster in the Bank again this year before he’s interrupted by a man who says Mr. McMahon would like to speak to him. In Shane’s office, Sami is already complaining about the dumpster incident and how he blames it on “toxic” WWE fans who encourage Strowman’s monstrous behavior, and says that Strowman should lose his slot in the Money in the Bank match and Zayn should be allowed to take his place. Shane seems hesitant, but Zayn suggests a Falls Count Everywhere match to determine which of them gets the slot, and Shane agrees.
Mojo Rawley v Apollo Crews
An incredibly short match between a new and improved Mojo Rawley and Apollo Crews, a wildcard from Smackdown who has traveled to RAW to challenge Rawley. Early in the match, Apollo is trying to show off with some backflips when he lands on his knee and injures himself. He tries to stay in the match, but Rawley taunts him and gets a quick pin.
Backstage, Alexa Bliss is yelling as someone over the phone about how the airport lost her luggage and she’s got no ring apparel to wear during her Fatal 4-Way match tonight. Nikki Cross appears and tries to console her, and Alexa uses the opportunity as a way to manipulate a new and starry-eyed addition to the women’s roster, and tricks Cross into taking her place in the Fatal 4-Way.
Becky Two Belts signs both contracts for her two Women’s Championship matches on Sunday, one against Charlotte for the Smackdown title, and one against Lacey Evans for the RAW title. Becky knows that her opponents are bigger and stronger than her, but her biggest issue is with the implication that she’s got a lot of pressure on her to succeed or that she’s bitten off more than she can chew. She taunts her two opponents about the pressure that they both face – Lacey in needing to prove herself in her very first championship match, and Charlotte in not losing yet another opportunity to become the champion. Lacey, in her less-than-convincing southern accent, reiterates a few times that she wants to bring class back to the championship, and refuses to take a cheap shot at Becky until she suddenly does, and both women put the Champ Champ through a table.
Baron Corbin v Ricochet
This match is for a slot in the Money in the Bank match. Ricochet has a lot of fight in him and a lot to prove, and for the majority of the match it seems like he might have the upper hand against Baron Corbin and his business casual attire. But Corbin won’t stop breaking out of his pins, and eventually he surprises Ricochet with a quick rollup and victory. A missed opportunity to give the spotlight to an electrifying fan-favorite over someone who has already had his chance and misused it, but I suppose that’s the way it goes. Corbin tries to climb the ladder and grab the Money in the Bank but Ricochet knocks down the ladder, reminding him that this is far from Ricochet’s last chance to prove himself.
A video package about the life and career of Roman Reigns and the road that has led him to the present day. For all the peaks and valleys that Reigns’ career has had over the years, seeing it all played out the way it did in this video makes you realize how much determination and dedication Reigns has put into his career. No matter how much or how little the fans respected him, he never gave it anything less than 100%.
Backstage, AJ Styles gets interviewed about his match with Seth Rollins and whether he meant to hit Rollins during their tag team match or not. He says it was an accident, but also isn’t sorry; he cares about respect and he acknowledges always having a chip on his shoulder from the minute he entered the WWE. Now that he’s on RAW, it isn’t Monday Night Rollins anymore.
Women’s Fatal 4-Way: Naomi v Natalya v Nikki Cross v Dana Brooke
Alexa Bliss joins the announcers rather than compete since she has no ring gear, and takes all the credit for anything successful Nikki Cross does throughout the match. Nikki does in fact shine during this huge opportunity for her in her young career – early in the match she traps Natayla behind the ring apron and assaults her. Naomi is clearly the standout of the match and one of the bigger competitors to go into the women’s Money in the Bank match, but Cross ends up taking advantage of a weak moment for Natalya and wins the match. Alexa has her set a ladder up in the ring so that she can grab the briefcase, and it seems like she’s pretty confident about her chances at winning the Money in the Bank yet again.
Backstage, Sami Zayn insists that the fans who are all over social media saying he’ll lose his match are projecting their own insecurities onto him, and that they only want Strowman to win because they wish they could barrel through life the way he does.
Rey Mysterio v Cesaro
Rey Mysterio is a little mad at Cesaro for earlier insinuating that his son might not actually be his, and so he’s got something to prove in this match. There’s a lot of athleticism on display from both men, and it goes back and forth enough that it truly seems like it could be anyone’s match. Mysterio goes for the 619 but Cesaro counters with the swing, and then tries to taunt Mysterio with a 619 of his own, but Mysterio counters, finally lands a 619 and a splash, and wins the match. Let’s hope the big match between Rey Mysterio and Samoa Joe at Money in the Bank is as exciting as this was.
The Revival discuss their current beef with The Usos, and how they’re done being humiliated by them.
Firefly Funhouse! In only a few weeks, this has easily become a highlight of Monday Night Raw, and it’s a treat tuning in every week to see where this new Bray Wyatt is going. It’s the perfect mix of creepy yet campy, silly but kind of terrifying, and Bray has been playing it beautifully week after week. Tonight, Bray Wyatt gathers all his friends at the Funhouse, including a patched back together Rambling Rabbit, to show them all the secret he’s been working on – a new and improved Bray Wyatt that knows how to keep the darkness inside him in check. Suddenly the Funhouse isn’t very fun anymore, and what I can only assume is either a new alter-ego or the “true” Bray Wyatt emerges. It reminds me of the version of The Joker that stapled his face back on after it got cut off – truly gross and kind of unsettling. I can’t wait to see the permanence and the disposition of this new Bray Wyatt, and what it means for the future of Firefly Funhouse as we know it.
Backstage in an interview, Seth Rollins talks about how his match with AJ Styles is extremely personal to him, because he’s never faced Styles in the WWE ring – but he has faced him before, only once, fifteen years ago at a very small independent wrestling show. He talks about how that show and that period of time was the first time his family and friends believed in him and his future as a WWE superstar, and that although he may have looked up to AJ Styles all those years ago, it’ll be AJ looking up to him on Sunday.
Falls Count Anywhere Match, Braun Strowman v Sami Zayn
The majority of this match happens backstage, where Strowman EASILY has Zayn down and out and seeming like a lost cause. He’s pretty vicious, and just when you wonder how Zayn is going to win this (because you know he is), Baron Corbin and Drew McIntyre – Strowman’s original competitor for the evening – show up to help have Zayn’s back and lay out Strowman enough for Zayn to get the pin. After Strowman finds his bearings, however, he assaults Zayn some more and puts him through the announcer’s booth. While Zayn has won the match, and has earned himself a shot at the Money in the Bank while simultaneously stealing that opportunity from Strowman, it’s a huge unknown whether or not Zayn will be in good enough shape for the match after the beating he took tonight.
And that’s all she wrote for the last RAW before Money in the Bank!
