Once more, with feeling.
Monday Night RAW 5/4…another episode of RAW taking place in an empty arena. It’s sad if you think about it. It just lacks the energy and enthusiasm from having the cheers of a live crowd. I am not sure why exactly, but I feel WWE feels the hurt more than AEW. I haven’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe because WWE is more story-driven, the crowd reactions play a role?
In any case, it hurts Drew McIntyre the most. I’m not the only one here, the other writers and contributors have said the same. The lack of a cheering crowd for the freshly faced WWE Champion hurts a bit. Look, kudos to all of them to continue cutting promos and putting on the show.
We kick off RAW 5/4 with the MVP Lounge with Asuka, Nia Jax, and Shayna Baszler. Something was off. I realized it at the end, Jax looked legit uncomfortable. Maybe she wasn’t sure about how to cut her promo, but despite being booked as a female wrecking machine, she came off weak next to Baszler. Asuka and Baszler are my favorites going in to Money in the Bank. Haven’t narrowed it down to one yet.
Up next is our gauntlet match to find a final participant in the Money in the Bank match. Bobby Lashley cleans house taking out Titus O’Neal, Akira Tozawa, Shelton Benjamin, only to eat a fluke loss to Humberto Carrillo who then defeats Angel Garza and Austin Theory. I love these guys being showcased every week. They are becoming a solid backbone for WWE to rely on. Shame, once things return to normal, they might get discarded or repackaged as Los Conquistadores. In any case, Carrillo was oh-so-close to earning his spot, until surprise entrant AJ STYLES returns from the dead to win the match. His post-match promo sort of cut a jab at the gimmick of the Boneyard Match and proves “he ain’t no ghost” as he earns his spot for Sunday.
Hey, something different! Brendan Vink and Shane Thorne (former of TM61) chalk a notch in the win column by defeating Ricochet and Cedric Alexander. I am noticing a sudden surge of tag team action in WWE again. Although, I feel like Ricochet and Alexander are a modern version of Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne.
Up next, even more tag team action as we see The Viking Raiders (I guess I got used to it) defeated the current RAW Tag Team Champions Street Profits in a great match. No sir, no squash here. The Profits were full-on major league mode. If you ever forget how versatile and good these four are, just watch this match.
Tonight’s wrestling has been pretty good. The backstage segments, eh, nothing really special. Maybe WWE should pay attention and notice the wrestling can tell stories in the ring, and they can do it too. Doesn’t just have to be up to AEW or ROH to do it.
In a match rivaling tonight’s main event, Charlotte Flair defeated Liv Morgan, but narrowly doing so. Liv fought and fought hard to stay in it. Again, shame not in front of a live crowd, as the crowd would go bat-nut crazy rooting for Morgan here. She put on the passion full display and emotion was believable. Charlotte, playing up the Goddess/Queen/Almighty gimmick to the 11th notch on a scale of 1-to-10. Still bugs me she’s the NXT Champion. Liv Morgan, definitely eyed as a future women’s champion. Bank on it.
See what I did there?
The main event of RAW 5/4 is really interesting. As a recap to show what being a Money in the Bank holder can do, there were clips of past winners going on to become World Champions. Here’s where it gets interesting. 2015, Seth Rollins tears down the ramp at WrestleMania 31. We know how it goes down… But WWE pulled an interesting stunt, they only show Rollins spiking Brock Lesnar with the curb stomp and then quick black, return to screen, and Rollins is holding the championship. No shot of Rollins pinning Roman Reigns. This makes the second time in recent memory he has been intentionally left out. Outlets reported his name is not to be mentioned at all.
Many speculate he’s in some sort of bad way with WWE. Or, perhaps with no mention, his return will be more of a surprise.
Speaking of Seth Rollins, tonight he looks on as his protégé Buddy Murphy eats a loss to WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. Good match, Murphy held his own, but with no interference, the outcome was plainly obvious. However, the show closes with Rollins attacking and grounding McIntyre.
Not exactly the go-home show I expected, but then again, we weren’t expecting to have a few months’ worth of empty arena shows, now were we? It wasn’t a bad show. It had good matches. As a build to Money in the Bank, not a whole lot to go on, but as a standalone wrestling show, not bad at all.
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