Raw kicks off with John Cena. Haven’t seen that in a while. He reverts to his old shtick of clichés until NXT Champion Kevin Owens comes out. Owens lambasts Cena for his endless tirades. Owens taunts Cena by offering an open challenge for the NXT Championship. Cena says he will still offer a challenge for the United States Championship. Interestingly, Cena cuts a promo which could be taken as a heel…
“YOU WILL REMEMBER THAT I AM THE FACE THAT RUNS THIS PLACE” – @JohnCenapic.twitter.com/TrxsOiCKiv
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) June 9, 2015
Cena attempts to answer the NXT challenge, however Owens shuts him down, reminding Cena they have their date set for Sunday. Instead, Adrian Neville comes out and opts to challenge Kevin Owens. We have a bonafide NXT match on RAW. Beautiful. Apparently during the match, Cena compares himself to Babe Ruth. Okay, this smells heelish of him. I can only imagine how many baseball fans he pissed off. Neville put on a hell of a match, nearly earning the pinfall multiple times and even had us set up for the Red Arrow. Owens rebounds, hits the Pop-Up Powerbomb and retains the title. Sick match. Great way to start off RAW.
Backstage: Seth Rollins tries apologizing to Triple H and Stephanie who seem to be dismissive of his sincerity. Poor guy.
Summer Rae jobs to Nikki Bella. Because.
Dean Ambrose posts numerous photos on Instagram of himself with the WWE Championship all over New Orleans. You know he’ll show up in the arena tonight.
Back in the ring, Roman Reigns talks about his plans to win Money in the Bank. Kane comes out to confront Reigns, however Dolph Ziggler comes out to interrupt Kane. Kane tries to speak, but then R-Truth comes out, to which he is reminded he is not even in the MITB match. Truth apologizes “my bad” and leaves to huge laughter and cheers from the crowd.
That moment you realize you’re not in the #MITB Ladder Match… #Raw @RonKillings pic.twitter.com/cZcLaae3aA — WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) June 9, 2015
The segment gets more comical as every time Kane tries to speak, someone else interrupts him. Sheamus and the New Day speak their minds. Randy Orton makes his way out to face his opponent as designated by Kane, the Celtic Warrior.
Orton and Sheamus have a solid match, brawling in and out of the ring, sadly, this one ends by DQ when Orton takes a chair away from Sheamus and lobs it at him, earning the DQ. Good match, but pure setup for the Money in the Bank event.
Backstage: Seth Rollins further alienates The Authority by bashing Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble. Noble gets in Rollins face so the current WWE Champion opts to face J&J Security in a handicap match.
Kane has his pre-MITB match bout with Dolph Ziggler. Lana comes down the aisle, however Rusev hobbles down on crutches. Lana falls and hurts her widdle ankle, distracting Ziggler enough to allow Kane to plant him with a chokeslam for the win. Rusev limps away laughing.
In the ring, MizTV segment with Ryback and Big Show. Both Ryback and Big Show berate Miz for being a whiny little bitch. Inevitably is turns to a fight as Miz attacks Big Show. In a shocker, Ryback lifts Big Show up and splatters him with the Shell Shock. I would have figured they would save that for the Money in the Bank title match, however this certainly raised my interest in this match.
In the ring, Erick Rowan and Luke Harper completely butcher Los Matadores, finishing both Colons with The Way… Which is really the 3D.
Backstage: Seth Rollins mouths off on Kane, who promises to win Money in the Bank and cash in on either Rollins or Ambrose, although he expects to cash in on Ambrose! Kane informs Rollins he will be in the corner of J&J Security tonight.
This smells more like Authority setup to me.
You might disagree with me, but Titus O’Neal vs. Big E. was an awesome match. Titus tosses Langston around like a cruiserweight. Thanks to distractions from his New Day cohorts, Langston hit the Big Ending for the win. Nonetheless, the crowd was hot for Titus. Post match, Roman Reigns hit the ring, as his match with Kofi Kingston begins right away. Gotta leave enough time for J&J to appear to have a chance. Before the match is underway, we find out R-Truth makes it onto the Money in the Bank pre-show, going up against King Barrett. In the ring, New Day attempts to assist Kofi with keeping the match under his control. Xavier Woods doesn’t shut up, shouting and ranting all over ringside. Kofi and Reigns kept the pace nicely, keeping the live crowd and the fans at home entertained with a high-impact back-and-forth contest. Reigns earned the “W” by cracking a top-rope diving Kingston with the Superman punch.
Post match: Reigns grabs a metal chair and hangs out at ringside… As DEAN AMBROSE arrives! Seth Rollins is backstage with Triple H and Stephanie, who wonder what Rollins wants. Rollins, frustrated at the lack of concern, storms off.
It is 11pm. I can only wonder what shenanigans will occur? Who is MGK? He’ll be on RAW next week.
J&J actually take the fight to Rollins, who retreats to the outside, and winds up getting popcorn dumped on his head courtesy of Ambrose. Noble and Mercury get a little offense in, but doesn’t last long. Nice chants of “You still got it” directed towards the Cruiserweights. The end of the bout sees Rollins fully in control, however Ambrose throws the title back to Rollins. As Rollins takes it, Noble makes a blind tag to Mercury who rolls up Rollins, and PINS HIM! To add insult to injury, Ambrose spikes Rollins with Dirty Deeds and walks off with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to close the show.
