Recap
Raw is coming off an exciting Extreme Rules PPV on Sunday and hopes to continue the momentum. Roman Reigns defeated A.J. Styles in the main event to retain the WWE World Championship but that wasn't the main story. Seth Rollins made his return from injury to attack Reigns. Hooray for the potential of a much better episode of Raw tonight! Fingers are crossed.
Seth Rollins opens the show to a fairly positive response. The crowd reaction changes as Rollins cuts a heel promo trashing them. Rollins claims to have set all the "get well" cards on fire and let us know there's only room on the Seth Rollins bandwagon for one person - Seth Rollins. Roman Reigns enters the arena as Rollins runs out of the ring. Shane McMahon names Reigns vs. Rollins as the main event for Money in the Bank. Very cool start to the show and MITB is already looking outstanding.
There will be various exciting matchups for MITB Ladder Match spots tonight: Kevin Owens vs. A.J. Styles, Cesaro vs. The Miz, Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler, Apollo Crews vs. Chris Jericho and...
Sami Zayn vs. Sheamus
One of the issues with Raw recently has been the stale and repetitive matches. This bout has given us a nice change of pace of a first-time match with something important on the line. A good back and forth contest ends with Sami Zayn hitting the Helluva Kick! The new era is truly continuing with a NXT call-up getting the win over a former WWE World Champion. Sheamus expressed frustration after the match with commentary emphasizing on how far he has fallen in the past year. What could it mean?
Match Winner: Sami Zayn
Match Rating: 6.5/10
Apollo Crews is getting interview backstage by the always delightful Renee Young until Sheamus attacks. So, that's what it meant. Sheamus sends a message to the new era by attacking a new face to Raw.
The New Day brings a cake to the ring to celebrate Raw's 1200th episode. This spells trouble for their opponents. Big E threatens to throw the cake on JBL, Byron Saxton and various fans before The Social Outcasts show up. Yes, they are still a thing.
New Day vs. Social Outcasts
This was a predictable and uneventful match meant to fill time with some comedy and New Day love. The action was very limited in a short bout that saw New Day get the not-so-big win and cake Heath Slater.
Match Winners: New Day
Match Rating: 4/10
We have another MITB qualifier match up with The Miz and Maryse cutting a promo bragging about retaining the Intercontinental Championship before...
The Miz vs. Cesaro
Cesaro's somersault flip from the apron onto Miz outside the ring set the tone for the match. The title wasn't on the line which gave us a good idea into Cesaro being able to pick up the win. It just makes more sense for Cesaro to be a viable contender for the MITB and Miz can defend the title against someone else in a singles match.
Match Winner: Cesaro
Match Rating: 6/10
Seth Rollins tried to buddy up with Stephanie McMahon backstage but gets shut down. She claims the days of The Authority have changed and things are on a new playing field. They are really trying to convince us that Stephanie is now a face.
Chris Jericho vs. Apollo Crews
Chris Jericho is sporting about a dozen bandages on his back to sell falling on thumbtacks last night against Dean Ambrose. Apollo Crews was attacked by Sheamus earlier so neither man is at 100% in the storyline. The match is still quite exciting and the cool merging of talents meeting for a first time just adds to the show. Crews looked impressive getting out of the Walls of Jericho but saw his demise when Jericho hit the Codebreaker out of nowhere. Nice showing by both guys but it was predictable considering WWE set up a Sheamus vs. Crews story just about an hour ago.
Match Winner: Chris Jericho
Match Rating: 7/10
Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler have a backstage interaction. Ziggler talks about being the better technical wrestler and Corbin mocks him following their prior matchup at Extreme Rules. Another match is set up for next week. Yawn. Corbin at least showed more personality than ever with an intense and captivating promo finally showing us who he is.
Big Cass vs. Bubba Ray Dudley
Enzo Amore is back! The partner of Big Cass is in his corner for the singles match. Big Cass beat up the Dudleyz by himself last night so it's hard to take this singles match seriously. Devon attacked Enzo outside the ring to give Bubba an advantage early on but that didn't last too long. Enzo took out Devon and Big Cass got the pin on Bubba following a Big Boot followed by the Empire Elbow.
Match Winner: Big Cass
Match Rating: 4/10
Charlotte came to the ring with Ric Flair and her new enforcer Dana Brooke. Ric talked about his love of Charlotte but she turned on him saying this was her spotlight now. She told him to get out of "her ring" and upped her heel character by breaking association with Ric. Ric cried his eyes out. The segment was hard to watch but that is what they were looking to accomplish so I guess it's a success. I'm more interested in seeing what she does next.
Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler
The crowd was out of this one following the prior segment of seeing Ric Flair's heart break. Both men tried their best to put out an exciting match with various counters to some of their noteworthy moves. Ziggler superkicked Ambrose into the ropes where Ambrose did a rebound clothesline. The ending saw Ambrose hit the Dirty Deeds for the win to advance to MITB.
Match Winner: Dean Ambrose
Match Rating: 6/10
Ric Flair was shown walking out of the arena as the other wrestlers looked on in sadness. Arn Anderson gave him a hug. Sad stuff, yo.
A.J. Styles cut a promo before his MITB qualifier. Styles said he respects Roman Reigns after their brutal match and that he would be champion if not for the interference of the Usos and The Club. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows came to the ring and all three men argued before deciding they were no longer friends.
A.J. Styles vs. Kevin Owens
A match between these two is a guaranteed success and the formula followed through once again. Things got off to a hot start from the get-go with the two going back and forth in a long match. Kevin Owens got the advantage with a Pop-Up Powerbomb on the stars outside the ring. Styles recovered and took command of the match until Owens hit another Pop-Up Powerbomb to get the win. The match was excellent and KO is headed to the MITB Ladder Match.
Match Winner: Kevin Owens
Match Rating: 8.5/10
Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Dean Ambrose, Sami Zayn and Cesaro have all qualified for the Money in the Bank Ladder Match. Hello, new era?
Raw was much improved from last week with new direction for most talents and things are looking up as we head into Money in the Bank.
What can we expect going forward?
Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins will be the big match going into the Money in the Bank PPV and possibly beyond. Rollins established he is still a heel and that was a little disappointing considering fans have desperately wanted to cheer him for months now. Maybe this gives us hope for Triple H vs. Rollins down the line if they bring back the pre-injury storylines. Either way, don't expect Reigns to lose that title any time before Summerslam at the absolute earliest. Sorry.
The Money in the Bank match is already loaded with great talent and there's two more spots open. We will have many great matches over the next few weeks between the qualified talents heading into the show. Kevin Owens should be considered the favorite to take the briefcase given his momentum and character.
Charlotte losing Ric Flair was huge for her character. There has to be a new feud lined up next week for her and Dana Brooke to capitalize on the heat. Becky Lynch? Paige? Sasha Banks?
The dissension between A.J. Styles and The Club is being rushed for a reason. Finn Balor getting called up to form The Balor Club seems like the most reasonable educated guess.
Enzo Amore returning from his concussion is a great sign. Big Cass needs a long tag team run with Enzo on the main roster before either man can become a successful singles star.
Apollo Crews is going to be feuding with Sheamus now. Their styles should provide an interesting clash to see if it can make them both relevant on WWE television. The road will be difficult.
The Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon happenings were very limited tonight. They likely have a long plan ahead and weeks like this give us very little insight into what is to come.
John Cena will be back next week and there's no signs of what he will do yet. Memorial Day is the perfect night to see Cena make his triumphant return and Raw will be better for it.