WWE Raw Results, recap, notes: Reigns directs the show, Strowman trash a toilet

If it was a time when the old saying "if you saw an episode of Raw, you've seen them all" might be the most applicable one, it was very likely Monday night. WWE largely kept things neutral on the road to the Extreme Rules on Sunday, July 15 by repeating a number of scenarios, results and games not only seen a week ago, but in some cases, repeated for weeks.

With the exception of a new showdown of Braun Strowman in the main event involving a portable toilet that sparked mixed reviews, the Monday episode produced a lot of already seen the current quarrels involving Roman Reigns-Bobby Lashley, Deleters of Worlds-B-Team and Mojo Rawley-No Way Jose, to name a few.

While not all was lost in this three hour plus episode that included a handful of entertaining developments, including what Monday's Dreams mean, Raw failed to recover the overall investment.

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A tough night for Roman Reigns

The "Big Dog" opened Raw by accusing "the worst partner of the team ever" Bobby Lashley for last week's defeat at The Revival. Out Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre criticized Reigns for trying too hard to play the hero and do everything for him. The reigns skipped them but was quickly overwhelmed by the numbers game. Seth Rollins went out to rescue and even the sides. Behind the scenes shortly after, Rollins pushed Kurt Angle for a team match and Raw's general manager agreed next week. Reigns wanted it now, though, and Angle finally agreed as long as Reigns joined Lashley to face The Revival. Lashley interrupted Reigns in the locker room to call him a "heat starter" that no one likes and threatened him to leave his ego at the door.

Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins Def. Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre by Disqualification: All four competitors sold out for a fun match with pay per view intensity. Rollins cleaned the house by following a hot etiquette and hit a suicidal dip on McIntyre on the outside while Reigns hit a drive-by on Ziggler. But Rollins could only win two after a huge frog strike on Ziggler's second rope. The match was then reset to be converted into a hot tag at Reigns that was constantly teased. The etiquette would never come, however, as The Revival ran in to pull it off the apron and attack. Inside the ring, Ziggler and McIntyre hit their tandem Claymore / Zig-Zag on Rollins and The Revival did the same with Shatter Machine on Reigns.

Roman Reigns & Bobby Lashley Def. The Revival by Disqualification: A worn Reigns was constantly paired by Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson. But when it came time to score at Lashley, Reigns refused. The Revival lost a DQ by constantly crushing Reigns in tandem despite the referee's warning, while Lashley, who was annoyed by Reigns, left to leave his teammate behind him. The Revival then hit Shatter Machine once more as the crowd chanted "again!" After the match, Angle told Reigns that he had booked a game against Lashley for Extreme Rules. Lashley later told Renee Young that Reigns "has exactly what he's asked for."

Considering how much Lashley's recent quarrel with Sami Zayn was presented, this angle to Reigns feels like a complete 180. That does not necessarily mean that it is flawless, though. As much as there is to love the intensity of the feud and the angle that Reign might be his worst enemy because of his ego, the WWE could not help but basically repeat everything which had already happened a week ago. If the burial of Reigns's character leads to something redeemable like a heel turn, the recoil can look at Monday's events differently. But it's hard to be certain that it's a direction that WWE has the vision or lack of stubbornness to try. The same thing can be said for the hope that the role of Awakening in all this is something other than simply acting as a pawn. Grade: C +

Braun Strowman Tables Kevin Owens

KO Night begins by parking illegally in front of the back door of the arena and refuses to give his keys to the valet after Strowman destroyed his rental car last week. Owens ordered Angle to do something about "crazy" Strowman and suggested suspension, shooting or therapy. Instead, Angle has booked a main event match between them. Owens spent the rest of the evening alternating between begging Angle to cancel the match and trying to overcome his fears by practicing relaxation with Jinder Mahal and Sunil Singh.

Braun Strowman def. Kevin Owens via countout: The match never went past the presentations as Owens panicked and ran backstage after the opening bell. When he reached his car, however, he could not find his keys. KO decided to hide in a nearby portable toilet, which Strowman finally found when the smell caught his attention. After pushing Owens to reveal that he was inside speaking of a false voice, Strowman closed the door with duct tape. He then grabbed the ropes attached to him and dragged him from the loading dock, across the backcourt and onto the stage in the arena. With an early run, Strowman pushed the portable toilets to the lower floor. An injured Owens came out covered with what appeared to be blue paint.

Submit this one under "decent idea, horrible execution." Not only did the WWE's preference for showing Strowman's track record as a competitive guy rather than writing fascinating stories became a crutch, watching him trail hundreds of meters of quickly-aged toilet. What made matters worse was that Owens was simply falling off a 5 foot perch. While KO deserves to be rewarded for having stretched the angle throughout the series through his acting skills, this one was a comical mess for all the wrong reasons. State: D

What happened on Raw?

• Curtis Axel def. Matt Hardy via pinfall: A real car accident involving Bray Wyatt left Hardy Solo to face the B-team. The match began after a backstage promo in which Axel and Bo Dallas resumed their imitation of the Deleters of Worlds, with a special rendition of "He has the whole world in his hands". The end of the two-leg match came when Hardy missed a race in the corner after a distraction from Dallas. Axel then hit his breakaway neck end for 1-2-3 in another reshuffle of recent events.
• Sasha Banks, Bayley attend Counseling: During a series of pre-recorded segments, former best friends discovered at the same time that they were set up to follow advice together. Who was their adviser? Yes, the same Dr. Shelby who helped Kane and Daniel Bryan (and who presented a picture of Team Hell in his office). Shelby revealed the "Seven Principles of Friendship" and encouraged the two women to follow him into the "Friends Zone" and play the "Theater of Honesty" by making impressions of other. Predictably, it led to arguing between them, that Shelby could only stop by shouting "enough!"
• The authors of the pain def. Titus Worldwide via pinfall: Dominant booking continued for Rezar and Akam in their second week back following an unexplained absence of Raw. Despite the increased level of competition, his match was almost identical to last week's squash match. AoP hit Crews with their Last Chapter finisher to put an end to the problems.
• Finn Balor Rejects Baron Corbin's Request for Excuse: After showing pictures of Balor having attacked him last week during their team match, Agent Corbin told him ordered to go out and apologize. Twice, Balor refused, choosing instead to insult Corbin's jacket and cut. "I've been chosen by Stephanie McMahon for a reason, to help guys like you," said Corbin. "So wait for your pride and give me the respect I deserve." After Balor called him a lackey, Corbin hid him with a right hand. Balor later replied with a sling blade and a baseball dropkick, but Corbin escaped as Balor climbed the first rope.
• Ember Moon def. Liv Morgan via pinfall: A knee injury suffered during a live event left Ruby Riott absent from Morgan's side. Moon was impressive in this brief match, getting a close fall on a lionsault before finishing Morgan late after hitting an eclipse.
• Mojo Rawley Attacks Again No Way Jose: In almost an exact repeat of last week, Rawley refused a rematch with Jose citing exactly the same reasons. Rawley then dodged an attack from Jose and threw him out before getting out of the ring and violently badaulting a member of the conga line. "You want revenge," Rawley yelled at Jose, "I got your revenge." Ronda Rousey to appear in front of Extreme Rules: After a lengthy video reporting on Rousey Raw's 30-day suspension and striker Alexa Bliss, pre-series parties A recorded interview of WWE.com with Renee Young been shown. Rousey said she's excited for the upcoming Alexa Bliss-Nia Jax PPV match because "even though I'm suspended from Raw, I'm not hanging on the extreme rules." Rousey said that she will buy a front line ticket.
• Nia Jax def. Mickie James via pinfall: Jax cut a pre-game promo saying that she thought she'd ended up with Bliss when she defeated him at WrestleMania and says that the rivalry will end with Rousey in attendance at Extreme Rules. She also welcomed Natalya by her side to counter Bliss at the ring. Natalya prevented Bliss from climbing the apron late, which allowed Jax to beat Samoan for the win.