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With a chance to answer upstart rival All Elite Wrestling's debut debut Double or Nothing pay-per-view on Saturday, WWE provided a post-and-parcel edition of In the United States, where WWE has been unopposed since its 2001 purchase of WCW rival, it would have been WWE put on its best foot forward creatively, Monday's three-hour affair was hampered by predictable tropes, uninspired writing and confusing psychology.
Save for the "Firefly Funhouse," Cody Rhodes' not-so-subtle insult of Triple H on Saturday save for an innocuous mention of AEW during a rant by Sami Zayn.
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By choosing not to fight , WWE certainly downplayed the idea that this is some kind of war overall. But by not stepping up to the plate, the company has failed to gain moral backing from a fan base that has been under-stimulated for some time.
WWE Raw results, grades
Kingston Kofi, Dolph Ziggler rekindle animosities: Kingston and universal champion Seth Rollins called out Brock Lesnar to announce which title he would be cashing in on. Paul Heyman did air guitar. An annoyed Rollins eventually walked off before Ziggler ran in to attack Kingston. After Xavier Woods came out to the rescue, Ziggler brawled with him through the crowd. Just as Ziggler trapped Woods, Kingston broke free from the medical staff to save him. Ziggler closed by repeating much of his prominence Kingston's WWE championship push should have gone to him. Grade: C +
Shane McMahon def. Lance Anoa'i via submission: With Drew McIntyre by his side, McMahon cut a long and vanilla promo on his family's history with the Samoan dynasty (causing the crowd to sing "this is boring"). Anoa'i, a cousin of Roman Reigns, answered the challenge and was beaten by McIntyre before the match. "This is awful" and "AEW" chants broke out as Anoa'i rallied before McMahon forced the tap out. McMahon reapplied the hold before Reigns ran out to hit McIntyre with a Superman punch before running the heels off. Grade: D +
"Brock Party" ends with inconsequential result: Before Lesnar and Heyman could announce which world title they would focus their cash-in attempt on, Rollins cam out to call Lesnar to joke. "You used to be the most feared man, but coward," he said. Heyman read the contract out loud. After hearing that he technically did not need to declare, Lesnar slapped Heyman on the head with the paper before saying, "I've got a whole year and I have to make a decision now? Seth Rollins, screw you."
Who's booking this crap? Seriously? Not only did the topic and performance of this segment look like a whole lot of the opening of the night, the psychology was simply over the place. Why would Lesnar – a heel, no less – ever be in a situation where would he need to declare it? And even with the overall lack of care Is it possible that it is possible to show the rules of the case? Rollins did cash in his face as WrestleMania 31 to cost him the title. The fact that the train is not as weird as this segment was a waste of valuable screen time. Grade: D-
R-Truth defends the 24/7 title: Truth is emerging from the crowd with a group of mid-carders behind him giving chase. The action spilled into the ring before Truth escaped to the barrier, put Carmella on his shoulders and take backstage shelter. The brief segment was a reminder at just how lame the execution of this idea has been. Later in the show, during the recurring memorial day, Truth kicked out Kalisto and Karl Anderson. Grade: D
Becky Lynch and Nikki Cross def. The IIconics via pinfall: This non-title match saw the WWE women's team tag champion once again absorb a clean defeat. An eventual hot tag to Lynch saw the Raw Women's clean house champion. After Peyton Royce's Countered the Dis-Arm-Her with a Rollup for Two, Lynch Debuted Her Manhandle Slam for the 1-2-3. After the match, Lacey Evans came out and is now feuding with Lynch. Grade: C
Ricochet def. Cesaro via pinfall: The highlight of the night from an in-ring standpoint was this rematch. Not only was Ricochet's athleticism and creativity on full display but the chemistry between the two was great for the second week in a row. The pair also had the crowd eating out of their hands. The finish came after Ricochet used the ring ropes to springboard onto Cesaro's shoulders before rolling him up to earn his win back. Rank: B +
Rey Mysterio to relinquish United States championship: Michael Cole updated Money in the Bank, and he announced Mysterio will give up his title on next week's Raw. Joe came out to the desk to gleefully explain how he will take back "what has always been rightfully mine." Grade : C-
Baron Corbin def. The Miz (via pinfall), Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley to become universal championship No. 1 contender: The late stipulation of the winner getting a universal title shot at Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia a Strowman-Lashley match on the same card. Corbin and Lashley teamed up to the finish as Corbin caught a rallying Miz with End of Days. Grade: C +
Bray Wyatt reveals identity of alter-ego on "Firefly Fun House": After removing a paper plate covering a face with a drawing of the mask he unveiled last week, Wyatt called his alter ego "The Fiend" and said it's "here to protect us." Wyatt explained that when he's alone or scared, he puts on the mask and "I can be anything I want to be." Abby the Witch has a bully, Wyatt responded to a question by the child. He closed another fresh and inventive segment with a reminder to let him in. Grade: B +
Sami Zayn visits the "Electric Chair": With Corey Graves moderating a handful of WWE Zayn responded with snarky answers while sitting in a literal electric chair inside the ring. The highlight was a young girl who insulted him by yelling, "duh" in response to his follow-up question. Zayn continued to mock the quality of the questions by adding "You could've asked me anything." You could've asked me about AEW! While this was a bit outside-the-box, it was also incredibly awkward and pointless. Rollins randomly ran in to trigger a main event match. Grade: C
Seth Rollins def. Sami Zayn via pinfall: This video was taken by the filmmakers and the filmmakers. Lesnar and Heyman watched from backstage as Rollins sold an aggravated left knee injury. He went on to kick out a Blue Thunder Bomb and a second late pin after his splash caught nothing but knees. Rollins rallied late with a stomp to get the win in this non-title affair.
In many ways, this match was the epitome of what is wrong with Raw. A run-in by Rollins during the "Electric Chair" segment made no sense at all, it was not mentioned and this match was never advertised. Even though the action heated up late between them, the game was too long and just about nothing at stake. Raw's recent trend of providing meaningless action to the end of the game. The final result of the storyline save for Rollins' evergreen, which will be forgotten by next week. Grade: C-
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