WWE Raw results, grades: Cody Rhodes reveals emotional reason for return after shock AEW exit

had a lot to live up to after an but the follow-up Raw started strong without hitting all the right notes.

The show kicked off with a fantastic promo from Cody Rhodes – who came out to an incredible ovation – as he laid out his intentions now that he’s (AEW).

The American Nightmare spoke of his desire to win a world championship to honour his late dad Dusty Rhodes, as he explained how none of his family have won the top prize.

He was eventually joined by Seth Freakin’ Rollins, and the two WrestleMania opponents shook hands in the middle of the ring as a surreal show of respect.

The first match of the night saw new Women’s Tag Team Champions Sasha Banks and Naomi defeat Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley is a fun effort, albeit with a technical glitch during the ad break which left the fans and performers confused.

After the bell, Rhea stormed away from her partner, suggesting a rift is on the way, but a backstage segment later revealed they will face the champs again next week with the gold on the line.

Kevin Owens came out next to address his loss to ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, claiming a back injury left him at a disadvantage at WrestleMania.

He was soon interrupted by a man – but actually claimed to be his younger brother Ezekiel.

KO pointed out the similarities and refused to believe they were different people, and eventually stormed out as the crowd were left baffled and totally amused.

The Miz squashed Dominik Mysterio with the Skull Crushing Finale, only for Veer to come moments later to take out the Mysterio family after months of anticipation.

New Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair came out sporting a nasty black eye after her battle with Becky Lynch at WrestleMania.

She pointed to everything she’s fought through since losing her title to The Man at SummerSlam, and got time to hype herself up as the EST without any interruption.

In a rematch from NXT Stand and Deliver, Bron Breakker beat Dolph Ziggler to win the NXT Championship and reclaim the gold.

With the Championship on the line, and are doing whatever they can to pull out the win.

— WWE (@WWE)

The crowd took a while to get into the action, even starting to sing Seven Nation Army before the stars seemed to pick it up a notch and build to an exciting closing stretch.

Bobby Lashley and MVP came out to celebrate the latter’s win over Omos on Sunday night, and it wasn’t too long before the Colossus interrupted.

After a rematch between the two was teased, MVP attacked the All Mighty from behind and directed traffic against his now former Hurt Business associate.

💔💔💔

— WWE (@WWE)

The action really picked up with a huge six man tag match pitting RK-Bro and Finn Balor against The Usos and Austin Theory – and all six men delivered.

The closing stretch in particular was fantastic, with Theory sneaking the win and pinning Balor.

Edge came out and tore down AJ Styles before introducing his new associate Damian Priest and explaining their unholy alliance, and while the fans threatened to derail the vital segment, the Archer of Infamy didn’t miss a beat dealing with the heckled.

Styles came out and took the fight to the duo before the numbers advantage proved too much, but officials ran down to the ring to prevent a Conchairto.

A straight up tag match between Alpha Academy and Street Profits was quickly changed to one under Texas Tornado Rules.

All four men put on a great show here, and the bout ended when Ford hit From The Heavens on Gable through a table.

The main event segment of the night saw The Bloodline come down dripping in gold to acknowledge Roman Reigns as the undisputed WWE Universal Champion.

There wasn’t much to this besides Paul Heyman running down the Tribal Chief’s box office achievements, while Reigns promised to reveal what’s next on SmackDown later this week.

WWE Raw airs Monday nights at 1am on BT Sport 1.