WWE superstar Seth Freakin’ Rollins took a shot at AEW on Raw to spark a wild brawl with Cody Rhodes.
The Visionary and the American Nightmare were on fire on the mic as they traded verbal jabs at each other less than a week before meeting inside Hell In A Cell on Sunday, June 5.
Cody came out to the ring to address this weekend’s match, referencing his late, great dad Dusty Rhodes and his impact on Seth’s own career, and how poetic their WrestleMania 38 clash was given that history.
He hyped up HIAC as his chance to ignore any semblance of self control and decimate his rival inside the Cell, before Rollins came out through the crowd, slating the ‘pandering’ and the Cody chants.
‘You left WWE six years ago because you weren’t good enough. And then, every single day that you were gone, you and your little friends tried to tear down what I was building here,’ Seth said in a direct reference to AEW.
‘And when that didn’t work out so well for you, you came running back, the prodigal son returns home to fulfill his family legacy. Not on my watch, pal!
‘You don’t get to be the conquering hero in my kingdom, oh no no no. You don’t get to take a sledgehammer to the throne and then come back and try to take that throne from me.’
This sparked a brawl in the crowd and ringside area, crashing through a barrier and being separated a couple of times before finally being kept apart with the crowd going wild.
Mustafa Ali gets United States Title match, Riddle and Shinsuke Nakamura team up and Becky Lynch lays out Bianca Belair and Asuka
Becky Lynch kicked off Raw with an entertaining promo with Asuka and Bianca Belair getting involved before things got physical, leading into our opening match between the latter two.
It shouldn’t be surprising that the Empress of Tomorrow and EST of WWE put on a cracking show here, with the Raw Women’s Champ winning the non-title match before she defends her title against Asuka and Lynch at Hell In A Cell.
Big Time Becks attacked both her rivals after the bell, leaving them lying in the ring and standing tall before this weekend’s huge match.
Ezekiel teamed up with Rey and Dominik Mysterio to pick up a win in a fun clash against Kevin Owens and Alpha Academy, with KO trashing the ringside area after the loss.
Elsewhere, Alexa Bliss made relatively quick work of Doudrop – who had Nikki A.S.H. at ringside – in a decent match to continue her rebuild after months off-screen.
The Street Profits were thoroughly entertaining on Miz TV, but we didn’t get to find out where it was going as the 24/7 division came down to the ring.
Tamina pinned Dana Brooke for the title but a kiss with Akira Tozawa led to him pinning her for the gold.
Next, Mustafa Ali faced Ciampa knowing he would earn a United States Title shot with a victory, and they had a fun sprint before Theory came out to cause the DQ.
It’s a shame we didn’t get more between Ali and Ciampa but hopefully that’s coming down the line.
Theory decided to put his US Championship on the line right there and then (well, after a break), and he was able to dominate his challenger and win, but Adam Pearce came out to book a fairer rematch at Hell In A Cell.
In a bizarre booking decision, Shinsuke Nakamura and Riddle beat The Usos by disqualification in a back-to-back result of this kind to likely earn a title shot.
After some fantastic action, the ending came when Jimmy used the Original Bro’s scooter as a weapon.
In a preview for this weekend’s match between Judgement Day and AJ Styles, Finn Balor and Liv Morgan, the latter faced off with her former friend Rhea Ripley with Damian Priest and Styles at ringside.
This was a lot of fun with Morgan actually picking up the win here, and Balor appeared to help AJ and Liv get rid of Priest and Rhea.
In a surprising move, the night ended with a contract signing for this Sunday’s handicap match pitting Bobby Lashley against MVP and Omos.
Both the All Mighty and his former Hurt Business associate claimed they felt betrayed, and eventually things descended into a brawl with security trying to keep them apart.
Cedric Alexander appeared out of nowhere and Lashley couldn’t overcome the numbers game before being sent through a table.
WWE Raw airs Monday nights at 1am on BT Sport 1.
WWE Raw results and grades
- Bianca Belair pinned Asuka (A-)
- Ezekiel and Los Mysterios beat Kevin Owens and Alpha Academy (B)
- Alexa Bliss pinned Doudrop (C-)
- Mustafa Ali beat Ciampa via DQ, Theory defeated Ali for the United States Title (B for whole segment)
- Shinsuke Nakamura and Riddle beat The Usos via DQ (B+)
- Liv Morgan pinned Rhea Ripley (B)