Monday Night RAW - 08/06/2020
- LDR
- Jun 9, 2020
- 7 min read
With Backlash right around the corner, the red brand were looking to put their best foot forward and create some momentum heading into this Sunday's Pay Per View. Bobby Lashley would be on MVP's VIP Lounge, while Christian would host his best friend Edge on The Peep Show. It was also announced ahead of the show that Charlotte Flair - fresh from losing her NXT Women's Championship at TakeOver: In Your House - would take on Asuka for the RAW women's strap. Let's see what RAW did well and what missed the mark...
Source: wwe.com
Asuka Opens the Show
RAW Women's Champion Asuka came down to the ring to open up this week's show but before anything could happen WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Sasha Banks and Bayley made themselves known. The new champs were there to celebrate but were themselves interrupted by Charlotte Flair, who had words ready for Asuka ahead of their match later in the night. The IIconics joined the conversation, announcing that they would be challenging the new tag team champions - as well as former champs Nikki Cross & Alexa Bliss - at Backlash. An inevitable brawl broke out amongst the women and a Triple Threat Tag match was announced, with Asuka teaming with The Queen. These are two of the most accomplished in ring performers in WWE but their issues with each other led to a game of showmanship that stopped them from gaining much traction in this match. The other two teams showed solid work together, but the individual talents of Asuka and Charlotte ended up being enough to allow The Queen to take control. As she headed to the top rope for a moonsault, The Empress tagged in and managed to make Billie Kay tap out to the Asuka Lock. This was a good match with a lot of energy but, for me, this was the wrong result. Asuka and Charlotte are high enough on the food chain that they don't need to be protected and having the two singles competitors beat the established tag teams is something that always irked me. The games and trying to one up each other should have caused a loss for them here ahead of their title match and The IIconics would have benefited from a win here to continue their fairly strong build since their return.
Source: wwe.com
Rey Mysterio Gives an Update on His Condition
Rey Mysterio was interviewed while Seth Rollins sat in on commentary. Mysterio gave an update on his eye injury, claiming that he was healing well but that he was at high risk of infection. Rollins claimed that Mysterio was now spreading lies about the sacrifice that he had apparently made for the good of RAW and that, next week, Mysterio should come to the show and retire under no threat from Rollins or his cronies. Aleister Black had heard enough from the Monday Night Messiah, attacking him at the commentary desk before Austin Theory and Murphy ran down to save their leader. Humberto Carrillo joined the fray on Black's side and the two pairs went up against each other in a tag match - seriously, how would WWE fill three hours of TV if these fights didn't keep breaking out on the show? Black was the dominant man in this match, using his varied striking to take the advantage and taking the win in a fairly straightforward fight. Murphy was on the top rope, looking to do some damage, but Black hit him with a flying kick to send him crashing down to the mat for a pin. After the match, Black was once again beaten down by Rollins and his disciples, being stommped into the mat by The Messiah. Black has undoubtedly benefited from Mysterio's feud with Rollins, being the luchador's proxy while he is out injured. Black has been rising up the rankings with some big wins and dominant displays, so this could be one of the best things for his career at the moment - ironic as it isn't even in a rivalry of his own.
Source: wwe.com
The Peep Show featuring Edge
Edge's best buddy Christian was back in town to interview The Rated R Superstar ahead of his (hugely over hyped) match against Randy Orton at Backlash. Orton had told Charly Caruso backstage that he would be making an appearance on the talk show as well. Christian rolled out the questions to Edge and conversation turned to whether Edge was ready for the match after so long away from action. Christian told his friend that he needed to stand up for himself, trying to help Edge find the confidence he needed to take on The Viper. Orton made good on his word, interrupting to claim that the match between the two would end up being Edge's last, as Orton was going to end his career. Edge snapped back, showing that his confidence had been bolstered by his friend's backing. The match between Edge and Orton is a big one, historic for Edge's career, but WWE have definitely put too much behind the marketing and put a lot of pressure on this match.
Source: wwe.com
The Viking Raiders v The Street Profits in a Decathlon
Another continuation of the recent "Anything you can do..." series between the RAW Tag Team Champions and their challengers, this week the two teams took part in a decathlon. The whole point of these segments is to show that the two teams are evenly matched so they are hitting the mark in that respect, with the event coming out at a 5-5 tie. On the other hand, these vignettes have not evolved in any way since the first one and became boring after the second. I understand that there isn't too much WWE can do under social distancing rules, but surely this foursome could do something more creative than these skits. It's becoming a little embarrassing that no one is coming up with anything better for them to do. Both teams have been in the building recently, so it seems weird that they are sticking with this.
Source: wwe.com
Kevin Owens v Angel Garza v Andrade (United States Championship Number One Contenders Match)
New United States Champion Apollo Crews has vowed to be a fighting champion and defend the strap against any and all challengers. This triple threat was made to find his next contender, with Andrade trying to take back the championship that Crews had taken from him. He and Garza teamed up early on to take out Owens but friendships never hold in matches like this and it broke down. As the two argued and fought, Zelina Vega was knocked down by her own men. Owens wanted this just as much as any other man in the match and found himself alone in the ring with Garza. Garza went for the Wing Clipper to wrap this one up, but Owens countered into a Stunner and went for the pin. Andrade managed to take Owens out of the picture before the count and stole the pin on Garza for himself, gaining the title shot. Andrade deserves a return match and, with Owens having just had a shot, was the right choice to win here. Garza is very talented but his star is still on the rise and his time will come. The issues between Andrade and Garza have come to soon, they have great promise as a team and coming so quickly after losing Theory from their group seems a strange way to go. Andrade taking the pin on Garza is not a problem as it would add a layer of intrigue, but the falling out and not paying much attention to Zelina Vega's injuries throughout seem to signify an end to the union fairly soon.
Source: wwe.com
The VIP Lounge featuring Bobby Lashley
Before Lashley could make his way out for the interview, WWE Champion Drew McIntyre came out to mock and threaten MVP. Before the Scot could attack, Lashley made his presence known and gave himself and MVP the numbers advantage. The Viking Raiders came out to split the fighting before heading into their scheduled tag against Lashley and MVP while The Street Profits sat on commentary. Lashley was the star of this match, showing fantastic strength throughout. Lana gave an interview to Charly Caruso while the match was going on and Lana claimed that she wanted to be selfless for her husband, which is why she wasn't at ringside. Back in the ring, The Viking Raiders looked to take control with a hot tag but Lashley was having none of it, locking Erik into the Full Nelson for the submission victory. After the bell, he also applied the Full Nelson to Ivar but Drew McIntyre and The Street Profits chased him off before he could do too much damage. Lashley has gone from an after thought midcard act to being a dominant main eventer in just a few month and, despite how much he will be missed, a lot of this has happened since Rusev's departure. Getting Lashley out of that horrid story made room for him to become the star that he should have been on day one of his return to the company.
Source: wwe.com
Asuka v Charlotte Flair
Giving a backstage interview ahead of the night's main event, Charlotte claimed that she was moving past her championship loss at TakeOver and focusing on Asuka and the RAW title. Asuka slapped her opponent in the face before heading to the ring. As the match got going, tag champs Sasha Banks and Bayley (also SmackDown Women's Champion) came down to watch from the commentary spot. They were jumped on the way by The IIconics, who threw them over the announce table. Charlotte has been a major thorn in Asuka's side all throughout her main roster run and continued to beat down The Empress here. Asuka was not willing to give up, fighting back hard and refusing to stay down for the count until a distraction by Nia Jax gave Charlotte the opportunity she needed to hit a Big Boot for the win. Jax then climbed into the ring and hit the champ with a Samoan Drop to add insult to injury. Charlotte continuing her streak over Asuka is a great long term storyline in a company that doesn't tend to use those any more and using Nia Jax to make that happen is a clever way to move both stories forward. Asuka will need a win over The Queen at some point to show that she is on the same level, but putting Nia Jax away at Backlash will be her main focus for now.
What did you think of Monday Night RAW this week? Do you think Asuka will retain against Nia Jax at Backlash? Who would you like to see step up against Apollo Crews if he can retain against Andrade? Does Bobby Lashley have a chance of taking the WWE Championship from Drew McIntyre? Let us know what you think on this and more down below!
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