Monday Night Raw - 11/05/20
- LDR
- May 14, 2020
- 7 min read
Seeing a title vacated and a vicious rivalry promoting a “traditional wrestling match” aren’t usually reasons for intrigue or excitement, but this Monday’s RAW gave us both these things at the positive end of the spectrum. There was a lot of action in and around all of this, including the potentially joining of forces and a faction member being pushed out. Let’s kick on and see what happened this Monday night on RAW.
The show opened with Becky Lynch strolling down to the ring with Asuka’s freshly won Money in the Bank briefcase. Placing it on a podium, Becky started to talk about her time in WWE, starting at the Performance Centre. She told the Universe that she never thought she’d end up where she is but, just as she started to get emotional, Asuka interrupted, screaming in Japanese and demanding to know why Becky had her case. This led Becky to explain that the Women’s Money in the Bank match hadn’t just been for the usual contract prize, but – cue opening of the briefcase – for the RAW Women’s Title itself. Asuka, now the RAW Women’s champion, took a few moments to celebrate around the ringside area, before heading back to the ring where Becky explained further. She told Asuka that although she was clearly happy, Becky might even be happier. The line “go and be a warrior, I'm gonna go be a mum” told us all what was really going on and set one of the lightest, most relaxed tones that one of these segments has ever created and a lovely atmosphere for the rest of the night. Congratulations to Becky and Seth, best wishes to them both!
Bobby Lashley v Humberto Carrillo (No Disqualification Match)
A relatively short match was jam packed with high flying from Carrillo, power moves from Lashley and even a few chairs. Lashley eventually managed to overpower his opponent and submit him to a Full Nelson. The main talking point here was actually what happened after the match backstage, with MVP approaching Lashley again. MVP claimed that he could take Lashley to the next level – one that he has been stuck at since 2007 – if he were to use MVP’s managerial services and ditch Lana.
Angel Garza v Akira Tozawa & Andrade v Drew McIntyre
Another short match with a story to tell here. Akira Tozawa was competitive for a while with Garza and got some good offence in. With Zelina Vega, Andrade and Austin Theory at ringside, Garza was looking to impress, but seemed highly focused on proving a point to Theory in particular. Garza eventually put the match away with a Wing Clipper while staring down Theory. This led to a small confrontation among the group in the ring which was interrupted by WWE champion Drew McIntyre. He hit a Claymore on Theory, drawing laughter from Garza and Andrade, before Garza received a Claymore of his own, sending him out of the ring. Drew told Andrade to step up and, after the break, the match was on. Both men went at each other with force, hitting some strong strikes and Andrade took control for a while, hurting the arm of the WWE champion. Eventually, Drew hit the Claymore for the win, putting down the United States champion yet again. The WWE champion then took to the mic, explaining that there was a new Brand-to-Brand Invitation rule in place and that RAW had invited King Corbin over next week. Drew will face Corbin on next week’s show and he promised to put the King down.
A Moment of Bliss, Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross v The IIconics
The Women’s Tag Team champions came to the ring for their talk show segment next, congratulating Becky Lynch on her news and just having some general chit chat about babies. They were interrupted by the returning IIconics, who quickly turned everything sour. They talked their
way into a non-title match against the champions and didn’t look like they’d lost a step in the 7 months that they have been gone. A fairly basic back-and-forth match followed, with the champs showing strong chemistry and the IIconics showing why there are a good heel tandem for the division, especially now that it will be missing the Kabuki Warriors for the foreseeable future. The IIconics debuted a new double team move – meant to be a kind of DDT/Slam combo perhaps? - and picked up the win, probably granting them a shot at the belts somewhere down the line.
R-Truth, Ricochet & Cedric Alexander v MVP, Shane Thorne & Brendan Vink
R-Truth hit some decent spots with his comedy Sunday night at Money in the Bank, but this “Pretty Ricky” stuff was a miss for me. He started it in the backstage interview before this match and then also continued it in match, with the only pay off being his false teeth falling out in the match. The ongoing rivalry between the two tag teams called for an extra partner for Ricochet and Alexander after MVP took on Vink and Thorne, but the main story in this one was – once Ricochet and Alexander had taken Vink and Thorne away from the action – MVP versus R-Truth in the ring. Truth actually managed to pick up the win with the Little Jimmy jumping STO (not the Lie Detector) before Bobby Lashley stormed the ring, spearing Truth and helping MVP to assault the dancing rapper. MVP and Lashley made their way up the ramp, clearly with something to talk about as they headed backstage.
Rey Mysterio & Aleister Black v Murphy & Seth Rollins
Mysterio started off giving an interview to set up this match, speaking about how lucky he and Aleister Black were to have been thrown from the roof at Money in the Bank onto another roof just six feet below them. He also gave his congratulations to Becky Lynch, when Seth Rollins strolled into the frame, staring down the luchador. Rey told Seth that becoming a father would change his life and that he was excited for him as well, extending his hand for Seth to shake. Seth stared at Rey and then just walked off, not saying a word. Seth was still dead-eyed and almost catatonic on his way to the ring. He stood stock still on the apron while his disciple fought both Black and Mysterio. The turning point came when Mysterio was thrown into the heel corner, managing to hit Murphy and then Rollins with elbows to a face. Rollins dropped to the floor outside and absolutely snapped. He blocked Mysterio’s attempt at a 619, leading to a disqualification – who ever heard of being disqualified for helping your partner?! - and a huge beatdown on both Mysterio and Black for several minutes. The culmination of the violence came when Seth pulled at Rey’s mask, leaving Rey’s eye exposed to be shoved into the corner of the steel steps at ringside. Rey was left crying out in pain, bleeding from his eye, as Seth yelled “this isn’t about you, Rey”, showing just how broken and detached his psyche has become.
The Street Profits v The Viking Raiders in a Basketball Match
This light-hearted skit was the perfect palate cleanser after the violence of the previous segment, with some good, old cheesy WWE fun. The premise leading in was that the Viking Raiders had claimed to be able to do anything the Profits could do – and do it better. The challenge was made for a basketball game, and the Raiders accepted. As it goes, the big men had no idea how to play basketball, leading to a comically large 74-point lead for the Street Profits. As we headed towards the final buzzer, the Raiders finally managed to sink a bucket, getting them two points on the board. Naturally, they celebrated like madmen, claiming they had won the game. As the real winners explained that that wasn’t the case, the Viking Raiders revealed that they had let the Street Profits win, complete with long-range shooting displays and a huge slam dunk from Ivar. As cheesy as this was, it was supposed to be, and was a fluffy piece that could lead into a funny series of these
competitions between champions and challengers, managing to keep the fairly friendly rivalry bubbling along without burning out on matches.
Shayna Baszler v Natalya
Shayna Baszler was interviewed backstage and asked about Becky Lynch’s baby. Her response was, as expected, heelish in the extreme and the work to make Shayna the most hated woman in the women’s division continues to succeed – depending on your tolerance level for Charlotte Flair. Natalya was fired up by Baszler’s comments, hitting her with a rebuttal which was immediately and viciously torn down by the Queen of Spades, claiming that the Hart Dynasty would die with Natalya. In the match, the viciousness continued, with Baszler throwing the veteran around and working the limbs as usual. Natalya showed some technical prowess, looking for the Sharpshooter, but Baszler rolled through and tried to stomp the arm as she has recently. Natalya ducked out of the way and tried to steal a roll-up but Shayna rolled through and hit a strong knee to the face of Natalya for the win. Shayna needed this kind of match to rebuild her viciousness after being an almost complete non-factor in the women’s Money in the Bank match.
Randy Orton & Edge Face-to-Face
An evening of build led to this closing segment, where Randy Orton and Edge finally stepped inside the same ring for the first time since their violent Wrestlemania Last Man Standing match. Randy told Edge that while the better MAN won that match, the better WRESTLER did not. He claimed that Edge had been hiding behind stipulations and weapons since his return and that there is no way that Edge could beat him in a straight up one-on-one match. Demanding that Edge prove that he has shaken his ring rust, Orton challenged his long-time rival to a bout at Battleground, but Edge was left speechless so we don’t know just yet whether he will accept Orton’s challenge.
This show has set up a few storyline strands moving forward, with Austin Theory’s future alongside Zelina Vega’s group on thin ice, Bobby Lashley looking likely to team up with MVP, a new RAW Women’s champion taking the helm and the next chapter of Edge v Orton starting to be laid out.
What did you guys think of RAW this week? Do you think they should be doing more with certain people? Is the US title being ignore? What do you think of the new Brand-to-Brand Invitation? Let me know your thoughts down below.
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