Monday Night RAW - 25/05/2020
- LDR
- May 26, 2020
- 8 min read
Monday night promised an interesting encounter, with Drew McIntyre appearing on The VIP Lounge with MVP to discuss his upcoming title match with Bobby Lashley, a man who has recently allied himself with MVP. We would also a see a triple-threat match to crown a number one contender for the RAW Women's Championship and another instalment of the "Anything You Can Do..." series between the Viking Raiders and the Street Profits. What hit the spot and what was wide of the mark? Read on to find out.
Source: wwe.com
The KO Show with RAW Women's Champion Asuka
Kevin Owens opened the show, bringing Asuka down to the ring after a bit of pandering to the NXT Superstars and Performance Centre trainees that made up the crowd. The RAW Women's Champion chanted again for Becky Lynch before Owens showed a clip of Nia Jax's attack on both of the Kabuki Warriors last week. As Owen's put some questions to Asuka, NXT Women's Champion Charlotte Flair interrupted, claiming that she should be the one who was given the RAW belt as she had beaten Asuka every time they faced off. Natalya also joined in, apologising to KO for wrecking the set of his show last week, before Nia Jax completed the set and ignited a brawl between all four women. As Owens hightailed it, Asuka managed to send Jax reeling and retreating to stand tall above her three potential challengers. Each woman had their own story to tell here and everyone's point was put across without cutting any of the others down, so a strong start to RAW here. Having some reaction from a crowd, even one comprised of WWE's own people made this feel more like the shows we are used to as well.
Source: wwe.com
Andrade v Apollo Crews (United States Championship Match)
After getting injured in a match for the title a few weeks ago, Apollo got another shot against El Idolo here. Zelina Vega accompanied her man to the ring, but there was no sign of Angel Garza, who would be facing Kevin Owens later in the show. Crews took control early on, taking the fight to the champion, but Andrade's vicious spinning elbow turned the tide. With Vega doing everything in her power to keep the strap around Andrade's waist, she jumped onto the apron, but a kick from Crews sent Andrade crashing into her and she feel to the floor. Andrade did manage to use this to his advantage, taking the fight to his challenger, but he could not put this one to bed. Apollo managed to hit a press slam and follow up with a standing moonsault and a standing shooting star press to claim his first championship in WWE. These two are both VERY good wrestlers and - while Andrade has always had a fairly high profile - this was Apollo Crew's best outing and biggest spotlight that I can remember.
Source: wwe.com
The IIconics Resolve Their Issues
After the shocking slap from Billie Kay to Peyton Royce after last week's Women's Tag Team Championship match loss, The IIconics came to the ring to talk out their problems. Both women apologised to each other and looked back on how much they have achieved as a pair. The tag champs, Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss, came out to confront the Aussie duo, making sure everyone knew that they had worked just as hard and sacrificed just as much to be where they are. The IIconics weren't interested in talking though, laying out the champs and draping the belts over their prone bodies. While last week's match wasn't a classic, it left enough on the table for a PPV re-run and the Women's Tag Team Championships have been a bit neglected recently, so a proper programme with some real heat will do the world of good.
Source: wwe.com
The VIP Lounge with WWE Champion Drew McIntyre
Drew continued to show that not all babyfaces are overly trusting idiots, throwing all the furniture out of the way, ready for a scrap. MVP promised that no attack was forthcoming and that he just wanted to talk. He reminded McIntyre that he had offered to help him before, but after the Scottish Psychopath had dropped him with a Claymore, he knew that Drew would become champion at Wrestlemania and that MVP would do everything in his power to be a part of whatever caused Drew to lose the belt. This brought Bobby Lashley out from the back but, before he could jump McIntyre, the champ hit a Claymore on MVP leaving Lashley on the outside dragging his friend to safety and backing away from the WWE Champion. Drew has faced a multitude of opponents since winning the WWE Championship but, while Big Show was uninspired and Seth Rollins is a mainstay in the title picture, Bobby Lashley presents some freshness to the main event scene and brings something completely different from what is already there. Watching these two big boys go head to head should be great, so bring on Backlash!
Source: wwe.com
Angel Garza v Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens was making his way to the ring to cheers from the crowd but Angel Garza wasn't messing around tonight. He jumped Owens from behind, hitting a chop block at the bottom of the ramp. Garza maintained the assault on KO's leg, trying to take the bigger man off his feet permanently. This match looked to be going much better for Zelina Vega's other client, with La Muneca cheering on from ringside, but Owen's managed to snatch a DDT out of nowhere to put Garza down. As Garza crawled to the corner to recover, KO looked to be setting up for a cannonball but his leg gave out as he charged his opponent. Garza jumped up and hit a superkick for a close 2-count, then hitting the Wing Clipper for a win that came as something of a shock. The ongoing feud between Owens and Vega's group informed this match which - while lacking in any major backstory - was very good. Owens is well known as a strong in-ring performer and Garza has to be one of the fastest rising competitors on WWE's books.
Source: wwe.com
The Viking Raiders and The Street Profits Play Golf
The next in the "Anything You Can Do..." series turned put to be golfing. Having angered the manager of an actual golf course with their poor etiquette and even poorer skills, nthe teams ended up at a mini-golf course. There was a repeat of the "Ivar is cute" gag from last week and a few golf movie related spots, but this was very much in the same format as the previous two which is creating diminished returns. The Street Profits won by a huge lead putting them 2-1 up for the series, The Viking Raiders didn't understand the sport and then claimed to have let Dawkins and Ford win. Having the teams do something away from the ring provides variety on the show and allows the programme to be stretched, but these vignettes need to be more varied. We will be getting a bowling match next week, so expect more of the same. After The Viking Raiders left, MVP and Bobby Lashley mocked The Street Profits for not being serious champions and challenged them to a match in the main event slot.
Source: wwe.com
Murphy & Austin Theory v Humberto Carrillo & Alesiter Black
After Seth Rollins had claimed earlier in the night that he had sacrificed Rey Mysterio to set and example for the locker room, he would use his Disciples to teach the same lesson to Carrillo and Black tonight. Theory took early control of Carrillo and took him to the corner to try and hit some double team moves with Murphy but Carrillo managed to escape. He tagged in Black who managed to fight off both Murphy and Theory with his signature strikes before tagging Carrillo back in. Carrillo wasn't so fortunate and fell victim to the the ATL from Theory, who picked up the win for his side. Rollins instructed his men to take Carrillo to the steel steps, threatening to do to him what he had to Mysterio if Black didn't stand and listen. Black grabbed a chair and looked as though he was going to fight but decided against it, kicking the chair out of the ring at Seth's demand. Seth repeated his sentiments about sacrificing Rey Mysterio and that he would do the same to anyone who tried to stand against him. We had a later announcement that Mysterio would be having a retirement ceremony next week, but I would think that will go as well as a typical WWE contract signing or wedding.
Source: wwe.com
Charlotte Flair v Nia Jax v Natalya (Number One Contender's Match)
Asuka was on commentary to scout her three potential challengers and find out who she would be facing at Backlash. Nia took the advantage early on, using her power to keep her opponents at bay. She slammed Natalya onto Charlotte and then tried to hit an elbow drop but both women got out of the way in time. The two then worked together briefly to take out their bigger opponent, smashing Nia into the ringpost. The match became more technical here, with Charlotte and Natalya trading moves before Jax managed to recover. They teamed up again to put Nia down, this time powerbombing her through the announce table. The Queen then took control but Asuka helped Nia up and back into the ring to break it up. After trading a big more offence, Jax managed to put Natalya down for the count with a Samoan drop while Charlotte was trying to get back in from the outside. Nia Jax was the clear choice for a winner here as she already has a rivalry with the champion building but Asuka helping her get back into the ring was interesting to say the least. Maybe Asuka wants to be a fighting champion, maybe she wants revenge for Kairi Sane or maybe - just maybe - she's scared to face Charlotte Flair.
Source: wwe.com
The Street Profits v MVP & Bobby Lashley
It's time for your main event of the evening. Montez Ford started this one against The All Mighty, with Lashley overpowering the Street Profit early on. He took Ford to the corner and hit multiple shoulder thrusts, wearing down one half of the RAW Tag Team Champions. Ford eventually managed to break free and get a tag to Angelo Dawkins, who took the fight to MVP who had also tagged in. Ford managed to take Lashley down on the outside, driving him into the barricade. Ford tagged back in and looked to have MVP beat, but Lashley climbed back in to the ring and applied the full nelson submission that he has adopted recently. Lashley was disqualified after refusing to release the hold but Drew McIntyre stormed out to the ring, attempting to take out his challenger. After trading attacks and the advantage in this brawl, with waves of Performance Centre trainees trying to break them up. They eventually managed to keep the big men apart, but this explosive finish to the show added a lot of fire to the upcoming title match at Backlash
What did you think of this week's Monday Night RAW? Do you think Apollo Crews was the right man to take the United States Championship from Andrade? What is next for El Idolo? Will Nia Jax be able to take the RAW Women's Championship from Asuka? Let me know what you think below.
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