Posted on 5/19/126 by Bob Magee
LIVE! from Greensboro, North Carolina.
Corey Graves & Michael Cole were on commentary for Season
34, Episode 20, of Monday Night Raw.
— Last week, Roman Reigns demanded acknowledgment, but Jacob
Fatu was somewhat less than willing to oblige.
— The OTC arrived and demanded a few minutes from Adam
Pearce to confront Jacob Fatu. But Pearce was all set to
fire him tonight. Their conversation was interrupted by
Jacob Fatu’s music playing in the arena!
Jacob Fatu Calls Out the OTC
Fatu wasted no time calling out Roman Reigns, but it was the
Usos who answered the challenge. Jey brought a chair to the
ring, but Jimmy brought a mic to try and talk some sense
into Fatu. Jimmy laid it out for Jacob: Fatu lost at
Backlash and he had to acknowledge the Tribal Chief.
Instead, he attacked management and is about to be fired.
Jey had enough of the talking and tried to go after Fatu
with the chair, but Fatu handled both Usos easily. He
absorbed a solid chair shot from Jey and put both Usos down
with the Tongan Death Grip.
Roman’s music hit, and he came out with the title belt and
walked faster than usual (but still slower than everyone
else) Fatu and Reigns stared each other down. It wasn’t long
before Roman and Fatu were exchanging blows, and while Roman
got the edge momentarily, he too fell victim to the Tongan
Death Grip. Jey freed Roman with a spear to Fatu, Jimmy came
off the top with a splash, and the Usos combined for about
80% of a 1D.
The Usos tied up Fatu in the ropes, and Reigns laid into him
with a Superman Punch. The Usos fired off a pair of
superkicks. The Usos freed Fatu and Roman leveled him with
one last spear.
The Tribal Chief and the Usos left, and Adam Pearce entered
the arena. Reigns told Pearche he could fire Fatu, but
before he could, Jacob Fatu shouted “Roman! Tribal combat!”
Pearce tried to wave Reigns off, but of course Roman
accepted the challenge.
“Tribal Combat” sounds like a no holds barred match where
the loser has to “acknowledge” the winner as their Tribal
Cheif.
— Seth Rollins, Oba Femi, and the Judgment Day were shown
walking around backstage.
JD McDonough v. Finn Bálor in a Street Fight
This is the 3rd match between Bálor and McDonough, with both
guys each holding a victory. Not a minute into the match,
and kendo sticks and chairs are all over the ring. Bálor
tripped up McDonough and he did a header into the
turnbuckle. Bálor followed that up by sending McDonough
headfirst into a chair. Bálor went to the floor to get a
table, but McDonough came through the ropes with a tope to
cut off Bálor.
McDonough took the fight into the crowd, and Bálor whipped
McDonough into an equipment case. McDonough came back and
sent the back of Bálor’s head into the case a couple of
times. McDonough delivered a moonsault from the first row of
the lower bowl, and both guys were down. Perfect time to
take a commercial break!
After a three minute break, the match was back in the ring
and McDonough was down. Bálor beat him with the chair like
he owed him money. McDonough came back and gave Bálor an
uranage on the chair and a moonsault. McDonough tried to
whip Bálor into a table that had been propped up in a
corner. But Bálor countered with a slingblade, and then sent
McDonough through the table with a shotgun dropkick.
Bálor went for the Coupe de Grâce, but McDonough avoided it
and hit a Busaiku Knee. McDonough hit a powerbomb for two.
McDonough hit a moonsault for another near fall.
The crowd chanted “JD sucks” while he set up another table
in the ring, then put Bálor on top of it. Bálor recovered
and crotched McDonough, then put him on the table. Bálor
went to the top, but Dominik Mysterio ran in to interfere.
This allowed McDonough to superplex Bálor through the table.
But Bálor kicked out at two!
The crowd chanted “Dom! You suck!” While the ref cleared the
ring of the table and Dominik threw some aluminum trash cans
into the ring. Mysterio and McDonough beat on Bálor with the
cans. McDonough held Bálor in place for a 619 from Dominik ,
but Bálor reversed it, and McDonough ate the 619. Bálor
stuffed McDonough in a trash can, hit him with a shotgun
dropkick, and then finished the job with the Coupe de Grâce.
Match Result: Finn Bálor pinned JD McDonough (14:16).
— Cathy Kelley interviewed Seth Rollins in the back. Rollins
knows he’s a marked man with no allies, but he has to put an
end to The Vision. Rollins hasn’t a match on Raw in 9
months, but Adam Pearce has given him the main event
tonight. And Rollins will take on any member of The Vision.
“One of them, two of them, three of them, all of them!” (So
they’ll be really dumb if all four of them don’t come out).
But Rollins directly challenged Bron Breakker, accusing him
of being a “nepo baby” who can’t get the job done.
— Byron Saxton (I’m legit shocked he’s still around)
interviewed Sol Ruca, and she’s very positive despite her 0-
2 record. She’s only been in the business for four years,
after all. Becky Lynch came out to talk some trash, and
thinks that having no wins in her first two matches means
it’s time to go back to NXT. And so she does… to head out to
the arena.
Sol Ruca Calls Out Becky Lynch
Sol’s music hit and she came out to the ring. Ruca wasn’t
interested in dealing with Lynch backstage, and called her
out. Lynch obliged, and Ruca challenged her to a match right
here in Greensboro.
Becky would love to do this in Greensboro, North Carolina,
and even though she’s the best women’s wrestler (and it’s
not just her saying it, a lot of people are saying it), she
doesn’t want to send another young person out of the
business. But, if Ruca really wants a match, she can have
one at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Ruca is fine with that, and she’ll not only snatch Lynch’s
soul, she’ll snatch the Women’s Intercontinental title. But,
Lynch didn’t agree to put the title on the line.
— Bron Breakker wanted to accept Rollins’ challenge, but
Paul Heyman convinced him it would be better for Austin
Theory to take the main event against Rollins later tonight.
El Grande Americano & Los Americanos (Bravo & Rayo
Americano) vs. The Original Grande Americano & Los
Americanos Hermanos (Brutus & Julius Creed) in a Tornado Tag
Match
No tags, so everyone is in and out of the ring. Bravo and
Rayo crotched The Original Americano against the ring post.
Julio came off the top with a dive on the Bravo and Rayo.
After Original took everyone out with a moonsault, he
superplexed Rayo off the top for a near fall.
The Original Americano — can I just call him Chad Gable?—
took it to all three of his opponents, suplexing Bravo and
Rayo at the same time. Gable then suplexed the phony
Americano into the turnbuckles for a near fall. Julius hit a
moonsault and Gable hit a headbutt off the top on Rayo for a
near fall. Julius missed a 450 splash. The new El Grande
Americano and his troops all loaded up their masks, but they
soon fell victim to triple German suplexes and triple
moonsaults.
Rayo took out Julius with a poisonrana. On the floor, El
Grande Americano took out Gable. Brutus (I think) fell
victim to a top rope rana, a top rope headbutt, and then a
charging headbutt (who a loaded mask) to get the pinfall.
Match Result: El Grande Americano, Bravo, and Rayo won when
Americano pinned one of the Creeds (10:43).
Confusing, but good action.
— Jacob Fatu v. Roman Reigns in a Tribal Combat match is
confirmed for Clash in Italy.
— Cathy Kelly interviewed The Usos to help set the stakes
for the match, but LA Knight interrupted to point out that
Knight fought with The Usos to deal with The Vision, but how
is what the Usos and Roman are doing any different than what
the Vision does? They walked away because LA Knight has a
point.
Ethan Page Sits Down with Michael Cole
Michael Cole sat down backstage with Ethan Page. Page
immediately provided Cole with a list of questions he wanted
asked.
“Do you know how long I’ve been doing this?” Cole asked.
(Honestly, I’m shocked every time I think about it.)
Page kept handing Cole pre-written questions that were
complimentary toward himself and derogatory toward Penta.
Cole got fed up with Page trying to control the interview
and told him that his ego would get in the way of beating
Penta for the Intercontinental Championship.
Roxanne Perez & Raquel Rodriguez (w/ Liv Morgan) v. Paige &
Brie Bella for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship
The winners will face Nia Jax and Lash Legend at Saturday
Night’s Main Event. Paige tossed Perez around by the hair to
start. Bella fell victim to a tackle from Rodriguez. Perez
slapped Bella and did a mocking “Yes!” chant. Paige and
Bella hit some “Yes! Kicks” on their opponents, but Paige
missed a dive on the floor heading into a break.
After the break, The Judgment Day crew were working over
Paige in the corner. Page managed to dump Rodriguez to the
floor, kick free from Perez, and then get the tag to Brie.
Brie hit some clotheslines on Perez. They did a convoluted
spot where she gave Rodriguez a hangman’s neckbreaker (which
looked bad because of the eye difference between the two),
which caused Rodriguez to give Perez a DDT.
Liv Morgan tried to distract the ref, but this didn’t work
as the champs combined to powerbomb Rodriguez out of the
corner. Perez hit a knee to the back on Bella. Bella got her
knees up on a Lionsault attempt. Bella went to the top, but
Morgan pushed her down. But the referee saw Morgan’s
interference and sent her to the back.
Rodriguez passed one of the tag belts to Perez. She took a
wild swing at Bella, who ducked and rolled up Perez for the
pinfall.
Match Result: Paige & Brie Bella retained when Brie Bella
pinned Perez (10:06).
After the match, Morgan clotheslined the tag champs from
behind. The Judgment Day held the 3-on-2 advantage for a
minute, but Lyra Valkyria and Bailey ran in to make the
save. Bayley dropped Morgan with a Bayley-to-Belly suplex.
Valkyria took out Perez and Rodriguez with a dropkick.
— Seth Rollins was standing around in the parking lot, and
LA Knight happened by to let Rollins know he would not be
helping him later tonight.
— Penta responded to Ethan Page’s comments from earlier.
They meet this Saturday on Saturday Night’s Main Event, live
on Peacock!
Oba Femi Open Challenge
While Oba Femi was posing in the ring with the lights down,
Brock Lesar returned and jumped Oba from behind! Brock hit
four straight F5s. The crowd obviously lost it. I guess the
rumors of Brock’s retirement were greatly exaggerated. (Just
kidding —nobody bought that.)
Brock left Oba laying in the ring.
— Adam Pearce was demanding answers in the back. He went to
Paul Heyman. Pearce filed retirement paperwork any
everything! Heyman handed Pearce a contract signed by “Brock
Legnar” for a rematch with Oba Femi for Clash in Italy.
Clash in Italy feels like it’s shaping up to be a fairly
loaded card.
Not a loaded card? Saturday Night’s Main Event:
The Street Profits v. The Vision for the World Tag Team
Titles
Becky Lynch v. Sol Ruca (non-title)
Petna v. Ethan Page for the Intercontinental Title.
Paige & Brie Bella v. The Irresistible Forces
Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair v. Michin, Jade
Cagrill & B-Fab
— Cathy Kelly interviewed The Street Profits heading into
their tag title match this Saturday. They want the smoke and
the tag team titles. Angelo Dawkins saw Seth Rollins getting
ready for his match. While Montez Ford still wanted nothing
to do with Rollins, Dawkins appreciated Rollins’ help last
week and went to thank him. Rollins was still kind of a jerk
to Dawkins. I hope they’re not really teasing dissention
between Dawkins and Ford now, after all these years.
Seth Rollins v. Austin Theory (w/ Logan Paul)
Rollins hit both Paul and Theory with a dive while they were
taunting him on the floor. Rollins and Theory fought around
the ring for a bit while the crowd sang “Fire Logan Paul!”
Back in the ring, Rollins sent Theory into the corner with a
Buckle Bomb. Rollins sent Theory to the floor with a boot.
Standing on the apron, Rollins tried to kick Theory (who was
on the floor), but Theory caught him and smashed his ankle
into the ring post. Theory then sandwiched the ankle against
the ring steps to further damage the ankle.
Theory worked over Rollin’s leg in the ring. Paul yanked
Rollins to the floor, and he landed on his already-injured
foot. Theory crotched him on the ringside barricade, then
hit him with a rolling forearm.
After a commercial, Theory was working over Rollins’ ankle
in the ring. Rollins came back with a Falcon Arrow. Rollins
came back so strong it ruined the picture for a minute. He
hit a series of clotheslines on Theory, but ate a back
elbow. Theory went for a rolling rana, but Rollins countered
with a sit-out powerbomb for two.
Rollins tried for The Stomp, but his legs were too messed
up. He tried for a Pedigree, but Theory blocked that. A sit-
out powerbomb out of a torture rack got Theory a near fall,
and he immediately transitioned into a half-crab.
Rollins was down, and Theory went for a stomp… but Rollins
caught him with a clothesline. Rollins climbed to the middle
rope, but while Theory had the ref’s attention, Logan Paul
shoved Rollins down. Theory then stomped Rollins, but that
only got two.
Frustrated, Theory pounded away at Rollins. Logan Paul
slipped Theory the brass knuckles. Paul distracted the ref,
but Rollins came back with a superkick. Rollins went for the
brass knuckles, but the ref caught Rollins and took them
away.
Theory tried for a rollup on the distracted Rollins, but he
reversed it into a Pedigree and got the pinfall.
Match Result: Seth Rollins pinned Austin Theory (12:53).
Paul jumped Rollins after the match. Angelo Dawkins ran in
to even the odds, but he got eaten up by the tag champs.
Montez Ford ran in to save Dawkins, taking out both Paul and
Theory with a over the ringpost dive.
Back in the ring, Ford chastised his partner. Bron Breakker
ran in to hit a spear on Dawkins, but Ford pushed his
partner out of the way and took the bullet. Breakker took
out Dawkins with a gut buster. Seth Rollins went after
Breakker, but Paul tripped him up from the outside and he
got speared as well.
The Vision then took it to Rollins three on one. Paul and
Theory spread out Rollins on the lower half of the ring
steps so Breakker could smash him with the other half, but
Adam Pearce and his gaggle of geeks ran in to put a stop to
the carnage. Breakker hit Rollins with another spear before
the Vision walked off.
Final Thoughts:
There was some good action in the opener and the main event,
and a big shock angle with Brock’s return. The Italy show
feels loaded as Cody/Gunther, Roman/Jacob, and Brock/Oba
(although that last match isn’t yet official) are three big
main events.