Tonight we will find out who will go on to Hell in a Cell to face Bobby Lashley. We’ll also see Shayna Baszler take on Reginald.
After a tribute for Memorial Day and a ton of pyro, we were welcomed to RAW by Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, and the newest RAW commentator Jimmy Smith. They then gave us a run down of what we should expect tonight.
Then in the ring, was John Morrison and The Miz! Miz TV time! The Miz called for a warm welcome back to…himself. He said it was good he was back because the past couple weeks of RAW without him have been hard. Then he apologized and said for the first time in his career he was injured in the Lumberjack match. Before Miz could continue he questioned what he was smelling.
Apparently Morrison decided to wear a bunch of garlic to ward off the zombies. Morrison said he is prepared for anyone or anything to attack them. Miz said he loved him and then said he had an epiphany about getting back to RAW for the upcoming live events. He said he needs to give back, then introduced Charlotte Flair.
Flair was not a fan of Morrison’s garlic necklace. Then Flair said Rhea Ripley has had a nice little run. According to Flair, Ripley has had the fairytale victory in beating Asuka, but real life is not a fairytale. Dreams do turn into nightmares. Flair said in three weeks she will send Ripley to hell.
Enter Rhea Ripley.
Ripley told Flair to go to hell. Miz was able to stop the women from getting into a fight and asked Ripley to explain why she is so mysterious. Morrison asked what her favorite garlic bread recipe was because he wanted to make sure she wasn’t a vampire. Ripley laughed and said she was not a vampire, but a nightmare for the RAW Women’s Division. In three weeks they can interview her again after she beats Charlotte Flair.
Flair said she couldn’t even beat Nikki Cross last week. Then we took a look back on that match. After the video, Flair laughed again at Ripley’s loss.
Enter Nikki Cross.
Cross apologized for interrupting Miz TV. She said she beat Ripley last week, but said it would all be fair to challenge the winner of the match at Hell in a Cell. Flair said if life was fair she would be RAW Women’s Champion right now. Ripley said if there was more time on the clock last week, Cross wouldn’t be standing there. But they are cool and Cross earned her respect.
Cross then turned to Flair and said she could beat her in two minutes. If Cross does that, she asked if it would then be okay if she challenged the winner of Hell in a Cell. Flair said it was ridiculous because she could beat Cross in one minute. CROSS SLAPPED HER!
Flair accepted the match and then we went to a commercial break.
Nikki Cross defeated Charlotte Flair because she lasted two minutes
Nikki had a strategy. Once the match began Nikki went outside of the ring. From there it was a game of cat and mouse. Valuable time was taken up with Cross’ strategy. In the end Flair could not get the Figure Eight on Cross and the clock ran out! Ripley sat at commentary smiling and clapping at the outcome.
After the match we got a video recapping what has been going on with RKBro, starting with 3 weeks ago when Randy Orton RKO’d The New Day.
Once the recap was over we went backstage to see Riddle chatting with Damian Priest. Riddle and Priest were talking about their excitement for live events. Then Riddle asked Priest to teach him some Spanish. Priest obliged til Randy Orton showed up.
Orton said he saw Riddle use the RKO last week. Riddle said he knew he should have asked before hand and apparently didn’t know what came over him. Orton said he was actually impressed by Riddle last week and thought he had a hell of a match with Woods, but that there could be some improvements. If they are going to be a tag team they need to be on the same page.
Then Orton told Riddle he should come down to the ring for his match tonight. Riddle got very excited, too excited really, and Orton shushed him then threw the key away.
Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods made their entrance to the ring. Kingston gave Woods a handshake and then left. We then took a commercial break.
Returning from commercial, we got a hype video for Summerslam. Summerslam will be on August 21st, a Saturday.
Randy Orton defeated Xavier Woods via Pinfall (BroDerek)
It seems only fair that Orton used Riddle’s finisher to win a match right? The odd pairing of Riddle and Orton seems to be sticking around. Let’s talk about the match though, Orton looked to end the match early with an RKO but Woods was able to counter with an arm drag. Then the action went to the outside.
Orton, in vintage mode, smashed Woods into the announcer’s table multiple times. Then a back suplex to Woods! After a commercial, Orton was still in control of the match. Woods fought out a a headlock and was able to kick Orton in the head! Then Woods tried to make a comeback with a series of punches, he was stopped for a short second but then hit the rolling elbow. After a pin attempt Orton kicked out.
Woods blocked the RKO for a second time, but the backslide pin attempt did not work. Woods came off the ropes and straight into a BroDerek.
After the match, Riddle got into the ring with his scooter freaking out.
Then we saw what has been going on with Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, and Reginald recently. Shayna Baszler made her entrance to the ring before we went to another commercial break.
Returning from break we saw the arrival of MVP, Bobby Lashley, and Lashley’s ladies.
Then Nia Jax was asking if Reginald was sure he wanted to wrestle tonight in Gorilla Position. Reginald said he could handle Baszler himself and did not need Jax to protect him. Jax tried to argue, but Reginald said he would be fine.
Reginald defeated Shayna Baszler via Pinfall (Rollup)
Reginald was able to flip out of the way of Baszler a few times, before Baszler hit him with a clothesline. He then was able to evade Baszler again and power slammed her! Then Baszler did her thing and caught Reginald by the leg. When Baszler went for the Kirifuda Clutch though, fire went off from the ring post. This caused Baszler to let go of her grip and distracted her.
Once Reginald got backstage he celebrated with Nia Jax.
Then Drew McIntyre was interviewed. He said tonight was all about him and Kofi Kingston because there will be no interference. McIntyre respects Kingston a lot and everything he has got, he has earned. Two weeks ago, maybe Kingston would have beat Lashley without McIntyre’s interference. Who knows!
McIntyre said he knows why it took him so long to get to the top, similar to Kingston. At the time McIntyre put everyone’s wants and needs above his own, but that is not the case anymore. He said something about being able to beat Brock Lesnar, which is something Kingston couldn’t do. McIntyre is willing to do everything that Kingston is not.
T-Bar and Mace made their entrance as we went to commercial break.
Mace and T-Bar defeated Lucha House Party via Pinfall
Mace and T-Bar let us know that they are out to send the other tag teams to extinction. Lucha House Party gave this one their best, but the much bigger tag team just took over. Lince Dorado did get a sleeper hold on T-Bar, which helped get him over to tag in Gran Metalik. Metalik tried to pick T-Bar up, but that definitely did not work out. Mace got into the match and just took over. From there that was really it for LHP.
After the match we saw Alexa Bliss at her playground. Bliss was just swinging with Lily. Then Bliss invited Reginald to come to the playground.
Sheamus made his way to the ring as we went to another commercial break.
When we returned from break, Sheamus was excited about his win last week. Then he said he couldn’t wait for live events to start back up and he could defend the US Championships in cities all over the country.
He said there seems to be a bit of a problem with people not knowing how to lose like a man. Then he singled out Humberto Carrillo and Ricochet. According to Sheamus they want to try and embarrass him. He said the closest they will get to his gold is a participation trophy.
We then saw a video of what happened after Sheamus defeated Carrillo last week. After the video, Sheamus said two people jumping a man is scumbaggery. He then pointed out that what happened last week is why he has not defended his championship since Wrestlemania. Sheamus won’t take on Ricochet and Carrillo in a handicap match, but will face them back to back.
Ricochet’s music then played.
Ricochet defeated Sheamus via Pinfall
The match began pretty quick. Sheamus got sent to the outside and Ricochet looked to go for a dive, but instead went for a slide. Sheamus moved out of the way and then gave a fall away slam to Ricochet right into the barricade. Then Carrillo’s music hit! That distracted Sheamus enough for Ricochet to roll him up!
After the match we took a commercial break.
Humberto Carrillo defeated Sheamus via Pinfall
Sheamus did not have a good Monday night. While Sheamus did have control of this match, he did let Ricochet’s presence at ringside throw him off. In the end, Sheamus’ anger got the better of him and he let himself get distracted yet again. And yes, Sheamus’ nose (I think), became a bloody mess in this one.
We then saw an Eva Marie promo/hype video.
Naomi and Lana made their entrance and we went to another commercial break.
Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke defeated Lana and Naomi via Pinfall
The Women’s Tag Team Champions, Natalya and Tamina were ringside for this match. Naomi and Lana seemed to have a tad more control of the match in the beginning with some quick tags. Soon though Brooke and Rose utilized some double team moves to change the course of the match.
After some quick thinking by Naomi, she was able to tag in Lana. Some chaos than occurred. As Naomi tried to get back on the apron, Rose gave her a knee which took her out. This left Lana all alone, which Brooke and Rose took advantage of.
We saw a video of Shelton Benjamin’s loss to Cedric Alexander last week. Benjamin then made his entrance and we went to commercial break.
Returning from break we saw a little clip from Bad Bunny on The Shop Uninterrupted.
Cedric Alexander defeated Shelton Benjamin via Pinfall (Neuralyzer)
Just like last week, Alexander used a thumb to Benjamin’s eye to get the victory.
Afterwards we saw Elias and Jaxson Ryker talking about their tag team championship match tonight. Elias wanted Ryker to understand what they are up against. Ryker stood stoically as Elias walked around him talking. Elias got frustrated that Ryker was not talking back and asked if he had ever been in battle. Ryker replied saying that he served in Iraq and walked away.
AJ Styles and Omos made their entrance before yet another commercial break.
When we returned from break we heard from Kofi Kingston. Kingston said he read between the lines of what McIntyre said earlier. He said he is able to achieve such success because of his friends and family, unlike what McIntyre was trying to insinuate. Kingston doesn’t understand the cheap shots by McIntyre. While he respects McIntyre, he cannot respect the cheap shots.
If McIntyre is going to take cheap shots, Kingston said he can use that same logic. Kingston did something that McIntyre has not been able to do in months: pin Bobby Lashley. Tonight Kingston said when it is all said and done tonight, he will go on to beat Bob Lashley at Hell in a Cell.
AJ Styles and Omos defeated Jaxson Ryker and Elias via Pinfall
Apparently Elias is done with Ryker. Although the match began with Elias going after Styles, it did not stay going good for Elias and his team. Ryker tagged himself into the match and all momentum seemed to be lost. Styles took Elias off the apron and then got back in the ring, cutting off Ryker.
Ryker seemed to make a comeback, but as he went to tag in Elias, Elias jumped off the ring apron. In this time Styles tagged in Omos. A beat down from Omos, then a Phenomenal Forearm and that was that.
Backstage we saw Reginald limping around. Nia Jax stopped him and questioned why he would want to go to Alexa’s Playground. Reginald really didn’t seem like anything could go wrong if he went and reassured Jax of his decision. Jax told him to be careful and would get some champagne ready for them.
We see Alexa’s Playground before another commercial break.
Elias was interviewed when we returned from break. He said that Jaxson Ryker has become unhinged. Last week Ryker ran away and was out for himself. According to Elias, Ryker’s priorities are all out of wack. He wasn’t there to help him last week, so Elias returned the favor this week.
As we return to live events, Elias said the thought of riding in a car with Ryker makes him sick. He said he doesn’t want to be around him anymore and walked off.
Then Alexa Bliss welcomed us to her playground. Reginald slowly sat down on the swing next to Bliss. She congratulated him on his victory tonight and said it was pretty neat. As Reginald was talking about his victory, Bliss interrupted because Lily had a question.
She then held Lily up and waited for Reginald to answer, which of course he can’t because he can’t hear Lily. Lily apparently wanted to know about Reginald’s time in Cirque du Sioleil. Before Reginald could answer, Shayna Baszler attacked him!
After Baszler was done beating up Reginald, she sat down on the empty swing. Bliss told her in the nicest way that she was not invited because Lily doesn’t like her. Baszler then said Bliss is becoming a huge problem and before it gets out of hand they need to have a chat. She said she would see her next week and then bent down and told Lily she’s just a stupid doll.
Backstage we saw The Viking Raiders giving Mansoor tips for being on the road and to get the crowd hyped at live events. After teaching him the Raid chant, they told him to have fun and left.
Then Mustafa Ali showed up. He told Mansoor to be careful with who he makes friends with. Ali said people will just stab him in the back. Mansoor then questioned why he should trust Ali. Ali told him he was getting it.
We then saw a side by side of McIntyre and Kingston preparing for their match. Then, you guessed it! Another commercial break.
Drew McIntyre defeated Kofi Kingston via Pinfall (Claymore Kick)
A hard hitting, entertaining main event. McIntyre slammed Kingston into the corner right after the bell. After getting beat down a bit in two different corners, Kingston was able to get two quick pin attempts on the Scottish Warrior.
McIntyre then tried to throw Kingston to the outside, but Kingston was able to hang on. With McIntyre on the outside, Kingside hit his trust fall dive! The action from there picked up the pace and just got more competitive.
At one point as the men were fighting on the outside of the ring, McIntyre threw Kingston over the time keeper’s area. Kingston hit some LED’s that were behind the area pretty hard. Even with that it seemed like no matter what McIntyre did, Kingston was not going to stay down. After hitting Trouble in Paradise, it looked like Kingston may pull off the victory, but McIntyre got to the ropes.
Kingston went to the top rope for a move, but McIntyre caught him mid air with the Claymore. McIntyre went for the pin and got the three count.
After the match Kingston offered McIntyre a handshake, which he accepted. Then Bobby Lashley came down to the ring and stared McIntyre down.