Welcome to our live Bleacher Report and WWE Raw roundup from Baltimore, Maryland on July 3rd.
It’s the side show of Saturday’s Money in the Bank event, which means there’s always a lot of time spent rounding up the pay-per-view and preparing for the next big show.
Two new MITB holders were able to intimidate briefcases against the current champions. Rhea Ripley was set to defend her title against Natalya on Monday’s show, making her an even bigger target for Iyo Sky.
Let’s take a look at everything that happened in this week’s episode of Raw.
The show kicked off with a video recap of all the major events that took place at Money in the Bank on Saturday. When we went live to the arena, a victorious Seth Rollins was in front of the whole crowd singing her music.
After a few words about MITB, Kody Rhodes came out with another huge pop and crowd singing his music. He was about to ask what we wanted to talk about, but Brock Lesnar’s music got in the way.
Rose jumped out of the ring and ran up the aisle to fight him. They brawled all the way back in the ring, with Rose escaping F5 and hitting Kodi Cutter.
Teased the title fight before Lesnar made an unannounced appearance to set up a rematch with Rhodes. Overall, this was a very effective opening segment.
After the break, Rollins was still in the ring. He started speaking, but was interrupted again. This time, it stars Damien Priest, Dominic Mysterio, and Rhea Ripley.
The Visionary was furious when the crowd booed him whenever Dom tried to speak. He agreed to face Dom in a match later in the show.
School year: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- It was nice to see a tribute graphic to Droz at the beginning of the show.
- It feels like Rollins just wants to see how long he can get each audience member to sing his music. He usually gets a solid 30 seconds out of them.
Priest remained there after the opening segment to take on Shinsuke Nakamura, whom he faced in the Money in the Bank match.
The match starts with the infamous Archer focusing on Nakamura’s right arm. He maintained the upper hand for a long time, dropping Nakamura to the barricade as the show entered a break.
The strong style emperor made a comeback when the show resumed and scored a sliding German suplex. He danced to Ripley and blew him a kiss before returning to the ring and nailing Priest with a kick.
They picked up the pace and made the last few minutes the best part of the match, but most of it will be forgotten before the show is over. They both did a great job. They didn’t do well enough to stand out here, but that doesn’t have to be the goal in every game.
The Priest hit the giant clothesline, followed by South of Heaven’s victory.
winner: Damien Priest
School year: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- The angle Nakamura landed on the barricade was not funny.
- Ripley exudes confidence. Even if she’s just standing ringside, you can’t help but notice her.
- Dom’s reaction when Nakamura kissed Ripley was pretty funny.
When Ronda Rousey came out to speak, Shayna Baszler interrupted her. She said Rhonda owed Shayna her accountability, and Shayna said she was the only reason Rhonda was in the WWE ring.
Shayna lashes out at Rhonda saying she has rights, and says she’ll eventually shut her up. Rhonda kicked her off the apron and the two started fighting. Baszler grabbed her by the ankle lock, held her for a long time, then hit her brutal running knee.
This was a great segment to officially start their feud. Audiences stand by Baszler, so WWE should go for it and ultimately make her the hero of this story.
School year: B+
Next, Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan showed up to watch the tag team Tarmoyle fight for the title.
The team included Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green, Kayden Carter and Katana Chance, Emma and Nikki Cross, Dana Brooke and Tegan Nox, Indy Hartwell and Candice Leraye.
Indy and Candace started against Sonya and Green. After Green and Devil won, Cross jumped them instead of Candace.
Emma couldn’t make the tag because Nikki was distracted, and the team ended up losing. Knox and Brooke were eliminated during the break, leaving the former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Devil and Green’s final team.
Chaos matches are always kind of difficult, but in this one Devil and Green did a good job of making it look like they were the best challengers for the new champions. There was nothing memorable about the match until Katana fired a Hurricanrana onto the green while on Carter’s shoulder.
Green picked up the win and earned a future chance at the Devils and the Women’s Tag Team Titles.
winner: Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green
School year: C.
Notable Moments and Observations
- Rousey selling running knees from Baszler was great. She looked like she was out in the cold.
- Some of these teams have met for the first time as partners, but at least WWE is working hard to strengthen the division.
- Nikki Cross is such a great character. It’s a shame WWE doesn’t use her more often.
- Chance and Green’s Hurricanrana spot was amazing.
Becky Lynch came out and called Trish Stratus and Zoe Stark. When Trish came out with her protective mask on, The Man began to get angry at her ridiculous appearance. None of this happened, but we’re happy to inform you that this feud continues for now.
The next match was a six-man mixed tag team match with Maxine Dupri, Chad Gable and Otis going up against Eric, Ayvar and Valhalla.
Professor Gable started the match against Eric, but it didn’t take long for Otis to team up. He single-handedly defeated both Vikings before the show cut to commercials.
When Gable and Ival were feeling down after their break, they finally added the women to the team. Dupri took Valhalla down several times with arm drags before hitting a suplex. She was able to give her team the win with a sunset flip in the corner.
This feud is better than legitimate, in part thanks to Dupri’s comical timing lining up nicely with Otis and Gable’s. This match was never going to be his five-star classic, but it was certainly fun for the live crowd, and that’s what matters most.
winner: Alpha Academy
School year: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Trish wore a similar mask years ago, so this is a nice throwback gimmick for her.
- The way Samantha Irvine changes her voice at certain entrances is great. She did it for Chelsea and in this match she did it for Maxine.
- The audience went wild for Alpha Academy and Maxine. However, her caterpillar needs a little work.
The match was supposed to take place two weeks ago, but was canceled after Ripley attacked Natalia before the end of the bell. The Night of Champions rematch finally took place this week.
Natty ended up attacking Ripley on his way to the ring to get revenge against the Eradicator. The match started as the champion said he was still available.
They continued to stay physical and this quickly turned into a fight. Ripley turned things around and, once he got his bearings, began to dominate the veterans.
Both of these women take pride in their talent and power, so this was a pretty solid match that showed many strengths of both. They may have outperformed her NoC encounters this time around.
Ripley tried to hit a Frog Splash, but it landed on his boot. Natty landed a Running British Bulldog Powerslam followed by a Sharpshooter. The Eradicator escaped and landed a Powerbomb to win.
Morgan and Rodriguez saved as Ripley continued to attack Natty after Bell.
winner: Rare Ripley
School year: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Natalia received several world record certificates from Guinness during Money in the Bank. They didn’t make it big enough when it came to WWE programming.
- Whenever Ripley is thrown onto stairs, tables, etc., he throws his whole body into it.
- A Ripley doing a groin chop would create so many memes and GIFs online.
Giovanni Vinci got his revenge this week by fighting Matt Riddle, who put him on the shelf for a month.
Ludwig Kaiser distracted the ball so that Vinci could control it right after the bell. Riddle rose from the slam and landed a kick, but Vinci pulled him back with a springboard crossbody.
It ended up being a relatively short match with Riddle winning on a rollup, but the few minutes we got were good. This leaves the door open for future rematches and gives them more time.
Drew McIntyre made the save as Imperium attacked Riddle after Bell. He looked straight at Gunther before nailing Vinci with a claymore.
winner: Matt Riddle
School year: C.
Notable Moments and Observations
- The bird that popped out of Riddle’s butt this week was an eagle. For some reason this didn’t seem as patriotic as they had hoped.
- Before the match took place, Iyosky taunted Ripley backstage with a briefcase.
- Vinci has a low-key personality and is one of the best workers in WWE. Everything he does seems so smooth.
The main event was a match set during the opening segment between Rollins and Mysterio. Priest and Ripley were by Dom’s side as he faced off against the World Champion.
They started with simple chain wrestling with takedowns and counters to get a feel for each other. Rollins nearly sent Dom over the top rope to Ripley and knocked Ripley down with a knee kick off the apron.
After the break, Priest shoved Rowling off the top rope while Ripley distracted the referee. This allows Dom to hit Frog Splash.
As Rollins prepared to stomp, Priest attacked and caused a DQ. While Ripley was clutching his briefcase, he proceeded to murder the world champion.
Visionary tried to make a comeback, but Dom hit him with a briefcase. He tried to tell Priest to get the money, but Finn Balor showed up to attack Rollins, eventually slamming him into Priest. This caused an altercation between the two members of Judgment Day.
Rollins nailed Dom to the floor with a pedigree before fleeing the rest of Judgment Day.
The main event was a decent match, but far from the best on the card. Now that the seeds have been planted, Priest and Balor are likely to end up feuding sooner than some expected.
winner: Seth Rollins by DQ
School year: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- The crowd sang Rollins’ song throughout the game. It quickly turned into an anti-Dom chant.
- The announcer nearly ignored Rollins and Mysterio’s previous history.
- Dom has made some improvements, especially regarding sales.
This week’s show had something to do. I needed to figure out what happened at Money in the Bank, and I needed to start preparing for SummerSlam. It both worked very well, but had some weaknesses.
The six-man mixed tag match was fun too, but the best thing we saw all night was Natalia vs. Ripley for the Women’s World Championship.
Boat looked good in the ring for the first time in a long time, but it was Ripley’s time and Natty knew it, so he did a good job of making the champion look strong.
Setting up another match between Rose and Lesnar was a nice way to start the show. All in all, this was by no means a bad episode. Despite some flaws, I liked more than I disliked this week’s episode.
School year: B.
