It’s time to see what Monday Night Raw has in store for us on Memorial Day. There is a massive women’s gauntlet match planned to determine the last vacant spot in the Women’s Money In The Bank match and the fans in Virginia had plenty more in store for them as WWE thanked our nation’s armed forces throughout the night.
There is also an IC Title match planned as Jinder Mahal tried to capture Seth Rollins’ title on a national holiday.
Opening Segment – Braun Strowman Roars
Strowman’s music kicked things off as he came out to flex and roar at the crowd. As two MITB briefcases hung above the ring, The Monster Among Men made his way into the squared circle.
Strowman took a moment and soaked up the “get these hands” chants before starting to talk about how he will destroy everyone at Money In The Bank and he’ll be known as Mr Monster In The Bank, “because who’s gonna stop me?”
Then Finn Balor came out to remind Strowman that he was the first Universal Title and he never lost that title which eats at him every single day. He said he will climb one of those ladders and he will take back what is his.
Then Strowman said he puts up a really good fight for a little guy and Balor open hand slapped Braun just to get lawndarted out of the ring. As Braun followed Finn outside, Kurt Angle came out and let the crowd yell “you suck” at him to their hearts’ content before he said he say intensity out there which is one of his favorite I’s.
Then Angle asked Richmond if they wanted to see Finn vs Braun right now and they obviously did so WWE is giving the fans what they wanted to see.
Braun Strowman vs Finn Balor
Kevin Owens joined commentary during this match and really took over the story as he talked about how he got in the MITB match in the first place.
As Bruan and Balor fought on, Kevin didn’t think Strowman was doing a good enough job and picked up the microphone to yell at him to keep it up reminding him how he got slapped in the face.
Finn tried to gain an upper hand time and time again but Braun would just knock him back down. Strowman hit Balor with a running shoulder tackle so hard it launched him over the barricade and into the crowd. It was a good thing there was a security officer to catch him that was probably an indie wrestler.
Balor took a shot to the ring post and then got in to catch Braun as he got in the ring. As Balor started to really kicking Strowman out of the ring, KO got on the microphone and told him to give it his best shot while distracting him. Then Finn hit a too sweet leaping dive over the top rope onto Braun.
Finn hit Braun with a sling blade when they got back in the ring and then he landed a shotgun dropkick and a stomp to the back of the head from the top rope. Balor then hit a Coup De Gras and went back up for a second one… but Kevin Owens was there to knock Balor down and cause a DQ.
Winner: Finn Balor via DQ
KO grabbed a ladder and put Balor down with a shot to the gut but when he got in the ring, Strowman blocked his shot and Kevin went scurrying out of the ring. Strowman launched a ladder at Kevin and almost hit him… thank god because that could have knocked him out legit.
Then Owens understandably ran away with Braun following him to the backstage area.
Kevin Owens in the parking garage very soon after that telling the valet to get his keys and his car. He was trying to get out of there.
Then Kevin Owens walked up and asekd him where he was going. Owens said he wanted to get to the Memorial Day parade and fireworks. Angle said he was Canadian and he had a match against Bobby Roode tonight. Owens didn’t seem too happy as he left.
Ladies And Gentlemen… Elias
Elias started to tease the crowd with a song and then stopped while saying the lighting is usually fine but the Virginia crowd is disgusting so he asked to bring the spotlight in again. Then he stopped and asked to bring the vocals up and soften the guitar.
Then Elias started arguing with the sound guy barking orders at “Lance” and decided the would just leave after not really doing or saying anything except drawing heat which is his job.
Seth Rollins came down and picked up Elias’ barstool and tossed it out of the ring. Then Elias left without any kind of confrontation while Jonathan Coachman said Elias was showing him “respect” when it just seemed awkward.
Seth Rollins vs Jinder Mahal – Intercontinental Title Match
Rollins started firing out the gate but Mahal soon took him down and kept the pressure on him as he used his size to his advantage. Mahal launched Seth off the apron crashing him into the barricade before bringing The Kingslayer back to the ring to continue grinding down on Rollins.
He stomped Seth down in the corner and asked, “this is your champion?!” to the crowd. Rollins caused some separation and Mahal went outside of the ring. Seth then hit a suicide dive.
The action returned to the ring and Rollins hit a falcon arrow for a near fall. Then he prepared for the curb stomp as the crowd chanted, “burn it down” as Seth stomped away. Sunil Singh grabbed Rollins’ foot and stopped him. Then he was ejected from ringside while Mahal nailed him with a steel chair for a near fall.
Sunil came back and Rollins hit a bucklebomb on Sunil with Jinder in the corner. Then Seth Rollins eyes the steel chair on the floor as he backed up in the corner. Rollins went out and grabbed the chair only to go in the ring and assault Jinder causing the referee to call for the bell.
Winner: Jinder Mahal via DQ
Mahal took plenty more chair shots up the ramp after the match and Sunil Singh took a hard shot as well. But the crowd still cheered plenty as Rollins raised his chair in victory at the end of the segment.
Then as Seth Rollins stood on the announce table and celebrated, Elias came in out of nowhere and laid him out with his guitar sending The Architect falling to the floor. Now it makes sense why Seth sent Elias off.
As the medics later carted Seth Rollins off in a neck brace who left on his own people chanted, “happy birthday” at him. By the way, happy birthday, Rollins!
Nia Jax Does Something
Nia Jax came walking out and Ronda Rousey entered right after her cutting her entrance off. Rousey sat on commentary as Jax said she’s glad Rousey was out for this exhibition because she was going to show her what was going to happen at Money In The Bank.
She let her enhancement talent opponent get an armbar on her and just lifted her up to drive her down on the mat saying “as you can see the armbar doesn’t mean much to me.”
Then she hit a Samoan Drop and a leg drop on her jobber. Nia picked up the microphone in between every spot to talk trash to Rousey saying her leg could crush a women’s chest. Then she hit a rolling senton on her crash test dummy while Ronda Rousey was still all smiles on the commentary booth.
Then Nia Jax said her opponent needs so assistance and invited Rowdy Ronda Rousey to come down and try to help Michelle Webb out.
Rousey got in the ring and Nia told the crowd, “she knows her name you can shut up now” as the crowd started to chant for Rousey. Then Nia said this is the intimidating look she’s heard about. But she’s not intimidated she finds it humorous and then she laughed in Ronda’s face and called her cute before leaving.
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt vs The Ascension
Although the former NXT Tag Team Champions did get the upper hand starting out, The Ascension soon fell back in their usual enhancement talent ways.
After Hardy took some damage, Bray got the tag and they cleaned up quickly after that. But at least it was nice to get a pinfall over an hour and a half into Raw.
Winners: The Deleter Of Worlds vis pinfall
The B Team were backstage with Angle and Curtis Axel said they’re undefeated and ready. Angle said beating the same team two weeks in a row doesn’t qualify them for a Raw Tag Team Title match.
He asked what the other tag teams would think if they leapfrogged over them. Then Bo said they should get the other tag teams’ blessing, therefore, Dallas said they must give them something like an invitation to the B Team Annual Memorial Day BBQ tonight.
Kurt Angle tried to tell them that he wasn’t talking about that but Bo and Curtis still high-fived and ran off to prepare the festivities.
Kevin Owens vs Bobby Roode
These two former NXT Champions had a nice back-and-forth contest resulting in a slugfest.
After they blew each other up, Roode hit a mule kick and a blockbuster for a two count. Then KO avoided a Glorious DDT and Roode revered out of a pop-up power bomb.
Then Roode tried for a victory roll and Owens hooked his legs to secure a roll up pin for the win.
Winner: Kevin Owens via pinfall
After the match, Braun Strowman came down to the ring and continued to stalk KO. Owens took off and Braun ran after him. Roode blocked Kevin and Braun tossed him in the ring to his a shoulder tackle and a running powerslam on KO as Bobby Roode cheered him on in the ring.
Then as Roode got on the ropes to cheer Owens on, Strowman hit another running powerslam on Owens while his music started. Then his music stopped once more as Braun grabbed Bobby Roode and The Glorious One got those hands with a running powerslam of his own.
Sami Zayn’s Apology
Zayn came out and said that he went too far last week in his segment with Bobby Lashley’s sisters. Then he got out a piece of paper and his reading glasses as he began to read his apology letter describing how social media reacted so horribly to his segment last week.
Zayn admitted those weren’t Lashley’s sisters last week, they were men in dresses that he hired to poke fun at Bobby. Then he went to say he was sorry but he just couldn’t bring himself to say it.
When he finally said he was sorry he went back and said that everythign he said last week was still true because like all real great art his inspiration of Lashely was rooted in reality. He said history will look at the segment very favorbly and he’s doing the right thing by exposing Lashley for being a bully and a liar and couldn’t understand how he’s the one catching flack.
Then he said everyone should be feeling sorry for him and apologing to him because he deserves to be in the MITB match and he should be beating Seth Rollins for the IC Title match tonight and not standing in the ring issuing an apology in Richmond Virginia. This brought a huge heat reaction. Overall Sami Killed this as always and he had plenty of zingers if you read between the lines, mostly poking fun at the fact last week was a steaming dumpster fire and probably the worst WWE segment of 2018.
Then Bobby Lashley came out smiling with an Underarmor hat and new ShopZone tshirt on. He gave a happy Memorial Day message and saluted all veterans on behalf of his family and got a big USA chant going.
Then he turned to Sami and said it’s good to see him again and his sisters actually think he’s entertaining but all that gets old very fast and since they have an issue they’ll settle it in the ring at Money In The Bank.
As they shook hands, Sami said he was going to “helluva kick that stupid smile off his face.” Then Lashley kept his hand grasped around Sami’s paw and squeezed away as Sami sold like he was Curly from Of Mice And Men which would make Bobby Lashley Lenny… okay that just got a little deep and blew my mind for a second.
Drew McIntyre vs Chad Gable
This did not look good for Gable but at least he was able to wrestle around a little bit before McIntyre started picking him apart. He chopped Gable in the corner and Chad tried to return fire but McIntyre soon kicked him back down to continue his assault.
He picked Gable up with ease and suplex him back down in one fluid motion before locking on an armbar. Gable tried to come back with a moonsault for a near fall and then they fought outside of the ring.
Gable hit a spin kick on the outside and then he jumped on the apron on to be caught and flung against the ring post like a sack of potatoes or Rey Mysterio on a stretcher.
Drew soon tossed Gable back in the ring and landed the Claymore kick for the win.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
B Team Annual Tag Team BBQ
The B Team need the blessing from the rest of the tag team division and everyone was in the ring to enjoy a BBQ. There was an astroturf laid down on the ring and a couple tables were filled with food like B Team baked beans and B Tem bratwurst and B Team botato chips or the B Team bologna sandwiches and don’t forget the B Team Bodogs.
Rhyno just had the pan of bologna sandwiches in his lap while he ate away.
Curtis said since everyone is eating then it’s agreed that they can challenge for the Tag Team Titles. Titus called this a bootleg backyard basement BBQ and Heath Slater said in West Virginia this would be a feast but the B Team still won’t be cutting the line for a tag team title shot.
Then Axel said they’re taking their food back so Titus dumped the baked beans on Bo and Curtis had the potato salad dumped on him from Tyler Breeze. Everyone fought the B Team out of the ring in a massive food as Rhyno stayed in the ring and ate his bologna sandwiches.
The B Team came back and weren’t happy so they put Rhyno through a table.
Axel and Dallas went backstage to Angle demanding their shot at the Raw Tag Team Championships. Kurt Angle said they’re not going to let them jump the line so he arranged a tag team battle royal next week. Axel was so happy he hugged Angle and got poato salad all over the Olympic hero… let’s hope Braun Strowman stays away from next week’s tag team batle royal.
Women’s MITB Gauntlet Match
Bayley vs Liv Morgan
Bayley was interviewed by Charley Caruso in to ring before the match started asking Bayley how she felt about having to run the gauntlet to win. Bayley seemed rather confident that she would win while running through all the names. Then she said Sasha Banks needs to take a look at the MITB contract because the name doesn’t say Banks, it says Bayley.
Liv Morgan started things out in this match against Bayley.
Bayley finished off Liv Morgan in no time with a roll-up pin.
Sarah Logan vs Bayley
Logan came down and put some boot to Bayley until The Hugger returned fire and quickly won the match. Then Liv Morgan jumped Bayley and they beat her down for a bit as Ruby Riott walked to the ring
Ruby Riott vs Bayley
Bayley had to fight back after being jumped by the Riott Squad and she hit a spinebuster on Ruby to put her down.
Then Bayley climbed to the middle rope but Ruby pulled her off and bounced her off the ropes to hit a Riott Kick and win the match. So there you go, all that hype for Bayley and… yeah. That paid off.
Dana Brooke vs Ruby Riott
Ruby took it to Dana right off the bat but Brooke turned it around on her and hammered her down in the corner.
Ruby soon finished off Dana Brooke and advanced in the gauntlet.
Mickie James vs Ruby Riott
Mickie tried to gain an advantage but Ruby fired back quickly. Mickie hit a dropkick for a two count and Ruby rolled out of the ring. Then Mickie nailed a baseball slide to Riott which send her across the floor.
Mickie hammers Ruby down and pointed at the briefcase before landing her top rope double knees for a two count.
Ruby soon rolled Mickie James up with a handful of tights and got the win.
Sasha Banks vs Ruby Riott
Banks came down with her shoulder totally covered with Kinesio tape. She walked right into a few rollup pins and kicked out every time.
Banks nailed a cross body for another two count and latched on an armlock to keep Ruby down for a minute. Banks botched a tilt-a-whirl move and they tried to cover on commentary that she was looking for a Bank Statement which was clever.
Then Ruby hit a DDT for a two count before stomping The Boss in the corner for a bit.
Ruby tried to get Sasha to give up but Banks kept fighting back. Then Ruby was driven into the middle turnbuckle and Banks climbed to the top rope to hit the double knees which Michael Cole called the “Kneeteora” which is clever I guess.
Ruby tried for a monkey flip but Banks blocked it so Riott nailed a DDT for a two count and then she nailed a kick for another two count.
Ruby mounted Banks in the corner and Banks slid under her to nail a kick to the face and a powerbomb for a two count. Then she latched on a Bank Statement but Ruby wouldn’t tap. Liv and Sarah jumped on the apron but Banks fought them off and locked the Bank Statement back on her after a roll up pin for the win.
Winner: Sasha Banks
Now Sasha Banks is on her way to Money In The Bank, neat.
