Stephanie McMahon, and her brother, “The Best In The World”, Shane McMahon start us off at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 4/15/19.
Shane-O-Mac is properly introduced by Mike Rome before a video montage of Shane McMahon besting the father of the Miz, George Mizanin, at Wrestlemania, is shown. That leads to the first new star on Raw.
The A-lister himself is back! The Miz is a member of the Raw roster and he lays unholy hands on Shane McMahon, driving the younger McMahon back to the dressing room after a thorough dressing down of the physical format, steel chair and all.
Becky Two Belts, aka, Becky Lynch, will compete in singles action later against Ruby Riott, and we get a clip of Seth Rollins winning the Universal Title from Brock Lesnar.
Rollins will team up with Roman Reigns and a mystery partner from Smackdown against Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre later this evening too.
One and Only! Ricochet is Raw official! The raw writing staff here at the Scrum is beyond pleased to be covering this extraordinary talent on a weekly basis.
He’ll be joined by Aleister Black! “The Dutch Destroyer” will be a part of the flagship show as he and Ricochet are to be joined by two other partners for an eight man tag match to start the show. Before a break, they announce they’ll be teaming with the new Raw tag team champions, Hawkins and Ryder and we’ll see their opponents after the break.
The Revival are headed to the ring for the eight man tag team match and their partners are The War Raiders! What?! The NXT tag team champions are here and they are to be known as the Viking Experience now. No longer are they Hanson and Rowe either, they have new names. Wow, this is absolutely huge here. I did not expect this. Ybar and Erik are the names of the former Hanson and Rowe.
The Viking Experience/The Revival defeat Hawkins and Ryder/Ricochet and Black via pin fall after a Fallout from the Viking Experience.
The remark is made that Black and Ricochet aren’t official yet, especially since we still have tomorrow for both they and The Revival.
The Montreal crowd loved this. This wasn’t so much about wins and losses as it was about establishing a solid Raw tag team division and if this is a showing of what’s to come going forward, sign me up.
The Viking Experience had a brilliant showing as the former Hanson and Rowe got to display their remarkable strength and athleticism and working them against teams like the Revival and the team they competed against the Friday before ‘Mania? That’s a solid decision.
The end came when Dash and Dawson got a solid offensive flurry going on Hawkins, they were really into this as well, and hopefully a bolstered tag division keeps them excited. Hawkins made the hot tag to Ryder, but that eventually led to all out chaos including some impressive offense from Ricochet and Black.
The Viking Experience hiptossed Hawkins to the floor and they nailed the fallout for the victory. Wow, that’s a debut.
Yes! Holy cow! 205 Live sends its first star to Monday Night Raw, the electric Cedric Alexander is headed to the red brand and he’ll be taking his high flying offense and tremendous fan support to Monday’s in the coming weeks.
Finn Balor, the IC Champ, is headed to the ring next, perhaps for the last time if he jumps shit tomorrow night. The Montreal crowd is red hot for the “Extraordinary Man” as he heads to the ring for a non-title match.
El Idolo! Andrade and the lovely Zelina Vega, the wife of Aleister Black, make their way to the ring to ply their trade on Monday Night’s. Andrade is a sensational talent who got lost in the shuffle with Smackdown’s deep roster. Hopefully a few switches from Raw can allow him to shine on the red brand.
Vega “endears” herself to the Montreal crowd as she and Andrade speak a bit of French before a quick transition to Spanish and a proper heel introduction.
Andrade defeats Finn Balor via pin fall with the Hammerlock DDT in a non-title match.
It’s a non-title bout here and Andrade immediately gives it to Balor with stiff shots and a sensational double knee strike in the corner. Andrade is a premiere athlete and a third generation athlete.
Balor fights back, but he’s countered with a rollthrough before hitting a dropkick to the face of Andrade. Balor stays in charge for a time, hitting a crisp DDT as Andrade rolls outside to regroup before eating another dropkick. Balor misses a kick attempt as Vega steps in the way and Andrade takes charge before a break.
Balor is favoring the knee after a break,and Andrade counters a step-up inzaguri, but Balor fights back with a counter of his own and a sling blade. Andrade hits a handspring pele kick and he heads up top for the double moonsault, but Balor hits the corner dropkick. He heads up top slowly, and Andrade takes to the top rope for a double stomp, but Balor is in the “dropzone”.
Andrade’s hammerlock DDT is countered, and Balor looks to hit a suicide dive and he leaps over Vega, who then hits a hurricanrana on the outside! Wow! Andrade with the Hammerlock DDT and a three count for the victory on his Raw debut.
We’ll “Walk With Elias” after the break. After two weeks of interruptions from The Undertaker and the “Doctor of Thuganomics” John Cena, we have to wonder who will interrupt him this evening?
Elias quickly baits the crowd and says this could the very last time we see him on Monday Night Raw, he is interrupted by a former world champion and one of the greatest high fliers in history, the legendary Rey Mysterio!
Mysterio quickly takes it to Elias and the former “Drifter” makes a hasty exit as Mysterio gets a massive reaction, but it’s short lived, he is interrupted by Lars Sullivan! Sullivan enters the ring and “The Freak” immediately finds himself in the midst of an assault from Mysterio.
“The Freak” is reeling as Mysterio counters, but it’s eventually too much as the Freak Accident meets its mark and Sullivan has another impressive showing here tonight. He ends things with a sitout powerbomb in the shades of Batista before taking his leave.
Bobby Roode and Chad Gable are in the ring after the break, ready for tag team action. They cut a brief heel promo after their attack on Ricochet and Black last week. They reference the changes tonight, and they state the one thing that won’t change is that when they’re on their game, they can defeat any team in the WWE.
Here comes the Usos! The former tag team champions are here to welcome Gable and Roode to the Uso penitentiary and they immediately get to it.
The Usos defeat Bobby Roode and Chad Gable via pin fall after a double splash on Gable.
The crowd was wildly behind Jimmy and Jey are they got rolling quick, fast and in a hurry. Jey Uso sends Gable to the outside and he prepares to take flight as the ankle is grabbed by Roode.
Roode fires off a clothesline and makes the tag as the heels keep the Usos grounded, albeit only for a short time. The hot tag is made and Jimmy goes wild, hitting a Samoan drop and he’s got the crowd in the palm of his hand.
Gable fights back with an armbar submission, and he and Roode are working well as a team, hitting the blockbuster off the shoulders. Gable gets a nearfall, but the Usos make a blind tag and superkicks are issued hot and fresh. They get Uso-crazy and a double splash ends Gable’s night after a three count.
Welcome to the Uso penitentiary!
We come back from a break with “A Moment Of Bliss”. According to Alexa, it’s the superstar shake-up edition and she says this may be her last night on Monday Night Raw. She welcomes Montreal’s own Sami Zayn, who is there to help her give the fans a proper goodbye.
The newly minted heel is out and I suppose this means Zayn is to be featured predominently on Raw, but nothing is set in stone until tomorrow’s show as it relates to debuting and returning talent. The crowd is going bonkers for Zayn, heel or not.
His music plays again and ge gets the sing along going once again, in full troll mode. It plays a third time and he slinks out of the chair to do his thing again. This is hilarious, like when Jericho returned and did this a few years back.
Zayn says it’s like shooting fish in a barrel and he hits them with the French before going into troll overdrive with an “Ole” chant. He references all the hot spots in the city before turning on the people. His native countrymen turn against him after he does the same and it’s brilliant. He calls tonight the low point of his week, being in this arena with this “Quebec” in the air.
He apolgizes to Bliss, saying he didn’t even want to be on her show and she says “how rude”. Zayn is then dressed down by Bliss of all people. Zayn cuts her off and says these are not his people. He doesn’t even live there anymore, he’s an Orlando guy! He says he’s leaving and they wave him off with a goodbye chant. He tells them he’ll see them in hell before a break.
Man, he is on another level since his return.
The Iiconics, the Women’s tag team champions, are in the ring, and they show a clip of Bayley trying to call Sasha Banks earlier today. Bayley says even if Banks isn’t there, she’ll find herself a partner. This will a non-title match and Bayley’s partner is Naomi! As expected, we’ll “feel the glow” tonight as Naomi joins her husband, Jimmy Uso on the red brand.
Naomi and Bayley defeat The Iiconics via pin fall in a non-title match after a split-legged moonsault from Naomi on Kay.
The veteran former champion joins Bayley as the action gets underway. Sasha Banks “future” is still up in the air. Corey Graves takes the opportunity to remark on the situation, saying she lost her ball and went away, a reference to when Steve Austin once left the fed.
Peyton Royce works over Naomi early in the match, but the turnaround is quite quick as Naomi takes charge of the action and bests Kay with the split-legged moonsault for a successful Raw debut.
We are in the top one percent as Ec3 heads to the ring, he stated earlier that he demanded competition. Does this mean he’s to stay on the red brand? We’re not sure, but he’ll compete after the break. Could this be a debuting Pete Dunne? We’ll find out shortly.
Before we get to Ec3’s opponent, the ominous Bray Wyatt puppet video is shown again. He’ll be returning soon, destination unknown.
Well, it’s not Pete Dunne, it’s Braun Strowman, and this could be his last night on Raw too potentially. Ec3 doesn’t seem to be very excited as he is mugged by Strowman.
Braun tosses him halfway across the ring, not once, but twice. He bulldozes Strowman with a clothesline and this is before the bell even rings. Ec3 tries to take his leave as Strowman throws Ec3 through the LED board. Strowman continues to ragdoll the former TNA champion and he ends the night for Ec3, chokeslamming him off the ramp and through the stage. The crowd reacts as Strowman’s music plays. A change of scenery will probably do the “Monster Among Men” well.
We go from the monster among men, to “The Man”, as Becky Two Belts heads to the ring to a massive reaction. Lynch and Ruby Riott are in singles action after the break.
We get a recap of who’s been called over to Raw thus far and it’s announced that Eric Young, of Sanity fame, will be breaking free of the under-utilized group and he’ll be joining the Raw roster. I hope the great veteran is more than a journeyman talent, but we’ll see.
The Riott Squad hit the ring and we’re ready for singles action with Ruby and Lynch.
Becky Lynch defeats Ruby Riott via submission with the Disarmher in a non-title match.
The reaction to Lynch competing in this match is massive and she and Riott put together a good in-ring presentation.
Riott hasn’t had many opportunities to shine in recent months is given a quality opponent in the Raw and Smackdown women’s champion. Riott dumps Lynch off the top rope, looking for the upset.
Riott hits a reverse senton bomb for a two count. Lynch is nearly able to get the Disarmer locked in, but Riott is saved by her teammates. Morgan and Logan are disposed of and the armbar is applied for the submission.
“The Man” dispatches the Riott Squad after an attempted assault and she stands tall with both belts held high.
Charly Caruso is backstage with all the heels in the main event, flanked by the “Hype Man” Lio Rush. She asks if they know who the partner is and McIntyre says he doesn’t give a damn who it is. He wants to get his hands on Roman Reigns.
Corbin says they are going to run Seth Rollins off of Raw. Rush stands with Lashley and asks who is even stupid enough to team with these fools later tonight.
Natalya heads to the ring where Lynch is still celebrating with the belts after a hard fought victory. We’ll find out what this is all about after the break.
Natalya gives Lynch credit for everything she’s accomplished, referencing her title wins and ‘Mania main event. Nattie says she’s here to look Lynch in the eyes and let her know that she’s the best. She states that she’s coming after the Raw women’s title and she should know that.
Lynch says she’s spent years in the trenches with overlooked and under-utilized women. She expected those Women to look her up and hunt her down. Lynch says that they’ve traveled the world together, and look at them now. The mutual respect-fest is interrupted by the “Sassy Southern Belle”, Lacey Evans.
Evans says the Raw title can’t be around a classless challenger like Natalya. Evans says she’s curried favor, she is officially on Monday Night Raw, and what she wants is the Raw Women’s title. Evans has the authority, per the McMahon’s, to challenge Natalya, with the winner being the number one contender to Lynch’s Raw title.
She tells Lynch to pay attention because this “lady” can teach “The Man” a thing or two.
Lacey Evans defeats Natalya via pin fall with a springboard moonsault.
The match gets underway and Evans hits hard and fast, but we head to a break after Natalya makes the comeback, dumping Evans to the outside on her Raw debut.
Natalya is working over Evans after the break before the ref pulls her away. Evans attacks and drops Nattie, booting her several time in the corner. A submission is applied as Nattie works to escape, looking for the comeback.
A rollup is thwarted by several stiff elbows and a rest hold is reapplied. Evans with knee strikes before Natalya fights back with a discus clothesline. She slaps on the Sharpshooter, but Evans is able to get to the ropes for the break. They teased the tapout for a second there, Evans to the outside as Nattie spears her into the barricade.
Evans is rolled back into the ring, but she turns and issues Nattie the Women’s right. Evans impresses the crowd by hitting a moonsault after kipping up to the top from the second rope. Ballgame. Heck of a debut.
Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns are approached by Charly Caruso about their third partner. Rollins is about to let the cat out of the bag, but the “Big Dog” says she’s got to wait just like everyone else. Rollins calls it the honeymoon phase. He’s got the Universal Title, his brother is back and healthy and life is good.
He says that it won’t be good for his opponents, and the way they shake-up is going, it could be one, or both, of their last nights. Drew McIntyre heads to the ring, and the main event will get almost half an hour. That’s certainly not a bad thing. McIntyre is joined by his heel partners for the six-man tag main event.
Reigns and Rollins make their entrances and we find out that their mystery partner is, and as expected, “The Face That Runs The Place”, AJ Styles is on Raw!
AJ Styles/Roman Reigns/Seth Rollins defeated Bobby Lashley/Drew McIntyre/Baron Corbin via pin fall after a Phenomenal Forearm from Styles on Lashley.
This was a heck of a main event. McIntyre really had a chance to shine, especially if he moves over to Smackdown tomorrow night. He hit a Claymore Kick on Styles and knocked down Reigns late in the match.
Corbin was caught with his ring run spot he does with a drive-by from Reigns. The crowd loved that, it was timed perfectly. Rollins hits a suicide dive and then Reigns hit a leaping superman punch that sent McIntyre over the barricade.
Rush held up Styles as he was looking to hit the finish and Lashley hit a powerslam before trying for a three count. A Blackout stomp, a spear and the Phenomenal Forearm ultimately ended the night for the “Almighty” one, as Styles got the three count and a victory on his return to Raw.
Overall, from start to finish, this was not only a great superstar shake-up, but a great show. Kudos to the writing team tonight. Everybody had fun and we saw some impressive debuts, including Lacey Evans, who really looked comfortable in the ring in her debut match on Raw as well.
