An appearance from the Undertaker, a rumored cash-in from Brock Lesnar, and plenty more action is presented on the go-home edition before Super Showdown.
Tonight’s broadcast comes to you live from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, TX on 6/3/2019.
We are mere days away from a PPV in Jeddah and two days after a brilliant NXT Takeover, can this week’s Raw right the ship or we will see more of the same run of the mill production and booking that we’ve seen over the past few months?
More of the same to start the show as Roman Reigns uses the “wildcard rule” to head to the ring, but he’s quickly interrupted by the “Best In The World” Shane McMahon, who, after being properly introduced, runs down their match this Friday in Jeddah.
Reigns eventually shuts him up after Shane says he’s gonna tap Roman out, and Reigns says he’s getting planted through the ring instead and then it’s on to “Stomping Grounds” against Drew McIntyre.
McIntyre heads out and runs down ATX and then Reigns is attacked from behind by The Revival. The Usos hit the ring to even the odds and we’ve got our six man tag. That’s a big plus, we don’t have to wait an hour and change to see in-ring action this evening.
Drew McIntyre/The Revival defeat Roman Reigns/The Usos via pin fall after a Claymore Kick from McIntyre on Jimmy Uso.
Well, we’ve got action early on in the show, so it’s a plus, and they booked both Drew and The Revival to look quite strong in this outing.
Shane O’Mac was a foil on the outside, but Drew was booked to look like a million bucks here. Reigns and The Usos fought valiantly, but in the end, The Revival removed Jey Uso from the equation with a Shatter Machine on the outside while the numbers game handled Reigns.
Jimmy Uso was prone in the ring for a Claymore and that was it.
After the match, the heels continued the beat down as Shane McMahon was so bold as to hit a spear, and one that looked pretty good, on Reigns. Is there interested in their bout at Super Showdown? Maybe. This set the story up for sure.
Mysterio will relinquish the US Title, The Undertaker is here, Triple H and Randy Orton will have a confrontation, a new Firefly Fun House and Lesnar cashes in, that is all still to come.
Lance Armstrong and the great Matthew McConaughey are shown sitting in the front row. What a treasured actor, he was terrific in, well everything he’s done to be quite honest.
Nikki Cross is backstage and she is approached and insulted by the Women’s tag team champions, The Iiconics, and Peyton Royce will compete against Nikki Cross in singles action. They mock her not having friends, which leads to Alexa Bliss entering the scene and defending her.
Bliss even offers to get Cross a coffee! Bliss will be in her corner for the match later this evening.
The Universal Champion, Seth Rollins, is a guest on MizTV and he says that he won’t live in fear that Brock Lesnar will cash in tonight. He has to focus on a man that nobody likes in Baron Corbin this Friday at Jeddah and that is where his head is at.
Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman arrive, but they don’t cash in as Rollins stands at the ready. This will go down later tonight, probably during the third hour.
Lucha House Party and Lars Sullivan have another confrontation as he enters the scene as Kalisto and Lince Dorado were apparently scheduled for tag team action. They have a 3 on 1 handicap match this Friday, but this segment ends with them driving Sullivan through the ropes and into retreat mode, he isn’t pleased.
“The Man” Becky Lynch is out and she cuts a promo about Lacey Evans and Charlotte Flair. Lynch says she got complacent by being “Becky Two Belts”, but she’s fully focused. This leads to Evans and Flair coming out and having words themselves. Evans was solid in her promo here and she ends the talking by nailing Flair with a Woman’s right. We’ve got a singles match scheduled for after the break.
Lacey Evans defeats Charlotte via DQ after interference from Becky Lynch.
This was bowling shoe ugly. Quite surprising, as Evans is moving in the right direction and Flair is a solid hand. Their timing was off and it didn’t “click” this evening. Thankfully, and more so mercifully, Lynch entered the ring after causing the DQ and she tore through Evans, ultimately leaving with her head held high as she hit the Manhandle Slam.
We find out later tonight, the Undertaker will make an appearance to hype his match with Goldberg and Brock Lesnar still looks to cash in.
Rey Mysterio is out to relinquish the United States Title. They showed the quick finish that got him the belt, but a shoulder injury brings him out to relinquish the strap.
He references Eddie Guerrero and his son Dominic training to follow in his great footsteps. He wants to set the right example tonight, as a man and as a champion. Due to the injury, and before he can finish, here comes the Destroyer.
Samoa Joe is out, all business, but smiling as he heads to the ring to reclaim what’s his. Joe asks if he came out to the ring too early, did he ruin the moment? He was in the back, heard the word champion, and he thought it was Que.
Joe says they shouldn’t ruin the moment by telling the fans a lie. His shoulders never touched the mat. Mysterio continues his earlier speech, saying that he’s leaving the US Title with Samoa Joe.
Before Mysterio can make his exit, Joe chokes him out with the Coquina Clutch before seizing the title. The Destroyer leaves with what’s his and he leaves an opening to tell future stories with the future hall of famer.
Lesnar is putting the gloves on backstage, his “Advocate” Paul Heyman at his side.
Braun Strowman is out next and we get the “pleasure” of traveling back in time to watch he and Bobby Lashley in an arm wrestling contest. Oh boy.
Cesaro does a promo backstage and he talks about Ricochet being a great talent. Ricochet responds and talks about Cesaro being a great talent as well. These two premiere athletes will have their rubber match this evening. That will be a sensational piece of business.
Lashley is out and we set up an arm wrestling match. I don’t even know how to really describe this debacle. Where is the late Hercules Hernandez? Where’s Vinnie Mac, or Zach Gowan? They do a bunch of posturing before using powder to keep themselves ready. It’s a back and forth battle, but Strowman eventually gets him and Lashley walks away frustrated.
“The Almighty” then throws the chalk in Strowman’s eyes and he attacks Strowman viciously before scooping him up and driving him down with a powerslam. Lashley loses the battle, but wins the war as they look to Friday’s confrontation. Thankfully, this ended quickly.
They replay a segment from this weekend where Jinder Mahal won the 24/7 title on a golf course before R-Truth rolled him up to win the title back.
Carmella is walking around backstage looking for Truth as both Ec3 and Drake Maverick approach from a distance.
Alexa Bliss heads out to the ring and she’ll be in the corner of Nikki Cross, who is competing against Peyton Royce in singles action as was referenced earlier.
Nikki Cross defeats Peyton Royce via pin fall after a Delayed Suplex/Neckbreaker.
Cross plays the face in peril and they actually give Royce some sage offense. She uses the ropes to her advantage to keep Cross grounded before she ultimately mounts the comeback, showing her tenacious side.
Kay roots Royce on and Bliss does the same for Cross.
Cross hits a bulldog for a two count, but she crashes and burns after a cross body block attempt. Bliss is brought a coffee by a ring attendant and Kay spills her coffee and pushes her down, staining her white jeans with the coffee.
During the distraction, Cross hits a beautiful delayed suplex into a twisting neckbreaker for the victory. An embarrassed Bliss sits at ringside as Cross celebrates and after Nikki helps her up, a fuming Bliss enters the ring and dropkicks Kay before hitting a DDT. Bliss celebrates with Cross and we have a potential tag team forming?
Lesnar is still warming up in the back and Seth Rollins is backstage and he’s walking towards the ring.
We see a clip for a Ronda Rousey special airing on the WWE Network via the 24 specials they’ve been airing. That’ll be cool. It’ll be on after Raw and hopefully she and her husband are making the best of their attempts to start a family. She was entertaining as heck while she was in the fed.
Rollins is in the ring and he’s tired of waiting. Lesnar’s music hits and further mind games ensue. Rollins says as much and he says he and everyone in attendance is sick of it. He speaks directly to Lesnar. He says he used to be one of the most feared men on planet earth, now he’s just a shell of that.
If there’s even a shred of the Beast left, he dares him to cash in the contract right here and right now. Here comes Baron Corbin. The crowd goes mild.
Corbin says he’s all fired up and it’s for the wrong person. He needs to forget about Lesnar and worry about him. He’s the dream crusher and he’s taking his Universal title.
Rollins says he’s got to beat him and he’s got no chance unless he prys it from his cold, dead hands. Corbin is okay with that. Corbin reiterates that he retired Kurt Angle and he’s retire Rollins too. They come to blows and Corbin drops Rollins with a right hand. Rollins fights back and an inzaguri sends Corbin out of the ring. He drives him into the barricade.
Lesnar’s music hits again, but Corbin takes the opportunity to hit the End Of Days. Rollins is laying and he’s made to look paranoid. The music hits again and “The Beast” finally makes his way out. He’s got a steel chair in hand. He drops the chair, lowblows Rollins and then slams the chair down across the back.
The steel chair assault continues, mangling the steel on the back. He nails a german suplex and continues the assault with the chair. Lesnar tosses Rollins out of the ring and he nails an F-5 on the floor outside the ring. Heyman is waiting for the cash in as Lesnar continues the all-out assault. The chair crashes down again, and then again.
Heyman literally curses at Lesnar to cash in, but Lesnar instead smiles and nails another german suplex. Lesnar yells out “Friday” and then again. Awesome, so a prime opportunity to cash in, and they tease a cash-in at a show airing when most people are going to be at work.
Lesnar slams the MITB case down across the back of Rollins and we’re left with another bait and switch. Rollins is in a heap and medical personnel are out and Rollins is stretchered out of Austin. Take him to HopDoddy’s for a burger and some Parmesan fries, that’ll get him back up to speed.
We see Rollins being loaded in the strategically placed ambulance that we saw earlier and both Jamie Noble and Seth’s real life girlfriend, “The Man” Becky Lynch are at his side. Let’s not forget, he’s on his way to a “local medical facility”, not a “hospital”, but a LMF. We get sad voiced announcers and hopefully, we’ll get back to singles action or a tag team affair.
Well, thank goodness, it’s time for Firefly Fun House.
Bray Wyatt has something super serious to talk to us about, exercise! When it comes to mind, body and spirit, you gotta look good and feel good.
He introduces us to Huskus the pig boy, a throwback to Husky Harris. His lips are covered in chocolate. All the gluttony will come back to bite him in the tail. One day, they’ll tell him he’s a genius and he’s got the whole world in his hands.
Whoa. We get a devil horned Vince McMahon! He tells Huskus to get his act together and then we literally get a trippy “muscle man dance” with Wyatt, Huskus and Vin-man.
The Fiend tells us to erase our mind and we get a head shaking Abby The Witch. Bray is ready for a night out on the town! The fireflies will always light the way, and all we have to do is let him in.
How do we get something so provocative and so brilliant after they’ve phoned it in for ninety percent of the night? It’s frustrating. We do see the potential saving grace, Triple H, on his way to the ring for a face to face with “The Viper” Randy Orton.
Triple H is a master. Randy Orton comes out immediately and doesn’t say anything. Hunter says he’s not gonna waste our time or their own. Don’t let the suit fool you, he’s coming to Jeddah to kick his tail. They won’t say anything that hasn’t already been said.
Orton says, he isn’t Batista. He is the legend killer and would gladly put another notch on his belt.
Hunter says fair enough and he’s been watching the recap of things they’ve done to each other, unspeakable things. He put the pressure on Orton and he’d become a diamond in this business. He’s not here to blow smoke, Orton is one of the best to ever step foot in the ring.
A lot of people have tried to put him down, but he’s still here. Trust him Orton, he isn’t the one. Hunter is set to take his leave. Orton asks Hunter to promise him something, before he shows up Friday, can he retrieve his balls from Steph’s purse?
Helmsley steps back into the ring and says that’s a hell of an idea. They’re just so big, and it’s a burden, he’ll see if he can fit them in a carry on bag. He wouldn’t know about that because he’s never had any. He’ll see him in Jeddah and he tosses the mic at Orton. Orton grins and hopefully we’ll get some semblance of the gems these two gave us in the past.
Baron Corbin is backstage and his reaction to the attack on Rollins has him pretty “shaken up”. He needs to get out of the arena so he can celebrate! He doesn’t stand a chance at Super Showdown. Apparently he’s our next Universal Champion. Sure thing kid, keep that head up.
One and Only! Like Booker T. and a name that we can’t mention anymore, we are getting another in this recent series between two ring generals. Cesaro and Ricochet do business next.
Ricochet defeats Cesaro via pin fall with a three quarters roll.
You want the secret to a successful Raw each week? Watch this match.
These two, for the third week in a row, tear the roof off the joint. The chemistry and the fluidity shared here is why people are tuning in to watch other programs such as New Japan and AEW.
Ricochet and Cesaro had a solid ten minute outing and even though it was interrupted by a commercial break, it didn’t hurt the flow.
We saw counters a plenty, a big swing, dazzling acrobatics from Ricochet and multiple near falls. In the end, Ricochet came away with the rubber match as he countered a pin fall attempt from Cesaro into a beautiful bridging three quarter roll and that was enough to score the pin fall.
Oh my goodness. Cesaro attacks Ricochet after the match and he goes under the ring for a table and who should be laying on the table? It’s R-Truth. That’s the stuff that dreams are made of. That was absolute magic.
The preliminary talent comes out of the woodwork and is eventually laid out by a dazzling senton splash from Cedric Alexander. Carmella superkicks Drake Maverick and R-Truth heads for sixth streak.
The Deadman is out to close the show and after a lengthy entrance, he sends the fans home happy as he hypes his PPV match with Goldberg coming up this Friday. Goldberg will appear on Smackdown tomorrow night to do the same. It’s always great to see the Undertaker and it was certainly a good way to close the show which had its ups and many downs this evening.
