WWE: Monday Night RAW was LIVE from the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, SC on 5/29/17!
The Memorial Day show is underway and MizTV starts out the evening where The Miz, accompanied by the lovely Maryse, recaps last week’s events including Miz costing Dean Ambrose a match against the debuting Elias Samson. Miz recants the fact that if Ambrose is disqualified at Extreme Rules, he loses the IC Title. Sheamus and Cesaro are the guests on the show this evening and they heel it up as they talk about the Hardyz and their forthcoming title match at the PPV. A massive “delete” chant is resounding. They compare the Hardyz to a “new toy” and it’s a toy they’re gonna break at Extreme Rules. Dean Ambrose interrupts and has words with the Miz. He is ready to engage the Miz when he tells Ambrose there is only one of him and three of them. Cue the Hardyz who join the fray and help Ambrose in clearing the ring of the heels. The faces stand tall and get a sound reaction from the crowd as they head to the first commercial break.
The Hardy Boyz and Dean Ambrose defeated Shecesaro and The Miz via pinfall after a Swanton Bomb on The Miz. This was a match that really set the stage for the PPV. I thought this worked well, not just because all of the participants involved were up to the task of entertaining fans, but because they were able to interlock several stories at once, keeping fresh eyes on integral feuds. The Hardyz and Shecesaro certainly did business and Miz and Ambrose had their interactions as well. The end came when the faces took control and Miz found himself in a bad way. The Hardyz hit their signature maneuvers and then put away the challenger for the IC Title with a Swanton Bomb. The faces look strong as we head into Sunday’s Extreme Rules. We’ll see how it turns out.
Alexa Bliss, The WWE Women’s Champion, presents “Bayley, This Is Your Life” later tonight. This might be something reminiscent of the Rock/Mankind segment from several years back. Before this was announced, Corey Graves left the announcer’s booth. I found that strange unless it’s for an angle or an interview.
Corey Graves shows up backstage where the Raw GM, Kurt Angle, is reading a text about something ominous. He asks Graves where he got the information and Corey said he has his sources. Kurt said if it gets out, it can ruin him. That’s all I have on this developing story, so we’ll see where this heads. Interesting to say the least. Elias Samson is playing his acoustic guitar in the ring. The crowd gives him some reaction as he is set to compete against Zack Evans, some preliminary talent.
Elias Samson defeats Zack Evans via pinfall with a swinging neckbreaker. Michael Cole said it very plainly, this was a clinic. This was used as a springboard for Samson to get fan support behind him on Raw. His offense is quite basic, but if they develop the character, who knows? Perhaps they’ll build him slowly like they did with Strowman, but this was what it was, as Samson bested the enhancement talent tonight on Raw.
Corey Graves is questioned by his peers about the interaction with Angle and he doesn’t reveal any details. Up next, the commentary team tells us that we’ll have the first of two main events that was promoted last week as Finn Balor takes on Bray Wyatt and Samoa Joe. This should be good!
Samoa Joe defeats Finn Balor and Bray Wyatt via pinfall after Balor hit the Coup De Grace on Bray and Joe took advantage of it. I’m The Devil That You Don’t Know, Joe. The pre-match promos really set the stage for this one. I believe there is big money to be made in a Bray Wyatt/Samoa Joe clash once Extreme Rules is done. This would be a great heel vs. heel feud and one that fans will really get behind and can lead to some terrific interactions between parties involved. All three men played to their strengths and minimized their weaknesses if I might paraphrase Paul Heyman. The interactions between Balor and Wyatt were very unique and this match had a big money feel for something given away for free. I know we have all been critical of Raw and deservedly so in recent months, but in-ring action has really picked up since the brand split. It’s matches like these that put butts in seats and have the common fan paying top dollar to enjoy their favorites superstars live or via cable subscriptions and the USA network. We had a great tower of doom spot that Bray Wyatt took advantage of as well as Joe slapping the Coquina Clutch on Wyatt as the “Eater Of Worlds” looked to fight back. Balor breaks it up and clears the ring before hitting a somersault plancha over the top before a commercial break. The action continues and for a good piece of time and it ends with Balor taking charge, disposing of Joe and heading up top to deliver the Coup De Grace to Bray. He covered and Joe got back in the ring, posting Balor and covering Wyatt for the three count. Tough to protect all the investments in this one so it didn’t matter who ate the pinfall here. This was a terrific match and kudos to the Raw folks for giving it to us tonight. Joe looks phenomenal heading into the PPV Sunday.
Seth Rollins conducts a backstage interview about his complicated history with his opponent tonight, “The Big Dog” Roman Reigns. He talks about their forthcoming collision tonight and how it’s their goal to be the best in the business. He does say that Seth Freakin’ Rollins owns Roman Reigns and tonight will be no different as he sends him a message with his knee.
“The Outlandish” Rich Swann is having a chat with Sasha Banks backstage, as the two will team up for a mixed tag match against Noam Dar and Alicia Fox this Sunday in Swann’s hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. Swann and Dar will compete in singles action next.
Rich Swann defeats Noam Dar via pinfall with a Phoenix Splash. Raw is batting 1000 tonight. It’s not an especially over the top show, but they are progressing stories well heading into Sunday’s big event. Sasha Banks neutralized an overly boisterous Alicia Fox towards the end of the match, pulling her off the apron and forcing Alicia to land the hard way. The distraction was enough to allow Swann ample time to hit a beautiful Phoenix Splash to put away his opponent and gain some momentum heading into Extreme Rules. This is a good way to feature more talent from 205 Live, and especially good for the former champ as Swann teams up with “The Boss”.
“Top Guys” are back! Well, at least they are for a quick interview about the attack on Enzo Amore that took place last week. Dash is shown with his jaw wired shut, but he’s healing fast and will be back in action soon. They recap the attack from last week and they actually show a cip of Dash and Dawson in the background, walking down a hallway just a short distance from the attack. They call Enzo the “tilapia” of Raw and a “bottom feeder” before heading out, leaving the question looming as to who attacked Enzo.
Corey Graves brings up the question about Big Cass himself attacking Enzo. Booker T. asks him what he means and they leave it at that. A clip of THE Brian Kendrick eating one of the most brilliant sentons in history is shown from last week’s match where Akira Tozawa picked up a huge win. After the clip, Big Cass is confronting Graves about what he meant by his comment and he almost teases an attack on the talented Raw broadcaster, but he says he is conducting his own investigation and he shakes hands with Corey and walks off. Interesting, it probably will be Cass as many of us thought.
Titus O’Neil defeats Kalisto via pinfall with a handful of tights. Wow, The Titus brand gets a win as he states earlier via a pre-taped segment that Apollo Crews should watch and learn. Crews is all smiles as Titus cheats and beats the rising talent in Kalisto. This was a very quick match, but it’s nice to see the angle getting legs as both Titus and Apollo have a great chance to get over if this is done right as I said last week. They take a selfie after the match and we found out that the Alexa Bliss segment about Bayley’s life will take place after the break.
“This Is Your Life Bayley” wasn’t good. Bless Alexa’s heart, she tried, but this was cringe-worthy. I kept waiting for Shia Lebeauf to setup an art installation in the middle of this. The thing that worked so well for the Rock and Mick Foley’s segment was their incredible chemistry and their comedic timing. That segment is still one of the greatest in the history of Raw. Alexa introduced people from Bayley’s past and these jabronies phoned it in with poor acting and lousy comedic attempts. Bayley eventually made her way out and they furthered their program as they head into their rematch this coming Sunday with the “Kendo Stick On A Pole” match, but I’ll be frank, after a fine Raw with top notch action, this has KILLED this show if I ranked it on a grading scale. The crowd turned on this quicker then a failed face turn. The ex-boyfriend was so bad, I kept waiting, or rather hoping, that Braun Strowman would come out and end this nonsense. The ex-boyfriend ended up with Bayley’s good friend and even Booker T. said “this is hard to watch” and I almost spit out good coffee because he was telling it like it was. Whoever wrote this segment needs to be fired, I legitimately mean it. If this is what you get paid a fine salary to come up with, then you haven’t any business in sports entertainment, because there was NOTHING redeemable about this segment outside of a soundly timed commercial break. “Delete” and “This Is Boring” chants were generous at best.
Enzo Amore is down and out once again. Big Cass comes over to check on his partner again. Kurt Angle shows up and Cass says that it’s “The Revival”. Kurt says he saw them leaving the building before the attack and Cass takes issue with that. Enzo is loopy and we continue the mystery. As Austin Aries heads to the ring for tag team action, has anyone considered the thought that Enzo ran himself into the steel beams himself after watching “This Is Your Life, Bayley”? Yup, I’ll be on that one for a minute.
Austin Aries and Jack Gallagher defeat Neville and TJP via submission after a Last Chancery by Aries on Neville. We get back to basics with this ring and a tremendous in-ring confrontation with four men very familiar with each other. Gallagher and TJP looked very good as they teamed with the two men who will be competing in a submission match for the Cruiserweight championship this Sunday. Neville and Aries continue to do great work against one another while in the ring and I look forward to their battle on Sunday. They gave this plenty of time and I’m thankful for that. It’s a refreshing change to not see premiere athletes hampered by a four minute time limit and when given time to shine, they deliver, and entertain fans with the spotlight focused on them. The end came when Neville and TJP ate a suicide dive from Aries on the outside and A-Double capitalized on it, getting the champ to submit to his patented hold. This was a great way to escalate interest in their title match Sunday as we now know that Aries has made Neville tap out, but can he do it again this weekend?
We hear from Roman Reigns as he prepares for his main event match against “The Architect” Seth Rollins later tonight. Roman goes full Undertaker and keeps it short and sweet. He says that nobody owns him and he’ll show Rollins why this is his yard later tonight. That’s a smart way to get his to talk. Roman, sounding like that, shows that he legitimately doesn’t care what stands in his way as he looks to get back into the title picture and he’ll go through whomever he needs to so that he sees that to fruition.
Neville is visibly frustrated as they attempt to interview him after he suffered his first submission loss since joining the Cruiserweight division and he’s asked about it. He yells and leaves without saying a word.
They recap the Goldust and R-Truth feud that has quickly escalated since Goldust turned on his former partner and he gives us another classic Goldust vignette. These are so amazing to watch as they were absolutely fantastic when he debuted back in 1995. Keep this going and we could see the veteran hand as a major player once again if they showcase this with modern fans. Oh my goodness, they kill it with comedy and I mean that so postively. We get a follow-up video from R-Truth where he channels some of the greats like Rudy Ray Moore from “Dolemite” and Samuel L. Jackson from “Pulp Fiction”. He tells “Goldie” that he’s gonna get got. This has legs and it’s getting good. I’m excited for both veterans to develop this. Seth Rollins heads to the ring for the main event.
Roman Reigns defeats Seth Rollins via pinfall with the spear. If it wasn’t for the horrible segment surrounding the women’s title match, I would give this Raw the highest marks as this main event was tremendous as was the Joe/Balor/Wyatt match earlier. These two gentlemen fought like it mattered and it did for the paying fan tonight! This was a pay per view quality match for two men very familiar with one another, reigniting an old rivalry and sabotaging a storied friendship. These two men are going to be vying for a chance at “The Beast” with the fatal five way Sunday and they threw everything into the blender tonight, looking to concoct the ultimate recipe for success, capitalizing on momentum from a crucial win tonight as they head into that affair this weekend. Signature spots were hit and finishes were teased as Reigns almost put away Rollins after countering a top rope attempt with a massive Superman punch. He then brought the crowd to their feet after countering a buckle bomb into a Superman punch as well. That was impressive, very impressive. That seemed instinctual and this controversial superstar is really starting to put the pieces together for big money matches. Rollins went up top and missed a Phoenix Splash, but he counters a charging Roman into an attempt at his new finish, counter, spear from Reigns, ballgame. That was exceptional. A great way to end Raw tonight.
