WWE Monday Night RAW Recap & Review – May 21st, 2018
Raw Review by Matt Degnan from WWE Talking Points and BodySlam.net:
(Segment 1) Kurt Angle Kicks Off Raw: Kurt Angle promised a huge announcement before Raw. Angle gets a huge pop from a fired up crowd in Albany, NY. Announces Raw Women’s Championship Contract Signing for tonight. Announces Fatal Four Way Qualifying Match for the Women’s MITB Ladder Match for tonight. Stephanie comes out and interrupts him. Steph announces she will look over the contract signing instead of Kurt. Roman Reigns comes out to interrupt Steph and Kurt. Crowd doesn’t seem to like Roman too much. Attitude from Reigns and says he’ll run all over the locker room. Kevin Owens now comes out to join the party. This opening segment has been long and loaded with talking, not many huge announcements. Looks like Roman will be turning fully heel now after this segment. Steph announces Owens vs Reigns for RIGHT NOW!
(Segment 2) Kevin Owens vs Roman Reigns: This match will be very hard hitting and not too fast paced. My guess is Jinder causes Reigns another match. Jinder does in fact mess up the match for Reigns and Roman wins by DQ. Rollins comes out and helps the attack on Reigns, this will probably turn into a tag team match (Reigns and Rollins vs Jinder and Owens).
(Segment 3) Owens and Jinder vs Roman and Rollins: Everyone called this one, same old WWE. This match will be faster with Rollins in there. This match isn’t that fast paced with Jinder in there, he still isn’t that very good. All of these commercial breaks are killing the pace of the match. This match isn’t that great and doesn’t build this Raw at all. Rollins gets the hot tag and this match has life again. Rollins pins Owens after the curbstomp. I don’t get why they didn’t have Reigns just pin Owens in the first match but ok. Mahal grabs a chair and takes out Reigns and Rollins on the stage. Roman vs Mahal at MITB is announced.
(Segment 4) Sami Zayn/Bobby Lashley Segment: I don’t expect much from this segment, it will be like the Bayley and Alexa segment from last year. This segment is a train wreck and very cheesy. There is not much to write about this segment, it is terrible. This Raw so far hasn’t been good at all tonight. Bobby comes out and takes everyone out, not too much going on in this segment. Ends with Lashley taking everyone out.
(Segment 5) Ember Moon vs Alexa Bliss: This match is going to be pretty good in my opinion, somewhat fast paced. Moon has had a strong performance so far and keeps the tempo high. Moon is going to be a huge star in this company and is going to continue to grow. Ref throws Mickie out. Moon hits the eclipse and pins Bliss, pretty good match.
(Segment 6) No Way Jose vs Baron Corbin: This is another feud that has been drawn out and is all over the place, I don’t get where they’re going with this feud. I thought this feud was going to be good but it has just been confusing so far. I am very high on No Way Jose and think he will be a star after a few months. Very hard hitting match by 2 big guys who both need a win. Corbin pins Jose after the End of Days. Short match that was solid.
(Segment 7) B-Team vs Breezango: This match should be pretty good, two good tag teams. These are 2 good gimmick teams who can put on decent matches with good comedy to back it up. Axel pins Fandango for the win, the B-Team is 2-0. Quick match, wasn’t that great.
(Segment 8) Raw Women’s Championship Contract Signing: Usually contract signings don’t go good, we’ll see what happens. Steph stirring the pot between the two and this rivalry has gotten heated after tonight. That must’ve been the first ever contract signing that didn’t end up in chaos. Overall very good promo between the 3 of them and added layers to the match, helped build the match very well.
(Segment 9) Dolph Ziggler vs Chad Gable: Both superstars didn’t even get an entrance, shows how much they care. Should be a good match between two technical wrestlers who are very good in the ring. Ziggler pins Gable after the headbutt. Pretty good match that was a little short, would’ve been better with more time.
(Segment 10) Dana Brooke vs Liv Morgan vs Sarah Logan vs Natalya: The winner of this match will get a spot in the Women’s MITB Ladder Match, my pick is Natalya. I don’t expect too much from this match, no one in it is very good. Natalya makes Sarah Logan tap out, she’s going to MITB to compete in the ladder match.
(Segment 11) Elias vs Bobby Roode: This is yet another feud that has dragged on and needs to end. They’ve been doing this for almost every Raw and it’s getting annoying very quickly. The matches are decent, but they both need to move on. I don’t expect much from this next match because we’ve already seen it many times. Elias cuts a promo as usual, then Roode interrupts him. Roode gets attacked by Elias before the match. Very slow paced match that doesn’t have a lot to it. Elias pins Roode after the Driftaway, boring match. Braun comes out and barrels over Elias who was heading backstage.
(Segment 12) Finn Balor vs Braun Strowman: This match should be different and cool, can’t wait to see it. I really like this match up. This match so far has been pretty good and entertaining. I would like to see more from these two in the future, could have a good feud here. Strowman beats Balor after the Running Powerslam twice. This match was a good way to end Raw.
My overall grade of Raw: C
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