WWE Raw – June 17th 2019: Results & Review

Welcome to this week’s Monday Night Raw, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have the calm before the storm known as Stomping Ground. Let’s see if Vince understands that the Fire Fly Funhouse is just designed to make fun of him. I can’t believe it took Lance Storm to get it through to me that Bray Wyatt has been lampooning the old bastard for over a month. The rabbit was Jon Moxley…the smashed rabbit. Hey, there might be some wrestling here.

Match #1: Ricochet def. The Miz, Braun Strowman, Cesaro and Bobby Lashley to earn the right to challenge U.S. Champion Samoa Joe at WWE Stomping Grounds (Fatal 5-Way Elimination Match)

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

And just like that, Ricochet is headed to WWE Stomping Grounds, where a United States Championship opportunity against Samoa Joe awaits. To get there, the former NXT North American Champion had to win a Fatal 5-Way Elimination Match, though all semblance of order quickly broke down when the ousted Cesaro and Bobby Lashley — both eliminated by The Monster Among Men’s Running Powerslam — lingered past their elimination to assault Braun Strowman and help Ricochet pin the behemoth with the 630 Splash. With the three heavy-hitters dispatched, the match came down to Ricochet and The Miz, and while the former was smarting after Strowman hurled him over the top rope onto Lashley, a two-minute break in the action helped even things out a bit. Even with that breather, however, Miz was the fresher man and the smarter one, too. The Awesome One mangled Ricochet in the Figure-Four Leglock to clip his wings, but Ricochet amazingly still had some fight in him, and he reached the ropes to break the hold before battling his way to a match-ending 630. Looking to get in some early work, Joe — who had been scouting from ringside — ambushed Ricochet from behind after the bell, only to find that he, too, had underestimated his new challenger. Ricochet retaliated by forcing Joe out of the ring and swooping down on him from over the ropes. The win seemed to energize Ricochet, who climbed a mountain to earn a title opportunity, but his excitement would best be tempered: With Joe on the horizon, now the hard part begins.

My Opinion: 3 out of 5 – This was some fine stuff from an eclectic group that worked hard to impress like it was their first time out in the ring. I’m glad Ricochet won here, as it was the best move for balance and opportunity. I’m trying to sound serious. Yeah, I’m failing miserably.

Match #2: The Viking Raiders def. Russ & Randy Taylor

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

The Viking Raiders are back, and judging by the state of the locals they annihilated in the ring, it’s like they never left. Chaos might be following in their wake, too; Erik & Ivar had no sooner steamrolled L.A. brothers Russ and Randy Taylor than the ringside cameraman somehow caught 24/7 Champion R-Truth and Carmella disguised among the crowd. That errant shot brought out the usual mob of aspiring 24/7 Champions, who narrowly cornered Truth before he made yet another great escape (Titus O’Neil nearly pinned him under the ring) into the bowels of the arena. Luckily for them, Erik & Ivar decided they wanted no part of the 24/7 scrum … though given that the Raiders shared a pointed faceoff with SmackDown Tag Team Champions Daniel Bryan & Rowan atop the ramp, that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have their eyes set on a bigger fish.

My Opinion: 1.5 out of 5 – This was…War Machine should leave the WWE as soon as possible.

Match #3: The New Day def. Baron Corbin, Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn (2-out-of-3 Falls Match)

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

As you saw on SmackDown LIVE last week, The New Day are back to full strength, and they’re showing no signs of stopping. Using his status as WWE Champion to flout the Wild Card Rule, Kofi Kingston teamed with Big E & Xavier Woods in their Team Red return, a 2-out-of-3 Falls victory over Baron Corbin, Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn. The match itself stemmed from a “Sami and Kevin Show” that took a turn for the bizarre when Corbin’s pick for Special Guest Referee this Sunday — EC3 — was clobbered into unconsciousness by a chair-swinging Seth Rollins and “Weekend at Bernies”-ed by New Day into sanctioning a Six-Man Tag Team Match. A presumably more conscious WWE official added the 2-out-of-3 Falls stipulation, but the semantics of how the match got made soon went out the window when New Day swept their opponents with two straight falls. Woods scored the first pin by rolling up Zayn, and the WWE Champion sealed the deal after Corbin seemingly mistakenly clotheslined Zayn down the stretch, leading to a retaliatory superkick from KO and a walkout by Owens & Zayn. Kofi took advantage with a Trouble in Paradise to hand ya boys the victory, though unfinished business lingers: Corbin needs his guest ref, and Big E & Woods will battle Owens & Zayn at Stomping Grounds this Sunday.

My Opinion: 3.5 out of 5 – This was an excellent match that felt a bit more like a lucha libre fight, which is pretty cool. The action was quick yet detailed, but never too far ahead of itself to make any sense. Wait, that doesn’t make any sense. Screw it. The MTV Movie Awards are on! Anyway, this was a fine match that deserved even more time to rock…rock of ages!

Match #4: The Usos def. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

There’s more to being a good brother than makin’ towns and makin’ towns alone, and a doctor-cosplaying Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson got a shove back toward a competitive edge from the still-healing AJ Styles, who attempted to rouse his buddies with a pep talk from the trainer’s room. Unfortunately, Gallows & Anderson couldn’t quite get all their momentum back in one night, and The Usos left Raw with a statement victory over the former Raw Tag Team Champions. That’s a doubly stinging defeat for Gallows & Anderson, who made their WWE debuts by bushwhacking The Usos in L.A. three years ago and seemed to be cruising to a victory this time thanks to an ironman effort from Karl Anderson. Alas, they got a little ahead of themselves, and Gallows found himself downed by a series of superkicks from the twins en route to a Jimmy Uso pinfall. The result led to as much frustration from Styles backstage as it did for his buddies in the ring, but the good news for The Good Brothers is that this doesn’t have to be the last word: As the old saying goes, a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single stepski.

My Opinion: 2 out of 5 – This was a waste of two great teams. They got less than three minutes to do anything. Maybe Vince had a stroke while booking this match and was unable to give these guys the rest of their time to wrestle? Is OJ Simpson booking this show?

Match #5: WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions The IIconics def. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

Luck smiles once again on The IIconics, who remain WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions thanks to an assist from an unexpected source. With the tandem of Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross surging toward victory in a rare title defense for the Australians, SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley inadvertently swung the result when she went face-to-face with Little Miss Bliss at ringside. She also, crucially, stopped Bliss from breaking up a roll-up by The IIconics, leading to Cross eating the pinfall and the champs retaining. Given that Alexa had planted a germ in Nikki’s brain that Bayley somehow had it in for The Twisted Sister, The Huggable One’s involvement was enough to push Cross to a potentially fateful decision after the bout: She’ll be in Alexa’s corner this Sunday at Stomping Grounds.

My Opinion: 2 out of 5 – Nikki did well here. Why couldn’t the rest of the match do as well as she did?

Match #6: (Main Event) Universal Champion Seth Rollins def. SmackDown Tag Team Champion Daniel Bryan

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

“Unstoppable” is a word that gets thrown around a lot, but it’s certainly looking apt for Seth Rollins, who pummeled all of Baron Corbin’s prospective guest referees with a chair — condolences to Elias, EC3 and Eric Young, and good on Paul Heyman for wisely begging off pre-emptively — and rode the same intensity to his first one-on-one victory over Daniel Bryan before retribution came calling. Before his night’s ill-fated end, however, Rollins technically won the match twice: Rowan almost immediately administered an Iron Claw to The Beastslayer on the apron, handing Bryan (who was Wild Carded over from SmackDown LIVE specifically for this match) a disqualification loss he was more than happy to accept in the name of a statement beating of Rollins after the bout. Unfortunately for Bryan, a cavalcade of Superstars hit the scene, leading to an all-out brawl and a restart of the match with no one allowed at ringside.

It didn’t seem, for a while, like Bryan needed have bothered with the shenanigans in the first place. Even with Rollins back in the fight, The Beard held firm, locking his foe in two torturous LeBell Locks — one with an added, bow-and-arrow style tweak to it — and blocking a Frog Splash with his knees. The Universal Champion answered with a quick-strike enzuigiri and Stomp for the win, but his celebration was short-lived when Corbin came calling with a chair of his own. Looking to remind Rollins of who, exactly, he should be worried about this Sunday, The Lone Wolf tenderized Rollins with the chair with several mighty swings, planted him with the End of Days and posed with his title. It was a powerful statement from a powerful challenger, and that’s before we even get into Brock Lesnar potentially showing up or the big question of who will serve as guest ref. For all Seth Rollins’ confidence in bending the game to his will, he leaves Raw much as he went in: Two moves behind and one eye in the dark.

My Opinion: 3.5 out of 5 – WWE is crediting this as one match, despite the restart, so I’m going with that as well. Despite the restart, this was a dynamite match. Who the @&%? is Bazzi? Bryan and Seth are a great pairing any time, any place. Bazzi has 3 billion viewings on…some-thing. Who the !$%? is Bazzi? I could have gone for a much longer match than we got, but at least this match was of high quality. Do you think Bazzi would have liked the match? Who the @?&% is Bazzi? Over-all, this was a short but worthy main event.

News Of The Night:

1. Nikki Cross has been conned into hating Bayley, by Alexa Bliss.
2. Elias got his ass handed to him by Seth Rollins and the entire group of participants of the opening match.
3. Seth Rollins attacked several people who were candidates to be the special referee for the Universal Title match.
4. Bray Wyatt should be returning to the ring, real soon, if his latest Fire Fly Funhouse is any indicator.
5. Roman Reigns and Shane McMahon continued their feud as the build toward Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns leads to a match between the latter pair at Stomping Grounds.
6. AJ Styles seems to be positioned to be a catalyst for Anderson & Gallows to either go full heel or do some-thing new.
7. R-Truth and Carmella almost had to defend the 24/7 Title.
8. Lacey Evans revealed that she used to be a Marine, but nobody seemed to care, as Becky Lynch just beat the hell out of her anyway.

Final Verdict: 2.5/5

Schitt’s Creek. Since that’s a TV show, that doesn’t count as a cuss word. Boy, this thing skinned by through the sheer will of the good wrestling and not much else. Batista said that All Elite Wrestling isn’t competition to the WWE. If this show is any indication, then AEW is not seen as competition by Vince McMahon, because this almost reached critical mass. That means that this almost absolutely sucked. 2.5…I might have been a bit generous with that score.