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This week’s RAW tried to build up a lot of stories and matches on the way to the Money in the Bank pay-per-view. Scheduled for May 10th, the brands have less than a month to ensure they get solid storylines for the big event and make the show exciting.
This week’s show saw the new WWE Champion take matters to the ring and take on another Champion on the brand who returned after a short time away due to injury.
Three spots for the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match were up for grabs during the night, and three dominating women were able to snatch the opportunity from their competitors quite easily.
New challengers for the RAW Tag Team Championships also emerged during the night, while Bobby Lashley seems to be getting increasingly tired of his current situation.
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In this article, we will look at the 5 things WWE got right on this week’s show.
#5 Aleister Black vs. Oney Lorcan
After his victory over Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania 36 followed by a win on RAW last week against Apollo Crews, Aleister Black made his way out for a fight against Oney Lorcan.
Just like Black, the NXT Superstar is famous for his strikes, but the two men surprisingly started slow with regular holds and reversals.
The pace soon picked up and they started to show their real colors. This got the match going. Lorcan picked up the advantage and managed to keep Black down for some time, which was something different to watch. At one point, Black’s desperation forced him to try a roll-up pin for the victory but he was unsuccessful.
The Dutch Destroyer finally got into his zone and set up Lorcan for his finisher. Black soon ended matters with a thunderous Black Mass. This set up a good, hard-fought victory for Black, which was enjoyable to watch - it was a refreshing departure from his regular squash matches.
Lorcan was a true star in this match and showed persistence while keeping the match interesting. He came across as a worthy competitor for the former NXT Champion.
Black should now be moving into the United States Championship picture rather than taking on any more mid-carders and enhancement talent.
#4 Bobby Lashley’s temper
Unhappy with his loss against Aleister Black at WrestleMania, Bobby Lashley came out with a determination to redeem himself. However, he was up against a man who is no more than an enhancement talent at this point in No Way Jose.
While Lashley was dominant from the opening bell, Lana tried to call the shots from the outside once again, just like she tried to do at WrestleMania. Lashley wasn’t buying any of that this time around and asked her to shut up before putting Jose away easily.
While the match itself was nothing at all, the story around it sets up Lana and Lashley’s breakup soon after their marriage. While they have done nothing significant during their time together, WWE has tried to keep the couple at the forefront of things.
Lashley hasn’t shown much character at all and feels like the blandest Superstar on RAW at the moment. A breakup story followed by some top matches could help put the former United States Champion back on track.
WWE needs to sell Lashley as a true force once again, but losses to rising Superstars and wins against enhancement talent will not help the cause. The company needs to dig deep and pick up a big storyline to put him over just like they did for Drew McIntyre after turning him face.
#3 The Money in the Bank qualifier matches
The women’s Money in the Bank ladder match had three spots up for grabs on this week’s RAW. Surprisingly, two of the three matches went down as squashes where the victors dominated throughout.
First off, Asuka took on Ruby Riott in a match where many would have wanted to see Ruby finally succeed. Even though she tried her best, and seemed ready for a push when she made her return to RAW earlier this year, she was taken down by Asuka fairly easily.
Next up, we saw Shayna Baszler take on Sarah Logan one-on-one. The Queen of Spades, who still seemed extremely annoyed after her loss at WrestleMania 36, immediately took down Logan and beat her up nonstop until the referee had to call for the bell.
Baszler picked up the victory but did a lot of damage to Logan’s arm as she sat in the ring crying in pain after all was over.
Last but not the least, Nia Jax and Kairi Sane took on each other for a spot in the MITB match. While I was looking forward to this match and wanted to see the former NXT Women’s Champion do a lot more, Jax was able to dominate and squash Sane like she didn’t even know how to wrestle.
Even though RAW could have given us some competitive matches during the qualifiers, it’s interesting how the card is shaping up for MITB. Shayna Baszler, Asuka, and Nia Jax in the same ring will definitely heat things up. Let’s see who qualifies from the other brands to make this match even bigger!
#2 The return of The Viking Raiders
At first, it was almost impossible to take the team of Cedric Alexander and Ricochet seriously. Both men have been victims of mixed bookings and taken several losses when they didn’t need to which has diminished their value on RAW.
They were put in a tag team together and took on Andrade and Angel Garza to see who’d take on The Street Profits at WrestleMania 36 for the RAW Tag Team Championships. Andrade and Garza won that match but failed to go all the way.
After a victory last week, the babyface team returned to the ring once again to take on The Viking Raiders.
The former RAW Tag Team Champions were off the scene for some time and tried to overpower Ricochet and Alexander to prove their dominance and come across as the next challengers for the RAW Tag Team titles.
However, Ricochet and Alexander flew around and got quite a bit of offense, making this bout enjoyable to watch and not one-sided.
After The Viking Raiders took control, the high-flyers made a late comeback but the power of The Viking Raiders was too much for them. Erik and Ivar picked up the win soon in what was a hard-fought match.
While it was disappointing to see Ricochet and Alexander getting shot down so quickly, it was good to have The Viking Raiders back in action and in contention for the titles that are already held by a couple of babyfaces. Will the Raiders turn heel sooner than later?
#1 The second challenger
This week’s show started off interestingly as the WWE Champion came out to speak about his victory against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36, followed by his immediate title defense against Big Show.
However, he was interrupted by United States Champion Andrade and Zelina Vega, who reminded him that Andrade was the man who defeated him in NXT for the NXT Championship, and a match between the two Champions was set for the main event.
During the main event, Andrade worked on the same arm of Drew McIntyre that he’d injured during their feud in NXT, while Angel Garza and Austin Theory looked on from ringside.
After The Scottish Psychopath took both Garza and Theory out, he took down Andrade with a Claymore Kick and came out as the better Champion on RAW.
However, Garza took the WWE Champion down and Seth Rollins arrived to deliver a Superkick followed by a Stomp to McIntyre, thereby announcing himself as the next challenger for the WWE Championship.
While Rollins recently lost at WrestleMania against Kevin Owens, he is currently the most qualified heel on RAW to come after McIntyre’s title, and a win against Rollins will truly establish McIntyre as a top WWE Champion.
Booking a match between these two for the Money in the Bank pay-per-view could be the right move.
