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The final episode of RAW before the Money in the Bank pay-per-view was a banger as it had some major matches that could seriously affect the outcomes of the encounters at the event.
Apollo Crews’ spot for the MITB ladder match was up for grabs in a Last Chance Gauntlet Match between some of the major players of RAW.
The Viking Raiders took on The Street Profits during the night, and their victory could pave the way for a RAW Tag Team Championship match at the event or in the weeks to come after that.
NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair also got a warm-up match against a rising face on RAW before her Championship match against Io Shirai on NXT this Wednesday.
In this article, we will look at the 5 things RAW got right on the episode before Money in the Bank.
#5 Brendan Vink and Shane Thorne’s surprise victory
The team of Ricochet and Cedric Alexander were all set to take on the new heels on the block as they took on Brendan Vink and Shane Thorne. Vink and Thorne are now managed by MVP, and we could see the two men get some good matches on the Red brand in the months to come. However, he wasn’t there to support the team at ringside during this big match.
The two teams had a good fast-paced match where they traded the action throughout the bout. Thorne was able to take control as he pushed Alexander into the barricade and the two heels continued to use the power advantage on their opponents from thereon.
After some more action, Vink hit Ricochet with a boot to the face to pin the former United States Champion and pick up the victory.
This was a good tag team match that brought the best out of all four men. Vink and Thorne surprised a majority of the audience with a victory in this match as they are the newer and lesser-known team.
WWE should have had MVP at ringside if they’d booked the newer team to pick up the victory as it would have made an even bigger impact. However, this is good news for RAW as a newly emerging heel team can disrupt the Red brand’s tag team division similar to what The Forgotten Sons are doing on SmackDown.
#4 Liv Morgan’s revival
The NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair came out to the middle to cut a promo, but she was interrupted by Liv Morgan. Liv reminded Flair that it was their last encounter that inspired her to change a lot about herself and become who she is today.
Liv did not hesitate in challenging The Queen to a match, and the two got right to it. Flair did not find it difficult to push Liv around once again. However, it was evident that Liv was much more improved and determined in this clash.
She managed to get some offense in which was good to see as Flair has usually gotten a chance to completely dominate her opponents. Liv managed to continue fighting even after a powerbomb and a Boston crab. However, the Figure Eight lock did its damage and made the crowd-favorite tap out to The Queen, but she did enough to come across as a threat.
Liv’s promo before the match was really good and allowed her to build upon herself after breaking free. While the result was predictable, she did a good enough job at stretching the match and giving the NXT Women’s Champion some competition before her big match on Wednesday.
Overall, this was a good booking for Liv who should get in the RAW Women’s Championship picture by the end of the year.
#3 Bobby Lashley’s dominance
Last week on RAW, Apollo Crews suffered a nasty injury during his match against Andrade for the United States Championship. Not only did his injury take away a chance for him to become the US Champion, but it also took away his spot from the Money in the Bank Ladder Match from him.
This week, a Last Chance Gauntlet Match was set to determine who would replace the Superstar in the match. Bobby Lashley started the match with Titus O’Neil, putting him away in a matter of seconds before moving on to Akira Tozawa.
Tozawa was once again unlucky on RAW as he too was met with a Spear to head back to the locker room.
Shelton Benjamin arrived next and attacked Lashley but could not keep the powerhouse down for long. He was put away by the All Mighty with a Spear, who scored a hat-trick of pins before waiting for his next opponent.
Humberto Carrillo arrived and tried to take down the big man, but not for long. Lashley wasn’t ready to give up this chance of making it to the big match and did not listen to the referee as he continued to beatdown Carrillo. The referee was forced to disqualify Lashley from the match, but he did not leave without making an impact.
This was a good way to build Lashley once again and make him a prominent heel on RAW without allowing him to reach the MITB Ladder Match. Lashley needs to get up top to get in contention for the WWE Championship soon, and this performance can help him get better bookings to move onto something bigger.
#2 The Phenomenal One's return
After Bobby Lashley was disqualified from the match, he Speared Humberto Carrillo before he left the ring. Angel Garza arrived next but he was unable to put down Carrillo, who reversed a Wing Clipper and got the pinfall.
Austin Theory came in next, but he too was unable to outdo Carrillo, who had been missing from RAW for some time now.
Finally, AJ Styles made a surprise return and took the battle to Carrillo as the final entrant in the match. While Carrillo tried his best to pick up a spot for the MITB ladder match, The Phenomenal One was fresh and punished the babyface.
He locked him in the Calf Crusher to score the win and take Apollo Crews’ spot in the MITB match. This was a great match that allowed two Superstars to rebuild themselves while allowing the biggest heel to pick up a spot in the match and become the new favorite to take the briefcase home.
Carrillo was missing from RAW and had become a feature on Main Event. However, we all know that he is much better than that and should return to weekly episodes of RAW to start climbing the ladder once again.
As for Styles, this was a great way for him to return after his loss at WrestleMania 36, and now that The O.C. is over, it feels like he can return to the top of the Red brand once again.
#1 The fearless Murphy
Murphy battled in one of the biggest matches of his career as he took on WWE Champion Drew McIntyre in a non-title match. Murphy’s sole aim was to impress his leader Seth Rollins who will take on McIntyre for the title at Money in the Bank.
Murphy seemed unmoved by McIntyre’s size and strength and showed no fear as he took to the ring to fight the Champion. The Juggernaut even slapped The Scottish Psychopath to show disrespect towards to WWE Champion and proved his confidence.
However, McIntyre did not take the show of disrespect lightly and took him down to take control of the match.
The Aussie tried to throw all he had at The Scottish Psychopath, but the power and speed of McIntyre proved too much for the emerging Superstar who looked to impress The Monday Night Messiah.
After a good fight, McIntyre delivered a Claymore Kick to The Messiah’s Disciple to pick up the victory and send a message to Rollins.
Rollins tricked McIntyre and hit him with a Superkick after the match, but failed to deliver the Stomp at the right time.
Even though this match did well to build further towards Sunday’s big clash, Murphy got a lot out of the match as he seemed to once again impress the WWE Universe with his skills.
