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The final episode of WWE RAW before Extreme Rules looked to build upon the rivalries that will culminate at Sunday’s event. WWE Champion Drew McIntyre will defend his title against Dolph Ziggler at the show in a stipulation of Ziggler’s choosing. However, it was surprising that WWE decided to hold off the reveal of the stipulation until Sunday itself.
The episode also saw two big returns that the WWE Universe was waiting for, and both the RAW Superstars managed to make an impact during the night. Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens faced off once again in a rematch of their WrestleMania 36 encounter which was won by KO once again.
However, it was the powerful display by Randy Orton followed by the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match that ended up taking the cake on this week’s show.
In this article, we will look at the five things WWE managed to get right on this week’s episode of RAW.
#5 Bianca Belair returns, teams up with Ruby Riott on WWE RAW
Billie Kay and Peyton Royce were on Ruby Riott’s case as they were absolutely certain that the former leader of The Riott Squad had no friends and would not be able to find herself a tag team partner for a match on Monday Night RAW.
While the fans weren’t sure who Riott would turn to in such a situation, she pulled an ace from the pack as she introduced Bianca Belair as her partner for the match on WWE RAW.
While Royce and Kay kept Riott isolated in the match and tried to work over the rebellious Superstar to score a victory, a hot tag to Belair sparked a comeback for the babyface team.
Belair delivered another dominating performance and survived the Shades of Kay to flatten out Kay with the Kiss of Death.
This was the first major return of the night that helped the women’s division on WWE RAW. Belair was energetic and worked well with Riott who herself needs a push at this point. Whether WWE will continue to use Riott and Belair as a team or not remains to be seen.
#4 The Hurt Business reigns supreme on WWE RAW
While MVP has gotten into the race for the WWE United States Championship and will take on Apollo Crews on Sunday for the title, former United States Champions Ricochet and Bobby Lashley competed in a match this week on RAW.
While The One and Only started well, the heel was able to trip him and sent him into the guardrail. From there on, The All Mighty unleashed his strength on Ricochet as he struggled to get back into the match.
An enzuigiri got Ricochet back into the match and he hit a standing shooting star press to attempt a pin. He carried on the momentum with a few more moves until Lashley locked in the Full Nelson to pick up the victory on RAW.
Ricochet’s partner Cedric Alexander tried to make the save but fell for the lethal hold himself that made him pass out too.
Lashley and MVP stood tall to close out the segment as WWE managed to build well towards the United States Championship match for Sunday without even getting the Champion and the challenger involved.
It’s unfortunate that Ricochet is still stuck in some bad bookings, and the man who was carrying WWE NXT at one point, and really needs to get back some momentum on WWE RAW.
#3 Shayna Baszler makes return on WWE RAW
While R-Truth already had a big match planned for the night on RAW against Randy Orton, the legendary Superstar agreed to defend his 24/7 Championship against Akira Tozawa who came out with three ninjas by his side.
Before the match could get on the way, Shayna Baszler made her much-awaited return to WWE RAW, appearing on the brand for the first time since the beginning of May.
She ripped through Tozawa’s ninjas and stared down Truth who voluntarily left the ring without having anything to do with The Queen of Spades.
Baszler then proceeded to let out a warning to the entire women’s division and promised a reality check. She went on to say “I am that reality” to ensure that her message was conveyed loud and clear.
It was great to see Baszler back on television, especially after reports suggested that the higher-ups were losing faith in her. She is arguably the most consistent and dominant performer in WWE today, and the company needed to bring her back in time for the new RAW Women’s Champion to get on her heels.
#2 Randy Orton pulls in another legend for next week’s WWE RAW
Randy Orton cut a great promo and looked to silence the largest athlete of WWE after teasing a split between Ric Flair and himself. He looked to embark on another journey as the Legend Killer and took to the ring on RAW to take on 24/7 Champion R-Truth in a non-title match.
Flair spoke up before the match could begin and claimed that Orton would not take Truth’s head off his shoulders with the Punt Kick and would rather just drop him with the RKO.
Truth tried to talk him way out of the situation but he fell victim to The Viper’s RKO who picked up the victory without any problem on RAW.
After the victory, Orton teased a Punt before the Big Show walked out to the center. Orton challenged the World’s Largest Athlete to an unsanctioned match for next Monday’s RAW and the giant reluctantly accepted the challenge.
We all know what’s coming as Orton has been on a path of destruction ever since Edge returned at the 2020 Royal Rumble, and we will likely get a big match between the two legends next week. This entire segment was very well done.
#1 The Golden Role Models continue to rule WWE RAW and SmackDown
The prime time players of WWE once again headlined another show as WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Bayley and Sasha Banks defended their titles against Kairi Sane and RAW Women’s Champion Asuka.
Asuka will be defending her RAW Women’s Championship against Banks at Extreme Rules, but just a few days before the pay-per-view, she had her eyes on The Legit Boss and The Role Model’s titles.
Banks and Bayley kicked things off with a video tribute to themselves and we got to the action soon after. The challengers took control of the match early on and showed why they are a former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion duo themselves.
The heels then took advantage later as they dropped Asuka off the apron and then sent The Pirate Princess into the plexiglass surrounding the ringside area.
The action was balanced from thereon as both the teams got in their offense and tried to keep their opponents down. With The Empress fighting The Role Model at ringside, Banks impressed everyone when she countered a sliding elbow from Sane into the Banks Statement and made the former NXT Women’s Champion tap out to retain the Women’s Tag Team titles.
This was a great match that fittingly ended the night and built well towards the RAW Women’s Championship match for Sunday. The Legit Boss now has the momentum as she managed to draw in the submission from Asuka’s teammate, while Asuka’s own friend has challenged her for the title if she manages to retain it at Extreme Rules.
