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All eyes within the WWE were focused on the upcoming Money In The Bank pay per view on June 9th; however, a major bombshell dropped yesterday. As Sportskeeda reported, SmackDown Live is going to move to FOX starting in October 2019 in a deal reportedly worth $1 billion.
It was a major day for the WWE and their stock as it hit an all-time high. Now the focus shifts back into the ring as a major pay per view is on the horizon in just less than three weeks.
Follow Sportskeeda for the latest WWE news, rumors and all other wrestling news.
This week's edition of Monday Night Raw saw a promo and corresponding match stretch the entire first hour, one of the worst segments in recent memory, a contract signing, a women's Money In The Bank qualifying match, and more.
For this article, I will grade five of those segments from this week's Raw on a letter scale of A+ being the best and F being the worst. Let's start with that first hour of Raw as I break down each part...
A seamless first hour involving a lot of people
For nearly the entire first hour of Monday Night Raw this week, it was one long segment that started out with Kurt Angle and Stephanie McMahon in the ring and ended in a tag team match. There are a few things to grade on the open of Raw this week.
First off the return of Stephanie McMahon to television since the Raw after Mania, when Ronda Rousey didn't buy Stephanie's goodwill and put her in another armbar. Just like she did last week, Stephanie undermined the General Manager decisions of Angle, namely surrounding Roman Reigns.
Reigns came out to answer those words in the ongoing saga of Roman versus The Authority. It seemed like they were copying the Daniel Bryan storyline, and this week it felt like Stone Cold Steve Austin. It seems they are trying things of the past to get the WWE Universe to cheer Roman, but that isn't the answer.
GRADE FOR THE OPENING TALKING SEGMENT: D+
Kevin Owens then came out to kiss the butts of Roman (for taking out Jinder Mahal) and Stephanie (for putting Owens in the Money In The Bank Qualifying Match). This eventually led to a one-on-one match between Reigns and Owens.
The match was decent, as one can expect from two great in-ring competitors like Owens and Reigns, but 13 minutes into the match, Jinder Mahal would interfere and attack Reigns in retaliation for Reigns taking him out of the qualifier match.
GRADE FOR SINGLES MATCH: B-
As Owens and Mahal were attacking Reigns, WWE Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins would come out, and predictably, a tag match started after the commercial break. The tag match lasted another 14 minutes with a great finish where Rollins misses his stomp finishers but turns around and lands it almost immediately on Owens for the win.
After the match, Jinder came out through the entrance and laid out both Rollins and Reigns with a steel chair. Overall this was a great tag match and some good action in the first hour of Raw.
GRADE FOR THE TAG MATCH: B+
Sami Zayn brings Bobby Lashley's "sisters" to Raw
Sami Zayn started a feud with Bobby Lashley for the Money In The Bank pay per view, over the fact that Lashley cost him the chance to participate in the Greatest Royal Rumble, by giving him vertigo. A few weeks ago, Renee Young had a sit-down interview with Lashley where he talked about his relationship with his three sisters.
This led to Zayn uncovering the truth from Lashley's "sisters" on Raw this week. Simply put, the segment was terrible outside of Lashley using a broomstick on one of the "sisters" as part of a pump-handle slam over the top rope.
GRADE: F
Breezango v. The B-Team
Look out because The B-Team of Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas are on a roll. To them, the B stands for best, to most of us B-Team means the players riding on the bench. None of that matters though as this week Axel and Dallas won their second straight match over Breezango.
My initial thought was the B-Team would be a hilarious tag team that would always lose, but I'm pleasantly surprised at the winning streak. This is the best thing they could have done for Axel and Dallas after splitting them from The Miz.
The match was very short, but the entire segment was entertaining including the celebration on the announce table and the corresponding desk chair ride down the ramp. I think the B-Team is going to be the next thing the WWE Universe gravitates to.
GRADE: A-
Nia Jax & Ronda Rousey contract signing for the WWE Raw Women's Championship
At the NBC Upfront presentation in New York City last Monday, Nia Jax laid out the challenge to Ronda Rousey to face her for the WWE Raw Women's Championship at Money In The Bank.
Rousey was hesitant to jump everyone in line after only one match in the WWE, and this would be her first singles match ever, but she eventually accepted.
This Monday on Raw was the contract signing. In terms of setting up the match, I thought it was a good segment. My only criticism was Stephanie McMahon talking way too much while trying to put words in both women's mouths to fire them up, but it doesn't knock the overall grade of the segment down too far.
GRADE: B-
Main event - Finn Balor v. Braun Strowman
In the middle of Raw this week, Finn Balor and Braun Strowman walked into Stephanie McMahon's office wanting a rematch against Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler after losing to them last week.
Instead, Stephanie made the main event of Raw where Balor and Strowman would have to face each other one-on-one.
There is an obvious size difference between these two competitors for the upcoming Money In The Bank Ladder Match, but that didn't stop these two from having a great 11-minute match that went everywhere around the ring.
That's definitely a testament to the ability of both wrestlers to adapt to someone of a completely different size.
Strowman would get the win with two running powerslams. After the match, he picked up Balor teasing a further attack, but instead, he propped him up in the corner as a show of respect. I thought that was a great moment.
GRADE: B+
