Welcome to Ringside News’ coverage of Monday Night Raw!
Tonight’s show is set to be a monumental one as we’re getting another Superstar Shake-Up. The Shake-Up is set to take place over the course of tonight’s Raw and tomorrow’s SmackDown Live. We have no idea which Superstar’s are moving to which brands, but that’s what makes the Superstar Shake-Up so exciting; will Kofi Kingston and Rollins trade places? Where does Becky Lynch end up considering she has both titles? What about Samoa Joe for Finn Balor? There’s lots of ways the Shake-Up could go, so let us know who you’d like to see switch places!
Beyond the Superstar Shake-Up tonight, we’re also being teased a second altercation between Becky Lynch and Lacey Evans, after the two brawled on last week’s show. The two are set to go toe-to-toe moving forward, but on which brand? And if they remain on Raw what does that mean for SmackDown’s women? It’s all in flux.
Speaking of flux, the WWE Universal Champion, Seth Rollins, is without an opponent right now. That’s not a big deal right now because the next PPV isn’t for another month, but WWE is teasing a new opponent emerging tonight. Will it be Drew McIntyre? Roman Reigns? Or will Seth be traded to SmackDown Live and battle with the likes of Daniel Bryan? Yes please.
WWE is also teasing new feuds for Bobby Lashley and Roman Reigns, and perhaps those two will lock horns moving forward. There aren’t a lot of feuds on the table right now, and that’s what makes the Superstar Shake-Up so exciting. Remember to follow us on Instagram and download the Ringside News app to stay up to date, and enjoy the show!
Raw opens with Stephanie McMahon making her way down to the ring, followed by her brother Shane McMahon.
With the representatives of Raw and SmackDown Live in the ring, we can get the Superstar Shake-Up underway. The fans in Montreal boo them loudly. Shane forces the ring announcer to introduce him again, as the Best In The World. The fans then chant “CM Punk” while Shane tries to speak some French. The fans chant “you suck”, to which Stephanie tells them Kurt Angle already has his last match. Stephanie says she didn’t know Shane spoke French and he said he speaks Parisian French, not the dirty crap they speak here in Montreal.
Stephanie finally gets on with the show, talking up the importance of the Superstar Shake-Up, saying anyone can move brand and teams can be broken up. Stephanie begins to introduce a new Superstar to Raw, but Shane interrupts her and wants to show some of the best moments in the build-up to WrestleMania – which were all Shane beating up The Miz and his Dad. Back to Stephanie, who introduces the first Superstar who is moving to Raw…
The Miz slides in from behind and attacks Shane McMahon. The two brawl out of the ring and Shane slams Miz into the ringpost, before teeing off on him against the barricade. The Miz blasts Shane with a steel chair, then again, and Shane escapes up the ramp. The Miz stands tall in the ring with the steel chair and he’s bust open. He’s officially a part of Monday Night Raw.
Later tonight, Becky Lynch faces Ruby Riott. We see a video of Seth Rollins defeating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. Seth will team with Roman and a mystery partner to face McIntyre, Lashley, and Corbin again.
Ricochet makes his entrance – with slightly altered music that sounds like a Stormtrooper shooting at the beginning. Ricochet is officially a part of Raw. His partner, Aleister Black comes out next and he too is officially on the red brand.
*Commercial Break*
Black and Ricochet are teaming with Hawkins and Ryder, while The Revival is teaming with the NXT Tag Team Champions, War Raiders….or as they are now known, The Viking Experience. Their names are Erik and Ivar. That is a face palm if there ever was one.
Scott Dawson starts off with Curt Hawkins and he floors him with a shoulder tackle. Hawkins catches Dawson with an arm drag before tagging in Zack Ruder. They hit a Russian leg sweep/side effect double team move. Ryder then makes the tag to Ricochet, who basically tags Black immediately.
Black grabs a hold but Dawson tags Dash, who floors Black before unloading some chops in the corner and tagging Ivar of The Viking Experience. Ivar hits Black a few times before tagging Dawson, who does the same before tagging Dash.
Black forces Dash to the corner and tags Ricochet, and they hit a double team kitchen sink/dropkick. Black tags back in and kicks Dash before getting floored with a knee. Ivar tags in again and immediately tags Erik. Black looks to take both out with a springboard moonsault but they caught him in mid-air, followed by Ricochet coming off the rope with a dropkick to take them out. The Revival storm the ring, as do Hawkins and Ryder, and get hit with double back body drops and roll from the ring. The babyfaces are in control.
*Commercial Break*
We return to see Erik controlling the pace against Curt Hawkins. Ivar tags in and drops Hawkins with a knee for a near fall. Erik tags back in, and he scoop slams Ivar onto Hawkins for another near fall. Erik applies an arm bar to Hawkins, but he fights up and attacks The Revival on the apron. Erik then stiff clotheslines him for his troubles.
Ivar tags in takes Hawkins down with a shoulder block – this match has way too many tags. Speaking of which, Dash Wilder tags in and stomps Hawkins into the mat. Dawson comes in and he drops Wilder onto Hawkins with a leg drop to pick up a near fall. Dawson then applies another arm bar and keeps the pace slow. Wilder tags back in and continue the beat down on Hawkins, and applies a chin lock. Hawkins eventually fights out and makes the tag to Ryder.
Ryder runs over Dawson and dropkicks Wilder off the apron. Ryder hits Dawson with a flapjack before hitting a running forearm in the corner. Ryder punches him down in the corner. Ricochet and Black take out The Viking Experience. Dawson quickly gets away from Ryder and tags in Erik. Ryder hits Erik with a flying leg drop for a two count. Ricochet and Black take out The Revival.
Ricochet scales the ropes and looks for a moonsault to the floor on Dawson but almost completely missed. Inside the ring, Ivar clotheslines Hawkins, then he and Erik throw him over the top rope onto Ricochet and Black. Erik viciously knees Ryder in the face. Ivar is tagged in, and The Viking Experience hits The Fall Out for the win.
We get a promo video for Cedric Alexander, who will be joining Raw full-time.
Finn Balor makes his entrance in Montreal, and he’ll be facing a Superstar arriving from SmackDown Live after the break – my bet is Kevin Owens.
*Commercial Break*
We return from the break to see me wrong, the newest Superstar on Raw is not Kevin Owens:
Vega gets on the horn and introduces the two of them to the WWE Universe. She says Finn Balor is a man who does extraordinary things, but so is Andrade. She says Andrade can speak multiple languages, and says he wants to speak to the Montreal fans in their native language. He says “merci” before speaking fluent Spanish and the fans chant “what?” in between.
They lock-up and Andrade floors Finn from behind, before sending him into the corner and dropping him with a flying knee. Andrade follows-up with double running knees in the corner for a two count.
Finn counters Andrade and connects with a dropkick. Balor then reverses an Irish whip and hits another dropkick. Balor runs at Andrade, and hits him with a snap DDT. Andrade rolls from the ring and Finn looks for a soccer kick from the apron but Zelina gets dragged in front of Andrade and Finn halts. Andrade uses the distraction to swipe Finn and drop him on the apron to the floor.
*Commercial Break*
Back live and Andrade is stomping Balor down in the corner. He looks for the double knees again but this time Balor avoids it. Finn attacks Andrade in the corner and hits a flying dropkick. Finn is favouring his left knee, and it causes him to pause and allows Andrade to take advantage.
Finn reverses Andrade to hit a reverse DDT for a near-fall. Sling-blade by Balor. He then looks for the corner dropkick but Andrade did a cartwheel into a Pele kick for a two count. Andrade scales the ropes for a moonsault but nobody’s home, however he landed on his feet and did another moonsault and Finn got his knees up. Finn then hit the corner dropkick and climbed the ropes for Coup de Grace but Andrade knocked him down. Andrade then looked for his signature hammerlock DDT but Finn rolled him up for a near-fall.
Andrade was clotheslined from the ring and Finn hit him with a tope. Finn tossed him back into the ring but then Zelina Vega came off the apron with a hurricanrana to Finn while the referee was tending to Finn. Vega sends Finn back inside, where Andrade hit the Hammerlock DDT for the win.
We see a video of last week’s Raw, when The Undertaker interrupted Elias and hit him with a Tombstone piledriver. Elias will be live, next!
*Commercial Break*
Elias is in the ring and he plays a little diddy. He says his music is so powerful that it brought back the Doctor of Thuganomics, and it rose the Deadman from his grave. He questions why these legends keep interrupting him, and he says it could be jealousy but he’s fairly sure it’s because they know that WWE stands for Walk With Elias.
Elias says the building is packed and there’s electricity in the air. The fans cheer but then he says they would feel this kind of atmosphere every week if the Canadians could make the playoff’s. The fans boo loudly and don’t let up until he begins playing. Of course, Elias is interrupted, and it’s by Raw’s newest addition:
Rey runs down and into the ring, where he tees off on Elias. The Drifter tosses him through the ropes, where Rey kicks him, before messing up a springboard. Elias rolls from the ring and Rey hit him with a baseball slide. Elias hightailed it out of there and Rey poses for the fans. That is, until Lars Sullivan makes his way down to the ring.
Mysterio dropkicks Lars off of the apron but then the big man comes inside. Rey kicks Sullivan several times as he ran at him in the corner. Lars pulled Rey from the apron into the ring, then lifted him onto his shoulder. Mysterio slid down his back and attacked the leg. Sullivan lifted Rey again and hit his modified STO, before hitting him with a running sit-out powerbomb.
A six-man tag match is still to come in the main event tonight, as well as Becky Lynch Vs. Ruby Riott.
*Commercial Break*
Bobby Roode and Chad Gable are in the ring. Roode says tonight is the Superstar Shake-Up and there’s a lot of changes happening around here. One thing that won’t be changing however, is that when he and Gable are on their game, they can defeat any tag team in WWE. Gable agrees and says he doesn’t care if you’re from Raw, SmackDown, or NXT, the invitation is wide open. Their opponents?
Jimmy will start against Gable. They circle the ring and Gable takes Jimmy down with a waistlock. They separate, then Gable takes him down a second time before applying an arm bar. Jimmy fights to his feet and backs him Chad to the corner. Jimmy then catches him with an enzuigiri.
Jey Uso tags in and punches Gable. He looks to whip Gable but it’s reversed. Jey knocks Roode off the apron, then tosses Gable out of the ring. Jey feigns a plancha, but Roode grabs the feet and Gable knocks him out of the ring. Roode clotheslines him on the floor. Roode tags in and throws Jey into the barricade.
Roode gets Jey back in the ring for a two count. Roode punches away at Jey before tagging Gable in. The crowd chants, “Let’s go Usos.” Gable gets Jey in the corner and tags Roode in. Roode applies a chin lock, but Jey eventually fights up and hits him with a spin kick. Both men are down and looking to their corners.
Jimmy and Gable are tagged in. Jimmy clotheslines him twice before kicking him in the midsection and hitting an uppercut. Jimmy hit a Samoan Drop before catching him with a running hip attack for a near fall. Gable quickly comes back with an arm bar over the top rope. Roode and Gable hit a German Suplex/Blockbuster double-team for a near fall.
Roode knocks Jey off the apron, then he and Gable look for a neckbreaker/moonsault double-team but Jimmy escapes. Jey tags in and superkicks Gable. Roode is then superkicked to the floor. The Usos then hit a double superkick on Gable before scaling opposite corners and hitting6 stereo splashes on Gable for the win.
We see a video of Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre’s rivalry. The two of them will be part of the six-man tag match tonight.
After the break, we’ll get A Moment of Bliss with Montreal’s own, Sami Zayn.
*Commercial Break*
Alexa Bliss is on the stage and she says with the Superstar Shake-Up, this could very well be her last night on Raw. With that in mind, she’d like to give a French goodbye and who better to help her with that, than her guest tonight, Sami Zayn? Montreal gives the hometown boy a huge reception and Zayn dances like a fool on the stage. He sits down opposite Alexa. Then his music kicks up again and Sami goes back to dancing and encouraging the fans to sing along. He sits down again and Alexa says “what a reception!” The fans chant “Sami”.
Just as he readies to talk, his music hits and Sami slides out of his chair like liquid and dances to the fans singing. He says they’re like fish in a barrel and tells Alexa to watch this, then he proceeds to yell something in French-Canadian. He then shouts “ole ole ole” and the fans erupt in voice with him. Sami runs up and down the ramp to the chorus of Ole. He stops and sits down on the stage again. Bliss says he returned last week after 10 months out, and it’s fantastic to see him back on Raw.
The fans chant “oui” and Zayn says it’s been great to be back, to see his family, friends, to go to his neighbourhood, hit up the cafe’s, and such. He loves the city of Montreal but he can’t stand the people. Montreal has world class cuisine, art, architecture, but the people, oh god! He says the low point of his week in Montreal is right now, being around the gross Quebec natives. He says he doesn’t want to be here or doing her show, and it’s funny because 9 months ago he would have loved for that response. Now the cheers make him sick. The fans then fire-up a “Kevin Owens” chant. Zayn says that makes him even more sick, because they just project all their anger and failure onto him. And he doesn’t accept it, and they should be ashamed of themselves.
Alexa says she knows Sami thinks everyone critiques him, but is it really that he is so perfect? However that’s not the problem, he is. She asks if he’s saying his people are the problem. Sami says he was born in Montreal, but they are not his people. He left Montreal and moved to sunny Florida. He chose to leave Montreal years ago, and he’s leaving again. The fans sing “goodbye” to him. He says “yeah, see you in Hell” and leaves.
*Commercial Break*
The WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions are in the ring. We see a video of Bayley on the phone backstage, trying to call Sasha Banks. The Iiconics interrupt her and start making fun, so Bayley tells them she’ll find a partner to face them.
Bayley starts with Billie Kay and attacks her before tagging Naomi, fresh from SmackDown Live. Kay floors Naomi with a big forearm to the back and tags Peyton.
Royce wildly attacks Naomi in the corner and applies a sleeper hold. The Iiconics will face a new team on SmackDown Live tomorrow night, so I guess the Women’s Tag Team Champions will be on all shows. Royce and Kay look to double team Naomi, but she fires back with a kick to Kay. Bayley hits the Bayley-to-Belly to Peyton, while Naomi hits a split-legged moonsault to Kay for the win.
We see a recap of the WrestleMania main event – with the controversial three count literally blacked out. Lynch will face Ruby Riott later tonight.
EC3 makes his entrance, and he’ll be in action against a new star next.
*Commercial Break*
We get another buzzard in a box promo for Bray Wyatt.
Before the bell can even ring, Braun attacks EC3 and tosses him from one side of the ring to the other. He does the same again, before splashing him in the corner and throwing him to the outside. EC3 begins leaving up the ramp and Braun runs after and knocks him down. Strowman throws EC3 high into the air and into the LED wall. He then drags him across the stage, lifts him up and chokeslammed him through the stage beside the announce table!
Becky Lynch’s music hits and she walks out, with Strowman still standing on the stage. She eyes Braun and grimaces at EC3’s carcass as she walks down to the ring.
*Commercial Break*
Becky Lynch takes her down before stomping her in the corner. Riott blocks a shot into the corner, but Lynch stops her as well. Lynch takes her down and poses. Lynch then hits Riott with a baseball slide. Lynch hits a clothesline off the apron before getting Riott in the ring.
Lynch quickly knocks Liv Morgan off the apron. Riott takes Lynch down for a two count. Riott punches away at her before hitting a snapmare and applying a neck vice. Lynch fights up, kicks her, and hits a pair of clotheslines before hitting a diving shoulder. Lynch connects with the Bexploder. Riott quickly drops her on the apron, but Lynch punches her back. Riott takes Becky to the top rope and slams her. Riott hits a second rope senton bomb for a near fall.
Riott goes to the top rope, but Lynch moves. Lynch applies the Dis-Arm-Her, but The Riott Squad pulls Riott out of the ring. Lynch hits The Riott Squad with a cross-body off the apron, then she gets Ruby back in the ring and catches her with the Dis-Arm-Her for the win.
Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan storm the ring but Lynch attacks them both. Lynch hits Morgan with a nasty Bexploder that lands her on her head. Lynch poses in the ring with her two belts.
Charly Caruso is backstage with Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre, and Bobby Lashley. Corbin is hoping Charly got traded to Smackdown. She asks for speculation on who is coming from Smackdown Live. McIntyre says he doesn’t give a damn. All he wants is to get his hands on Roman Reigns. Corbin says Reigns might be riding high, but that’s over. They’re going to run Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns off RAW. Lio Rush asks after what Lashley did to Dean Ambrose, who would be stupid enough to team with Reigns and Rollins?
Natalya makes her way to the ring, where Becky Lynch is still standing.
*Commercial Break*
We’re back live and Natalya congratulates Becky on her big wins. She says, as a pioneer in WWE, she couldn’t be more proud of Lynch, Ronda, and Charlotte for main eventing WrestleMania. She says Lynch is the first woman to ever pin Ronda Rousey, and the first to win both Raw and SmackDown Live women’s titles. She says last week Becky said that she expects an avalanche of challengers for both titles and she’ll have to sleep with one eye open. But she’s here to tell her face-to-face that she’s the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be, and that she’s coming for the Raw Women’s Championship.
Lynch says she gets it. She’s spent lots of time with overlooked women, being one herself. And she knew as soon as she won those titles, she’d be hunted down by all those women. She says they’ve had very similar paths, travelling the world as teenagers to get to where they are. And Nattie has paved the way for all of the women today, so it would be an honour…
Lacey Evans comes to the stage and says she admires Natalya’s determination. However the Raw Women’s Championship could never be around the waist of a classless has-been. And now they need to stop talking about potential matches, because a lady knows how to influence and get what she wants. And now that’s she officially on Raw, she has the authority via the McMahon’s to announce that she Natalya’s next match will be against her. And the winner of that, will be number one contender for Becky’s Raw Women’s Championship.
The bell rings and Natalya takes a hold of Lacey, but the ex-marine shrugs her off. Natalya bounces Lacey off of the ropes with an atomic drop, followed by a basement dropkick. Natalya hits a discus clothesline before tossing Evans from the ring.
*Commercial Break*
We come back from the break to see Natalya take Evans down and attempt a Sharpshooter, but Evans gets away. Natalya hits a baseball slide, then slaps her in the face. Natalya gets Evans in the ring and powers her to the corner. Natalya punches away at her before the referee backs her up.
Evans stomps Natalya and bounces her head off the bottom turnbuckle. Becky Lynch is seen watching on from backstage. Evans then applies a chin lock. Natalya fights up and catches her with an inside cradle for a two count. Evans goes back to the chin lock. Evans cinches it in, but Natalya gets out. Natalya boots her back and hits a Discus Clothesline. Natalya then applies a Sharpshooter. Evans tries to get to the bottom rope, but Natalya pulls her to the center of the ring. Evans refuses to tap out and gets to the bottom rope. Evans rolls out of the ring to regroup.
Natalya powers her into the barricade and slaps her. Natalya gets her in the ring, but Evans hits the Woman’s Right. Evans then kills her with a big moonsault for the win.
Drew McIntyre makes his way to the ring, followed by his tag team partners for the main event.
*Commercial Break*
We see a video of a creepy dollhouse is shown with flickering lights, a rocking horse back, and then a rocking chair with a ventriloquist dummy sitting in it. It’s a girl dummy that starts to laugh before the shot ends.
Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns come to the ring, followed by their partner from SmackDown Live:
*Commercial Break*
Bobby Lashley starts against Seth Rollins. Lashley punches him to the corner, but Rollins fights out. Roman Reigns tags in, and they hit Lashley with a double-team wishbone split. Reigns punches Lashley to the corner, and AJ Styles tags in to a pop.
Styles punches away at Lashley, but he’s gets forced to the corner. Corbin tags in but Styles chops him. An “AJ Styles” chant picks up. Styles leapfrogs Corbin and connects with a dropkick. Drew McIntyre then tags in and he points at Reigns. Styles tags Reigns in and they circle each other.
Reigns punches McIntyre but the Scottish Psychopath kicks him, but Reigns comes back with an uppercut. Reigns clubs away at him in the corner before hitting the ropes, but McIntyre counters with a belly-to-belly overhead suplex. McIntyre connects with the Glasgow Kiss for a near fall. McIntyre catches Reigns with a suplex for a two count. McIntyre climbs atop Roman and unloads some punches before throwing him out of the ring.
Corbin tags in, and he backs Reigns into the barricade. Corbin whips him into the barricade, and McIntyre talks a little trash to Reigns. Corbin gets him in the ring and hits a chokeslam backbreaker for a near fall. The heels are in charge as we head to the break.
*Commercial Break*
We come back from the break to see Reigns punch Corbin and tag Rollins in. Rollins hits Corbin with a springboard forearm and a Sling Blade. Rollins hits McIntyre with a plancha before covering Corbin with a two count. Rollins superkicks Corbin before kicking him in the midsection. Corbin quickly gets out of the ring.
Rollins goes for a suicide dive, but Corbin forearms him. Corbin catches him with a slam for a two count. Corbin punches him to the corner and puts him on the top rope. Rollins fights off a superplex and boots him back. Rollins hits a blockbuster, and they’re both down.
Styles and Lashley are tagged in. Styles punches away at him before taking him down with a clothesline. Styles knocks McIntyre off the apron and lifts Lashley, but Lashley slides off. Styles quickly comes back with an overhead kick on Lashley. Corbin runs in and meets the same fate. Styles sets up for a Styles Clash, but McIntyre catches him with a Claymore Kick.
Reigns runs in and looks for a Superman Punch, but McIntyre counters into an overhead suplex. Rollins superkicks McIntyre out of nowhere. Reigns then hits McIntyre with a Superman Punch. Reigns hits Corbin with a Drive-By Dropkick. Rollins then hits him with a suicide dive. Styles sets up for a Phenomenal Forearm, but Lio Rush grabs the feet. Lashley slams Styles, but Rollins breaks it up with a Stomp! Reigns connects with a Spear on Lashley, and Styles follows up with the Phenomenal Forearm for the win.
We see replays as all three Superstars pose and celebrate together.
That’s it for this week’s Raw. Be sure to come back tomorrow night for the second part of the Superstar Shake-Up! Until then, safe travels.