WWE Monday Night Raw Review: 02/06
- Linus O'Howell
- Jun 3
- 4 min read
CM Punk Starts the Show, Liv Morgan VS Ivy Nile VS Stephanie Vaquer: Women’s Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
This week’s edition of Monday Night Raw kicked off with CM Punk as The Best in the World talked about his aspirations to become a World Champion again! Now, whether that’s by cashing in on Jey Uso or John Cena remains to be seen, but first, Punk has to win his Qualifying match to head to Money in the Bank this Saturday! This brought out Sami Zayn who was very clear with his words as he told CM Punk that he has to win tonight because WWE cannot afford Seth “Freakin” Rollins to capture the MITB Briefcase! Sami also told Punk that when he goes on to become World Champion, he’ll be waiting for him! This was a decent start to the show which made Punk’s need to win feel like a bigger deal!
Grade: B-
After Liv Morgan rejected Roxanne Perez’s help and came face-to-face with Iyo Sky again, Liv headed down to the ring for the opening match of the night as she tried to qualify for Money in the Bank at the expense of Ivy Nile, and the debuting Stephanie Vaquer! This was a good opening match, all three women are talented, I really enjoyed everything between Liv and Stephanie, they are both stars, and Ivy is super underrated too! Towards the end of the match, Morgan nailed Vaquer with an ObLIVion, but Nile sent her to the outside, only for La Primera to get back up and drop The Pitbull with an SVB to get the win! Strong start to Raw for Stephanie Vaquer!
Grade: B
The Judgment Day VS The War Raiders, Lyra Valkyria Calls Out Becky Lynch
Paul Heyman tried to get into the head of AJ Styles, telling him to focus on Dominik Mysterio and the Intercontinental Championship rather than winning Money in the Bank! AJ saw this as a threat which didn’t go down to well with The Phenomenal One before Rusev cut a promo on his old buddy Sheamus! Sheamus then delivered one of his own, saying he “bullies bully’s” before The War Raiders clashed with The Judgment Day! The New Day were on commentary for this one, and as always, they were the best thing about this! Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are genuinely entertaining Heels, like they should’ve turn evil ages ago, and they eventually got sent to the back after attempting to get into the faces of Erik and Ivar! Speaking of Erik and Ivar, The War Raiders looked to have this match won late on, but that was until Roxanne Perez caused interference by jumping onto the apron, allowing JD McDonagh to drop Ivar by “pulling his beard” before Finn Balor delivered a Coup de Grace to get the win!
Grade: C+
Becky Lynch had a video promo saying Lyra Valkyria has cost her not one, but 2 Championships since she’s returned before Rhea Ripley came face-to-face with Stephanie Vaquer in what was a pretty cool moment! Lyra Valkyria then made her way down to the ring, and the Women’s Intercontinental Champion wasn’t having anything of what Becky just said so she quickly called out The Man! However, when Lynch arrived, Valkyria wouldn’t let her talk as she cut a promo of her own before Becky just left, leading to Lyra chasing her down to start a brawl! Once again, this feud has been painful to watch at times, it’s really not been good!
Grade: C
Jey Uso and Sami Zayn VS Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed, Raquel Rodriguez VS Kairi Sane
Jey Uso and Sami Zayn then YEETED their way down to the ring together as they were ready for Tag Team action against Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed! This was a pretty decent match, all four guys are talented, and the crowd was definitely into it! I think Jey and Sami will always be a great team, their chemistry is amazing, but this was more about the brand-new alliance between Bron and Bronson! However, the match itself didn’t end clean as Seth “Freakin” Rollins ran down and delivered a massive Stomp to Jey Uso to cause the DQ before CM Punk “evened” the odds with a steel chair to send Rollins’ crew packing! There’s more to all of this later on!
Grade: B-
Liv Morgan made it very clear that she doesn’t trust Finn Balor right now with his whole antics around Roxanne Perez, but Finn told Liv to give it some time! Liv then accompanied Raquel Rodriguez down to the ring as 1/2 of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions was set to go one-on-one with Kairi Sane! This was totally fine, not much to write home about, but it wasn’t bad by any stretch! Liv Morgan tried her best to get involved, but she got dealt with by Iyo Sky as the Women’s World Champion arrived to even the odds, opening the door for Kairi to deliver an Insane Elbow to get the win!
Grade: C+
Men’s Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: AJ Styles VS CM Punk VS El Grande Americano
After Karrion Kross told Sami Zayn he believes he’s a bad person, and Gunther wanted to get some words in on Jey Uso, it was Main Event time as AJ Styles, CM Punk, and El Grande Americano clashed for the last spot in this year’s Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match! This was a pretty good Main Event between three very talented in-ring performers, it was pretty cool to see AJ and Punk go at it, and El Grande Americano is so much fun to watch! As expected, CM Punk looked to have the win wrapped up with a GTS, but Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed decided to interfere again as they pulled Punk out of the ring, leading to Sami Zayn and “Main Event” Jey Uso to run down and make the save! Amazingly, this actually opened the door for El Grande to nail Styles to pick up a shock win and book his ticket to Los Angeles before another brawl broke out, leading to Seth “Freakin” Rollins nailing Sami Zayn with a Stomp to stand tall! That feud is only just beginning I feel!
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