WWE Monday Night Raw Review: 18/05

Linus O'Howell
10 hours ago
5 min read

Jacob Fatu Challenges Roman Reigns, Finn Balor VS JD McDonagh: Street Fight

Monday Night Raw once again came on the air with Roman Reigns pulling up to the building, as Adam Pearce still wants to fire Jacob Fatu! Roman has to get his revenge in first, however, whilst Jacob Fatu’s music then hit as The Samoan Werewolf headed down to the ring! The Usos then quickly interrupted, with Jey Uso holding a steel chair as Jimmy Uso tried to play peacekeeper! Jimmy couldn’t seem to understand why Jacob was acting the way he was, given he was supposedly only doing this to give a better life to his children! Jey then snapped, resulting in a brawl which saw Fatu stand tall, only for Roman Reigns to arrive and make the save! Reigns and The Usos then destroyed Jacob Fatu in a 3-on-1 assault, leaving the arena as they gave Adam Pearce the green light to fire Fatu! However, before Pearce could manage that, Jacob challenged Roman to Tribal Combat, something The Tribal Chief seemingly couldn’t turn down! At least they didn’t end the show for once!

Grade: B-

After a video package, we headed straight into the first match of the night as Finn Balor and JD McDonagh collided in a Street Fight! There is a part of me that felt like this was very lazy booking, with us already seeing this match twice since WrestleMania, and honestly, I wasn’t that excited to see Finn and JD square off yet again! However, there is another part of me that at least appreciated that this was something different, that a Street Fight allowed for this to stand out in comparison to their previous encounters, and in fairness, that’s exactly what it did! Some of the dives that JD McDonagh delivered were excellent, with Finn Balor also hitting a perfect dropkick to send McDonagh crashing into a table! Dominik Mysterio then showed up, leading to Balor being put through a table of his own, but in the end, a Coup de Grace was enough for The Prince to get the victory! I’d quite like this feud to end now, but I know that it won’t!

Grade: B-

Sol Ruca Calls Out Becky Lynch, Los Americanos VS Los Hermanos Americanos

Seth “Freakin” Rollins challenged The Vision to a match in the Main Event, saying he’d face any of them tonight, before Sol Ruca’s backstage interview got interrupted by Becky Lynch! This led to Sol Ruca heading down to the ring to call out Becky Lynch, stating that they should get things done in the ring! Becky, however, doesn’t feel like Sol is ready to face her, with Ruca being 0-2 since she made it to Monday Night Raw! However, Lynch is happy to face Ruca this Saturday at Saturday Night’s Main Event, but The Man would then go on to correct Sol by telling her that the Women’s Intercontinental Championship won’t be on the line! I’m assuming that that means that Sol’s going to win then!

Grade: C+

Bron Breakker told Paul Heyman to make the match between himself and Seth “Freakin” Rollins, but Heyman instead decided to give the match to Austin Theory, with The Wiseman having a plan for Breakker! It was then time for a “Trios Tornado” match as Los Americanos took on Los Hermanos Americanos! Again, we did kind of already see this match last week, but in a similar way to Balor-McDonagh from earlier in the night, at least this match had a different stipulation! I quite like Tornado Tag matches, mostly because it takes away the tag part of the match, with it feeling more just like a multi-man bout! The wrestling itself was decent, everyone involved is talented, and it honestly wasn’t clear as to who was going to get the win! Eventually, though, it was Los Americanos who scored the win, with “The Real” El Grande Americano nailing Bruto with a loaded-mask headbutt to earn the 3 count!

Grade: C+

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Brie Bella and Paige VS The Judgment Day, Oba Femi Gets Attacked

The Usos were hyping up the severity of Tribal Combat, whilst LA Knight made it clear that he’s going to have to deal with them at some point, with them acting exactly like The Vision were! Ethan Page then had a great sit-down interview with Michael Cole, where he put himself over as the absolute best in all of WWE, before The Judgment Day showed up to challenge Brie Bella and Paige for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships! I have to be honest; I cannot get into any match that contains Paige and Brie Bella right now; they’re incredibly dull to watch! Both Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez are far better in-ring competitors, and yet they’re made to look weak against two veterans, with one of them not even being that good when they were at their peak! Liv Morgan tried her best to interfere successfully, but even that wasn’t enough for The Judgment Day, as Brie Bella eventually stole the win with a roll-up on The Prodigy. This Women’s Tag Team Division isn’t getting any better!

Grade: C-

LA Knight made it clear to Seth “Freakin” Rollins that he certainly doesn’t have his back against The Vision, whilst Penta then had a video promo ahead of his Intercontinental Championship match with Ethan Page at Saturday Night’s Main Event! Oba Femi was then out next to hold another one of his “Oba Challenges”, but this time, no match took place as Femi was shockingly attacked by none other than Brock Lesnar! Yes, the same Brock Lesnar that seemingly retired back at WrestleMania! Lesnar destroyed Femi with multiple F5’s, standing tall to the shock of the WWE Universe! Then, in the next segment, Paul Heyman handed Adam Pearce a contract for a rematch between Brock and Oba at Clash in Italy, with Lesnar’s signature already on the contract! I’ll hand it to WWE, this was one of those rare occasions where a return actually came as a surprise, due to it not being announced/reported heading into the show! I’m personally not that excited to see Brock back, as I thought his retirement was perfect, but at least it’ll take Oba out of what he’s currently doing (which, let’s be honest, is not working)!

Grade: B-

Austin Theory VS Seth “Freakin” Rollins

After both Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins had different views on whether to help Seth “Freakin” Rollins or not, Seth headed down to the ring to go one-on-one with Austin Theory in this week’s Raw Main Event! Seth Rollins and Austin Theory obviously have plenty of history, dating back to The Monday Night Messiah back in 2020, and I feel like every match they have is good because of that already built-in chemistry! This was no different, with Seth playing the Babyface roll well as he had to deal with both Theory and Logan Paul! As expected, Rollins was able to score the victory, but rather interestingly, with a Pedigree! This I liked! After the match was over, Logan attacked Seth straight away, resulting in Angelo Dawkins running down to even the odds! Montez Ford also then arrived to help his Street Profit partner out, but this just left him in harm's way when Bron Breakker showed up and delivered a Spear! Bron then continued his rampage, hitting yet another Spear to Seth Rollins, as The Vision ended the show standing tall! Remember when The Vision ran Monday Night Raw? Those were the days!