WWE RAW Review – May 15, 2023
Kicking off this week’s Raw with Sami Zayn says he & Kevin Owens were surprised to find out this past Friday that they’ll be defending the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles against Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa at Night Of Champions. He says while it seems like a massive threat on paper, the two of them see it as a gift. He says they have the chance to get their hands on Roman Reigns after both coming up short against him in Undisputed WWE Universal Title matches earlier this year. Zayn says Reigns has gone unchecked for too long and criticizes Reigns for pushing too hard observing that it’s not enough for him to have the WWE or Universal Titles and be a champion for almost 1,000 days. He calls Reigns a manipulator and tells him he can’t have the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles.
Judgment Day’s music hits and they head down. Owens calls for their music to be cut, and says he’s sick of talking about The Bloodline. He says if they want to fight then that’s what they’ll do. Zayn calms Owens down and says they don’t have an issue with Judgment Day. He tells Owens to hear them out and tells them the floor is there. Damian Priest says Owens was spot on. Judgment Day looks to attack Owens & Zayn but Finn Balor stops his teammates and says they want to talk. He says if Owens & Zayn manage to retain their Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles, they’ll have a whole line of superstars waiting for them with Judgment Day being at the front. Smackdown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley says Judgment Day runs Raw and Zayn says while they have some good points, he wants to hear what Dominik Mysterio has to say. The crowd loudly boos Mysterio and he can’t get two words out. Owens says since he can’t hear anything, it’s time to fight. Priest clocks Zayn before he and the rest of Judgment Day set their sights on Owens. Zayn grabs a chair from under the chair and forces Judgment Day to retreat.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. The Miz
Match starts off with The Miz offers Shinsuke Nakamura his hand but Nakamura kicks it away before delivering a knee to his midsection then follows it up with a dropkick and a pair of knees to Miz’s spine then shoves him into the corner and charges at him. Miz gets his boot up and delivers a knee to the back of his neck.
Nakamura dumps Miz out of the ring and delivers a baseball dropkick, then drapes him on the apron and delivers a jumping knee to the back of his neck then tosses him back in before Miz hits him with a neckbreaker off the middle rope that sends him crashing to the outside as we go to a break.
After the break Nakamura delivers a knee to Miz’s midsection then follows it up with a Scissor Kick and an enziguri then drapes him across the top turnbuckle and delivers a knee to his midsection. Miz fires back with a right hand and rolls up Nakamura but Nakamura counters into an armbar. Miz escapes and delivers a DDT then delivers IT Kicks and sets up for the Skull Crushing Finale.
Nakamura escapes his grasp and sets up for the Kinshasa but Miz moves out of the way and looks to pull something from under the apron then Nakamura pulls him back in the ring as Miz holds on to the ring apron.
He rakes his eyes while the referee fixes the apron and goes for a pin, but Nakamura gets his foot on the bottom rope to break the fall then delivers the Kinshasa for the win.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
We then go backstage where Adam Pearce is listening to Raquel Rodriguez argue with Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville. Deville & Green begin complaining about Liv Morgan being unable to compete tonight due to an injury she sustained on Friday and Deville says as former management, the Women’s Tag Team Titles should be forfeited and given to them. Pearce says that’s not happening and Rodriguez says she’s happy to defend Morgan’s honor by going 1 on 1 with Green. Green accepts the challenge.
After the break we head to the first part of a sit down interview with Corey Graves & Seth Rollins. Graves thanks Rollins for sitting down with him, then asks what it meant to become the 1st NXT Champion back in 2012. Rollins says there was a need for change at that time and winning that NXT Title meant he could pave the way and push the industry forward. Graves then asks Rollins about his time as a member of The Shield and he says the group saw the need for change. Graves asks Rollins about turning on his Shield teammates and says he needed to do that in order to move up the WWE ladder.
Intercontienetal Champion Gunther stands up on the announce table as Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci flank him. Kaiser demands the gratitude of the fans, then hands the mic over to Gunther & he says he dominated Smackdown for almost a year and he will now continue to do so on Raw. He says while he currently has no challenger for his Intercontinental Title or hasn’t met a Superstar that’s earned his respect one man can achieve both by winning the upcoming Battle Royal.
Intercontinental Title #1 Contenders 25 Man Battle Royal
Humberto Carrillo vs. Angel Garza vs. Mace vs. Mansoor vs. Erik vs. Ivar vs. Cedric Alexander vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Elias vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Xyon Quinn vs. Riddick Moss vs. JD McDonagh vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Dexter Lumis vs. Von Wagner vs. Mustafa Ali vs. Apollo Crews vs. Bronson Reed vs. Matt Riddle vs. Ricochet vs. Chad Gable vs. Otis vs. Baron Corbin
Everyone begins brawling with one another then Baron Corbin tosses Akira Tozawa out of the ring before Dexter Lumis eliminates Corbin. Maximum Male Models then eliminate Lumis & Alpha Academy tosses them out of the ring.
Ma.çé lands on the floor but Mån.sôör holds on to the top rope. Ma.çé catches him but Lumis stares them down scaring Ma.çé and causing him to drop Mån.sôör.
Dolph Ziggler sends JD McDonagh crashing to the floor with a superkick then Von Wagner tosses Ziggler out of the ring but McDonagh then sends Ziggler crashing into the ring steps and uses them to target Ziggler’s ankle as we go to a break.
After the break Erik delivers a jumping knee to Bronson Reed then Viking Raiders then dump Cedric Alexander out of the ring and beat down Xyon Quinn before throwing him over the top rope.
Shelton Benjamin blindsides Viking Raiders but Viking Raiders eventually get the better of him and eliminate him then Viking Raiders begin brawling with Alpha Academy. Chad Gable gets Erik on the rope but Erik lands on his feet. He looks for a suplex but Gable escapes. Otis then eliminates Erik & Ivar then eliminates Gable as retaliation. Ivar & Otis then begin to brawl but Bronson Reed sends both men packing.
Elias, Ricochet, Mustafa Ali, Johnny Gargano, Riddick Moss, Matt Riddle & Apollo Crews work together to wear down Reed. Elias & Ricochet then begin to brawl as do Ali & Gargano. Gargano delivers a hurricanrana to Ali but Ali fires back with a senton then tosses Gargano over the top rope but Gargano hangs on. Ricochet then attacks Ali allowing Gargano to deliver a spear to him.
Ricochet then delivers a shooting star press to Gargano and looks to deliver a crossbody off the ropes to Riddick Moss but Moss plants Ricochet with a fallaway slam. Reed then levels him but Elias delivers a splash to him and gets Crews on his shoulders. Crews gets Elias on the apron and delivers an enziguri to eliminate him. Reed then clotheslines Crews to the outside.
Ali jumps Reed and looks to lock in a sleeper but Reed gets him off his back then Reed plants Gargano on top of Ricochet but Riddle executes a ripcord knee and Floating Bro then Moss catches Riddle with a shoulder tackle and runs the ropes in an effort to clothesline Riddle to the outside but Riddle tosses him over the top and Moss goes crashing to the floor.
Gargano then charges at Riddle but Riddle delivers a hurricanrana to him on the outside but Riddle winds up on the apron. Kaiser & Vinci charge at him but Riddle fights him off. Reed then sends him crashing to the floor to eliminate him.
We are now down to 3: Mustafa Ali, Ricochet & Bronson Reed & Ricochet delivers a knee and a dropkick to Reed and looks to dump him out of the ring as Ali helps him out but Reed lands on the apron. Ricochet & Ali then rain down right hands before Ricochet delivers a pair of dropkick.
Reed manages to hang on and Ricochet looks to go flying. Reed gets him on his shoulders, but Ali delivers a dropkick to Reed & this causes Ricochet and Reed to go crashing down to the floor.
Winner & #1 Contender To The Intercontinental Title: Mustafa Ali
Becky Lynch says The Man has come around to Greensboro. She says part of being The Man is admitting when you go through some stuff and while everyone has their struggles behind closed doors, we all put on a face to become the people we need to be. She says sometimes, one has to ask for help and that’s what she did with Trish Stratus & Lita. She says Lita was great and Stratus hadn’t skipped a beat since her last appearance in WWE. She says she let Stratus get close to her and her family, which caused her to be blinded. She thanks Stratus for hitting her in the back of her head and turning on a light that had been turned off for months. She says when Stratus called her daughter stupid, she reminded her that you have to stand up for the people you love most. Lynch says Stratus was number one, but now she is it. She says she will show Stratus how grateful she is when she kicks her head in at Night Of Champions.
We then head backstage and see Smackdown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley watching. Cathy Kelley approaches her and asks for her thoughts on Natalya’s return to Raw last week and Ripley tells Natalya to stay in her lane. Natalya then walks in and says she didn’t appear last week because she was diverging from her lane but because Ripley was attacking Dana Brooke. Ripley tells her to stop pretending that she cares about Brooke and puts her on notice. She tells her to never interrupt her again unless she wants her career to end. Dominik Mysterio walks in and tells Ripley it’s time to go. They hold hands and walk off.
Mysterio mocks Woods on the way to the ring and Woods says while he doesn’t have anyone to watch his back right now, he’s a grown man who can stand on his own two feet. He questions if Mysterio can say the same and asks if he has to get permission from Ripley to do anything.
Xavier Woods vs. Dominik Mysterio
Match starts off with a lock up then Xavier Woods delivers a shoulder tackle and a dropkick to Dominik Mysterio’s spine then goes for a pin but Mysterio kicks out. Mysterio delivers a knee to Woods’ midsection then fires off several stomps in the corner and gloats.
He then fires off several more knees but Woods plants him with a modified suplex. Dominik rolls to the outside and Woods follows but Mysterio hides behind Rhea Ripley which prevents Woods from getting to him as we go to a break.
After the break Mysterio delivers an uppercut to Woods then he sits him on the top rope and fires off a right hand but Woods fights him off and delivers a shotgun dropkick then fires off a series of right hands and a back elbow but Mysterio tosses him out of the ring.
Woods hops up on the apron and delivers a shoulder to Mysterio’s midsection but Mysterio drags him in the ring and executes 3 Amigos. He ascends to the top rope and looks for a Frog Splash but Woods gets his knees up and goes for a pin & Dominik kicks out and Woods catches him with a gutbuster before climbing to the top rope.
He looks for the double stomp but Ripley pulls Mysterio out of the ring. Woods goes flying over the top to take down Mysterio and tosses him back in the ring but Ripley gets in his face & this allows Dominik to deliver a dropkick to Woods’ spine from under the bottom rope then Ripley then tosses Woods back inside & Mysterio rolls Woods up for the win.
Winner: Dominik Mysterio
We then head to a video hyping up JD McDonagh.
We head backstage to Cathy Kelley catching up with McDonagh as he’s about to leave the arena. Kelley asks McDonagh why he attacked Ziggler & McDonagh says he did it in order to make a statement.
Tag Team Match
Indus Sher (Veer Mahaan & Sanga) vs. LaVar Barbie & Drake Thompson
Veer Mahaan takes out LaVar Barbie before tagging in Sanga then Drake Thompson tags in and Sanga tosses him inside. Sanga then delivers a splash and tags Mahaan back in. Sanga then delivers a body slam and Mahaan executes an elbow drop. Sanga delivers a big boot to Barbie then follows it up with a splash to his head. Sanga tags in and Indus Sher delivers their finisher for the win.
Winners: Indus Sher
After the match Jinder Mahal puts the roster on notice and says Indus Sher is coming for gold.
We then head backstage and see a confrontation between Imperium & Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens.
Cody Rhodes asks Greensboro what they want to talk about, then says he knows these grounds and this arena. He says the 1st Starrcade was held there and tells the tale of the scorpion and the frog. He says the scorpion is on one side of the river and needs help getting across. The frog says no because he says he’ll get stung and the scorpion says if he does, then they both drown. The frog agrees to help but the scorpion stings him halfway across the river. The frog asks why and the scorpion says it’s in his nature. He says Brock Lesnar is the same as the scorpion then mockingly asks how his eye is. Rhodes says when he looks in the mirror, he sees the man who did that and accepts Lesnar’s challenge at Night Of Champions. He says Lesnar is on top because he’s better than 99.9% of superstars who enter the ring. He says Lesnar wasn’t better than him at Backlash and says things between them aren’t about a championship but rather which one of them is the big thing on Raw. He says everyone called Lesnar The Next Big Thing and while they were right, he questions what happens when they just say next. Rhodes tells Lesnar he’s not The Next Big Thing anymore and says he’s in his way.
Women’s Tag Team Champion Raquel Rodriguez vs. Chelsea Green
Match starts off with Raquel Rodriguez delivers a boot to Chelsea Green then she sends her crashing into the top turnbuckle face first before Sonya Deville gets in her face and Green executes a backstabber. She delivers a clothesline and a forearm then follows it up with a chop block and a flatliner.
Rodriguez sends Green into the top turnbuckle then sends her crashing into the middle rope then follows it up with a dropkick and a pair of clotheslines then hits 3 fallaway slams and the corkscrew elbow before landing the Texana Bomb for the win.
Winner: Women’s Tag Team Champion Raquel Rodriguez
After the match Rodriguez looks to leave but Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler appear out of nowhere and blindside her. Rousey mocks Rodriguez and asks what she does with her title. She tells Rodriguez she’ll defend the Women’s Tag Team Titles with or without Morgan unless she wants to be beaten down every week. Baszler then delivers a running knee and they retreat.
After the break we go backstage as we see Gunther shaking hands with Paul Heyman.
We then head to part 2 of Corey Graves’ sit down interview with Seth Rollins. Graves says there have been many versions of Rollins since he exited The Shield then asks why the current version of him is the best. Rollins says his hands are on the wheel and he gets to experience the most authentic version of himself. He says there’s an organic relationship with himself and fans for the first time in his career. Graves asks why he should be crowned the new World Heavyweight Champion and Rollins says it’s because it’s time for change once again.
Non Title Match
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. Judgement Day (Finn Balor & Damian Priest)
Sami Zayn & Finn Balor lock up to get this match started then both men go back & forth with submission holds before Zayn delivers a pair of arm drags. Damian Priest tags in and delivers a right hand but Zayn sends him into the top turnbuckle face first. He ascends to the top and delivers an elbow drop.
Kevin Owens tags in and delivers a chop then fires off right hands. Priest delivers a kick to his face but Owens responds with a step up enziguri. He dumps Priest out of the ring and Balor charges at him.
Owens sends Balor out to join him as Rhea Ripley & Dominik Mysterio appear at ringside as we go to a break.
After the break Priest delivers a right hand to Zayn’s spine and tags in Balor. Zayn delivers a clothesline and tags in Owens as Balor tags in Priest & Owens rains down right hands on Priest then fires off several stomps.
Priest slides out of the ring and Owens follows him out there then delivers a senton and tosses Priest in the ring before taking down Balor & Priest on the outside then gets back in the ring and hits a cannonball then delivers a right hand and a stomp.
He runs the ropes but Dominik grabs his ankle but the referee catches Mysterio and ejects himself & Ripley from ringside much to their dismay. Xavier Woods jumps Mysterio on the ramp and they brawl to the back. Priest rolls up Owens back in the ring but Owens kicks out as Paul Heyman appears with his phone in hand as we go to a another break.
After an another break Priest delivers a knee to Owens’ midsection but Owens delivers a boot to Priest’s face and Priest responds with an elbow. Balor tags in and beats down Owens before Priest tags in and they deliver a backbreaker senton combination.
Priest sits Owens on the top before delivering a headbutt and joining him on the middle rope. Owens delivers a series of headbutts and an elbow that sends Priest crashing down then hits the Swanton Bomb then Zayn & Balor tag in. Zayn delivers a pair of clotheslines and a Michinoku Driver then goes for a pin but Balor kicks out.
Zayn then ascends to the top, and Balor delivers a sling blade. Zayn fires back with a Blue Thunder Bomb before Imperium appears at ringside. Balor rolls up Zayn but Zayn kicks out. Balor then plants Zayn but Zayn delivers an exploder in the corner and follows it up with a Helluva Kick then goes for a pin but Imperium distracts the referee and he doesn’t see the fall.
Priest then levels Owens before Zayn takes down Priest then he sets up for another Helluva Kick but Kaiser & Vinci distract the referee which allows Gunther to prevent Zayn from hitting it & this allows Balor to deliver a shotgun dropkick and the Coup De Grace for the win.
Winners: Judgement Day
Next Week’s Raw
6 Man Tag Team Match
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn & TBD vs. Imperium (Intercontienetal Champion Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci)
Zoey Stark vs. Candice LeRae
Night Of Champions Card So Far (May 27th)
Finals Of The World Heavyweight Title Tournament
Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles
Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles Match
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn (c) vs. The Bloodline (Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa)
Intercontienetal Title Match
Gunther (c) vs. Mustafa Ali
Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus
