WWE Raw results, recap, grades: Christian's in-ring return punted by Randy Orton in high-stakes show - CBSSports.com

One night after the Backlash pay-per-view, WWE delivered fans a highly entertaining edition of Raw. While the headlines coming into the show revolved around Rey Mysterio's son, Dominick, taking up Seth Rollins on his invitation to come to Raw, the talk coming out of the show will center around the surprise in-ring return of Christian, even if the return was a spectacular failure for the long-retired superstar.

The show opened with Randy Orton in the ring, addressing his victory over Edge in the "Greatest Wrestling Match Ever" at Backlash. Orton talked about ending Edge's career for good and the feeling of once again becoming "The Legend Killer" only to be interrupted by Christian. Orton's response to Christian's fiery interruption was to challenge him to an unsanctioned match in an attempt to avoid the fact that Christian hadn't been medically cleared to return to competion.

Christian spent the rest of the night internally debating the idea of returning to action to take on Orton, who had told him everyone would know he is a coward if he didn't accept by the end of the night. He was also visited by Big Show and Ric Flair, who both offered moral support, though Flair suggested Christian not take Orton up on his offer.

In the end, Christian did accept and as the match was set to start to close the show, Flair made his way to the ring to discourage Christian from going ahead with the bout. Christian told him he had to do it and the bell rang, only for Flair to deliver a low blow and allow Orton to score a punt and pin immediately. Orton hovered over Christian and the medics attending to him alternating between concern for Christian's health and anger of Christian making him take him out.

It was a spectacular storyline that weaved from the show's open to close and will build to bigger things, including a possible showdown between Christian and Orton at Extreme Rules. Orton is, in all honesty, doing work that approaches the best he has done in decades of work in the WWE ring.

You can see all the results, updates and grades from the three hours of action below, including what happened when Drew McIntyre's WWE championship ended up on the line in a tag match.

WWE Raw results, grades

Randy Orton threw down a challenge for an unsanctioned match with Christian: Orton was out to start the show, fresh off beating Edge in the "Greatest Wrestling Match Ever." Orton said he humiliated and embarrassed Edge at Backlash, but also gave him closure. He also said his victory makes him the "greatest wrestler ever," and he doesn't need a title to prove that. Orton then thanked Edge for reminding him what it feels like to be the Legend Killer, and would thank Edge in person, but can't because he tore Edge's triceps off the bone. After saying he hoped their paths crossed again in nine years, Christian's music hit and he made his way to the ring.

Christian said Edge is cold, calculating and a son of a bitch. In addition, Christian said Orton doesn't get a say in how Edge's story ends. Orton cut Christian off and said he sees the look in his eye and knows Christian wants one more match, which Christian denied after Orton said he knows Christian isn't medically cleared, but challenged him to an unsanctioned match later tonight, an offer that would expire at the end of the night. Orton then said if Christian doesn't accept, it confirms he is a coward. This is a hot angle to start Raw and the idea of Christian in action again has come out of nowhere in the last 24 hours. Grade: A

Kevin Owens def. Angel Garza via pinfall after a Stunner. A Garza interview before the match was interrupted by Andrade, promising more conflict between Zelina Vega's boys. In the match, Garza tried to attack the knee immediately after the bell, but Owens avoided the attack and took the action to Garza. Andrade's music hit and the former United States champion came to ringside, with no clear target after tensions have been simmering in Vega's camp. Moments later, Garza and Andrade got into an argument at ringside before Vega stopped them, said she is "sick of this," and walked to the back. Andrade remained at ringside for the match. Not long after, Owens hit Garza with a Stunner for the three-count. He briefly stared down Andrade before leaving the ring. Vega made her way back into the ring as Andrade and Garza argued. Vega told them to stop fighting against each other and start fighting together before the group left the ring. The story of Vega's camp is interesting, but the match between Garza and Owens needed more time. Grade: B-

Bobby Lashley told Lana he wants a divorce: MVP blamed Lana -- and only Lana -- for Lashley's loss to Drew McIntyre at Backlash. MVP said McIntyre should have given Lashley an immediate rematch after Lana defied orders to "leave her behind" backstage. Lana then interrupted, saying she put Lashley's career over her own career and has done everything for her husband. Lana said everything went bad when MVP showed up in Lashley's life before calling Lana a "THOT." Lashley sided with MVP, saying she ruined everything at Backlash and he's sick of her broadcasting their personal life on social media, using him to get famous. Lana said if she did anything to get famous, she should have slept with someone way more famous than Lashley. At that point, Lashley said he wanted a divorce and left Lana alone, crying in the ring. It's good to see them trying to move this storyline along, and will be better if they separate the Lana and Lashley pairing that never clicked like the promotion wanted. Grade: C+

The Viking Raiders & The Street Profits def. Akira Tozawa's Ninjas via pinfall: The Raiders and Profits were interviewed backstage, asked about the stalemate their rivalry had reached following their cinematic non-match at Backlash. The teams began talking about "assembling" in a cinematic universe. They were then interrupted by Akira Tozawa and his ninjas, including the giant sword-wielding ninja from Backlash, as Tozawa called for a sequel. The match lasted only minutes before a pair of top rope splashes brought the contest to a close. After the match, Tozawa entered the ring with the giant ninja. At that point, The Big Show's music hit and he entered the ring to back up the "Viking Profits" and the group cleared the ring with Tozawa and Giant Ninja leaving the ring. This was odd and the whole angle has been so random, with the Raw tag titles remaining idle, not having been defended in over two months. But, Tozawa back on TV in a featured role is a hard thing to hate. Later in the show, Big Show told the teams the obvious way to end their rivalry was an actual wrestling match on next week's Raw. Grade: C

Dominick Mysterio executed a hit and run on Seth Rollins: Rollins was in the ring to discuss his invitation to Rey and Dominick Mysterio, when Rey interrupted. Mysterio said he didn't know his son was on his way to the Performance Center until it was too late and told Rollins not to do anything. Rollins said Dominick is already a part of the "greater good" and encouraged Rey to tell his son to join him on his mission and that if Dominick wasn't part of the solution, he is a part of the problem. And, being a part of the problem would mean Dominick would need to be sacrificed. Rey said that he would "end" Rollins if he hurt his son. As Rollins was on his knees talking to Mysterio on the screen, Dominick snuck into the ring and took Rollins down. Murphy and Austin Theory tried to trap him in the ring, but Dominick was able to elude them and escape through the crowd. Rollins continues doing a great job in the role and Dominick has been solid every time he has gotten physically involved in any sort of in-ring action. Grade: B

The IIconics def. Liv Morgan & Natalya via pinfall after a Fall from Grace on Morgan. This was a short match, with Morgan seemingly having the match wrapped up with Peyton Royce distracted the ref long enough to allow the duo to take back over and take down Morgan to score the win. After the match, the IIconics threw down a challenge for Bayley and Sasha Banks to face them in a tag title match instead of having to wrestle in a triple threat like at Backlash. When Bayley and Banks didn't come to the ring, they said the match would be made for next week. Later in the show, Bayley accepted the match after an IIconic slap to the face of Banks. Grade: C

Apollo Crews def. Shelton Benjamin via pinfall after a roll-up. Before the match, MVP confronted Crews backstage and criticized him for being a fighting champion. He then said the only way Crews would remain champion is if he was by his side. Quickly after the start of the match, Benjamin tried to cheat his way to victory, using a roll-up and putting his feet on the ropes for leverage. After the referee caught the attempt to cheat, Crews caught his own roll-up and grabbed on to the ropes to secure the pin. It was a short match, but helpful for Crews' character to show he isn't a naive, all-smiles babyface. Grade: C+

WWE Championship -- Drew McIntyre (c) & R-Truth def. Bobby Lashley & MVP via pinfall as McIntyre retained his title: R-Truth's mouth led to the match being made as "winners take all" with the WWE and 247 titles on the line. When McIntyre was upset with the move, Truth "fixed things" by making it so only McIntyre's title was up for grabs in the match, but begged the WWE champion to trust him. At the start of the match, Lashley and McIntyre got things going with some very rugged grappling and striking before Truth made a blind tag, catching McIntyre off guard and leading to MVP and Lashley taking over the action. After taking a beating, Truth hit MVP with a leg lariat and made the hot tag to McIntyre. McIntyre hit MVP with a Future Shock DDT, but Lashley broke up the pin but then when he tried to attack Truth on the outside, Truth hit a drop toe hold onto the ring steps and McIntyre blasted MVP with a Claymore. McIntyre then made a tag to MVP and helped launch him from the top rope with a splash to let Truth score the pin. Something about the little finishing touch of McIntyre letting MVP have the moment added a special bit of spice to the match, which was otherwise a bit of a throwaway after a lot of build through the night. Grade: B

Raw Women's Championship -- Asuka (c) def. Nia Jax via pinfall to retain the title with a schoolboy pin. Jax tried to bring the power, but every time she seemed to have something going, Asuka locked up submission holds. Jax finally took over when Asuka tried for a baseball slide to the outside but was caught and powerbombed on the floor. Asuka made a comeback before Nax cut off a kick flurry with a big headbutt and a Samoan drop but Asuka's foot was under the bottom rope. Jax shoved the ref to the floor. As the referee was about to call for the disqualification, Asuka rolled up Jax with a schoolboy pin for the win. The count by the ref was fast, with Jax costing herself big by shoving the ref. This was a better match and ending than the mess at Backlash and likely continues their path to an Extreme Rules match. Grade: B-

Unsanctioned Match -- Randy Orton def. Christian via pinfall: Christian debated accepting the match throughout the night, making phone calls and being visited by Ric Flair and Big Show, who both offered their opinions on the situation. Ultimately, Christian accepted the match, saying he couldn't allow Orton to disrespect him. After both Christian and Orton were in the ring when Ric Flair made his way to the ring and told Christian not to go ahead with the match. Christian said he needed to do this and the bell rang to start the match. Flair dropped down behind Christian and hit him with a low blow. With Christian down on the canvas, Orton drilled him with a punt, rolled him over and scored the pin. This was brutal both in the punt delivered by Orton and the betrayal of Flair. After the pin, Orton yelled at Christian that he shouldn't have come. The story involving Orton, Edge and Christian has managed to wind into new and compelling places even as Edge has been sidelined by injury. Grade: A

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Entertainment - Latest - Google News
June 16, 2020 at 10:37AM
https://ift.tt/2BcekSi

WWE Raw results, recap, grades: Christian's in-ring return punted by Randy Orton in high-stakes show - CBSSports.com
Entertainment - Latest - Google News
https://ift.tt/2RiDqlG


Bagikan Berita Ini