The May 16th edition of Monday Night RAW took place at the Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, NC, and was the final episode before Sunday’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view.
– AJ Styles comes out to the ring to open the show and cut a promo on Roman Reigns. He says he’s sick of hearing from Roman Reigns that he’s a liar. Reigns comes out to interrupt and says the only thing that matters is his World Heavyweight Title. AJ says Roman is “the guy” that he’s going to beat on Sunday. The Usos come out and Reigns lays out Styles with a right hand. Gallows and Anderson meet Styles on the ramp and walk to the back with him.
– Sami Zayn vs Cesaro – No Contest: Kevin Owens and The Miz are both on commentary for this one. Cesaro starts the match off with a powerslam for a 2 count. Owens assaults The Miz at ringside during the match and they start brawling into the ring. All four men start brawling and the match is ruled a no-contest.
– Shane McMahon comes out while the four of them are still in the ring and says they’ll take their aggression out on each other tonight in tag-team form. He says Owens will team with The Miz to take on Sami Zayn and Cesaro tonight. Stephanie comes out and says the better teams would be The Miz & Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn. Shane agrees, and we have a match.
– Kevin Owens and Sami Sayn def. The Miz and Cesaro: Cesaro gets some offense in on Owens early on. Zayn taunts Owens from the apron, so Owens tags him in and tells him to do better. Cesaro sells his shoulder injury while working over Zayn, then The Miz tags himself in. Zayn and Owens argue with each other while tagging in and out. The Miz gets some offense in on Zayn while Owens taunts them both from the apron. Owens tags in and hits a second-rope missile dropkick on The Miz, then follows up with the cannonball in the corner for a 2 count. The Miz throws Cesaro out of the ring then tries to do the swing on Sami, but Cesaro comes back in and gives the Skull Crushing Finale to The Miz. Owens drags Cesaro out of the ring, then Sami hits a kick to the face on The Miz for the win. Owens lays out Sami after the match.
– Backstage, Chris Jericho says tonight Dean Ambrose is going to apologize to him for destroying his jacket. He says his jacket is more iconic to WWE than Andre The Giant, and he should have Ambrose arrested.
– Primo & Epico def. Scott Jackson and Brian Kennedy: “The Shining Stars” get in just about all of the offense in a short squash match. They cut promos before and after the match about how great Puerto Rico is.
– Backstage, Shane-o Mac is talking to Dean Ambrose.
– Ambrose comes out to the ring and demands that Chris Jericho come out and talk to him. Jericho comes out in a vest and scarf and says Ambrose is going to give him an apology. Ambrose doesn’t apologize, and challenges him to a match at Extreme Rules on Sunday. Jericho tells him he has a match, “you stupid idiot.” Jericho says he’s the real lunatic, and there’s no one crazier than him. Ambrose says he has a gift for him, and a steel cage with weapons hanging above it comes down from the ceiling. Ambrose calls it the “Ambrose Asylum” and says it’s made of twisted rusty steel. Some of the weapons hanging above the cage incluvde a kendo stick, a mop, a straight jacket, and a barbed-wire-wrapped 2×4.
– Becky Lynch vs. Dana Brooke: They go back and forth until Dana gets the upper hand after throwing Becky into the fan barricade at ringside. Becky comes back with a running forearm in the corner and a t-bone suplex for a 2 count. Becky tries a sunset flip on Dana, but Dana reverses it for the 1-2-3.
– Time for a life coach with Bob Backlund. He asks Darren Young for the time, but Young looks at his phone instead of his watch which upsets Backlund because he thinks he’s making a call. Backlund says being on time is important, and Young gets frustrated with Backlund’s lack of understanding of his smart phone. Backlund orders him to do 200 squats, and says “we are going to make Darren Young great again.”
– Backstage, Shane and Stephanie talk about some disagreements they’ve had lately. They get interrupted by The Dudley Boys, who say they want some “local little guys” to squash. Shane says that won’t happen, and one of them will have to face Big Cass tonight.
– Tyler Breeze & Fandango def. R Truth & Goldust: We get a video package before the match highlighting the history between these four. Goldust and R-Truth exchange tags to work on Breeze in the opening moments. R-Truth goes for a spinning heel kick on Tyler Breeze, but he ducks and Truth hits Goldust. Breeze throws Truth to the outside and pins Goldust for the win. Goldust leaves the ring angry after the match.
– In the back, Goldust and Truth argue about what happened in the ring. Truth tries to convince Goldust that the WWE Universe wants the Golden Truth.
– The New Day comes out to cut a promo on the Vaudevillians. They have a “time machine” made out of an old refrigerator box in the ring. They “go back in time” and come out with fake mustaches on. The Vaudevillains come out and ambush the Tag Team Champions.
–The Usos def. Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows: Styles and Reigns are both at ringside for this one. Jimmy and Anderson start things off. Jimmy gets the majority of the offense in then tags in Jey. Gallows comes in and takes control of the match until Jimmy gets the hot tag and hits a corkscrew moonsault for a 2 count. AJ and Roman start getting in each other’s faces at ringside. Jey hits a suicide dive over the top rope onto the Bullet Club members at ringside. Back in the ring, he hits a cross body splash off the top for 2 on Anderson. Jey goes up top but Anderson gets him with a boot to the face. Jey goes for a splash on Anderson but Anderson catches him and drops him with a spinebuster. The Usos come back and hit double superkicks on both Gallows and Anderson. Jey hits a splash off the top on Anderson for the win.
– After the match, Reigns and Styles come face to face until Gallows hits Reigns from behind. The Usos take Gallows and Anderson to the outside, leaving AJ alone in the ring with Reigns. AJ goes to hit Reigns with a chair but Reigns hits him with an uppercut. Reigns grabs the chair and uses it on AJ, then hits superman punches on the other Club members. Reigns turns around and walks into several chair shots from AJ. Styles then hits a Styles Clash on Roman Reigns onto the steel chair.
– Big Cass def. D-Von Dudley: Early on, Bubba goes for a table which distracts Cass and allows D-Von to attack him from behind. Big Cass comes back quickly and hits his spinning sit-out side slam finisher for the win in a very short match.
– Alberto Del Rio def. Kalisto: Del Rio controls the match until Kelisto hits a flying headscissor takedown. Kalisto tries to follow up with a hurricanrana to the outside, but Del Rio catches him and throws him into the fan barricade. Del Rio continues dishing out the offense back in the ring. Meanwhile in the back, we see Rusev attacking Sin Cara. Del Rio goes for a double foot stomp but Kalisto gets out of the way and hits a hurricanrana that sends Del Rio off the middle rope. Kalisto makes a comeback with some springboard splashes for a 2-count, while Rusev beats down Sin Cara at ringside now. Kalisto gets distracted and Del Rio hits the back stabber for the 3 count. Rusev beats down both Lucha Dragons after the match.
– Shane and Stephanie are in the ring to oversee the contract signing for the Women’s Championship match at Extreme Rules. Wooo! The Nature Boy Ric Flair comes out with a microphone to tell everyone to stand up and properly welcome his daughter. Charlotte and Ric head down to the ring, followed by Natalya. Natalya cuts a promo on Charlotte about how she’s changed. Charlotte talks about how she’s great because she’s a Flair, and Natalya’s another Hart who’s a failure. Shane and Stephanie add a stipulation that if Ric Flair walks down to the ring at Extreme Rules, Charlotte has to forfeit the Women’s Championship. After the contract is signed, Ric Flair starts cutting a promo on Stephanie, saying she’s the worst businesswoman of all time. Flair takes his coat off and gets in Shane’s face. He bounces off the ropes and tries to fight Shane, but Shane doesn’t want to. Stephanie gets in Flair’s face and slaps him. Charlotte goes for Stephanie but Natalya steps in the way and puts Charlotte in the Sharpshooter to close out the show.