This week’s episode of Monday Night Raw kicked off with Stephanie McMahon coming down to the ring holding a gift bag. Shane McMahon interrupted her immediately and Stephanie laughed it off. Stephanie McMahon gives Shane the gift which turns out to be the framed photo Vince McMahon smashed with his foot, only she had it fixed up. Kevin Owens comes down to the ring and demands a shot at the Intercontinental Championship. Eventually, Cesaro comes down and says Kevin Owens cost him the title last night at WWE Payback. Stephanie and Shane McMahon then make a match between Owens and Cesaro to determined the number one contender to the Miz.
Cesaro vs Kevin Owens
The Miz and Maryse joined the announcer’s table for this match. It was only a matter of time before he got involved in the match. Cesaro attacked the Miz outside the ring and when the Miz retaliated, he subsequently got Kevin Owens disqualified. Sami Zayn came down to the ring and cleaned house and celebrated in the middle of the ring with the Intercontinental Championship. The Miz and Maryse looked on in anger.
Crowd wants Sami Zayn…#RAW #ICTitle pic.twitter.com/OKvLoGf7k0
— Riz. (@johncenaAm) May 3, 2016
Goldust vs Tyler Breeze
R-Truth and Fandango were at ringside. R-Truth wanted to form a tag team with Tyler Breeze called the Gorgeous Truth. R-Truth had a stick with a phone taped to it to mimic Tyler Breeze’s selfie-stick. Â Goldust was getting jealous that R-Truth was looking at his phone rather than at him dancing in the ring. Tyler Breeze got the win via a roll-up and that might have been Breeze’s first win in the WWE. Tyler Breeze fans may be celebrating throughout the world, everyone else is wondering what in the world they just watched.
Breaking News! Tyler Breeze wins a match! This brings his record for 2016 to 1-87 #RAW #WWE
— AnythingGeeky (@All_the_Geeks) May 3, 2016
Sweet God, I've screamed myself hoarse over @MmmGorgeous's #RawSaintLouis win, lol. Someone get me a lozenge. =D
— Plenipotentiary Rose (@JuanaBreeze) May 3, 2016
New Day & Big Cass vs. The Vaudevillains & The Dudley Boyz
Before the match there was a promo between all of these performers. Not known for his mic skills, Big Cass actually stole the promo with some funny lines. When the match started, things were not looking good for Big Cass and the New Day. Kofi Kingston was stuck in the ring for a long time as the Dudley Boyz and the Vaudevillians beat him down. Kofi finally got the tag to Big Cass and he took over the entire match. The crowd was into the match and cheering loudly for Big Cass. The match ended with Big Cass hitting D-Von Dudley with the East River Crossing for the pin-fall.
Big Cass holding his own makes me smile. #Raw #RawStLouis
— The Fan's Podcast (@TheFansPodcast) May 3, 2016
I’m so happy for Big Cass. He’s out here cutting short but powerful promos and looking like a million bucks
— Money D. Luffy (@Adamatopoeia) May 3, 2016
Becky Lynch vs Emma
This was a back and forth match but everything changed when Emma cheated. Emma thumbed Becky Lynch in her injured eye which led to her getting the victory.
Emma now using a michinoku driver as her finisher! #ThisIsAwesome #RAW
— ricky loves sabrina (@dovelymoon) May 3, 2016
The Ambrose Asylum with Guest Stephanie McMahon
In this edition of the Ambrose Asylum, Dean Ambrose attempted to do some “investigative journaling”.
Going to work on my investigative journaling.
— Dan Gelston (@APgelston) May 3, 2016
Ambrose was trying to get Stephanie McMahon to admit that she now has to share control of Monday Night Raw with her brother Shane. Stephanie McMahon played it off until Ambrose finally got under her skin. Stephanie McMahon cancelled the Ambrose Asylum and said it was being replaced by the Highlight Reel. Chris Jericho sent out a cryptic tweet hinting that he was leaving the WWE again, but apparently that is not the case. Jericho took out Ambrose with his potted plant named “Mitch” and stood over him with his hand raised.
That whole thing I was saying NOT THE PLANT NOT THE PLANT PLEASE!!! I hope #DeanAmbrose Mich 2 and gets revenge #RAW pic.twitter.com/CjqBctSMh9
— Jj's WWE Asylum (@WWE_Nagato) May 3, 2016
Battle Royal to Determine the #1 Contender for the United States Championship
Dolph Ziggler eliminated Baron Corbin and Corbin lost hit. He grabbed Ziggler and dragged him out of the ring and completely knocked him out. He then rolled a lifeless Ziggler into the ring and Rusev eliminated him. It looks like the Corbin/Ziggler feud is far from over. It was looking like Zack Ryder would find a way back into the title picture by winning this battle royal. It was down to him and Rusev and Ryder was dominating. The crowd was chanting “Woo!” but it was all for not. Rusev tossed Ryder over the top rope and became the #1 contender to Kalisto’s U.S. Title. It wasn’t long ago that Rusev was billed as a major bad guy in the company and held the U.S. Title for almost a year. Hopefully, this leads to him getting another title run in the future and him getting back into the main-event picture. It was looking like that was going to be the case when he was having solid matches with John Cena, but for some reason that didn’t work out. Things should be different this time because the guy is clearly very talented.
https://twitter.com/WWEtalk24_7/status/727323796424785921
Charlotte and Ric Flair come down to the ring and ask that referee Charles Robinson joins them. He does and claimed that Natalya was screaming to have the match stopped. Ric Flair and Charles Robinson have been friends since WCW, and Ric Flair even calls him “Little Naitch”. Natalya comes out and knocks Charlotte out of the ring and puts Ric Flair in the Sharpshooter. After the promo, Ric and Charlotte are walking backstage complaining about what just happened. Stephanie McMahon confronts them and sets up a rematch between Natalya and Charlotte at Extreme Rules. The match will be a submission match and Ric Flair is barred from ringside.
Charlotte vs Natalya in a submission match at Extreme Rules with Ric Flair barred from ringside. Sounds great!!
— Stephanie (@StephaniePine19) May 3, 2016
AJ Styles, Gallows & Anderson vs Roman Reigns & the Usos
Styles was getting frustrated at Gallows and Anderson for getting involved in the match while he was in the ring. This match wound up turning into absolute chaos with everyone fighting outside the ring. AJ Styles, Gallows and Anderson wound up getting the victory but what happened after the match was much more interesting. Gallows and Anderson were trying to get Styles to hit Reigns with a chair, but he refused. Styles was then hit in the back with a chair by the Usos, who also took out Gallows and Anderson. AJ Styles retaliated by hitting both of the Usos with a chair, which set Roman Reigns off. Reigns dismantled AJ Styles and then power-bombed him through the table. So in summary, the only reason AJ Styles used a chair at all is because he was hit with one. This storyline is bonkers because AJ Styles is refusing to be the heel on purpose, and Roman Reigns is finding it impossible to be the babyface. The only real bad guys so far are Gallows and Anderson, Styles is consistently aggravated with their actions. At the very least, I’m interested to see how this all plays out at Extreme Rules and the weeks to come.
@WWERomanReigns Epic powerbomb!! Roman Empire rises once again #BelieveThat #RAW @WWEUniverse pic.twitter.com/CPJoamxxYU
— Aleister (@Norwegian_Punk) May 3, 2016
Final Thoughts: There are some interesting storylines going on right now, but I would hardly define this as a “new era” of Monday Night Raw. The WWE is claiming that it is but for the most part this was a pretty standard episode of Monday Night Raw. What did you think of this week’s Monday Night Raw? Let us know in the comments below.
