Monday Night RAW aired from the Heritage Bank Centre in Cincinnati, Ohio featuring 2 championship rematches, and a Championship open challenge in the night. The kick-off match of the night was a monstrous one which was the WWE Championship match, as Lashley hasn’t moved on a bit, confronting Big E in a backstage segment for a rematch, to which E agrees. Lashley has set his focus on the Championship he shouldn’t have lost in the first place.
Big E vs. Bobby Lashley
WWE Championship Match
The two Bulls lock horns in the first match of the night, making it an absolute dope start of the night taking the fight both in and out the ring. Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander have arrived on the scene and it looks like The Hurt Business is Back in Business! The New Day crashes in and a brawl takes place inside the ring, leading to a disqualification. WWE Official Adam Pearce doesn’t want things to end like this and makes it official for tonight’s Main Event will be the Championship Match Inside a STEEL CAGE.
Angel Garza vs. Erik
Garza capitalized in the match in the beginning but Erik hit a massive suplex taking him down. Carillo provided a distraction towards the apron, thanks to Garza’s Pants. Garza then hit a Superkick and a Wing Clipper and picked up a victory, providing a relatively short match. Garza and Carillo are really promising and athletic, picking up some great momentum in the tag team division.
Reggie vs. Ricochet
24×7 Championship Match
It’s sad to see the former US Champ chasing for the 24×7 title. We also witness the other title contestants sitting at the ringside, observing the match. Reggie avoided Ricochet’s most of the early offense until he performed a dive outside the ring. The ringside contestants see the moment and decide to crash in, leading to a DQ. Reggie managed to escape them all.
Keith ‘Bearcat’ Lee vs. Akira Tozawa
After being attacked by Reggie, Tozawa stays in the ring grasping his abdomen and demand for a match against anyone in the locker room. Keith Lee answers the call. Lee absolutely squashed Tozawa, tossing him through the top rope and then planting him into a Big Bang Catastrophe for the win. Bearcat Lee looked really cool in the beard and popped like a massive heel in the match.
Damian Priest vs. Sheamus
United States Championship No Holds Barred Match
This match being a no DQ was brutal to witness taking it back and forth. Although Priest had the upper hand in the beginning, Sheamus capitalized well over Priest and take things Extreme with dangerous spots like Priest hitting Superman Punch through the steps, Sheamus planting a White Noise through the table, attacking the champion with Kendo Sticks, and a Stage Dive to the Barricades, and crazy near fall with back to back counters and reversals. Priest countered Sheamus’ attack and sent through the table, planted a Reckoning, and picked up the victory to retain his title for the second time in a week.
Jinder Mahal, Veer, and Shanky vs. Jeff Hardy, Ali & Mansoor
6-Man Tag Team Match
This was an Interesting tag mix with Hardy getting a good amount of TV time and Mansoor and Ali gaining themselves some momentum for the team. Mahal’s team had the power advantage as he had some massive powerhouse athletes. Ali started flying but Shanky just slammed him. Veer and Mahal and Shanky had the upper advantage and absolutely knocked out the opponent by a massive lariat for the win.
Karrion Kross vs. Jaxson Ryker
Ryker taunts Kross and makes him nothing but mad and ruthless. He blocked the first attempt of Kross’ Kross jacket submission hold and tried hitting his own moves. It didn’t work as Kross countered and hit a Doomsday Saito Suplex, and locked Ryker into the Kross Jacket again for the victory.
AJ Styles vs. Riddle
As Riddle has no backup tonight as Orton has taken some time off. They really managed to put on a good match and Styles won clean, without any interruptions. As Riddle set himself for an RKO, Styles blocked the offense and hit a Styles Clash for the victory.
After The Match: Omos destroyed an already vulnerable Riddle with a Chokeslam before leaving the ring.
Charlotte Flair vs. Doudrop
WWE RAW Women’s Championship Open Challenge Match
Doudrop is a strong competitor and not to be messed around with. Charlotte Flair got the hint of that and tried slamming her but it is very difficult to do so. Doudrop was dominating the champion with a wild Senton until Eva Marie arrived on the scene. This distracted the Challenger and opened a path for the champion, who attacked Doudrop from behind and hit a Natural Selection for the win.
After The Match: Flair hit Eva Marie with a Clothesline and takes her down
Goldberg makes an appearance and makes sure that he will get his revenge against Lashley for what he did to his son. He also said that he hopes to get lucky enough to kill the former WWE Champion.
Eva Marie is still in the ring after the attack, confronting the WWE Universe for disrespecting her while Shayna Baszler came down and attacked her again. She dragged Eva Marie outside and hit a stomp on the steel steps and did the same thing she did to Nia Jax a week ago. Eva was screaming and looks like Baszler is enjoying all of this.
Big E vs. Bobby Lashley
WWE Championship Steel Cage Match
It’s MAIN EVENT TIME with Steel Cage Brutality! Champion Big E takes on Challenger Bobby Lashley. Lashley attacked E before entering the cage and a fight broke out before the bell. Lashley dominated Big E and tossed him into the steel steps and barricades. After the break, the match was finally underway as The Champion was being dominated. Big E gained some momentum back and hit a Spear but The All-Mighty blocked the Big Ending. Lashley tried to escape but E downed him and tried to escape. But then, The Hurt Business arrived and attacked E on the top of the cage avoiding him to exit. Woods and Kingston came down to equalize the odds and Woods slammed the Cage Door in Lashley’s Face, and both took the Hurt Business Down. Both of the teams were later banned from the ringside as they caused interference. The All-Mighty almost walked out of the ring but E grabbed him but was put down. The Champion then hit a Big Ending for a near fall, and Lashley hit back with an attempt to get out of the ring. Big E finally caught Lashley from the second rope, hitting a massive Big Ending, stood victorious, and retained his title.
After The Match: Former Champion Drew Mcintyre walked out to the stage and stared down at E, laying out a challenge to him as RAW went off the air.
Analysis: This show was an absolute Grade A+ with ‘Bearcat’ Lee rocking the bearded look and being a destroyer to a Brutal Steel Cage Match and the US Championship No Holds Barred Match as well. Tonight was about providing proper time to the RAW roster. Also, The Hurt Business Reunion was absolutely unexpected and huge. WWE has understood the seriousness of the competition and provided a great show with Extreme Action, probably even better than the Extreme Rules pay-per-view.