Monday Night Raw: Recap 5/13/19

Raw comes to us from the United Kingdom this week at the O2 arena. The crowds overseas are always fun. This was the go-home Raw before Money in the Bank this Sunday. Even though it had a few moments, it did not fully feel like a go home show. Let’s get into the recap as I cover the key moments from this week’s show!

The show kicked off with Miz TV. Miz talks about the significance of the Money in the Bank Ladder Match and even compared winning the briefcase to having all the infinity stones. That is definitely an interesting comparison. His guest this week was The Big Dog, Roman Reigns. Miz asks what we can expect in his match Sunday against Elias. Roman says he is young, strong, and charismatic, but Elias has not won anything in WWE yet, which are all valid points. If we need a wedding singer or someone for karaoke, then we can walk with Elias. That was a good one by Roman.

Roman tries to fire Miz up by getting him to talk about Shane and their match this Sunday inside of a steel cage. That is the Miz he wants to hear from. Miz talks about earning the respect of the WWE universe after 13 years. He mentions Shane being privileged and having a silver spoon in his mouth. He may not be the biggest or the strongest, but he knows how to win and bring the fight. Miz said he will take Shane down faster than his father (Vince) took a Superman Punch in their match.

Shane comes out and reminds both guys that he is still their boss. Out of nowhere comes Elias and Bobby Lashley to attack Miz and Roman. This was a clear set up by Shane. He makes a tag match featuring Elias and Lashley vs. Miz and Roman. Shane remained ringside for the match. Miz and Elias kick off the match. Roman is tagged in, and of course, Elias runs and eventually tags Lashley. Typical heel tactics presented there.

When Elias gets back in, we see him hit Taker’s “Old School,” where he walks across the ropes. He actually did it quite well. Miz and Roman worked pretty well together. Miz did Daniel Bryan kicks on both Elias and Lashley. The match would end in a DQ when Shane pulled Roman off the ring apron. All three men attack the Miz and Roman after the match. They end up outside the ring. Next thing you see is Roman flying over the top rope, taking everyone out. They get back in the ring, and Roman hits a couple of Superman Punches. I like Shane as a heel. McMahons are always better heel.

We had several other matches tonight. Mojo Rawley picked up a win against Apollo Crews with his new gimmick. He is trying to be more aggressive and less frat boy. I do not know if this will work for him, but I like Mojo and feel he could be a decent mid-carder if used correctly.

Cesaro and Rey Mysterio had an awesome match. These two need to mix it up again. Cesaro is so underrated. He hit a vicious uppercut on Rey that just about knocked him out. This match came about after Cesaro took a shot at Mysterio’s son, asking if he was even Rey’s kid. They traded blows in the locker room soon after. Rey won with a 619, followed by a frog splash that Eddie Guerrero would be proud about.

A fatal four-way match took place between Naomi, Natalya, Dana Brooke, and Nikki Cross, who took Alexa Bliss’ place. Bliss was originally supposed to compete here. They had a segment where Alexa weaseled her way out of the match by trying to be friendly with Nikki, since her ring gear was “lost.” It seems like they are trying to make Nikki’s character act more normal. If you follow her Instagram, she has been posting lots of pictures with herself looking more girly. I don’t think that is the right move, but we shall see. Maybe they will do a split personality gimmick with her. Now that would be fun to watch.

Now back to the match. It was good. Alexa Bliss came out to do commentary. Naomi really shined here for me. Dana Brooke had a nice moment too when she did a dive off a ladder on the outside of the ring. Nikki goes under the ladder to hit a spear on Natalya. She would go on to pick up the win with a twisting neckbreaker on Nattie. Alexa comes down to congratulate her. Nikki tried to climb the ladder in the ring, but she is stopped by Alexa, who goes up and grabs the briefcase that was hanging above the ring. I got a feeling Nikki plays a role in the Woman’s Money in the Bank Match Sunday. After tonight’s actions, that could be a strong possibility.

Ricochet loses to Baron Corbin in singles action. That is a real shame. Ricochet should not be losing to someone like him. I never liked Corbin since his days in NXT. Ricochet was very impressive here. He is like a real-life video game character. The match was not awful, but Corbin did not need the win here. It does nothing for Ricochet. Hopefully he is not misused on the main roster like so many NXT stars have been.

The two highlights of the night for me were the contract signing with Lacey Evans, Charlotte Flair, and The Man, Becky Lynch and the fourth installment of the Firefly Fun House.

Let’s start with the contract signing. All three ladies are in the ring with Michael Cole. The crowd breaks into a Becky 2 Belts chant. Becky says she knows she will take a beating in these matches since both ladies are a lot bigger and stronger then she is. Charlotte wonders why Becky still has to take digs at her when she has it all.

Lacey says it is time to clean up the nasties and bring the class back to the Raw Woman’s Championship come Sunday. Lacey actually was siding with Charlotte most of the segment. It is usually all about her, but I guess she sees her as the only one on her level.

Lacey gave the line of the night when she told Becky she can continue to pretend to swing around something she does not have. The look on Becky’s face afterward was priceless. They sign the contract, and, of course, it had to end in physicality.

The three go at it. Becky tries to get Lacey in the dis-arm-her. Charlotte comes in with a big boot to take Becky out. Both Lacey and Charlotte work together to hit a double powerbomb through the table in the ring. The two ladies stand tall holding up the belts. They are ready for Sunday.

The Firefly Fun House took a dark turn tonight. Bray mentions that he has a secret to share. It starts off pleasant like all the other segments have, but Bray showed that his secret had a very evil element to it.

He appears looking very much like Sweet Tooth from the Twisted Metal game. A big lesson was learned here. You have to be patient as a wrestling fan. People thought this gimmick would be awful for Bray. He now appears more evil and more twisted than ever before. If they continue on this path, this could be this best thing we have seen on WWE TV in years. I can not wait to see where this goes.

In our main event, we get Sami Zayn vs. Braun Strowman in a Falls Count Anywhere Match. Braun was scheduled to face Drew McIntyre, but that changed when Braun was called into Shane’s office after Sami complained about how he was treated last week after being hurled in a dumpster. What else was at stake here was Braun’s Money in the Bank spot. If Sami wins, he is in, and Braun is out.

The match starts in the ring. Braun hit his running shoulder tackle on Sami outside the ring. They end up brawling in the crowd. Next thing they are backstage. Baron Corbin gets involved as well as Drew McIntyre. They do everything they can to try to take out Braun. Corbin puts Braun through the merchandise shirt table. They end up back in the arena and they are up in the stage area. Braun starts stacking ladders on top of Sami.

Drew and Corbin get involved once again. They attack Braun and hit a double suplex through one of the ladders. McIntyre then hit a Claymore Kick on him. Corbin drags Sami over to cover Braun. Both guys hold down Sami to ensure the pinfall. Sami is now in the Money in the Bank Match.

Braun was not happy. He gets up and chases after Sami. He gets a hold of him by the announce table. Braun picks him up and chokeslams Sami through the table.

This is good for Sami but bad for Braun. He had so much momentum not that long ago. It seems every time they try to push him, they are afraid to fully invest in him. For me, it goes back to WrestleMania last year, where he teamed with the kid. He has not been the same since. Hopefully he gets it together.

They showed a couple of nice video packages hyping the match between AJ Styles and Seth Rollins. WWE always does a very good job with their videos. Sarah Schreiber interviewed both guys backstage.

AJ talked about coming into WWE with a chip on his shoulder. Raw was Rollins show until he arrived. He said he will walk in a challenger and walk out a champion.

Seth mentioned when he was interviewed that he has something to prove to himself, AJ, and the WWE Universe. I like how he mentioned the match the two had 15 years ago when he was still a teenager. They actually had some video footage of that. It was pretty cool.

That was petty much it for Raw this week. Like most shows, it had its moments. It was not perfect, but it was pretty good.

Thank goodness we did not get any more awful segments with the Usos and The Revival. These are two good teams that do not need that. The Revival did appear and say that the time for making fun of them is over. Maybe now they can focus on their wrestling and less on the antics.

Money in the Bank is this Sunday, and I am crossing my fingers that it will be a good show. I will be back later this week to recap NXT.