A Room with a Review: Raw 06/15/20

This edition of Raw was the closest thing to Attitude Era I’ve seen in a while, and not in a bad way. Read on for everything that happened in this busy episode.

• The show is starting off with Randy Orton, fresh off defeating Edge in The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever™. Edge tore his tricep in the match and had to have surgery. Orton says that Edge ignited a fire that he hasn’t felt since he was the Legend Killer. Out comes Edge’s best friend, Christian, who had a fantastic program with Orton nearly ten years ago. Randy says that Christian wants one more match, but he denies it, as he is not medically cleared. Orton counters by challenging him to an unsanctioned match, which means that the WWE won’t be liable if Christian gets injured. Randy says that he has until the end of the night to decide.

• Charly Caruso is backstage with Angel Garza and Zelina Vega. Garza tried to help Andrade on Sunday at Backlash, but it backfired. Vega tells Charly that there is no contention between her clients, but it looks like a little friction exists between Garza and Andrade.

• Our first match of the evening is Angel Garza w/ Zelina Vega against Kevin Owens. The match starts quickly, but both combatants pause as Andrade’s music hits and he saunters down to ringside. He gets into it a little with Garza, and Vega says she’s had enough before walking to the back. Andrade tries to distract Owens, but distracts Garza instead, leading to a stunner and a KO victory. Vega comes back down and tells them they need to stop fighting each other and start fighting together.

• MVP and Bobby Lashley are talking backstage when they get interrupted by Sarah Schreiber, who wants to know about Lana’s role in Lashley’s loss at Backlash. MVP basically tells her that this is an A-B conversation, so C you’re way out.

• After a commercial break, MVP and Lashley head to the ring. MVP blames Lana for Lashley’s loss and demands a rematch from Drew McIntyre. Lana comes out and says that she’s done everything for her Bobby. She says things went downhill when MVP showed up. MVP calls her a THOT(!) and says he’s the reason that Lashley even got a title shot. Lana keeps going, but Bobby grabs the mic and says he wants a divorce.

• Next is a recap of the Street Profits/Viking Raiders angle, including the newest chapter, which involved motorcycle ninjas. I’m not kidding. Sarah interviews the two teams, but Akira Tozawa and his ninjas appear, demanding a rematch. On one hand, I hate that they were like “We got a Japanese guy, let’s make him a ninja.” On the other hand, I love Tozawa and the stuff at Backlash was entertaining. 

• After another break, it’s an 8-man tag team match. It’s the Viking Profits against Tozawa and his ninjas. There is a fifth ninja at ringside who happens to be seven feet tall. The good guys get a quick win, but the big ninja gets in the ring with Tozawa. The Viking Profits declare that they want the smoke, which somehow summons the Big Show. The lesser ninjas rush him, but Big Show handles his business as Tozawa and the big ninja head to the back.

• Seth Rollins is wandering around backstage. Charly asks him about Dominick Mysterio accepting his invitation to come to Raw. Seth says he’s heading to the ring and he hopes that Dom joins him.

• Guess what? It’s the Monday Night Messiah, Seth Rollins, and he’s coming to the ring. That’s some long-term booking. While Seth is jibber-jabbering, Rey Mysterio pops up on the screen, live via satellite from the safety of his house. Rollins wants Dom to join him, but Rey Rey says that he must be loco. Rey says that if Seth or his goons touch Dominick, then he will be forced to end Rollins. Dominick slides in the ring and clothesline Seth from behind. The Disciples run to the ring but Mysterio the Younger uses his speed to escape through the crowd.

• R-Truth walks up to MVP and Lashley backstage and recaps the bad times that Bobby seems to be having lately. Truth takes off before Lashley can take out his frustration on him.

• Apparently they caught up with Truth during the commercial, but he brought Drew McIntyre this time. MVP and Lashley want them to put up their belts and make their tag team match tonight a winner take all for both belts. Truth quickly agrees for both of them so he can be the new Becky Two Belts.

• Hey, look. Actual wrestling. It’s Natalya and Liv Morgan against the IIconics. And if you blinked, you missed an IIconics victory. They grab some mics and challenge Sasha Banks and Bayley to a tag team championship match tonight. They get no response, so the Aussies say that they guarantee it will happen next week. 

• Big Show talks to Christian backstage, making sure to lay out all of the pros and cons of taking the unsanctioned match.

• Nattie tells Liv she sucks and starts lamenting how unappreciated she is. Lana comes up and tries to out-pity her.

• Christian is at the top of the ramp and Charly asks him about the unsanctioned match. He says that if Randy wants to give him one more match, he accepts.

• MVP catches up to Apollo Crews backstage. Montel says it’s cool to be a fighting champion, but he should be holding out for the right opponent and the right price. He tries to get Crews to join up with him, but Apollo declines.

• Ric Flair is talking to Charlotte backstage about nothing.

• Next up is Apollo Crews vs Shelton Benjamin. Let’s see if we can get more than five minutes of wrestling out of this one. Nope. Three minutes in and Crews gets a rollup victory. Sigh.

• R-Truth is shadowboxing backstage when Tozawa and his ninjas (including a ninja referee) show up. Before they can do anything, Drew appears and they skedaddle.

• Charly is backstage with Asuka, who gets to face Nia Jax again tonight. Hooray?

• Truth tells Drew that he’s ironed everything out and the only title that will be on the line tonight will be the WWE Championship. Oh, R-Truth. Will you ever learn?

• The Viking Profits are backstage and they thank Big Show for his help. He suggests that they have a Raw tag team championship match to settle their rivalry. What an idea! If only that hadn’t already been scheduled at a recent pay per view and completely abandoned.

• Speaking of tag team matches, let’s have one, shall we? It’s MVP and Bobby Lashley against R-Truth and Drew McIntyre, with Drew’s WWE Championship on the line. Truth tags himself in and McIntyre is not happy. MVP and Lashley immediately take control of the match. Truth is able to duck a move by MVP and tags Drew back in. McIntyre hits MVP with a Claymore and is about to pin him, but he decides to tag R-Truth and let him get the pin. 

• Ric Flair tells Christian that he isn’t ready for this match. Christian says he’s got this. He ain’t got this, y’all. 

• Sasha Banks and Bayley Dos Straps head down to the ring. It’s the SmackDown Women’s Champion’s birthday, so we are getting a weeklong celebration. The IIconics interrupt so they can get the answer to their challenge from earlier. Peyton slaps Sasha, and Bayley accepts the challenge for next week. 

• Time for a Backlash rematch as Nia Jax faces Asuka for the Raw Women’s Championship. After all this time Nia still looks so lost in the ring. It’s basically a meme at this point, but I legitimately feared for Asuka’s safety at various points in the match. Jax pushes referee John Cone, so he retaliates by fast counting a pin by Asuka. 

• Main event time as Christian comes down for his first match since 2014. Ric Flair comes down and tries to talk some sense into him, but to no avail. As soon as the bell rings, Flair hits Christian with a low blow. Orton punts him in the head and gets the pin. He then alternates between blaming Christian and apologizing to him as the paramedics try to put him on a stretcher. 

This was an interesting episode of Raw and I think it’s the template for how things are going to be with Bruce Prichard at the helm. It wasn’t heavy on the wrestling, but it was also the first show after a pay per view, so the focus was really on storylines. Hopefully we can let some of these wrestlers have a match that lasts longer than three minutes and has a clean finish.

How did you enjoy the pacing of this show? Let me know in the comment section below.

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