In a decent primer for Money in the Bank, this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW was solid in that it teased every matchup and gave everyone an opportunity to shine one last time before the event.
With a beefy card and just enough building for the future (Rusev’s depression angle is pretty awesome, while Ryback’s growth as a fan favorite has been pretty shocking) this week’s RAW was possibly a momentum turner, but only once the smoke clears on MITB will we be able to tell if all the drama this week was worth it.
Matches:
NXT Champion Kevin Owens vs. Adrian Neville: Owens spent a ton of time mocking John Cena, who was ringside and Neville capitalized every opportunity he could. At the same time, Owens hit power moves, including a modified Pump-Handle Neckbreaker and strikes and stayed in the match. After the German Suplex, Neville hit the move again and nearly regained the NXT Championship. With Owens down, Neville went for the Red Arrow but ended up hitting Owens with the Super Kick before going for the move again. After Owens countered, he hit the Pop-Up Powerbomb for the win.
Divas Champion Nikki Bella vs. Summer Rae: Bella locked Raw, but the challenger was in control a lot longer than expected. Rae even scored a near-fall with a Spinning Side Kick. But all it took was the Rack Attack and Bella made sure she kept the title.
Randy Orton vs. Sheamus: Both former champions traded signature moves and strikes in a tough and longer-than-expected contest. Orton got cooking with the Powerslam, Exploder Suplex and his Second Rope DDT, but Sheamus countered the RKO before The Viper countered the Brogue Kick and the action spilled to the outside. Just like last week, Sheamus went for the step chair, but this time, Orton got the best of the Celtic Warrior, hitting him with the chair to give Sheamus the DQ win. After the bell, Orton threw Sheamus through the ring steps and then finished him off with an RKO in the middle of the ring.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Kane: After Ziggler became too concerned with Lana and Rusev on the outside, Kane got the win with the Chokeslam.
Los Matadores w/El Torito vs. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan: Wow. Rowan and Harper got the win with the 3D.
WWE Tag Team Champion Big E. Langston w/Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods vs. Titus O’Neil w/Darren Young: Langston got the win with the Big Ending, thanks to interferences from Kingston and Woods- in a match that O’Neil dominated.
WWE Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston w/Big E. Langston and Xavier Woods vs. Roman Reigns: The numbers game caught up to Reigns on several occasions thanks to Woods and Langston. However, Reigns got the win after he nailed Kingston with the Superman Punch following a missed top rope attack from Kingston.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins vs. Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble:Â Thanks to help from Dean Ambrose and Kane, J & J got in much more offense than anyone expected. Noble got in a nice slew of moves and Mercury eventually got the win after Ambrose gave Rollins back the title and caused the champion to get distracted. After the bell, Rollins was just happy to have his title back, but Ambrose hit the ring and hit the Dirty Deeds- and took the title back.
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