Monday Night Raw Live from the Simmons Bank Arena in Little Rock, Arkansas
As Raw comes on the air, quickly the music of
The Judgement Day hits and they head down to the ring to loud boos after their actions on Smackdown, minus Rhea Ripley. The trio of men enter the ring and after taking a moment to soak in the boos, Damian brags about the fact they put Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde on the shelf with their attack in the parking lot. He says that was just a warning because if Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar don't stay out of their way, they'll be taken out next. After some more boos, Dom takes the mic and after a failed attempt to talk due to loud boos, he finally manages to say the reason they're out here is because they need to talk to Bad Bunny about his actions at WrestleMania, and they heard he's here. So why doesn't he get his ass out here to explain himself?
After a few moments of waiting, the music of
Bad Bunny hits and he comes out onto the stage to big cheers from the fans! Bad Bunny walks down the ramp as Priest says something to Dom privately, and Dom nods in agreement. Bad Bunny enters the ring with a mic and asks if they have a problem? Priest chimes in first and mentions previously teaming with Bad Bunny, and says they don't have a problem, Dom's just a hot head. But he explained to Dom that what happened at Mania probably wasn't personal, it was just Bunny getting caught up in the moment right? Bunny thinks for a second, then agrees it wasn't personal...but it was him doing the right thing. He wasn't gonna sit back and let Dom use a chain on Rey. Rey is his friend and he was doing the right thing taking the chain away from Dom. It's not his fault that led to Dom losing. Dom is angry now and yells at Bad Bunny to say he cost him the win at WrestleMania and he should have stayed in the crowd and minded his own business! But he's a forgiving guy, he'll give Bad Bunny a chance to apologize. If he does that, they can move on. If not, they're gonna have problems...
Bad Bunny notices Balor and Priest watching him, and Priest tells him to just apologize, don't make him do something he doesn't wanna do. Bunny looks over at Balor, who just glares at him. He now looks back at Dom, who tells him again to apologize...and Bad Bunny actually does say sorry....sorry Dom's such a bad son and doesn't have any respect for his father! The fans cheer but Dom is furious and punches Bad Bunny! Dom kicks Bad Bunny out of the ring and follows him out with Balor...but as they go to get him, Bunny has pulled out a kendo stick from under the ring and smacks Balor in the ribs! Bunny gets up and cracks it over the back of Dom! Suddenly though, Damian Priest runs over Bad Bunny with a clothesline! Priest now picks Bunny up...and launches him spine first into the ring post!
The fans are booing now as Priest uncovers the announce table, then grabs Bad Bunny by the throat and pulls him up...and chokeslams him through the table! Dom now comes over and grabs a chair, and quickly wraps it around the neck of Bad Bunny...but the LWO's music hits and Rey Mysterio runs down the ramp with Santos Escobar, both of them holding kendo sticks! Seeing as they already sent a message to Bad Bunny, Judgement Day hop the barricade and exit through the crowd, choosing not to fight! Mysterio and Escobar yell at them to come back, and Santos grabs a mic and dares Balor and Priest to fight them right now! Balor and Priest nod as doctors come out to check on Bad Bunny and Raw goes to break.
As Raw comes back from break, we go to the ring as we prepare for our first match of the evening.
Match #1:
Tag Team Match
Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar vs Finn Balor and Damian Priest w/ Dominik Mysterio
A solid tag match here with the faces fired up and taking control early by knocking Finn and Damian to the floor, then hitting stereo dives onto them! After things get back in the ring with Escobar and Priest legal, Dom grabs his father and throws him into the steps! The fans boo and Dom acts innocent when the ref turns to look at him, but this lets Judgement Day take control due to the numbers and Escobar being hit with a double suplex.
Later on, Rey is legal but has been cut off from Escobar for awhile as Finn hits the shotgun dropkick to knock him into the turnbuckles! Balor now tags in Priest then goes up top as Priest grabs Rey by the throat and pulls him up...but Rey slips out of the chokeslam attempt and shoves Priest into the ropes, crotching Balor on the top! Rey now dropkicks Priest through the ropes and to the floor, then goes over and tags in Santos!
Santos enters the ring and runs over to shove Balor off the top turnbuckle to the floor! Priest meanwhile slides back into the ring, spins Escobar around and grabs him by the throat...but Escobar slips out and dropkicks him in the knee! Escobar now tries to lift Priest onto his shoulders...but Priest slips off and hits a spin kick to knock him down! The finish comes shortly after when Balor tags back in and goes up top for Coup de Grace, but Escobar gets up and kicks Balor in the head! Santos now knocks Priest off the apron, then climbs up and tries to superplex Balor…but Dom jumps on the apron and pulls his foot out from under him, causing him to fall to the mat! Finn now stands up and comes down with the Coup De Grace! Finn covers…and gets the pin!
Winners via pinfall: The Judgement Day!
After the match: The fans boo as Dom slides in and stomps on Escobar, but Rey comes in to grab his son and throw him out of the ring! Priest now slides in and clobbers Rey in the back of the head! Priest pounds on Rey as Balor gets up and attacks Escobar, and Dom throws 2 chairs into the ring! Dom now slides in as Balor puts the chair on the ribs of Escobar, and Dom goes up top...Frog Splash onto the chair! Escobar rolls away holding his ribs as Dom takes the other chair and slams it over the back of his father over and over and over again! With their opponents laid out, Judgement Day leaves the ring!
After a commercial break, we go backstage to
Cody Rhodes, who's walking down a hallway when
Baron Corbin comes up to him. Corbin says he heard Cody is looking for a match tonight, so why doesn't he face him? Cody says he is looking for a match so he's happy to accept. Corbin says in fact why don't they up the stakes? If he beats Cody, he wants to be added to the Backlash title match. Cody thinks for a second, then agrees, saying if Corbin can beat him he deserves that. He says he'll see him later tonight and goes to leave...but Corbin shoves him into an equipment box ribs first! Corbin says he's looking forward to it and leaves, happy with just taking a potshot at the champ and we cut away.
In another part of the building,
Alpha Academy are talking backstage about their upcoming match with the Creed Brothers, when
Maxxine Dupri walks up and hugs Otis. She then tells Chad she's been thinking about it, and she's ready to begin training to become a wrestler and asks Chad if he would train her. Chad looks over at Otis, who nods in approval, then agrees, saying he'll teach Maxxine their ways and make her a master wrestler just like them. She lets out a squeal of excitement and hugs him and thanks him, and he tells her to accompany them to ringside for their match tonight. We now cut back to the ring for our 2nd match of the night where Apollo Crews and Mustafa Ali will look to gain some footing in their pursuit of championship gold.
Match #2:
Singles Match
Apollo Crews vs Mustafa Ali
A back and forth match at the start with neither man gaining true advantage until Crews uses his power to his advantage and catches Ali coming at him off the middle rope, and pressing him over his head then dropping him onto the mat, before following up with a standing moonsault! Crews covers but his early pin only gets 2. Apollo controls the next bit, but when he throws Ali into the corner and charges in after him, Ali sidesteps and Crews goes face first into the turnbuckles and Ali rolls him up for a close 2 count.
The finish comes shortly after with Mustafa going for a slingshot neckbreaker on Crews, but Crews blocks it with a clothesline! Apollo now goes for a standing shooting star...but Mustafa blocks it with knees to the ribs! Apollo rolls away and Mustafa is up first, superkick! Apollo drops and Mustafa drags him to the corner, then goes up top for the 054…but Apollo gets the knees up! Apollo now grabs a small package pin…and he gets the victory!
Winner via pinfall: Apollo Crews!
As we return from the commercial break, we go backstage to
Nikki Cross walking down the hallway. The tag champs
Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville, now walk past and purposely bump into her! Nikki asks what their problem is and Chelsea calls her a freak who doesn’t belong here. Nikki gets angry and says she’s not a freak, Chelsea is a freak, and an annoying one too. Chelsea gets offended but Sonya steps in front of her and says she’s not going to tolerate Nikki talking bad about her partner. Sonya challenges Nikki to a match next week and she accepts. Sonya says she’s going to destroy Nikki, but why wait till next week? They could destroy her right now…but
Piper Niven walks up! Piper asks if there’s an issue? The champs say no and walk off as Nikki quickly hugs Piper.
Nikki says she misses playing with Piper, and tells her she should come out with her for her match next week. Piper says she was willing to stick up for Nikki because of their history, but she’s not interested in reuniting their team. Nikki tries to persuade her, telling her they could win the tag titles if she was willing to reconsider. Nikki tells her to just think about it, and Piper sighs and agrees to think about it, but tells Nikki not to hug her again as we cut away to the interview area.
In the interview area.
Cathy Kelly is with
Becky Lynch. She asks her for her thoughts about losing the tag titles last week, and Becky says it sucks, but she won't let it keep her down. Her and Lita might decide to go get a rematch, or maybe she'll set her sights on Rhea Ripley or Asuka, or maybe...but she's cut off by a loud BANG!
Becky and Cathy go running to see what happened, and they find
Lita down face first on the ground knocked out! Becky checks on the hall of famer, then looks around but doesn't see anybody. Becky promises to get revenge for Lita, and we cut away to the medics office.
We see
Bad Bunny, Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar all getting checked on, but Escobar hops off the table and says he's had enough of Judgement Day and they need to handle them once and for all. Rey asks what he has in mind? And Santos says the three of them vs The Judgement Day, at Backlash, in a Street Fight! Rey says he's in, he wants to squash this problem with his son once and for all. They turn to Bad Bunny asking if he's in, and he says he wasn't looking to get back in the ring, but after tonight he's in! They fist bump each other as we cut out of the locker room and to the ring for our next match as Johnny Gargano tries to get one step closer to facing Austin Theory.
Johnny Gargano makes his entrance and stands in the ring, when Austin Theory comes out onto the stage and says tonight Johnny will be facing another man he has history with, Bronson Reed!
Match #3:
Singles Match
Johnny Gargano vs Bronson Reed
Old rivals collide here and Bronson dominates the majority of the match, throwing Gargano around the ring along with squashing him with a corner splash and a running senton at different points, but Gargano keeps fighting and keeps kicking out. At one point Reed brings Gargano to the top turnbuckle and climbs up, looking to hit a super samoan drop...but Gargano slides out of it and down the back of Reed, then pulls the big man's head down and superkicks him! Gargano now superkicks him again, this time knocking the big man off the top rope!
Gargano now goes up top himself, frog splash! Gargano covers, but Reed kicks out at 2! Later on, Gargano is looking to finish off the big man after a slingshot spear, then goes back to the apron, stalking Bronson before going for the One Final Beat slingshot DDT...but Reed doesn't go down and instead, pulls Gargano up and rams him into the turnbuckles! Gargano slumps against the turnbuckles and Reed charges him, big corner splash!
The finish comes shortly after when Bronson hits a samoan drop, then goes up top for the Tsunami....but Gargano rolls out of the way! Gargano gets up, Superkick to a kneeling Reed! Gargano now goes out to the apron and waits for Bronson to get up...One Final Beat! It hits this time! Bronson Reed finally looks to be done for after 3 finishers, and Gargano covers...and he finally puts the big man away!
Winner via pinfall: Johnny Gargano!
After the match,
Johnny Gargano gets his hand raised in victory while his other hand holds his banged up ribs after the brutal match. Suddenly his celebration is cut off as
US Champion Austin Theory slides into the ring behind him, and smacks him in the back of the head with the US Title! Theory laughs and stands over Gargano, then picks up a mic and tells him he might have gotten this far, but he won't win next week and earn his title match because next week, Johnny Gargano will face Omos in a No DQ match! He wishes Johnny luck then leaves as Raw goes to break.
As we return from break, we go into a video showing a sit down interview
Cathy Kelly did with
Bobby Lashley. Cathy thanks Bobby for his time, then asks him about this months long feud he's been in with Brock Lesnar. Bobby says him and Lesnar is a case of two alpha dogs trying to establish their dominance. He says in a way he's glad that Lesnar attacked him a couple weeks ago, because he wasn't satisfied with how things ended at Elimination Chamber and it pushed him to finish his business with Brock.
Cathy mentions they'll be meeting in one of the most brutal match types in WWE, The Fight Pit. She reminds Bobby the only ways to win are submission or knockout, and given their MMA history both are familiar with those type of rules. She asks Bobby how he feels about entering the fight pit for the first time? Bobby says he's looking forward to it. One way or another this will be the end of his feud with Brock and only one of them is walking out of there and it will be him. Cathy asks him about his game plan for the match, but Bobby says he can't reveal that, but promises he will slay the beast and prove this is his show. The interview now ends.
We cut away into
Adam Pearce's office where he's meeting with
Raw Women's Champion Asuka, and
Bianca Belair. Adam Pearce says he called them here to discuss Bianca's rematch, which is coming to her at Backlash. He says he's not happy with what went down at WrestleMania, and for that reason he's banning the mist at Backlash, and if Asuka uses it she will lose the title! Bianca is very pleased with this, Asuka surprisingly doesn't look phased and simply says she doesn't need that to win. Bianca promises to take her title back and the two glare at each other until we cut to the ring for a tag team showcase.
Match #4:
Tag Team Match
Alpha Academy w/ Maxxine Dupri vs The Creed Brothers w/ Ivy Nile
A technical wrestling masterclass here as both teams really showcase their ability. Alpha Academy use their experience to keep control early on, but after a missed splash in the corner from Otis, he gets hit with a german suplex from Julius Creed which makes the crowd roar with approval and shock! Julius tags in his brother and together, they hit a double snap suplex on the big man for a 2 count.
Later on, Gable has Brutus in the Ankle Lock, looking to make him tap out...but Brutus rolls out of it and sends Gable into the ropes! Brutus gets to his feet, but walks right into a rolling wheel kick from Gable! Gable makes the tag to Otis, who comes in and off the ropes with a splash! He covers Brutus...but Creed kicks out at 2!
The finish comes shortly after when Julius finally gets a hot tag into the match, and he dropkicks Otis! Gable comes in, but he gets launched across the ring with a belly to belly suplex! Gable rolls out of the ring and Julius pulls the straps down as Otis gets up right into a belly to belly suplex from Julius! Julius is rolling as he tags his brother back in, and he goes up top as Julius drags the big man up...right into the Brute Ball! Otis is wiped out and Brutus covers, just as Julius grabs Gable in a front facelock to prevent him breaking it up...and the upstarts win!
WInners via pinfall: The Creed Brothers!
After a break, we go backstage to
Cathy Kelly who stands with
Smackdown Women's Champion Rhea Ripley. Cathy asks Rhea about everything that went down on Smackdown last week with Zelina Vega that led to a match being booked for them at Backlash. Rhea says Zelina is a little gnat who won't stay out of her hair, and at Backlash she's going to get squashed like the bug she is. She says Zelina got lucky when she stole a win from her before, and she won't be that lucky at Backlash.
Cathy asks Rhea about the hometown advantage Zelina will have and if that'll effect her? Rhea says absolutely not, if anything it'll fuel her even more to break Zelina's heart. Cathy ends by asking Rhea about the upcoming draft and the thought of being split up from Judgement Day? Rhea says where she goes, her boys in Judgement Day go, whether Pearce and Roode like it or not. They will stay together and run whatever show they're on. Rhea now walks off and we cut to the ring for the main event of the evening.
Match #5:
Singles Match, if Baron Corbin wins he's added to the title match at Backlash
Baron Corbin vs Cody Rhodes (c)
As soon as the bell rings, both men get delayed by the music of Seth Rollins hitting, and him walking out laughing. He makes his way to ringside and takes a seat at the commentary table. In the beginning, Corbin plays mind games with Cody by stepping out of the ring to avoid the champ. Corbin walks around ringside, but Cody gets fed up with the games and hits a suicide dive on Corbin! Cody pounds on Corbin on the floor before pulling him up by his shirt and throwing him into the barricade, angry about the attack earlier tonight! Cody now throws Corbin into the ring and slides in after him, going for an early Cody Cutter...but Corbin catches him and dumps him back out of the ring!
Later on, Corbin is in full control of the match after a couple shots to the ribs of Cody, and he's working him over with an abdominal stretch. Cody is about to fight out of it, when Corbin fires a few punches into the champ's ribs! Corbin cranks on the hold, but Cody finally counters out of it and hits a hip toss! Cody now fires off a couple clotheslines, then comes off the ropes, disaster kick! Corbin drops but Cody isn't done and stalks him...then comes off the ropes again for the Cody Cutter...but Corbin counters it with Deep Six! Devastating counter! Corbin covers....but Cody kicks out at the last second!
The finish comes a couple minutes later after Corbin hammers a few punches into the ribs of Rhodes, then sends him off the ropes and looks for End Of Days...but Cody flips out of it and hits a bionic elbow! Corbin is dazed and Cody springboards again...and this time hits the Cody Cutter! Corbin rolls away and Cody yells for him to get up, stalking him....and he hits Cross Rhodes! Cody covers...and he gets the win!
Winner via pinfall: Cody Rhodes!
After the match,
Cody gets his hand raised in victory while holding his ribs with his other hand, but darkness falls upon the arena and
Karrion Kross's music hits! The lights come back on, and Kross is behind Cody! Kross hits a forearm to the back of the head! Cody drops and
Seth slides into the ring, and he hits a knee to the back to knock Kross through the ropes and to the floor! Seth dares Kross to get back in the ring, but
Scarlett walks down the ramp and encourages Kross to leave. Cody starts to get up...but Seth turns around and drops him with a Curb Stomp! Seth picks up the titles and holds them up as Raw ends!
WWE Backlash Announced Matches:
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Match:
Seth Rollins vs Karrion Kross w/ Scarlett vs Cody Rhodes (c)
Fight Pit Match:
Brock Lesnar vs Bobby Lashley
Unified WWE Tag Team Championship Match:
The Street Profits vs Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn (c)
Smackdown Women's Championship Match:
Zelina Vega vs Rhea Ripley (c)
Street Fight:
The Judgement Day (Finn Balor, Damian Priest and Dominik Mysterio) vs The LWO (Rey Mysterio, Santos Escobar and Bad Bunny)
Raw Women's Championship Match: If Asuka Uses The Mist, She Will Be DQ'd And Lose The Championship:
Bianca Belair vs Asuka (c)
