WWE Raw Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights from June 5
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Seth Rollins and Damian Priest.WWE
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage and recap of WWE Raw on June 5 in Hartford, Connecticut.
After winning the new world heavyweight title at Night of Champions, Seth Rollins faced his first challenger this week when he stepped into the ring with Damian Priest.
We also saw a couple of qualifying contests for this year's Money in the Bank matches. Natalya battled Zoey Stark, and Becky Lynch took on Sonya Deville.
Let's take a look at everything that happened on Monday's episode of WWE Raw.
Opening Segment
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- The look on Bálor's face when Priest said he didn't need him was great.
- The Prince looked at his shoulder when Rollins said he doesn't do well in fights with him. That was a nice callback.
Rollins came out to open the show and stood in the ring for several seconds after his music had stopped playing while the crowd continued to sing along.
He spoke about how it has been almost two years since a world title has been defended on Raw, so he put out an open challenge that was answered by Priest. The Visionary actually put over The Judgment Day a bit before The Archer of Infamy and Finn Bálor showed up.
The Irishman mocked Rollins a bit, but Priest complimented him and called him a deserving champion who has done well for himself before adding he will leave with the title Monday night.
Surprisingly, this ended without any physical contact, but some seeds were planted for a potential Judgment Day breakup at some point.
This was all pretty standard stuff. They did a decent job hyping the main event but the segment didn't do much unless we get a payoff to the tension between Bálor and Priest.
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
Becky Lynch vs. Sonya Deville
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- Are cargo pants back in style? Green was wearing a pair.
- Deville is one of the few former MMA stars who throws punches like a wrestler, not a martial artist. It makes her easier to watch sometimes.
- The way Deville jumped right into the Manhandle Slam looked way too obvious.
The first match of the night was a Money in the Bank qualifier between Lynch and Deville. Chelsea Green was by Sonya's side.
The Jersey Devil almost knocked Green off the apron at the start of the match when Lynch avoided her, but they averted any major incident.
Deville began taking it to The Man after Green provided another distraction. As Lynch was starting to make a comeback, Trish Stratus and Zoey Stark made an appearance.
When Green's distractions became too much to handle, The Man threw her into the barricade several times. She did the same thing to Deville when she tried to help.
While Deville uses more MMA offense, both women have a similar style in the ring. They like to use a wide variety of maneuvers, so they were able to put together a fun match with a story that was easy to follow.
Lynch picked up the win to qualify for the women's MITB match. This could have been a throwaway bout, but it ended up being pretty decent.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
Kevin Owens vs. Gunther
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- Owens is so funny when he gets angry.
- The way Gunther hits a German suplex looks so good. He releases his opponent at just the right time so they fly a little further.
- Kaiser should be a villain in a James Bond movie. His voice would allow him to give such a great monologue about his evil plan.
- The way Kaiser caught Gunther's jacket during his entrance was slick.
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were talking to Byron Saxton backstage when Imperium showed up. A quick argument led to KO challenging Gunther to a match before marching to the ring.
They locked up and fought for control until the ref forced a break in the corner. They actually tried to wrestle each other for the first few minutes instead of just hitting each other as hard as possible. That came a little later.
Gunther seemed to have Owens' number throughout most of the match. The Prizefighter would make small comebacks here and there, but The Ring General kept putting him back on the mat.
If you are familiar with these two, then you already know how physical this was. KO can bump with the best of them and Gunther is great at throwing people around, so this was a bout made in wrestling heaven.
The way they continued to up the physicality as the contest progressed was outstanding. Everything they did served a purpose and was executed with precision.
Ludwig Kaiser ended up taking a Stunner from Owens before Gunther rolled him up for the win. They left this open for future encounters, but this was an awesome first chapter.
Winner: Gunther
Grade: A
Notable Moments and Observations
Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler vs. Kayden Carter and Katana Chance
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- Carter and Chance's entrance video might give someone seizures.
- The video package WWE made for the NXT call-ups was well done.
- Carter and Chance have some great tag team combos. They are one of the few duos in the women's division that have made an effort to develop an arsenal of double-team moves.
- If WWE ever does a mixed match challenge again, we need Butch and Baszler to be a team. They would be perfect together.
After a confrontation backstage, Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler ended up in a match against the newly called-up Kayden Carter and Katana Chance.
Baszler had a little fun with Carter when the match started by tripping her in the corner, but Carter paid her back a moment later with the same move.
When Rousey tagged in, the crowd booed loudly, which only made her smile wider. She had some success against both opponents before the high-flyers took them down at ringside with a pair of dives.
Both teams were able to get in plenty of offense because this match had more time than expected. Management clearly wants to give Carter and Chance a fair shot, and allowing them to look good against a team as dominant as the champs is a great start.
After regaining the upper hand, Baszler made Carter tap out to score the win.
Winners: Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
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- There was a backstage segment involving Ricochet, Nakamura and Reed that almost felt as if they were reading their lines off of a cue card.
- It felt like we barely had two minutes between commercial breaks.
- Ricochet makes the springboard look like the easiest thing in the world. That's why he is so great.
Last week, Ricochet and Shinsuke Nakamura each qualified for the men's MITB match against other opponents; this week, though, they squared off in a singles match.
They started with a nice exchange of takedowns and counters that showed some of their technical ability.
We returned from a commercial break to see Ricochet beginning to build some momentum. He hit a series of punches and kicks, but The Rockstar avoided him in the corner and hit his patented running knee to the body followed by a sliding German suplex.
The One and Only blocked the Kinshasa and hit a codebreaker before climbing to the top rope. Bronson Reed attached both men to cause a no-contest finish.
This was a great match until the finish, but the way it ended actually protects both men heading into the July 1 pay-per-view, so it's not a big deal. Everything else we saw was good, so it's easy to forgive a DQ when it makes sense.
Winner: No-contest
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
Miz TV
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- Rhodes sarcastically asking the crowd not to boo Dom was hilarious.
- The Miz was trying to compete with Rollins for the loudest suit of the night.
Two months ago, The Miz and Cody Rhodes were fighting each other. Now, The Miz was rocking out to Rhodes' entrance music as he welcomed him back to Miz TV.
They started off friendly enough, but The A-Lister called him stupid for being willing to fight with a broken arm. The American Nightmare made a joke about tiny balls to get him back.
The Miz then brought out a surprise guest, Dominik Mysterio. As usual, Rhea Ripley was there by his side. Dom got the usual levels of heat from the crowd when he tried to speak.
After they traded some insults, Dom slapped Rhodes and then ran away. The American Nightmare knocked The Miz out with his cast to end the segment.
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
Zoey Stark vs. Natalya
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- The neon green in Natalya's gear clashed with everything else, especially because it was only in a few spots.
- Paul Heyman plugged a segment for SmackDown after this match was over.
The second women's MITB qualifying match saw Natalya take on one of Raw's newcomers, Zoey Stark. Stratus was there to support her protégé.
Natalya showed off her veteran experience by outwrestling Stark in the early moments of the match. She used mat-based offense and counters to keep the upper hand until she was nailed with a superkick.
Nattie locked her rival in the Sharpshooter, but Stark made it to the bottom rope to force a break. With a little help from Stratus, Stark hit the Z360 for the win.
This match was short and didn't have much to it. If WWE wanted to push Stark, this should have been a more decisive win without any shenanigans.
Winner: Zoey Stark
Grade: C
Notable Moments and Observations
Seth Rollins vs. Damian Priest
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- Sanga yelling at Alexander to shut up while he was posing was pretty funny.
- It's hard to tell, but WWE might be piping in some of the crowd noise during Rollins' entrance. It sounds different when his music is playing than it does after the song stops.
- The guillotine leg drop from The Visionary on the apron looked great.
- Priest was really laying in his strikes. You could hear the impact of every hit clearly.
- The way Rollins was able to power Priest up for a Falcon Arrow with almost no leverage was an impressive display of power.
Indus Sher were scheduled for a match against Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander, but Veer and Sanga attacked their opponents before it could take place.
The main event was the title bout between Rollins and Priest which they hyped during the opening segment. As per the agreement, The Archer of Infamy was alone.
Priest backed Rollins to the corner and talked some trash to get things going, but The Visionary wasn't scared. He backed his rival to the opposite corner and hit a flurry of chops.
WWE gave them the last 25 minutes of the show, so they had plenty of time to pace themselves without needing to rush from spot to spot. They were able to sell everything properly, which made everything feel a little more impactful.
It was going to be hard for any match to reach the level of Gunther vs. Owens, but Rollins and Priest did a great job making their bout feel different while still being exciting. The Judgment Day member even pulled out a hurricanrana from the top rope, which is not a move he uses often.
Rollins was able to take out Bálor before he could execute a sneak attack. Priest seemed upset to see his teammate before he set up for his finisher. The Visionary countered and hit the Stomp for the win.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Grade: A-
Notable Moments and Observations
The Final Word
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This week's Raw definitely had its share of highs and lows, but it felt like the highs far outweighed the lows this time.
Gunther vs. Owens, the women's tag title bout and Rollins vs. Priest were all matches that would be at home on any PPV.
The non-wrestling stuff varied from segment to segment, but it didn't feel like WWE wasted much time this week. Just about everything we saw served a purpose.
Starting a feud with Rhodes and Dominik is going to upset some fans, but with Dom getting nuclear heat right now, pairing him with one of the most popular babyfaces for a short program makes sense.
As a whole, this was one of the stronger episodes of Raw we have seen recently.
Grade: A-
