Date: May 15, 2023
Location: Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC
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Show Recap —
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn entered to a big reaction. Zayn spoke about their upcoming tag team title defence against Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa at Night of Champions. Zayn said this match was actually a gift because it gives them a chance at revenge against Reigns. Zayn said Owens should have beaten Reigns at the Royal Rumble and Zayn should have been him in Montreal.
Zayn said Reigns has cheated his way to the top, has gone unchecked for too long and he was now pushing things too far. Reigns has pushed the Usos too far and even his title reign. Being champion for as long as he has wasn’t enough and now he wanted to tag the tag titles. Zayn got fired up, called Reigns a psycho and said Reigns can never have the tag titles.
Judgment Day interrupted. Owens was actually glad to see them because he was sick of talking about the Bloodline. Owens invited them in to fight before they could even say anything. Zayn got him to calm down and said they didn’t have an issue with Judgment Day. Zayn wanted to hear them out and asked the gentlemen — and Dominik Mysterio — to speak.
Damian Priest said he would love to fight and Owens responded, “I told you!” Finn Bálor and Priest said Owens and Zayn were back where they started — getting beat up by Reigns. Bálor said the line started with them and Rhea Ripley, who was cheered, said they run Raw.
Zayn wanted to hear from Dom but the crowd was booing too loudly. Owens said this was pointless and asked if he could finally punch Dom. Zayn said yes but Ripley got in Owens’ way. Priest and Bálor decked Owens so Zayn chased them off with a chair.
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Owens and Zayn will have a non-title match against Bálor and Priest tonight.
Shinsuke Nakamura defeated The Miz (10:00)
Miz took control before a break but Nakamura was back on offence when they returned. Miz fought out of an armbar and hit a DDT for a nearfall. Miz used It Kicks but Nakamura ducked the last one and hit an enziguri for two. Nakamura blocked a Skull Crushing Finale for a second time and hit a sliding German suplex.
Miz held on to the ring skirt and as the referee went to fix it, Miz poked Nakamura in the eye. Miz hit the Skull Crushing Finale but Nakamura’s leg fell on the rope to break up the cover.
Nakamura followed with a Kinshasa for the pinfall win. The crowd liked Nakamura.
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Adam Pearce informed Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green that their tag title match wasn’t happening tonight because Liv Morgan was injured. Deville and Green whined until Raquel Rodriguez challenged Green to a match which Pearce made official. Green screamed at Rodriguez as Deville pulled her out of the room. Rodriguez told “Karen” she’d see her in the ring.
Imperium were shown walking through the back and Akira Tozawa did a 180 and walked the opposite direction upon seeing them.
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Seth Rollins sit-down interview part 1
Corey Graves sat down with Rollins for an interview and they went all the way back to Rollins being crowned the first NXT Champion in 2012 (which included a clip of Dusty Rhodes raising his hand in victory). Rollins said change was needed in the business back then and he had the vision. Becoming the first NXT champ allowed him to pave the way.
Graves moved on to Rollins’ debut with the Shield and asked why he turned on them. Rollins said they beat everyone there was to beat and if he wanted to reach his ultimate success, he had to take a risk.
More to come.
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Gunther entered with Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci. Kaiser introduced Gunther to the crowd as Gunther stood on the announce table. Gunther said he dominated Smackdown as the undefeated and longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion of the modern era. He planned on continuing his mission on Raw but a challenger has yet to be determined — or earn his respect. He announced the upcoming battle royal winner would be his next challenger at Night of Champions.
Ricochet and Bronson Reed entered ahead of a break.
Almost everyone else was in the ring after the break except Apollo Crews and Matt Riddle who got TV entrances. Riddle chucked his flip-flops at Gunther during his entrance and Imperium had to stop Gunther from going after him.
Mustafa Ali won a Battle Royal to become #1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship (12:35)
Baron Corbin immediately eliminated Tozawa, Dexter Lumis eliminated Corbin, Mace and Mansoor eliminated Lumis, and Chad Gable and Otis eliminated Mace. Johnny Gargano superkicked Mansoor out of the ring and Mace caught him but dropped him upon seeing Lumis. Lumis stalked Mace to the back. Maxxine Dupri seemed happy with Gable and Otis.
JD McDonagh eliminated Humberto Carrillo, Dolph Ziggler eliminated McDonagh with a superkick and Von Wagner eliminated Ziggler. McDonagh attacked Ziggler outside the ring and chucked him into the steps and officials had to stop him from doing worse. (Graves said McDonagh was tugging on Superman’s cape… in reference to Ziggler.)
This all happened in less than 4 minutes.
[SECOND HOUR]
After a break, the Viking Raiders eliminated Cedric Alexander, Xyon Quinn and Shelton Benjamin. Otis and Ivar collided mid-ring which led to an exchange between Gable and Erik. They fought on the apron until Otis drove Erik off for the elimination.
Ivar eliminated Gable so Otis went after him. As they battled by the ropes, Bronson Reed eliminated them both by himself, which looked impressive. Everyone else in the ring teamed up on Reed. Everyone traded moves moments later which included Crews bringing Reed down with a blockbuster. Crews eliminated Elias but Reed eliminated Crews.
Riddle brought down Reed with a floating bro before eliminating Riddick Moss and Gargano. Gunther ordered Imperium to go after Riddle so they tripped him on the apron which allowed Reed to eliminate him.
Ricochet and Ali teamed up but they couldn’t eliminate Reed. Ricochet tried eliminating Reed with dropkicks but Reed caught him as he stood on the apron. With Ricochet on Reed’s shoulders, Ali flew in with a missile dropkick and eliminated them both.
Ali wins and will face Gunther for the IC title at Night of Champions. Ali celebrated as fireworks went off. Gunther didn’t seem impressed. There was a decent pop for the surprise win.
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Becky Lynch promo
Lynch said part of being ‘The Man’ was being able to admit you’ve been going through some stuff. We all go through struggles but we put a brave face on so we can try to be the people we want to be. Sometimes when we can’t do it on our own anymore, we ask for help so that’s what she did. She asked for help from Lita and Trish Stratus.
Lita was great and they won gold together. Stratus came back and hadn’t missed a beat but Lynch missed the snake in the grass. Lynch missed what everyone else saw coming a mile away. Stratus only came back to help herself like the backstabbing ego maniac that she was.
Lynch wanted to say, “Thank you, Trish” because she turned a light on in her that’s been missing for many, many months. When Stratus called her daughter stupid, she reminded her that the only thing that mattered in life was standing up for the people to matter and now Stratus gave her a target.
At one point, Stratus was number one but now Lynch was “it” in this business and doesn’t need a title to prove it. Lynch said she was “it” until she said otherwise. Lynch would show Stratus how thankful she was when she kicked Stratus’ head in at Night of Champions.
Lynch was really good here.
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Ripley was shown watching Lynch’s promo in the back. Cathy Kelley approached and asked about Natalya saving Dana Brooke last week. Ripley warned Natalya to stay in her lane. Natalya interrupted and said she was trying to help Dana Brooke and basically tried reasoning with her.
Ripley didn’t buy it and thought Natalya was just trying to make herself relevant by getting involved with her. Ripley warned her that if she stuck her nose in her business, Natalya’s career wouldn’t be relevant, it would be over.
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Ali bumped into Otis, Gable and Dupri backstage and he encouraged them to be positive like him. Ali continued on his way but bumped into Imperium.
Gunther congratulated Ali but felt regret for him because he was going to travel halfway around the world to suffer the biggest loss of his career and the beating that goes with it. Ali shook his hand before saying he would embarrass Gunther and take the IC title. This made Gunther smirk and Ali was happy that he was being positive.
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Dom mocked Xavier Woods on his way to the ring as the crowd loudly booed. Xavier Woods cut him off and said he was at least capable of fighting his own battles, unlike Dom who had to ask for Mami’s permission.
Dominik Mysterio (w/Smackdown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley) defeated Xavier Woods (11:09)
Woods tried to go after Dom outside the ring but Ripley got in his face which led to a break. Woods was all over Dom following the break and hit a rolling clothesline for two. Dom responded with the three amigos suplexes but Woods got his knees up on a frog splash attempt. Woods followed that was a gutbuster for two.
Woods set up for his springboard elbow drop but, like last week, Ripley pulled Dom from the ring. Woods hit Dom with a dive and got into a face-off with Ripley again. As Dom distracted the ref, Ripley hit Woods and rolled him back in the ring. Dom followed with a cradle for the win.
Dom was getting a ton of heat but this finish fell completely flat.
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There was a JD McDonagh video package.
Kelley approached McDonagh as he was leaving the arena and asked why he attacked Ziggler. McDonagh explained that Ziggler has done it all in this business and he was about to learn what everyone else on the roster would learn soon — never bet against an ace.
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Indus Sher (Veer & Sanga) (w/Jinder Mahal) defeated two guys (1:50)
Veer and Sanga beat two guys and it was exactly what you’d expect.
Mahal grabbed a headset and said their story would be written in gold.
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Imperium approached Owens and Zayn in the back. Gunther didn’t appreciate the disrespect they showed his men last week. Owens didn’t care and challenged them to a match next week. Zayn made sure to add that they’d find a partner. Gunther was pleased with this.
[THIRD HOUR]
Cody Rhodes promo
Rhodes entered to a very strong reaction. Rhodes said he was familiar with this arena because it was the first home of Starrcade. He said Brock Lesnar wouldn’t know that because he wasn’t here tonight.
Rhodes told the story of the scorpion and the frog. The scorpion stung the frog because it was in its nature and it was in Lesnar’s nature to hunt. Rhodes knew that was his nature but also asked the hunter: “How’s your face?”
Rhodes said Lesnar sees a black eye and staples when he looks in the mirror. When Rhodes looks in the mirror, he sees the guy who put them there and the guy who beat the biggest bully on the roster.
Rhodes said Lesnar was on top for so long because he was better than 99.99% of people on the roster but at Backlash, he was not better than Rhodes. Lesnar thought Rhodes’ win was cheap but Rhodes beat him with a wrestling hold in a wrestling ring.
Rhodes said this was about who was the next big thing on Raw. Everyone was right when they called Lesnar the “next big thing” but now it was simply time for what was “next.” Lesnar should take his busted face and step aside because he was simply in Rhodes’ way.
(Rhodes signed a couple of autographs in the front row as the segment ended.)
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Zoey Stark tried bragging to Nikki Cross (who she beat last week) but Cross didn’t appear to be listening. Stark called Cross a freak when Candice LeRae jumped in to confront her. LeRae challenged Stark to a match and she accepted (for next week).
Tag Team Champion Raquel Rodriguez defeated Chelsea Green (w/Sonya Deville) (3:44)
Green got some offence thanks to a distraction by Deville but Rodriguez came back with clotheslines, three fallaway slams, a twisting senton, and Tejana Bomb for the pinfall win.
— As Rodriguez posed on the stage, Ronda Rousey flew in out of nowhere with a kick. (This was a funny visual.) Rousey told Rodriguez she must defend her title with or without Liv Morgan or else she’ll receive this same beating every single week. Rousey held Rodriguez as Shayna Baszler laid her out with a boot.
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Paul Heyman shook hands with Gunther backstage before making a call to Roman Reigns. (Heyman had a “visitor” sticker on his phone to explain why he’s allowed on Raw, I guess.)
Seth Rollins sit-down interview part 2
Graves ran down Rollins’ many accomplishments and asked why the current version of Rollins was the best one. Rollins said his hands were off the wheel and that was the fun part. There was a synergy between him and the fans and we were now getting the most authentic version of himself.
There was an organic relationship with the fans and for the first time in his career, he wasn’t the one forcing the change, the WWE universe has been the catalyst in the change in him.
Rollins said he should be the new champion because it was time for a change again. The person at the top didn’t want to take a risk with the title and they were all about protecting themselves rather than pushing the industry forward. It was time for a new champion.
Graves specifically about Reigns but part 3 comes next week.
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Next week on Raw:
Lesnar and Rhodes in the same building Contract signing with Lynch and Stratus Six-man tag: Gunter, Kaiser & Vinci vs. Owens, Zayn and a partner
There was a video package for Apollo Crews.
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Finn Bálor & Damian Priest defeated Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn in a non-title match (20:58)
Owens and Zayn were in control so Bálor called for Dom and Ripley to join them at ringside.
Judgment Day were suddenly in control after a break but Zayn came back with a clothesline on Bálor. Both men tagged out and Owens stomped away at Priest. Owens hit Priest with a senton outside the ring and dropped both Bálor and Dom with clotheslines. Owens hit Priest with a cannonball for two.
Dom tripped Owens so the ref tossed both Dom and Ripley from ringside. As they were leaving, Xavier Woods ran out and attacked Dom (they went to the back).
Heyman showed up on stage and Priest was happy. Commercial break.
Judgment Day worked over Owens until Owens knocked Priest off the ropes and hit a senton bomb. Zayn tagged in and hit Bálor with clotheslines and a Michnoku Driver for two. Bálor came back with a slingblade but Zayn followed with a Blue Thunder Bomb for two.
Imperium appeared at ringside and the distraction allowed Bálor to use a rollup for two. Bálor hit a reverse DDT but Owens broke up the cover. Owens gave Priest a stunner and Bálor tossed Owens from the ring.
Zayn gave Bálor an exploder into the corner and hit Helluva Kick. Zayn had it won but Imperium distracted the ref. Owens shoved Gunther before Priest laid out Owens with a chokeslam. Zayn wiped out Priest with a dive.
Zayn set up for another Helluva Kick but Gunther held him by the leg as Kaiser and Vinci distracted the referee.
Bálor dropkicked Zayn into the corner and hit Coup de Grace for the pinfall win.
Heyman was pleased.
(As the show ended, Bálor intimated that they’d challenge Owens and Zayn following Night of Champions.)
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