 Randy Orton Attacked Undisputed WWE Champion John CenaI like the gimmick of Cena counting down how many dates (not matches) he has left. That was the best part of his promo here, which was fairly cartoony otherwise. He really needs to come across as less forced during this heel run. Orton laying him out with an RKO out of nowhere was an awesome moment given their history and obviously it sets up the expected championship main event for Backlash in Orton's hometown. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez def. Women's Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria and Becky Lynch to Win the WWE Women's Tag Team ChampionshipI had no issue with these teams running it back from WrestleMania 41 so they could get the rematch out of the way and allow Lynch and Valkyria to move on to other challengers. I wasn't at all expecting what ended up happening. The match itself was an improvement over their original encounter, especially since they got more time and made the most of it. Then Morgan and Rodriguez reclaimed the titles, and Lynch turned heel. I guess some people predicted that, but I was not among them. I thought it was an awesome move as it now gives us a real rivalry over the Women's Intercontinental Championship and Valkyria can hopefully benefit from this once it's over. Alpha Academy Confronted World Tag Team Champions The New Day and Were Attacked by RusevThe stuff with New Day and Alpha Academy was whatever, but I did like how Maxxine Dupri mentioned that Alpha Academy beat New Day pretty quickly the last time they had a match months ago. That should build to a one-off championship match eventually, but not right now based on what also happened here with Rusev returning and laying out Alpha Academy. There was heavy speculation that Rusev would be back over WrestleMania weekend, so it wasn't a total shock, but this was still a very cool moment. Hopefully he won't just be midcard fodder this time around. Women's World Champion IYO SKY vs. NXT Women's Champion Stephanie Vaquer Ended in a No ContestI figured SKY would be interrupted by either Bianca Belair or Rhea Ripley after the both of them lost to SKY in that tremendous Triple Threat at WrestleMania, so Vaquer coming out instead was an outstanding turn of events. She's a total star, and even if this wasn't supposed to signify a main roster call-up for her, I still thought she shined in what was a great match with SKY. Vaquer is probably staying put for now, but it sure looks like Roxanne Perez and Giulia are going to be a part of the Raw roster going forward. Ripley vs. SKY is likely where we're headed next, but I appreciate that we're getting some fresh faces in the mix. World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso Celebrated with Sami Zayn and Jimmy UsoJey's championship celebration was exactly what I envisioned it would be in the best way possible. Say what you will about him as a wrestler, but he's insanely over with the audience and hopefully WWE can continue to capitalize on his popularity in this role. I loved how it wasn't long until Zayn returned to congratulate him, though I had a worrying feeling for the rest of the segment that he was going to turn on him and Jimmy. I was relieved that wasn't the case, but maybe it still will sometime soon. Gunther Attacked Michael Cole and Pat McAfeeWhat a fantastic angle. This was way better that Gunther disappearing for a few months after losing the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. Aggressive Gunther is the best Gunther and the commentators played their roles perfectly. If this is leading to Gunther vs. McAfee at some point, sign me the hell up. I'm sure I'm in the minority on that, but I think it's a smart use of Gunther at the moment. Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio def. PentaPenta hadn't been pinned one-on-one prior to this point, so it wasn't a stretch to assume that he could capture the title here and end Mysterio's reign prematurely. Interference from Finn Balor backfiring was a real possibility, but thankfully, that wasn't what they went with. This was a fun match. JD McDonagh returning to cost Penta the title was a nice twist and protected Penta in defeat. Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker Attacked CM Punk and Roman ReignsWhat a brilliantly done segment. Rollins laying out Punk and that being it would have been lame, but they got us with the show-closing credits and then following that up with Reigns coming to Punk's aid and getting his hands on Paul Heyman only to be attacked by Breakker. That's an alliance I didn't see coming, and it has plenty of potential. They planted the seeds for a tag team match that they shouldn't rush into and should instead save for down the road. This was a hell of a hook to end the night with. Overall ShowNot only was this the strongest edition Raw of the year so far, it was easily the best post-WrestleMania Raw in several years. Everything felt important, the crowd was hot and they successfully reshuffled the deck with fresh storylines and returning and debuting stars. This is what WWE needed after the abysmal ending to Night 2 of WrestleMania 41. It definitely did its job in leaving this viewer looking forward to what's next.
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