Monday Night Raw Review - June 10, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Baron Corbin, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn Confronted Universal Champion Seth Rollins

Everyone played their roles just fine here, but I hate how every episode of Raw and SmackDown Live has to open with a drawn-out talking segment. It feels so formulaic and gets these shows off on the wrong foot. Nevertheless, Corbin made it clear that he'll have the ability to choose his own special guest referee for his Universal Championship match with Rollins at Stomping Grounds. I could've sworn he said it'd be Zayn, but I guess he was just teasing it and never actually announced him for the role. Teasing heel shenanigans in a pay-per-view main event seems like a poor hook to me.

Lars Sullivan def. The Lucha House Party in a 3-on-1 Handicap Elimination Match

What was the point of holding off on doing this match until Raw when it could have been booked this way at Super ShowDown? In fact, this feud has been going on for close to a month, so why didn't this match happen weeks ago? Sullivan making quick work of Lucha House Party and dominating them with such ease was exactly how this should have gone down. He came across like a complete monster in the process, but obviously this did nothing for the three Cruiserweights. Then again, they have spinning their wheels for so long that I doubt it matters that they've been beaten into oblivion.

Michael Cole Interviewed Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch and Lacey Evans

My girlfriend Alexis asked me while we were watching this why WWE would have Lynch and Evans via split screen even though they were both in the arena. Honestly, I didn't have a proper answer for her, do you? At any rate, this was perfectly fine, even though I'm kind of tired of this feud by this point. They did well with the material they were given, but nothing they said got me any more excited for their upcoming encounter at Stomping Grounds than I was before.

The Miz Hosted Miz TV with United States Champion Samoa Joe; Ricochet, Miz and Braun Strowman def. Joe, Cesaro and Bobby Lashley

Miz and Joe had a decent thing going on Miz TV until the rest of Raw's midcard scene piled out and turned it into a revolving door of promos. That's another tired troupe that's been done to death over the years. The six-man tag team match that stemmed from it was actually entertaining and took up a good chunk of television time. I'm genuinely interested to see who steps up to challenge Joe for the United States Championship at Stomping Grounds, assuming it's not a Six-Pack Challenge or something along those lines.

Lacey Evans and Alexa Bliss def. SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley and Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch

We saw something similar to this just recently on SmackDown with Charlotte Flair in Bliss' place, but that's merely nitpicking on my part. From an in-ring standpoint, they had a well-wrestled match and made the most of the time they had. The heels going over was logical to allow them to maintain momentum, but Evans pinning Bayley was weird since she'll be challenging Lynch at the pay-per-view and not Bayley.

Paul Heyman Addressed the Audience

Damn, I was really hoping Brock Lesnar would appear on Raw to keep his streak alive. I believe he made four or five consecutive appearances on WWE TV between Money in the Bank and Super ShowDown, which is impressive for him. Heyman didn't have anything new to say here except issue a warning to Rollins to keep him on his toes. He teased that Lesnar could cash in at any time anywhere, but I don't think he'll trade in the briefcase for a title shot for another few months if not later than that.

WWE Women's Tag Team Champions The IIconics def. Lisa Lace and Aleyah Mia (Non-title)

Believe it or not, this actually marked The IIconics' first televised victory on either Raw or SmackDown since right after WrestleMania 35, which was over two months ago. That's pretty bad. I mean, they were already enhancement talent before winning the tag titles, but their recent string of losses surely doesn't make those belts any good. This was a quick showcase for them and while it was nice to see the duo pick up a win for a change, I still couldn't care less about the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.

Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre Celebrated Their Triumph Over Roman Reigns at Super ShowDown

These celebrations rarely ever end well on WWE TV, but this one shockingly did, and perhaps for the first time since the start of this Wild Card Rule, Reigns was not on Raw. I'm not sure if him predictably interrupting Shane and McIntyre would have made this segment any more bearable, but what I do know is that this rivalry ran its course weeks ago. Shane has become channel-changing material. Worse yet, all signs point to Reigns avenging his loss to Shane by beating McIntyre at Stomping Grounds. Ugh.

The Revival def. Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins and The Usos in a Triple Threat Match to Win the Raw Tag Team Championship

Ryder and Hawkins have barely been on Raw since becoming Raw Tag Team Champions, so you had to know a title change was coming as soon as it was announced that they'd be defending their twin titles on this show. Initially, it made no sense to me why The Revival would be included coming off their loss to The Usos at Super ShowDown last Friday, but the commentators eventually explained that by saying they were granted a shot at the straps because of their relationship with Shane.

Kevin Owens def. Universal Champion Seth Rollins by Disqualification (Non-title; Sami Zayn Served as Outside Referee)

It speaks volumes about the current WWE product when a Rollins vs. Owens main event is advertised and I can't muster up the energy to get excited about it. This could have been a quality contest without all the nonsense involving Zayn. I can't believe that even though they're on opposite brands, Zayn and Owens are still joined at the hip. Needless to say, this didn't give me much optimism regarding Rollins vs. Corbin at Stomping Grounds knowing that it's bound to be riddled with interference.

Overall Show

What can I say? Raw's in a rut. I'm well aware that I repeat myself every week with what I say about the overall show here, and for that I apologize, but until the episodes improve, I'm going to continue to complain about how bad they've become. There was no above-average in-ring action, and the only highlights in my opinion were the tag title change and the six-man tag team match. Other than that, this edition of Raw is easily skippable.