Monday Night Raw Review - June 19, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Finn Balor Attacked World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins

Rollins' World Heavyweight Championship open challenge would have been a hot way to open the show, but it was not meant to be. Balor blindsided Rollins before an opponent could emerge and hit his finisher on him three times at ringside. It was a good angle that put some much-needed heat on Balor after he was drowned out by the chants of Rollins' theme song last week. Granted, I still don't see him as a threat to Rollins at Money in the Bank, but this was well done, nonetheless.

Tommaso Ciampa def. The Miz

Miz said he was on the verge of accepting the Rollins open challenge before Balor ruined it (lol), so he issued an open challenge of his own. I assumed Johnny Gargano would accept considering he's a Cleveland native, but the return of Ciampa was a pleasant surprise. It also made sense because Ciampa was linked with Miz the last time we saw him on Raw last year, and this (hopefully) ends that chapter. Fingers crossed a DIY reunion is imminent.

The Judgment Day Challenged Cody Rhodes to a Six-Man Tag Team Match

It was weird that Judgment Day came out before the commercial break and were apparently standing on the stage that whole time. At any rate, this was a pretty basic promo from Judgment Day with Balor addressing his attack on Rollins and throwing out the challenge to Rhodes for a six-man tag team match in the main event. This could have sufficed as a backstage interview, but Dominik Mysterio wouldn't have been able to elicit the mega heat from the crowd that he did.

Katana Chance and Kayden Carter def. Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green

Maybe in the minority on this one, but I actually found the mini TikTok videos WWE aired before this showcasing Green's Karen persona hilarious. She plays the character super well, but WWE hasn't done a whole lot with it since before WrestleMania 39. Unfortunately, it didn't make much of a difference because she and Deville still lost in a matter of minutes, but at least it was a nice first win for Chance and Carter. Their tag team offense has always been impressive and I hope it endears them to the audience in time.

Cody Rhodes Accepted The Judgment Day's Challenge

Cathy Kelley interviewed Rhodes on the ramp. I don't know why this needed to happen in front of the live crowd if Rhodes was going to make an entrance again later, but I actually thought it was a refreshing change of pace. It would have come off even better on the podium WWE had by the stage last year that they quickly ditched. This was short, sweet and straight to the point to make the night's main event official.

Indus Sher def. Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin

This match was supposed to happen two weeks ago, but Indus Sher attacked Alexander and Benjamin beforehand and the bell never rang. The outcome was never in doubt, but at least Indus Sher went over in dominant fashion as they should have. They haven't gotten over yet, but WWE has handled their main roster run so far as well as possible. I feel bad for Benjamin and Alexander, who are a genuinely great team but have been grossly underutilized since The Hurt Business disbanded two years ago.

Logan Paul Declared Himself for the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match and Stood Tall Over the Competition

As soon as Paul's Raw return was announced last week, I was worried he'd be thrown into the men's Money in the Bank match because the timing was so random. Sure enough, that's exactly what happened. Don't get me wrong, I think he's a perfect fit for it, but I really don't want him (or anyone) winning over LA Knight. Speaking of whom, he was incredibly over in this segment. That's all the proof you need as to why he should win. Everyone in the match interrupted each other here before a brawl broke out, ending with Paul standing tall. Please let that be a red herring.

Matt Riddle def. Ludwig Kaiser

Riddle attacked Giovanni Vinci last week and beat Kaiser here, so he's getting closer to challenging Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship. I'm shocked it hasn't been added to the Money in the Bank card yet, and maybe they're saving it for SummerSlam instead, but it'd be a crime for Gunther to not appear in front of that crowd in London. This was a quality contest while it lasted, as you'd expect from these two.

The Viking Raiders def. Alpha Academy

This has been a fine undercard feud in the Raw tag team division these past few weeks. It hasn't been lighting the world on fire by any means, but it's gotten everyone involved in regular roles on Raw and has cemented the popular Alpha Academy as babyfaces, so I can't complain too much. This was a decent match but featured nothing out of the ordinary. The crowd didn't care about Viking Raiders winning, but they did pop for Maxxine Dupri suplexing Valhalla at ringside.

Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Natalya Went to a No Contest (Non-Title)

This was a rematch from Night of Champions, or at least was supposed to be before Ripley attacked Natalya and the bell never rang. Ripley destroyed her at ringside and that was it. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't excited for the match by any means, but what purpose was this supposed to serve? I have no desire to see this continue if that's what this was intended to do. WWE really needs to do a better job of building up credible competition for Ripley.

Trish Stratus def. Raquel Rodriguez to Qualify for the Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Rodriguez and Ripley interacted briefly backstage afterward, which sure seemed to suggest that Rodriguez would win here and be a strong candidate to win the women's Money in the Bank match. Stratus only won because of Becky Lynch's interference, so Rodriguez should have a beef with Lynch coming out of this. The match itself was solid. The crowd was quiet for a majority of it, but Stratus sold Rodriguez's offense extremely well.

Bronson Reed def. Shinsuke Nakamura

Nakamura ended Reed's undefeated streak in singles competition three weeks ago and Reed was able to avenge the loss here. This was a well-wrestled match with Ricochet's inadvertent interference factoring into the finish. I'm happy Reed has been protected in recent weeks, but it is funny that he's gotten the better of both Nakamura and Ricochet multiple times and yet he's not in the men's Money in the Bank Ladder match.

Cody Rhodes and Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens def. The Judgment Day (Damian Priest, Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio)

This was a classic WWE multi-man main event in that it was star-studded, the action was entertaining and the crowd was hot for everything they did. This was Raw's third consecutive above-average main event, so I appreciate that they've been closing out the shows on a high note lately. There was very little tension teased within the ranks of Judgment Day here, and I'm glad Rollins didn't get involved, which kept the focus on the babyfaces remaining supreme.

Overall Show

I enjoyed this edition of Raw on the whole. I hated that we didn't get the World Heavyweight Championship open challenge as advertised, but we did get to hear from Rollins' next challenger Bron Breakker backstage, Ciampa returned, Paul and Stratus were added to their respective Money in the Bank Ladder match, there was some successful storyline progression throughout the night, and the main event was a blast. The crowd being livelier than your average WWE crowd helped, too. No real complaints coming out of this show and I'm looking forward to Money in the Bank.

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