Monday Night Raw Review - June 21, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The New Day Interrupted WWE Champion Bobby Lashley and MVP on The VIP Lounge

I'm glad WWE didn't forget about Kofi Kingston beating Lashley a few weeks ago. The only other person to beat him one-on-one this year was Riddle and that was back in January, so it makes sense to go back to Kingston as a WWE Championship contender in time for Money in the Bank. Granted, it was a fluky win and Lashley even acknowledged that here, but I guess Kingston would rather forget about that. I liked the general direction of this segment, but it felt like it was all over the place with Lashley specifically stumbling over his words. Also, another barely-advertised Hell in a Cell match on free TV? Why?! That's four in three days! My guess is that USA Network wanted one of their own after FOX had one on SmackDown this past Friday, but that's still a stupid excuse. What a waste. If I didn't see another Hell in a Cell match from this company for the next five years at least, you wouldn't get any complaints out of me.

Ricochet def. Raw Tag Team Champion AJ Styles to Qualify for the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

The last time Ricochet was relevant was when he was feuding with Styles over the United States Championship. Sadly, that was two years ago. Ricochet lost the title to him and never had a chance to avenge his many losses to him, at least until now. This was the usual quality contest from these two with a pleasantly surprising outcome. It makes sense since Styles is one-half of the Raw Tag Team Champions and is currently busy with The Viking Raiders, who took out Omos at ringside toward the end. This win won't change Ricochet's career, but it will be cool to see him in Money in the Bank again.

Naomi and Eva Marie def. Eva Marie and Doudrop to Qualify for the Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Eva gave Piper Niven her new (hopefully temporary) name during a pre-match backstage interview. She acted annoyed by it and teased tension with Eva during the match. Hell, she dropped off the apron when Eva was looking for a tag. So, is their team already over? I figured WWE was putting them together off the bat to add to their depleted women's tag team division, but Niven getting a singles push should be inevitable. The story just feels rushed. Naomi is a nice early pick to win the women's briefcase considering she hasn't been a focal point in years.

Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville Announced Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair for the Raw Women's Championship at Money in the Bank

I had no problem with another match between Ripley and Flair being announced for Money in the Bank. Regardless of the result at Hell in a Cell, it was logical for the feud to continue at least through SummerSlam. My issue with this segment is how Ripley was made out to look like a heel. Maybe that's the point, but if so, what the hell is Flair supposed to be? The dynamic is so confusing. By the way, Ripley being reprimanded for her actions by the authority figures when the heels rarely are was weird. They got their point across, but Ripley and Flair didn't have memorable performances on the mic here.

John Morrison def. Randy Orton to Qualify for the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Matches

Was this really the first-ever one-on-one encounter between these two? That's crazy when you consider they've been in the same company for almost two decades (I know Morrison left for eight years in 2011, but still). They had a good match and I was happy they got as much time as they did. Riddle inadvertently distracting Orton from ringside was what cost him the win, along with some shenanigans from The Miz. It continued the tension between RK-Bro and got Morrison a much-deserved spot in Money in the Bank, so this worked all around.

Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross def. Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax to Qualify for the Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Well, there's a ton to unpack here. Firstly, I know WWE did tag team qualifying matches with the women as opposed to singles matches to cut down on television time, but they should have made it more even with the men because the ladies shouldn't have gotten the short end of the stick in that way. Then there's the new superhero character for Cross. Personally, I find it stupid (I realize we once had Mighty Molly but that was over 15 years ago and it fit perfectly with what The Hurricane was doing at the time), but maybe it'll grow on me. We also got the usual supernatural silliness with Bliss and her putting Reginald in a trance. Just make it stop, please! Worst of all, Baszler lost to another roll-up. She eats more pins than a damn bowling alley, holy shit. If she wasn't dead in the water before, she definitely is now. The match itself was fine, but there was as lot about this I didn't like at all.

Riddle def. Drew McIntyre to Qualify for the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

This was my favorite match on the whole show. Despite how goofy he comes across as a character most times, Riddle never ceases to bring it in the ring regardless of who his opponent is, and because this was fresh, I enjoyed it even more. They were given a ton of time and had an above-average outing. I didn't love the roll-up finish, but at least Riddle won clean, which is huge for him. I'd say I'm glad McIntyre isn't in Money in the Bank, but he's getting another chance to qualify next week against Orton and Styles in a Triple Threat. Ugh. I'm a McIntyre fan, but WWE really needs to give him a break from the main event scene for a while.

WWE Champion Bobby Lashley def. Xavier Woods in a Hell in a Cell Match (Non-Title)

Doing Lashley vs. Woods was logical before Kingston challenges for the WWE title at Money in the Bank, but as previously noted, the Hell in a Cell stipulation was completely unnecessary. Steel Cage matches might mean more at this point and that's saying something. They should have added a stipulation where Woods can't be at ringside for Lashley vs. Kingston at Money in the Bank if he lost here, but because that wasn't explicitly stated, I assume Woods will be back next week like nothing happened. To their credit, they had a solid main event that told a good story, but Woods shouldn't have been competitive with the dominant Lashley in this environment. It really should have been the first squash match in Hell in a Cell history to put over Lashley as more of a monster.

Overall Show

The Money in the Bank qualifiers made the matches more meaningful than usual, making for a somewhat noteworthy show with plenty of quality in-ring action. Each of the three of the men's qualifiers were better than the last and the three hours were largely filled effectively. The Hell in a Cell main event was unnecessary as noted, but the final visual of Lashley attacking Woods while Kingston looked on was well done. I assume we won't be in for much storyline development in the coming weeks (this is somewhat of a placeholder period before SummerSlam), but hopefully we can continue to get great wrestling, if nothing else.

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