Monday Night Raw Review - June 28, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Riddle Won a Battle Royal to Advance to the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match Qualifier Later in the Night

Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville opened the show announcing that Randy Orton couldn't compete in the night's Triple Threat qualifying match and Riddle offered to serve as his substitute and win this Battle Royal and that Triple Threat on his behalf. I don't know if Orton's injury/absence is a work or not, but either way, I thought this was really well done. Riddle technically cost Orton a spot in the men's Money in the Bank Ladder match last week by serving as a distraction at ringside when Orton faced John Morrison, so this was his way of making it up to Orton. It was a run-of-the-mill Battle Royal yet exactly what it needed to be. I appreciated that Damian Priest was in there until the very end, though I wish a bigger deal was made over his return considering he hadn't been seen on WWE TV since mid-May. On a side note, can we please do away with the dumb 24/7 Championship please?!

Nikki Cross def. Shayna Baszler

Cross called herself "almost a superhero" during her pre-match promo backstage, so it looks like that's what they're going with with her character. While I applaud Cross' dedication to the character and the fact it was her idea, I'm just not buying it right now as it isn't my cup of tea. She's in the women's Money in the Bank Ladder match and Baszler isn't, so you had to know Cross was winning here. The match was an afterthought due to Alexa Bliss coming out halfway through and going after Nia Jax and Reginald, so I despised pretty much all of this.

Kofi Kingston Attacked MVP

The weekly interactions between Kingston and MVP have been among the best parts of Raw for at least a month now. It's unfortunate that no one is really sold on the idea of Kingston winning the WWE Championship from Bobby Lashley at Money in the Bank because he's been killing it on the mic lately and I'm digging this renewed singles push for him. MVP's been a master of the mic as well. MVP getting physical last week and him mentioning here that he isn't medically cleared yet makes me think he'll be back in the ring sooner rather than later.

Doudrop and Eva Marie def. Asuka and Naomi

​Doudrop dropped down from the apron last week when Eva was looking for a tag and it cost them the match against Asuka and Naomi. We got the obligatory rematch here, and although it wasn't much different from an in-ring standpoint, we did get some progression with Doudrop and Eva. Doudrop won by pinning Asuka despite Eva dropping down from the apron to return the favor. In other words, it doesn't look like their team is over yet. 

Ricochet vs. John Morrison Ended in a Double Count-Out

Prince Puma vs. Johnny Mundo! OG Lucha Underground fans will know what I'm talking about. Those guys always had amazing chemistry and even kicked off the first-ever episode of the show in 2014, so it was cool seeing them rekindle their rivalry in a WWE ring all these years later. Man, I miss that show. It was a blast of a bout to boot filled with plenty of entertaining action. That crossbody to the outside at the end was wild. I need a rematch?

Charlotte Flair and WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Natalya and Tamina def. Raw Women's Champion Rhea Ripley, Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke

I know this is probably the first time we've seen this match, but I feel like we've seen every combination of these six women even though we haven't. That just goes to show how depleted the women's divisions on Raw and SmackDown are and how uninteresting most of the feuds are. Flair and Ripley have done their best, but outside of their one brawl two weeks ago, their rivalry has largely underwhelmed. This was a basic six-woman tag team match that didn't have enough time to anything out of the ordinary. Flair getting the win for her team gets her back on track, though.

Jaxson Ryker def. Elias in a Strap Match

Please, please, please let this be the end of the feud. It's been beyond abysmal and it's only been a month. Ryker is more generic than a Create-a-Wrestler in the WWE video games and Elias, well, he's essentially damaged goods at this point. We've seen several Strap matches in WWE, NXT and AEW over the last year and this was no more memorable than any of those. The effort was there I suppose and it was kept relatively short, but I'm not a fan of this Ryker babyface push whatsoever.

Drew McIntyre def. Riddle and Raw Tag Team Champion AJ Styles in a Triple Threat Match to Qualify for the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Had Riddle won, Orton would've qualified. I loved that this got a ton of time because the talent level involved was incredible and they certainly maximized their minutes. This was a terrific Triple Threat from start to finish. I was pulling for a Riddle win so RK-Bro could be in the Ladder match together, but apparently not. It's not a huge deal that McIntyre is in the matchup, but I can guarantee you that he'll be booed any time he attempts to climb the ladder, mark my words. I'm a McIntyre fan, but he's been consistently pushed at the main event level for the last year and it's time to give him a break for a bit. An eventual heel turn may not be the worst idea, but WWE definitely needs top babyfaces right now.

Overall Show

Raw was heavy on the wrestling for the second straight week and it was once again a quality show on the whole. The women's division has unfortunately been a lowlight on this show since WrestleMania 37, but the matches with Money in the Bank implications have made more of the matches matter. It wasn't the strongest show I've ever seen, but the three hours didn't drag too terribly and there wasn't an awful amount of filler. I don't know, maybe it's because the bar for Raw is so low that anything will entertain me at this point, but I honestly thought this was a solid piece of business all things considered.

SEE MORE: Raw Reviews