Monday Night Raw Review - June 7, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Viking Raiders Won a Raw Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Tag Team Battle Royal

Most of the teams were already in the ring by the time the show started, so I figured we were getting the Battle Royal right away. Instead, AJ Styles and Omos came out to attempt to roast their potential challengers. Normally I'd hate on this sort of thing and say it was designed to kill television time (which it definitely was, no doubt about it), but I was actually entertained. Hell, even The Miz sliding down the ramp in a wheelchair during John Morrison's slow-motion entrance was funny. It was a pretty basic Battle Royale, but I'm glad they went with Viking Raiders (even though they haven't been on the show in almost two months) instead of R-K-Bro, which is a match they definitely should save for SummerSlam when there's a crowd.

Jaxson Ryker def. Elias by Count-Out

Ryker debuted a new look with shorter hair here, for anyone who cares. He had an American flag on his trunks, so I assume WWE wants to lean into his military background now that he's apparently a babyface. Ugh. I don't think anyone has any incentive to cheer for him, even if you put aside his questionable social media behavior. He just isn't very good. The match was technically fine, but the count-out win for Ryker unfortunately means the feud will continue.

WWE Champion Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre Signed the Contract for Their WWE Championship Hell in a Cell Match at WWE Hell in a Cell

This wasn't much different than most wrestling contract signings, but two things I appreciated about it were that the mic work from both men was good and that there was no physicality like there usually is. Interestingly, McIntyre acknowledged that he's gotten title shot after title shot, so thankfully, they put a stipulation in place that states McIntyre can't get any more shots after Hell in a Cell as long as Lashley is champion. It'll also be a Hell in a Cell match, which is what we all expected when the pay-per-view was announced. This was a quality verbal exchange, but the feud is well past its expiration date.

Humberto Carrillo vs. Ricochet in a United States Championship No. 1 Contender's Match Ended in a Double Count-Out

Sheamus legitimately had his nose broken last week, which is why he was wearing the face shield. Carrillo and Ricochet have had their issues with Sheamus for weeks, so a Triple Threat makes the most sense, even though this double count-out finish felt lazy. I know WWE looks at both guys as winners and that's why it'll be a Triple Threat, but wouldn't they both be losers, too? At any rate, this was a nice little match but way too short to be what it could have been.

Jeff Hardy def. Cedric Alexander

Alexander is coming off a few wins over Shelton Benjamin, whereas I don't think we've seen Hardy on Raw since he lost to Jinder Mahal in his return a month ago. What the hell happened to Mahal and his new faction, anyway? On the bright side, this was a fun match that got a decent amount of time. Okay, so it was only six minutes, but I was honestly expecting one or two (or if it to be cut short by a commercial break), so I'll take what I can get. I'd be all for a feud between these two if the plan is for Alexander to get his win back at some point.

Nikki Cross and Asuka def. Raw Women's Champion Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair

I was hoping Asuka would disappear for a little while following her recent loss to Charlotte, but I guess the women's division is so thin that WWE can't afford to lose her right now. We saw the "feuding partners" shtick a ton earlier this year and it was brought back here just to kill time before Flair and Ripley face off at Hell in a Cell. It was a well-wrestled match, but the booking makes no damn sense. All of these wins for Cross have been fluky, so it's not like she's benefiting any. In fact, it's doing more to damage to Ripley and Flair than it is to help Cross.

Mansoor def. Drew Gulak

For the second straight week, Mustafa Ali approached Mansoor backstage trying to give him some advice. There's a lot you can say about that (and I don't necessarily disagree), but hey, I'm just happy they're on the show. If they become tag team partners for no real reason, that's a problem. Mansoor and Gulak have had some nice matches on Main Event, but this is Raw, so I wasn't surprised that it only lasted two minutes. Mansoor got the win, so that's really all that mattered.

Kofi Kingston def. Riddle

All of these interactions between Riddle and Randy Orton have been comedy gold. Props to WWE for actually keeping them together and not having Orton predictably turn on Riddle after a week or two. They've had an enjoyable feud with The New Day over the last month and it's been a solid secondary story outside of the Raw Tag Team Championship picture (even though it feels like the primary program). The matches have been terrific to boot and this was also an enjoyable affair. Orton was disappointed in Riddle afterward for not putting Kingston away when he had the chance. Will MVP attempting to recruit Kingston earlier in the evening actually lead somewhere?

Shayna Baszler Attacked Lily on Alexa's Playground

I was already out on this whole thing when the shenanigans started a month ago, but Baszler losing to Reginald last week made me lose all interest in this feud before it had a chance to get going. Unsurprisingly, this segment didn't change my mind. Baszler stepped on Lily before Bliss' mystical powers kicked in and caused fire to scare off Baszler. Then Lily was seen staring at Baszler in a mirror while the lights flickered. You can't make this shit up. Maybe some people will be intrigued, but I just thought it was stupid. It's not wrestling, it's not sports, it's not entertainment. I don't know what the hell it was supposed to be other than bad. And you wonder why Raw ratings are at an all-time low.

Overall Show

imagine thinking that closing the show with the Bliss and Baszler segment was a wise decision. Yikes. I honestly didn't think this was that bad of a show, it just ended with the worst segment of the night. The rest of Raw was actually okay. There was more build for Hell in a Cell, and although the stuff with the women once again fell flat, the contract signing was solid and the progression in the tag team division was fun to follow. Elias vs. Ryker was a waste of time, but the other midcard matches filled the time well. In other words, Raw was slightly better than usual, but that closing segment was downright deplorable.

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