Monday Night Raw Review - May 11, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Becky Lynch Revealed She's Pregnant; Asuka Was Declared the New Raw Women's Champion

It had been speculated all day that Lynch's major announcement would be that she was pregnant and, well, they weren't wrong. Congrats to her and Seth Rollins on the news. It was certainly shocking, if only because Lynch has been the face of Raw for the past year and has been booked to look so dominant. I doubt Asuka becoming champion was the original plan (remember, the Money in the Bank Ladder matches were taped about a month ago), but hopefully they can make the most of it. Personally, I find it difficult to take Asuka seriously at this point, but maybe they can rehab her and make her more serious again. That said, the over-the-top celebration from her here didn't give me a whole lot of hope.

Bobby Lashley def. Humberto Carrillo in a No Disqualification Match

Carrillo was the one who eliminated Lashley in last week's Gauntlet match, so I'm glad they came back to this. I don't know if the No Disqualification stipulation was necessary, but they made the most of it and I guess the intent was for it to make Lashley look more aggressive while beating down Carrillo. It was a fun little matchup while it lasted and resulted in a good win for Lashley. Lana not being around at ringside was appreciated as well.

Angel Garza def. Akira Tozawa

Garza and Austin Theory were shown bickering backstage beforehand. The two haven't been able to win a match to save their lives, so I guess this might be WWE's way of splitting them up after only one month. This was a solid showcase for Garza, but it continues to stun me why Tozawa is used as the go-to jobber in situations such as this one. He's unbeaten in the Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship Tournament at the moment yet is positioned like a loser on Raw. This is what the Performance Center recruits are for.

WWE Champion Drew McIntyre def. United States Champion Andrade (Non-Title)

As much as I enjoy the chemistry that these two have together, I think it was way too soon to revisit this. There was no reason for it aside from giving McIntyre another hard-fought win, and while I'm all for that, it shouldn't have come at the expense of the United States Champion. It's been a recurring issue with Andrade for months and it makes the title he holds feel worthless. Worse yet, King Corbin is coming to Raw next week to face McIntyre. I loathe that they're going back to the Wild Card so soon and I honestly doubt it's going to help with the ratings in the slightest.

WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross Hosted Moment of Bliss with The IIconics; The IIconics def. Bliss & Cross (Non-Title)

After a six-month hiatus, The IIconics have returned to Raw. I'm not going to lie: I forgot they've been gone for so long. Their act was tired before they left and it isn't any better now (and no, absence does not always make the heart grow fonder). Then again, I suppose it was only inevitable that they'd be brought back because of how depleted the women's tag team division is. The match was fine albeit nothing special. The IIconics will get their shot at the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship next Monday night.

R-Truth, Ricochet & Cedric Alexander def. MVP, Shane Thorne & Brendan Vink

I get a kick out of Truth and whatever he's involved in more often than not,​ but this "Pretty Ricky" crap was downright deplorable. I know he's been wanting to do it on WWE TV for a long time as I remember WWE trying it out on SmackDown over a decade ago, but there's a reason why they dropped it in the first place. The match was total throwaway as a result. I did like what went down afterward with MVP and Lashley further teasing their alliance, though.

Rey Mysterio & Aleister Black def. Seth Rollins and Murphy by Disqualification

If Corbin is going to be on Raw next week, I have to assume Mysterio and Black will want to get revenge for him attempting to murder them by seemingly tossing them off the roof of WWE Headquarters at Money in the Bank. As for this match, it was going well and was entertaining before the non-finish, which was executed terribly. Why would Rollins get disqualified for simply attacking Mysterio when he was a part of the matchup? Thankfully, the brutal post-match assault on Mysterio made up for it. A Mysterio vs. Rollins rivalry has the potential to be a blast.

Shayna Baszler def. Natalya

I have to say, Baszler's backstage promos about Lynch and Natalya leading up to this were glorious. She hasn't cut many memorable promos since joining the main roster, but those fit her character perfectly and would put a ton of heat on her if crowds were present. It could be argued that Natalya should have been made to look more competitive here, but I was fine with her getting squashed because Baszler needed it. I'm still stunned WWE didn't have Baszler win at WrestleMania 36 or at Money in the Bank, but she isn't dead in the water yet.

Randy Orton Challenged Edge to a "Wrestling" Match

I loved the rivalry between Edge and Orton heading into WrestleMania as much as anyone, but I'm of the opinion (like most people) that it doesn't need to continue. It has less to do with their 'Mania match underwhelming and more to do with how Edge already gave Orton his comeuppance. Hell, he cried afterward! I assume this is their way of giving Orton a win to extend the storyline to SummerSlam, but I don't get the sense that many fans are clamoring for that. Don't get me wrong, I thought their promos in this segment were strong, but going from a Last Man Standing match to a standard singles matchup seems strange. And of course, Charly Caruso was completely pointless here. That last line about Edge and Orton having "the greatest wrestling match ever" sounded super forced and should not have been said.

Overall Show

I didn't mention this above, but the basketball skits with The Street Profits and The Viking Raiders did nothing for me, personally. I appreciate the effort to go outside of the box, but I'd rather they stick to the straightforward and serious approach from before and not water down their rivalry with poor comedy. The rest of the show on the whole was a disappointment considering it was a post-pay-per-view edition. It had its fair share of newsworthy moments between Becky's big announcement and Edge and Orton returning at the end, but the middle was "meh" to me and failed to deliver the goods. Raw has been solid for the better part of this "empty arena" era, so I'm hoping this was just an off night and it'll be back to its normal standard of quality next week.