Monday Night Raw Review - May 28, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Finn Balor def. Braun Strowman by Disqualification

I'm typically not a fan of matches being repeated from the week prior (see: Bobby Roode vs. Elias), but this actually made sense after the opening segment that saw Stowman take a shot at Balor's height and Balor retaliate. For the second straight week, they contested a very entertaining outing with a predictable albeit logical non-finish. Neither of these men should be losing clean (especially Balor after losing last week), and it put heat on Kevin Owens for interfering, so I liked this a lot.

Jinder Mahal def. Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins by Disqualification

Elias did his usual shtick before the bout and was interrupted by Rollins, which played a factor in the finish to this match. Fun fact: Rollins and Mahal first fought back in 2012 where the winner would become the inaugural NXT Champion (spoiler: Rollins won). They proved they worked well together then and that was once again the case here. This was a damn good match with a solid story told and the crowd rallying behind Rollins throughout. Doing two disqualification finishes in a row was a little lame, but Elias hitting Rollins with his guitar afterward (causing Rollins to fly off the commentators' table in the process) made up for it. I expect them to clash for the Intercontinental Championship at Money in the Bank.

Raw Women's Champion Nia Jax Taunted Ronda Rousey

Although I thought the contract signing with Jax and Rousey last week exceeded expectations, I found this to be a weird way to further their feud. Jax basically demonstrated to Rousey how she plans to beat her at Money in the Bank by acting disingenuous, so I guess that makes her the heel in this feud. I'm not sure if it will only be for this program or if it'll be a permanent change, but I do find it odd she's already turning again after turning face only two or so months ago.

Raw Tag Team Champions "Woken" Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt def. The Ascension (Non-title)

Another week, another quick showcase for the tag team champs. As I've said in the past, I love Hardy and Wyatt as a unit, but they could be doing so much more than competing in the same forgettable matches week after week. It's such a shame that their likely contenders The B-Team are getting more segments on the show than they are. It's hard to care about them when they're never involved in anything of note.

Kevin Owens def. Bobby Roode

I appreciated that this was a fresh matchup and that it was well-wrestled, but it wasn't particularly exciting. I'd actually be open to a full-fledged feud between them down the road as long as they're given more time for their matches than they were here. Afterward, Strowman resurfaced to lay out not only Owens (exacting revenge from earlier in the evening) but Roode as well, setting up their match for next week. Roode looked lame during his over-the-top celebration while Strowman was attacking Owens, and needless to say, he desperately needs to turn heel.

Bobby Lashley Challenged Sami Zayn

It was hilarious that Zayn's character issued an "apology" for last week's segment with Lashley's "sisters," whereas it should have been the company issuing the apology for putting that trash on their television in the first place. Anyway, Lashley continues to drown as a babyface. The smiling, happy-go-lucky character doesn't fit him at all, and his challenge to Zayn at Money in the Bank elicited next to no reaction from the audience. Here's hoping the matchup itself is better than their recent Raw segments.

Drew McIntyre def. Chad Gable

Gable's outing against Dolph Ziggler last week was more of a competitive contest than a glorified squash, whereas this was pretty one-sided in favor of McIntyre. That's totally fine because McIntyre is an absolute star and Gable sold his ass off for his offense, but I do feel bad for Gable for not getting more a chance to shine. I thought we might see American Alpha reunite to take on Ziggler and McIntyre at next month's pay-per-view, but that doesn't appear to be the route they're taking based off how decisive of a win this was for McIntyre.

The B-Team Held a Memorial Day Barbecue

The B-Team has been a guilty pleasure of mine for a while now, but this segment was completely unnecessary and a massive waste of time. WWE hasn't done too much holiday silliness lately, but they returned to their roots here with this "Memorial Day barbecue." How sad is it that Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel ended this thing by putting Rhyno through a table yet The Authors of Pain somehow can't seem to get television time?

Sasha Banks def. Ruby Riott, Mickie James, Dana Brooke, Bayley, Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan in a Last Chance Gauntlet Match to Qualify for the Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

The Gauntlet match held on Raw before Elimination Chamber back in February was one of the best bouts in the show's history, but unfortunately, this didn't follow that same formula and was significantly shorter. Don't get me wrong, it was cool they were given the main event spotlight (which has become a normal thing by now), but it didn't truly pick up until it came down to Riott, James and Banks. Some of the eliminations were way too quick and there was no suspense around the nearfalls because the crowd already assumed Banks was winning once Bayley was eliminated. If nothing else, Riott had a hell of a performance, as she has been doing very well for herself since arriving on Raw last month.

Overall Show

I had to miss out on watching Raw live this week and I can't say I have any regrets whatsoever, because this was a weak edition of Raw. Credit to WWE for dragging out the build to Money in the Bank and not waiting until the last minute to confirm a million matches for the card, but the quality of the shows has not been strong in the slightest. Rollins has been the most must-see aspect of Raw recently, but beyond him and his matches, these episodes are certainly lackluster. All that said, I have hope the event will deliver given the potential it has on paper.