Monday Night Raw Review - May 9, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro def. The Street Profits

Street Profits beat RK-Bro last month, so I'm glad that win wasn't forgotten about and they got the tag title opportunity they were owed here. These teams work really well together and thus this was an extremely entertaining affair. That one nearfall where Montez Ford hit his patented frog splash before Randy Orton broke it up was super close. The crowd was hot for all of this and Riddle's match-winning RKO on Ford out of nowhere was excellently executed. It's worth noting that RK-Bro brought up unifying the tag titles again beforehand and said they're headed to SmackDown on Friday to confront The Usos, so we'll see if they actually follow through with it this time.

The Judgement Day Explained Their Alliance

I've said it before, but I am all in on this Judgement Day faction, especially now that Rhea Ripley is involved. I appreciate that Edge allowed everyone the time to talk and explain their actions. These weren't the greatest promos ever, but what they said was logical. Interestingly, Edge mentioned the possibility of adding more members. I know Ciampa's name was floated around at one point and I'd think he'd make for a very logical addition.

Rhea Ripley def. Liv Morgan; Finn Balor def. Damian Priest by Disqualification

I've become more of a Liv Morgan fan over the last year and I applaud her effort here, but this was essentially a glorified squash win for Ripley. I can't say I have much of an issue with that since Ripley just joined Judgement Day and needs the momentum more than Morgan, who just won the main event of Raw last week. Balor vs. Priest was a bit more competitive and enjoyable, but the non-finish was lame albeit understandable. The heels stood tall in the end. Will Styles and Balor recruit Morgan for one night to take on Judgement Day in its entirety or call upon someone else? Personally, I nominate Edge's wife Beth Phoenix.

Bobby Lashley Crashed The VIP Lounge with MVP and Omos and Attacked Cedric Alexander

Bless WWE for trying their hardest to get Omos over as a monster heel, but I don't think many people are buying it despite his win over Lashley at WrestleMania Backlash. Lashley coming out and destroying everyone was the best part of this segment. I feared this was leading to a Hell in a Cell match between Omos and Lashley next month, but thankfully, they'll be facing off inside a steel cage next week instead. Please let that be the end of this storyline so Lashley can move on.

Alexa Bliss def. Sonya Deville

Adam Pearce announced beforehand that following a "thorough investigation," Deville has been officially fired as an on-air official and will remain an in-ring competitor going forward. She played the role well, but her full-time return to the ring was long overdue. Plus, Bliss is back after disappearing from TV back in February. She looks like the Bliss of old without the Fiend-esque elements (other than the dumb Lilly doll), so that's terrific news. This was a quick squash, but I wouldn't mind seeing this as a full-fledged feud.

Kevin Owens and Alpha Academy Attacked Ezekiel

Owens attempted to show up Ezekiel by dressing as his fake brother "Ken" Owens, blonde wig and all. As dumb as this was, I found it to be funny, and that's how I'd sum up this entire storyline. What the ultimate endgame is, I have no clue, but they're keeping me entertained, I'll tell you that much. The heels getting the better of Ezekiel this week was fine and I'm happy Alpha Academy are still being featured weekly on Raw despite losing the Raw Tag Team Championship two months ago.

Veer Mahaan def. Frank Lomen

This was the second straight week where the local jobber was interviewed before being squashed. Like I said last week, it's a smart move to get more heat on Mahaan. The dude looked like a poor man's Wardlow, but that's beside the point. These simple squashes only make Mahaan look more and more devastating, so this was what it needed to be. With it being a post-pay-per-view show, I thought this might be the spot where Rey Mysterio returned to go after the man that put him on the shelf in storyline, but obviously not.

Cody Rhodes def. United States Champion Theory by Disqualification

You had to know Seth Rollins was getting involved as soon as this was announced on social media earlier in the day because I knew neither of these guys were taking a pinfall loss. Sure enough, that's exactly what happened. The match that preceded the non-finish was very well wrestled and they had nice chemistry together, so hopefully we get a rematch down the road. Rollins' aggressive attack on Rhodes should set them up for a Hell in a Cell clash next month.

WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Sasha Banks and Naomi def. Nikki A.S.H. and Doudrop (Non-Title)

Banks and Naomi will be defending the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship against Natalya and Shayna Baszler this Friday on SmackDown, so it would have been foolish for them to lose here. Basically, this served as a warm-up for them. This was less about the match and more about teasing a character change for Nikki, or so I hope. The Nikki A.S.H. crap was awful from the start and it's time to move on. Doudrop could use a name change herself. This loss should lead to both women being repackaged, but who knows if WWE has the same idea in mind.

Ciampa def. Mustafa Ali (The Miz Served as Special Guest Referee)

This is one of the oldest angles in the book, yet I feel like we haven't seen it in a while in WWE unless I'm mistaken. I didn't hate that they went with it, but being in the building myself, I can honestly tell you nobody cared. It's sad because Ciampa just got called up to the main roster and Ali is fresh off a return to Raw, but there was nothing interesting or exciting about this whatsoever. Miz making the quick three count and screwing over Ali was very predictable. Putting this in the third hour was the wrong call.

Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair vs. Asuka in a Championship Contender's Match Ended in a No Contest

The announcement of this match in a backstage segment earlier in the evening was beyond random. Unless I'm mistaken, this was a first-time ever encounter, so why waste it without advertising it in advance? Worse yet, it started so close to the top of the hour that you knew it wasn't going to be more than four or five minutes long. Sure enough, it ended prematurely thanks to lame interference from Becky Lynch. I'm sure this is headed toward a Triple Threat for the title and that should be wonderful, but the way this went done was disappointing.

Overall Show

Being there live for this show definitely enhanced my experience of it, so of course, I'm biased. From what I could tell, the Hartford crowd was energetic for the first hour or two but completely died during that third hour and I don't blame them. That last hour was lifeless and ended an otherwise thumbs-up episode on a sour note. By the way, I appreciated the lack of disqualifications at WrestleMania Backlash, but then we ended up getting three of them on this show, so I suppose WWE wanted to even it out. Nonetheless, Raw remains a much easier show to sit through than SmackDown. It's amazing the overall creative is so drastically different between the two brands right now.

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