World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins tried to make an open challenge on WWE Raw but Finn Balor had other ideas.
The first-ever Universal Champion, who actually beat The Visionary to claim that honour when the title was introduced in 2017, took out his rival from behind as the show got underway on Monday night.
Rollins kicked things off as he made his way to the ring to soak up the adulation from the live crowd and find out who he would be facing this week.
However, Balor attacked him from behind and unleashed an attack, sparking a ringside brawl as officials including retired star Jason Jordan tried to break things up.
His assault on Rollins continued backstage just one night before putting his title on the line against Bron Breakker at NXT Gold Rush, with the challenger later promising to hurt the champion badly.
Elsewhere, The Judgment Day came out to hype themselves up as Balor vowed to take the title from Seth, Rhea Ripley said she has the women’s division on lockdown and Damian Priest will win the Money In The Bank briefcase, while Dominik Mysterio could barely get a word in because of the boos.
The trio found themselves in action during the main event, battling the team of Cody Rhodes, Sam Zayn and Kevin Owens after the latter tried to keep his anger under control in some hilarious segments.
It was an epic match from start to finish, leaving the fans on their feet as Cody and the tag team champs stood tall.
Logan Paul and Trish Stratus added to Money In The Bank Ladder Matches, Tommaso Ciampa is back and more
After the wild start to the show, The Miz came out claiming he missed out on answering Seth Rollins’ open challenge, which led to Tommaso Ciampa coming out to everyone’s surprise.
The A-Lister’s former ally wasn’t there to support him though, and things quickly led to a match between the two after Ciampa cracked him in the mouth.
The returning star hadn’t missed a step, delivering a good first match back and picking up a dominant win over Miz with the Fairytale Ending.
Rising stars Katana Chance and Kayden Carter picked up a short but sweet win over Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville, while Jinder Mahal was at ringside as Indus Sher had a similarly dominant win against Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin.
Logan Paul came out and announced he will be part of the men’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match, which brought out Ricochet, Shinsuke Nakamura, LA Knight, Santos Escobar and Butch.
The latter decided to punch Logan rather than talk, leading to a wild brawl which ended with the social media star on top of a ladder.
Matt Riddle was able to beat Ludwig Kaiser in a fantastic effort, but his victory earned himself a beatdown at the hands of Kaiser and Imperium leader GUNTHER.
The Viking Raiders beat Alpha Academy in a fun tag team match, with the ending coming when Maxxine Dupri took out Valhalla, causing a distraction.
Poor Natalya continued her downward spiral when Rhea Ripey attacked her before their match could get underway, absolutely destroying her at ringside.
Next, Raquel Rodriguez had a chance to qualify for Money In The Bank against Trish Stratus, who had Zoey Stark for backup.
Towards the end of what was a strong effort from both women, Becky Lynch came out to take out Stark, with Trish going on the attack but Becky’s retaliation led to a disqualification and gifted the Hall of Famer her spot at MITB.
Bronson Reed picked up a win over Shinsuke Nakamura despite interference from Ricochet, as the fun storyline between all three men rolls on.
WWE Raw airs Monday nights at 1am on BT Sport 1.
WWE Raw results and grades – June 19, 2023
- Tommaso Ciampa pinned The Miz (B-)
- Kayden Carter and Katana Chance beat Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green (C-)
- Indus Sher destroyed Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamina (C)
- Matt Riddle defeated Ludwig Kaiser (B+)
- The Viking Raiders beat Alpha Academy (B-)
- Money In The Bank Qualifier: Trish Stratus defeated Raquel Rodriguez by disqualification (B)
- Bronson Reed pinned Shinsuke Nakamura (B)
- Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn beat The Judgment Day (A-)
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