Killam’s WWE Monday Night Raw Review
June 11, 2018
We’re gonna jump right into things, because I just don’t have the energy to fake it today. On deck we’ve got the final episode of WWE Raw before Money in the Bank, with two big ladder matches coming up and a half dozen other championship matches that have been keeping us plenty busy.
That Time Everyone Was Standing on Ladders For Some Reason
Raw opened with all eight of the male and female competitors in this weekend’s Money in the Bank ladder matches, all hanging out on top of ladders for some reason. Kurt Angle came out to remind everyone that Money in the Bank is happening this Sunday, making real sure to emphasize that it’s taking place on the WWE Network, for anyone unfamiliar with the process. Our new Constable Baron Von Corbin, sporting a newly shaved head and the natural charisma of a water buffalo, interrupted the Olympic gold medalist to remind everyone that if both briefcases don’t return to the Raw brand, his new best friend Stephanie McMahon will be deeply disappointed.
The women took turns arguing over which of them was going to win, then the men yelled about which of them was going to win, then Kevin Owens mocked all of them, then the men talked about which of the women had the best chance of winning – they went on like this for what felt like an eternity. Mind you, they’ve all been standing on ladders for about 6-8 minutes at this point, and not once did any of them bring up why this conversation couldn’t have just been had on the ground. Or like, at a Starbucks before the show. Ya know?
Eventually someone’s music hit and this mess of a segment mercifully came to an end. I don’t know what they thought this would accomplish, or why in the world it went on for as long as it did. Nobody said anything of value. Bliss, one of the only good heels the company has, decided to care about the Mixed Match Challenge again for some reason, which really just confused fans that wanted to cheer Strowman, and boo her. Which is like…everyone.
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Boy, this segment was a mess. Bliss and Owens are at least entertaining on the mic, but everyone else just blurted out their cheesy catchphrases and stuck to the cringe-worthy script. Kurt and Corbin were totally useless, as they didn’t even bother announcing anything. What a waste…
Bliss vs. Moon vs. Natalya vs. Banks
After a commercial break they had Alexa Bliss do her full entrance again which made no sense, because we literally just saw all four of them standing on ladders in the ring. Props to the ringside crew for managing to get all those ladders taken down and completely put away in such a short period of time.
I quite enjoyed this match. There were a few rough patches, in particular when Sasha got a bit too excited and started rushing through spots. Ember was really the stand-out star doing all these crazy dives, and they teased her going over after hitting an Eclipse from the top rope. Some nice false finishes led to Natalya taking advantage of the chaos, locking Bliss in the Sharpshooter and picking up a solid submission victory.
Nattie’s still a very undervalued talent in my opinion, and I believe they’re grooming her for Ronda Rousey, so it’s nice to see her picking up wins and being booked strong. I gotta say, Sasha is started to feel like an afterthought to me in the women’s division. She’s a future Hall of Fame talent, no doubt, but they didn’t even bother mentioning the Bayley drama this week and they’ve done a poor job of making me care about her lately.
Want Some Olives?
They did these backstage segments throughout the show where Kevin Owens went to his opponents, first Finn Balor and then Bobby Roode, trying to convince them to team up and take down Braun Strowman in the show’s main event. Then at the end of the night, they all got together and basically agreed to the collusion, until Strowman showed up and screamed about his hands. That dude really likes showing people his hands.
I thought these were done nicely, as for a brief moment they stripped away the cheesy characters of Balor and Roode and actually had an actual f—ing conversation like real human beings. Also… this moment with the olives was worth watching Raw for by itself.