It was the official new era of Monday Night Raw with its brand new roster and you could really feel this new movement. Unfortunately, the women of the brand were off the show, presumably due to them not being included on Crown Jewel. Hopefully they are able to be apart in the coming weeks as this new feel show is something to be excited about. Here are the highlights.
Drew McIntyre Returns; Destroys Ricochet
“The Nature Boy” Ric Flair kicked off Raw to announce his final member to Team Flair for the Crown Jewel tag team match between his and Hulk Hogan‘s teams. Flair was all riled up as he prepared to announce his final member to his team, as it would be revealed that a returning Drew McIntyre will be the man to fill out Team Flair. McIntyre informed Flair that he wanted to show him why he was worth the selection, as McIntyre and Ricochet would have a match in a small preview for the huge tag.
Drew McIntyre vs Ricochet
The last time we saw McIntyre was when he was eliminated from the King of the Ring tournament by Ricochet, as this match made the most sense for his return. “The Scottish Psychopath” somehow managed to display an even more brutal and destructive style, seemingly adding to his moveset in a match that was a very hot open for the show. Ricochet hit a picture perfect Shooting Star Press to get a near fall on McIntyre, but was not enough. McIntyre eventually picked up the win with a thunderous Claymore Kick on Ricochet, perfectly getting him back in the fold. He wasn’t done with Ricochet however, planting him with a Future Shock DDT and then hitting a reverse Alabama Slam, taking off the head of Ricochet on steel steps. McIntyre is back and may finally reach his potential following this showing.
Seth Rollins and Humberto Carrillo put on a beauty
Following Andrade vs Sin Cara, Raw’s newest superstar, Humberto Carrillo, was interviewed and asked how he felt about Andrade and led him down an interesting path. Carrillo explained how Andrade is a future Universal Champion, and he hopes he is one day too. If that day did happen, he made it clear he wouldn’t be like Seth Rollins (insert online fans cheering here). This led to Seth Rollins getting into the face of Carrillo, challenging hom to an impromptu match there and then and so that is what we got.
Seth Rollins vs Humberto Carrillo
If you have not watched Humberto Carrillo on 205 Live or NXT before, fans were certainly in for a treat. The 24-year-old up and comer gave it his all in hopes of upsetting the Universal Champion as he put the fans around the world on notice as well. It seemed as though he’d pull off the victory when he hit a picture perfect Moonsault off the top rope for a two count. And while the champion Rollins managed to capture the win via Stomp, this was a showcase for Carrillo who earned the respect of the Universal Champion.
What may be more notable is the mood of Seth Rollins is changing. This is something to watch out for.
Raw MVP: The Street Profits
To highlight their theme song’s lyrics, they bring the swag like nobody can. After months of them just talking in the back about what is to come on the rest of Monday Night Raw and the upcoming PPV, The Street Profits finally jumped into action and did not disappoint. Already on course to be some of the most beloved stars on the whole show, Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins debuted in the main event of Monday Night Raw against The OC. They were supposed to bring a partner along but their selection was not able to show just yet, leading to these two taking on Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in the main event.
Ford and Dawkins were doing everything they could to fight the odds and keep AJ Styles uninvolved, but he would get his hands on Ford at one point before the referee would notice, leading to Styles yelling at him and the third man to help The Street Profits finally showing up. Kevin Owens ran down to the ring and hit a Stunner on AJ, making his first appearance on Raw a huge one. Montez Ford would win them their first match by hitting a beautiful Frog Splash, pinning Karl Anderson in the middle of the ring. The two celebrated through the crowd as the show went off the air. These two men are going to be stars together. They got the smoke.
A night that still has plenty of room for improvement but gave an incredibly different feel from SmackDown, which is great moving forward. Once the women can be fully back involved, this show can go places in hopes of getting back to a regularly entertaining wrestling show. WWE will be back with this week as NXT and SmackDown are yet to come, with a rebuilt Firefly Fun House on the horizon.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. Subscribe to the WWE Network to see all of WWE’s content and to see these Raw highlights in full.
