Monday Night Raw. The longest weekly episodic show in the history of television has had its great times and its tough times. Two weeks after the Superstar Shake-Up that never seems to truly end hailed from the University of Kentucky for the April 29 edition of the show and announced the Raw Money in the Bank competitors and saw a contract signing for the Universal Championship in the main event of the show. A story was proven to be unfinished between two men however, as well as Money in the Bank opponents having a pull away brawl. It was certainly an odd episode of Raw, here are the highlights.
Seth Rollins and AJ Styles Make Their Match Official
The Miz and Shane McMahon Remain Unfinished
The first “Miz TV” since The Miz’s return to Raw would take place last night on Raw as The Miz would host the talk show with his guest, “The All Mighty” Bobby Lashley. As The Miz would welcome his guest to the ring, it seemingly became clear that the rumors on Lio Rush for the past week have become true, as Lashley made his way to the ring without his one time manager and mouthpiece. As Lashley would sit down, he would talk in the third person the entire time while discussing his first year back in the WWE as well as taking shots at The Miz until Miz would have enough and attack “The All Mighty” when his father was brought up, leading to a match between the two men.
The Miz would do all he could to try and defeat Bobby Lashley until he was ultimately stopped in his tracks due to some interference by Shane McMahon. As it seemed as though Miz would take home the victory, the music would hit as Shane danced his way to the ring. The Miz tried to do all he could in order to fend off “The All Mighty” until Shane would put a picture of The Miz’s father on the screen, allowing Bobby Lashley to hit Miz with a big-time Spear to grab the pinfall victory. After the match, Shane would go after The Miz before Miz would fight back. Ultimately, Lashley would hit The Miz with a hulking one-handed spinebuster to put any comeback to rest. This would allow Shane to lock Lashley into a triangle and have him pass out, getting the upper hand on The Miz once again.
Later in a backstage segment, Miz said he wanted to settle their differences once and for all. But instead of fighting around the arena, they would be locked inside of a ring. He would challenge Shane to a Steel Cage match at Money in the Bank, which would be happily accepted by Shane later on Twitter. It seems the final chapter of this story will finally be written at Money in the Bank.
Challenge accepted, @mikethemiz.
Looking forward to delivering another “Best in the World” beating. #MITB— Shane McMahon (@shanemcmahon) April 30, 2019
…and by the way I’d be happy to buy your father a front row ticket! #MITB
— Shane McMahon (@shanemcmahon) April 30, 2019
Firefly Fun House: Episode II
Michael Cole would introduce the Firefly Fun House to us this week as episode two and it is quickly becoming the can’t miss factor on WWE television every single week. Bray Wyatt would be here to express himself through painting and show a more insane side than the week prior. The closing comment can simply prove that: “Remember my fireflies. As always, I’ll light the way and all you have to do… is let me in.” This cannot do it enough justice, enjoy.
Lacey Evans Has Enough of The Man
Becky Lynch would be interviewed by Charly Caruso in the center of the ring to discuss her actions last week of accepting a second championship defense at Money in the Bank. Charly would ask if she regrets it as “The Man” would let it be known that when she won both belts, she didn’t want to be a roadblock for the women on both rosters and knew what she would be getting into. Becky would continue on about how she isn’t worried, simply because she still has Charlotte Flair’s number and isn’t afraid of Lacey Evans by any means. She would tell the world that Lacey can throw all the Women’s Rights she wants, but it won’t affect her since she likes being punched in the face. She would then say how her beating is coming soon enough, which would trigger Lacey to make her way out to the ring. Lacey would keep it short and simple, letting Becky know that she was done talking and these two would enter a pull apart brawl. It became a good way to sell that Lacey wasn’t going to take “The Man” calling her out anymore and was ready to fight. This surely created a spark heading into Money in the Bank as the Raw Women’s Championship will be on the line.
Raw MVP: AJ Styles
The dream match became official last night when AJ Styles and Seth Rollins signed the contract for their Universal Championship match at Money in the Bank. However, “The Phenomenal One” was showing a different side than usual, accepting how good Seth Rollins is but at the same time questioning if he what it would take to beat AJ Styles. After years of being said to be “The Next AJ Styles”, Styles continued by saying he could never live up to being “The Phenomenal One”. And Seth answered saying that’s good, because he didn’t want to be the next Styles, but the first “Seth Freakin Rollins”. These two fan favorites instantly had the chemistry so many expected. Seth Rollins would point out that unlike Styles, he has actually defeated Brock Lesnar. Rollins would continue by saying he is going to be at his best once again just like he was with Lesnar, and simply put, he will defeat AJ Styles. The two would stare each other down after signing the contract, as AJ would go at Rollins with a fist to the mouth, starting a brawl between the two men. Rollins would hit Styles with a Suicide Dive, then as AJ got back up to the apron, he would fight Rollins off and hit the Phenomenal Forearm through the table, leaving his mark and let the world know that Rollins’ reign could certainly be a short one as the dream match draws closer and closer.
Raw had its ups and its downs, but now that the biggest festivities of the year are behind us, stories are being made and capturing the attention of the audience. Tonight, Becky Lynch will take on Bayley in one-on-one action for the first time in a WWE ring not including NXT, as well as the SmackDown LIVE Money in the Bank competitors being announced and fallout from Kevin Owens‘ attack on Kofi Kingston. It should be a great show. Make sure to check back for the SmackDown LIVE Rundown tomorrow afternoon!
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.
