WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER 6/7: Lashley and Drew to Sign, Tag Team Battle Royal with Championship Implications, Shayna to Play with Alexa

WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER
JUNE 7, 2021
TAMPA, FL. AT THUNDERDOME IN YUENGLING CENTER
AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EDT
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Jimmy Smith, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves

Match Results & Key Segments from Last Week

• Jimmy Smith made his debut as the lead announcer.
• Raw Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair were guests of the Miz and John Morrison on MizTV. Nikki Cross appeared and set up a two-minute challenge with Charlotte Flair. She went on to “win the match” by lasting the two minutes. Charlotte suggested she could beat her in one minute, but they went with the two minutes anyway.
• Randy Orton defeated Xavier Woods. He used Riddle’s Bro-Derek finisher to win the match.
• Reginald defeated Shayna Baszler when the pyro went off on a ring post.
• Mace & T-Bar defeated Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik).
• Ricochet defeated U.S. Champion Sheamus in a non-title match via a distraction. Humberto Carrillo followed suit and defeated Sheamus, who appeared to suffer a broken nose in the match.
• Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke defeated Naomi & Lana. It was Lana’s final appearance in WWE before being released last week.

• Cedric Alexander defeated Shelton Benjamin in about 20 seconds.
• A.J. Styles & Omos defeated Elias & Jaxson Ryker to retain the Raw Tag Team Championship. Elias & Ryker had a disagreement during the match, and later Elias told Kevin Patrick that he had become unhinged.
• Alexa Bliss had Reginald on Alexa’s Playground until Shayna Baszler interrupted. She told Bliss she was becoming a problem and told Lily she was “just a stupid doll.”
• Mansoor and the Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) were seen chatting backstage and then Mustafa Ali walked in and warned him to be careful because people will stab him in the back. Mansoor questioned why he should trust Ali, to which he responded that he was “getting it.”
• Drew McIntyre defeated Kofi Kingston to earn the right to face Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship at Hell in a Cell.

This Week

We’re less than two weeks from Hell in a Cell. This past Friday we found out that Bayley will face Bianca Belair for the Smackdown Women’s Championship. Tonight’s edition of Raw has matches and segments with implications for Hell in a Cell. One match has been announced along with two segments.

Contract Signing: WWE Champion Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre

As I mentioned earlier, Drew McIntyre defeated Kofi Kingston to earn the right to face Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship at Hell in a Cell. It will be the second time this year they have a one-on-one match for the title and the third time Drew will be the challenger. At WrestleMania Backlash, Drew and the recently released Braun Strowman challenged Lashley in a triple threat match. Last week, Bobby and his manager MVP were banned from ring side. Had they violated those terms, Bobby would have been suspended without pay for 90 days.

Tonight, Drew and Bobby will sign the contract for their match which thus far does not have a stipulation. Drew and Kofi showed respect for each other after the match:

https://twitter.com/DMcIntyreWWE/status/1399580065713766400?s=20

Frank’s Analysis: These guys were getting their starts 11+ years ago, Kofi and Drew that is, and it’s enjoyable to see that they have had WWE Championship runs and can be counted on to be at the top card if at different levels. Doing WWE Then and Now for PWTorch VIP members allows me to revisit that part of the journey. That said, I don’t have a lot to say about a contract signing as we’ve seen them a zillion times.

Tag Team Battle Royal: Winner Gets Raw Tag Team Championship Match against A.J. Styles & Omos

It’s too bad Elias & Jaxson Ryker broke up last week. They could have been in a battle royal to determine the next challengers to A.J. Styles & Omos for the Raw Tag Team Championship. The following teams will partake in this match:

• RKBro (Riddle & Randy Orton)
• New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods)
• Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik)
• The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar)
• The Ascension … sorry, I mean Mace & T-Bar (if I hear welcome to the Wasteland, I’m out y’all.)

It’s not clear when this championship match will take place. Here’s Riddle talking about his partner, Randy Orton, using his finisher last week:

Frank’s Analysis: My guess, which is not a strong guess, is they go with the Viking Raiders. We don’t need New Day involved in the title picture again and they’re likely to continue feuding with RKBro anyway. Lucha House Party got crushed in minutes last week by Mace & T-Bar, who could come out of this too. Styles & Omos have somewhat been portrayed as babyfaces, so a heel team would make sense.

Alexa’s Playground: Guest Shayna Baszler

After losing to Reginald last week when the pyro went off mid-match and interrupting Reginald’s appearance on Alexa’s Playground, Shayna Baszler will be the guest of Alexa Bliss on Alexa’s Playground. I mentioned earlier that Shayna told Alexa she’s becoming a problem and called her doll Lilly “just a stupid doll.”

Frank’s Analysis: I think I miss A Moment of Bliss.

Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Thank you for reading!