WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER 6/21: Hell in a Cell Follow-Up, Next Up for Drew, Lashley, Ripley vs. Charlotte, more

WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER
JUNE 21, 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

• Nikki Cross defeated Charlotte Flair. Flair attacked Cross afterwards and Rhea Ripley made the save.
• John Morrison defeated Jeff Hardy.
• Jeff Hardy defeated Cedric Alexander. Jeff would have had to retire if he lost.
• Piper Niven (w/Eva Marie) defeated Naomi. Eva was advertised to wrestle Naomi on her “re-debut,” but Niven wrestled instead. The announcers did not mention her name.
• Dana Brooke & Mandy Rose brawled with Women’s Tag Team Champions Natalya & Tamina after a photo shoot.
• Riddle & Randy Orton (RKBro) defeated New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods).
• Raw Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley defeated Asuka in a non-title match. Afterwards Charlotte Flair attacked Ripley and they had a pull-apart brawl. Charlotte had a bloody nose. Here was Rhea in a WWE exclusive:

• Alexa Bliss defeated Nia Jax (w/Reginald) via DQ.
• Jaxson Ryker defeated Elias via count out. Here was Ryker in a WWE exclusive:

• Drew McIntyre defeated A.J. Styles (w/Omos via DQ when WWE Champion Bobby Lashley attacked Drew. They followed that with an impromptu six-man tag match where Drew teamed with the Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) to defeat Lashley, Styles, and Omos. Drew pinned Lashley after hitting a Claymore Kick. I think announcer Jimmy Smith needed to be resuscitated.

Hell in a Cell Results Pertinent to Raw

• Women’s Tag Team Champion co-holder Natalya (w/Tamina) defeated Mandy Rose (w/Dana Brooke) on the Kickoff Show.
• Alexa Bliss defeated Shayna Baszler (w/Nia Jax & Reginald)
• Charlotte Flair defeated Raw Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley via DQ. Rhea retained the title.

• Bobby Lashley (w/MVP) defeated Drew McIntyre to retain the WWE Championship in a Hell in a Cell match. Drew can no longer challenge for the title as long as Lashley is champion.

This Week

We’re past the 2021 edition of Hell in a Cell and on our way to the next PPV, Money in the Bank which takes place on Sunday July 18 from the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX. It will be the first PPV in front of live fans since this year’s WrestleMania, which was the first since the 2020 edition of Elimination Chamber. I’m sure we’re all excited that the Thunderdome era will be concluding. That said, we follow up tonight on what took place during last night’s event. WWE does not have their preview up as of this article being published, so we’ll just take a look at the big topics coming out of Hell in a Cell.

Hot Button Issues

What’s next for Drew McIntyre?

Since he lost the match last night, he can no longer challenge for the WWE Championship so long as Bobby Lashley is the champion. Last week Drew wrestled A.J. Styles and I mentioned the results of that in my recap. If they’re going to hold off on Randy Orton & Riddle vs. Styles and Omos for the tag team titles, we could see a personal type of feud with A.J. which leads to something with Omos. That’s not me endorsing that by any stretch. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt looms as well. They could have a SummerSlam match with Bray and Drew. I don’t like to fantasy book, but a scenario where Bray costs Drew Money in the Bank could set up that match. They’d have to explain why Bray has an issue with Drew.

What’s next for Bobby Lashley?

Speaking of Lashley I’m sure they’re going to want to line up another challenger if they’re going to have a title match at Money in the Bank. The only one I see that’s feasible is Kofi Kingston. There are no other babyfaces on the roster that make sense to me unless they’re going to split off Riddle from Randy Orton. I don’t see that, nor do I see someone like Keith Lee coming back. Until that guy is physically on TV, unfortunately he doesn’t exist. If there was an injury we knew about or some other issue going on, I’d understand. I don’t get the secrecy of his absence. The rest of the babyfaces on Raw are chasing the 24/7 Championship or are involved with Sheamus. Do you like a rocket under Mansoor? I don’t know. Everyone is minimized on this show so it’s hard to speculate on a potential challenger.

Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair?

The feud is not over between these two, and I don’t think they’re waiting until Money in the Bank. I think it may have been suggested on the PWTorch VIP Post-PPV Roundtable that they could have a Hell in a Cell match on TV, much like they did with Roman Reigns and Rey Mysterio on Smackdown. In fact, I could see that happening as soon as tonight if not soon. I don’t think they’ll do a title match at Money in the Bank, which makes Charlotte a candidate to win this year. WWE likes their stars to have resumes with multiple accolades, and she’s yet to win “the briefcase.” Assuming they have another match and Rhea retains, it’s hard to know what’s next. Again, they have no depth on Raw and nobody relevant, so what are the options. I didn’t totally hate the Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax match last night, and I could live with a feud between Alexa and Rhea (if Rhea is a babyface and Alexa is a heel, unless it’s the other way around, who knows). Do me a favor if you do that WWE and leave the supernatural crap home, will you?

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