WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER 7/5: New Day vs. Lashley & MVP, Ricochet vs. Morrison, Charlotte Update, Money in the MizTV

WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER
JULY 5, 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 from Last Week

• Riddle won a Battle Royal to earn a spot in the triple threat match scheduled for later in the evening to determine a spot in the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match. He would be wrestling for Randy Orton by proxy.
• “Almost a Superhero” Nikki Cross defeated Shayna Baszler (w/Nia Jax & Reginald).
• Doudrop & Eva Marie defeated Asuka & Naomi.
• Ricochet and John Morrison wrestled to a double count-out.
• Charlotte Flair and Women’s Tag Team Champions Natalya & Tamina defeated Raw Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley and Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke.
• Jaxson Ryker defeated Elias in a Strap match.
• Drew McIntyre defeated A.J. Styles and Riddle in a triple threat match to earn a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match.

Raw Exclusives

This Week

We are less than two weeks away from the Money in the Bank PPV which will see the return of fans. The ladder matches are taking shape and three championship matches including two from the Raw side are scheduled. This past Friday on Smackdown, Zelina Vega returned to WWE and will now take part in the women’s Money in the Bank match. In addition, Bianca Belair will once again put the Smackdown Women’s Championship on the line against Bayley in an I Quit match. Tonight’s edition of Raw features two matches, a medical update, and a MizTV segment.

New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs. WWE Champion Bobby Lashley & MVP

Xavier Woods returns to Raw to pair with his New Day partner Kofi Kingston to take on WWE Champion Bobby Lashley and MVP. Two weeks ago, Woods was defeated by Lashley in a Hell in a Cell match and was beaten down with Kofi Kingston looking on from outside the cell. MVP taunted Kofi during the beatdown.

Last week, Kofi said it was difficult to see Woods get beaten down knowing he couldn’t do anything about it. He talked about people disrespecting Woods for years, not thinking he was “up to snuff” as he put it. He proved himself against the bigger Lashley even though he came up short. Tonight, Woods looks for a measure of revenge as he rejoins his long-time partner Kofi.

Frank’s Analysis: I’m not sure people have been “disrespecting” Woods as Kofi put it. I think people just see him as a part of the New Day act and a particularly good part of it if I must say so myself. It would be ironic if Woods turns on his long-time partner Kofi and joins MVP, after MVP has been “courting” Kofi for a while.

Ricochet vs. John Morrison

In a rematch from last week, Ricochet goes one-on-one with John Morrison. They worked to a double count-out last week when Ricochet leaped onto Morrison and both men landed behind the barricade in front of the Thunderdome. Ricochet apparently stole a “drip-stick” from Morrison and squirted both Morrison and the Miz, who is still in a wheelchair.

Both men are participants in the upcoming Money in the Bank ladder match.

Frank’s Analysis: Hey Morrison and Miz, why don’t you turn around and I’ll show you what you both can do with the drip stick. Jokes aside, I’m looking forward to this match. Both men are athletic, and the match was advertised ahead of time, although we’re likely headed for another screwy finish.

Medical Update on Charlotte Flair

The six-woman tag team match mentioned in the recap last week saw Charlotte Flair pin Mandy Rose after tagging herself in and kicking Mandy. After that, Raw Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley clipped Charlotte from behind with a chop block, causing Charlotte to hobble up the ramp. Here’s WWE’s YouTube clip of the match, which I usually never include in these primers, but it shows the chop block at the end in case you missed it:

At the upcoming Money in the Bank PPV, Rhea puts the Raw Women’s Championship on the line against Charlotte in a rematch from Hell in a Cell. Tonight, Charlotte provides a “medical update.”

Frank’s Analysis: Why not just provide the update on WWE.com? Listen, the dynamics between these women are out of control. Rhea attacking Charlotte like that makes her a heel, which is what Charlotte is, and it’s just gotten to a point where I just don’t care anymore. Wrestling has always been better when a babyface and a heel are clearly defined. If you want to do heel vs. heel that’s fine, but Rhea hasn’t been really defined in either way, so who do I care about in this match?

MizTV: Money in the Bank Edition

The Miz will host another edition of MizTV where he will have all participants in the Money in the Bank ladder match from the Raw side. Drew McIntyre, Riddle, John Morrison, and Ricochet will all be guest on what WWE is calling a “money” edition of the segment.

Miz himself is a former Money in the Bank contract holder. He won the Smackdown ladder match at the first PPV in 2010 and successfully cashed in on Randy Orton later that year to win the WWE Championship. He took the briefcase from 2020 winner Otis and successfully cashed in on Drew, ironically, to win the same title earlier this year. Ricochet and Morrison are set to go one-one-one tonight. Riddle qualified by beating Drew but failed to get Randy qualified when he wrestled by proxy for him last week in the second chance triple threat match won by Drew.

Frank’s Analysis: I don’t know if they’re going to do this before Ricochet vs. Morrison, and that match becomes something else. That’s annoying because they should stick to what they advertise. Anyway, as far these segments go, it’s just everyone in an upcoming match getting involved with each other in some way shape or form which has been the WWE formula for years. They don’t believe in using people on TV that can absorb losses to make people look strong and make the upcoming match feel even more special. Instead, they focus on chaos, angles, and other things to make people look weak and thus it reduces your emotional investment in the upcoming match.

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