SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER
JULY 19, 2021
DALLAS, TX. AT THE AMERICAN AIRLINES 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 and Exclusives
- Xavier Woods defeated WWE Champion Bobby Lashley in a non-title match.
- Drew McIntyre destroyed Jinder Mahal’s motorcycle after revealing the sword Jinder stole was a fake. They can shove the sword … oh never mind. Oh yeah, and later Drew Cena … I mean McIntyre said he was a “fire breathing Scottish dragon.” Thank you, WWE, for turning one of my favorite wrestlers into a story-telling nerd.
- Nikki ASH defeated Alexa Bliss, Naomi, and Asuka in a fatal four-way in a matchup of Raw Money in the Bank participants.
- Ivar of the Viking Raiders defeated Raw Tag Team Championship co-holder A.J. Styles. A.J.’s partner Omos defeated Ivar’s partner Erik.
- Sheamus defeated Humberto Carrillo to retain the U.S. Championship. Sheamus attacked Humberto backstage after complaining to Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville about wrestling hurt.
- Ricochet defeated John Morrison in a Falls Count Anywhere match.
- Then-Raw Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley defeated Natalya (w/Tamina) in a non-title match.
- WWE Champion Bobby Lashley destroyed the VIP Lounge and admitted he was getting soft. He told MVP enough with the champagne and women and he will destroy Kofi Kingston and Money in the Bank.
Money in the Bank Results Pertinent to Raw and Exclusives
- Nikki ASH won the Women’s Money in the Bank contract.
- A.J. Styles & Omos defeated The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) to retain the Raw Tag Team Championship.
- Bobby Lashley defeated Kofi Kingston to retain the WWE Championship.
- Charlotte Flair defeated Rhea Ripley to win the Raw Women’s Championship.
- Big E of Smackdown won the Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match.
Arena
Tonight’s edition of Raw will be the first in front of fans since March 9, 2020. It takes place in the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX., as WWE continues their “return to the road.” Raw last emanated from the 20-year-old building in July of 2019. It is the home of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and the NHL’s Dallas Stars.
Things are certainly shaken up to an extent with a new Raw Women’s Champion and the Money in the Bank contract holders in place. Tonight, we’ll get the fallout from Money in the Bank and seemingly start to head towards SummerSlam. John Cena’s surprise appearance at the end of the Universal Championship match certainly got that in motion, and he will open the show tonight.
John Cena to Address Return
On the Smackdown side of things, Roman Reigns defeated Edge last night to retain the Universal Championship. He wanted the world to acknowledge him as the tribal chief until WWE legend John Cena returned to an explosive ovation. He had not appeared on any form of television since taking part in the Firefly Funhouse match with “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 36. Rumors had run amok regarding his return, but it was not advertised. The show closed after he gave Roman the “you can’t see me” gesture, Roman looking disgusted, and Cena soaking in the adoration of the crowd. This is what took place after Money in the Bank went off the air:
Cena will make his first appearance on Raw tonight since the reunion show on July 22, 2019, to address his shocking return last night. His appearances in 2020 were on Smackdown:
Let’s get #WWERaw https://t.co/Kfxlimxpqp
— John Cena (@JohnCena) July 19, 2021
Frank’s Analysis: With the rumored match between Cena and Reigns at SummerSlam, it’s interesting to see that he’ll appear on Raw tonight. I can’t imagine they’ll be pivoting to Cena vs. Lashley, so my guess is WWE wants to keep the momentum rolling and get eyeballs on Raw tonight for whatever they have planned. Having Cena appear is a smart way to do that.
Other Expectations
As of the posting of the article, no other matches or segments have been advertised. I would suspect they will follow up on what’s next for new Raw Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair. Rumors have run amok about Becky Lynch returning to WWE after a year and a half of being on maternity leave. She posted a picture of herself outside of the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX., the home of last night’s Money in the Bank:
Speaking of rumors, there’s a lot of chatter regarding Goldberg returning to challenge Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam. This tweet by Bobby Lashley may have given it away. If you see what he asks, you’ll understand what I’m talking about:
UNTOUCHABLE!!
WHO’S NEXT? #MITB pic.twitter.com/NF9KJXUUYd
— Bobby Lashley (@fightbobby) July 19, 2021
As far as other things, we haven’t seen Randy Orton in a while, but his name has been mentioned plenty of times and his moves imitated by his RKBro partner Riddle. We’ll see if he reappears. A.J. Styles and Omos will likely get new challengers for the Raw Tag Team Championship after defeating the Viking Raiders. It’s possible Orton returns to rejoin Riddle and set up a title match for SummerSlam.
Chatter will likely start about when the Money in the Bank holders, Nikki ASH and Bobby Lashley, will cash in their contracts. Since they’re both babyfaces, do they call their shot or cash in on a vulnerable champion?
What’s next for Rhea Ripley? If Becky is returning, and is being set up to face Charlotte one-on-one, what does she do? She faced and defeated Natalya last week. Does she get a partner to pursue the Women’s Tag Team Championship? Does she get positioned into a personal feud with someone like Alexa Bliss (if you think she’s a babyface anyway, or is Alexa a babyface)? That said, it’ll be interesting to see how she moves forward.
Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Thank you for reading!
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