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With a chance to answer upstart rival All Elite Wrestling's successful debut Double or Nothing pay-per-view on Saturday, WWE provided a post-and-parcel edition of Raw on a holiday that couldn't have been more mailed in. Despite the interest from fans to see whether the rise in competition, particularly within the United States where WWE has run nearly unopposed since its 2001 purchase of rival WCW, would see WWE put its best foot forward creatively, Monday's three-hour affair was hampered by predictable tropes, uninspired writing and confusing psychology.  

Save for the constantly entertaining "Firefly Funhouse," there wasn't much happening on this night to further the major storylines and there certainly wasn't any form of response to Cody Rhodes' not-so-subtle insult of Triple H on Saturday save for an innocuous mention of AEW during a rant by Sami Zayn.  

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By choosing not to fight, WWE certainly downplayed the idea that this is some kind of war overall. But by not stepping up to the plate while the pressure was on, the company openly failed to gain back morale from a fan base that has been under-stimulated for some time.  

WWE Raw results, grades

Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler rekindle animosities: Kingston and universal champion Seth Rollins called out Brock Lesnar to announce which title he would be cashing in on. Lesnar danced to a remix song while holding his new briefcase shaped like a boombox as Paul Heyman did air guitar. An annoyed Rollins eventually walked off before Ziggler ran in to attack Kingston. After Xavier Woods came out to the rescue, Ziggler brawled with him through the crowd. Just as Ziggler trapped Woods' head between a chair and prepared to finish him, Kingston broke free from the medical staff to save him. Ziggler closed by repeating much of his promo from last week in saying Kingston's WWE championship push should've gone to him. Grade: C+ 

Shane McMahon def. Lance Anoa'i via submission: With Drew McIntyre by his side, McMahon cut a long and vanilla promo on his family's history with the Samoan dynasty (causing the crowd to chant "this is boring"). Anoa'i, a cousin of Roman Reigns, answered the challenge and was beaten down by McIntyre before the match began. "This is awful" and "AEW" chants broke out as Anoa'i rallied before McMahon forced the tap out. McMahon reapplied the hold before Reigns ran out to hit McIntyre with a Superman punch before running the heels off. Grade: D+ 

"Brock Party" ends with inconsequential result: Before Lesnar and Heyman could announce which world title they would focus their cash-in attempt on, Rollins came out to call Lesnar a joke. "You used to be the most feared man in combat sports history, but look at you now, a coward," he said. Rollins challenged him to cash in now as Heyman read the contract out loud. After hearing that he technically didn't need to declare, Lesnar slapped Heyman on the head with the paper before saying, "I've got a whole year and I have to make a decision now? Seth Rollins, screw you." 

Who booked this crap? Seriously? Not only did the theme and execution of this segment look a whole heck of a lot like the opening one of the night, the psychology was simply all over the place. Why would Lesnar -- a heel, no less -- ever be in a situation where he would need or want to declare which title he was going to cash in on? And even with the overall lack of care Lesnar's character seems to show for rules, is it believable this many years later that he wouldn't know the rules of the briefcase? Rollins did cash in on him as recently as WrestleMania 31 to cost him the title. The fact that the former hasn't even been mentioned up to this point as a key point in the storyline is as bizarre as this segment was a waste of valuable screen time. Grade: D- 

R-Truth defends the 24/7 title: Truth emerged from the crowd with a group of mid-carders behind him giving chase. The action spilled into the ring before Truth escaped to hop the barrier, put Carmella on his shoulders and take shelter backstage. The brief segment was a reminder at just how lame the execution of this idea has been. Later in the show, during one of the recurring Memorial Day party scenes under a tent, Truth kicked out of consecutive rollup attempts by Kalisto and Karl Anderson. Grade: D 

Becky Lynch & Nikki Cross def. The IIconics via pinfall: This non-title match saw the WWE women's tag team champions once again absorb a clean defeat. An eventual hot tag to Lynch saw the Raw women's champion clean house. After Peyton Royce countered the Dis-Arm-Her with a rollup for two, Lynch debuted her Manhandle Slam for the 1-2-3. After the match, Lacey Evans came out to flaunt and remind she is currently feuding with Lynch. Grade: C 

Ricochet def. Cesaro via pinfall: The highlight of the night from an in-ring standpoint was this rematch. Not only was Ricochet's athleticism and creativity on full display but the chemistry between the two was great for the second week in a row. The pair also had the crowd eating out of their hands. The finish came after Ricochet used the ring ropes to springboard onto Cesaro's shoulders before rolling him up to earn his win back. Grade: B+ 

Rey Mysterio to relinquish United States championship: Michael Cole updated Mysterio's health following a shoulder injury suffered during his title win over Samoa Joe at Money in the Bank, and he announced Mysterio will give up his title on next week's Raw. Joe came out to the announce desk to gleefully explain how he will take back "what has always been rightfully mine." Grade: C- 

Baron Corbin def. The Miz (via pinfall), Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley to become universal championship No. 1 contender: The late stipulation of the winner getting a universal title shot at Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia wasn't helped by the previous announcement of a Strowman-Lashley match on the same card. Corbin and Lashley teamed up throughout until the finish came as Corbin caught a rallying Miz with End of Days. Grade: C+ 

Bray Wyatt reveals identity of alter-ego on "Firefly Fun House": After removing a paper plate covering his face with a drawing of the mask he unveiled last week, Wyatt called his alter ego "The Fiend" and said it's "here to protect us." Wyatt explained that when he's alone or scared, he puts on the mask and "I can be anything I want to be." After donning doctor gear to call Abby the Witch a bully, Wyatt responded to her mention of the word limbo by spider walking under a stick held up by two children. He closed another fresh and inventive segment with a reminder to let him in. Grade: B+ 

Sami Zayn visits the "Electric Chair": With Corey Graves moderating and a handful of WWE interview talent allowing fans in the crowd to ask questions, Zayn responded with snarky answers while sitting in a literal electric chair inside the ring. The highlight was a young girl who insulted him by yelling, "duh" in response to his follow-up question. Zayn continued to mock the quality of questions and surprised the crowd by adding, "You could've asked me anything. You could've asked me about AEW!" While this was a bit outside-the-box it and Zayn performed well, it was also incredibly awkward and pointless. Rollins randomly ran in to trigger a main event match. Grade: C 

Seth Rollins def. Sami Zayn via pinfall: This match was given plenty of time as Raw continued a recent trend by darkening the crowd and turning off the majority of LED and video screen lights during the main event. Lesnar and Heyman watched from a monitor backstage as Rollins sold an aggravated left knee injury. He went on to kick out of a Blue Thunder Bomb and a second late pin after his frog splash caught nothing but knees. Rollins rallied late with a stomp to get the win in this non-title affair. 

In many ways, this match was the epitome of what is wrong with Raw. A run-in by Rollins during the "Electric Chair" segment made no sense at all considering he wasn't mentioned and this match was never advertised. Even though the action heated up late between them, the match was too long and had just about nothing at stake. Raw's recent trend of providing meaningless action to close the show has made the final hour often feel like a dark match main event. The final result offered nothing in terms of storyline extension save for Rollins' constantly injured knee which will likely be forgotten by next week. Grade: C-