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WWE

Facing declining ratings and heavy criticism from its "smart" fans, WWE attempted a "quick fix" to their woes on Monday night. But rather than stitching up the wound they opened, they put a Band-Aid on it, one that quickly fell off in the show's opening segment.

What WWE fans want from the product is consistent storytelling. They want to be made to care about the superstars and the storylines in which they are involved. There needs to be a solid payoff at the end that lends itself to the formation of a new storyline or the end to a feud that does not continue with endless rematches and 50/50 booking.

Instead of listening to those criticisms and reversing course, WWE opened Raw on Monday night by again admitting, through storyline, that they promised to listen to the fans but lied -- but this time it's going to be different! It was not different as WWE simply threw SmackDown superstars at the problem, thinking that adding big names with no discernible storyline would boost their ratings. That is unlikely to happen, particularly as the second half of the show went up against Game 4 of Warriors-Rockets.

WWE instead basically provided a Backlash pay-per-view on Raw, a rehash of feuds from WrestleMania with a couple new ones thrown in despite being well on the way to building Money in the Bank in two weeks. Here's what went down on Monday night with my grades for each primary segment.

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WWE Raw results, grades

SmackDown superstars invade Raw, rematches made: Raw opened with WWE chairman Vince McMahon in the ring, proclaiming that Monday night would be an episode fans would never forget. Roman Reigns' music immediately hit, and he plainly told McMahon that he lied to the WWE Universe months ago when he promised that the fans were now the ones in charge. Reigns promised that was over and said he would only take direction from them going forward. Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston then came out, one after another, to cut meaningless promos, leading McMahon to claim he has come up with the "Wild Card Rule," which would allow three superstars from Raw to go to SmackDown and vice versa on a regular basis. Reigns rolled his eyes and Kingston remarked that McMahon hardly came up with that when they are already on the show.

Out came Drew McIntyre to cut a promo on Reigns and challenge him to a WrestleMania rematch, which Reigns accepted. McMahon then tried to take credit for that idea and set another rematch in Kingston vs. Bryan for the WWE championship.  Before the commercial break, AJ Styles music hit; after the break, Seth Rollins came to the ring. The two bickered and McMahon decided they would team up in the opening match, which did not begin until 30 minutes into the show.

If there has ever been an example of WWE having no idea what is wrong with its creative product, this is it. The first 23 minutes of Raw were convoluted and nonsensical. McMahon continues to deteriorate on the mic, though it did make Reigns come off strong by comparison. Lack of big-name superstars on each brand is not the problem, and the ridiculous "Wild Card Rule" will only ensure that the mid-card and low-card talents who do not get regular TV time will see even less. It is an absurd effort to inject an "anything can happen" atmosphere into the shows when all fans want is high-quality matches, continuity and a lack of repetition, which WWE creates with its 50/50 booking and constant rematches. Then, the first bouts booked for the show are two WrestleMania rematches. The third is the standard "can they coexist?!" tag team match with a champion teaming up with his challenger at an upcoming pay-per-view. Shame on WWE for thinking this attempted "quick fix" storyline will solve anything. Grade: F

Seth Rollins & AJ Styles def. Bobby Lashley & Baron Corbin def Seth Rollins & AJ Styles via pinfall: The two-segment opening storyline was followed by a two-segment match that included some good action but meant nothing. Styles accidentally hit Rollins with a Phenomenal Forearm intended for Corbin but left the ring after connecting. Rollins was caught in a distraction with the Deep Six as Corbin took down the universal champion. An hour later in the show, Rollins said he didn't care whether Styles did that on purpose or by accident, but the next time he walked away it would be with two black eyes and a broken face. Grade: C

Braun Strowman silences Sami Zayn's rant: Zayn hit the ring and recounted the first hour of Raw, asking fans what they have to complain about tonight. He suggested perhaps they all thought it was great (the crowd was silent), noting he thought it was great too but the difference between them was they would still be miserable after the show. As Zayn tried to continue ranting, Strowman's music hit and he chased Zayn backstage before throwing him into a dumpster. Strowman then watched as a garbage truck emptied the dumpster. Grade D

Lucha House Party def. Enhancement talents via pinfall: The challengers' names were never announced. The bell rang and LHP hit their signature moves and finishers in quick succession to end the match in a minute.

Ricochet def. Robert Roode via pinfall: Before Raw, Roode demanded the match considering he beat Ricochet two weeks ago but Ricochet was awarded a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match. Ricochet's opportunity was on the line in this bout, but he beat Roode with relative ease, winning after hitting the 630 clean. This match should have happened last week for a spot in MITB; it made no sense doing so this week, especially with nothing changing. Grade: C-

Samoa Joe stops Rey Mysterio's son: Mysterio and his son Dominic were shown walking backstage when Mysterio asked for a moment outside his dressing room. Dominic walked away with Samoa Joe soon stalking him from behind. Rather than choking Dominic out as fans expected after the break, Joe simply screamed at him in the hallway, telling him to deliver a message to his father. At least Joe is a good promo and this continued their storyline ahead of MITB. Grade: C+

Becky Lynch brawls after Lacey Evans def. via Ali Katrina pinfall: Earlier in the night, Natalya, Naomi and Dana Brooke received written invitations to ringside for Evans' match with "formal attire required." All three eventually did as requested with Alexa Bliss, the other MITB competitor, joining them. Evans beat Katrina, a local enhancement talent, with the Women's Right in a matter of seconds. After the match, Evans promised to take everything Lynch earned at MITB and suggested none of the women at ringside cash in their briefcase on her. Lynch hit the ring and nailed Evans a couple of times before the challenger escaped from an attempted Dis-Arm-Her. This was more of a time-waster than anything else as it did nothing to enhance the storyline or move it forward. Grade: C

The Viking Raiders def. Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder via pinfall in a non-title match: Hawkins & Ryder got their offense in early, but the Raiders dominated the latter half of the match and hit ... The Viking Experience ... for the clean win over the Raw tag team champions. The crowd was silent for most of the match and particularly the finish as it has been given no reason to care for either of these teams. Hopefully, this is the beginning of taking the titles off Hawkins & Ryder as soon as possible. Grade: C-

Firefly Funhouse, episode three: Mercy the Buzzard was digging through a box until Bray Wyatt checked inside and saw that Mercy had ripped Ramblin' Rabbit in half. Wyatt forgave Mercy because he said anyone can be forgiven, just like he was previously. Wyatt then had a picnic with six children, who were clearly unhappy. "Remember fireflies, I'll light the way. You just have to let me in." This was the least enjoyable of the three such segments to this point, but it was still a nice departure from Raw itself. Grade: B

Roman Reigns def. Drew McIntyre via disqualification: The first of two rematches on the show, it was just as slow as the first time. McIntyre reversed Reigns' attempted spear into slam and hit the Glasgow Kiss for a 2.8 count. There was some momentum behind Reigns' near falls but nothing consistent. McIntyre caught Reigns with a kick while he was flying in midair attempting a Superman punch off the steel steps; after a swinging slam, McIntyre got another 2.8 count. An ill-fated leap from the top rope was caught with a Superman punch for another near fall and the two traded strikes before Reigns landed a spear. Just as the referee was about to count the 1-2-3, Shane McMahon and Elias stormed the ring to attack Reigns. Grade: C+

The Miz chases, attacks Shane McMahon: Earlier backstage, The Miz was twice shown sitting in a director's chair waiting outside McMahon's dressing room. His music hit after the attack, and Miz stormed the ring with a steel chair, chasing McMahon through the crowd. Elias set Reigns up for the Claymore Kick from McIntyre, and the heels celebrated in the ring. Meanwhile, Miz ran past a hiding McMahon, who was approached by backstage cameras. He ran away from them and opened his limousine door, but Miz caught him with a few chair shots. McMahon fought him off and hopped in the limo to speed away. Grade: B

The Usos prank The Revival: Backstage earlier in the show, The Usos snuck out of the men's locker room and looked to be plotting something. Before a match between The Reival and The Good Brothers began, The Usos came out and told The Revival that they had put "Ucey Hot" (Icey Hot) in their gear and that it was sweat activated. The Revival freaked out, tearing off their jackets and scooting on the mat to relieve the pain. The Usos then gave The Revival water to drink, but they poured it down their gear instead, aggravating the condition before running backstage. People will claim this is "burying" The Revival after they decided not to re-sign with WWE; I actually think that's ridiculous as heels being embarrassed is common in professional wrestling. That does not mean this segment was good ... because it was not. Grade: F

Lars Sullivan attacks: Despite the absurd "Wild Card Rule" saying three superstars from one brand could show up on the other in a given week, Sullivan was the sixth SmackDown Live star to show up on Raw. He attacked No Way Jose and his conga line shortly after they made their way to the ring with zero reaction whatsoever from the crowd. WWE has done nothing to get Sullivan over, and him decimating low-card talent without having matches is worthless. Grade: F

Vince McMahon ... explains? On the phone backstage with an unidentified party, McMahon explains that the "Wild Card Rule" is indeed three superstars and that Elias does not count because he was with Shane McMahon. Asked about Sullivan, McMahon suggested he might fire or suspend any superstars who break that rule. Sullivan then appeared on the screen and stared McMahon down, leading him to amend the rule to four superstars, instead of three. What?! Grade: F

WWE Championship -- Kofi Kingston (c) def. Daniel Bryan via pinfall to retain the title: In a backstage promo, an infuriated Bryan said that Kingston was a shill who was masquerading as a champion and a role model. Later in the show, Kingston responded in kind telling Bryan that beating him for the WWE title was no accident. The three-segment match (yes, two commercial breaks for the company's top title) had good action throughout, which is a credit to Kingston and Bryan, who put on a show at WrestleMania just one month ago. Kingston took a back body drop over the top rope and landed hard, snapping his head back onto the mat. The referee checked on him, but the match continued with Kingston launching himself off the steps then the top rope onto Bryan. Kingston escaped a Labell lock and gained momentum with a Boom drop. Bryan countered Trouble in Paradise with a dropkick, Kingston ducked a running knee, and Bryan avoided another Trouble in Paradise. But another counter and third Trouble in Paradise attempt by Kingston connected, and he retained the title to a solid ovation from the crowd.

This was a quality match at the end of a difficult show, which WWE closed by teasing Raw superstars appearing on SmackDown. Kingston retaining was the right decision here, though it looked like WWE might go for a shock factor with a title change. This certainly did not live up to their 'Mania showing (nor should it have), but it was a solid effort and a quality main event match. Where Bryan goes from here is anyone's guess. Grade: B