WWE Raw results, recap, grades: Seth Rollins and AJ Styles take down Judgement Day in main event
Two days after battling for the world heavyweight championship, Styles and Rollins teamed up
Two days after the Night of Champions pay-per-view event in Saudi Arabia, WWE was back in America for Raw. Monday's show focused on giving a bit of love to new world heavyweight champion Seth Rollins and also beginning the build to Money in the Bank event in London.
Rollins would close out the night by teaming with the man he beat to win the championship, AJ Styles. The pair took on Judgement Day's Damian Priest and Finn Balor in the main event after the two groups exchanged words to open the show.
CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from MVP Arena in Albany, New York.
Seth Rollins and AJ Styles take down Judgement Day
Seth Rollins came to the ring to celebrate becoming world heavyweight champion at Saturday's Night of Champions. Before too long, he was joined by the man he beat to win the title, AJ Styles. The two men exchanged some words of respect before being interrupted by Judgement Day. This led to a challenge for a main event tag team match, though Judgement Day kept secret which two of their members would participate in the match.
Seth Rollins & AJ Styles def. Judgement Day via pinfall. At the start of the match, it appeared it would be Dominik Mysterio teaming with Damian Priest. That was a swerve by Judgement Day, however, with Finn Balor jumping Rollins from behind to start the match. Mysterio and Rhea Ripley were kicked out of ringside after interfering in the match, leaving things two-on-two. Priest had Styles pinned after a Razor's Edge, but Rollins broke the pin with a stomp, got the tag and hit a second stomp for the win.
This felt like a show that was just the transition point between big events. There were no "big" story beats anywhere on the show, just small moves to start setting up for the summer push toward SummerSlam. That meant Raw opened and closed by giving the new champion a bit of shine, which was perfectly fine even if totally predictable. Now, it's time to set up Rollins with meaningful stories going forward. Grade: B
What else happened on WWE Raw?
- Money in the Bank Qualifying Match – Ricochet def. The Miz via pinfall after a shooting star press. With he win, Ricochet became the first official entrant in the men's Money in the Bank match.
- Zoey Stark and Trish Stratus attacked Becky Lynch after Lynch interrupted a promo. Stark explained that she chose to align with Straus to take the fast lane to the top rather than grinding for every inch as Lynch had.
- Indus Sheer def. two enhancement talents via pinfall with Veer Mahan getting the pin.
- Imperium def. Alpha Academy via pinfall after an Imperium Bomb on Chad Gable. Imperium interrupted a Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn promo, which brought out Alpha Academy to get the match going after Owens and Zayn took some verbal shots at Imperium. During the match, Valhalla came to ringside and chased newest Alpha Academy member Maxxine Dupri to the back.
- Women's Tag Team Championship – Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler def. Raquel Rodriguez & Shotzi, Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville and IYO SKY and Bayley via submission when Rousey caught Shotzi in an armbar. The title was vacant heading into the match because Rodriguez's former tag partner, Liv Morgan, suffered an injury.
- JD McDonagh vs. Dolph Ziggler ended in a double count-out when McDonagh would not stop attacking Ziggler outside of the ring.
- Cody Rhodes cut a promo addressing his loss to Brock Lesnar at Night of Champions. Rhodes pointed out that their rivalry was now even with both men having a win, challenging Lesnar to another match at any time when Rhodes is inside a wrestling ring. Rhodes also said Lesnar was enough of a beast to make him pass out, but not enough of a man to make him tap.
- Money in the Bank Qualifying Match – Shinsuke Nakamura def. Bronson Reed via pinfall after a Kinshasa to secure the second spot in the men's Money in the Bank match.