Posted in: Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: Raw, wrestling, wwe

6/9/2020 WWE Raw Recap, Analysis, and Video Highlights – Part 3

We're almost through three god-forsaken hours of Monday Night Raw. We've come this far. No reason to stop now. If you haven't read part one and part two of this insanely long recap, go and do that now. If you have, and you're still here, continue on, and remember to seek professional help.

The match is just starting when Raw gets back from commercials. The Street Profits are at ringside to watch their new friends compete. Drew McIntyre is also at ringside. This is all definitely in violation of social distancing procedures. Lashley and MVP control the first part of the match by keeping Ivar in the corner until Lashley gets cocky and starts taunting Eric. That lets Ivar tag Eric in. Lana is watching from backstage.

MVP tags in and Eric beats him up for a while. Ivar tags in and takes over with an armbar on MVP. He tags in Eric, and they do their bodyslam thing. MVP tags in Lashley, who immediately regains control fo the match. McIntyre beats down Eric and unwisely tags MVP back in. MVP does manage to hit a low dropkick and get a two-count. He's frustrated and keeps pinning him.

Lashley is back and displaying his extensive moveset. Punches. Kicks. Foot chokes. You can see why this guy was Trump's champion. Lashley tags MVP back in, and they hit a double suplex. MVP gets two. Tag to Lashley, but Eric hits a punch and gets the hot tag to Ivar. Ivar hits some moves on MVP. MVP tags out, and Ivar knocks Lashley out of the ring with a big boot. But when he smashes Ivar's head into the announce table, the Street Profits get involved. Distracted, Lashley is hit by a dive from Ivar as we go to commercials.

Monday Night Raw is back from commercials, and my hopes that this match suddenly ended during the break are shattered as Eric and Lashley trade blows in the ring. Ivar tags in and applies a devastating armbar. Lashley hits a clothesline and tags in MVP as Phillips reminds of what happened before the commercial break five minutes ago. MVP gets a few two-counts on Ivar.

Backstage, Charly asks Lana if she's upset about not being allowed at ringside. Lana says that since she's been staying backstage, she's realized she's neglecting her own career to focus on Lashley. She wants to make 2020 the year of Lana, which wouldn't technically be the worst thing to happen in 2020, but it would be in the top three or four.

Back in the ring, Lashley is putting his technical skills on display by Irish whipping Ivar into the corner. MVP tags in and hits some punches, but Ivar fights back. I just noticed MVP is wearing a punisher skull on his ring gear. Eric tags in and hits a fallaway slam on MVP. He tags in Ivar, who tosses MVP into the corner and tags Eric back in. Eric tosses Ivar butt-first into MVP. Lashley breaks up the pin.

Ivar tosses Lashley outside near MVP. Lashley hits a spear on Ivar outside the ring. In the ring, Eric doesn't notice Lashley tag himself in. Lashley puts on the full nelson, and Eric taps out. No turkey legs at Drew McIntyre's house for you tonight, boys.

Is Raw over yet? In the ring, Lashley puts the full nelson on Ivar, but McInytre hits Lashley with a Claymore. Saxton says he can't wait for Lashley vs. McIntyre on Sunday. Luckily, he doesn't have to. They're taping it this week. Next up is Charlotte vs. Asuka, but first, some commercials.

Back from commercials, Tom Phillips promotes the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever some more. Saxton says McIntyre vs. Lashley could be the Greatest Fight Ever. Samoa Joe doesn't bother claiming Braun Strowman vs. The Miz will be the greatest anything, which makes him the Greatest Raw Commentator Ever. There's also the triple threat for the women's tag titles and Hardy vs. Sheamus. And finally, Asuka will defend her title against Nia Jax.

Asuka comes out for her match with Charlotte. Charlotte comes out. There's nearly a half-hour of Raw left, so before the match starts, Sasha Banks and Bayley come out to join the commentary booth and kill more time with their entrance. Charlotte attacks Asuka to start the match. She tries to spear Asuka through the ropes on the apron, but Asuka kicks her in the head. In the ring, Charlotte pushes Asuka into the corner and hits her with her shoulder. Asuka catches a kick from Charlotte, but Charlotte elbows her and kicks her in the face. Charlotte takes Asuka outside and tosses her over the commentary desk because it's time for commercials.

Back from commercials, and we're down to 21 minutes. Flair and Asuka trade waistlocks and then Asuka puts on the octopus. Charlotte returns fire with dropkick for a two-count. Tom Phillips points out the Iconics are watching with the trainee crowd behind the plexiglass. They're going to have to be decontaminated now before they can go to catering.

Charlotte stretches Asuka's arms and pulls her hair. Charlotte is in control now. She knees Asuka in the face once, twice, three times, and Asuka takes a breather outside. She dodges a baseball slide from Charlotte. When Charlotte tries to get back in the ring, Asuka hits a dragon screw through the ropes, then a butt bump on Charlotte into the ring barrier. It's brawling time, so WWE can make use of that plexiglass.

Charlotte sends Asuka back in the ring. She drops some knees on Asuka's head. On commentary, Bayley and Sasha want some snacks, but Saxton says they're not allowed to have any. It could cause the performance center crowd to jump the barricade. They haven't eaten in three days, and they've been on their feet for 15 hours now.

Charlotte is still dominating. She tosses Asuka outside and then hits a baseball slide when Asuka tries to get back in. Charlotte rolls out, and they brawl at ringside some more. Both women get back in the ring before the ten-count. Asuka goes to the top rope, but Flair hits a big boot.

But at the commentary table, the Iconics have jumped the barrier and attacked Banks and Bayley. Raw is in chaos! It's total anarchy! We go to commercial before a trainee can steal Saxton's protein bars.

Back from the break with ten minutes to kill still on Raw. Thank god they did away with the overrun. Asuka is in control now and hits some kicks on Flair, but Flair rolls her up for a two-count. Asuka locks in an armbar, but Charlotte mounts her and delivers some elbows to the face. Asuka tries another butt attack, but Charlotte hits a belly to back suplex for a two-count. Charlotte chokes Asuka on the ring ropes and yells at the performance center crowd. Tom Phillips refers to the paid WWE trainees in the crowd as "the WWE Universe," so I guess that's what we're pretending now.

In the ring, Charlotte is dominating Asuka with a headlock. She tries a backslide, but Asuka slips out. Charlotte knees her in the face. Charlotte is getting frustrated that Asuka won't stay down. Asuka makes a mini-comeback, but Charlotte shuts her down. Asuka hits a dropkick out of the corner. She avoids a big boot and hits a German suplex, then a butt attack in the corner. Asuka hits some kicks and another butt attack that sends Charlotte outside. The announcers call the butt attack the "hip attack" because this is a PG show.

Asuka tries to hit a suplex on Flair on the apron, but Charlotte kicks her in the face. Charlotte hits a moonsault on Asuka from the ringside barricade. She tosses Asuka back in the ring, then drags her to the corner to smash her leg against the ring post. Charlotte comes back in and dodges a butt attack to hit a big boot for two.

Charlotte goes for the figure four, but Asuka kicks her way out. Asuka counters a spear attempt with a knee to the face for two. Asuka gets Charlotte in the octopus but Charlotte powers out and tries for the figure four again. Asuka avoids it, but can't avoid a spear. Two-count.

Time to wrap this thing up. Asuka hits Charlotte with a kick to the face, but Nia Jax appears and distracts Asuka. Asuka takes her down, but Charlotte hits her with a big boot and pins her. Look, Charlotte had to look strong after her loss last night.

As Flair celebrated, Jax hit the ring and gave Asuka a Samoan drop. Thankfully, no one was injured. Nia Jax stands tall as Raw goes off the air. Thank god it's finally over!

Monday Night Raw was three hours long and featured just five matches, six if you count the decathlon. Two of those featured Charlotte and Asuka and two of them featured the Viking Raiders. Flair and Asuka were pretty good, if a little long, but the rest was filler. It's hard to believe the company that produced Sunday's NXT Takeover: In Your House is the same one that puts on this drivel week after week. The worst part about it, by far, is the length. WWE clearly has enough content for maybe an hour and a half worth of show, but they need to stretch it out into double that. It leads to a product that is simply boring to watch and matches that feel like they're killing time. It's probably best watched on YouTube, but hey, I have a job to do. Backlash is this Sunday. Are you any more excited for it after watching Raw last night? I'm guessing not.

In memory of Chris Hyatt.

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