Posted in: Fox, Sports, TV, USA Network, WWE | Tagged: aew, Apollo Crews, bleeding cool, cable, Drew McIntyre, fox, impact, jinder mahal, Monday Night Raw, njpw, NXT, nxt uk, pro wrestling, Raw, Review, roh, samoa joe, Smackdown, Sports Entertainment, streaming, television, tv, usa, USA Network, wrestling, wwe

WWE MVP's Open Strong Monday Night RAW Effort This Week

This week's Monday Night RAW opened with the MVP VIP lounge, with the guests including Rey Mysterio, Jr., Aleister Black, and Apollo Crews, with MVP boasting about how he knows Crews will go all the way in this year's Money in the Bank match. The lounge is then crashed by Zelina Vega and her associates. Vega's outfits are always impressive, but this week she wore some impressively tall baby pink platform stiletto heels out to the ring. Those shoes were made for walking, and I couldn't keep my eyes off of them. I am easily impressed by anyone who can wear shoes like that, and Vega is now most def that woman.

Her associates started a brawl with the three men already in the ring, which turned into a six-man tag team match. Crews, Black, and Mysterio took the win. Unfortunately, Crews will not be competing in this year's Money in the Bank due to a knee injury sustained during a singles match later in the night against Andrade. Throughout the night, we also had the WWE cutting in with snippets from Triple H's illustrious 25-year career.

Asuka cut a passionate promo switching between English and Japanese. She was passionate about reminding us that she's been doing this for 2 years, she can take anyone on, and she's ready. Nia Jax joined her in the ring, followed by Shayna Baszler. Baszler didn't waste any time in this match and went for Asuka first. Her rampage was short-lived, as Jax came out to toss Baszler aside. This was actually a great, ruthless match. The aggression between the three was palpable. Jax took the win. If this match is any indication, this year's Women's Money in the Bank match will be hard-fought.

Bobby Lashley and Denzel Dejournette had a quick, yet powerful match. Lashley took the win. Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott continued their ongoing feud. This was a solid match with both women telling an intense story of their now-dead friendship, with Morgan taking the win. Akira Tozawa and Jinder Mahal had an interesting match. I can't remember the last time I saw Mahal in action so this was kind of a surprise. Tozawa made Mahal look powerful and in control, giving Mahal the win. We could potentially see Mahal go for the gold again if this match is any indication.

Ricochet and Cedric Alexander took on Ever-Rise, two performance center trainees getting some WWE screen time. To the credit of Ever-Rise, they did give Ricochet and Alexander a run for their money. Ricochet and Alexander took the win. Throughout the night we were reminded about the impending contract signing between Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre. To no one's surprise, the contract signing resulted in the two men fighting each other after they signed the contract. This week fans were also treated to the commentary stylings of Samoa Joe. Joe has been notably absent from in-ring action, but I'm glad to see him on the commentary team. His valuable knowledge and generally cool guy attitude make him a constant joy to see in and out of the ring. This week's RAW was a good mix of promo and in-ring action. Our storylines were progressed well for this weekend's Money in the Bank, giving us a little taste of what's in store.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!