Tag: RAW

Natalya Apparently Injured On RAW

WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Natalya apparently suffered a leg injury during last night’s RAW.

RAW featured a non-title match with Natalya and Tamina facing Eva Marie and Doudrop, who were competing to earn a future title shot. Natalya was wrestling Doudrop at one point, going at it and tangling with each other, when Natalya appeared to suffer a right leg injury on a roll-over, or possibly one of the stomps from Doudrop.

Natalya tagged out and had trouble putting weight on her right leg. The referee then apparently called an audible as Tamina took over, and after a distraction by Lilly on the big screen, superkicked Eva for the pin to win.

After the match, a ringside medic immediately helped Natalya to the back. Tamina joined the medic in helping Natalya, who was still unable to put weight on her right leg.

https://twitter.com/EthanCramer/status/1419832102292533249

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE RAW Preview 7/26/21

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

* WWE Champion Bobby Lashley responds to Goldberg’s SummerSlam challenge

* New RAW Women’s Champion Nikki A.S.H. celebrates

* Mansoor and Mustafa Ali will team up

* RAW Tag Team Champions AJ Styles and Omos defend against The Viking Raiders

* WWE has Randy Orton advertised to appear tonight. Orton has been out of action since late June, and was recently on the disabled/inactive list internally.

Nikki A.S.H. Cashes In Money In The Bank Contract, Wins Raw Women’s Title

Nikki A.S.H cashed in her Money in the Bank contract just one night after winning it to become the new Raw Women’s Champion.

A hectic Monday Night Raw ended with a surprise cash-in as Nikki A.S.H. wasted no time in using her newly-won Money in the Bank contract to take the Raw Women’s Championship away from Charlotte Flair.

24 hours after defeating Rhea Ripley for the title at Money in the Bank on Sunday night, Charlotte found herself in a rematch with the former champion. She wanted nothing to do with Ripley and argued the challenger was too injured to be a real threat. Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville called Charlotte’s bluff and set the rematch as the main event of the evening.

With so many big events already having taken place on Raw — John Cena opened the show, Keith Lee and Goldberg return, and Karrion Kross debuted — it was clear something big was going to happen if these two women were slated to close the three-hour program. Most fans in attendance thought it might be the return of Becky Lynch. Perhaps this was as good, if not the next best thing.

Charlotte escaped the match with her title, but after being attacked by Ripley, Nikki made her way to the ring, cashed in, landed a flying cross body off the top rope and secured the three count to become the new Raw Women’s Champion.

Source: The Sportster

Goldberg Returns On Raw, Confronts WWE Champion Bobby Lashley

Goldberg has indeed returned to Raw, confronting Bobby Lashley and declaring himself to be next on the WWE Champion’s list of contenders.

The rumors were true. Goldberg has returned to Raw after more than a year away, confronting WWE Champion Bobby Lashley.

Bobby Lashley, still riding the high of squashing Kofi Kingston on Sunday night, also issued an open challenge for the WWE Title. That prompted the return of Keith Lee to a very big pop in his home state. Lee didn’t become WWE Champion, but at least he’s back after more than five months of uncertainty.

Moments after successfully fending off one challenger, Lashley’s next one emerged. Yes, the rumors were true, Goldberg is back once again. The Hall of Famer’s music hit and once he was in the ring, Goldberg got up in Lashley’s face and declared “I’m next”. Lashley appeared to want to go there and then, but was prevented from doing so by MVP.

Presumably, the plan is for Lashley and Goldberg to clash for the WWE Title at SummerSlam. Despite everything Goldberg has achieved in his career, winning the WWE Title still isn’t on his resume. He has been WCW Champion, won WWE’s World Heavyweight Title, and, of course, beat The Fiend to become Universal Champion prior to the start of the pandemic. The WWE Title is a championship that has evaded him his entire career.

Source: The Sportster

NXT Champion Karrion Kross Debuts On Raw, Loses To Jeff Hardy

NXT Champion Karrion Kross lost his debut match on Monday Night Raw thanks to wily WWE veteran Jeff Hardy.

Fall and pray! Or don’t, because NXT Champion Karrion Kross lost his debut match on Raw to WWE veteran Jeff Hardy.

It all went down on the latest edition of Monday Night Raw on USA Network which emanated live from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Kross’ imminent debut was announced earlier in the night without too much fanfare. Prior to his match, a brief hype package aired, and Kross then made his way to the ring — without Scarlett, his real-life partner who serves as his valet in NXT and plays a big part in his extravagant entrance.

The NXT Champion went one-on-one with Jeff Hardy, but the match didn’t last very long as the wily veteran Hardy pulled off a shock victory over the usually unstoppable Kross. The finish came when Kross dodged a Swanton Bomb and attempted to capitalize by hitting the presumably discombobulated Hardy in the back of the head with his trademark elbow blow. However, Jeff Hardy has missed hundreds of Swantons and it takes a lot more than that to mess him up. Hardy dodged the elbow and rolled Kross up. He used the ropes as leverage but the ref didn’t see, and so the dominant NXT Champion Karrion Kross lost his debut match on WWE’s flagship brand.

After the match, Kross was interviewed in the ring and put Jeff Hardy on notice, telling the former WWE Champion that he had just made the biggest mistake of his life.

Source: The Sportster

Keith Lee Returns To WWE RAW, Answered Bobby Lashley’s Open Challenge

Former NXT Champion Keith Lee made his long-awaited return to WWE on Raw when he answered an open challenge issued by WWE Champion Bobby Lashley.

Bask in his glory! Keith Lee returned to WWE programming after a seven-month absence and confronted the WWE Champion Bobby Lashley.

It all went down on the latest edition of Monday Night Raw on USA Network which emanated live from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.  “The All Mighty” Bobby Lashley and his associate MVP were talking themselves up in the ring and bragging about Lashley’s destruction of Kofi Kingston at Money In The Bank the previous night. Lashley issued a non-title open challenge, which was answered by former NXT Champion Keith Lee.

Lashley got the win after hitting Lee with a spear and was confronted by Goldberg as he celebrated his victory.

Before Monday, Keith Lee hadn’t been seen on WWE programming since February, and the reason for his absence is yet to be explained by either WWE or The Limitless One himself.

Recently, Lee took to Twitter for the first time in a week to check in with his fans.

“Many of you are reminding me of this day a year ago,” Lee captioned a photo of himself taken on the night he defeated Adam Cole to become NXT Champion. “So much has happened since then, it feels so long ago. Patience my friends….there is zero quit IN me. So don’t you quit ON me. I miss you. And I love you.

Prior to his unexplained leave of absence, Lee’s future in WWE seemed promising. While he was still a member of the NXT locker room, the big man stole the show at Survivor Series in 2019. The black and gold brand was victorious that night, but Lee’s face-to-face in the ring with Roman Reigns felt like a huge moment that was laying the groundwork for a tantalizing future feud. Lee’s staredown and battle with Brock Lesnar during the men’s Royal Rumble match two months later seemed to cement his status as a star of the near future, but sadly his main event push is yet to come to fruition.

Source: The Sportster

WWE RAW Preview 7/19/21

Tonight’s post-Money In the Bank edition of WWE RAW will take place from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, marking WWE’s first red brand show on the road since the return to touring last week.

WWE has announced that John Cena make his RAW return tonight as he opens the show to explain why he returned after last night’s Money In the Bank main event. As noted, Cena confronted WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns after his win over WWE Hall of Famer Edge.

Tonight’s RAW will also feature an appearance by new RAW Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair, who won the title from Rhea Ripley last night.

Nikki A.S.H. will also appear tonight to celebrate her win in the Women’s Money In the Bank Ladder Match on Sunday.

There are at least two rumored returns for tonight’s show. Becky Lynch is rumored to return at RAW or SmackDown this week, while WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg is expected to return and challenge WWE Champion Bobby Lashley for SummerSlam. Lashley dominated Kofi Kingston last night at Money In the Bank to retain his title.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

[Report] Possible Major Spoiler On When Goldberg Will Return To WWE

Goldberg’s last match took place against Drew McIntyre at the Royal Rumble. A new report gives us an idea on when he’ll return to WWE.

Goldberg will reportedly make his return to WWE programming very soon.

According to Fightful Select (h/t Ringside News), Goldberg will return to television on Monday Night Raw next week. Apparently, the plan is to run a program between the Hall of Famer and WWE Champion Bobby Lashley for SummerSlam, which will take place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada on Aug. 21.

Last year, Goldberg revealed that his WWE contract consists of two matches annually, and it runs through 2023. The 54-year-old has already wrestled one match this year, losing to Drew McIntyre in a WWE Championship bout at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

SummerSlam is one of WWE’s marquee pay-per-views, so this would obviously be a smart time to use up Goldberg’s second match of 2021. Lashley will defend his title against Kofi Kingston at Money in the Bank (at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth) this Sunday. Even if the former were to lose the title, it doesn’t mean WWE can’t run a non-title program between Lashley and Goldberg.

Next week’s episode of Raw will take place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. This will be the first Raw show to feature fans since March 9, 2020. WWE spent over five months at the Performance Center in Orlando before launching the ThunderDome technology in August, which they used up until this week. WWE will return to touring this Friday, with SmackDown taking place at the Toyota Center in Houston.

Monday Night Raw suffered its lowest viewership ever last week. Clearly, WWE has some work to do when it comes to fixing the product and regaining the interest of fans. Goldberg remains a giant fan favorite and main event draw, and a program with Lashley could go a long way in enhancing the television product. Simply put, Goldberg’s is coming back at a very opportune time.

Source: The Sportster

Mandy Rose Will Be Staying On NXT And Aliyah Will Reportedly Be Heading To Raw To Take Her Place.

Mandy Rose’s move to NXT is a permanent one, and apparently Raw will be getting a Superstar from the black and gold brand in return.

The appearances of Shotzi Blackheart and Tegan Nox, and the video package hyping Toni Storm, on SmackDown last week were somewhat expected. The three of them and other NXT stars have been competing in trial matches ahead of potential call-ups. However, Mandy Rose moving the other way will have taken most people by surprise on Tuesday.

Rose appeared on the ramp during a match on NXT this week, and again later during a backstage segment. It has since been reported that Rose’s move to NXT is a permanent one and she will no longer be appearing on Raw. Bad news for the red brand whose roster is somewhat lacking already.

Fear not, as according to WrestleVotes, Raw will be getting an NXT Superstar in return. A WWE source has told the Twitter account that Aliyah will be taking Rose’s place on Monday nights. That might be considered an odd choice by some. Aliyah hasn’t been reported to have competed in any recent trial matches on Raw or SmackDown, neither can she boast a lot of screen time in NXT. Aliyah has been in NXT longer than you might think though, debuting as Jasmin more than six years ago.

https://twitter.com/WrestleVotes/status/1415306502857019396

The news that Aliyah will be moving on over to Raw also makes sense after what happened to her on NXT this week. She and Jessi Kamea lost a match to Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter, at which point she snapped and blamed the loss on their manager Robert Stone. Frankie Monet swooped in to pick up the pieces, declaring that the Robert Stone Brand won’t have to worry about Aliyah anymore.

When exactly Aliyah will debut on Raw remains unclear. She technically has a couple of main roster matches under her belt already. Aliyah lost to Carmella on a 2017 edition of SmackDown, and also wrestled and lost to Natalya on Main Event last year. However, as has been proved by Karrion Kross, appearances on Main Event don’t seem to count.

Source: The Sportster

WWE RAW Preview 7/12/21

The final WWE RAW of the ThunderDome era will air tonight on the USA Network.

Tonight’s RAW was taped last Tuesday, and will feature the final red brand build for Sunday’s WWE Money In the Bank pay-per-view.