Tag: RAW

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.

WWE RAW Preview 6/28/21

Tonight’s WWE RAW will feature more build for the upcoming Money In the Bank pay-per-view.

* Elias vs. Jaxson Ryker in a Strap Match

* Second Chance Money In the Bank Qualifier: Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre vs. RAW Tag Team Champion AJ Styles

* RAW Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley, Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose vs. WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Natalya and Tamina Snuka, and Charlotte Flair

* Kofi Kingston will come face-to-face with MVP to build to Kingston vs. WWE Champion Bobby Lashley at Money In the Bank

WWE RAW Preview 6/21/21

Tonight’s WWE RAW will feature fallout from Sunday’s Hell In a Cell pay-per-view.

WWE has not announced any matches for tonight’s show, but the first real build for Money In the Bank should begin. That pay-per-view will take place on July 18.

Will WWE Champion Bobby Lashley gets an idea of his next challenger on tonight’s show, and will he celebrates his Hell In a Cell win over Drew McIntyre?

The Charlotte Flair vs. RAW Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley feud should also continue tonight as their match at Hell In a Cell ended with Flair winning via DQ.

WWE RAW Preview 6/14/21

Tonight’s WWE RAW on the USA Network will feature the final build for next Sunday’s Hell In a Cell pay-per-view.

* The final RAW build for Hell In a Cell

* Fallout from last week’s angle with Alexa

* Eva Marie returns to kick off her “Eva-Lution”

* RK-Bro (Randy Orton, Riddle) vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods)

* RAW Tag Team Champion AJ Styles vs. Drew McIntyre

WWE RAW Preview 6/7/21

Tonight’s WWE RAW on the USA Network will feature more build for the upcoming Hell In a Cell pay-per-view.

It’s likely that WWE will confirm the first Hell In a Cell pay-per-view match that will take place inside the Cell structure this year.

* Shayna Baszler meets Alexa Bliss and Lilly on Alexa’s Playground

* Drew McIntyre and WWE Champion Bobby Lashley sign their contract for Hell In a Cell

* Battle Royal to determine new #1 contenders for RAW Tag Team Champions AJ Styles and Omos: The Viking Raiders (Ivar, Erik), The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods), Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado, Gran Metalik), T-BAR and MACE, plus R-K-Bro (Riddle, Randy Orton)

WWE Announces Jimmy Smith As Adnan Virk’s Replacement On RAW

WWE has officially announced Jimmy Smith as the new member of the RAW announce team.

Smith will debut as the play-by-play voice of RAW beginning this Monday, May 31. He will call the action every Monday night with Corey Graves and Byron Saxton.

WWE acknowledged in their announcement issued last night that Smith worked as an analyst for WWE NXT, serving on the “Takeover: Stand and Deliver” pre-show panels, and working on special projects for the black & gold brand, which included the video package for Finn Balor vs. NXT Champion Karrion Kross. WWE also pointed to how Smith is the host of SiriusXM’s Unlocking The Cage, and previously hosted American Ninja Warrior.

As reported earlier, Smith has been working with Michael Cole and other WWE staffers as of late to train for a potential announcing role. Cole has reportedly praised Smith heavily, and found him to be very versatile.

The 43 year old Smith is best known for his run with Bellator MMA from 2010 – 2017. He worked as an analyst with Bellator and UFC. In addition to Unlocking The Cage, Smith also hosts ESPN International’s UFC Fight Camp show. He retired from MMA fighting in 2007, with a 5-1 record, and has also done commentary for pro boxing, and other combat sports leagues.

Smith will be replacing Adnan Virk, who parted ways with WWE on Tuesday after less than two months on the job.

Source: Wrestling Inc.