WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (June 26, 2023) from Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia, featuring all the latest build to this Saturday’s Money in the Bank Premium Live Event in London.
Advertised for tonight: World Heavyweight champion Seth Rollins will give us an update on how he’s doing after his Money in the Bank challenger Finn Balor attacked him twice last week, Dominik Mysterio will speak on his match against Cody Rhodes on the big July 1 show in England, Bayley, Becky Lynch, IYO SKY, Zoey Stark, Trish Status & Zelina Vega will take part in a summit ahead of competing in one of this weekend’s ladder matches, and a whole lot more.
Come right back here at 8 pm ET when the Raw live blog will kick off once the show starts on USA Network. It will be below this line here. Reminder: GIFs and pics allowed, but no links to illegal streams, please.
WWE RAW RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR JUNE 26
Well, in the middle of the night and the early morning light, you can hear them a million miles away. They’ll be bangin’ on their drums, bangin’ on your door, waving their flags, telling you to score, but me? I’m just here to liveblog this here pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The show opens with a recap of Dominik Mysterio / Cody Rhodes stuff from the last couple weeks.
Dominik is in the ring with Rhea Ripley, and as usual the crowd is so loudly, aggressively mad at him for existing that he struggles to begin speaking. Rhea takes over, saying Cody is a wannabe and a loser, and at Money in the Bank, Mysterio is gonna end him.
Enter Cody Rhodes.
He tells Dominik to be who he is and say how he feels, because those who mind don’t matter, and if they matter, they don’t mind, and do you know who said that? The Cat in the Hat, a children’s book, and that’s what he is, a scared little boy.
Dom walks off with Rhea, Cody talks some more trash and almost gets him to come fight now but Mysterio does the heel “we’ll fight on MY time” gimmick. Rhodes says he sees him leaving again, and these Dirty Dom cheapshots are dangerous, but at Money in the Bank it’ll be an entirely different body of water and he wants to know if he’s half the man his dad is, or just mami’s little boy.
Shinsuke Nakamura makes his entrance and we go to break.
Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Bronson Reed is at ringside for this one.
Nakamura lighting Ricochet up with strikes, Good Vibrations, snapmare into a knee drop to the face, cover for two! To the apron, double kicks and both men crash to the floor and Bronson Reed claps and encourages them both, he gets laid out with kicks from both men!
Back inside, Ricochet ducks a lariat, dropkick Reed, sidestep, Shinsuke kicks him too, referee Eddie Orengo ejects Bronson from ringside and we go to break!
Back from commercial, Nakamura goes for a suplex, Ricochet floats over, enzuigiri from the King of Strong Style! Charging in, boots up, back roll away, boot up, Rick springboards in with a lariat! Running shooting star press, cover for two! Inverted exploder suplex gets Shinsuke fired up, charging in, duck Kinshasa, Recoil connects... NOT ENOUGH!
Charging knee in the corner, backflip evasion on another Kinshasa, Ricochet blocks a kick and hits a Shiranui! Up top...
Ricochet wins by pinfall with a shooting star press.
We get some footage from earlier of Matt Riddle challenging GUNTHER to a title match at Money in the Bank.
Byron Saxton interviews Riddle backstage.
He acknowledges his ankle is jacked up but he’s tired of GUNTHER and his goons running roughshod, and—
Ludwig Kaiser rolls up to ask what makes him think he’s talented enough to compete for the Intercontinental Championship. Matt points out he beat Ludwig last week, Kaiser says that’ll never happen again, and Riddle attacks! Ludwig gets the better of him, GUNTHER appears and accepts the challenge and stomps Matt’s leg!
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, Dominik Mysterio complains to Adam Pearce, demanding a match for himself tonight to show Cody Rhodes what he’s in for at Money in the Bank.
He has the perfect opponent in mind, someone of his caliber, big and strong. Pearce says he can do that, who does he want? Rhea whispers in his ear and says they’ll get back to him later tonight and leave him befuddled.
We get a Money in the Bank hype reel.
Ronda Rousey makes her entrance, flanked by Shayna Baszler, and we go to break.
Raquel Rodriguez vs. Shayna Baszler
Liv Morgan seconds Raquel Rodriguez here.
Rodriguez with a shove, sidestep, delayed vertical sends Rousey into the corner! Step up, hanging armbar in the ropes for the full count of four! Back inside, Ronda with a bodyscissors roll into an ankle lock, upkick forces a break, Rousey blocks a lariat and goes for an armbar but Raquel Gallon Throws her to counter!
Stinger Splash, fallaway slam, Morgan dives on Baszler and lays mounted punches in! Rousey rolls Rodriguez into a pin...
Ronda Rousey wins by pinfall with a side press.
Finn Balor cuts a promo in a smoky room about how the guy that beat Seth Rollins seven years ago is dead and the Finn he’s gonna see now is much, much worse, and how he’ll have a bitter pill for Rollins to swallow.
We see Seth walking backstage and we go to break.
Back from commercial we get some hype for WWE Payback on Sept. 2.
Seth Rollins makes his entrance and soaks in the crowd singing his song, as usual.
He welcomes the crowd to Monday Night Rollins and says he has a special guest in the arena and asks the crowd to put their hands together for NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes, and he thanks Hayes for having his back on NXT this past week.
He says they’re both fighting champions and asks him to please whoop up bum-ass Corbin. He moves on to Finn Balor, saying he knows which Finn he’s getting after he followed him all the way to NXT just to jump him again and try to turn his ribs to dust, and here’s the thing— he’s still standing.
He calls Balor out right now before saying he knows Finn won’t come down right now, and he has to hand it to him, he’s the smartest and most dangerous he’s ever been. He’s tricked himself into believing it’s his fate to take everything Seth took from him seven years ago.
Is Rollins 100% right now? No he is not. Will he be at Money in the Bank? No he will not. But when it’s just the two of them in this ring, the best version of Finn Balor is not as good as the best version of Seth Rollins.
Balor shows up with a chair but Rollins sees him coming and takes him down for punches! A kick to the ribs cuts him off, Finn has a chair but Seth stampedes him into the corner and throws him to the floor! Meeting him at the announce desk, beating him down, Balor turns him around and smashes him into the post!
Rib-first into the announce desk, Carmelo Hayes takes the chair from Finn and makes the difference as Rollins is finally able to run Balor off!
We see a recap of Tommaso Ciampa returning and then footage of him being interviewed earlier.
He complains that he hasn’t heard one peep from the Miz the entire time he was out, and people warned him about the Miz being a user and a manipulator, and the injury was a blessing and disguise. 275 days is a long time to be left alone with your thoughts, and it gives you clarity.
He asks why he’d follow the Miz like that and says this time around, he’ll make his own decisions.
We see the Miz walking backstage and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a recap of Balor attacking Rollins, because Raw is three hours long. (Three hours long.)
The Miz attacks Ciampa during his entrance and beats him down, throwing him into the barricades a few times and then into the apron before laying him out on the ramp with Skull-Crushing Finale! He talks some trash and calls Ciampa a chump as he walks away.
The match is off, clearly.
Imperium are chatting backstage about GUNTHER’s match at Money in the Bank and Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn roll up to give them a taste of their own medicine.
Ludwig Kaiser tells them to walk on and Owens says they have a reason to be here, and Zayn says it’s about Riddle’s ankle and they’re gonna do something about it. Sami challenges GUNTHER to a match and he accepts.
Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley make their entrance and we go to break.
Akira Tozawa vs. Dominik Mysterio
Mysterio putting boots to Tozawa in the corner, knee lifts, forearms, Akira blocks and fires windmill punches off only to get Nodowa Otoshi’d to the mat! Off the ropes, duck a lariat, Tozawa with a tijeras and the Shining Wizard! Akira up top, diving shoulder block, Rhea Ripley is getting nervous and Dominik bails to the floor!
Tozawa off the ropes, suicide dive connects! Back inside, up top, Dom cuts him off...
Dominik Mysterio wins by pinfall with a frog splash.
Post-match he kicks Tozawa out of the ring like garbage before Rhea Ripley raises his hand.
Viking Raiders get a video package where Valhalla complains about not hearing from the gods for weeks and that they need to hurt Alpha Academy to open up communications again.
Trish Stratus and Zoey Stark make their entrance to set up a Money in the Bank summit, after the break.
Back from commercial I come in a beat or two late to all the women’s Money in the Bank entrants in the ring at once with Corey Graves moderating, and Bayley speaks, saying she’s going to win because she’s the only one who’s won before, but also it’d be cool if IYO SKY won.
SKY says “may the best woman win”, and Zelina Vega takes over, saying she’s tired of Damage CTRL ignoring everyone else in the match, and talks up Becky Lynch as the woman who’s done everything but win Money in the Bank, Zoey Stark as a groupie, Trish Stratus as a woman who’s never even been in a ladder match, and herself as the future Ms. Money in the Bank.
She and Bayley bicker, Zoey tells them to calm down and Trish says she just sees a bunch of little girls, and yes this is her first ladder match, but winning is what she does, and when she makes history on Saturday, they’ll all be able to thank her for being part of such a historic moment.
And Becky, well... Becky just ignites the brawl we’ve all been waiting for! Eventually it comes down to SKY and Lynch, and IYO decides to moonsault into the crush! Becky drags a ladder into position to remind us how to win the match, climbing it and retrieving the briefcase.
Carmelo Hayes is interviewed backstage.
He says he admires Seth Rollins and aspires to be a champion like him, and that’s why he’s got a match against Finn Balor tonight even though he’s got Baron Corbin tomorrow.
Imperium make their entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Becky Lynch runs into Rhea Ripley.
She says Becky better hope she doesn’t win the briefcase, because trying to cash in on her would be the last thing she’d do in WWE. Lynch says when she was champion she was the main event in every town, but Rhea’s a main event sidepiece, and she wants to win the briefcase just to see Ripley squirm.
GUNTHER vs. Sami Zayn
Kevin Owens is on commentary for this one.
GUNTHER with a side headlock, grounding Zayn with the takeover, working him over and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Sami going for the corner exploder, GUNTHER a flurry of elbows and a clubbing chop to block! Kevin Owens jawing at the Ring General, Zayn with a boot up, kicks out of the corner, tornado DDT blocked and he chops Sami hard! Climbing up with him, jockeying for position... SAMI ZAYN AVALANCHE SUNSET FLIP POWERBOMB CAN’T DO IT!
Forearm for uppercut, Zayn clubbing away, springboard up and over and he drops GUNTHER with a lariat! Blue Thunder Driver reversed into the Gojira Clutch, Sami fading, flagging but not failing, rolling himself over, fighting for air, Blue Thunder Driver connects... STILL NO!
GUNTHER catches him out of midair... NOT ENOUGH! The Ring General off the top... SAMI WON’T STAY DOWN! Kevin Owens gets up on the apron and fights Kaiser but GUNTHER heads to the floor to blast him with a boot! SAMI ZAYN TOPE CON GIRO! Back inside, exploder suplex, Giovanni Vinci runs interference with a crutch shot...
GUNTHER wins by pinfall with the Tenryu Powerbomb.
Post-match, Kevin Owens jumps in the ring and brawls with GUNTHER! Matt Riddle joins the fray, hobbling, stealing Giovanni’s crutch and running the Ring General off! Kaiser eats a Stunner from KO!
We get a hype reel for Carmelo Hayes and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Alpha Academy are training and Chad Gable calls Viking Raiders savages and idiots for thinking they wouldn’t be training to counter them..
Maxxine Dupri says she hasn’t had a match but every time Valhalla’s tried to get involved she counters her with ease. Otis Dozovic says the plan against the Vikings is pure carnage.
Natalya is interviewed backstage.
She says she signed up for this life and Rhea Ripley is part of that because she’s at the top of the mountain right now, but her biggest battle isn’t out there, it’s up here, and her greatest fear isn’t losing, it’s giving up. She’s been broken, she’s been down, she’s been shaking, but she’s still standing.
She wants Rhea to face her woman to woman next week, because no woman here can erase or defeat what she’s achieved in this company.
Carmelo Hayes vs. Finn Balor
Balor hard out the gates, ramming his shoulder into Hayes again and again, elbows to the back of the neck and the top of the head set up a rear chinlock. Carmelo gets away, Fade Away connects, plancha to the floor and he’s feeling it as we go to break!
Back from commercial, Balor whips him into the corner, charging chops, Hayes with a springboard lariat for two! Finn with a Sling Blade, Melo with a superkick, imploding springboard DDT... NOT ENOUGH! Hayes goes up top, nobody home, roll through, Finn with a fireman’s carry, he slips out, schoolboy for two!
Fireman’s carry double knee gutbuster, Finn goes up top...
Finn Balor wins by pinfall with Coup de Grace.
Cody Rhodes is backstage with his stupid dog when an interview rolls up.
He says he loves these chats but he’s looking forward to not having to talk about the Judgment Day ever again, and he wishes he could sit in the crowd and boo Dominik Mysterio himself. His cheapshots work and that’s a skill in and of itself, but at Money in the Bank, Dom won’t have Finn, Rhea, or Damian, and he hasn’t laid a finger on him yet, so we’ll find out what Mysterio does have.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a video package for the Bloodline civil war.
Commentary hypes up the Money in the Bank card.
Cody Rhodes makes his entrance to send us to break.
Cody Rhodes vs. Damian Priest
Circling, collar and elbow, struggling around the ring, Priest with a side headlock, shot off, shoulder block! Trying to intimidate Rhodes, go-behind, side headlock from Cody, shot off, shoulder block, off the ropes, drop down, hip toss blocked, backslide denied, front kick, drop down slap!
Off the ropes, big uppercut, Rhodes with a dropkick in return, arm wringer, shoulder armbreaker! Clubbing the elbow, uppercut in the corner, Damian throws him off and clobbers him with an elbow! Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley come to ringside, Damian in control and we go to break!
Back from commercial, Damian with a slam, pop-up drop, up in the turnbuckles and Cody runs up to hit a superplex! Turning jabs, a little Flip, Flop, & Fly but Priest cuts him of! Running elbow, snap scoop powerslam! Damian comes back with a headlock driver but can’t keep Rhodes down!
Cody with an inverted facelock, Priest breaks loose with a kick, but Rhodes hits a Pedigree! Slow to capitalize, sidestep the charge, superkick connects! Rhea running interference, Dom trips Cody up, South of Heaven... CODY KICKS OUT AND JUDGMENT DAY IS FURIOUS!
Razor’s Edge, Cody slips out, throws Damian into Dominik, hits the Cody Cutter and he’s fired up! Inverted facelock...
Cody Rhodes wins by pinfall with Cross Rhodes.
Cody celebrates and Dominik attacks him from behind before running off arm-in-arm with Rhea Ripley.
That’s the show, folks.
