Match Ratings For WWE Raw 5/6/19, Podcast Notes From Sean Ross Sapp

Opening segment.

• Vince McMahon comes out and is immediately interrupted by Roman Reigns.
• Roman Reigns says that while he was gone, Vince McMahon said the people were the authority, but that was a lie.
• THE BIG DOG takes orders from the WWE Universe now.
• Vince McMahon is just not a great performer anymore.
• DB is out now.
• Daniel Bryan could have literally showed up on Raw and just been a Superstar Shakeup holdover, since he hasn’t appeared since Mania. Well, until Vince specified he was on Smackdown.
• Kofi Kingston comes out and gets a giant ovation.
• Their reasoning for showing up is that Roman showed up, and now the other one is there. Okay. This is stupid.
• Vince McMahon enacts a very stupid ass “WILD CARD RULE” where 3 Smackdown wrestlers can appear on Raw and vice versa each week. The Wild Card Rule has happened since December. You know — when 3 dozen people crossed brands.
• Seeing as ALL YOU PEOPLE are the authority now, I’m blaming the fans for this shitty WWE Wild Card rule.
• Drew McIntyre comes out and complains about Smackdown wrestlers being on the show. Vince books him against Roman Reigns, and Kofi Kingston against Daniel Bryan for the title. So they’ve gone back on immediate title rematches and the Shakeup.
• AJ Styles is out next and complains about the Wild Card Rule. Vince McMahon explains it, but gets interrupted by Seth Rollins, who trash talks AJ Styles.
• Vince says they clearly want to WRASSLE, so he books them tonight….IN A TAG TEAM MATCH, PLAYA.
• There wasn’t a wrestling move performed in the first 31 minutes of this show.
• The Wild Card rule could fix some things that need fixed on each brand — but they’re ALL things that could have been fixed by handling the Superstar Shakeup better. No tag teams on Smackdown, some potential matchups and factions split, etc.

Baron Corbin & Bobby Lashley defeated Seth Rollins & AJ Styles
6/10

• Rollins and Styles play a game of “can you top this?”
• Rollins sells through the majority of the match.
• Styles looks poised to forearm Lashley, but Corbin distracts long enough for a YOLO dive.
• Lashley doing the YOLO dive like it’s 2017.
• This is a good, fast paced, well worked tag match. Matches as this pace can show you how good Baron Corbin really is.
• The back body drop is a lost art that AJ Styles has perfected.
• Rollins gets the hot tag and runs through the heels.
• AJ Styles walks out after “accidentally” hitting the Phenomenal Forearm on Rollins, and Rollins gets hit with the End of Days and is pinned.
• Another champion pinned. Why did Styles wrestle for 20 minutes and leave?
• Rollins is backstage cutting a promo and says the next time, Styles will leave with two black eyes and a broken nose.

TRASH

• Sami Zayn kind of puts over the dumb wild card.
• I think Sami Zayn is cutting a promo based on Adam Sandler’s Romano Tours character from this week’s SNL.
• Braun Strowman comes out and runs Sami Zayn off. Chases him to the back.
• Zayn gets chased and thrown into a dumpster, then a trash truck comes and puts him in the compactor.

Lucha House party defeated Jobbers I, II and III
SQUASH

• Lucha House Party getting a squash match? I can dig that?
• These guys dominate the jobbers. This is quick, and high flying, and dominant.
• That was all it needed to be.
• A couple of the jobbers barely hit the ring. It was like a minute long.

For Ricochet’s MITB Spot
Ricochet defeated Robert Roode
5.25/10

• Ricochet goes crazy on Roode early on.
• Roode pushes Ricohet off the top rope, leading to a nasty bump.
• Ricochet somes back, but they seem like they lose their spot so to speak.
• Roode hits a spinebuster, but eats a 630.
• That’s it. They had to 50/50 these guys because they likely remembered Ricochet was put in MITB off of a loss to Roode.
• I think having qualifying matches would have added more stakes to some Raw matches that didn’t have any.

Rey and Andre Dominick

• Rey is talking to his son backstage, and Dominick is with him. Samoa Joe approaches Dominick as we fade to a commercial.
• Rey vs. Joe is another match I’m wondering why we’re seeing. Joe dominated him at Mania. Then they got 50/50’d
• Joe says Dominick was trying to humiliate him last week when he celebrated with Rey. Joe goes off on him. This wasn’t quite what I expected.

Lacey Evans defeated Jobber
SQUASH

• Naomi, Natalya and Dana Brooke receive scented invitations from.
• Lacey crushes a jobber with the Women’s Right.
• Lacey lectures the Money in the Bank women about not cashing in on her. This isn’t her strongest promo.
• Becky Lynch comes out and runs off Evans.

The Viking Raiders defeated Hawkins & Ryder
SQUASH

• Hawkins and Ryder score with a couple of good dropkicks, but Hawkins gets isolated pretty quickly.
• The Viking Experience lands, and the tag champs lose again.
• I mean, they should have lost this match, but yeah. I dunno why Hawkins and Ryder still have the titles at this point.

Roman Reigns defeated Drew McIntyre via DQ
7/10

• Reigns and McIntyre are just chucking each other across the ring and hoping for the best. McIntyre lands several big ass throws.
• Drew counters the Drive By with a boot. Bammaslamma on the apron!
• Back from the break and you can repeat the first line, but with some big ass strikes. They’re hoss battling.
• A great McIntyre spinebuster and a great Reigns DDT hit.
• McIntyre runs Reigns into the stairs and does a swinging sitout side slam.
• This might be Drew McIntyre’s best WWE one-on-one match.
• Reigns catches Drew with a Superman Punch, and hits a spear.
• Shane McMahon and Elias interfere. DQ.
• Elias holds Reigns up for a Claymore.

Miz and Shane

• The Miz had been waiting around next to Shane McMahon’s locker room, and it’s being weaved in between other segments. I like this, and wish they’d do it more. He runs off Shane.
• Shane runs to the parking lot, but Miz is awaiting with a chair.
• They fight until Shane escapes in a limo. More of this. New environments, different.

UCEY HOT

• The Usos are sneaking around backstage.
• Scott Dawson is fanning himself in the ring. Usos have put UCEY Hot in the Revival’s bag. It’s sweat activated.
• They’re burning up. The Usos give them water to cool off, but that makes it worse.
• Dawson’s facial expression and reaction was great. By the looks of it, The Revival can pull this type of stuff off, so whatevs. Edge and Christian used to work out in chicken suits and do all kinds of goofy shit. But this is a Revenge of the Nerds gag.

No Way Lars

• Didn’t they just establish a few hours ago this wild card gimmick was three people each time? Lars is number five.
• Lars destroys the conga line and Jose. Body press into the ring post. Back drop across the barricade.
• Later backstage, Vince is bragging about the WILD CARD and says that ONLY THREE can cross over. Lars comes and intimidates him and he says they’ll make it four. Vince was good here, but this is still dumb.

Backstage Crappenings

• Firefly Funhouse this week displays Mercy the Buzzard eating the rabbit. Bray says it’s okay to express yourself that way.

WWE Championship
Kofi Kingston (c) defeated Daniel Bryan
6.75/10

• Daniel Bryan cuts a promo about Kofi being a shameless merch machine. Kofi follows up with a strong, serious promo.
• Kofi is over in Cincy.
• Kofi does a great tope con hilo, and a really cool slingshot Vader Bomb.
• Bryan uses a double underhook suplex into an armbar.
• We come back from the break with Kofi getting sent over the top rope.
• Kofi runs up the stairs, apron and ropes and dives off.
• Kofi’s offense is still evolving over a decade into his WWE career.
• The Yes Lock is applied, and Kofi rolls into a pin, but it gets kicked out of.
• Kofi sets up for Trouble in Paradise but Bryan cracks him with a knee. A German Suplex gets two.
• Kofi hits Trouble in Paradise for the win.

Rating guide

10- Perfect, 9- MOTY Territory, 8- Excellent, 7- Great, 6- Good, 5- Average to above average, 4- Slightly below average, 3 or below: Poor

Each match starts at a 5 and slides up and down based on entertainment, execution, time, environment, reaction and stakes. The ratings are in no way an indication of a “star rating,” which is a completely different system. A standard, non-offensive “TV match” lands at a 5.The gap between 5.75-6 is generally the largest, with anything reaching 6 being recommended viewing.
These are opinions, and incredibly