6/3 WWE Raw Results: Powell’s review of Undertaker’s return, Paul Heyman says Brock Lesnar will cash in the Money in the Bank contract, Roman Reigns and The Usos vs. Drew McIntyre and The Revival, Rey Mysterio to relinquish the U.S. Title

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

WWE Raw on the USA Network
Aired live on June 3, 2019 from Austin, Texas at Frank Erwin Center

[Hour One] Michael Cole welcomed viewers to Raw. He was joined on commentary by Corey Graves and Renee Young. Roman Reigns made his entrance while Graves said the wild card rule is in effect. Cole plugged Reigns vs. Shane McMahon for Fridays WWE Super ShowDown (in Saudi Arabia) and the special start time.

The broadcast team stood behind their desk and recapped Paul Heyman announcing via social media that Brock Lesnar will cash in his Money in the Bank contract tonight during Raw. They cut to a shot of the backstage entrance to the building. Cole stumbled over his words and then said it’s merely a question of when Lesnar will cash in tonight.

Shane McMahon made his entrance and delivered a promo on the stage. Shane had ring announcer Mike Rome deliver the “best in the world” introduction for him. Shane spoke about how he will make Reigns submit to his triangle hold. Reigns mocked the idea of Shane tapping him out. Reigns said that if Shane tries to apply the hold he will pick him up and slam him through the mat.

Reigns said Shane relies on help, and added that he’ll whip Drew McIntyre’s ass at the Stomping Grounds pay-per-view. McIntyre made his entrance and delivered a brief promo on Reigns. The Revival attacked Reigns from behind. The Usos ran out to help Reigns and cleared the heels from the ring…

1. Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso, and Jey Uso vs. Drew McIntyre, Scott Dawson, and Dash Wilder (w/Shane McMahon). One of the Usos caught Wilder with a superkick. Dawson pulled Wilder to ringside. The Usos performed stereo suicide dives onto The Revival duo heading into the first commercial break. [C] The heel trio isolated Jimmy Uso. Graves noted that the Reigns vs. McIntyre match is not official. He said Reigns must beat Shane on Friday to make that match official. The heels continued to work over Jimmy heading into another break. [C]

Reigns was working over McIntyre coming out of the break. Reigns hit McIntyre with a Superman punch. The broadcast team said Jey Uso was still the legal man. Shane shoved Jey off the top rope. Reigns went after Shane only to be taken out with a Claymore Kick. McIntyre returned to the ring while The Revival hit Shatter Machine on Jimmy at ringside. McIntyre followed up with a Claymore Kick on Jey and pinned him.

Drew McIntyre, Scott Dawson, and Dash Wilder defeated Roman Reigns and The Usos in 14:35.

After the match, The Revival hit the Shatter Machine on Reigns. Shane sat up Reigns and then McIntyre gave Reigns another Claymore Kick. Shane and the other heels knelt down and talked smack to Reigns. Shane had the trio pick up Reigns and then speared him. Shane mocked Roman’s war cry, then jawed at him before leaving the ring…

The broadcast team hyped previously announced segments and then hyped Seth Rollins on Miz TV. A teaser aired for the Firefly Funhouse segment… [C]

Powell’s POV: I’m surprised they didn’t have Shane apply his triangle hold while Reigns was out given that he was boasting about it during his promo. Nevertheless, they did a solid job of putting heat on Shane heading into his match with Reigns on Friday. I still can’t say that I actually care about the match, but Shane has heat going in. Meanwhile, no one can accuse The Revival of dogging it despite the fact that they asked to be released from their contracts a while back. Dawson and Wilder go all out in the ring and even went all in with the silliness of the back shaving and Ucey Hot nonsense.

Cole boasted that the show was in Austin at the University of Texas while art of the city was shown… Lance Armstrong and Matthew McConaughey were shown together in the crowd…

Powell’s POV: Dirty, rotten, filthy, stinkin’, lying cheater!!! Also, do you think there’s someone out there who doesn’t watch movies and is wondering how the guy from the Lincoln commercials scored such good seats to Raw?

The Miz did McConaughey’s “Alright, alright, alright” schtick. Miz introduced WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins as his guest for Miz TV. Miz brought up the threat of Lesnar cashing in the MITB contract. Rollins said he’d believe it when he sees it given Heyman and Lesnar’s track records when it comes to lying.

Powell’s POV: There really should be a Paul Heyman and Lance Armstrong segment on this show.

Rollins said he has to focus on what will be and that’s his WWE Universal Title match against Baron Corbin on Friday (in Saudi Arabia). Rollins said no one likes Corbin, but he is the No. 1 contender. Rollins said he has to focus on him and stomping his head into the mat.

On the big screen, Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman were shown arriving at the building in an SUV. Lesnar handed Heyman the MITB briefcase and they started walking, then stopped. Cole said they were at the entrance to the arena. Lesnar turned and went in another direction. Graves said Lesnar was making Rollins wait. Seth’s music played while Cole went off about Lesnar being at the show and having vowed to cash in the MITB contract…

Powell’s POV: There wasn’t much to Miz TV, but they accomplished what they needed to by showing that Lesnar had arrived at the building with the MITB contract. It’s a good thing that they established that Rollins wants to face Lesnar because there’s nothing stopping his character from going home now that Miz TV is finished.

Lucha House Party made their entrance while Cole hyped their handicap match against Lars Sullivan for Friday (in Saudi Arabia). Sullivan’s music played and he came out while the broadcast team said it was supposed to be a tag team match. Sullivan entered the ring and LHP attacked him, but he quickly got the better of him. LHP came back and cleared him from the ring, but Sullivan landed on his feet…

The IIconics mocked Nikki Cross backstage about being a sad puppy who is just hoping that someone will play with her. Alexa Bliss showed up and questioned if they had a match they should be preparing for. Peyton Royce said she had a match against Cross. After the IIconcis left the room, Bliss asked Cross if she wanted a coffee. Cross was surprised.

Bliss said she knows that Cross and Becky Lynch have gotten over the last few weeks and she knows that Lynch can’t stand her and acts like nobody else can stand her. She said maybe Cross would be better off with Lynch. Cross said she doesn’t care what Bliss has done in the past, she’s been Bliss has been nothing but kind to her since she arrived on Raw. Bliss volunteered to be in Cross’s corner during her match against Royce later in the show…

The broadcast team hyped previously advertised segments and then announced Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley in an arm wrestling match for later in the show…

Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch made her entrance. Footage aired of Lacey Evans interfering at Money in the Bank and costing Lynch the Smackdown Women’s Championship… [C]

Lynch delivered and in-ring promo and said she wants to make some changes. She said she was home over the weekend for the first time in 63 days. She said all of her dreams came true and she’s never been more content in her life. She said it hit her that contentment is the worst thing that can happen to a fighter. She said content fighters get hurt or beaten and that won’t happen to her. She said Flair and Evans woke something in her.

Lacey Evans interrupted and said that Lynch is like a dog chasing a care in that she wouldn’t know what to do if she caught it. Lynch entered the ring while conceding that Lynch beat her at MITB and then added that she’s the reason that Lynch lost the Smackdown Women’s Championship. Evans said she will be the next Raw Women’s Champion.

Charlotte Flair made her entrance as part of the wild card rule. Flair told Lynch to stop making excuses for losing to her. Flair boasted that she became a nine-time women’s champion. Lynch asked her where her title is now. Evans told Flair to stop embarrassing herself.

[Hour Two] Evans called Flair a daddy’s girl who needs attention. Flair said she struts like a peacock because she’s more than halfway to beating her father’s 16-time world heavyweight championship record. Flair noted that she didn’t even need to take off her street clothes and still left Evans lying last week.

Evans said Flair had nine championships and now has none. Evans claimed to be the face of WWE, then told Flair to run along back to Smackdown unless she wants to be educated with a Woman’s Right. Evans knocked Flair down with her Woman’s Right punch. For some reason, a referee entered the ring for a match between Flair and Evans…

2. Charlotte Flair vs. Lacey Evans. Becky Lynch remained at ringside for the match. Fans chanted for Lynch. Flair slammed Evans’s face into the turnbuckle, then Evans rolled to ringside heading into a break. [C] An ad for Smackdown hyped Goldberg’s appearance. Lynch ended up attacking Charlotte to end the match, the slammed Evans to the mat. Lynch posed with her title belt…

Charlotte Flair fought Lacey Evans to an apparent no-contest in 10:20.

Powell’s POV: Lynch had to be at ringside since the fans had no one to root for in this oddball battle of heels. The match was nothing special and the finish used the silly approach of having a babyface stop two of her heel adversaries from fighting one another. And please tell me they are not setting up a Triple Threat for Stomping Grounds (lord knows it won’t be happening in Saudi Arabia on Friday). Creative has scripted other wrestlers point out how repetitive Lynch vs. Flair has become and yet the company just can’t seem to avoid going back to it in some fashion.

A flashback aired from Survivor Series 1990 of Undertaker debuting…

Rey Mysterio made his entrance with his left arm in a sling while holding the U.S. Championship in his right hand. Mysterio spoke about how wrestling has been in his blood and his family’s blood for a long time. He said now he can share it with his son Dominick, who is training “to do what I do.” Mysterio said he had to set the right example for his son as a man and as a champion.

Samoa Joe’s music played before Mysterio could relinquish the title. Joe asked if he came out to early and ruined Mysterio’s moment. Joe said he heard the word “champion” and thought that was his cue. Joe said Mysterio isn’t relinquishing the title because he’s injured, it’s because he never pinned him to win the title.

Mysterio said he wasn’t there to have a moment or to fool anyone. Mysterio said it’s not the moment he wanted it to be. He said he’s won championships his entire career through pain and injury. He said that if he was man enough to do that, he’s man enough to do what he came to Raw to do. Mysterio asked Joe to give him a moment. Mysterio said that due to his shoulder injury, he was relinquishing the U.S. Championship to Samoa Joe.

Mysterio placed the title belt down in the ring and told Joe that he’ll be back. Mysterio went to leave the ring, but Joe grabbed him and applied the Coquina Clutch…

Powell’s POV: Did anyone actually think Mysterio would relinquish the title to Joe when this segment was announced last week? Granted, Joe is right in saying that Mysterio never pinned him because his shoulders were up, but it’s silly storyline logic to reward a wrestler with a title for injuring the champion. Then again, does anyone really care about the U.S. Title at this point given how much damage they’ve done to it? If recent history is any indication, Joe becoming champion just means he will end up losing a bunch of non-title matches.

A shot aired of Paul Heyman on the phone while Lesnar sat next to him wearing his gear… Braun Strowman made his entrance for the arm wrestling match with Bobby Lashley… [C]

Cesaro delivered a backstage promo about facing Ricochet. He said Ricochet is a great talent, but he’s naive if he thinks he’ll beat him again. Ricochet delivered his own selfie style promo in return and said their match would be a preview of a rivalry that could last a decade. He said he beat Cesaro before and can’t wait to do it again…

Bobby Lashley made his entrance for the arm wrestling match. A referee gave them instructions while they set up at an arm wrestling table. Lashley slapped Strowman. Two referees stood between them. They locked up again and this time the match started, but Lashley ended up pulling his hand away. Graves said Lashley slipped.

Strowman and Lashley locked up a third time. They went back and forth a couple times and eventually Strowman won. After the match, Lashley threw chalk into the face of Strowman, who acted blinded. Lashley powerslammed Strowman and then left the ring…

Footage aired from Sunday of Jinder Mahal pinning R-Truth on a golf course to win the WWE 24/7 Championship. Truth ended up pinning him to take the title back, then drove off on a golf cart with Carmella…

A shot aired of Carmella walking backstage. Drake Maverick told EC3 that if they follow Carmella she would lead them to R-Truth… Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss made their entrance… [C]

3. Nikki Cross (w/Alexa Bliss) vs. Peyton Royce (w/Billie Kay). Cole announced A Moment of Bliss with Bayley for Tuesday’s Smackdown. The IIconics entrance was not televised. Cross had a some blood on her teeth a few minutes into the match. Royce controlled the early offense and then Cross came back. Royce avoided a top rope cross body block. A man walked to ringside and delivered coffee on a tray to Bliss. Royce kicked it out of her hand. Kay knocked Bliss down onto the spilt coffee. Cross came back with a neckbreaker and scored the pin.

Nikki Cross defeated Peyton Royce in 6:00.

After the match, Bliss entered the ring and dropkicked Kay into Royce, then picked up Kay and gave her a DDT. Cross pulled Bliss off and raised her hand. Bliss and Cross celebrated together…

Powell’s POV: In the old days, a wrestler wearing white typically meant they were going to bleed. These days in WWE, I guess it means they will end up sitting in coffee or some other substance. The match overstayed its welcome and the fans don’t have much of a reason to like Cross if they didn’t watch NXT. We’ll see where it goes, but so far she’s just being nice to everyone.

Separate shots aired of Seth Rollins and Brock Lesnar while the broadcast team hyped the MITB contract being in play… [C] Cole hyped an exclusive interview with Lars Sullivan for Smackdown (deja vu)…

Seth Rollins stood in the ring with the WWE Universal Championship belt around his waist. Rollins said he knew everyone would be gunning for him when he became champion and that’s what he wanted. He said that’s not what’s happening with Brock Lesnar. Lesnar’s music played, but he didn’t come out. Graves labeled it more mind games.

Rollins said Lesnar is playing games and he and everyone in the building are sick of it. Rollins said Lesnar used to be one of the most feared men on the planet, but now he’s just a shell of that. Rollins said that if there’s a shred of The Beast left in him then he dared him to come out and cash in the MITB contract on the spot.

Baron Corbin came out instead and said Rollins needs to worry about him more than Lesnar. Corbin said Rollins is living his childhood dream, but he’s the dream crusher. Rollins said Corbin will have to pry the title from his cold, dead hands. Corbin said he’s okay with that. Corbin said he’s the guy who retired Kurt Angle and he has no problem retiring Rollins too. Corbin shoved Rollins.

Rollins and Corbin fought. Corbin got the better of it to start with, but Rollins came back with an enzuigiri and a suicide dive. Lesnar’s entrance music played again and stopped. Corbin performed End of Days on Rollins.

[Hour Three] Rollins was down in the ring when Lesnar’s music played again. Lesnar came out holding a chair, Heyman had the MITB briefcase, and a referee was with them. Lesnar entered the ring and kicked Rollins in the balls, then slammed the chair over his back multiple times. Lesnar performed a German suplex. Heyman called for Lesnar and told him this was the time, but Lesnar told him not now and went back to beating up Rollins.

Lesnar gave Rollins and F5 at ringside. Heyman acted bewildered by Lesnar not cashing in. Lesnar slammed the chair over the back of Rollins again. Heyman called for Lesnar to cash in. Lesnar blew him off and performed another German suplex. Heyman pleased with Lesnar, who shook his head no. “Friday,” Lesnar said. Brock picked up the title belt and smiled, then tossed it onto Rollins.

Lesnar left the ring, then returned with the briefcase and slammed it over the back of Rollins, then picked up the chair and hit Rollins over the back again. Rollins had some blood on his left shoulder. Finlay, Jamie Noble, referees, and EMTs came out to help Rollins, who was stretchered out of the ring…

Powell’s POV: Yep, another bait and switch from WWE. They built the show around Lesnar cashing in and once again failed to deliver. And even if you assumed it was another bluff, there’s only so many times a company can fail to deliver something they advertise before fans will throw up their hands and move on.

Footage aired of Rollins being stretchered through the back while Becky Lynch walked along next to him. Rollins was placed in the back of an ambulance and Lynch hopped in the back before it exited the building…

Cole said Lesnar had no business doing what he did and now he’s making everyone wait until Friday before cashing in. Young questioned whether Rollins would even make it to Friday. Cole said it’s never easy to move on from something like that, but they had to do that…

A “very special episode” of Bray Wyatt’s Firefly Funhouse aired. He said he had something super serious to talk about: exercise. Wyatt said that to be at your best you have to look and feel good. He introduced his friend Huskis the Pig Boy (puppet). Wyatt knelt down next to the puppet and said the puppet could be great, people will say he’s a genius, and that he has the whole world in his hand.

A Vince McMahon puppet with devil horns showed up and was on the verge of firing Huskis, but Bray cut him off, called the Vince puppet Boss, and promised that Huskis would get it together. A video aired of Wyatt and the puppets doing “the muscle man dance.” Wyatt delivered the “let me in” line to close the latest installment…

Powell’s POV: Fortunately, Dudley didn’t get molested by Mr. Carlson of WKRP on this very special episode of the Funhouse. Congrats for being old like me if you get that reference. Anyway, Huskis obviously represents Wyatt’s original character of Husky Harris, and I’m sure Vince loved the idea of his puppet having devil horns. This was totally out there and a lot of fun.

A shot aired of Triple H walking backstage. Cole hyped that Hunter would have a face to face showdown with Randy Orton… [C] The broadcast team recapped the six-man tag match that opened the show…

Triple H made his entrance dressed in a suit. A loud “NXT” chant broke out. Hunter said he was there to talk about Randy Orton, whose entrance music interrupted him. Orton entered the ring and struck his pose on the ropes while Hunter glared at him from across the ring. An RKO chant broke out.

Hunter said it’s been awhile since he stared Orton in the eye. He said they both know what the segments are about. He said it’s about drumming up interest in a fight. He said the hope is that they say horrible things about one another and maybe some physicality breaks out. Hunter said there’s nothing either one of them could say that hasn’t been said before. Hunter said he wouldn’t waste the time of Orton or the fans.

“Don’t let this suit fool you, I am coming to Jeddah to kick your ass,” Triple H said. Orton said that sounds good to him, but Hunter needs to understand that he is not Batista. Orton referred to himself as The Legend Killer and said Hunter knows that better than most. He said he would gladly beat Hunter and put another notch on his belt.

“Fair enough,” Hunter replied. He added that the thing that stood out from watching their recap videos in recent weeks. He recalled saying they would put pressure on Orton and he would become a diamond in the business. Hunter said he wasn’t blowing smoke when he told Orton that he is one of the best ever in the business. “Now here’s the thing, a lot of people have tried to put me down, they’re all gone and I’m still here,” Hunter said. “And, Randy, trust me when I tell you that you are not the one.”

Triple H went to the apron. Orton called for him to hold up. “Can you promise me something?” Orton asked. “Can you promise me that Friday before you step foot in the ring with me that you’ll retrieve your balls from Stephanie’s purse.” Hunter laughed and Orton did the same. Hunter returned to the ring. Hunter said that’s a hell of an idea. He said they are just so big and it’s just such a burden carrying them around. He said Orton wouldn’t know because he’s never had any. Hunter said he’d see Orton in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and then threw the mic at Orton…

Powell’s POV: Basic hype for the one-off match. They did fine, but the build has not been anywhere near what it would be if this show were truly as big if not bigger than WrestleMania.

Backstage, Charly Caruso asked Baron Corbin about what happened to Rollins. Corbin said he needed to get out there, then laughed and said so he can celebrate. He said Lesnar did him a favor. He said Rollins probably has six or seven cracked ribs, so the WWE Universe is looking at the next WWE Universal Champion…

Ricochet made his entrance for his match against Cesaro… [C] Cesaro made his entrance…

4. Ricochet vs. Cesaro. The broadcast team noted that it was the rubber match of the series between the two with each man holding a win over the other. Ricochet stumbled a bit while running the barricade, but managed to pull off a huracanrana at ringside. Ricochet followed up with a moonsault from the middle rope onto Cesaro on the floor. [C]

Late in the match, Ricochet performed a cross body block, but Cesaro rolled through for a two count. Ricochet came back and spun around Cesaro’s body before rolling him up for the three count.

Ricochet beat Cesaro in 9:10.

After the match, Cesaro took a cheat shot at Ricochet. Cesaro teased pulling out a ladder from underneath the ring, then shoved it aside in favor of a table. However, R-Truth was lying on the table and Graves explained that Truth had been hiding under the ring all night. Carmella ran out. Ricochet kicked the table, which sent Cesaro over the barricade.

The usual suspects ran out and surrounded Truth briefly. Cedric Alexander performed a flip dive onto the pile, which did not include R-Truth, who was standing in the ring. Drake Maverick approached Truth, but Carmella took him out with a superkick. Truth and Carmella ran away with the other wrestlers running after them…

Cole hyped Undertaker appearing after the break… [C]

Powell’s POV: The WWE 24/7 Title does nothing for me, but I did get a kick out of R-Truth lying on the table when Cesaro pulled it out from underneath the ring. The actual Ricochet vs. Cesaro match had its moments, but it was not as crisp as their previous matches. Cesaro attacking Ricochet afterward left me wondering if they are in the process of a best of seven series rather than just this best of three.

Undertaker made his entrance to a big pop. Taker asked if people wonder what happens when they are face to face with death for the first time. Taker said Goldberg would find out on Friday. Taker said he doesn’t want Goldberg the family man while his wife and son look up beaming with joy. “I want the unstoppable, mythical, icon Goldberg,” Taker said.

Taker promised that if Goldberg brings anything less than that then their first match will be Goldberg’s last. Taker said he will open the gates of hell and claim Goldberg’s soul for all eternity. “Goldberg, you’re next,” Taker said. The show abruptly went off the air at the top of the hour…

Powell’s POV: Man, they were up against the clock with that one. It was a short yet well delivered promo from Undertaker. Overall, this episode was not as bad as some of the shows we’ve seen recently and depending on your tastes it benefitted from the appearances of Taker, Triple H, and Randy Orton. But the while the Lesnar bait and switch can be explained as Heyman promising that Lesnar chose not to deliver, a good portion of the audience is going to blame the company rather than the heels. WWE also went very light on actual matches. I like a good balance between wrestling and talking segments, and four television length matches in three hours just isn’t enough. I will have more to say in my members’ audio review coming up shortly.

Check below for the latest Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast with Jason Powell and new MLW National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone, who discusses his background, how the underdog story has been overplayed in pro wrestling, the Dynasty faction, and more.

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