6/24 WWE Raw Results: Powell’s review of U.S. Champion Ricochet vs. AJ Styles in a non-title match, Roman Reigns vs. Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre in a handicap match, WWE Champion Kofi Kingston vs. Sami Zayn in a non-title match

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

WWE Raw on the USA Network
Aired live on June 24, 2019 from Everett, Washington at Angel of the Winds Arena

[Hour One] Michael Cole welcomed viewers to the show. He was joined on commentary by Corey Graves and Renee Young. WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins made his entrance while the broadcast team recapped the WWE Stomping Grounds main event. Rollins soaked up the cheers once he was inside the ring and then said Corbin thought he was going to take the title from him.

Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch made her entrance and joined Rollins in the ring. The crowd chanted for her. Rollins said Lynch kind of interrupted him. Rollins said he had to give Corbin credit for being smart enough to know he couldn’t out wrestle or out fight him and he was smart enough to get a referee he couldn’t bash with a chair. Rollins said Corbin wasn’t smart enough to realize that he has the best backup on the planet.

“You might say it pays to be The Man’s man,” Lynch said. She said they once again proved why they are the champions of their division. Lynch spoke about beating Evans in their title match and then coming out later in the night “to slap her head off her shoulders again.” Baron Corbin’s entrance music played. Lacey Evans attacked Lynch from behind. Lynch quickly turned the tables. Rollins pulled Lynch off Evans. Lynch shoved Rollins, who smiled, then backed away to let Lynch go after Evans. Corbin ran out and was quickly cleared from the ring by Rollins, then Lynch cleared Evans from the ring.

Corbin took the mic and said Lynch saved him again. Corbin said Rollins should go home and put on an apron and make a sandwich for The Man since she’s handling all of his business. Evans told Lynch to get her “little girl out of here unless you want me to get my hands on him again.” Corbin said everyone knows he’d be Universal Champion if it wasn’t for Lynch.

Corbin said Evans is the only real woman on the roster and he said he would choose her to be his mixed tag partner anytime. Evans accepted and suggested they should have the mixed tag match at Extreme Rules. Lynch said they accept under the condition that if the heels lose then they can’t get future title shots against them or get in the ring with them again. Corbin and Evans spoke to one another and then agreed. Rollins accepted the challenge. Corbin said Rollins and Evans would put both titles on the line at Extreme Rules and it would be winner take all…

Powell’s POV: Why don’t Rollins and Lynch simply say no to Corbin’s stipulation? That really didn’t make any sense. The crowd booed the mixed tag match occurring at Extreme Rules, presumably because they were hoping to see it in person. I wish they would have, as it’s hard to be excited about WWE going with these pairings on pay-per-view again even if it is a mixed tag match rather than singles matches.

The broadcast team hyped the Kofi Kingston vs. Sami Zayn match, and New Day and The Usos vs. Daniel Bryan, Erick Rowan, and The Revival in a tag team elimination match. Bryan and Rowan made their entrance and Cole noted that they were in the home state of Bryan. Rowan basically played to the locals by wearing a Soundgarden t-shirt… [C]

1. Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, Big E, and Xavier Woods vs. Daniel Bryan, Rowan, Dash Wilder, and Scott Dawson in an elimination match. Each team received a televised entrance. Bryan was going to start the match against Woods, but Dawson tagged himself in. A short time later, Bryan checked in and ended up performing a suicide dive and accidentally hit Dawson when Woods moved.

Bryan worked over Woods and delivered the Yes kicks. Woods kicked out of a pin, which sent Bryan to the ropes where Wilder hit Bryan, which led to Woods pinning Bryan to boos. A short time later, Woods leapt from the ropes into a Shatter Machine. Cole said the match would be reset and restarted as The Revival vs. The Usos after the break. [C]

Powell’s POV: The gimmick is that if one tag member is pinned then his team is eliminated from the match. And “Mad King” Vince McMahon’s latest edict about not having wrestling during commercial breaks appears to be in full effect given Cole mentioning that the match would be restarted. Where’s Jaime Lannister when you need him?

The Usos performed dives onto The Revival. Once the teams were back inside the ring, then the bell rang to restart the match. Later, Dawson superplexed Jimmy, but Jey hit Wilder while he was on the ropes and then leapt off his back and onto Dawson with a splash that led to the Usos getting the win…

Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, Big E, and Xavier Woods beat Daniel Bryan, Rowan, Dash Wilder, and Scott Dawson in an elimination match.

Powell’s POV: Or should that be labeled as The Usos beating The Revival in a regular tag match? If so, how should the first part of the match be listed? The in-ring action was entertaining and all, but I just can’t believe the insanity that is coming from the top of this company right now.

A video package recapped Roman Reigns defeating Drew McIntyre at WWE Stomping Grounds… Cole hyped the Reigns vs. McIntyre and Shane McMahon handicap match for later in the show… The Miz was shown walking backstage. Cole said R-Truth would be the guest on Miz TV… [C]

Footage aired from earlier today of Braun Strowman using a rope to pull a semi truck in the parking lot. Graves said Bobby Lashley better be prepared for the tug of war later tonight because Strowman looks ready…

Powell’s POV: An arm wrestling contest and tug of war. Is this leading to Strowman and Lashley competing against one another on Battle of the Network Stars? Look it up, kids.

The Miz introduced R-Truth for Miz TV. Truth and Carmella showed up and looked reluctant. Miz assured Truth that WWE officials put the 24/7 Title on hold during the interview, so they joined him inside the ring. Miz recapped the wild locations where some of the title changes have occurred and set up footage of Truth pinning Drake Maverick at Maverick’s wedding to regain the title.

Miz acted bothered by Truth winning the title at a wedding. Truth said he can’t go to the grocery store or to picnics without looking over his back. He said WWE wrestlers are even showing up at his crib. He explained to Miz that crib meant house. He told a story about police telling him that his car was on fire, but he said he was too smart to believe it.

Drake Maverick came out wearing a red bandana around his head along with part of his wedding suit. He said his wife won’t talk to him or go on the honeymoon with him. Maverick said he and his wife haven’t consummated the marriage. Fiber is good for that,” Truth said. He explained that Maverick said he was constipated. A “constipated” chant broke out. Maverick asked Truth for a shot at the 24/7 Title. Miz acted like he was listening through an earpiece and said no one would be allowed to interfere or be at ringside. Truth said the match was on with “Hornswoggle”… [C]

2. R-Truth (w/Carmella) vs. Drake Maverick for the WWE 24/7 Title. Maverick punched Truth a few times, then Truth put him away with one move.

R-Truth defeated Drake Maverick in 0:13 to retain the WWE 24/7 Title.

After the match, Lucha House Party, Titus O’Neil, No Way Jose, Cedric Alexander, and others ran out and went after Truth, who eventually escaped through the crowd with Carmella and the title. Maverick looked heartbroken in the ring. Graves said you can always find a new wife, but you can’t always become WWE 24/7 Champion. Charly Caruso entered the ring and asked Maverick where he goes from here. Maverick acted as if he were too emotional to speak and then left the ring…

Footage aired of Roman Reigns walking backstage while Cole hyped the handicap match for after the break… [C]

Powell’s POV: I’m not a fan of the WWE 24/7 Title silliness, but I am happy that it’s opened the door for the talented Maverick to get more television time on the main show.

Footage aired of the opening segment and the setup for the mixed tag match. Graves said the “winner take all” mixed tag match is official for Extreme Rules…

Powell’s POV: I noticed on the replay that Rollins actually said that Corbin could name whatever he wanted and the challenge would be accepted, so that’s what led to Corbin making the mixed tag match for both titles. My apologies for missing that the first time around.

Backstage, Corbin and Evans spoke. Corbin said they might turn out to be the new power couple of WWE…

[Hour Two] Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre made their entrance for the handicap match. Shane had ring announcer Mike Rome deliver the “best in the world” introduction. Shane spoke with the referee, then Rome said he’d just been informed that it would be a two-on-one match with Reigns facing both men at the same time. Reigns made his entrance…

3. Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre and Shane McMahon in a two-on-one match. Reigns punched Shane to start, then quickly cleared McIntyre from the ring with a clothesline. Shane went after Reigns, who quickly got the better of him only for McIntyre to pull Reigns to ringside and run him into the barricade and ring steps. McIntyre hit Reigns with a piece of the ring steps.

Back inside the ring, McIntyre held up Reigns and then Shane speared him. Shane held Reigns up while McIntyre delivered a Claymore Kick. Shane went to the top rope for a Coast To Coast when he was interrupted by a gong.

The lights went out and when they came back on Undertaker was in the ring. Shane leapt from the top rope and Taker grabbed him by the throat and chokeslammed him. Taker worked over McIntyre with punches in the corner. Taker cleared both men from the ring with clotheslines. Taker struck his pose in the ring and his music played. Graves said not even Reigns expected this and referred to Taker as an unlikely savior. [C]

Roman Reigns fought Drew McIntyre and Shane McMahon to an apparent no-contest.

Powell’s POV: WWE typically advertised Taker’s appearances in advance, but it’s been a while since they have created the feeling that anything can happen on Raw, so I’m all for the approach they took. It was such a surprise that I initially didn’t even realize that they ended the match without a finish. Are they setting up a Taker and Reigns vs. McIntyre and Shane match for Extreme Rules or was this just a quick one-off for Taker?

The broadcast team recapped Taker’s surprise appearance…

Braun Strowman made his entrance for the tug of war while footage aired of him tugging the semi truck outside the building. Bobby Lashley made his entrance. A tale of the tape was shown. A rope was in the ring with a red line in the middle. Lashley pulled Strowman to the edge of the line, then Strowman smiled and pulled Lashley toward him. Lashley went over the line and punched Strowman. The bell rang to end the epic match. Lashley wrapped the rope around Strowman’s face and pulled on it. Once Lashley relased it, Strowman sold eye damage. Lashley charged at Strowman, who knocked him down. Lashley recovered and hit Strowman from behind again before backing up the ramp…

Powell’s POV: I’m honestly not sure what type of gimmick match they have in mind for these two at Extreme Rules.

Charly Caruso interviewed AJ Styles on the backstage interview set. She noted that it was his first day back from his injury. Styles started talking about how his rehab went, but Caruso cut him off and asked him why he challenged Ricochet to a match on his first day back. Styles said he was ready to battle the best he had to offer.

No Way Jose’s music played and distracted Styles. Styles approached the conga line and was unhappy to see Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson taking part. Styles noted that they had a match coming up against the Viking Raiders. They tried to blow it off. Styles reminded him that they lost last week. He asked what happened to the guys he knew in Japan. Anderson asked what happened to Styles. Gallows said those two guys were going to prove him wrong. Cole said their match was up after the break… [C]

Powell’s POV: A good continuation of last week’s story, though I can’t help but wonder if this means we’re supposed to believe that Jose and his goof troop form random conga lines backstage.

4. “The Viking Raiders’ Erik and Ivar vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. The Vikings Raiders entrance was televised while Gallows and Anderson were already in the ring. Anderson put Erik down with a clothesline early. Graves said it looked like Anderson finally remembered who he is. Styles was shown watching the match on a backstage monitor. Gallows and Anderson performed the Boot of Doom on Ivar, which led to a two count.

Anderson got cocky like last week and played to the crowd and asked if AJ saw that. Anderson’s cockiness allowed Erik to tag in Ivar, who roughed up both opponents. The Viking Raiders hit the Viking Experience on Anderson and pinned him…

The Viking Raiders beat Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in 3:20.

Backstage, Nikki Cross apologized to Alexa Bliss for costing her the title match with Bayley at Stomping Grounds. Cross said she lost control, saw red, and felt it was her fault. Bliss said she can use that as motivation and added that Bayley does a good job of manipulating people to make them feel bad. Cross said there has to be a way to get a rematch. “Gotta come up with a plan,” Bliss said. Bliss looked at Cross, who took the message and left the room… [C]

Natalya and Naomi tried to warn Cross about Bliss inside their locker room. Bliss entered the room and took exception. Naomi said Bliss deserves all the glow and she’ll give it to her tonight…

Mojo Rawley and Heath Slater were in the ring for a match when R-Truth hopped the barricade. Truth was followed by the usual suspects. Slater hit a neckbreaker on Truth and pinned him to win the WWE 24/7 Championship. Slater had to fight off the other wrestlers and ended up running into a move from Truth, who pinned him to regain the title. Cedric Alexander entered the ring and performed a Lumbar Check on Truth and pinned him to win the belt. Alexander dodged a charging Mojo Rawley, but then took the One Percenter from EC3, who pinned him on the floor to win the championship. Carmella came out and grabbed the title belt from EC3, who was rolled up by Truth and pinned. Truth and Carmella headed backstage with the title belt…

Cole hyped Styles vs. Ricochet for later in the show, then the broadcast team narrated still shots of Ricochet beating Samoa Joe to win the U.S. Title at Stomping Grounds…

Sarah Schreiber interviewed Ricochet on the backstage interview set and asked him how it felt to win his first championship. Ricochet said it’s a feeling he doesn’t want to go away and he’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen. He said it took the support from his friends, family, and fans to get him to this point. Ricochet said that was all last night and now he’s facing someone he’s looked up to throughout his entire career in Styles. Ricochet said he intends to prove that he’s worthy to hold the U.S. Championship…

Kofi Kingston was shown grabbing some pancakes backstage. Cole hyped Kingston appearing after the break… [C]

WWE Champion Kofi Kingston made his entrance while Cole laid it on thick about how great the Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler cage match was. Charly Caruso interviewed Kingston in the ring and congratulated him on winning the match. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens came out and interrupted the promo and said enough with the softball journalism.

Owens had a card with questions on it and said they were going to have an impromptu Kevin and Sami Show. Kingston was asked why he’s here, who does he think he is, and why don’t you get get the hell out of here. Kingston asked Owens if he knew he had a humungous zit on the side of his head. Zayn called him a paper champion who gets by with the help of his friends, who he and Owens destroyed at Stomping Grounds.

Kingston said just because Owens and Zayn have an on again/off again friendship, the New Day members are brothers who have a bond that no one can break. Kingston said he beat Owens and Ziggler by himself and would beat Zayn by himself. Zayn said Kingston needed a dose of reality and asked who better to give it to him. Kingston said the title isn’t just about him, it’s about all the fans. He asked the crowd if they were tired of hearing Zayn talk, then invited him to come to the ring and catch another Trouble in Paradise upside the dome…

An ad or NXT hyped the women’s cage match between Shayna Baszler and Io Shirai…

5. Kofi Kingston vs. Sami Zayn (w/Kevin Owens) in a non-title match. Owens comically tried to lead a Sami chant at ringside. Kingston got the better of Zayn, who ducked a Trouble in Paradise kick and rolled up Kingston for a two count. Cole said Kingston has held a championship for 1,500 days and only 13 others in company history have held a title that long.

[Hour Three] Zayn clotheslined Kingston over the top rope. Owens put the boots to Kingston while the referee was distracted. Kingston battled back, but Zayn performed an exploder suplex in the corner. Zayn followed up with a Michinoku Driver for a two count. Kingston started to battle back, but he performed a springboard into a boot from Zayn that led to another two count. Zayn set up for a suplex, but Kingston slipped away and rolled him up for the pin.

Kofi Kingston defeated Sami Zayn in a non-title match in 8:15.

After the match, Owens took the mic and said that if Kingston wants to prove what a great champion he is then he’d face him on the spot. Kingston headed back to the ring…

Powell’s POV: The streak of Owens and/or Zayn losing matches on Raw and Smackdown continues. Knock me over with a feather. I enjoy both heels, but we’ve reached a point where Kingston and Rollins beating them is so routine that it no longer means anything. That said, perhaps they will give Owens a win here since they played up Kingston wrestling a cage match at the pay-per-view and now having a match with Zayn prior to the match with Owens.

6. Kofi Kinston vs. Kevin Owens (w/Sami Zayn) in a non-title match. Zayn provided an early distraction. Owens went for a Swanton, but Kingston put his knees up. Owens brought Kingston to ringside, Kingston performed an SOS on the entrance and headed back to the ring while Owens was counted out. Afterward, Kingston threw Zayn to ringside and performed a dive onto both men.

Kofi Kingston defeated Kevin Owens via count-out in 1:40 in a non-title match.

Powell’s POV: Nope, despite getting a tag match win at WWE Stomping Grounds, Owens and Zayn are once again the Washington Generals of Raw and Smackdown.

Samoa Joe ran out and attacked Kingston from behind. Joe performed a uranage on the stage. Joe smirked and headed backstage. Two referees tried to help up Kingston, but Joe ran out and applied the Coquina Clutch. Kingston was still down heading into the break… [C]

Powell’s POV: I love Joe and I really want to take him seriously as a threat to beat Kingston, but it’s tough when he lost a secondary title to Ricochet the night before and had a lot of non-title losses during his U.S. Title reign. We’ve seen him deliver these great beatdowns many times and he ends up losing the meaningful matches. One of the real issues with WWE booking is that they haven’t been developing strong heels for their babyface champions. They could undo a lot of damage they’ve done to Joe by having him be the guy who takes the title from Kingston, but I’m not holding my breath.

Cole recapped footage of Undertaker making the surprise appearance earlier in the show. Cole announced Taker and Reigns vs. Shane and McIntyre for Extreme Rules…

7. Alexa Bliss (w/Nikki Cross) vs. Naomi. Bliss took a splits drop from Naomi. Bliss went to ringside with Cross. Naomi performed a baseball slide on Cross while Bliss scurried away. Bliss beat Naomi back to the ring and put her down with a DDT and pinned her.

Alexa Bliss defeated Naomi in 1:15.

After the match, Bliss motioned for Cross to join her in the ring. Bliss worked over Naomi. Cross looked bothered by Bliss’s antics. Bliss held Naomi and called for Cross, who gave in and shoved Naomi, which knocked her and Bliss down. Natalya ran out and stood by Naomi… [C]

8. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross vs. Naomi and Natalya. Cole said the match was made official during the break. Natalya tried to run the ropes for her dropkick onto a seated Bliss, but Cross stood in her way, which led to Bliss taking offensive control. Natalya came back with a bodyslam for a two count. Later, Bliss made a blind tag. Cross performed a neckbreaker on Natalya, then Bliss made the cover and got the pin. Cross looked confused afterward and then smiled and celebrated. Cole and Young said Cross did all the work…

Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross beat Naomi and Natalya in 4:40.

Powell’s POV: It will be interesting to see if Nikki breaks bad with Bliss or if she will end up being the naive girl who eventually snaps when Bliss betrays her and reverts to her NXT persona. My guess is the latter, but either way I’m enjoying the story they are telling with Bliss and Cross.

Split screen shots aired of Ricochet and AJ Styles walking backstage while Cole hyped their match for after the break… [C]

9. U.S. Champion Ricochet vs. AJ Styles in a non-title match. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson walked to ringside during the first two minutes of the match. Styles rolled to ringside and took a mic. Styles told Gallows and Anderson that they weren’t going to ruin the match. He said the match would not continue until they left. Anderson and Gallows obliged. Cole said they would restart the match after the break. [C]

Powell’s POV: These restarts must be so awkward for the live crowd. I’m all for showing uninterrupted matches the way AXS-TV does, but the new WWE approach is just plain strange. Let’s hope this is one of the Mad King’s passing fads.

The match was restarted coming out of the break. There was a weak attempt at starting another round of dueling chants for the wrestlers. Styles suffered a small cut or scrape on his nose (unsure what caused it). At 6:40, Styles threw his spinning back fist, which Ricochet followed with a leaping kick to the head.

Ricochet went on an offensive flurry. Graves wondered if Styles had some ring rust. Ricochet performed a top rope clothesline and followed up a short time later with a standing shooting star press for a near fall at 8:00. Styles came back with a reverse DDT for a two count of his own. Styles threw a series of strikes and knocked Ricochet down with a nice clothesline.

Ricochet came back and performed a springboard moonsault for a two count. Styles avoided Ricochet’s 630 splash. Ricochet landed on his feet. Styles rolled under the ropes and hit a charging Ricochet with a punch when he charged him, then hit him with the Phenomenal Forearm and scored the pin.

AJ Styles defeated Ricochet in 10:50 in a non-title match.

After the match, Styles took the U.S. Title from the referee. Styles helped Ricochet to his feet, handed him the title belt, and raised his arm. Styles hugged Ricochet while Graves said Styles would be coming back for him…

Powell’s POV: It doesn’t seem to matter who holds the secondary titles, they always seem to lose non-title matches on television. In this case, it’s all about how they follow this up. It’s been well established that there’s no shame in losing to the Styles character, so this loss makes Ricochet look like the underdog heading into their rematch, and it would obviously be a big win if he beats him to retain the championship. The actual match was entertaining and left me hoping to see a full length pay-per-view match between them, which I assume we’ll get at Extreme Rules.

Overall, the creative forces did a better job than usual of filling the three hours. There was a lot going on and aside from some WWE 24/7 Title comedy, there wasn’t much in the way of filler. By the way, there was no mention of Bray Wyatt or the Firefly Funhouse tonight, so I assume that means he’s close to returning to the ring. I will have more to say in my weekly, same night members’ exclusive audio review coming up shortly. You can grade the show in our weekly post show poll on the main page.

Update: Dot Net reader Robby Hinson pointed out that Bray Wyatt’s Abby puppet actually appeared behind The Miz while he was walking backstage prior to the Miz TV segment.

Check below for the latest Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast with Jason Powell and Brian Fritz of the Between The Ropes podcast discussing WWE’s creative and ratings struggles, Bray Wyatt following the Firefly Funhouse, WWE Stomping Grounds, NJPW G1 Opening Night, and ROH’s issues, what would happen if AEW opted to run head-to-head with WWE Raw, and much more.

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