WWE Raw results 05/29/23: New women’s tag champs, Rollins and Styles join forces

See who emerged as the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions after a Fatal 4-Way on WWE Raw in Albany.

It’s been a tough few weeks for Raquel Rodriguez, but maybe that will change tonight on WWE Raw from Albany.

Not that Raquel has been losing too many races recently, mind you. As one half of the Women’s Tag Team Champions, Rodriguez hadn’t lost a tag team match since WrestleMania 39. Alas, when partner Liv Morgan was injured (during one of those victories), WWE stripped them of the titles.

Rodriguez got to be part of one of the four teams that competed for the championship tonight, but she needed a partner. Enter Shotzi, who has history with Raquel and figures to be someone who can capably fill in for Morgan even if not quite replace her.

Can they win (back) the titles? Perhaps, but a Fatal 4-Way is always a crap shoot, and the other three teams — Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler, Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville, and Bayley and IYO SKY — all figure to be serious contenders.

WWE hasn’t promoted anything else specifically for this show from Albany, but we know Money in the Bank qualifying matches are due to start. We’re expecting at least one apiece on the men’s and women’s sides.

And there will be fallout from Saturday’s Night of Champions show in Saudi Arabia, to be sure. Seth Rollins promised he’d be on hand, World Heavyweight Championship around his waist, for tonight’s Raw. It’s possible we might learn who will be first up to challenge him for the new big gold belt.

If Cody Rhodes is up for it after battling Brock Lesnar with an injured arm, he could be in the house as well. Can he pick himself back up again after experiencing another dose of adversity? And are things done between him and the Beast Incarnate?

WWE Raw results from Albany:

  • New World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins makes a memorable entrance through the crowd, and after repeating his intention to be a fighting champion, he’s joined by a congratulatory AJ Styles; their mutual show of respect is interrupted by The Judgment Day, and after exchanging insults, Rollins and Styles agree to take on any two of them tonight

  • Adam Pearce is on the phone trying to make the match approved, and both Rollins and Styles want it to happen
  • Ricochet def. The Miz by pinfall in a Money in the Bank qualifying match
  • Trish Stratus brags about doing exactly what she said she’d do in beating Becky Lynch, and she’s proud to introduce a superstar who reminds Trish of a young her, Zoey Stark; Lynch of course comes looking for both of them, which proves foolhardy as she is beaten down with a Z-360 from Stark and a big right hand from Stratus, then left crumpled in the corner with a “thank you Trish” shirt over her

  • Indus Sher def. local talent by pinfall
  • A video segment shows the Bloodline drama from Night of Champions once again, though apparently Roman Reigns’ 1000-day title reign celebration is still on for SmackDown
  • Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn are feeling pretty good tonight after the “worst night of Roman Reign’s life,” but Imperium comes out to take exception to them representing Raw, and the “new and improved” Alpha Academy (with Maxxine Dupri now part of the team) makes the champs laugh by dissing Imperium

  • Imperium (Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser) def. Alpha Academy by pinfall with Owens and Zayn on guest commentary; also, Valhalla chases Dupri to the back
  • Raquel Rodriguez and Shotzi are asked if they’ve built up enough chemistry, a question that gets mocked by Bayley and IYO SKY before Raquel fires right back at Bayley
  • Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler def. Raquel Rodriguez and Shotzi, Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville and Damage CTRL (Bayley and IYO SKY) in a Fatal 4-Way match when Rousey made Shotzi tap out to an armbar to become the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions
  • Dolph Ziggler vs. JD McDonagh goes to a double countout, to the mild displeasure of the fans, with McDonagh continuing to assault Ziggler after the bell and stomping his head on top of the steel steps
  • Left arm still in a sling, Cody Rhodes takes the ring to say he hopes Brock Lesnar isn’t satisfied with their two matches being tied 1-1 and issues an open challenge for a third fight, any time, any place, finishing by saying Lesnar wasn’t “man enough to make me tap out”

  • Gunther tells Matt Riddle he wants him to win the Money in the Bank Ladder match and cash it in on the IC title just so he can have fun beating Riddle
  • Shinsuke Nakamura def. Bronson Reed by pinfall in a Money in the Bank qualifying match
  • Rhea Ripley tells Byron Saxton she destroyed Natalya at Night of Champions, and the Judgment Day won’t tell him which two members will face Rollins and Styles
  • A video package pays tribute to the men and women who have given their lives in defense of the U.S. to commemorate Memorial Day
  • AJ Styles and Seth Rollins def. Damian Priest and Finn Balor by pinfall