If there’s such a thing as May Madness (and if there is, we’re likely going to hear about it from Legal), WWE’s got it for tonight’s episode of Raw from Jacksonville.
Why, you could very reasonably ask? Because the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament, kicks off tonight, that’s why. Two Triple Threat matches will narrow a field of six down to two, with the winners doing battle later this very night to determine who will go on to Night of Champions later this month to fight for the right to be the inaugural wearer of the new big gold belt.
WWE has helpfully revealed who will be in each of the first round tournament matches. One will see Cody Rhodes, Finn Balor and The Miz square off, while the other features Damian Priest, Seth Rollins and Shinsuke Nakamura. Those combinations set the stage for lots of fun possibilities for the Raw semifinal, including things like an all Judgment Day affait.
(Of course, we have our own ideas on how things should play out.)
The other segment WWE is promoting ahead of the episode is the return of Trish Stratus. The women’s wrestling icon and WWE Hall of Famer seems to have gotten the better of Becky Lynch both physically and psychologically over the past few weeks, as Lynch hasn’t been on TV for a while. But Stratus might not want to be too cocky when she appears on Raw tonight, because when The Man comes back around, there just might be hell to pay.
It’s also the first show where the post-WWE Draft rosters are in effect on Raw, so expect to see some new faces as well.
WWE Raw results from Jacksonville:
(click on any match with a link for full details)
- Cody Rhodes says he discovered at Backlash that Brock Lesnar could be defeated, and that he’s now completely focused on the World Heavyweight Championship, so he says let the tournament begin
- Damian Priest doesn’t really want to discuss his loss to Bad Bunny but does think he and Finn Balor will battle in the semifinal later tonight
- Seth Rollins def. Shinsuke Nakamura and Damian Priest in a World Heavyweight Championship Tournament first round match by pinning Nakamura
- “You’ll still be Imperium in five minutes, right?” Imperium wants Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to know Gunther is coming to Raw next week, but their insistence on not being bothered seems like it’s going to lead to a match
- Mustafa Ali def. Otis by pinfall
- The Miz reminds the world that he’s a history maker and will have respect put on his name when he wins the tournament\
- Finn Balor def. Cody Rhodes and The Miz in a World Heavyweight Championship Tournament first round match after Brock Lesnar attacks Rhodes and Balor pins Miz
- Rhea Ripley def. Dana Brooke by submission, then is confronted by Natalya but leaves without any fisticuffs breaking out
- A video package shows all of the NXT performers who got drafted to Raw, and one of them, Zoey Stark, challenges Nikki Cross for her first Raw match
- Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn def. Imperium (Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser) by pinfall
- Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green are busy getting signatures on their petition to get a rematch for the tag team titles, and The Way is nearly all back together backstage
- Zoey Stark def. Nikki Cross by pinfall
- Dominik Mysterio and Xavier Woods talk their way into a match later tonight, while Akira Tozawa wanders off
- Trish Stratus is worried because Becky Lynch is missing, and says Lynch will be found but won’t be coming to “her” show … except she’s 100% wrong, and The Man gives her a quick beating before insisting she’s come around to kick Trish’s ass
- Dominik Mysterio def. Xavier Woods by pinfall
- Indus Sher says they’ve been waiting for their chance to strike; The Miz accidentally ends up with a match against Nakamura next week; Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez find out Deville and Green started their petition thinking they would be facing Damage CTRL for the tag team titles
- Rhodes says this is the second time that Lesnar has attacked him from behind for no reason, so he says “let’s fight” at Night of Champions
- Seth Rollins def. Finn Balor by pinfall to win the World Heavyweight Championship Tournament semifinal