With only weeks left until the Money in the Bank event, WWE did a lot of the heavy lifting during Monday night’s Raw. At the key moment, it was announced that Rhea Ripley did not receive medical clearance for her planned title challenge against Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair, leaving a large place to be filled.
Carmella will be the newly-presented woman, winning a killer five to start the show and cement her spot in the title match on July 2 in Las Vegas.
Another title match was added to Money in the Bank, with Bobby Lashley defeating Chad Gable, Otis and Theory in one night to earn the chance to win Theory’s United States title in the upcoming event.
CBS Sports was with you all night with summaries and highlights from the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Bianca Belair receives a new contender, Money in the Bank
Bianca Belair opened the show by announcing that Rhea Ripley had not received medical clearance for her match at Money in the Bank for the Belair’s Raw Women’s Championship. Belair then announced that Alexa Bliss, Liv Morgan, Carmella, Asuka and Becky Lynch would compete later in the night for the title at Money in the Bank. This led to the expected display of interruptions by the women participating in the match.
Carmella Dave. Alexa Bliss, Liv Morgan, Asuka, and Becky Lynch via installation After hitting Morgan with a piercing blow. The win puts Carmella in the Women’s Raw title match at Money in the Bank. Notably, Carmella was the first winner of the Women’s Money in the Bank match, making the event something of her “branding show”.
Carmella was somewhat logical as an option to take on Belair here. Its presence isn’t necessary in a Money in the Bank ladder match and it’s legitimate enough given its history of creating a late alternate contender. Carmella’s title challenge isn’t likely to get anyone excited or bring the same sense of potential title change as Ripley, but sometimes you just need a patch to get past the hole left by the injury. That’s what Carmella is. B-grade
What else happened on WWE Raw?
- Vince McMahon appeared Talking about Raw’s history before exaggerating John Cena’s appearance on next week’s show. Just as he did at SmackDown, McMahon appeared eager to make sure his face appeared on TV while investigating allegations of misconduct involving silent money paid to an employee he had an affair with.
- Omos def. Riddle via pinfall in a Money in the Bank qualifier. Riddle was still nursing his sore ribs from a SmackDown match with Roman Reigns. After the match, Seth Rollins made his way to the ring and hit a curb on Riddle, who called him up in a pre-match promotion.
- Bobby Lashley interrupted Austin’s theory put forward. As the theory was thrown in the middle of the ring, including taking a few shots at John Cena, Lashley appeared in the ring behind the theory before hitting the US champion with a bayonet.
- Angelo Dawkins def. J Oso via installation Using the powerbomb to sit.
- Elias hit Kevin Owens with a guitar After Owens boycotted his concert. Elias and Ezekiel were shown having a “conversation” behind the scenes earlier in the show, and Ezekiel also appeared on Tron when he was interrupted by Owens. After Owens stumbled into the backstage area and said he was challenging Elias or Ezekiel for next week’s match on Raw, at which point Ezekiel appeared and accepted the challenge.
- Bobby Lashley defeated. Chad Gable, Otis and Theory in a Fatal Match. Earlier on the show, Theory said he would give Lashley a chance to win the US title at Money in the Bank if he could beat three opponents in a row, which Lashley did, recently vindicating the theory by hitting A-Town Down.
- AJ Styles def. Ciampa via pinfall After the massive forearm. The match came after Styles attacked The Miz through Miz TV and Ciampa Blindsided Styles.
- Asuka def. Becky Lynch by pinning in a Money in the Bank qualifying match. Lynch, upset about her loss in the fatal five-way loss earlier in the night, demanded a chance to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match. She was told she would have her chance later in the night against Asuka but was eliminated with a huge kick, which led to her having a massive post-match tantrum before the show kicks off.
