WWE Raw: Results, Highlights, Analysis, and Grades for May 14

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Intercontinental Championship Match

Seth Rollins (c) vs. Kevin Owens

Result: Seth Rollins defeated Kevin Owens via pinfall

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

Major props to Seth Rollins for putting the “Intercontinental” in Intercontinental Champion. Since winning the title at WrestleMania, he’s defended it on four separate continents — North America, Africa, Asia, and now Europe. Workhorse doesn’t even begin to describe what Rollins is doing lately.

I also find it funny that Rollins, a one-time protege of Triple H, is doing for the IC Title what The Game allegedly didn’t want to do back in 2002. Remember what Eric Bischoff presented Triple H with the “World Heavyweight Championship” in September, and by October the Intercontinental Title was unified into the WHC?

Rumors at the time abounded that the Intercontinental Championship was meant to be the top title on Raw after the brand split while the “Undisputed Championship” would reside on SmackDown, but Triple H wanted to be world champion. I have no idea if that’s true, but there’s little doubt that in 2018, Rollins is top dog on Raw, and the Universal Championship is an afterthought.

Back to the match at hand. As is often the case, Seth Rollins is on his A game. Likely battling severe jet lag, The Kingslayer got better distance on his suicide dives than ever before. Not to mention that this was probably the best Kevin Owens match in some time — KO has been on a bit of a hot streak since leaving SmackDown a month ago.

The finish to the match adds a nice little wrinkle to Rollins’s game, too. Hitting the Blackout stomp as Owens was entering the ring — almost “from outta nowhere” — opens up a myriad of possibilities for situations to hit the stomp. Better hope none of Seth’s challengers realize their boots are untied.

Great opening bout to the show, and another great performance by Rollins.