WWE Raw Results, Highlights, and Grades For June 11, 2018

On tonight’s episode of WWE Raw, we’ll get the final build to Sunday’s Money in the Bank Pay Per View, which features eight men and eight women in two ladder matches.

Roman Reigns and Jinder Mahal will square off at Money in the Bank in a grudge match, and I have a feeling that won’t be the last time these two will have a singles match at a big Pay Per View. Tonight, the two will face off on Raw, as Reigns accepted Jinder’s challenge. Seeing as how Jinder never fights fair and was the one to initiate this fight, I have a feeling he and Sunil Singh will try to pull something shady.

Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Bobby Roode, and Kevin Owens will partake in a Fatal Four-Way match, as will Natalya, Alexa Bliss, Sasha Banks, and Ember Moon. These four men and women are Raw’s representatives in their respective ladder matches this Sunday. In my mind, there’s just no way Strowman loses his Fatal Four-Way match, and he needs the momentum if he isn’t going to win the briefcase on Sunday.

But the women’s match is more interesting, because there’s an “injury” storyline at play with both Bliss and Nattie. Last week, Bliss faked an injury to avoid competing in a six-woman tag match against the Riott Squad, but can she get out of this Fatal Four-Way? And Natalya suffered a knee injury during her loss to Nia Jax. Will she be 100% tonight and all systems go for Money in the Bank? Or could WWE replace her in the match with Bayley?

Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax will have one final staredown before Money in the Bank on Sunday, as Rousey is attempting to win her first title in WWE. Considering that Rousey has yet to get her hands on Nia, I have a feeling the inevitable beatdown Jax will suffer at Rousey’s hands will wait on Sunday. But it will be interesting to see how WWE builds up Nia in their final show before MITB.

This episode of WWE Raw begins at 8 p.m. ET, so check back here for all the latest highlights, grades, and analysis from tonight’s show in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Ladder Match Promo

All eight men and women from Raw who will be competing in tonight’s ladder match are atop ladders, and the women start arguing about who will end up with the briefcase. Kurt Angle is interrupted by “Constable Corbin” at one point, and Corbin is rocking a new haircut. He’s finally taken the ultimate step by shaving his head, and he looks SO much better for it.

The bickering among the men and women was cool, and I liked the nods to the Mixed Match Challenge. Alexa Bliss threw her support behind Braun Strowman, while Finn Balor received support from Sasha Banks. Neither Balor nor Strowman are favorites to win the briefcase, though both could be great options to cash in on Brock Lesnar to end his record-breaking reign as Universal Champion.

There were some funny lines in this segment, including Kevin Owens complaining that Strowman’s height gives him an advantage in the ladder match. Strowman’s primordial scream was nice, but it paled in comparison to Bliss’s glass-shattering screech.

Grade: B-, This was a solid way of hyping up the Money in the Bank ladder matches, though the opening to the segment was a bit rocky. I’m excited for the matches, and it also appears that Natalya will be 100% for the women’s ladder match.

Women’s Fatal Four-Way Match As MITB Preview

Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks vs. Ember Moon vs. Natalya

Ember Moon shows off her athleticism early on, hitting Alexa Bliss with a fallaway slam and immediately kipped up afterwards. Bliss tried to garner some mercy from Sasha Banks and Moon by faking a leg injury again, but Banks and Moon were having none of it. Neither was Natalya, who threw Bliss into the barricade without a single care.

Natalya, Moon, and Banks exchanged complicated roll-ups, and the sequences ended when Nattie smashed Moon with “Nattie By Nature”. This initiated a big staredown between Banks and Natalya, who are the two veteran in-ring performers in this match.

After sitting on the sidelines, Bliss saw her opportunity to steal the match at Sasha’s expense. After nearly being placed in the sharpshooter by Natalya, Sasha ended up squaring off with Moon, but she decided to dive off the top rope to Nattie on the outside. Seeing her chance, Moon absolutely blasted Banks into the barricade with a brutal suicide dive. Bliss took advantage, nailing Moon with a right and jumping in the ring to pin Banks for a two-count.

Always the opportunist, Bliss then went to work relentlessly on Natalya’s injured knee. Angle announced earlier tonight that Nattie was cleared to wrestle at Money in the Bank, but it appears Bliss is trying to make sure she won’t be there.

Sasha and Ember had another brutal exchange, but they started working together when they realized that Bliss had begun to stir. But Natalya came in to powerbomb both Banks and Moon, leaving Bliss on the top rope alone.

Bliss went for “Twisted Bliss” on Banks, but The Legit Boss got her knees up to leave us at the break with all four women down.

It looked like Moon had the match won when she hit Natalya with The Eclipse, but Bliss prevented a pinfall and coaxed Moon to the outside. This allowed Bliss to smash Moon into the steel steps, and Bliss moved into the ring to pin Natalya. But Banks quickly dove in to broke up the pin.

Having already been in the Bank Statement tonight, Bliss countered two attempts at the finisher from Banks before throwing The Legit Boss at the ring post. Bliss, however, would end up tapping in a submission hold, thanks to Natalya’s Sharpshooter.

Grade: A+, I legitimately had no idea who was going to win, and every woman played their roles perfectly. Moon and Banks, in particular, were great, providing some memorable spots.

Finn and KO Peace Offering

Kevin Owens wants allies in tonight’s Fatal Four-Way match to avoid as little damage as possible before Money in the Bank at the hands of Braun Strowman. He offers Balor an “olive branch” in the form of black olives, under the impression that Balor will want something low-calorie. Owens says that they need to keep last week’s fight in the past, and he reminds Balor that they both have something in common. They never got rematches for the Universal Championship.

Owens has a more insidious plan. He wants him, Balor, and Bobby Roode to take out Braun Strowman tonight so that the most fearsome competitor on Sunday won’t even be in the match. He’s worried that nobody will be able to take the title off of Braun, which is a perfectly reasonable fear.

Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre vs. Breezango

Dolph Ziggler starts the match against Tyler Breeze, and he is on another level. Ziggler starts tearing through Breeze, talking trash and intimidating Fandango on the apron. He tags out, and Drew McIntyre starts annihilating Breeze.

But Breeze starts shifting the moment with an enziguiri, as he took advantage of Ziggler’s trash talk. Unfortunately for Breezango, tagging out didn’t exactly help, because it led to Fandango facing Drew McIntyre, who took major advantage of Ziggler distracting Fandango.

Ziggler superkicked Breeze, and McIntyre and Ziggler hit Fandango with a Zig-Zag/Claymore. And that’s all she wrote.

Grade: B-, This was a decent match, and I love that Ziggler and McIntyre got back on track in this way. They are absolute bad-asses, and their beatdowns are sometimes uncomfortable. These guys might be the best tag team in WWE right now.

Roman Reigns Promo

Roman Reigns says that he isn’t surprised that Jinder Mahal challenged him to a match tonight. In fact, he called Jinder an “idiot” and stated that Mahal is the reason why he didn’t qualify for Money in the Bank. Reigns believes the Universal Championship is legitimately his, adding that Mahal has earned this ass-whooping. This was a great promo.

Sunil Singh vs. Roman Reigns

Jinder Mahal says that he challenged Roman Reigns to prove a point. He wants to prove that Roman isn’t as unstoppable as he thinks he is, and he once again brings up his “winds are changing” shtick.

Roman’s music interrupts Mahal’s road-to-nowhere monologue, and we’re on our way to starting this match. But wait! Sunil Singh grabs a mic for Jinder so he can keep talking! Mahal says that Roman’s failures are beginning to cloud his judgment, and Roman has had about enough with Mahal’s big mouth.

And of course, Reigns won’t be facing Mahal tonight. He’ll be facing Sunil Singh. (Jinder had a great troll of Great Khali coming out to face Roman tonight).

So yeah, Roman is having a lot of fun. He beat the crap out of Jinder before turning his attention to Sunil Singh, hitting Jinder’s henchman with a Superman Punch and a Spear to win with ease. But right after the win, Mahal attacked Roman from behind and hit him with The Khallas.

Grade: F, What was the point of this?

The B Team vs. Heath Slater and Rhyno

Curtis Axel starts things off against Heath Slater, but Bo Dallas quickly tags in as the B Team gets an advantage. Axel and Dallas quickly win to remain undefeated, as Axel pins Slater after their double-team finisher.

But Axel and Dallas’s celebration is interrupted by Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt on the titantron, as the Woken Warriors start clapping by giving the B Team a standing ovation. Hardy starts mumbling unintelligibly, but the message is clear.

Hardy and Wyatt then teleport into the arena. Matt warns the B Team that the Raw Tag Team Champions are all-knowing and that the B Team are surrounded by “The Woken”. Wyatt adds that the B Team have “bought the ticket” and now they have to “take the ride”.

Finally, Hardy concludes by proclaiming that the Deleters of Worlds will “eat” and “delete” Axel and Dallas.

Elias Promo

Elias says that tonight’s performance will be difficult because he isn’t used to performing in front of hillbillies from Arkansas. His song is an absolute savage takedown of Seth Rollins. He says Seth is a tool because he does Crossfit, and he criticizes Seth’s catchphrase “Burn it Down” if his nickname is “The Architect”.

Following his performance, he whips out a guitar that was purportedly given to him by John Mayer. Seth jumps in to interrupt Elias, and he throws him out of the ring viciously. Rollins calls Elias a coward, and he says all Elias has to do to get a match is ask. While Rollins is praising Elias for his talents, the crowd wants The Architect to break Elias’s custom guitar. Elias is begging Seth not to break the guitar.

It seems like Seth is going to go easy on Elias, but he fakes stomping the John Mayer guitar. The fans, however, want Seth to break that guitar. And he does. He gets the crowd to chant “Burn It Down”, and stomped the hell out of Elias’s guitar.

Grade: B+, This was hilarious. Watch it.

Kevin Owens and Bobby Roode

Kevin Owens reminds Bobby Roode that he couldn’t defeat Braun Strowman last week, and he admits that neither he nor Finn Balor could do it either. After recruiting Finn Balor, Owens tried to recruit Roode to his side, and I bet it blows up in his face later tonight.

Bayley vs. Ruby Riott

Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, and Liv Morgan were backstage wreaking havoc. Logan dumped a bunch of snacks on some dude backstage, and Ruby cut off someone’s tie. Brilliant.

Corey Graves points out that Sasha Banks isn’t there to help Bayley out at ringside, though Ruby Riott has both Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan with her tonight (as always).

Logan and Morgan try to help Ruby on the outside, but Bayley goes through the ropes to try and get back at Ruby. She kind of messed the move up, but we end with Ruby sprawled out on the ground after taking a suplex.

Bayley missed a big elbow drop, and Ruby tried to capitalize by rolling her up. But Bayley just got out of there before three for the second big near-fall of the match (the first being a spot where Bayley’s head was rammed into the turnbuckle).

The two traded roll-ups, and just as Bayley wanted to go at Ruby, Morgan and Logan provided a distraction. Ruby smashed Bayley into the ring post and pinned her after a Riott Kick for the win.

Grade: C-, This was an OK match, but it was too slow to really get behind.

Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey

Natalya warns Ronda Rousey that she cannot let her guard down when she meets Nia Jax face-to-face tonight.

Jonathan Coachman is presiding over this face-to-face promo. He asks Nia Jax if she feels what was initially a friendly rivalry has become filled with animosity. Nia says she isn’t surprised, given the caliber of the two athletes involved. She admits that she purposefully pushed Rousey’s buttons to see how she’d react, noting that Rousey is still new to WWE despite all of her success in life.

Rousey says she doesn’t gameplan, she improvises, and she gives Nia another warning that she will rip her arm off. She then shuts down Coach, telling him that she’s earned the right to be confident.

Jax tells Rousey that she’s confident she’ll beat her, which is why she challenged her in the first place. She claims that Rousey isn’t “ready” to be the Raw Women’s Champion in WWE. Rousey responds by stating that every time in her career that people told her she wasn’t ready, she proved them wrong every single time.

Rousey grabbed Nia’s arm, but Jax countered by headbutting her, showing Rousey a move that can be used in WWE but not UFC. In the end, Rousey goes for that Armbar on Nia, who is desperately grabbing her other arm to block to the submission. Jax tries to pick Rousey up off the ground, but Rousey ends up tapping Nia by locking in the armbar.

Grade: B, this was better than I expected, and I liked Rousey’s mic work here. It wasn’t great, but it was effective and showed enough emotion.

Curt Hawkins vs. No Way Jose

Curt Hawkins didn’t show up when his theme hit, confusing both No Way Jose and the referee. They even played his music twice, and the ref ended up ringing the bell and counting to ten when Hawkins did not show up. Hawkins, however, came from behind in disguise as a member of the Congo Line to try and roll up Jose. It didn’t work. Jose kicked out and hit Hawkins with the Fastball Punch for a quick win.

Grade: B, if you want an easy laugh, watch this. Curt Hawkins is one of the best things about Raw.

Finn and Bobby

Finn Balor talks to Bobby Roode backstage after they were approached by Kevin Owens. Roode and Balor agree to listen to Owens but keep an eye on him. Finn, who called Owens “The Devil You Know”, says that not only will he keep one eye on KO, but he’ll keep an eye on Roode, too. He is wise not to trust Roode, who is a heel turn just waiting to happen.

Obstacle Course

Bobby Lashley and Sami Zayn will be competing in some “Obstacle Course” for whatever reason, bringing this stupid rivalry to yet another low point. Zayn doubles down on questioning Lashley’s military service, mocking the crowd’s derision of his promos. He then proceeds to explain each obstacle in the obstacle course, noting why he’ll do a better job than Lashley in each obstacle.

Lashley absolutely tears up the obstacle course without even breaking a sweat, but he’s rewarded by being blindsided by the dastardly Zayn, who never intended on competing in the obstacle course. Zayn responds to the “You suck!” chants by hitting Lashley with a Helluva Kick.

Grade: D, the only thing that saves this from being an F is the fact that Lashley is such an athletic beast.

Men’s Fatal Four-Way Match

Braun Strowman vs. Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens vs. Bobby Roode

The four men in the Money in the Bank ladder match from Raw will square off in the show’s main event, and we saw Roode, Balor, and Owens arguing over strategy backstage before the match. Strowman noticed this and interrupted them, quipping that he has an idea. He wants the trio to team up against him in the match. Strowman then screamed at the top of his lungs, scaring his three opponents tonight.

As expected, Braun Strowman starts the match by throwing everyone around, showing how difficult it is for even three men to team up to take him down. Roode, Owens, and Balor are on the outside, reeling, and Owens yells at Roode and Balor that they need to stick together if they want to have any hope at taking down the Monster Among Men.

Owens made the mistake of trying to attack Strowman from behind, to which Strowman responded “You must be stupid!” Pleading with the Monster, Owens rolled out of the ring and started backing up. Balor and Roode tried to take advantage, hitting Strowman as he went after Owens, but Braun eventually just threw everyone off of him.

Scared, Owens ran backstage to escape Braun’s grasp, but it didn’t actually work out for him. Braun ran him down, pulled him by the ear, and headbutted Owens. Roode and Balor tried to help KO out by going after Strowman, but they were tossed aside with ease.

With all three man grounded, Strowman slammed down a ladder and started tearing the announce desk apart, plotting yet another jaw-dropping move. But Roode and Balor turned things around, working together to beat down Strowman using a ladder. Owens also joined the fray, bringing over a ladder with Strowman laid out on the announce desk. He asked Balor and Roode to hold the ladder as Owens ascended to the top. Owens hit Strowman with a MASSIVE frog splash to send Braun crashing through the table.

Balor and Roode head back in the ring to start exchanging holds with Owens and Strowman left sprawled by the broken announce table near the stage.

It looked like Balor was about to hit Roode with a Coup de Grace for the win, but just like a couple of weeks ago, Owens attacked Balor before he could hit his move. As Owens ascended the top rope, Balor thwarted him back. And when Balor tried to go back to the top rope again, Roode got up and snuffed Balor out.

Before Roode could hit a superplex on Balor, Owens scampered in to powerbomb both of them, creating absolute carnage in the ring with Strowman still laid out on the outside.

When Strowman stars to stir, Owens’s face completely changes, because he knows he’s screwed. Strowman waves off the officials to head to the ring, and he simply swats aside the charging Balor and Roode before heading for Owens, who leaves the ring and runs into the crowd.

Strowman quickly catches up to Owens and drags The Prizefighter back to the ringside area. He hits everyone with shoulder tackles, with his shoulder tackle on Owens being especially awesome. He tries to hit Owens with a Powerslam, but Roode snuffs it out. Balor hits Strowman with a Coup de Grace to the back, but Braun quickly recovers and tackles Balor.

Owens and Roode started going after Strowman, but the teamwork didn’t last. As usual, Owens turned on his partner, attacking Roode with a roll-up. The two trade blows, but Balor starts to steal things. He grounds Strowman with a Slingblade and ascends the top rope for a Coup de Grace. He hits the move and has the win, but Roode stops the pin and sends Owens out. Owens does the same to Roode after he hits the Gloroius DDT. But when Owens hits Strowman with a Frog Splash, Strowman kicks out.

Next: WWE's Top 5 MVP Candidates

Desperate, Owens brings in a ladder to target Braun’s ribs. But Braun eventually catches the ladder, grabs Strowman, and chokeslams him. Braun ends Owens by powerslamming him onto the ladder for a huge win.

Grade: A+, This was chaos. I loved it.