WWE Raw: Charlotte Flair defeats Nikki A.S.H in main event

Monday Night Raw welcomed not only fans back last week, but John Cena and Bill Goldberg. Plus, Nikki A.S.H. walked out of the show with the Raw Women’s title above her head. There was a lot to unpack as this week’s edition of the show kicked off, but the next three hours were expected to push toward the next big WWE showcase, SummerSlam.

Nikki A.S.H. opened the show and had some inspirational things to say to the fans watching. But it wasn’t long before Charlotte Flair appeared to talk her mind. As Flair made her complaints known, Rhea Ripley joined them in ring. Each woman declared her stake in the title until Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce made a triple-threat for SummerSlam.

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The first match of the evening was Damian Priest against Sheamus in a US title contenders’ match.

Sheamus had the early advantage in the scrambles, knocking Priest to the ground with a shoulder tackle. Priest returned the favor with an arm drag. Priest continued to roll, knocking Sheamus to the floor outside the ring. He made the mistake of following Sheamus, only to find himself planted on the ring apron.

Sheamus continued to focus on Priest’s lower back, but Priest answered with a clothesline. A spinning heel kick knocked the mask off Sheamus’s face, but he landed two boots to Priest’s chest to slow him down. Priest caught Sheamus with a chokeslam off the top. Priest attempted to Hit the Lights but was caught with an Alabama Slam instead.

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Priest kicked Sheamus from outside the ring, then quickly reentered to hit the Reckoning on Sheamus for the win.

Damian Priest defeated Sheamus via pinfall.

The tag team titles were on the line as the Viking Raiders took on Omos and AJ Styles once again.

Erik pounced on Styles when the bell started the match, followed up by Ivar and more frequent tags. The Raiders nearly pinned Styles, but Omos made the save from outside the ring. It was that moment that allowed the champions to regain control.

Styles came back in the ring and tried to strike with Erik, but Erik laid him out with a nasty blow. Ivar was tagged in and began to pick up the pace on Styles. Styles went for the Phenomenal Forearm but Ivar dodged with a cartwheel and planted him with a tornado DDT. Styles was nearly pinned back inside the ring but kicked out once again as Ivar attempted to attack Omos.

Omos tagged in and had his way with both men. Omos planted Erik and Styles hit the springboard 450 for the victory.

Omos and AJ Styles defeated the Viking Raiders to retain the tag team championships.

Drew McIntyre and Veer were up for singles match next.

Veer’s power came into play early, but McIntyre wasn’t here to play the long game. Jinder Mahal was able to distract McIntyre allowing Veer to drop him with a big boot. McIntyre continued to roll throughout the match. Mahal handed a chair to Veer, but McIntyre hit a Claymore on it, knocking it into Veer’s face to bring the match to an end.

Drew McIntyre defeated Veer via disqualification.

Women’s tag team action was up next as Eva Marie and Doudrop were set against the women’s tag team champions, Natalya and Tamina.

Marie kept up her act of being afraid to contact the opponents. Doudrop was tagged in and went to work on Natalya. Tamina was tagged in and she was initially able to match Doudrop’s power. However, she could not lift the big woman off her feet.

Marie demanded the tag back into the ring but Tamina kicked out of the pinfall. Marie was distracted by a Lilly video segment and Tamina kicked her in the face to pick up the victory.

Tamina and Natalya defeated Eva Marie and Doudrop via pinfall.

Karrion Kross was out for a one-on-one match against Keith Lee next.

Kross tried to use his power against Lee but Lee was immediately there to match his strength. They ended up outside the ring where Kross was able to hit a suplex of his own. Back in the ring, Kross kept Lee in the corner with elbows and knee strikes.

Kross went for the Kross Jacket, but Lee was able to fight out of the bad position. Lee now had all the momentum, knocking him across the ring with a shoulder block. Kross countered the powerbomb into another suplex. He would then hit the elbow to Lee’s head and lock in the Kross Jacket to get the win.

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Karrion Kross defeated Keith Lee via submission.

Mace and T-Bar had a tag team match against Mustafa Ali and Mansoor.

Ali pounced right on T-Bar until eating a big boot too the face. Mace tagged in and tossed Ali down to his face. Mansoor had to break up the pinfall, but that didn’t help Ali who was isolated in the ring.

T-Bar went for another big boot but Ali countered with a spinning heel kick. He made the tag to Mansoor who went right after Mace. They ended outside the ring where Ali hit a diving DDT. Mansoor was able to roll Mace up as he re-entered the ring, pinning him for the win.

Mansoor and Mustafa Ali defeated Mace and T-Bar via pinfall.

Bobby Lashley was not for the fun and games tonight, taking on Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin in a two-on-one match.

Lashley ran through both men before either of them even had a chance to get started. Benjamin attempted to get some offense in and Alexander helped as well, landing a big DDT. Lashley planted Alexander with a spinebuster before hitting a jackhammer on Benjamin.

He followed up with a Dominator on Alexander, pinning both him and Benjamin at the same time.

Bobby Lashley defeated Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander in a handicap match.

Matt Riddle was up next for singles action against John Morrison.

Riddle went right to the grappling to start the match, transitioning from the triangle to the knee bar. Morrison was able to fight out of bad positions, but Riddle hit a big suplex to slow him down. Even when Morrison tried to fight back, Riddle countered with a fisherman’s suplex.

Morrison and Riddle continued to exchange positioning, until Riddle hit the Floating Bro onto Morrison outside the ring. AJ Styles and Omos made their presence known and Morrison took advantage of that. However, Riddle countered out of the suplex, hitting him with a knee into a powerbomb and another knee.

Riddle was distracted by the men outside of the ring, allowing Morrison to hit the Starship Pain to get the victory.

John Morrison defeated Matt Riddle via pinfall.

R-Truth challenged Reginald for the 24/7 championship next.

This match was all about Truth trying to get his hands on Reginald as he flipped his way out of everything. Reginald retained his title after doing a flipping senton onto Truth’s chest for the pinfall.

Reginald defeated R-Truth via pinfall.

The main event match was Charlotte Flair against Nikki A.S.H.

Flair was in firm control early in this match, dominating the smaller woman. Even as Nikki tried to fight back, she found herself getting stomped on the corner. She would come back with a series of rollups and a head scissors that sent Flair to the outside. As soon as Nikki followed her, she was tossed over the announce table.

Flair remained with the advantage once they got back into the ring. Nikki finally started landing some big offense of her own. Flair missed in the corner and took a bulldog for her trouble. Flair would pound on Nikki with chops in the corner, but she fought out with a tornado DDT. Nikki landed a crossbody off the top, but Flair rolled through into a pinning predicament to get the victory.

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Charlotte Flair defeated Nikki A.S.H via pinfall.