WWE Raw Results & Recap: April 8, 2019
On the Raw after WrestleMania, we got to see Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston join forces against The Bar in the main event, Becky Lynch address the WWE Universe after her historic win, Alexa Bliss back in the ring against Bayley, Lars Sullivan debut, The Undertaker destroy Elias, and more.
Check out the Monday Night Raw results below.
Universal Champion Seth Rollins kicks off Raw
Following his shocking victory against Brock Lesnar the night before, Rollins came down to the ring to a standing ovation from the Brooklyn crowd. He recaps the opener from WrestleMania, admitting that he is still pretty beat up, but will be a fighting champion, unlike Brock.
The New Day make a surprise appearance on Monday Night Raw, with new WWE Champion Kofi Kingston. Kofi says he liked seeing Lynch win both titles, so he challenges Rollins to a title vs title match later that night. The Universal Champion happily accepts the challenge.
Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins def. The Revival for the Raw Tag Team Championships
WWE’s classic booking coming into play here with a WrestleMania pre-show rematch. Shockingly however here, Hawkins and Ryder actually retained. It was a pretty even matchup between the two teams, showcasing Hawkins and Ryder quite well again. The Revival hit the shatter machine on Ryder thinking he was the legal man. Hawkins however snuck back in the ring to roll up Scott Dawson to pick up their second victory in as many nights on The Revival.
Baron Corbin addresses WWE Universe
After his victory over Kurt Angle the night before, Corbin will forever now have the heel heat of beating Angle in his last ever match. Kurt Angle came down to the ring to shut Corbin up one last time, hitting an Angle Slam and Ankle Lock on the former Raw GM. After this feel good moment, Lars Sullivan showed up to attack the Hall of Famer, hitting a diving headbutt from the top rope. It’s good to see Sullivan on the main roster finally, but I’m curious to see where they go with this.
Alexa Bliss def. Bayley
It was really good to see the host of WrestleMania back in the ring again. Her opponent would be one half of the former Women’s Tag Team Champions, Bayley. During the match, Bayley hit a brutal sunset flip powerbomb into the turnbuckle on Bliss. Bayley only got a 2 count however, as the referee saw she was trying to gain leverage by holding the rope, which is definitely not a face move.
This contest was a very quick and clunky one, with Bliss making light work of Bayley, spiking her with a DDT to finish.
Becky Lynch returns to Brooklyn
After her main event win last night, Becky Lynch came out to an incredible reaction from the same crowd that watched her turn on Charlotte last year. She informs Ronda Rousey that whenever she decides to return to the ring, Becky Lynch will not hesitate to beat her yet again. She also jokes that the McMahons will hand Charlotte the Women’s Tag Team Championships to keep her happy after another loss to Lynch the night before.
As the double champ was leaving the ring, Lacey Evans’ music hit. We finally got to see her in some action too. After a stare down with The Man, Evans hit a massive sucker punch, much to the surprise of the crowd. The two then had a brawl on the ramp with neither able to gain the upper hand with both of them being pulled away by match officials. I’m not sure if I’m sold just yet on this feud, but I’ll be looking forward to what’s ahead in the coming weeks.
Aleister Black & Ricochet def. Chad Gable & Bobby Roode
I’m really hoping this is the last time we see Aleister Black and Ricochet team together, the two have just become very stale for me, we just see it way too much. This was actually an impressive match though, with the NXT superstars picking up the victory. After the match, Bobby Roode attacked Ricochet, walking out with Gable. While this was a good match, WWE have shown us far too much of Black and Ricochet this past week. We’ve seen them wrestle 5 times together since last Monday, it’s just overkill at this point. Michael Cole teased that these tag teams may not be together after next week’s Shake-up, so we’ll see what the future of all 4 men is.
Hopefully Black and Ricochet can follow singles feuds from now on.
Bray Wyatt return tease
WWE aired a promo video of a mini dinosaur popping out of a box. It’s Bray Wyatt for sure.
Dean Ambrose def. Bobby Lashley
Ambrose came down to the ring for what is supposedly his last WWE match. Before the match could get started, Bobby Lashley got on the microphone and told Ambrose that after he leaves, he’d take care of his wife for him. Line of the night without doubt from Lashley.
This fueled rage in Ambrose and the two started to fight outside of the ring. Eventually they both made their way up to the announcer’s table, Ambrose hit a dirty deeds on the entrance way, before Bobby Lashley sent Ambrose flying through the table. This helps get Ambrose some much needed time off TV, for him to return a few months later. I really don’t think he is leaving.
Finn Balor def. Sami Zayn to retain the Intercontinental Championship, Zayn returns to Raw
After months out through shoulder injuries, Zayn made his return to the main roster with a mini open challenge. The new Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor answered him. He also offered to put the championship on the line as well, which was an interesting addition. The finish was fast paced. Zayn hit the Blue Thunder Bomb, an incredible move, to get a 2 count out of Finn. Balor got up for the Coup de Grace with Zayn dodging out of the way. The challenger then hit an exploder superplex in the corner of the ring, only to come up short with the follow up Helluva Kick. Balor this time successfully hit the Coup de Grace to retain the title.
After the match, Sami Zayn got on the microphone to turn heel on the crowd, saying that he never missed them and that it was a toxic environment because of the fans and not the McMahons. It was a classic heel promo, simple but effective. I’m looking forward to some more heel Zayn.
Elias promo, Undertaker returns
Elias reflects on John Cena’s last two WrestleMania interruptions, and promises that he will not let that happen for a third time. He decides to switch things up and went with a little rap promo here to show John Cena isn’t all too clever with his performance last night. During his raps, Elias says the next person to interrupt him will be a deadman…. *GONG*.
The Undertaker made his shocking return after not showing up at WrestleMania for the first time in 19 years. He came to the ring to hit Elias with a Chokeslam and a Tombstone Piledriver. Not sure if we’ll have anything more come of this, but it was an interesting little spot.
Kofi Kingston vs. Seth Rollins in a Title vs. Title match ends in a no contest
As announced earlier in the night, the WWE Champion and the Universal Champion would go head-to-head in a title vs title match to finish off the show. Just one night after the both of them had hard fought title wins, they were putting on another great show for the fans. Kofi was about to take an outside dive before The Bar, yep that’s right, interrupted the title match. This resulted in the title vs title match being thrown out. Seth grabbed a microphone to announce that he wanted a tag team match, Seth and Kofi vs The Bar, instead of the title vs title bout.
Kofi Kingston & Seth Rollins def. The Bar
Kingston hit a trouble in paradise before Rollins drove Cesaro’s head almost through the canvas with The Stomp.
After the live cameras were turned off, Seth Rollins invited both Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose down to the ring to have one last send off for Ambrose. He hit the mic thanking the fans once again and telling them his love for the Barclays Center and the fans that fill it. It was a nice little extra for the fans who went to the show, but again nothing major happening.
If I’m honest, I was really underwhelmed by the Raw after Mania. Especially ever since they’ve been hyping those shows up to be unmissable. We did not get to see a lot of shocking returns or call ups. Undertaker coming out may be the most shocking, but I don’t expect him and Elias to ever start a feud together. The one thing I will take away from this show however, is that it seems we will get Lacey Evans vs Becky Lynch next, and I’m actually looking forward to seeing more of Lacey Evans, finally.
Average Rating