WWE RAW Recap, May 1: Miz steals Intercontinental title shot, Bliss owns the Women’s Division

Recapping the WWE RAW from Monday, with the Miz stealing a shot at the Intercontinental title.

This is Bliss’ Division

At Payback, Alexa Bliss defeated Bayley for the RAW Women’s Championship, and Bliss kept her momentum rolling on RAW as she pinned Bayley for the second time in as many nights. This match featured just about every woman in the division in a four-on-four tag match. Alexa showed why she has been the biggest RAW acquisition from the Superstar Shakeup, and it’s not even close. The promo before the match was one that makes legends, as Bliss individually called out each of the other women, including a hilarious dig at Mickie James that compared her age to Mae Young and The Fabulous Moolah.

The entire segment took about 30 minutes, and while it was nice to see someone like Dana Brooke get a chance to work with someone like Sasha Banks, the only thing we know for certain is that Bliss is ready for all challengers. Who that next challenger will be is a little more unclear.

While Bayley should be getting her contractually obligated rematch soon, the line behind her starts to get clogged a little. The big players here are Sasha and Nia Jax, who competed for the RAW Women’s Championship just a few weeks ago at WrestleMania. Sasha and Bayley have teased us with a rivalry, so I could see these two building something as we head toward SummerSlam. (I also see this not being for any championship, as Alexa will not lose to Bayley so soon after beating her.)

Nia Jax has been a human wrecking ball since appearing on RAW, and while her rise to the main event didn’t happen as fast as Braun Strowman’s, it’d be a complete waste of her unique look and skills if she doesn’t get another chance for championship gold anytime soon, even if it happens to be against another pure heel, as Alexa is. Mickie James, Emma, Alicia Fox and Dana Brooke can keep cozy at the back of the line, because Nia and Sasha aren’t going anywhere.

Intercontinentally Interrupted

Seth Rollins, fresh off a Payback victory over Samoa Joe, now has his sights set on his next.conquest: Brock Lesnar. Sure, Rollins slayed the King, but will he be able to tame the Beast? Not if Finn Balor has anything to say about it. Balor, who never lost the belt, should be the rightful heir to being the No. 1 contender for Lesnar’s Universal Championship, as he had to forfeit it after getting injured in his match where he won the belt (against Seth Rollins, funny enough).

While I was thinking of how awesome a match between Lesnar and either of these guys would be, Dean Ambrose and The Miz decided to get involved. Why would they get involved, you may be asking, when Ambrose already has the Intercontinental Championship, and The Miz has no business (yet) sniffing the Universal Championship? Who knows. The part that was especially weird was that, after Ambrose “called” RAW GM Kurt Angle, Angle’s solution was to put Miz, Rollins, and Balor in a Triple Threat match with the winner getting a shot at Ambrose’s Intercontinental Championship.

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The actual match itself was one of the best matches in recent RAW history, complete with great talent, a great story, and a memorable finish. All three guys looked great, and who knows who would have won had it not been for outside interference, but alas. Samoa Joe was the first to interfere, and took out Seth Rollins. Then, trying to escape the horrors that was his House of Horrors match (not trying to be clever — it was awful), Bray Wyatt appeared in the middle of the ring, and gave Finn Balor a Sister Abigail.

It’s no wonder that Miz won, since the other two guys both want the Universal Championship. It’s confusing to me that Balor and Rollins even agreed to this match instead of just laughing and saying “no” to Ambrose, since they were both literally were talking about Brock Lesnar before they were interrupted. It’d be like if you purchased Metallica tickets, but accidentally got sent tickets for The Wiggles instead, and still went. Either way, we now have a No. 1 contender for the IC title, a new rivalry for Bray Wyatt, and another Joe/Rollins feud that just seems to be incapable of ending. Kind of like this section.

Highlight Reel

• Luke Gallows didn’t have to wait long for a chance to get some revenge on the team who defeated him and his partner on the Payback Kickoff Show, Enzo & Cass, as Gallows went one-on-one with Enzo. Some more of the same between these two teams, who are both treading serious water between now and their next chapters: Enzo & Cass are prime to finally hold the RAW tag team titles, while The Club are praying Finn Balor’s newest rivalry with Bray Wyatt doesn’t last as long as Orton’s did, so they can finally reunite. I know, that does sound too sweet.
• TJ Perkins must’ve been feeling extra lucky, because he actually told Neville to his face that he almost tapped out to Austin Aries during their Cruiserweight Championship match at Payback. Aries didn’t have to wait long to take out his frustrations from winning his Cruiserweight Championship match (but not winning the belt) on TJ Perkins. Perkins kept up his dastardly, heelish deeds as he attacked Aries from behind after the match. A few of the other Cruiserweights also got some in-ring action reps earlier in the night in the form of a six-man tag team match with Jack Gallagher, Akira Tozawa & Rich Swann battling Tony Nese, Brian Kendrick & Noam Dar. Gallagher ended up picking up the pinfall victory for his team of faces in a match that was a small preview of why I always add a sarcastic tone when calling 205 Live the most exciting hour of the week.
• The world needs heels, and lucky for us, Sheamus & Cesaro are ready to fill that role. Sheamus’ best work came when he made the crowd hate him, and Cesaro, while he deserves to be fighting for singles titles, works well enough in the ring as Sheamus’ counterpart that we can expect more great matches before their rivalry with the Hardy Boyz ends. Speaking of the Hardys, they came out to respond to Sheamus and Cesaro’s post-match attacks from Payback. If you were wondering why Matt and the thousands in attendance were screaming “DELETE! DELETE!”, check out Michael Whitlow’s beginner’s guide to “Broken” Matt Hardy. It’s DELIGHTFUL!
• Heath Slater was in a mighty generous mood, and Apollo Crews took full advantage. Not only did Slater give Crews parenting advice (the man has seven kids), but also gave Crews a much needed win in a match nobody except Titus O’Neill wanted to see. Lets just move on.
• Let’s just say Goldust called in a favor, and he and R-Truth are now fighting in a Tag Team Turmoil Match next week to decide who the No. 1 contenders are for the RAW Tag Team Championships are. We don’t know exactly which teams will be involved, but I’m going all in on my previous point about Enzo & Cass being ready to hold some gold. If not Enzo & Cass, one final tag team title run for Goldust would be a nice moment for a guy who has put in more years than just about anyone.