Monday Night Raw: Sasha Banks pins Asuka in main event

Sasha Banks and Dolph Ziggler earn big win in WWE main event.

Raucous is not the word to use to describe the opening on Monday Night Raw as a brawl between Asuka and Sasha Banks was the first things fans saw on television. Banks and Asuka would not leave ringside as they were joined by Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre for the double contract signing to kick off the show. Things calmed down for a moment, but as is the rule for professional wrestling contract signings, the situation broke down into a brawl again with the champions standing tall.

Andrade, Angel Garza and Zelina Vega decided to be the thorn in the Big Show’s side Monday evening. As they berated the WWE veteran in the ring, Hall of Famer Ric Flair joined them to verbally assault the Big Show. Eventually that brought out the Viking Raiders to kick off their scheduled match against Garza and Andrade.

Erik and Rowan got off to an early start in the match as they muscled Garza around the ring. Garza and Andrade put together a strong comeback, but things would break down again as they would get into a shouting match in the middle of the competition. Andrade even went as far as to leave Garza standing in the middle of the ring, walking back up the ramp to leave. Vega was able to convince Andrade to return to get back on the same page with his partner. The Viking Raiders nearly won the match, but Andrade and Garza were able to escape the Viking Experience. Andrade hit his spinning elbow, Garza hit the wing clipper and they got the pin fall victory. However, things did not seem fine as Andrade refused to celebrate with them after the match.

Akira Tozawa was accompanied by three of his foot clan to defend his title against former 24/7 champion, R-Truth. Just like any other 24-7 match, comedy would break out. The end came with Truth rolled up Tozawa to win the title for the 37th time. He was not in the clear as he had to avoid the ninjas who had the title on their mind. R-Truth escaped and made it out of the ring before he could lose the title again.

Seth Rollins continued to set his sights on Rey Mysterio and his son Dominick. The continued threats to the famed wrestler brought out Aleister Black and Humberto Carrillo to kick off another tag team match. This was another match filled with back and forth action. There was a close near fall when Murphy and Rollins hit a combination power bomb with a flying knee from the top rope. Carrillo used a distraction to try to roll up Rollins, but the former champion kicked out and hit Carrillo with the Curb Stomp before he could get back to his feet, securing the win for his team.

The IIconics turned their attention to Ruby Riott backstage. Their playful banter turned into a one-on-one match between Peyton Royce and Riott. Riott was facing an up-hill battle as she had to deal with Royce in the ring and Billie Kay on the outside. The numbers game saved the IIconics again as Royce was able to hit a twisting brain buster and pin Riott in the middle of the ring.

Andrade and Garza were not done for the evening. They were brought back out to the ring for a two-on-one match against the Big Show. Flair used his persuasive demeanor to talk Vega’s team into doing some of the work for Randy Orton. Neither Garza nor Andrade had much to offer the giant with both getting bounced around the ring with ease. Garza found a way to get the Big Show to the ground, but another argument would break out between Andrade and Garza. Garza walked away from the ring, leaving Andrade to eat the choke slam and lose the match for his team.

MVP gets a win over Apollo Crews

MVP threatened Apollo Crews that if the United States champion did not take on his services, that he would make him pay. MVP attempted to live up to that promise but fell shot against Crews when they faced off on Monday. Crews had MVP running early in the match, but an over-the-top rope maneuver landed on Lashley, giving MVP the opportunity to attack Crews before he could recover. MVP would take advantage of a second distraction by Lashley to land a fisherman’s suplex and pin the champion to pick up a big win.

Lashley was not done with Crews as he would attack him after the match. That brought out Ricochet and Cedric Alexander to make the save. Even though they saved Crews, Ricochet could not save himself from the power of Lashley. For much of the match Lashley was using his power to demolish Ricochet. There was a moment where Ricochet gained a bit of steam, but it was not enough. Lashley hit a big powerbomb, then locked in the Full Nelson to get the finish.

The main event of the evening featured a tag team match with champions facing their Extreme Rules challengers. Drew McIntyre and Asuka competed against Dolph Ziggler and Sasha Banks. The champions-maintained control over their challengers for majority of this big match. Banks built up a little momentum for her team, but the moment McIntyre came back in all of that halted as he his suplex after suplex on Ziggler. Asuka and Banks ended back up in the ring together and went into an amazing sequence for the finish. Banks countered the Asuka Lock to pin the champion’s shoulders to the match and get the finish.

June 29 Monday Night Raw results

• Andrade and Angel Garza defeated the Viking Raiders
• R-Truth defeated Akira Tozawa to win the 24/7 championship
• Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy defeated Aleister Black and Humberto Carrillo via pin fall
• Peyton Royce defeated Ruby Riott via pin fall
• Big Show defeated Andrade and Angel Garza via pin fall
• MVP defeated Apollo Crews via pin fall
• Bobby Lashley defeated Ricochet via submission
• Sasha Banks and Dolph Ziggler defeat Asuka and Drew McIntyre