WWE Raw results, recap, grades: Becky Lynch successfully defends Raw women's title against Bianca Belair

Lynch had to take a shortcut to retain her title against Belair

November is always an odd month for WWE programming. Raw and SmackDown have to continue to function as individual shows with the awareness that the month will be capped off by a Survivor Series event that features matches between the two brands. On Monday night, Raw looked to keep the brand's top champions active in key storylines.

The show kicked off with Raw women's champion Becky Lynch in a highly anticipated title defense against Bianca Belair. The WWE champion closed out the show with Big E as he battled Kevin Owens in non-title action. The match between Owens and Big E was the first ever one-on-one meeting between the two.

CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

Raw's top champions in action

Raw Women's Championship – Becky Lynch (c) def. Bianca Belair via pinfall to retain the title. This was a lengthy match that took up the first 28 minutes of the show (including pre-match promos). Down the stretch, Lynch hit a Manhandle Slam only for Belair to get her foot on the bottom rope. Lynch would follow Belair to the floor only to be thrown onto the announce table. Belair tried to hit the Kiss of Death, but Lynch grabbed the ropes and removed the top turnbuckle pad. Lynch then shoved Belair into the exposed turnbuckle and rolled up Belair with a handful of tights for the three count to retain the title.

Big E def. Kevin Owens via pinfall with a crucifix pin. Earlier in the night, Big E interrupted a Seth Rollins promo, offering Rollins his shot at the WWE championship later in the night. Rollins refused, saying the match he earned by winning a four-way latter match the previous week would happen on his terms. Owens came to the ring and said he would be up for facing Big E for the first time in their careers, setting up the non-title match as the main event. Rollins later made it clear to Owens that, should Owens work over Big E and Rollins beat Big E for the title, Owens would be first in line for a title shot. After a hard-hitting match, Seth Rollins left commentary to hit Big E with a cheap shot. Owens tried to score the pin but Big E countered with a crucifix pin to get the win. Owens challenged Rollins to a match for next week while trying to apologize to Big E for what happened. Owens apologized several more times, but Big E hit him with a Big Ending as the show went off the air.

On a night where WWE stuck to a very simple -- and effective -- strategy of keeping the focus on strong in-ring matches, the champions stepped up and delivered. Lynch getting a cheap win was the only option. A clean win buries Belair and Belair couldn't win the title. Big E's WWE title reign is still struggling to get off the ground a bit, but Rollins could help with the kind of story he needs to really build things up. On Monday night, he and Owens put on the kind of bruising match that was nothing if not entertaining. Grade: B+

What else happened on WWE Raw?

• Austin Theory def. Rey Mysterio via disqualification after Dominik Mysterio slapped Theory. The slap set up Mysterio in position to win but was caught by the referee who called the match off.
• Carmella & Zelina Vega def. Nikki A.S.H. & Rhea Ripley when Vega pinned Nikki A.S.H.
• Finn Balor def. Chad Gable via pinfall after countering a superplex by Gable into a small package. Before the match, Gable ran into Big E backstage and ran down the WWE champion for never coming to him to be turned into a better wrestler.
• Dirty Dawgz def. The Street Profits via pinfall after distraction from Omos. The finish came after Omos' music hit and distracted the Profits. After the match, Omos attacked Riddle, who was ringside on commentary with Randy Orton.
• Damian Priest def. T-Bar via pinfall in a no disqualification match after hitting The Final Reckoning. Priest snapped after T-Bar tied him in the ropes and used a kendo stick. Priest used a chair and chokeslammed T-Bar from the apron through a table on the floor before dragging him back into the ring for the finish.