WWE Raw results, recap, grades: Charlotte Flair snaps, Drew McIntyre unmasks Mace and T-Bar
Flair attacked a referee after Rhea Ripley cost her the main event match with Asuka
Charlotte Flair may have missed out on a match at WrestleMania, but that hasn't stopped her from immediately getting back in the mix at the top of the card on Raw. After attacking Rhea Ripley and Asuka last week, Flair was set to face Asuka in the main event of Monday's episode of Raw.
In the end, both Ripley and Asuka got a bit of revenge on Flair, sending the 12-time women's champion into a rage to end the show after Ripley gave Asuka an assist for the victory. With WrestleMania Backlash going down on May 16, it's possible the three women could be tangling for Ripley's Raw women's championship at the pay-per-view event.
CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from the ThunderDome inside Yuengling Center in Tampa.
Charlotte Flair snaps after loss to Asuka
Flair cut an in-ring promo. Flair called the women in the locker rooms rats and fake while saying that even though she wasn't on the WrestleMania card, she was still the woman everyone was talking about. Flair said that after having a WrestleMania match ripped from her, she knows that she could beat Asuka or Ripley, or both women on the same night. Flair was interrupted by both Asuka and Ripley, with Ripley saying that Asuka would beat Flair later in the night.
Asuka def. Charlotte Flair via pinfall with a crucifix pin. Ripley was at ringside, watching from a chair at the bottom of the entrance ramp. Flair tried to work over Asuka's knee, but Asuka was able to secure a late Asuka Lock before Flair got to the ropes for the break. Flair had the Figure-Eight locked in, but Ripley pulled Flair's arms to break the bridge. Moments later, Asuka was able to finish off Flair by locking in a crucifix pin. An irate Flair then attacked the referee after the match, stomping him before delivering a series of elbows to the back of the head as additional referees tried to stop her as the show went off the air.
Flair snapping was a needed touch for her character to feel like something more than "has won many championships." Ripley's reason for interfering also made sense after Flair attacking her last week. If the goal is to set up getting to Flair vs. Asuka vs. Ripley at WrestleMania Backlash, you could do worse than a bit of simple wrestling storytelling. Everything was helped by Flair and Asuka having proven chemistry that allowed their match to click before the screwy finish. Grade: B+
Drew McIntyre unmasks Mace and T-Bar
McIntyre opened the show with an in-ring promo, addressing how everyone can make your own opportunities, which is what he did last week on Raw when he won a title shot at the upcoming PPV. When Mace and T-Bar attacked him last week they also created their own opportunity, McIntyre said before noting he knew MVP was behind the attack. MVP interrupted, saying he needed to address McIntyre's "ridiculous accusations" and that Mace and T-Bar have zero affiliation with The Hurt Business. As McIntyre walked toward MVP, he was again attacked by Mace and T-Bar, who laid him out with a double chokeslam.
Drew McIntyre def. Mace & T-Bar via disqualification. McIntyre demanded a handicap match against the duo, refusing Adam Pearce's call for him to find a tag partner for the match. McIntyre more than held his own against the pair by keeping things mostly one-on-one. Eventually the former Retribution members had enough and double-teamed McIntyre while ignoring the ref's count, leading to a disqualification. As the attack continued, Braun Strowman ran to the ring.
Mace & T-Bar def. Drew McIntyre & Braun Strowman via disqualification. Strowman's intervention in the attack led to an impromptu tag match. This time the match ended when McIntyre ripped off Mace's mask and hit him with it several times. After the DQ, Strowman ripped off T-Bar's mask.
We still don't know anything more about the assumed affiliation between MVP and the team of Mace and T-Bar. However, we did finally see Mace and T-Bar unmasked, leading to more pretending that Dio Maddin and Dominik Dijakovic haven't previously been players on NXT and WWE TV in the past, and even with Maddin as a former color commentator on Raw. Anything to get them out of the masks and into more valuable roles is good, however, and hopefully this is building to something meaningful. Doing back-to-back DQs was a pretty weak move, though. Grade: B-
What else happened on WWE Raw?
- The Viking Raiders def. Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin via pinfall after Ivar hit Alexander with The Viking Experience.
- Riddle def. Randy Orton via pinfall with a crucifix pin. The match came about out of Orton's frustration that Riddle interrupted a backstage interview to suggest the pair form a team named RKBro. Orton was going for the RKO when Riddle countered with the crucifix for the win.
- Lana & Naomi def. Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler via pinfall after a double facebuster. With Jax and Baszler in control, Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose interrupted the match to show video of Jax falling from the ring apron last week. Jax left to pursue them, leaving Baszler alone to lose the match.
- Elias def. Kofi Kingston via pinfall after a top-rope elbow drop.
- Alexa Bliss explained the history of Lily, stating she has had the doll her entire life and that Lily is the reason she does bad things. More importantly, Lily never liked The Fiend, somewhat explaining Bliss' turn on The Fiend at WrestleMania.
- Damian Priest def. The Miz via pinfall with Hit The Lights. Earlier in the night, Priest interrupted Miz and Maryse on Miz TV, leading Maryse to tell Priest that if he wanted a match with Miz, he'd have it. Maryse provided some distraction, but Priest was able to kick out of a Miz roll-up to get the finish.
- Sheamus brutalized Humberto Carrillo after Carrillo interrupted a Sheamus promo. Sheamus said he'd issue an open challenge for his United States championship every week … or when he feels like it. This brought out Carrillo, who was beaten down and laid out by Sheamus before a match could begin.