Seth Rollins headed into Raw on Monday night knowing he would have to defend his United States championship against old foe Matt Riddle. While he ultimately retained his title, Rollins may be in trouble moving forward as he made two new enemies.

Rollins was confronted by Mustafa Ali earlier in the show, with Ali looking for a shot at the belt. The two would brawl before Rollins managed to put Ali down. Later in the night, Rollins would end up on the bad side of a returning Elias.

While Rollins managed to outlast Riddle, he set up a rocky future with three talented men now putting him in their crosshairs.

CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.

Seth Rollins retains his title but makes new enemies

Rollins came out in the middle of the show to celebrate capturing the United States championship from Bobby Lashley the previous week. Rollins was interrupted by Mustafa Ali, who said he still wanted a shot at the title as he was supposed to get when Lashley was champion. Rollins said he liked Ali before punching him. The two briefly brawled before Rollins hit Ali in the throat and launched him into the ring post before walking off.

Ahead of the main event, Elias’ return was interrupted by Riddle and Rollins. Riddle brought bongos to the ring to help Elias during his performance. Before Elias could begin his song, Rollins’ music hit and he headed to the ring for his match with Riddle.

United States Championship – Seth Rollins (c) def. Matt Riddle via pinfall to retain the title. Elias was at ringside for the match. After a lengthy triangle choke by Riddle on Rollins, Rollins managed to escape and rolled outside the ring, begging Elias to hit him for the disqualification. When Elias refused, Rollins hit him in the face. Moments later, Elias slid into the ring to attack Rollins but instead collided with Riddle, allowing Rollins to hit a stomp on Riddle for the win. Rollins scored the win and then hit Elias with a stomp after the match. As Rollins lined up to hit Rollins with a stomp on the title belt, Mustafa Ali ran in and took down Rollins. The attack forced Rollins to run away through the crowd to end the show.

WWE has continued to try and make the United States title a focal point of the show and did well to continue that on Monday night. Rollins is the champion, but he has issues with Riddle, Ali and Elias. Having a wide variety of challengers all gunning for the champion makes the title feel important and keeps it in focus. This should be a fun stretch for Rollins as he has no shortage of potential foes. Grade: B+

What else happened on WWE Raw?

  • Bobby Lashley brutalized Brock Lesnar to start the show. Lashley was in the ring and called out Lesnar. Lesnar came to the ring and jumped Lashley, but Lashley turned the tables quickly, spearing Lesnar through the ringside barricade. Lashley then speared Lesnar onto the announce table and slammed him through the table before WWE officials and locker room members could force him to the back. It was later announced that Lesnar and Lashley would clash at Crown Jewel.
  • The O.C. (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) def. Alpha Academy via pinfall after hitting Chad Gable with a Magic Killer.
  • The Judgement Day challenged The O.C. to a match at Crown Jewel. A.J. Styles accepted for his team before asking for the match to happen later in the night. Instead, this led to Styles vs. Dominik Mysterio, a match Mysterio accepted after some prodding from Rhea Ripley.
  • Dakota Kai & IYO SKY def Bianca Belair & Candice LeRae via pinfall with a tandem wheelbarrow suplex on LeRae. Belair attacked Bayley down the stretch, leaving LeRae in a two-on-one situation for the finish.
  • Baron Corbin def. Dolph Ziggler via pinfall after hitting End of Days. JBL introduced Baron Corbin as the newest member of Raw, appearing to have formed an alliance.
  • Dominik Mysterio def. A.J. Styles via pinfall with a roll-up. Rhea Ripley interfered by grabbing Styles’ boot, allowing Mysterio to score the flash pin.
  • The Miz attacked Dexter Lumis before their match, preventing the match — and Lumis getting a Raw contract — from happening. Earlier in the night, Miz tried to fake a knee injury to get out of the match. Johnny Gargano repeatedly told Miz that he just needed to “come clean” about something to make Lumis stop stalking him.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *