WWE Raw: Live Updates, Match Results, Highlights and Reaction from May 8
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live blog for WWE Raw on May 8 in Jacksonville, Florida.
By most accounts, WWE Backlash was a rousing success. The crowd was hot throughout the entire night and WWE booked the most logical outcomes in almost every situation.
But now, Night of Champions is the main focus. A new world heavyweight champion will be crowned on May 27, and this week's Raw kicked off the tournament to find the two men who will compete for the title.
Erik Beaston will still have you covered with the regular recap and grades, and this will be a space for a more detailed description of what happened during each match and segment,
The most recent segment will appear at the top, so keep refreshing throughout the night.
Finn Bálor vs. Seth Rollins
Cody Rhodes gave a promo to accept Brock Lesnar's challenge for Night of Champions before Bálor made his entrance for the main event.
As usual, the crowd kept singing Rollins' music long after it had stopped playing. He just stood in the middle of a spotlight taking it all in until they stopped.
These two were in the finals of the universal title tournament years ago, so they are quite familiar with each other. That allowed them to put on a fast-paced sequence to get the action started.
We returned from the final break to see Rollins slapping the taste out of Bálor's mouth. The Visionary started to build up a head of steam as he climbed to the top rope. Bálor caught him in a roll-up before transitioning into an armbar.
The Prince kicked out after a superkick, but both men looked worse for wear. Both men smiled at each other from across the ring as they knew the match was coming to a close. They collided and started fighting.
Rollins was able to hit a Pedigree, but he didn't get all of it, so Bálor kicked out. A few moments later, The Visionary hit The Stomp for the pin and the win to advance to the final of the tournament.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Dominik Mysterio vs. Xavier Woods
After having a disagreement backstage about respect, Woods and the younger Mysterio found themselves in a singles match.
Woods wrestled him to the mat in a headlock, but Dom countered with a headscissor. Dom has to use the ropes to escape another submission. Dom tried to offer a fake handshake, but Woods saw the kick coming.
Dom still took him down for a moment, but Woods nailed a dropkick. Dominik dropped him over the top rope, and he hit the steps on the way down as the show went to a commercial.
We returned from the break to see Woods getting back into the fight. He hit a tornado DDT as the crowd chanted for The New Day, but Dom drilled him with a brutal back elbow for a near-fall.
Woods hit a dropkick as Dom was hanging over the top rope and climbed back up for an elbow drop. Ripley dragged Dom out of the way, and he immediately rolled Woods up for the pin.
Winner: Dominik Mysterio
Trish Stratus is Looking For Becky Lynch
Trish came out and delivered a promo about how Becky has been missing since their falling out. She reassured us Becky would be found, but added Lynch would not be coming to Raw because it's her show.
She had Becky's music played and joked with the crowd about it, but then Lynch's music played for real and The Man arrived behind Stratus to punch her right in the face.
Lynch drove her out of the ring and dared her to get back in, but Stratus decided against it.
Nikki Cross vs. Zoey Stark
Zoey Stark made her Raw debut this week when she battled Nikki Cross. They had a quick encounter backstage to set this up earlier in the show.
The newcomer immediately took control and maintained dominance for quite some time. She couldn't keep Cross down for the pin on her first attempt, so she tried a rear chinlock.
Cross suckered her into running into the turnbuckle before hitting a few forearm strikes. Stark recovered and hit the C360 for the win.
Winner: Zoey Stark
Imperium vs. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens
After having an encounter backstage earlier in the show, Zayn and Owens faced Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser in a non-title bout.
Zayn and Kaiser locked up and fought for control. Zayn countered a headlock and took him down with an arm drag. Imperium prevented Owens from getting a tag and kept Zayn isolated in their corner as we went to a break.
Zayn was still on the receiving end of a lot of offense when we returned, but he threw Kaiser out of the ring and made the hot tag to a fresh KO.
The Prize Fighter unloaded on Kaiser, but the European tag team managed to regain the upper hand after his initial salvo.
Vinci prevented a tag, but Owens was able to hit Kaiser with a Stunner before nailing Vinci with a superkick. Zayn tagged in and drilled him with a Helluva Kick for the win.
Winners: Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
Dana Brooke vs. Rhea Ripley
WWE's answer to fans asking management to give Dana Brooke a chance was to book her in a match with Rhea Ripley this week.
Brooke tried to get in some offense right away, but one headbutt from The Irradicator put her on her back.
Brooke hit a bulldog, but when she tried a crossbody, Ripley caught her and hit a backbreaker. She hit the Riptide and then locked in a reverse Cloverleaf for the submission victory.
Winner: Rhea Ripley
Natalya came out to prevent Brooke from being attacked much more after the break, and Ripley chose to back down and leave the ring.
The Miz vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Finn Bálor
The second of the two triple threat matches happened at the bottom of the first hour when The Miz, Finn Bálor and Rhodes competed to see who would face Rollins later in the evening.
Bálor was knocked out of the ring almost immediately, and The Miz was soon behind him. Bálor came back in and began a quick exchange of near-falls and takedowns from all three men.
We returned from a break right as Rhodes took out both men with a dropkick. He hit a double Cody Cutter to a huge pop from the crowd, but he couldn't follow up on it.
The Prince scored a couple of near-falls before nailing The American Nightmare with a running dropkick. He missed the Coup de Grâce and wound up taking the Skull Crushing Finale from The Miz. Rhodes broke up the pin at two.
Cody grabbed Miz and hit him with three Cross Rhodes, but Brock Lesnar yanked him out of the ring and hit an F5 to prevent him from winning. Bálor hit Miz with the double stomp for the pin and the win.
Winner: Finn Bálor
Lesnar grabbed a mic and said he wanted to talk about himself and how he wants another fight with Rhodes.
Mustafa Ali vs. Otis
We returned from a break to see Ali making his entrance to face the man who was already in the ring, Otis.
Chad Gable and Maxxine Dupri watched their No. 1 Guy take Ali down with ease before the high-flyer tried to hit a few dropkicks.
Gable and Dupri each tried to give him different instructions, and the crowd was cheering for Dupri while booing Gable. This allowed Ali to recover and avoid him in the corner.
Ali hit a 450 for the pin and the win while Gable and Dupri kept arguing.
Winner: Mustafa Ali
Seth Rollins vs. Damian Priest vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
The first match in the WHC tournament took place right after the first break. WWE allowed the crowd to have some fun by playing Rollins' music during the break.
Priest gave a quick promo backstage before he went to the ring. As expected, the action started off fast and aggressive. Rollins and Nakamura drove The Archer of Infamy out of the ring before squaring off by themselves.
Nakamura hit his sliding German suplex and managed to fend off a surprise attack from Priest by hitting a few knee strikes.
We returned from a break to see Rollins gaining a lot of momentum. He took both opponents down with a high crossbody before taking them down with suicide dives on opposite side of the ring.
Priest blocked a second dive, but he was unable to capitalize before Nakamura started hitting him with strikes. All three men traded some kicks, and everyone ended up on their backs when it was over.
Rollins and Nakamura had a long exchange of punches and forearms. Priest knocked Rollins out of the ring, but that gave Nakamura a chance to lock the big man in a kneebar. Rollins came out of nowhere to hit a frog splash and a Pedigree to Nakamura to score the win.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Cody Rhodes Has a Chip on His Shoulder, and He Wants a Belt To Hang Over it
Raw opened with a video package highlighting the new Raw roster following the draft. When we went live to the arena, Cody Rhodes made his entrance for the first triple threat match in the World Heavyweight Championship tournament.
He grabbed a mic and gave a quick Duvall shoutout to the Jacksonville crowd. He referenced his time in All Elite Wrestling during the COVID-19 pandemic and said he has some fond memories of this town.
He also spoke about Brock Lesnar and beating him at Backlash before focusing on the World Heavyweight Championship for a bit.
Seth Rollins made his entrance while Cody was still on the stage, and they had a brief staredown before The Visionary kept heading to the ring.
.jpg?w=480 "WWE NXT Live Grades")
.jpg?w=600 "WWE Raw Results & Grades 🔠")
