WWE Raw Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights from June 19
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage and recap of WWE Raw on June 19 in Cleveland.
The Money in the Bank pay-per-view continued to take shape this week as Trish Stratus and Raquel Rodriguez competed in a qualifying match for the same-titled women's bout on July 1.
Rhea Ripley faced Natalya in a Night of Champions rematch, and Matt Riddle battled Ludwig Kaiser of Imperium.
We also saw Logan Paul make his return to WWE to set up his next storyline.
Let's take a look at what went down on Monday's show.
The Miz vs. Tommaso Ciampa
1 of 9This week's show started off with Seth Rollins coming out to a huge ovation and the entire crowd singing along to his entrance music.
As he posed in the ring while the crowd kept chanting for him, Finn Bálor attacked the world champion from behind. They fought at ringside until several officials arrived to break it up.
After a commercial break, we saw the Irishman track down Rollins backstage and continue to attack him. Back in the arena, The Miz complained about not being able to answer The Visionary's open challenge after being attacked. This brought out Tommaso Ciampa to deck The A-Lister right in the mouth.
The Miz was able to get in a bit of offense, but Ciampa dominated most of this match. This was the former NXT champion's return after months away, so this contest was designed more to remind people who he is than steal the show.
Ciampa scored the win with the Fairytale Ending to wrap up a short but solid match. Ciampa looked good, and The Miz is always great at putting people over.
Winner: Tommaso Ciampa
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- WWE's security is terrible at keeping one guy away from another guy.
- Ciampa had a huge smile on his face. You could see he was really happy to be back.
- Does anyone else constantly forget if it's spelled Tommaso or Tomasso? Just me? OK.
Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green vs. Kayden Carter and Katana Chance
2 of 9The entire Judgment Day stable came out to deliver a promo about their various storylines after a commercial break. We also got a backstage segment with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn before the women's tag team match got underway.
Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green battled Katana Chance and Kayden Carter. The Jersey Devil quickly took control of Chance and cornered her for a double-team spot with Green.
Chance and Carter ended up getting the win in less than three minutes. This was a short bout that barely showed off the skills of any of the women involved.
What we saw was fine, but it wasn't nearly enough. Established stars shouldn't be getting squashed like that.
Winners: Katana Chance and Kayden Carter
Grade: D+
Notable Moments and Observations
- The montage of fake TikTok videos with Green was hilarious.
- Chance and Carter have the same initials. WWE should be able to come up with a team name for them but for some reason, they are still just referred to by their names.
- The way Deville took a superkick looked great. She sold it perfectly.
Indus Sher vs. Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin
3 of 9Veer and Sanga were in action this week with Jinder Mahal by their side for a tag team match against Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin.
Benjamin hit a running knee to Sanga to knock him off the apron. This allowed him and Alexander to double-team Veer.
Their tactic allowed them to control the pace for a few moments, but as soon as Veer was back to his feet, he ran over Benjamin like a bulldozer.
Much like the women's tag bout before it, this match lasted less than three minutes and ended with a quick decision. Indus Sher scored the win to end a short and uneventful contest.
Winners: Indus Sher
Grade: D+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Mahal might actually be more valuable as a manager than a wrestler. He is great at standing there and looking intimidating in a suit.
- The first hour of Raw had less than 15 minutes of actual wrestling.
Logan Paul Returns
4 of 9We returned from a break to see Logan Paul sitting on top of a ladder in the middle of the ring. He talked about leaving Cleveland to pursue his dreams to get a little heat from the crowd.
He announced he would be competing in the men's MITB match in London, which brought out Ricochet to respond. They were eventually joined by Shinsuke Nakamura, LA Knight, Santos Escobar and Butch, who decided punching Paul in the face was better than talking.
A brawl broke out and the segment ended with Paul climbing the ladder to post with the briefcases. This segment served the purpose of getting the YouTuber added to the match, but the bit with Butch might have been the best part.
Grade: C+
Matt Riddle vs. Ludwig Kaiser
5 of 9Matt Riddle has had some problems with Imperium in recent weeks, and he was given a chance to take out some of his frustrations in a match against Ludwig Kaiser.
Gunther was by Kaiser's side, but Giovanni Vinci was nowhere to be seen to sell an injury he suffered at the hands of The Original Bro.
Kaiser quickly found himself grabbing at the ropes when Riddle got him in an ankle lock almost immediately. Once he was able to recover, Kaiser began to control the pace.
They fought through a commercial break into a second segment. When we returned, Riddle hit a superplex to give himself some breathing room.
These are two athletes who can work a variety of styles, so this match had plenty to like about it. The strikes were stiff, the suplexes had an impact, and the transitions were smooth. There was little to complain about other than some minor moments that were barely noticeable.
Riddle ended up getting the win, which was predictable but also the right call. Kaiser and Gunther beat him down afterward.
Winner: Matt Riddle
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Riddle switching from shorts to trunks has been a topic of conversation on social media ever since he returned.
- Kaiser should play a James Bond villain. He has the look and the vocal cadence to deliver a great villainous monologue.
- Riddle's rolling gutwrench suplexes always look good.
- The way Riddle took Kaiser out of the ring by his head looked rough. Kaiser was able to land safely, but it was almost a bad bump.
The Viking Raiders vs. Alpha Academy
6 of 9Otis and Chad Gable took on Erik and Ivar in a tag team match this week, but Maxxine Dupri and Valhalla were also present at ringside.
Gable started off against Ivar, but he quickly tagged out to Otis when he realized he was in a little over his head. The two big men collided, and Ivar went down like a sack of potatoes.
The Olympian came back in and had a great sequence that saw him take out both Vikings, but he was unable to get the pin with a diving headbutt. Maxxine ended up taking out Valhalla at ringside, but the distraction allowed Erik to sneak in and hit Gable with a knee to the back for the pin.
This feud has had its ups and downs. This bout was nothing special, but it had some fun moments.
Giving the Viking Raiders this win makes sense, but it would have made more sense if it was a decisive victory instead of Erik taking advantage of a situation.
Winners: The Viking Raiders
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Maxxine has great facial expressions and body language. She does so many hilarious things that a lot of people might notice.
- Otis is one of those guys who never seems to lose his popularity. The fans just love him, and you can tell he loves them back.
- Gable has so much more power than anyone else his size. The things he can do against larger opponents are always impressive.
Raquel Rodriguez vs. Trish Stratus
7 of 9The Judgment Day had a lot on their plate this week, and one of those things was a rematch from Night of Champions between Rhea Ripley and Natalya.
The Eradicator attacked Natalya before the bell and destroyed her at ringside. Not only were we robbed of what might have been a good match, but The Queen of Harts was again made to put someone else over at her own expense.
The next match was Raquel Rodriguez taking on Trish Stratus for a spot in the women's MITB match. Rodriguez had a brief encounter with Ripley backstage before heading to the ring.
Rodriguez immediately asserted her dominance by picking Stratus up and slamming her to the mat after shaking her around in a bear hug. Rodriguez ended up crashing into a ring post to give the veteran a chance to make a comeback.
This ended up being longer and slightly more competitive than expected. It wasn't a standout match from either competitor, but it's always good when something exceeds expectations, even if they are low.
Becky Lynch showed up and took out Zoey Stark. Stratus attacked her and she ended up getting Rodriguez disqualified when she hit the veteran back.
This might not have been an exciting ending, but it protected Rodriguez in defeat and kept all of the appropriate feuds going in the right direction.
Winner: Trish Stratus by Disqualification
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- They are having Nattie do a self-doubt storyline. The promo she gave before the match was pretty genuine but also fit with the story being told.
- Stark is legitimately intimidating. It's great to see WWE putting her in a high-profile spot alongside Stratus right away.
- The way Rodriguez shook Stratus around was the definition of rag-dolling someone.
- The way Stratus folded in half after taking a clothesline was such a great sell.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bronson Reed
8 of 9Shinsuke Nakamura and Bronson Reed clashed a few weeks ago for a spot in the men's MITB match, but this time they were fighting for their own pride and to settle their issues.
The Artist tried to get the upper hand early on, but Reed was too big and too powerful. The big man was able to keep him on defense until his rival was able to hit a sliding German suplex.
Ricochet came down to watch the match from ringside, which did not sit well with Nakamura. We returned from a break to see Reed back in the driver's seat.
Reed ended up attacking Ricochet, which caused him to get on the apron. After the Australian shoved Nakamura into him, he climbed to the top rope and hit the Tsunami for the win.
This was a little convoluted, but it did a good job advancing this storyline with all three men.
Winner: Bronson Reed
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Reed can get some good height on his vertical jump, especially for a guy his size.
- Nakamura took an extra second to set up the sliding German suplex, which was smart because he didn't want to risk not sliding far enough and ending up under Reed when he hit the mat.
- Even being as big as Reed is, it will always be impressive to see someone lift another human being up with one arm to slam them.
- The way Ricochet dodged Reed and used the chair to send Nakamura back at him was great.
Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens vs. Judgment Day
9 of 9Dominik Mysterio, Finn Bálor and Damian Priest challenged Cody Rhodes to find two partners for a six-man tag match to close the show, and The American Nightmare found two willing participants in Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens.
The American Nightmare was going to start against Dom, but Bálor tagged in instead. The two former Bullet Club members locked up and had an aggressive exchange of takedowns and holds.
This was an entertaining match with some great moments involving all six competitors, but Ripley's presence at ringside was definitely a distraction in both good and bad ways.
They did a great job addressing multiple feuds at once while still keeping the focus on the match in front of us.
After a long back-and-forth battle, Rhodes scored the win with Cross Rhodes on Priest to send the crowd home happy.
Winners: Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens
Grade: A-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Throughout the night, KO had been trying to keep his anger under control. Those segments were funny and definitely worth watching if you missed the show.
- If Rhodes' arm is actually fine, he is selling that injury more than most people would.
- Kevin Patrick said "Dom scarpers" when he jumped out of the ring. That slang might be too European for most Americans.
- The way Ripley celebrated after taking down Zayn was hilarious.
- Priest sold the Disaster kick beautifully.
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