WWE Raw Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from April 18

Welcome to Bleacher Report's coverage and recap of WWE Raw on April 18.

Wedding bells were ringing and love was in the air this week as WWE held a double wedding with Akira Tozawa marrying Tamina, and Dana Brooke marrying Reggie. R-Truth officiated the whole thing.

Kevin Owens continued his quest to prove Ezekiel is actually Elias by making him undergo a lie detector test live on television.

Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan battled Naomi and Sasha Banks for the women's tag titles, and Finn Balor put the U.S. Championship on the line against Austin Theory.

Let's take a look at everything that happened on Monday's Raw.

Opening Segment

Raw opened with Seth Rollins talking about his upcoming rematch against Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania Backlash. After a few moments, The American Nightmare joined him in the ring.

While they are once and future opponents, Rhodes and Rollins seemed to have a level of respect for each other until Rhodes started upstaging Rollins with his crowd reactions.

The Visionary said he did not have time to prepare for his match at WrestleMania against an unknown opponent, but he said people thinking Rhodes was better than him was even worse than losing.

The Visionary eventually dared Rhodes to face an unknown opponent in the main event if he thought it was so easy. The American Nightmare accepted the challenge immediately.

This was a decent segment, but it could have accomplished the same thing in half the time. It felt like they were stretching to fill time at one point, but other than that, this was a solid promo exchange.

Grade: B-

                                  

Notable Moments and Highlights

• When Rollins eventually turns babyface again, he is going to be over with the crowd more than ever before. People are already cheering for him, and he's still technically a heel.
• Rollins might not have been wearing a typical suit jacket, but he still had a shirt and tie on under the jacket he was wearing. It was kind of like a formal sweatsuit.
• This crowd was hot for this segment. It was giving both men every reaction they wanted at the right time. A good crowd always makes a show more fun for those watching at home, too.

Naomi and Sasha Banks vs. Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley (Women's Tag Titles)

The first of the night's two title matches was for the Women's Tag Team Championships. Banks and Naomi were out first to take on their challengers, Morgan and Ripley.

Banks and Morgan started for their teams. The champs took control early by using quick tags and double-team moves, but Ripley was able to turn things around when she overpowered both opponents at ringside.

While Ripley and Morgan came close to winning, Banks and Naomi ultimately ended up retaining their titles when they pinned Ripley.

This match was all right, but it could have used five more minutes. It felt like the commercial break in the middle was as long as the wrestling that took place before and after it. These teams had chemistry, but this is the last time we will see them together.

Ripley and Morgan got into an argument that ended with the Australian hitting her former partner with the Riptide. The heel turn is complete, and now Ripley can get back to focusing on being a singles star.

Grade: C+

                                 

Notable Moments and Observations

• Banks should teach a class at the Performance Center just about selling. She is so good at making her opponents look dominant.
• All tag teams should coordinate their gear. It adds a little something when both sets of partners look like they belong together.
• The way the match ended felt a little abrupt. Banks and Naomi used their tag team finisher, but it did not have the usual buildup to it that we see in a tag match. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

Sonya Deville and Bianca Belair Talk, Veer Mahaan vs. Jeff Brooks

Sonya Deville came to the ring and gave a promo addressing the accusations that she is misusing her power as an official. She talked about how she had always been a competitor and she was just taking an opportunity she saw in front of her.

Bianca Belair made her way to the ring and offered to defend the title right then and there. She almost hit Deville with the K.O.D., but the authority figure threatened to fine and strip her of the title if she did. The EST put her down and left.

While both women were good in this segment, it accomplished nothing. It just reminded us this feud exists, which could have been done with a video or quick backstage interaction.

Grade: C

The next match saw Veer Mahaan take on a jobber named Jeff Brooks. As expected, the powerhouse destroyed him in about a minute and kept attacking him after the bell. It was a typical squash, but Veer looked good, so it accomplished its goal.

Grade: C

                               

Grade: Notable Moments and Observations

• Deville was getting some real heat from the crowd. The "What?" chants were dumb, but the boos she got indicate that the crowd is going to be firmly behind Belair in this feud, as it should be. The crowd really hated Deville when she called the town she was in a rusted-out suburb of New York.
• Belair is about as over as you can be right now. The crowd loves her and she always delivers with her performances.
• Gimmick and delayed intro aside, Veer has a lot of upside potential.
• Jimmy Smith called Veer's clothesline a million-dollar arm. It was a nice reference to the fact that Veer's story was the basis for the film Million Dollar Arm.

The KO Show, Ezekiel vs. Chad Gable

Owens came out to host a special lie detector test episode of "The KO Show" with Ezekiel, who Owens is convinced used to be Elias and is just lying about his name. Chad Gable was present to oversee the testing.

Ezekiel came out and acted like he was setting up to say his old catchphrase before saying "Who wants to hear Zeke speak?" The test began with Ezekiel answering some baseline questions.

The test supposedly revealed that Ezekiel was telling the truth when he said he is not Elias. Zeke said he was tired of being called a liar by the biggest liar in WWE.

KO walked away while Gable attacked the younger brother of Elias to set up their match after the commercial break. The bell rang right after we returned from the break. Ezekiel took control immediately with his significant size and power advantage.

"The KO Show" portion of this was funny and kept the storyline going, and the match that followed was more competitive than expected. WWE could have booked Ezekiel to win with ease, but Gable had some offense before Otis ran in to cause a disqualification to save his partner.

Alpha Academy left while Zeke tried to collect himself in the ring. Zeke may have won, but it was not the way he wanted.

Grade: C+

                            

Notable Moments and Observations

• Lie detectors have been a talk show staple for a couple of decades now. It's surprising it took this long for WWE to use one in a segment.
• WWE is leaning too hard into the "Shoosh" catchphrase for Gable. It's funny, but when he is obviously setting it up, it feels forced.
• Zeke's spinebuster was nice, and so was the modified ankle lock he used.

RK-Bro vs. Street Profits

The raw tag team champions were in action this week in a non-title match when Randy Orton and Riddle took on Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins.

The Viper and Dawkins kicked things off with a standard lockup and shoulder-block sequence. Both men took the other off their feet, so they seemed to be evenly matched in some ways.

The Profits had some decent offense at times, but it felt like this match was all about making RK-Bro look good before they face The Usos at WrestleMania Backlash in a title unification match.

The Usos' music hit and distracted Riddle and Orton. Ford took advantage of the distraction and knocked The Viper off the apron before he and Dawkins hit Riddle with their finisher for a somewhat surprising win.

Unexpected results are always nice, especially when the person or team that wins is deserving. This could lead to the Profits being added to the title unification match.

Ford and Dawkins took credit for playing the music as if they were turning heel, but it did not get any boos from the crowd. Overall, this was a fun match that could lead to a better Backlash match.

Grade: B

                               

Notable Moments and Observations

• It feels like we have seen every combination of Raw tag teams facing each other several times in 2022. This division needs a refresh.
• Riddle jumping to the top rope to take down Ford as the match went to a commercial was a great spot.
• Once again, Ford effortlessly hit the best spots in the match.

Theory vs. Finn Balor (U.S. Title)

The second title match from Monday's show featured Balor putting the United States Championship on the line against Theory.

The match started with a standard lockup, but it didn't take long for them to start using strikes. The Prince was able to take control and hit a few chops before Theory put him down with a backbreaker out of nowhere.

As the match progressed, they kept upping their aggression and hitting bigger spots. Balor began to feel like the underdog after he took a neckbreaker from the apron to the floor.

After some close calls and two-counts, Theory defeated Balor to win the United States Championship. This was a relatively clean win that happened after Balor missed his finisher and Theory took advantage.

The match was good, but the crowd seemed upset. A bunch of midcard heels came out to lift Theory up on their shoulders for some reason. Vince McMahon came out to congratulate him on the stage.

Grade: B

                                        

Notable Moments and Observations

• WWE played a video package for Theory before this match like we wouldn't know who he was. It felt very misplaced and unnecessary. It would have made more sense during the lead-up to WrestleMania.
• Taking away Theory's first name seemed completely unnecessary. Name changes to keep things in-house are one thing, but shortening his name after he has already been on the main roster for several months seems strange.
• Theory hopping up to the top rope to hit a Spanish fly was a fantastic spot.

The Double Wedding of the Decade

R-Truth was out first to officiate the double wedding of Akira Tozawa and Tamina, and Reggie and Dana Brooke. They had several others in the ring.

All four people read their vows, but Tamina just said "What she said" in reference to Brooke's vows. Tozawa followed up by saying "Same."

Truth asked if there were any objections. The fans started booing, and Truth tried to shut them down. Tamina said she objected and then made Reggie and Tozawa switch places for some reason. Then she changed her mind and made the men stand together while she stood with Brooke.

We eventually ended up back with our original couples, which upset the crowd a little. Truth finished the ceremony, and everyone kissed. Reggie then pinned Brooke to win the 24/7 title. Tamina superkicked him and won it herself before Tozawa rolled her up to win it.

Brooke won it back before she and Truth took off to the back. This had some funny moments, but as a whole, this did not work as well as hoped. It was a series of jokes with no plan.

Grade: D+

                                 

Notable Moments and Observations

• Truth fooling Reggie by telling him his fly was down was funnier than it has any right to be.
• Naomi and Banks serving as Tamina's bridesmaids was a nice callback to their time as a trio in Team Bad.
• Truth made up a few new words during his speech.
• Tozawa having to get through several layers of the dress before he could roll Tamina up was pretty funny.

Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens

The main event of the night saw Owens answer the call to be Rollins' handpicked opponent for Rhodes. The match had a competitive start, but after KO countered a suicide dive and hit a fallaway slam into the barricade, he was firmly in control.

To nobody's surprise, this was a fun performance to close out the show. Once most wrestlers reach a certain level of experience, they can work well with just about anybody. KO and Rhodes both fall into that category.

The match was given more than enough time for them to create a good story in the ring without having to rush anything. Both men looked legitimately worn out by the final minutes.

As it looked like The Prize Fighter was going to be counted out, Rollins yelled at him to get his butt back into the ring. KO told him to deal with his own problems and walked away to get counted out, making Rhodes the winner.

The show ended with The Visionary knocking The American Nightmare from the middle turnbuckle to the floor as he was trying to celebrate. The ending was kind of odd, but everything leading up to it was quality pro wrestling.

Grade: B+

                               

Notable Moments and Observations

• The way Owens blocked a suicide dive and brought Rhodes out for a fallaway slam into the barricade looked great.
• Rhodes sending Owens over the announce table was also a nice spot.
• Rollins yelling at Owens to get back in the ring until KO walked out on him was funny, but it was also an anticlimactic way to end the match.