Raw Talk is live in Texas!

Fresh off the MITB Fallout, Raw Talk has the Scottish Warrior, the NEW WWE 24/7 Champion, and BOTH Alexa Bliss and Lilly! Are things gonna get twisted in Dallas?

Raw Talk recaps the end of Monday Night Raw!

In a grueling rematch with Rhea Ripley over the Raw Women’s Championship, Charlotte Flair used Champion’s Advantage to retain the title. But then Rhea got her right back for it, and that left The Queen vulnerable! Enter Nikki ASH, Almost a SuperHero, and THE 2021 Ms. Money in the Bank! Cash-in, win, we have another NEW Raw Women’s Champion! Dallas exploded as it celebrated with Nikki,

Kayla Braxton welcomes us to the show!

She and Matt Camp are the cohosts for this one, from the WWE Command Center, but Kayla knows that’s not really what’s important. What IS important is Nikki Ash becoming the NEW Raw Women’s Champion! Congratulations to Nikki, Kayla is so excited and proud. Matt says that was a moment. Nikki is Almost a SuperHero but she IS Raw Women’s Champion! MITB wasn’t the pinnacle, that was just the start, as Nikki closes Raw out as champion. But let’s promote her to full superhero! She deserves it. She’s been in the WWE for almost five years, and to have this moment in front of fans, that’s awesome. And she also maintains the Women’s MITB contract having a 100% success rate!

Another big moment was the return of John Cena! He showed his face, or did he? Yes, we could see Cena, both at MITB last night and Raw here tonight. But there was also Bobby Lashley’s Open Challenge. It was answered by a returning Keith Lee, Lashley still won, but then after all that, GOLDBERG returned! Matt and Kayla were watching together, and they said this was a dream match teaser here. No one thought this would happen outside of the video games. But finally, Goldberg and Lashley cross paths! Goldberg was last here at the Royal Rumble, and he says he’s next! We don’t know yet what’s happening, but clearly Goldberg has a title in mind. MVP is trying to shrug it off but there was no way MVP saw Goldberg coming.

Goldberg is always confident, but getting in Lashley’s face could be what brought out a different side in Lashley. And whether that’s a good or bad thing depends on who you ask. Ask Kofi Kingston, he probably got this side out of Lashley, and Lashley handled business last night and tonight. Two big wins in two nights, Goldberg was back, we all feel this is heading for a WWE World Championship, but time will tell. Kayla says we’re going back on location to Dallas to talk with Alexa Bliss.

Alexa, and Lilly, are still in Alexa’s Playground.

Alexa says if Lilly behaves, she can have all the ice cream and candy she could want. Lilly whispers and Alexa looks over to see Sarah walk in. She thanks them for having her, it’s a pleasure to be here. A couple questions about tonight. Want to have a seat? No, that’s quite alright. Sarah’s in a dress, it’d be a bit awkward. Alexa likes the dress. Sarah likes Alexa’s dress, too. But let’s talk Eva Marie & “Doudrop” being on the Playground, interrupting Lilly’s return. They said Lilly should be in the trash, what is Alexa’s reaction to that? Alexa says she can’t help but laughs at saying the name “Doudrop.” Doudrop Doudrop Doudrop. You try it, Sarah. Okay. Doudrop. Sarah does admit, it’s fun.

But anyway, Alexa says people say silly things all the time. Eva’s being silly, and Alexa feels bad for her. Eva doesn’t know what happens when you’re mean to Lilly. But she’ll fine out, teeheehee. Sarah did want to ask about Eva tripping on her way out. Care to comment? Alexa says Eva is just clumsy. She might’ve tripped on the high horse she rides on, but Eva’s just silly. Bit delusional, that one. Uh-huh… Sarah thanks Alexa for her time and having her on the playground. Any time! Lilly and Alexa wave good-bye, and we go back to the studio.

Kayla feels that might’ve been the most normal moment on Alexa’s Playground. But after the break, Kayla and Matt will talk Cena’s return, and have an interview with the NEW WWE 24/7 Champion, Reginald!

Raw Talk returns to talk about John Cena!

The leader of the Cenation returned just as Roman Reigns was patting himself on the back at the end of MITB last night, and Roman was not happy about that. Cena explained the reason for that tonight, “It’s because Roman Reigns is an a**hole.” Cena also promised to be on SmackDown this Friday to get in Roman’s face again! Kayla says we all saw that, the crowd got so loud in Fort Worth. Just when you thought the show was over, it was not, and that was a great moment. Matt says a sound like that is hard to replicate. But so many people heard it live, and then heard it again on Raw tonight.

Everything Cena said indicated that he is still going for number 17! The record! Could Cena use the Universal Championship for that? Kayla is sure fans want to see it, and just as Goldberg showed up to call out the Chief Hurt Officer, it seems Cena is aiming for the Head of the Table. It is that time of year with SummerSlam on the horizon in Las Vegas. But Matt noticed something else: Cena did some nail calling, cut to the core of Roman. That takes Matt back to No Mercy 2017, similar comments about Roman again. But this is a very, very different Roman now. Roman’s moment was interrupted, of course he’s upset. But this is John Cena, who shakes Roman to his core.

Matt says Roman does anything it takes to win, whether using Paul Heyman or the Usos, but he is still champion. We’re nearing one full year of Roman being Universal Champion. If Cena dethrones Roman, he sets the new record for most WWE world titles. Seeing that in Vegas, the sound we heard at MITB will be that much louder at SummerSlam. Then how will Roman respond? Watch this Friday! Roman won’t be happy, but since when was he last happy? He has a great smile but it might not happen now.

Back to what happened on Raw, a very unexpected development with Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax & Reginald. After another loss, Shayna & Nia dump Reggie but he wasn’t down in the dumps for too long. The 24/7 Championship scene appeared and Reggie won the title! How does he even move like that in slacks?! Reggie was knocked down, literally, by Nia, but then he gets right back up to take a title! Kudos to Reggie for being able to stay aware of his surroundings. We’re going back to Dallas for an interview!

Kevin Patrick interviews Reginald.

K-Peezy says there’s no chance this smile is leaving Reggie’s face any time soon. The NEW 24/7 Champion! Congrats, Reginald! Reggie thanks Kevin for that, and says he feels incredible now! Imagine this: first time performing in front of the WWE Universe, you win the 24/7 Championship! Reggie is just so excited. But Kevin knows from talking with R-Truth that with this title comes a lot of pressure. He can see Reggie now, head on a swivel, a bit of anxiety. Reggie’s watching for R-Truth and Akira Tozawa, among others. Reggie tells Kevin that as he just said, with this title comes great responsibility and stress. Reggie says he’ll be alright, but also, he has to go. Reggie heads off, will the slippery sommelier ever get caught?

Kayla says not to get cocky but Matt likes that Reggie was keeping track of his surroundings. It’s what you have to do. People are always aiming for the 24/7 Champion. But after the break, we’ll have the Scottish Warrior!

Raw Talk returns to talk Drew McIntyre.

Before we hear from McIntyre himself, Kayla wants to talk what happened the last 48 hours for the Scottish Warrior. Matt surely agrees, the name of the game was revenge. At MITB, Jinder Mahal, Veer & Shanky made sure McIntyre knew they cost him the Men’s MITB contract. Not so fine gentlemen those three, as this escalated the back and forth between stealing the sword then wrecking the motorcycle. McIntyre was so focused on the briefcase, he never saw these three coming. Kayla and Matt are both fans of McIntyre, this was his best chance of getting back to the world title, especially since the ban against challenging Lashley is in effect.

McIntyre clearly realized, despite the pain he was in, he was in a worse situation in regards to the title, so what is he to do next? Well, tonight on Raw, he ruined Mahal’s birthday celebration with an attack with a chair! That one chair got worn out on Shanky’s back, then a second chair does. Bumps, bruises and so much more. Matt gets that McIntyre is so focused on being world champion in front of fans, he was screwed out of it, he needed to do something. This is the first time in over a year that he has gone after something that wasn’t the title.

Kayla asks if unleashing his rage like this is a sign McIntyre has nothing left to lose. Matt can’t be sure, but he figures McIntyre must be thinking along the lines of, “I can’t go after Bobby Lashley and the WWE Championship, I have absolutely no choice at this point.” McIntyre goes out there, vents all that frustration and anger out on Shanky’s back. What could be next? Jinder Mahal’s in trouble, all the focus is on him. Everything McIntyre wanted is washed away, he only has revenge left. He might use more than just chairs, too. Watch out for the sword! Kayla agrees, and sends it back to Dallas!

Sarah is with McIntyre and asks about the “absolutely brutal attack” on Mahal and his men. What brought that on? Well the world should know that. We all saw MITB, how Mahal and his henchmen cost him his last chance. So all that time, all that energy directed at the world title, has now shifted to taking out Mahal. McIntyre would’ve much rather ended it tonight, getting Mahal down with the chair and unleashing chair shot after chair shot after chair shot on him. But Shanky got in the way. He was collateral damage. But in a way, it’s a good thing. Mahal had to watch that in person. Mahal is probably home now, afraid of McIntyre, having nightmares about him.

They go back 10 years, Mahal knows what McIntyre is capable of. That was a reminder, and it felt very good for McIntyre. Any other questions? Yes, Sarah wants to know how the energy from the Dallas crowd felt, as well as Fort Worth at MITB. What is it like to have fans back? McIntyre says it is awesome. He would’ve loved to have been WWE Champion at this point, but he’s not and he can’t challenge Lashley for it again. But hey, that beating for Shanky, that was probably the worst one in WWE history. McIntyre can’t take all the credit for it. There was adrenaline pumping, anger flowing, the WWE Universe supporting him. The louder they got, the harder he hit.

So for the next few weeks, next few months, McIntyre doesn’t care what it takes, he will go after Mahal again and again. If Mahal gets away, one of his goons will get it. Tonight, it was Shanky. He’s gone. It can be Veer, it can be a new guy, that’s fine. Inevitably, it will come down to Mahal and McIntyre. And Mahal knows hell is coming with McIntyre, and McIntyre can’t bloody wait! Sarah thanks McIntyre for his time, and send sit back to the studio.

Kayla says McIntyre is a good guy. A really nice guy. But she loves the ruthless, angry McIntyre. Sorry, Maharaja, that’s what you’re in for. Matt agrees and says Mahal would’ve been better off to just have taken that beating because then it’d be done. But now, McIntyre is going to keep focused on Mahal. He said it himself, McIntyre can’t go after the world title right now. As happy as he is to have fans back, he also wants something else right now. Mahal robbed McIntyre of his goal, now McIntyre is coming after Mahal. An angry McIntyre is a bad thing for Mahal, but a great thing for the fans to watch!

Kayla says this was fun, this different style of Raw Talk. She thanks the fans for watching, again congratulates Nikki Ash on winning the Raw Women’s Championship, and there’s some breaking news! Matt says Nikki Ash will be on this week’s The Bump, LIVE in studio! Do not miss that this Wednesday! It probably won’t be the last time, either. Have a great week, see you again soon!

My Thoughts:

A very good Raw Talk, and it seems the format for this and Talking Smack are already set. A little disappointed this one isn’t on location, and it seems Kayla Braxton and Kevin Patrick are trading shows. I suppose that’s just so fans can’t get too rowdy and hijack the show. Alexa had a good segment, teasing Lilly is going to get involved with a feud again. Reggie had a good segment, but I really wish we’d gotten a cameo from Truth to plug the continuity from the literal months with him and Kevin on Raw Talk. Truth could’ve easily run in, Reggie could’ve run out, and Truth could’ve shouted, “You’re letting me down, K-Peezy!” before running off after Reggie. The little details make all the difference.

McIntyre had a good segment, but it was a bit odd how he ended up recycling a bit of the in-studio conversation. Though, I suppose he couldn’t hear what they said and they couldn’t have known what he’d say. But they all make a good point: with McIntyre only concerned about the top title, and now not being able to go after it, what is to stop him from focusing all his attention and aggression on Mahal? Maybe some day down the line, McIntyre realizes he could go for the Grand Slam with the US Championship, but for now, a good grudge match feud will help him and Mahal.

I do find it interesting that title or not, a lot of McIntyre’s feuds have been with former friends. Dolph Ziggler at the start of the pandemic, Sheamus and Keith Lee once WWE moved into the ThunderDome, and now Mahal as we get back to having fans in the arena. Actually, there was that period where McIntyre was palling around with Lashley and Baron Corbin, so McIntyre’s feud with Lashley counts towards that, too. After facing Mahal, who knows where McIntyre goes, he might even get “drafted” to SmackDown in the Fall, but there are more possibilities for McIntyre than just the titles, so I guess we just wait and see.