This week on WWE Raw, WWE Raw Women’s Champion Asuka and Charlotte Flair are scheduled to meet in the ring once again to kick off the show and continue their rivalry! Plus, Edge sits down with his best friend and former tag partner Christian on an edition of “Peep Show” before Backlash on Sunday. All that and more on this week’s Backlash go-home edition of WWE Raw!
We are LIVE from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla. Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe, and Byron Saxton have the call for this week.
WWE Raw Women’s Champion Asuka comes to the ring and she is scheduled to face Charlotte Flair. The new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Bayley and Sasha Banks interrupt and introduce themselves as the new champions, saying that they can be on any brand they tell Asuka to get out of their ring. Asuka says this is her ring and it brings out Charlotte Flair. Flair says Bayley and Banks are going from brand to brand like her, but they can’t keep up with her stamina. Flair tells them to take their victory lap before someone swoops in and takes the titles off them. Flair tells them to make it quick because she has a match with Asuka.
The IIConics make their way out and say the match that everyone wants to see is happening at Backlash in a triple-threat WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match. Asuka screams at them and Bayley says Flair was trying to drive a wedge between their friendship last week, but look at them now. They “WOO” at Flair and Flair says that she doesn’t need a title to stay relevant and, no matter how many titles Bayley and Banks get, they will still be garbage. The teams attack and The IIConics corner Asuka while Banks and Bayley corner Flair. The IIconics and Banks & Bayley square off and it allows Flair and Asuka to dump them from the ring before commercials. With a tag match coming after the break, I don’t really understand the point of giving away two-thirds of your pay-per-view title match, but this is a classic WWE move.
Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. The IIconics vs. Asuka & Charlotte Flair
The IIconics and Bayley & Banks try to knock Flair & Asuka off the apron to start. Banks and Peyton Royce start and Banks with pin attempts. Dueling dropkicks leads to a shoving match, but they knock Flair & Asuka off the apron. Royce worked down by Bayley. Billie Kay drops Bayley and a gutwrench suplex gets Billie a nearfall. Flair forces a tag on Billie as she tries to counter an O’Connor Roll. Flair tackles Bayley into the corner. Bayley fights out and Flair worked in the Banks & Bayley corner. Flair fights out and Asuka forces a tag to take out Banks and The IIconics before the commercials.
After the commercials, The IIconics bait Asuka into a big boot for a nearfall. Royce gets a nearfall that is broken by Banks and The IIconics take out Banks & Bayley. Flair tags herself in after Asuka comes back. Flair takes out The IIconics, but Asuka forces a tag in to do the same. Flair forces a tag back and they argue. Flair takes Billie out and looks for a moonsault, but Asuka tags her when she gets to the top rope. Asuka Lock applied.
Winners by submission: Asuka & Charlotte Flair, 2.5 out of 5 stars
A fine match with a lot of focus on Asuka and Flair not being able to coexist against the attack of the two other teams. Considering the announce team says they will face each other later tonight, it makes sense to give them the win and not let either of the teams competing at Backlash take the loss.
Post-match, Flair tackles Asuka.
The announce team says Rey Mysterio will have a medical update for us later tonight and a video recaps the latest attack from “Monday Night Messiah” Seth Rollins and his disciples last week on Humberto Carrillo and Aleister Black. Seth Rollins comes out to commentary and takes Byron Saxton’s place on commentary and says he wouldn’t miss this interview with Mysterio for anything in the world. Rollins says “hi” to Mysterio and Mysterio calls him an S.O.B. before the commercials.
We return with Tom Phillips asking for an update on Mysterio’s injured eye and Mysterio says the prognosis in promising and the eye is healing. Mysterio doesn’t know when he’ll be cleared to compete, but he wants to warn Rollins. Mysterio says Rollins will pay for what he did to him and his family. Rollins says Mysterio had the chance to walk away gracefully and walk away as a champion, but he continues to spread misinformation about Rollins. Rollins gave him the opportunity to walk away a legend. Rollins invites Mysterio and his son Dominic to Raw next week. Mysterio says Rollins is only inviting him because he is not medically cleared, but Mysterio says he will be cleared soon and Rollins will be the first to know about it. Rollins says Mysterio has it all wrong.
Aleister Black dives at Rollins and punches him against the barricade as we cut to commercial.
Aleister Black & Humberto Carrillo vs. Murphy & Austin Theory
Carillo and Theory start out. Carrillo with a roll-up and springboard offense to send Theory out to the apron, but Theory snaps his head on the top rope. Theory works Black down and Murphy in. Black kicks his way back and drops Murphy. Theory sent out for a suicide dive from Carrillo. Murphy rolls Black up for a nearfall. Murphy up top, but Black hits him with a Black Mass that sends him crashing to the mat.
Winners by pinfall: Aleister Black & Humberto Carrillo, No Rating
This was a quick one that went all over the place. The sudden finish was a nice touch to all of the action the fit into a short amount of time, but this was mostly a setup for something bigger post-match.
After the match, Rey Mysterio’s music hits and Rollins shows up in a Mysterio mask. This allows Theory and Murphy to attack Black and Carrillo from behind. Carrillo gets posted hit with the ATL from Theory. Black takes a beating as Rollins says he told Black over and over. Murphy’s Law lands and they tie Black up on the top rope. Rollins says he will make Black a sacrifice and hits him with a Stomp. Having not watched Raw in a while, Rollins and his disciples seem like one of the most impressive stables on the roster. This was a dominant beating with Rollins looking like a mastermind.
Charly Caruso interviews “The Viper” Randy Orton before “The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever.” Orton’s only question is if Edge will be the only guest on Christian’s “Peep Show” tonight and Caruso says that is her understanding. Orton asks if that is next and she says it is. Orton says that is outstanding and he says there could quite possibly be two guests on the “Peep Show.”
Christian comes out to host his “Peep Show” and he immediately introduces Edge. Christian says Edge knows how excited he was for his return at WrestleMania, but he wants to be honest with him. Christian thinks Edge is running on fumes and the crowd chants that Edge has still got it. Christian says he doesn’t think Edge could pull off “The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever” even in his prime. They are best friends and they have to be honest with each other and Christian says Edge is buckling under the pressure.
Edge tells Christian to pump the brakes and Edge wants to know if Christian knows what he is going through. Edge says he hasn’t had a real wrestling match in over nine years and says this is the equivalent of being dropped at the foot of Mount Everest with no crew and being told to go. Edge says to pardon him if he has some self-doubt because he is facing Randy Orton, who has been here for all of those nine years and is firing on every cylinder. Christian says he is only hearing excuses and asks if Edge thought he was going to come back and play his greatest hits. Christian asks where Edge’s belief is. Christian remembers Edge’s mom being his biggest believer and he says that she will be watching on. Christian continues to try and motivate Edge and says he put Orton down at WrestleMania. Christian says they think that Edge has the anti-venom and he is good as he has ever been.
Randy Orton on the screen and he asks them to shut the hell up because he is going to be sick. Orton says they are talking about what they think and not what they actually know. Orton says Edge made the guarantee that he was going to “try” and Orton thinks that is pathetic. Orton says this match is astronomical and Orton is going to humiliate Edge and make him a broken man. Orton is going to send Edge back home to his wife and daughters where he belongs. Orton says the redemption of Edge is over.
Edge says, “no, it’s not” and throws down the mic. The Edge and Orton segments since WrestleMania have always been good and this was another great build. Here’s hoping they can make it work in the ring this time around.
Video recaps Bobby Lashley attacking WWE Champion Drew McIntyre last week after his match with MVP. Charly Caruso with MVP backstage and she asks what happened when Lashley put McIntyre in his Full Nelson last week. MVP tells her to tune in tonight to the “VIP Lounge” where Lashley will be his guest.
WWE 24/7 Champion R-Truth interrupts as he is trying to hide in an equipment cart. Truth tells MVP to look out for him as he tries to hide and MVP calls him a clown. Lashley sneaks up on him and locks Truth in the Full Nelson. Lashley tosses him to the ground as we break.
Bobby Lashley & MVP will take on The Viking Raiders later tonight and the announce team segues it into a recap of the “Anything You Can Do, We Can Do Better” rivalry between WWE Raw Tag Team Champions The Street Profits and The Viking Raiders. A video package recaps the two teams tying in a Decathlon event.
WWE United States Champion Apollo comes out to the ring and says he is excited to defend his title at Backlash against the winner of this triple-threat match between Angel Garza, Andrade, and Kevin Owens. Andrade and Angel Garza interrupt as they enter together, but Kevin Owens attacks them from behind and sends them into the boards and barricade before the commercials.
WWE United States Championship Contenders Triple-Threat Match: Angel Garza (w/Zelina Vega) vs. Andrade (w/Zelina Vega) vs. Kevin Owens
Garza and Andrade attack Owens together and work him down to start. They fight over covers and Owens slaps back. Garza pulls his trunks off and Owens rolls Andrade up for a nearfall. They go back to working Owens over. Owens punches out of the corner against Garza, but Andrade with a big boot. Owens kicks out of the corner and gets dragged down. A double-team suplex sees Garza and Andrade brawl over the cover. They fight to the outside and Vega tries to separate them. They knock Vega down and both check on her after arguing. Vega down as we cut to commercial.
Owens gets up top as we return and Garza hits him with a head kick. They fight up top. Owens knocks him down for a Swanton Bomb that gets a nearfall, broken by Andrade. Owens with a backpack senton with Andrade on top of Garza. Corner cannonballs land on both, but Andrade moves on one for double knees for Owens and Garza. Superkicks land and Owens left standing for a frog splash on Andrade for a nearfall. Back elbow from Andrade on Owens gets a nearfall. Andrade sends Owens into a Garza missile dropkick. Garza and Andrade exchange chops and they send each other over the top. Owens with a flip dive to take them out. Garza blocks a Stunner with a dropkick to the knee. Kneelock on Owens sees him get the rope break. Wing Clipper blocked for an Owens Stunner, but Andrade dropkicks Owens away.
Winner by pinfall: Andrade, 3.25 out of 5 stars
First very good match of the night as they played the Andrade and Garza attacks perfectly throughout. Andrade stealing the win from Owens was a great ending.
Sarah Schreiber with Charlotte Flair and she asks about her loss at NXT TakeOver: In Your House. Flair says she was not pinned and did not lose. Flair says it is always a busy 24 hours when you are “The Queen.” Flair says she main-evented TakeOver and she will main event Raw tonight. WWE Raw Women’s Champion Asuka interrupts with a dance celebrating being a champion. Flair asks if Asuka takes anything serious ever. Asuka says she does and slaps Flair before walking off. While it is getting a little heavy on Flair and Asuka each week, the reality is that they are electric in whatever screen time they get together.
Andrade and Angel Garza argue backstage. Zelina Vega comes up looking angry and points them to walk with her.
Kurt Angle previews “The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever” and says Edge will win.
The Viking Raiders backstage and they ask someone off-screen if they will become a Viking. WWE Champion Drew McIntyre says he is considering it and invites The Viking Raiders to have some meat and turkey legs with him if they beat Bobby Lashley and MVP tonight. McIntyre tells them to watch MVP’s “VIP Lounge” next after the commercials.
MVP in the ring after the break and he introduces the “VIP Lounge.” MVP introduces Bobby Lashley, but WWE Champion Drew McIntyre comes out instead. McIntyre says he was worried they aren’t friends anymore, but he thanks him for the introduction. McIntyre says MVP forgot to say WWE Champion. MVP says they aren’t friends and he wants to know why McIntyre is here. McIntyre says he noticed Lashley and Lana having a disagreement backstage and MVP says he wasn’t talking about McIntyre. He was talking about Lashley and his Full Nelson that he will use to take McIntyre’s WWE Championship at Backlash. McIntyre says he knows MVP doesn’t know anything about taking Lashley’s Full Nelson, but he has eaten a lot of Claymores lately. McIntyre doesn’t understand the relationship between MVP and Lashley, but he wants to talk less and Claymore. McIntyre starts to count down.
Lashley sneaks into the ring, but McIntyre sees him. McIntyre says he will beat Lashley at Backlash and MVP tries to attack, but McIntyre with a Glasgow Kiss. The Viking Raiders and WWE Raw Tag Team Champions The Street Profits come down as MVP and Lashley are set to take on the Viking Raiders after the break.
Bobby Lashley & MVP vs. The Viking Raiders
WWE Raw Champion Drew McIntyre and WWE Raw Tag Team Champions The Street Profits watch on from ringside.
MVP starts with Ivar, but he immediately tags to Lashley. Lashley with a flatliner for a nearfall and MVP tags in to punch Ivar in their corner. Lana shown watching on backstage as MVP gets isolated in the Viking Raiders corner. Erik slams Ivar onto MVP and MVP begs off for a tag to Lashley. Erik runs into a one-armed spinebuster from Lashley for a nearfall. Lashley works Erik into the corner. MVP with a dropkick on Erik and he gets nearfalls as he tries to keep Erik down. Double-team suplex on Erik gets MVP a nearfall. Erik with a forearm that rocks Lashley and it brings Ivar in against MVP for the comeback. Ivar with a senton out of the corner on MVP and a cartwheel into the big boot sends Lashley out. Lashley drags Ivar out, but it leads to a shoving match with The Street Profits. Ivar with a suicide dive that takes out MVP and Lashley as we break.
Lashley worked over in the Viking Raiders corner as we return. Lashley drops Ivar with a clothesline and brings in MVP for a double-team attack in the corner for a nearfall.
Lana backstage with Charly Caruso and she asks if it bothers her that her husband asks her to stay backstage. Lana says it does and MVP is a leech who has attached himself to her Bobby, but Lana says that this has helped her realize that she needs to focus on her career and make 2020 the year of Lana.
Ivar still worked down by Lashley and MVP. Ivar flips over the back of MVP and gets the hot tag to Erik for the comeback. MVP hit with the Hammer of Thor. Lashley sent outside and he goes face-to-face with McIntyre, but hits Ivar with a Spear. Lashley sneaks a tag inside and runs up on Erik with a Full Nelson.
Winners by submission: Bobby Lashley & MVP, 3 out of 5 stars
The action here was really good and Lashley looks really impressive as a title challenger, but there was so much going on outside and it took away from a pretty solid effort in the ring.
The announce team previews Backlash.
Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair
Before the match, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Sasha Banks and Bayley come to commentary.
Flair drops Asuka with a clothesline and Asuka fights back from the apron. Asuka looks for a suplex back inside, but Flair with a back elbow and a big boot to keep Asuka on the mat. Flair throws Asuka over the announce desk before the break.
Flair works Asuka down ringside as we return. Asuka lands a head kick. Flair tries a big boot inside, but Asuka catches the kick. Hip attack caught by Flair and Asuka turns it into an octopus. Flair with a big boot to get out. The IIconics are shown watching Bayley & Banks ringside and Flair with a surfboard stomp on Asuka. Flair with head kicks on Asuka against the apron. Asuka comes back with a dragon screw over the second rope. Hip attack against the boards and barricade from Asuka. Flair clotheslines her against them in return. Flair with knee drops inside. Asuka blocks a suplex with a small package nearfall back inside. Flair with a clothesline that drops Asuka for a nearfall. Flair brawls Asuka at ringside and they exchange forearms. Leg kicks from Asuka land and she goes up top back inside. Flair knocks her to the floor with a big boot.
The IIconics attack Bayley and Banks ringside. Fall from Grace lands on Bayley on top of the announce table before the break.
The IIconics and Bayley & Banks were banned from ringside during the break. Asuka lands roundhouse kicks to the chest as we return. Flair rolls Asuka up for a nearfall and Asuka turns it into an armbar. Flair with forearms to break the submission. Hip attack caught for a belly-to-back suplex from Flair for a nearfall. Flair with a headlock. Asuka escapes and Flair with knees. Flair works Asuka down, but Asuka with a missile dropkick out of the corner. A German suplex starts Asuka’s comeback. Flair stops it by sending Asuka into the apron outside. Asuka comes back with a kick to the face. Flair with a big boot on the apron. Barricade moonsault from Flair lands on Asuka. Flair slams the knee of Asuka into the ring post, but she uses her leg to pull Flair into the post. Hip attack inside gets Asuka caught in the ropes for a big boot from Flair for a nearfall. Asuka kicks away a Figure Four and a Spear from Flair met by a jumping knee from Asuka. Asuka Lock countered into a pin attempt from Flair. Inverted octopus from Asuka locked in. Flair rolls out. Counters exchanged in submission attempts.
Nia Jax comes to the ring. Asuka hits her with a hip attack to keep her off the apron. Asuka runs straight into a big boot from Flair.
Winner by pinfall: Charlotte Flair, 3.75 out of 5 stars
Aside from the finish, which was necessary but predictable, this was another clinic from Flair and Asuka in the main event.
