Welcome to Bleacher Report's coverage and recap of WWE Raw on May 30.
This was the final show for the red brand before Sunday's Hell in a Cell event, so it was all hands on deck as the company put the finishing touches on most of its storylines.
Bobby Lashley, Omos and MVP met for a contract signing to make their handicap match at the pay-per-view official, but as we all know, these things rarely end without some kind of mayhem.
After forming a new team on SmackDown, Riddle and Shinsuke Nakamura faced The Usos in a Championship Contender's match.
Cody Rhodes addressed his upcoming fight against Seth Rollins, and Bianca Belair stepped into the ring with Asuka before Becky Lynch was added to the mix for HIAC to make it a Triple Threat.
Let's take a look at what went down during the go-home episode of Raw before Hell in a Cell.
Becky Lynch opened the show with a promo segment to hype her upcoming match at HIAC against Asuka and Belair. It was one of those "You people" promos that a lot of heels fall back on.
Asuka and Belair both eventually joined her in the ring. As you would imagine, this broke down into a physical altercation. Belair and Asuka sent Big Time Becks packing before they squared off in the first match of the night.
The title will be on the line Sunday, so this bout was just to get The Empress of Tomorrow and The EST of WWE in the ring together. The match started as soon as we returned from a commercial break.
Both women are babyfaces, so they were having more of a respectful exchange than Lynch and Asuka had the past couple of weeks. While it wasn't as aggressive, it still had a high level of competitiveness.
Belair relied on her power and agility while The Empress used her striking and submission skills. It was a nice combination of skills that allowed them to put on a good performance.
The EST scored the win by reversing a pinning combination Asuka was attempting, but Big Time Becks had the last laugh when she attacked both women after the match and left them down in the ring.
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
Lynch calling herself a god by creating life was a really good line.
Belair is so physically impressive. She does backflips and diving somersaults like they're nothing.
The EST deadlifting Asuka into a suplex was very good.
Lynch called herself a wizard on commentary. She and Chris Jericho might need to have a wizard battle to see who gets to keep the nickname. It'll be like the finale of Harry Potter but with more sweat and bodyslams.
Rey and Dominik Mysterio teamed up with Ezekiel to take on Chad Gable, Otis and Kevin Owens in a six-man tag team contest this week.
This was the usual three-on-three bout we have come to expect from WWE. Both sides had times when they were in control, and all six men had at least one moment that stood out.
The only problem is that it felt too formulaic. Six-man tags used to be way more chaotic than a typical tag team match, but now they feel too regimented and planned out.
That quibble aside, this bout had a couple of fun spots and made some of the competitors look great. Rey taking down Otis with a big dropkick, Zeke's spinning powerbomb and KO's post-match freakout were all enjoyable moments.
Rey and Dom hit the double 619 before Ezekiel hit Gable with his finisher for the win. This was alright, but nothing to write home about.
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
Rey and Dom had black and pink attire, which really stuck out after Owen Hart was talked about so much this weekend.
It's hard to tell sometimes, but it seems like Zeke has won the crowd over for the most part. His gimmick is so weird, but KO has helped make the storyline easier to digest by being so funny.
WWE needs to put Owens back into the hunt for a title. He is too valuable to keep all the belts off of him.
Cody Rhodes came out to talk about Rollins and give another long promo about what he has been through and what he hopes to accomplish. The Visionary appeared in the crowd to respond. It was more of the same of what we have been seeing from these two since all of this started.
However, this time, they did not just let their words do the talking for them. They ended up meeting in the crowd and brawling all over the place. The battle brought them back to the ringside area, but it was eventually broken up by several officials and producers.
Had this been just another long promo segment, it would have been one too many for this feud. Thankfully, the fight upped the ante and made it a lot more engaging.
Grade: B
The next match featured Alexa Bliss taking on Doudrop, but the powerhouse was not alone. Nikki A.S.H. was there to support her current tag team partner.
Bliss was giving up a significant size and power advantage here, so she was the underdog during the entire fight. The crowd gave her a little pop when she started to build some momentum, but Doudrop quickly slammed her to put a stop to it.
Even at a disadvantage, The Goddess still managed to get the win with Twisted Bliss. The match wasn't very long at all and they seemed to have a slight lack of chemistry, but there were some highlights along the way. Bliss looked great hitting her finisher.
Grade: C
Notable Moments and Observations
Doudrop's entrance music could barely be heard when she came out.
The ring gear Doudrop had for this match is a big improvement. This was the coolest she has looked since joining the main roster.
Nikki needs to ditch this gimmick. It's just not fun anymore. Maybe it never was.
The Miz was back for another episode of Miz TV. Before he was done giving his introduction, The Street Profits made their way to the ring as his guests for the show.
Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins had a great exchange with The A-Lister that produced several hilarious moments, but then the entire 24/7 division stormed the arena and began fighting over the belt. The mayhem ended with Tamina claiming the belt for herself and grabbing Akira Tozawa for a big kiss.
Then, Tozawa pinned her for the title and ran away with it. Reading a breakdown like this probably makes it sound like the worst part of the show, but that is not true at all. This was hilarious.
Dawkins and Ford were amazing with The Miz, and the stuff with all of the 24/7 competitors was probably one of the only times it hasn't felt forced in months. This whole thing worked the way it needed to.
Grade: B
The next match had Mustafa Ali taking on Ciampa with a U.S. title shot on the line, but only for Ali. If the former NXT champion won, he did not earn a title shot for some reason.
Ciampa and Ali are both incredibly gifted performers, so everything they did had a layer of shine on it that you don't get with everybody. Some people are just smoother than everybody else, and these two fall into that category.
However, a few minutes into the match, Theory interfered and caused a disqualification. He beat Ali down before telling him he might as well put the title on the line now so he doesn't have to do it in the future.
WWE is obviously building up the Ali vs. Theory feud, but it feels like a cruel joke to tease a potential Match of the Year candidate like Ali vs. Ciampa only to pull the rug from under us.
Grade: C
Notable Moments and Observations
Dawkins giving The Miz a high five when he threw his hand in the air to quiet everyone down was hilarious.
The A-Lister looked like he was trying hard not to smile when he was in the ring with the Profits.
Ciampa is in the best shape of his life. He looks like he has put on a few pounds of muscle, too.
After the break, the ref checked to see if Ali could compete. Despite looking like he was in pain, he agreed to continue. The announcer made the introductions and we were off to the races.
Theory immediately asserted his dominance again by taking Ali down several times. After just a couple of minutes, Theory hit his finisher for the win.
We're not even going to go into great detail about why this wasn't the right way to do this. It was just bad booking all around.
Grade: C-
Notable Moments and Observations
At least Ali's gear looked cool, so there's that.
Adam Pearce announced a rematch between Theory and Ali for Hell in a Cell this weekend, so we might still get a happy ending.
The Usos took on Riddle and Nakamura with a potential title shot on the line for the new team if they picked up the win.
The Original Bro took control of Jimmy almost immediately, but once Nakamura was in the ring, the brothers cornered him for some double-team offense.
The champs kept the upper hand for some time, even after Riddle tagged in to give his partner a break. The Usos may have controlled most of the action, but a hot tag to Nakamura turned the tide.
After the break and a bit more action, Jimmy got his team disqualified by using Riddle's scooter as a weapon, and that means The Original Bro and Nakamura will likely receive a title shot, possibly at Sunday's PPV.
We have said this countless times: The key to good pro wrestling is just letting the wrestlers work. That is what happened here, so the end result was positive.
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
The intensity Nakamura has when he is hitting knee strikes is awesome. He looks like he really lays it in.
Remember when it was hard to tell the difference between Jimmy and Jey? It's kind of nice always knowing who is in the ring now.
Riddle might be able to hit a decent RKO, but it never looks anywhere near as good as when Randy Orton does it. It probably never will. The Viper just has this ability to make it look so good.
Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley will be involved in a mixed six-person tag match at the PPV, but they met for a singles bout this week to give us a little preview.
Then WWE had Morgan wait through two commercial breaks and several videos before the contest began. When it did get going, Ripley took control with a headbutt right away.
Damian Priest and AJ Styles showed up to provide support for their respective allies. Morgan was the underdog in just about every category, so The Nightmare dominated the vast majority of this bout.
Priest lent Ripley a hand, so Styles ran around the ring and took him out with a flying elbow. Morgan hit a backstabber and stacked Ripley up for the pin.
Finn Balor joined the party so he could help Morgan and Styles take out Priest and Ripley. Edge never made an appearance, so the babyfaces stood tall.
The match was decent and what happened afterward was fun, but it took way too long for this to start.
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
Was somebody playing a joke on Morgan? It felt like she was waiting longer for her match to begin than anyone has ever had to wait after making an entrance. It was 19 minutes from the time she appeared until the first bell rang.
Ripley countering a hurricanrana and whipping Morgan into the barricade was a great spot to use right before a commercial.
The crossbody Morgan hit from the top rope to the floor looked great. The way The Nightmare caught her and landed was perfect.
Raw ended with the contract signing for the handicap match between Lashley and the team of Omos and MVP. For some reason, Lashley and Omos were both in their gear despite not being scheduled for a bout.
MVP took credit for everything Lashley has accomplished, but The All Mighty said he never needed him to do a single thing in his life. They both said they felt betrayed by the other.
A huge security team tried to keep them from fighting, but both powerhouses cleared the ring of everybody. As they prepared to fight, Cedric Alexander gave Lashley a chop block.
The show ended with Lashley and Omos crashing through a table that was set up in the corner.
This was better than most contract signings, but it shouldn't have been the main event segment of the night. It should have taken place before the previous match so Ripley and Morgan could have been in the final slot.
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
How can MVP claim Lashley betrayed him? There was no follow-up.
Alexander legitimately appeared out of nowhere. Maybe he is the guy we should be calling a wizard.
