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WWE Raw Results: News, Notes After Seth Rollins Defeats Daniel Bryan, Corbin Fails To Name Referee

Alfred Konuwa
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Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
I write about men in tights and the money they make for men in suits.
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This article is more than 4 years old.

Seth Rollins unleashed steel chair attacks on several WWE Superstars throughout Raw.

Credit: WWE.com

WWE Raw was built around the big reveal of Baron Corbin's special guest referee for his forthcoming Universal Championship match against Seth Rollins at WWE Stomping Grounds. Rollins vowed to beat any potential candidates with a steel chair, and he did just that with attacks on the likes of Elias, Eric Young and EC 3.

Despite teasing Baron Corbin's announcement for Raw, WWE once again came up empty in the promise department with Raw going off the air with no special guest referee announced.

Last week's Raw drew the lowest non-holiday number in modern history against stiff competition from an NBA Finals elimination game between the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors.

WWE Raw Viewership—Last Five Weeks
Air Date WWE Raw Viewership 
June 10, 2019 2.125 million viewers
June 3, 2019 2.405 million viewers
May 27, 2019 2.190 million viewers
May 20, 2019 2.521 million viewers
May 13, 2019 2.349 million viewers

WWE Raw Key Competition: 

  • MTV Movie and TV Awards

From the Forbes WWE Vault:

WWE Total YouTube Viewership for Raw Last Monday: 10,271,804 views (Down from 24,397,476 views)

  • Most-Viewed: R-Truth Gets Trapped in an Elevator with 24/7 Title Challengers (3,051,149 views) 
  • Least-Viewed: A Special Look at WWE Super ShowDown (75,856 views)
  • Median Viewership: 452,223

Estimated Attendance for "A City": 9,235

Average WWE Raw Ticket Price at the Staples Center: $73

Estimated Live Gate for WWE Raw: $674,155

WWE Raw: Monday, June 17, 2019 

Opening Segment featuring Elias and Seth Rollins 

The Staples Center shortly after news broke of an Anthony Davis trade to the Lakers is the perfect venue for an Elias promo.

Elias would have made for a hilarious special guest referee, especially when attempting to sing his three counts.

Seth Rollins is on pace to swing a chair more times than Triple H has swung a sledgehammer.

Ricochet def. Braun Strowman, The Miz, Bobby Lashley and Cesaro 

The level of pursuit dedicated to the United States Championship this past couple of weeks has been truly admirable, but WWE needs about six months of this type of booking to make this title even close to relevant.

Ricochet's 630 still scares the hell out of me.

Becky Lynch Confronts Lacey Evans 

I still have faith in Lacey Evans as a future star in WWE, but if WWE "Dana Brook's" her by throwing their hands up and demoting her after a loss Sunday, she has no chance.

Why in god's name would anybody have interest in Lacey Evans as a potential threat to Becky Lynch after this segment?

The Viking Raiders def. Russ and Randy Taylor 

After beating the Raw tag team champions clean, what business do The Viking Raiders have in another squash match? Do they look like the IIconics?

I can't wait to see how quickly WWE tries to put tag team gold on the Viking Raiders when they start approaching a contract year.

What's more likely in the next two years, The Revival shows up in AEW or the Viking Raiders go back to NXT.

The New Day def. Baron Corbin, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens 

Kevin Owens read Baron Corbin's entrance with the enthusiasm of somebody who is currently employed by WWE.

Those on the wrong side of a Seth Rollins assault is slowly beginning to read like a who's who of who should be asking for Tony Khan's phone number. Poor EC 3.

Kofi Kingston's win streak extended even through a two-out-of-three falls match. The man has not lost a single fall since the month of March. Incredible.

Paul Heyman Teases a Brock Lesnar Appearance 

Paul Heyman made yet another Lakers joke inside the Staples Center. Did he not watch the first half of the show? If not, the question becomes has he been hanging around Brock Lesnar too long?

Paul Heyman is getting paid a lucrative salary to lie about Brock Lesnar every week. Good work if you can get it.

The Usos def. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson 

The Good Brothers' new gimmick is the pair being comfortable and going through the motions. They say the best gimmicks are inspired by real life.

AJ Styles asked, "when was the last time The Good Brothers won a match?" They didn't have an answer, but I do: March 12, 2019.

There could be worse ideas for AJ Styles than as a surrogate coach for the Good Brothers.

Roman Reigns Destroys Drew McIntyre and Shane McMahon

The always controversial Hulk Hogan was shown cutting a promo for the United States Women's Soccer Team and I swear I heard a mountain of boos in the background.

WWE paid off this whole Shane McMahon-Roman Reigns storyline at least a week too early.

Los Angeles really took a liking to babyface Roman Reigns. His odds of winning at Stomping Grounds on Sunday just took a nosedive, and if he does, Kofi Kingston is likely next.

The IIconics def. Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss

The IIconics made another Los Angeles Lakers joke, which has to be evidence of a disorganized writing staff. The repeated cheap heat jokes against the Lakers wouldn't even be that big of a deal if the jokes were good.

Compared to the level of competition they've had during their run as tag team champions, beating Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss would be like climbing Mount Everest.

All Nikki Cross has to do is log onto Twitter and read Bayley's Twitter feud and she could save herself an entire heel turn.

Bray Wyatt's Firefly Fun House 

This was the most serious Firefly Fun House yet, which tells me Bray Wyatt is that much closer to his in-ring debut.

The content of this segment leads me to believe that Vince McMahon might be a flat earther.

After seeing the montage of Firefly Fun House episodes I was afraid Bray Wyatt was going to finally appear in front of a live audience tonight, but thankfully, that was not the case, and the Firefly Fun House segments live on.

Seth Rollins def. Daniel Bryan 

By Reminding the world that Seth Rollins had never beaten him, Daniel Bryan essentially gave away the finish of tonight's main event.

It was a huge plothole that the announcers criticized Seth Rollins for being paranoid when the man has to constantly be worried about Brock Lesnar cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase in addition to a potentially shady referee. Seth Rollins has every right to be paranoid.

WWE had more than enough time for a satisfactory main event between Seth Rollins and AJ Styles but, for whatever reason, they felt a mid-match scrum would be an enhancement.

My official guess as to who will be Baron Corbin's handpicked referee at Stomping Grounds: Corey Graves.

 

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Alfred Konuwa
Alfred Konuwa