Pre-Show: SD Tag Championship -- Bryan and Rowan (c) vs The Usos
The Usos are on RAW and even with the stupid free agency rule there’s not a lot of logic to them being contenders for a SD championship. I’d have the Revival gain some measure of revenge by distracting the Usos so that Bryan and Rowan can retain.
SD Women’s Championship – Becky Lynch (c) vs Charlotte Flair
They are making such a huge deal about Lynch having two matches on the same show and the likelihood that she’ll lose one or both of them at Money in the Bank. Hopefully, that’s a red herring, because taking a belt off Lynch this quickly after the biggest women’s victory of all time would be a mistake. I’d have this match start the main show and have them go for a long and aggressive match. Lynch survives and manages to hit a Becksploder suplex on Flair to get the victory, but looks absolutely exhausted afterwards.
Roman Reigns vs Elias
This one is unfortunately simple. Roman Reigns is just being built back up on the SD roster and Elias is still just viewed as a comedy sideshow act to be embarrassed. Roman wins a quick match with a clean Superman Punch.
Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Alexa Bliss has been ruled out of this match as not medically cleared to compete, that makes me wonder if she’ll ever be cleared to compete. I’d have Sonya DeVille be Bliss’ replacement and have her continue her feud with Mandy Rose by taking Rose out when it looks like she’ll win the match. I’d have Bayley win the championship as a catalyst for her to start taking what she wants and stop being so passive, and go with a heel turn to freshen up her character.
Cruiserweight Championship – Tony Nese (c) vs Ariya Daivari
Nese wins to continue his reign after hitting his finisher.
RAW Women’s Championship – Becky Lynch (c) vs Lacey Evans
DO NOT PUT THE BELT ON LACEY EVANS!!! Ok now that we’ve got that out of the way, I’d have Lynch play up her exhaustion level from the match with Flair and have that be what keeps this match close, but after a fairly short match, Evans goes for the Women’s Right punch, but Lynch grabs her arm and locks in the Disarmher for the victory. After the match Bayley comes out holding the briefcase and gestures the belt around her waist, but doesn’t go any further than that.
US Championship – Samoa Joe (c) vs Rey Mysterio
This feud has really hit some new levels and has been very entertaining recently and the addition of Dominic should add some different elements to this feud, which he wouldn’t do if Joe just crushes Rey again. I’d have Joe on the verge of choking out Mysterio again when Dominic climbs up on the apron, when Joe goes to attack Dominic, Rey rolls up Joe to become new champion.
Steel Cage – Miz vs Shane McMahon
A steel cage is such an odd parameter for this feud at this stage. I mean the rules need to dictate how this one goes. If it’s just escape then Miz wouldn’t ever escape, he’s going to stay in and beat on McMahon. The other argument is this feud could be a good chance for some character development for Miz. He lost at Mania because he cared more about hurting Shane than winning and I’d do the same thing here. Miz and Shane both climb to the top and Miz throws Shane off the top of the cage. Miz looks to the outside, but skips sure victory to fly off the cage, but Shane rolls out of the way and crawls out of the cage with Miz down. From there I’d write Shane off TV for a while with injuries from the match and have Miz go on a journey of controlling his emotions.
WWE Championship – Kofi Kingston (c) vs Kevin Owens
I fear that WWE is setting up Owens to get the win they planned on him getting at WrestleMania, but now off his heel turn it doesn’t make much sense. It’s more valuable to have Kofi retain and continue to run with the belt headed into the summer. I’d have Owens “accidentally” knock out the ref and turn things loose on the outside, but Xavier makes the save and hits Owens with his finisher to help Kofi win the match.
Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Most of the guys in this match either don’t need the briefcase or shouldn’t have it. It would do more harm than good for Riccochet, Finn or Ali to win it and Baron and Randy just don’t need the MITB and probably shouldn’t be world champion in the near future. That leaves Sami, Andrade and Drew McIntyre and I bet WWE has McIntyre win it, but I’d give it to Zayn because he’s the best thing going on RAW right now and his current attitude really reminds me of Edge when he first won the briefcase. I think Sami could do a lot with it after holding it for a long time before cashing in.
Universal Championship – Seth Rollins (c) vs A.J. Styles
I miss the good old days when the WWE would start a champion off with a somewhat overbooked filler feud that allowed the new champion to gain some momentum and put on some good matches without burning through a feud where neither guy can really absorb a loss at the moment. This feud would be great 3-4 months down the road, but now it just seems rushed. Rollins needs to retain and build a lengthy reign, otherwise having him take the belt off Lesnar was just a waste of time. Styles should have him set for a phenomenal forearm, but Rollins dodges, knees Styles in the stomach and then hits a stomp for the victory.