WWE Raw is scheduled to be live from Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, which is the first weekly Episode of WWE after the premium live event WWE Backlash. The tournament of the New World Heavyweight Champion headlines the Raw Episode. Different superstars will compete for the New World Title, but one person will win. We bring WWE Raw Results, Winners, Grades, and Analysis from the 8th May Episode.
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Cody Rhodes Promo + Triple Threat Match
Cody Rhodes opened the Raw and bragged about getting into the skin of the Beast Incarnate and taking the victory over him at Backlash. Now, his main focus will be on winning the new world title. After his short promo, WWE started the night’s first match to culminate in a new world champion. Seth Rollins, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Damien Priest battled in this match, and the winner will advance in the tournament. Seth Rollins used the pedigree finisher on Nakamura to win this match. Cody Rhodes’ promo indicated that his rivalry with Brock Lesnar is unfinished. Seth Rollins is the right guy to win this match. He will meet the winner of Finn Balor, Cody Rhodes, and The Miz in the main event of Monday Night Raw.
Winner: Seth Rollins
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Grade B
Mustafa Ali vs Otis
Otis and Maxim Male Models’ story has a new chapter when Otis took on Mustafa Ali to avenge his tag team partner’s loss two weeks ago. The match was usual high-flying moves by Mustafa Ali and a power show by Otis. However, the story of Maxxine Dupree persuading Otis to join her team and leave Chad Gable got the crowd’s reaction. The match was nothing special, but the story will surely treat WWE Universe in the coming weeks.
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Winner: Otis
Grade C+
Triple Threat Match for World Heavyweight Champion
Cody Rhodes, Finn Balor, and The Miz faced each other to determine to 2nd winner of Today’s World Heavyweight Title Contender. Brock Lesnar made his presence felt and attacked Cody Rhodes. Finn Balor capitalized on the opening and got the victory in this match. WWE provided us with a history-making match in the main event of Monday Night Raw as Finn Balor was the person who beat Seth Rollins for the Universal Title at Summerslam 2016. It was the best finish to take Cody Rhodes out of title contention. The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes will face Brock Lesnar at Night of Champions.
Winner: Finn Balor
Grade B
Dana Brooke vs Rhea Ripley
Dana Brooke took the challenge against Smackdown women’s champion Rhea Ripley to show off her skills. It was a squash match where Rhea Ripley hit the riptide and then caught Brooke with the Prison Lock to get the submission victory. It was a filler match to tell people who would be the next challenger of Rhea Ripley. Natalya returned to Raw and looked like she would be the first challenger of the newly crowned SmackDown’s women champion.
Winner: Rhea Ripley
Grade C
Undisputed Tag Team Champions vs Imperium
Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens put their titles on the line against Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser of Imperium. The Imperium did not have The Ring General Gunther with them, who will join them on Raw next week. Zayn and Owens won this match and successfully defended their titles. It was a nice start for Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens on the new brand, as both wrestlers will benefit from this move because they will stay away from the Bloodline for some time. However, Imperium could have a better start on Raw. It will be interesting to see how Gunther will react to their defeat next week.
Winner: Sami and KO
Grade B+
Nikki Cross vs Zoey Stark
Zoey Stark debuted on Raw when she faced former World Champion Nikki Cross. Nikki Cross sold the NXT call-up’s offense while she provided a hell of a match on her first visit to Monday Night Raw. Zoey Stark rolled Nikki Cross for the victory. The booking of this match indicates that WWE has bigger plans for Zoey Stark in the future, as NXT export looked good in her debut.
Winner: Zoey Stark
Grade C
Trish Stratus Promo Segment
Trish Status joined WWE full-time and turned heel on Becky Lynch last month. It was clearly evident that Trish tried to get heat with her promo in this segment. However, the crowd did not want to give boos to the WWE Hall of Famer. After some trash-talking and bragging about destroying Becky Lynch, Trish got a surprise return of The Man Becky Lynch. The crowd turned hot with her return. She hit Stratus with a big right hand. WWE used this program to give something to Becky Lynch as well as give a bigger and more established name to Trish Stratus. This match will be great for the WWE Universe.
Grade B+
Xavier Woods vs Dominik Mysterio
A backstage confrontation between New Day’s Xavier Woods and Judgement Day’s Dominik led both wrestlers to this match. Woods looked to dominate Dominik, but Rhea Ripley quickly interrupted to give 2nd generation superstar an edge over Woods. Dominik dominated the match against Xavier and won it in a few minutes. Putting these two stars against each other was not a bad move. Xavier Woods is an established name in WWE where Dominik needs this kind of opponent to get more reaction from the crowd. It is still unknown if Dominik will win a match without outside interference.
Winner: Dominik Mysterio
Grade B
World Heavyweight Title Semi-Final
Seth Rollins and Finn Balor faced each other in the main event of Monday Night Raw to determine the finalist of the WWE World Heavyweight Title Tournament. Finn Balor and Seth Rollins have great chemistry, and both of these stars are one of the best wrestlers in the world. There were glimpses of their match for the WWE Universal Championship from Summerslam 2016. But the result was totally different. Seth Rollins hit the stomp to pin Finn Balor and cash his ticket to the Night of Champions. Seth Rollins is the most deserving guy to get the title victory. It is still unknown who he will face at May 27 event. WWE gives a strong main event to end Monday Night Raw.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Grade B+
Overall Analysis
WWE delivered with the New World Heavyweight Title Tournament. Both Triple Threat matches were great, but the main event between Rollins and Balor stood out among the three matches. There were a few segments that were fillers. Cody Rhodes challenged Brock Lesnar to a match at Night of Champions in a backstage promo which is a good development. Rhea Ripley got a veteran opponent to start its championship run. A huge development occurred in the rivalry between Stratus and Lynch. The Undisputed Tag Team Champions got a fresh start this week. It was a great episode of WWE Monday Night Raw compared to the previous week’s Episode. Give us your opinion if you like WWE Monday Night Raw Results, Winners, Grades, and Analysis from May 8 Episode.
