Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar are both announced for WWE Raw.
WWE Raw has announced Night 2 of the WWE Draft as Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar are both in attendance for the homecoming show for WWE Backlash in Puerto Rico. Raw also announced Matt Riddle vs. Jimmy Uso and Judgment Day vs. LWO.
Last week’s broadcast of WWE Raw, featuring Bad Bunny and the unveiling of the new WWE World Heavyweight Championship, garnered 1.185 million, essentially flat with last week.
WWE Raw Results May 1, 2023
- Damage CTRL def. Liv Morgan and Raquel RodrÃguez
- Ricochet and Braun Strowman won. Alpha Academy
- Matt Riddle defeats. jimmy uso
- Omos beats. local competitor
- Judgment Day def. LWO
WWE Draft Results
WWE Raw
- Rhea Ripley | Round 1, Choose 1
- Seth Rollins | Round 1, choice 3
- Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens | Round 2, Pick 5
- Judgment Day | Round 2, choice 7
- Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez | Round 3, choice 9
- The new day | Round 3, pick 11
- Trish Stratus | Round 4, pick 13
- Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler | Round 4, Pick 15
- Braun Strowman and Ricochet | Round 5, pick 17
- Reed Bronson | Round 5, pick 19
- Alpha Academy | Round 6, pick 21
- Katana Chance and Kayden Carter | Round 6, pick 23
WWE SmackDown
- Austin theory | Round 1, Choice 2
- Charlotte Flair | Round 1, choice 4
- Usos | Round 2, choice 6
- LWO | Round 2, choice 8
- Asuka | Round 3, Pick 10
- Brawling Brutes | Round 3, pick 12
- Karrion Kross | Round 4, pick 14
- LA Knight | Round 4, pick 16
- Shotzi | Round 5, pick 18
- Pretty deadly | Round 5, Pick 20
- Rick Boogs | Round 6, pick 22
- Cameron Grimes | Round 6, Pick 24
WWE Raw Rankings
- April 24, 2023 | 1.815 million
- April 17, 2023 | 1.815 million
- April 10, 2023 | 1.818 million
- April 3, 2023 | 2.260 million
- March 27, 2023 | 1.843 million
- WWE Raw Location: Dickies Arena (Fort Worth, TX)
- WWE Raw tickets distributed: 10,405
- WWE Raw tickets available: 0
Mike Tyson vs. Logan Paul in WWE? (PTB)
WWE Raw Winners and Ratings
Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman launch WWE Raw
Seth Rollins remains the favorite to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship despite how one-dimensional his character is.
Rollins finally mentioned that he would never have had a rematch against Roman Reigns, which is not a long-term storytelling.
WWE Raw Opening Segment Rating: B
Damage CTRL def. Liv Morgan and Raquel RodrÃguez
The announcers explained how Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez add value to the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships for a change, only for the tandem to lose.
The fact that Damage CTRL was drafted as a unit and suggests their breakup is pending, but this time around the tag team was Bayley, not Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai, so maybe that’s- still be in preparation.
CTRL damage against Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez Rating: B-
Braun Strowman and Ricochet won. Alpha Academy
Booker T and Sharmell announced the second-round picks.
Both Maxxine Dupri and Chad Gable accompanied Otis to the ring, suggesting Alpha Academy didn’t stand a chance in this one.
Right on cue, Otis and Gable lost, but there wasn’t as much contention between Gable and Dupri as you might think.
Strowman and Ricochet vs. Alpha Academy: B-
Brock Lesnar brawls with Cody Rhodes
Brock Lesnar interrupted WWE Draft announcements for Shawn Michaels and Adam Pearce.
Adam Pearce called his security cavalcade gentlemen, which is the least intimidating security name I’ve ever heard.
Cody Rhodes attacked Brock Lesnar from behind and Rhodes and Lesnar didn’t bother to fight for safety as Rhodes fought desperately to do just that.
Brock Lesnar’s new t-shirt bears an uncanny resemblance to the iconic Bullet Club t-shirts.
SmackDown continues to load groups as the Brawling Brutes, LWO, and Usos will all be linked to Smackdown.
Brock Lesnar and Cody Rhodes Brawl Grade: B
Matt Riddle defeats. jimmy uso
Sami and Kevin did an Eddie Guerrero-esque blind chair trick, and when Jey Uso was (wrongly) kicked out because of it, that crowd went wild.
Sami, Kevin and Matt Riddle all got it wrong to defeat poor Jimmy Uso.
Matt Riddle vs. Jimmy Uso Grade: B-
MizTV with Shinsuke Nakamura
RVD (who continues to be heavily in Texas) and Eric Bischoff announced the Round 4 WWE Draft picks.
Miz launched the “Mizuke Nakamura” team, which sounds great.
Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs are on the same show (for now), but there’s no reunion in sight.
Shinsuke Nakamura taught The Miz a phrase in Japanese, and it translated to “the guy with the little balls.”
MizTV Rating: B
Omos beats. local competitor
Omos, like Brock Lesnar, negotiated free agent status into his contract. I’m telling you, if he wins this WWE World Heavyweight Championship, I won’t be the least bit surprised.
Omos picked up a squash win on WWE’s Backlash home show, and his match against Seth Rollins suddenly looks like a draw.
Omos vs Local Competitor Grade: C+
Last Judgment against LWO
Road Dogg and Molly Holly announced the WWE Draft picks for the fifth round. Of note, Pretty Deadly received a nice pop when their names were called at the end of round five.
At this point, any Judgment Day vs LWO match feels like trolling, especially if LWO loses again.
Rhea Ripley threatened to “pretzel” Zelina Vega at WWE Backlash, which references her popular pinning combination.
Damian Priest was inundated with “what” chants, and he responded by cutting the promo in Spanish. Dominik was a super heel as usual. Mysterio did a great job of extracting as much heat as possible from this crowd.
Fans were all behind Rey Mysterio until he said Zelina was going to beat Rhea for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship.
Kevin Patrick explained how Damian Priest and Bad Bunny grew up in the same town and know each other’s families. Considering they’re headlining a WWE pay-per-view, the homecoming show shouldn’t be the first I’ve heard of this.
Rhea Ripley delivered a great running dropkick to Santos Escobar, who sold it perfectly.
Judgment Day picked up the win when Finn Balor took a 619 in place of Priest. Death, taxes and LWO losing on TV.
Judgment Day vs. LWO Grade: B
Seth Rollins beats. Solo Sikoa by disqualification
Given that Seth Rollins and Solo Sikoa have big games coming up this weekend and need to be protected, it’s highly likely that this game will end in a schmoz finish. That said, too many Solo Sikoa matches have unfinished ones.
Paul Heyman was making a phone call, presumably to Roman Reigns, near the end footage of this game.
Sikoa hit Rollins with two Spinning Solos and a ground and pound, and after Rollins exited the ring, The Usos hit the ring for the predictable disqualification. It eventually escalated into a fight with Owens, Zayn, and Riddle and Raw went off the air before Corey Graves could finish his thought.
Solo Sikoa vs. Seth Rollins Grade: B