The March 18, 2019 edition of WWE RAW took place at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, IL.
– WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar comes out to the ring with Paul Heyman to kick off the show. They step in the ring and Heyman gets on the mic and starts talking trash about Seth Rollins. Heyman talks about Brock running through all the opponents in his path so far. Drew McIntyre comes out to interrupt and tells the fans to shut their mouth and open their ears. McIntyre talks about beating up The Shield, then Rollins runs down the ramp and ambushes McIntyre with a steel chair. Rollins repeatedly bashes Drew with the steel chair over and over. Rollins hits the ring, and Brock and Paul retreat. Brock and Paul walk around ringside and Brock laughs at Rollins. Brock holds up his Universal Title and and heads to the back. Rollins yells and heads to the back after.
– Still to come: Batista’s “side of the story.”
– We see a replay of Bobby Lashley defeating Finn Balor last week for the Intercontinental title. We then see Lashley and Lio Rush in the locker room backstage warming up.
– Finn Balor comes out to the ring and gets on the mic, but Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush quickly come out to interrupt. Lio trashes Balor and Bobby holds up his IC Title. Balor tells Bobby to enjoy it while he can because he’s going to get his hands back on his Title real soon. Balor say it’s time to introduce his partner, and he thinks Bobby will recognize him: Braun Strowman.
– Finn Balor & Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley & Lio Rush: The opening bell starts off strong and Braun dumps Bobby out to ringside early on. Finn and Lio tag in now and go at it, then Bobby tags back in and puts the boots to Balor. Lio tags back in but Balor drops him with a dropkick, then Bobby tags back in and pummels on Balor. Bobby misses a spear in the corner and Lio tags in. Balor drops him with the Sling blade, then Braun Strowman tags in and throws Lio around. Braun tosses Lio from one side of the ring to another, then clubs him down. Braun looks for the running powerslam, but Bobby runs in and spears him down for the save. Lio tackles Bobby down and hits a double foot stomp on him. Lio attacks Balor from behind and throws him outside, then he hits a spash on Braun. Braun kicks out at two, then he drops Bobby at ringside. Back in the ring, Braun chokeslams Lio, then hits a running powerslam. Bobby walks up the ramp and abandons Lio. Braun covers for the three count.
Winners: Finn Balor & Braun Strowman
– Ronda Rousey is shown arriving to the building with her husband Travis Browne. A referee confronts her with security behind him, and says they don’t want another incident like last week. Ronda brushes off the referee and continues the walking into the arena.
– Alexa Bliss comes out to the stage and talks about being the host for WrestleMania, and we go to a video package looking at the card. Back to Alexa, Elias comes out to interrupt with his guitar. Alexa says last year Elias said WrestleMania would be his greatest performance at all, and Elias interrupts saying last year is the reason for all of this. He compares himself Queen and Johnny Cash, and then No Way Jose’s conga line comes out, lead by Otis and Tucker of Heavy Machinery. Elias and Alexa look confused. Alexa interrupts and asks what they’re doing, and they were supposed to come out later at the end of the segment. Elias gets in Otis’ face, then a masked man attacks Elias from behind. He pulls off the mask to revel that it’s No Way Jose. Jose and Elias are in action next.
– We see a promo video for SummerSlam on August 11th.
– No Way Jose vs. Elias: Jose starts off strong and slams Elias down. Elias fights back and dodges a shot from Jose, then slams him down. Elias follows up with the Drift Away for the three count after a short match.
Winner: No Way Jose
– Kurt Angle comes out to the ring next and gets on the mic. Kurt thanks the McMahon family for giving him one last shot to compete at WrestleMania, and to pick his own opponent. Kurt says out of everyone, there’s only one person left he wants to beat – and it’s the man who’s made his life a living hell since he came back as RAW GM – Baron Corbin.
– Kurt Angle vs. Chad Gable: Gable and Angle shake hands before the opening bell. Gable trips up Angle, but Angle comes back with a belly to belly overhead suplex. Gable fights back and trades holds with Angle on the mat. Gable starts working over Angle’s knee. Angle comes back and dumps Gable outside, allowing himself to recover. Back in the ring, Angle looks for the ankle lock, but Gable escapes. Angle looks for a German suplex, but Gable escapes that too and puts Kurt in the ankle lock. They grapple back and forth, and Gable misses a moonsault attempt and Angle capitalizes with the ankle lock. Gable taps out for the finish.
Winner: Kurt Angle
– After the match, Baron Corbin comes out and cuts a promo on Kurt, saying he’s looking forward to ending Kurt’s career at WrestleMania.
– We go backstage where Baron Corbin is talking to The Revival. Apollo Crews approaches him and asks him for a match. Corbin resists, but Crews keeps pushing him for an answer. Crews says no one likes Corbin. Corbin says The Revival likes him, but they say hell no.
– Sasha Banks and Bayley are in the ring with their Tag Title belts for an in-ring interview. They say they’re open to challenge anyone, and they’ll be on SmackDown tomorrow. Natalya and Beth Phoenix come out to interrupt and get on the mic. Beth talks about watching Sasha and Bayley and being proud of them, but Nia Jax and Tamina have “awoken the dragon” with their actions. Beth says that her and Natalya want to compete for the Tag Titles at WrestleMania. Bayley points out that Beth has been retired for 6 years, and competition has evolved since her days, and she may need more time to prepare than there is left before WrestleMania. Natalya and Sasha exchange words now, then they start trading punches. Beth shoves Bayley down next, then a referee gets in and separates them.
– Natalya vs. Sasha Banks: Back from the break, Natalya drops Sasha and then applies an abdominal stretch. Sasha comes back with a roll-up and then a running knee strike in the corner. Nia Jax comes out to the stage with a mic to interrupt and talks trash about accomplishing more than Beth Phoenix has, and calls her jealous. Tamina then attacks Beth from behind at ringside. She also hits Sasha and Bayley, and the ref calls for the bell.
Winner via DQ: Sasha Banks
– Natalya checks on Beth at ringside after the match, and a ref checks on Sasha and Banks.
– Ricochet vs. Jinder Mahal: Ricochet starts off strong with kicks and Jinder rolls outside for a breather. Ricochet does a backflip to show off, and Jinder gets back in the ring. Jinder fights back and slams Ricochet down for a two count. Ricochet fights back with kicks, and the Singh Brothers pull Jinder out to ringside for a breather. Ricochet hits a suicide dive on all three of them at ringside. Back in the ring, Ricochet hits the 630 splash for the three count after a short match.
Winner: Ricochet
– Michael Cole introduces a video package looking at WWE employee Sue Aitchison.
– RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey comes out to the ring for her match against Dana Brooke.
– Seth Rollins does an interview in the back where he discusses attacking Drew McIntyre from behind earlier tonight. Rollins says if you hurt his brothers, you better prepare to be hurt, and he can wear out Drew with a steel chair all night long. Rollins says he hopes Brock watches his match with Drew later on tonight.
– Dana Brooke does an interview at the gorilla position where she addresses doubt about her skills in the ring. Dana says she doesn’t have to be better than Ronda, she just has to be better for her tonight.
– Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Dana Brooke: Ronda’s RAW Women’s Title is on the line in this one. Dana catches a kick attempt and slaps Ronda across the face. Ronda drops Dana now with right hands and immediately applies the arm bar. Dana taps out after a very short squash match.
Winner: Ronda Rousey
– Ronda leaves the arm bar on after the bell as referees hit the ring. Ronda punches down one of the referees, then she hugs her husband at ringside. Security runs over and Ronda punches one of them down, and her husband punches another guard. More security rushes over, and Ronda exits through the crowd with her husband. The camera cuts back to the ring and we see Dana crying in pain.
– Apollo Crews vs. Baron Corbin: Crews starts off strong and dumps Corbin outside. Crews hits a moonsault off the apron on Corbin on the floor. Back in the ring, Corbin turns things around with a lariat, then he puts Crews in a chin lock. Corbin looks for the Deep Six, but Crews reverses into a roll-up pin for the three count after a short match.
Winner: Apollo Crews
– Kurt Angle comes out to the stage to celebrate with Crews.
– We see Dave Batista from his home in Tampa, Florida getting ready for an interview via satellite.
– Batista now takes some questions from Michael Cole via satellite. When asked why he’s so angry with Triple H, he says he just doesn’t like the guy, and he wants a last match with him. Batista says he keeps hearing that he owes his career to Triple H, but he says Triple H is just a user and talked down to him. Batista says he blames HHH for driving him out the company 9 years ago, and Triple H is jealous and insecure. Batista says now he’s in the position of control, movie star status, and he is getting the match he deserves. Michael Cole says Triple H has always been fair to him in his career, but Batista disagrees and says Triple H is an insecure, selfish, jealous control freak. Batista says he hopes that soon Vince wakes up and fires Triple H’s ass, and then at WrestleMania he’s going to end Triple H’s in-ring career. Batista yells at the production crew to get out of his office, and he leaves.
– We see a replay of Braun destroying the car last week that the cast of SNL gave him. Braun does an interview where talks about the people from SNL disrespecting Braun in his own house, and they got him so angry that he’s going to enter the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, so as many people as possible ‘get these hands.’ Alexa Bliss interrupts, and says she wants to broker peace between Braun, and Colin and Michael from SNL. Braun says he’ll break them in half when he sees them, but Alexa says she can fix it by next week. Braun says fine, but if they disrespect him again, he’ll show them what disciple really is.
– Drew McIntyre comes out to the ring and gets on the mic. He says actions speak louder than words, and shows u footage of him beating on Roman Reigns last week. Drew says Roman isn’t the same Big Dog he used to be, and the Shield is no more because of him. Drew says this is his yard now, and he says “Joe” aka Roman Reigns is now sitting at home on his couch because of Drew. Drew swears that if Reigns faces him again, then what he did last week will be nothing in comparison. Drew says Reigns might have beat Leukemia, but he won’t beat Drew. Rollins appears on the big screen, and says that’s why he did what he did earlier, then we go to a replay of Rollins beating Drew with the chair. Rollins says that was for his brothers, but tonight is for him. Rollins comes out and Drew meets him on the ramp. They start trading punches on the ramp until agents and referees pull them apart. Rollins runs into the ring and tells him it’s go time.
– Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre: Back from the commercial break, Drew is in control of this on early on, and he tries to keep Rollins grounded. They fight out to ringside and Rollins looks for a moonsault off the ring steps, but Drew swats Rollins out of mid-air. Drew continues the offense and grabs a steel chair at ringside. Before he can use the chair, Rollins superkicks Drew in the face. Rollins hits two suicide dives on Drew at ringside, then back in the ring Rollins hits the Sling Blade on Drew. Rollins follows up with a superkick for a two count. They fight into the corner, and Rollins hits a superplex into a Falcon Arrow. Brock Lesnar’s music hits, and Brock and Paul Heyman come out to the stage to distract. The distraction leads to Drew hitting the Claymore kick on Rollins for the three count.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
– Brock and Heyman laugh and head to the back as RAW goes off the air.
