WWE Raw results, recap and highlights: Hell in a Cell build begins in earnest

The latest episode of WWE Raw emanated live from the ThunderDome at Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida on May 25 (Tuesday).

Drew McIntyre (R) and Kofi Kingston look like being the new WWE championship challengers on WWE Raw. (Image: Twitter/@WWE)
By Shayne Dias | May 25, 2021 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

The latest episode of WWE Raw emanated live from the ThunderDome at Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida on May 25 (Tuesday). Coming into the episode, only one match was advertised: a women’s tag title match between the team of Natalya and Tamina and Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax. Also announced ahead of the show was a match between Xavier Woods and Riddle. Yet given WWE Raw is a three-hour show, there was always going to be more. Coming out of the show, fans now have an idea over the direction for the next pay-per-view event. Hell in a Cell is still four weeks away but the build has already begun.

Let’s get right to the highlights of WWE Raw.

KofiMania 2.0?

The show opened with a promo segment featuring WWE champion Bobby Lashley and MVP, MVP hyped up the champ before predictably being interrupted by Drew McIntyre. The former champion demanded a rematch but was interfered by The New Day.

Kofi Kingston took the mic to remind everyone that he pinned Lashley last week and therefore should be next in line. Authority figure Adam Pearce eventually made a #1 contender’s match between Kingston and McIntyre.

The segment had its misses – see McIntyre going down the familiar “do you have the balls” route – but set up an intriguing match.

Of course, said match ended in a no-contest when Lashley and MVP interfered. A trope that is as old as time, and one that never works for the heels. Yet here we are.

The rematch between McIntyre and Kingston is set for next week, with the added caveat that MVP and Lashley can’t interfere next week. Should they do so, they will be suspended for 90 days without pay.

A match between Kofi Kingston and Bobby Lashley would be interesting, given it is a fresh one. There’s also the fact that Kofi never really got back into the title scene after he lost it to Brock Lesnar.

And even if Kofi is just a stop-gap contender for Lashley, it’s better than having him pretend as if nothing happened.

Familiar direction for WWE Raw women’s championship

Charlotte and Asuka had themselves a very good match. However, the major takeaway is that Flair won. And she was later announced as Raw women’s champion Rhea Ripley’s opponent for Hell in a Cell.

These two had a fantastic match at WrestleMania in 2020. But it again comes back to an old complain fans have – a lack of freshness. Charlotte being around the title picture is nothing new.

On the bright side, Nikki Cross beat Rhipley in a 2:00 Beat the Clock match. Sure, she won by ensuring Rhipley couldn’t pin or submit her in said 2 minutes. But there’s a small chance this ‘victory’ could see her inserted into the story. Maybe. Hopefully?

Intergender match set for next week

The women’s tag team match was decided due to interference by… Reginald. Yes. Again, a familiar trope of recent times in the women’s tag team division.

To make matters worse, it was again Baszler who fell victim to an interference. You’d think she’d have learnt by now…

Anyway, after the match she snapped at Reginald and demanded a match against him next week. This isn’t his first inter-gender match – he had one against Sasha Banks too. But this one will be different.

Best of the rest on WWE Raw

  • Riddle defeated Woods in a fun match. To make things better, the King of Bros won the match with an RKO!
  • One half of the Raw tag team champions AJ Styles lost to Jaxson Ryker due to interference from Elias. After the match, Styles’ tag partner Omos beat up Elias.
  • Sheamus defeated Humberto Carillo by grabbing the tights and pinning him. The Celtic Warrior looked to lay down a beating but Ricochet made the save.
  • Cedric Alexander beat Sheltob Benjamin, in what is presumably a blow-off to their feud.
  • Throughout the show, WWE aired vignettes with performers talking about WWE returning to touring. That will resume from July onwards.
  • The recently returned Eva Marie got another vignette.

Grade: C+