On Monday night, WWE Raw celebrated the 20th anniversary of John Cena’s debut for the promotion. It was the lead item of all pre-show promotion and much of the first two hours centered around Cena eventually coming to the ring to deliver a promo about his connection to the WWE fans.
The show also featured continued build to Saturday’s Money in the Bank premium live event. Included in that build was the addition of one man and one woman to the Money in the Bank ladder matches.
CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from Sames Auto Arena in Laredo, Texas.
WWE celebrates John Cena’s 20-year anniversary
Video packages highlighting John Cena’s career aired throughout the show. Midway through the show, Cena was shown talking to Ezekiel backstage, telling Ezekiel to never forget who he is, when Theory interrupted. Theory ran down Cena, pointing out his own success at just 24 years old was more than Cena had accomplished and now Cena was just an old man wearing jorts. Cena walked off when Theory tried to set up a selfie, leaving Theory fuming.
Later in the show, Vince McMahon introduced Cena, who walked to the ring as the WWE locker room stood on the entrance ramp and applauded. Cena cut a fairly long promo, talking about how the WWE fans have made him a better person and that nothing he does is just about him, “it’s about us.” Theory did not appear during the segment and the whole thing ended with Cena celebrating with fans.
The whole Cena thing didn’t have a big payoff, just the tease of an eventual Theory match and a classic Cena babyface promo. The show was heavily padded by the video packages over the first two hours. McMahon’s involvement was completely unnecessary, but he has been doing that for show after show, ever since the news broke that there was an internal investigation into allegations of misconduct that led him to temporarily step down as WWE CEO and chairman. Still, Cena knows how to work a crowd and will always get a big reaction when he shows up. Grade: B
What else happened on WWE Raw?
- Riddle won a battle royal to secure a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match. The battle royal kicked off the show and came down to Riddle and Miz, who had earlier faked an injury. Riddle eliminated Miz with an RKO on the ring apron.
- Montez Ford def. Jey Uso via pinfall after hitting a frog splash.
- AJ Styles def. The Miz via count out. Styles interrupted a Miz interview, upset that Miz eliminated him from the battle royal earlier in the night, leading to a match. Once Styles seemed to have the match in hand, Miz chose to leave the ring and walk up the entrance ramp, taking the count-out loss.
- Bianca Belair and Carmella came face-to-face. Belair was being interviewed when she called Carmella to the ring. Carmella answered the call, saying she would take Belair’s Raw women’s championship at Money in the Bank. Carmella then tried to hit Belair with a cheap shot, but Belair was waiting and sent Carmella crashing out of the ring.
- Liv Morgan def. Alexa Bliss via pinfall with a roll-up. The match came after the women were interviewed and said they weren’t friends but were “friendly” and both vowed to win the Money in the Bank ladder match on Saturday.
- Bobby Lashley def. Alpha Academy in a handicap match when he locked Chad Gable in the Hurt Lock. Theory was the special enforcer but Lashley was still able to pull off the victory and fight off Theory after the match.
- An interview with Cody Rhodes aired. Rhodes said it was bittersweet knowing he would only be watching Money in the Bank and not participating, but he’d like Seth Rollins to win so he could be one of the first to congratulate him.
- Becky Lynch won a last-chance elimination match to secure the final spot at Money in the Bank. Lynch outlasted Nikki A.S.H., Xia Li, Tamina, Shayna Baszler and Doudrop to win the match, last eliminating Doudrop.