Monday night saw the "season premiere" of WWE Raw, a show that also featured major roster changes as the results of the recent WWE Draft went into effect. The beginning of this "new era" for Raw meant a need to determine the next challengers for the brand's top champions.
Among those champions who needed a new challenger was WWE champion Big E. After Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Rey Mysterio and Finn Balor all made their pitch to be Big E's next challenger, it was determined the four men would meet in a four-way ladder match in the main event of the show with a title shot on the line.
CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from Toyota Center in Houston.
Four-way ladder match determines next WWE title challenger
Big E opened the show with an in-ring promo, pumping up the Houston crowd before pointing out that he needed a new challenger for the WWE championship. This brought out Seth Rollins, fresh off his loss to Edge inside Hell in a Cell at Crown Jewel. Big E said Rollins' loss to Edge sent him to the back of the line, but Rollins continued to push for a title shot as soon as possible before Rey Mysterio, Finn Balor and Kevin Owens all entered the mix to tout their own accomplishments in a bid for a title shot. After a brawl briefly broke out between the potential title challengers, Sonya Deville announced the four would battle in a fatal four-way ladder match to crown a No. 1 contender.
Seth Rollins def. Kevin Owens, Rey Mysterio and Finn Balor in a ladder match, becoming the No. 1 contender for the WWE championship. The match saw the expected level of chaos, with ladders coming into play early and often. The end stretch saw Mysterio put through a table before Rollins sent Owens flying through a ladder suspended between the ring and the announce table. Rollins then cut off Balor as he was attempting to ascend a ladder, driving him to the floor and hitting a stomp. With the way cleared, Rollins climbed a ladder in the center of the ring to grab the contract and secure the next shot at Big E's WWE championship.
There are no complaints to really be had with a ladder match being given away on weekly television. That's a real rarity and the four men in the match delivered the type of chaos you expect. Rollins is a fine challenger but did actually need a big win to come off as a legitimate challenger after losing to Edge four days earlier at Crown Jewel. Rollins also deserves a ton of credit for going through a Hell in a Cell and ladder match in a four-day stretch. That's a lot of punishment to take in such a short amount of time. Grade: A-
What else happened on WWE Raw?
- Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode def. The Street Profits and Alpha Academy via pinfall. The win earned Ziggler and Roode a shot at the tag titles later in the night.
- Zelina Vega def. Doudrop via pinfall after using her scepter from winning Queen's Crown. The match came after a "royal coronation."
- Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch brawled after Belair interrupted a promo from Lynch. Belair demanded a shot at the championship but Lynch told her to get to the back of the line. Belair ended up dominating a brawl between the two before Lynch finally agreed to give Belair her match, but made it clear that it would be some other night. It was confirmed later in the night that the title match would take place next week.
- Damian Priest def. T-Bar via disqualification after T-Bar threw a chair at Priest. Priest snapped after the match, destroying T-Bar outside the ring.
- Carmella def. Liv Morgan via pinfall after a float-over facebuster.
- Keith "Bearcat" Lee def. Cedric Alexander via pinfall after hitting the Big Bang Catastrophe.
- Austin Theory def. Dominik Mysterio via pinfall after hitting the ATL.
- Raw Tag Team Championship – Riddle & Randy Orton def. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode via pinfall when Riddle pinned Ziggler with a spladle pin.