Seth Rollins has had heaps of trouble accepting his loss to Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 38. During Monday night's WWE Raw, Rollins attempted to make a point by having Rhodes face a mystery opponent in the night's main event.
Rhodes would end up facing Kevin Owens and Rollins' aggression backfired in the end. After Rollins yelled at Owens during the match, Owens walked away, handing Rhodes the win and leaving Rollins frustrated once again.
CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York.
Seth Rollins' plan for revenge on Cody Rhodes backfires
Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins kicked off the show with an in-ring confrontation. Rollins again reiterated his claim that Rhodes entered their WrestleMania clash with every advantage because he knew who his opponent would be while Rollins only knew he was facing "a mystery opponent." This led Rollins to throw down a challenge that Rhodes face the same situation later in the night, facing a mystery opponent of his choosing in the main event. Rhodes quickly accepted the challenge.
Cody Rhodes def. Kevin Owens via countout. Owens was the unsurprising choice for Rhodes' opponent and Rollins eventually made his way to ringside to watch the match. When Owens was thrown from the ring, Rollins berated Owens and demanded he get back in. This led Owens to storm off, abandoning the match and giving Rhodes the win. Rhodes, frustrated with not getting the clean win, stood on the top turnbuckle facing the fans when Rollins blindsided him, sending him spilling to the floor to end the show.
Rollins and Rhodes have fine chemistry and their story is entirely fine for WWE television. It's hard not to feel a bit let down by Rhodes' third match back with the promotion ending in count out when there were plenty of other options for how to play things out. It's all about getting to WrestleMania Backlash and the Rhodes vs. Rollins rematch. Grade: B
What else happened on WWE Raw?
- Women's Tag Team Championship – Naomi & Sasha Banks (c) def. Liv Morgan & Rhea Ripley via pinfall. After a sloppy match, Ripley snapped on Morgan, blaming her for the loss before attacking her.
- Sonya Deville explained inserting herself into a title match against Bianca Belair only for Belair to interrupt. Deville said Belair can't touch her until the match or she'd be assaulting a WWE official. Belair eventually lifted Deville for a K.O.D. but dropped her when Deville threatened to strip her of the Raw women's title.
- Veer Mahan def. Jeff Brooks via submission with the cervical clutch. As he did to Dominik Mysterio the previous week, Mahan continued to lock Brooks in the clutch after the match.
- Adam Pearce fined Bianca Belair $1 for attacking Sonya Deville. Deville was livid about the fine but was also told her conduct as a WWE official was under investigation.
- Ezekiel passed Kevin Owens' lie detector test, "proving" that he is not Elias. The test was conducted by Chad Gable.
- Ezekiel def. Chad Gable via disqualification after interference from Otis. Otis attacked as Ezekiel seemed to have the match won.
- The Street Profits def. RK-Bro via pinfall with a Doomsday Device on Riddle. The Profits tricked RK-Bro by having The Usos music play during the match, causing a distraction.
- Edge and Damian Priest attacked AJ Styles in the locker room after Styles accepted Edge's challenge for a match at WrestleMania Backlash. The pair slammed Styles' arm in a locker several times.
- United States Championship – Theory def. Finn Balor (c) via pinfall to win the title. After a solid match, Theory hit the A-Town Down to get the win. Several midcard heels came to the ring to celebrate Theory's win. Vince McMahon then came to the ramp to celebrate with Theory.
- A commitment ceremony was held for Reggie & Dana Brooke and Tamina & Akira Tozawa. R-Truth officiated a long comedic segment that ended with the couples "committed" to each other and Reggie pinning Brooke to win the 24/7 title only for Tamina to pin Reggie, Tozawa to pin Tamina and Brooke to pin Tozawa to leave as champion.