WWE RAW Live Updates, Results, & Reactions

It was a solid night for Shinsuke Nakamura on Monday Night Raw; he picked up a win over former WWE Champion The Miz to establish that he is a force to be reckoned with on the red brand. But he’s not the only one that pulled out a victory this evening, and Damian Priest and Finn Balor of The Judgment Day weren’t happy that Shinsuke was being interviewed by Cathy Kelly instead of them.

Priest responded:

We just won the main event of Monday Night Raw, and while we’re at it, last week, this fool lost and cost me my shot at the World Heavyweight Championship

Shinsuke had his own clap back, though.

Are you going to cry about it? Like how you cried after you lost to Bad Bunny?

With the way their interaction ended, it appears that The Judgment Day and Shinsuke Nakamura will be mixing it up in some way on next week’s edition of Monday Night Raw.

"Are you going to cry about it?"@ShinsukeN is not intimidated by #TheJudgmentDay 😳

▶️ #RAWTalk @peacock pic.twitter.com/yVM3yuK1jC

— WWE (@WWE) May 16, 2023

As we continue on the road to Night of Champions, more matches and rivalries take shape. Tonight, we got confirmation of two new matches added to the premium live event: Gunther defending the Intercontinental Championship against Mustafa Ali and Trish Stratus battling Becky Lynch one-on-one. Night of Champions takes place on Saturday, May 27 in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

You can see an updated card for Night of Champions below:

• Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn defend against Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa
• Brock Lesnar vs. Cody Rhodes
• World Heavyweight Championship tournament finals: Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles
• Trish Stratus vs. Becky Lynch
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther defends against Mustafa Ali

Who ya got at #WWENOC?#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/nMqZt5F03U

— WWE (@WWE) May 16, 2023

That’s a wrap on another episode of Monday Night Raw, but we have a lot to look forward to already concerning the next show from the red brand. Perhaps the most interesting is that Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar will be in the same building since the week of Backlash. Will Cody Rhodes retaliate for Brock Lesnar costing him the World Heavyweight Championship Tournament finals? We’ll also see Imperium battle Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, & a partner of their choosing!

You can see the current card for the 5/22 WWE Raw below:

• Brock Lesnar and Cody Rhodes under the same roof
• Contract signing for Night of Champions between Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus
• Imperium (WWE Intercontinental Champion Gunter, Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci) vs. Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and a mystery partner

Priest and Owens trade shots back and forth. Owens hits a cheap shot on Balor, which Priest does the same to Zayn. Balor runs over and tosses Zayn into the ring steps. JD trades tags and teams up on Owens with kicks, a backbreaker, and a leg drop. It gives the JD a two count, so they stay on Owens by setting him up on the top rope. Priest tries for a superplex but Owens battles back with chops and headbutts. One final elbow knocks Priest off of the top. Owens with the swanton bomb!

Owens crawls towards Sami and tags in just as Balor gets the tag. Zayn cleans house and tackles Finn with a double leg takedown. Michinoku driver from Zayn for another close call. Paul Heyman is still on the entrance ramp, looking distraught as he talks on speaker phone. Balor nails a sling blade on Balor. He tries for the shotgun dropkick but is caught up in the Blue Thunder Bomb! This is anyone’s match still!

Imperium suddenly appear at ringside. Owens runs in and hits the stunner on Priest. Balor throws him out, but that causes enough of a distraction so Zayn can hit the exploder suplex and helluva kick in the corner. The ref gets distracted by Imperium and won’t call the pin! Priest on the outside hits Owens with a chokeslam on the ring apron. Zayn takes him out with a swanton bomb over the top rope. Giovanni and Ludwig distract the ref while Gunther messes with Sami Zayn, prompting Finn to hit his signature dropkick and coup de grace for the win! Judgment Day win with the assist from Imperium/

We return from the break with Priest controlling Zayn, bringing him into the corner of the JD and tagging in Balor. Balor puts him in the corner with shoulders to the abdomen, followed by chops. Balor Irish whips him into the opposite corner, but Zayn explodes back with a clothesline that rocks Balor. Both men struggle for a moment to get to their corners. They both make it!

Owens goes nuts on Priest with punch after punch, following that by a clothesline and a senton splash on the floor. Owens avoids an attack by Rhea Ripley and takes out Balor and Dominik on the outside! Owens with the cannonball in the corner on Priest, but Dom clips at the foot of Owens and lets Priest come back. The referee saw it! He kicks Dom and Rhea out of the ringside area! They’ve been ejected!

Owens with a superkick to Priest that lays him out. Woods comes from the back and attacks Dom on the apron! They clearly have some unfinished business from earlier tonight! Priest with a roll-up, but Owens escapes at two. Paul Heyman walks out from the back! Why?

Judgment Day comes out first, followed by the Undisputed Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn. Here we go! The bell rings with Balor and Zayn getting things started. They lock up, but Finn gets on top and messes with Sami’s hair. Zayn uses an armbar and grounds Finn with his shoulder, but Balor nips up. Balor with an elbow to Zayn’s face. Priest tags in and keeps Zayn in The Judgment Day’s corner by hitting him with some punches.

Zayn slides out from Damian’s grip and comes off of the top rope with a double axe handle. He puts Priest in a headlock and tags in Owens, who comes in swinging punches. Owens nails a step-up enziguri and tosses both members of JD out of the ring. Balor calls out Rhea Ripley and Dominik from the back! Of course they are!

Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. Finn Balor & Damian Priest is coming up after this next commercial break!

We return from the commercial with Gunther shaking hands with Paul Heyman. Heyman calls Roman Reigns as we transition to the last part of the Seth Rollins interview.

Seth says that you have to take risks to become the best of the best. Putting the chair in Roman’s back set them up for the careers they’ve had now. There are all these different versions of Seth: the authority, the Monday Night Messiah, the architect, etc. He’s now the Visionary, Seth “Freakin” Rollins. This is the best version of him because there’s a synergy with the audience that has never been there before. He’s not pushing for the change — the audience is pushing him to change.

Seth says it’s the perfect time for him to win this new World Heavyweight Championship. Rollins says there needs to be a change again. He thinks the people at the top are more concerned about protecting themselves rather than pushing the company forward. That’s what he hopes to do with this new belt. They ask him how he feels about Roman Reigns and his current Championship reigns. We will see that part of the interview next week!

Ronda Rousey comes out of nowhere and kicks Raquel on the arena ramp! Shayna Baszler is with her! They hold Raquel up by her hair and tell her that they’re tired of waiting. They want a tag team title shot and they’re going to be beating Raquel down every week until it happens.

We see Chelsea Green make her way down to the ring. As noted earlier, this match replaces the Women’s Tag Team Title match tonight because Liv Morgan is out of action with an injury.

The bell rings, and Raquel immediately runs over and boots Chelsea in the mush. She slams her from turnbuckle to turnbuckle, but eventually, Green returns with a flatliner on Raquel for a close two. She elbows down on the collar bone of Rodriguez, then diverting her attention to the right arm of the Women’s Tag Champ. Raquel manages to hit a snake eyes off the top turnbuckle on Green. Chelsea returns with a dropkick that gives her a two-count from the ref.

Raquel uses a reverse Alabama slam that hangs Chelsea up on the top rope. Several clotheslines followed by fallaway slams from Rodriguez. Twisting senton and the Tejana Bomb give the victory to Raquel!!

Zoey Starks is backstage talking to Nikki Cross about how she’s going to succeed on this roster. Candice LeRae defends Cross, saying that Starks needs to leave her be. This leads to Candice challenging Starks to a match next week, which is accepted.

Raquel Rodriguez vs. Chelsea Green is on the way next!

Cody Rhodes makes his way down to the ring with a great ovation from the crowd! “So, Greensboro, North Carolina, what do you wanna talk about?” Cody asks. Rhodes says he knows this area well because this is the very first home of Starrcade. He’s got respect for this city, which is the opposite of what he has for Brock Lesnar. He tells the story of the scorpion and the frog.

The scorpion needs a ride to the other side of the river, but the frog says no because he doesn’t want to be stung. The scorpion says that if he stings the frog, they’ll both die, so the frog eventually agreed. But halfway over, the scorpion stung the frog. It was because it was “his nature.” He sees Brock being the same way — it’s his nature to sting. But how’s his face now? Cody is the one who broke his face.

Rhodes says he’s not going to go out of bounds with Brock. The reason Brock is on top of WWE is that he’s better than 99.9% of everyone that comes in this ring, but at Backlash, he wasn’t better than Cody. No matter what, Brock will hunt him because it’s not about a Championship belt or anything like that, it’s about who is the king of Monday Night Raw. Cody knows he has conquered everything in this sport, but this is one thing he will never be better than. He says Brock isn’t the big man anymore — he’s just in the way now.

Indus Sher (Veer & Sanga) make their entrance and then just start destroying these two random gentleman. Sanga with a running knee. He forces the other guy (I think they said Drake Thompson) into the match. They finish him with a running splash in the corner, followed by a tandem sidewalk slam/leg drop for the three count. Indus Sher wins it! Jinder Mahal says some words in Hindi to celebrate his team coming out on top. He walks over to the commentary table and tells everyone listening that Monday Night Raw now belongs to them.

We go backstage with Gunther and Imperium confront Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, saying that they don’t appreciate the disrespect KO/Zayn showed Kaiser and Giovanni last week. Owens says they can fight then, but since they’re busy this week, they’re down to do it next week.

Indus Sher is in action next!

We’re back! Woods throws rights but is met with a spinning elbow attack from Dom. He sets Woods on the top rope, but Xavier comes back with some punches and a headbutt. He hits a missile dropkick on Dom. Woods with several chops. He slides under the legs of Dom and nails a discus forearm strike. Woods goes for a nip-up clothesline but is thwarted the first time. Dom is reversed, allowing Woods to perform the nip-up clothesline once more successfully!

Dom tosses Woods to the ring apron and knees his side. He tosses The New Day member back inside the ring and delivers the three amigos to the crowd’s disgust. Dom plans to hit the five-star-frog splash, but Woods puts up his knees and rolls him up for a close two. Woods nails Dom with a gutbuster but still only gets a two-count for it. For emphasis, Woods wants the coast-to-coast, but Ripley interferes and pulls Dom out of the way. Ripley assists with a cheap shot, then tosses Xavier back inside the ring for a pinning predicament. Dom wins! Ripley secures it for him once more.

JD McDonagh gets a video highlighting his arrival on WWE Raw. Cathy Kelly approaches him for an interview and asks why he attacked Dolph Ziggler. He says it was to make a statement, and that’s exactly what he ended up doing.

We come back from the commercial with Ali riding high from winning the battle royale. Alpha Academy are furious, which Ali addresses them by saying they might just need to think more positive. Gunther then confronts Ali, saying he’s the right challenger for his prize. But he’s bummed for Ali, too, because he’s going all the way across the world to get destroyed. Ali says he feels Gunther because he’s going to be the one traveling all the way overseas just to lose his belt and be embarrassed. Gunther isn’t happy, but Ali runs away and tells him to be positive.

Dominik comes out for his match with Ripley and a microphone with him. He asks Xavier if he actually thinks he stands a chance cause it’s a “new day.” Xavier responds by saying he might not have anyone watching his back right now, but he can take care of his business alone. The bell rings and they lock up. Woods puts Dom in a wrist lock and drags him to the mat. An arm drag and shoulder tackle by Woods follows; he then sets Dom up on the second rope and dropkicks him in the back for another two count.

Dom finally hits some offense by booting down Xavier in the corner. Dom hits an impressive blockbuster on Xavier for another two! Woods tries to come after Dom on the outside but Rhea stands in between them and distracts. We’re off to another break!

Woods battles Dominik Mysterio after this next break!

We return from the commercial with Becky Lynch walking down to the ring. After that, we get a replay of Lynch returning to Raw last week and hitting Trish Stratus with a becksploder suplex. Greensboro loves Lynch! She tells the crowd that part of being the man means admitting when they’re going through stuff. Lynch knows everyone goes through things but they sometimes just have to put their work face on and be the people they need to be.

When that overwhelms you, you must man up and ask for help. She did that with Lita and Trish Stratus. Lynch was so happy that she had friends who really had her back finally, but the reality is that Trish Stratus came back because she’s a “backstabbing ego maniac.” Becky gives Trish a, “Thank you.” But it’s because when she attacked her, she brought a light back that had been gone for months. She reminded her that she has to stick up for the people she cares about.

The Man is “it,” and she doesn’t need any title belts to prove it. If Trish wants “it,” she’s got “it” at Night of Champions. Looks like these two top women will finally collide in Saudi Arabia! Rhea Ripley watches Lynch from backstage. She’s asked about Natalya and Dana Brooke, but Ripley is unfazed and tells Nattie to stay in her lane. Nattie tells Rhea that she deserves a lot of respect, but it’s not the same respect she’s giving to anyone else. Ripley tells Nattie she’s welcome for making her seem relevant again, but if there’s ever another interruption, Ripley will make her pay. Dom gets Rhea’s attention and they leave.

Ali celebrates his huge win as the commentators advertise Night of Champions. That’s when we get another recap of the rivalry between Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar.

Becky Lynch is on her way out to the ring!

We come back from the break with men struggling all around the ring. Cedric Alexander is teamed up on by The Viking Raiders and tossed out of the ring. They do the same to Xyon Quinn. Shelton Benjamin shows up and tries to take out The Viking Raiders, but it’s futile — they toss him out of the ring, too. Alpha Academy confronts Viking Raiders, so they all start trading blows. Gable tries for the German suplex off the apron to eliminate Erik, but it doesn’t work. Otis eliminates Erik! Ivar returns the favor by throwing out Gable! Ivar and Otis battle for supremacy, but that’s when Bronson Reed abruptly throws them out.

Johnny Gargano gives a head scissors to Ali, to which Ali responds with a rolling neckbreaker. He tries to eliminate Gargano but is unsuccessful. Gargano spears him through the ropes, but Ricochet emerges and hits a shooting star press on Ricochet. Madcap Moss with a fallaway slam on Ricochet. Everyone is trading attacks all over the ring! Apollo Crews eliminates Elias! But Reed appears once more and clotheslines Crews. Bronson Reed is just dominating now; he slams Gargano into the body of Ricochet.

Riddle and Reed battle it out. Riddle with the floating bro on Reed! Moss tries for a running attack on Riddle, but he’s thrown over the top rope. Gargano is next to be thrown out by Riddle, who uses his legs to toss him out. Imperium team up on Riddle on the apron, which allows Reed to eliminate him. Ricochet tries his damndest to eliminate Bronson Reed, but he can’t quite do it, even with the help of Ali. Ricochet with a triangle dropkick, but then Reed catches him and puts him on his shoulders. Ali dropkicks them both off of the apron! Wow! Mustafa Ali wins!

Returning from the commercial, we see the end of Mustafa Ali’s entrance. Apollo Crews makes his entrance after a long absence from WWE Raw. Matt Riddle is part of the battle royale, also! He comes next and kicks his flip-flops at Gunther. Akira Tozawa gets tossed out by Corbin, but Dexter Lumis then eliminates Corbin. Maximum Male Models eliminate Dexter Lumis! Alpha Academy tosses out one of the Maximum Male Models, but the Man.soor stays in for a moment longer before falling out. Humberto Carillo and JD McDonaugh are out next.

Von Wagner eliminates Dolph Ziggler next! JD McDonaugh takes out his frustration about getting eliminated by attacking Dolph with the steel steps! We head to a commercial break!

Ludwig Kaiser does his typical introduction for the Intercontinental Champion, Gunther. Gunther grabs the mic and points out how he’s dominated SmackDown for almost a year before arriving on the red brand. That’s why he is the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion of the modern era, and he will continue that reign of terror on Raw. Gunther will be ringside during this battle royale coming up next!

First out is Ricochet! Following him, the big-man Bronson Reed comes down to the ring.

We come back from the commercial with the commentators hyping up the upcoming fight between Brock Lesnar & Cody Rhodes. Graves transitions to a pre-recorded interview with Seth Rollins. They talk about the finals of the World Heavyweight Championship tournament. Rollins acknowledges that they go back a long way. He recalls winning the tournament to become the first NXT Champion, similar to how this situation has begun playing out. They then talk about how The Shield showed up in WWE not long after and became three of the biggest stars in WWE.

That, of course, led to Seth turning on The Shield. But if he never turned on Roman Reigns, what would the future look like right now. Why is Seth Rollins the man who should win the first World Heavyweight Champion? The second part of their interview comes later tonight.

Here comes Gunther!

We see a replay of the Women’s Tag Team Title match between Damage CTRl and Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez last week. Adam Pearce confirms that Liv Morgan can’t compete due to injury, so the Women’s Tag match between Rodriguez & Liv vs. Sonya Deville & Chelsea Green. Green and Deville are delivering their classic Karen schpeal where they feel discriminated against. Raquel tells Green that she’ll defend Liv’s honor in a singles match tonight.

Gunther makes his Raw debut next!

We return from the commercial with Nakamura delivering a series of strikes and an axe kick. He follows it with a step-up enziguri, a dodge in the corner, and a kick to the back of the head. Shinsuke sets Miz up on the top rope and hits the running knees to Miz’s abdomen. Shinsuke reverses a pinning predicament and tries to secure an armbar, but Miz escapes by turning it into a pin.

Miz with his signature DDT for a close two! “The A-Lister” is up to his feet first. He hits the “Yes!” kicks, but ultimately misses the final one and eats a dragon whip kick. Miz goes for a skull crushing finale but Shinsuke escapes, meeting Miz with a sliding German suplex right after. Shinsuke is about to hit the Kinshasa when, suddenly, Miz drops to the side of the apron. It distracts the ref long enough that Miz can poke Shinsuke in the eye and deliver a skull-crushing finale. Shinsuke got his foot on the rope! Miz is frustrated, but not long after, he gets hit with the Kinshasa for the win!

Shinsuke Nakamura made his entrance first, followed by The Miz. Miz acts like he wants to shake Nakamura’s hand, which Shinsuke kicks away and then challenges Miz to “come on.” Shinsuke with a basement dropkick and diving knees to a grounded Miz. He boots Miz in the corner but eats a kick while he runs over to attack. Miz hangs Shinsuke up on the ropes and hits a leg on the back of his head. Shinsuke dumps Miz out of the ring and slides underneath with a one-leg baseball slide.

Shinsuke hits a running knee and a jumping knee all on the apron, then throws his opponent back inside the squared circle. Miz bounces back and delivers a neckbreaker off the middle rope. After that, Miz hits a boot to Shinsuke as we go to a commercial.

Coming up after the break is Shinsuke Nakamura vs. The Miz!

As we know, one week from Saturday, Solo Sikoa & Roman Reigns will challenge Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens for the Undisputed Tag Team Titles. We see a replay of what happened last Friday on SmackDown when Roman confronted The Usos over their recent losses. Back to the live feed, Sami welcomes the audience to the show and says he’s hyped up tonight. Sami sees how big of a threat they are on paper, but this is actually a gift to them. They are getting something they didn’t expect: revenge on The Tribal Chief.

Zayn believes that Owens and Zayn were both set to win the Universal Title, but he cheated his way through. Sami is ready to check Roman! No one can stop him, but maybe now that The Bloodline is crumbling before our eyes, maybe something will change. Zayn realizes that Roman will never be satisfied — he wants all the Championships. But Zayn yells with passion that Roman will “never have” the Tag Team Titles.

Judgment Day comes out and Kevin says he’s excited they came out because he’s tired of hearing about The Bloodline. Kevin just wants to fight! Zayn says this might be his fault cause he was so amped up and now Kevin is. Zayn says they don’t have an issue with The Judgment Day, so they should hear them out. He pokes fun at Dominik Mysterio.

Damian Priest says he would love to fight, but Finn Balor interrupts and says he wants to talk. Balor wishes KO/Zayn good luck, but asks what happened since they’re still caught up with The Bloodline. Balor says that is there’s some miracle where they do when, they want a tag team title shot next. Rhea Ripley tells KO/Zayn that Judgment Day runs Monday Night Raw. The crowd loves Mami! Zayn says he wants to hear what Dom has to say, which triggers defeaning boos from the audience.

Owens grows restless and just wants to punch Dom in the face, but Rhea steps in the way. Damian goes on the attack! The Judgment Day start ganging up on the champs but then Sami grabs a chair and chases them away. It looks like we’re going to see Owens & Zayn vs. Priest & Balor, but time will tell!

Here we go, y’all! WWE Raw starts now!! Kevin Patrick welcomes us to Greensboro, SC!

First out tonight are the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn!

Breaking news is emerging less than an hour before WWE Raw is set to air live. WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Liv Morgan is reportedly injured, according to a report from Fightful, and the scheduled Women’s Tag Team Title match between Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez vs. Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville will no longer take place.

Morgan was hurt during her match against Damage CTRL (Bayley & Dakota Kai) this past Friday on SmackDown. The severity of the injury is still in question, but we will keep you udated.

News emerged over the weekend that 14-time WWE Champion Randy Orton may be at the end of his legendary WWE career. His father, Bob Orton, noted in a new interview that doctors have reccomended Orton to retire from the ring altogether, but time will tell if that is what occurs. Over on our Twitter page, we posed the question:

If Randy Orton’s time in-ring is truly over, what is the GREATEST moment of his iconic career?

You can see some of the fan responses below:

This heel move right here https://t.co/nqtDOhK68e

— Torben Hansen (@Highfarm73) May 15, 2023

pic.twitter.com/9GJQATFsEr

— Glyn ☠️🐈‍⬛ (@GDerby89) May 15, 2023

pic.twitter.com/ksuKjBgE0T

— Rob Wade (@therobwade) May 14, 2023

Match at Backlash vs Mick Foley

— Michael Potts (@Pottspans85) May 14, 2023

Moment? Prob the RKO at Mania on Seth freaking Rollins pic.twitter.com/VHcixTNKlV

— TygerClawGaming (@MarkCan48464379) May 14, 2023

In past visits to The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it was requested that Sami Zayn be omitted from the shows due to his Syrian heritage. However, things are much different this year, with Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens scheduled to defend the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships against Solo Sikoa and WWE Undisputed Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer Radio elaborated on the situation earlier today, explaining that Saudi Arabia continues progressing with certain cultural stances.

Kevin and Sami are wrestling Roman and Solo Sikoa and that’s going to be one of the two main events for the Saudi show on the 27th. And what basically happened there was, I guess, Saudi Arabia has opened up to where Syrians can come in, so, Sami can come in and decided that he would go and when Sami decided he would go, Kevin decided that if Sami is going to go he’ll go too.”

It’s almost time for us to dive into WWE Raw coverage, but before we get there, let’s look at what’s coming up this Wednesday on AEW Dynamite. Before their Four Pillars four-way match for the AEW World Championship at Double or Nothing, two competitors are scheduled to be in action. Jack Perry faces RUSH, and Sammy Guevara is scheduled for a match with an unnamed opponent. Additionally, Chris Jericho and Roderick Strong will face one another for the first time in a Falls Count Anywhere match.

You can see the current card for the 5/17 AEW Dynamite below:

• Falls Count Anywhere: Chris Jericho vs. Roderick Strong
• Ricky Starks vs. Jay White
• The Outcasts (Saraya, Ruby Soho, & Toni Storm) vs. Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker & Hikaru Shida
• RUSH vs. Jack Perry
• Sammy Guevara in action
• We hear from Don Callis

#AEWDynamite is THIS WEDNESDAY LIVE at 8p ET/7p CT on TBS!
• Falls Count Anywhere: Chris Jericho v. Roderick Strong
• Ricky Starks v. Jay White
• #TheOutcasts v. Hayter, Baker & Shida
• RUSH v. Jack Perry
• Sammy Guevara in action
• We hear from Don Callis pic.twitter.com/mYBtt4LdE0

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) May 15, 2023

Few people in any professional sport make the kind of lasting impact that both John Cena and Roman Reigns have made in WWE. Cena was essentially Roman during the peak of his run — defeating everyone in his wake and reigning supreme as a 16-time WWE Champion. But if you were to ask John, there’s one significant difference between him and Roman: the way they elevate other talents around them while at the top. John discussed the topic in a new interview with Sirius XM’s Busted Open Radio.

His ability to pass energy to more than himself — I haven’t seen it since The Four Horsemen, but the differences between him and Ric is Ric was always there. And that’s brilliant; I’m an always there kind of guy. And I love that Roman did it his way. He did it his way by crafting his own personality. He did it his own way by redefining what it means to be at the tip of the spear. He is there selectively. He has made himself exclusive, and in doing so, he’s brought like eight people with him. He’s allowed the whole Bloodline to get over.

"He has made himself exclusive."@JohnCena candidly spoke with @davidlagreca1 & @bullyray5150 about @WWERomanReigns and what he has done for @WWE

The FULL special interview is available NOW on the #BustedOpen Podcast!https://t.co/YslKzZgulD pic.twitter.com/qtspdSR78A

— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) May 15, 2023

Joey Janela is one of the most popular indie wrestlers on the scene right now, having stints in AEW, GCW, and Japanese promotions like DDT Pro. Even though he’s enjoying the experience of leaving his mark in different companies worldwide, Janela knows where he ultimately wants to go in pro wrestling.

“I have goals right now, and one of them is the WWE. I’ve talked to people about it, and stuff, but not now, not anytime soon. I’m still 33. I’ve always said over the last five years, I can see myself signing to WWE when I’m 36. I don’t know why. 36? I don’t know. But I still have goals in Japan. I have goals. I’m having fun.

“I don’t have to deal with any politics. I don’t have to deal with people giving me shit for what I say on the internet. So, we’ll see, but WWE is always the goal. If WWE is not the goal for you, and you’re in the wrestling business, I don’t know what’s wrong with you because the dream is to wrestle at WrestleMania, and it should be the dream for everyone.” (h/t Haus of Wrestling)

You can read more about this story here.

We’re just a couple of hours away from tonight’s WWE Raw, so let’s take a look at how the card has shaped up over the week. One exciting development is that a battle royale is now scheduled for the red brand, with the winner receiving a shot at Gunther’s Intercontinental Championship. This will also be the first week the leader of Imperium appears on Raw after being drafted a few weeks ago.

You can see the current card for 5/15 WWE Raw below:

• We hear from Cody Rhodes
• We hear from Becky Lynch
• Battle Royal to determine the #1 contender for Gunther’s Intercontinental Championship
• Shinsuke Nakamura vs. The Miz
• WWE Women’s Tag Team Title match: Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez (c) vs. Sonya Deville & Chelsea Green

After @BrockLesnar cost him his spot in the World Heavyweight Championship Tournament, @CodyRhodes will address The Beast TONIGHT on #WWERaw!

What will The American Nightmare have to say ahead of #WWENOC? 🤔

📺 8/7c on @USANetwork pic.twitter.com/tzOnN9rp9b

— WWE (@WWE) May 15, 2023

Tony Khan, the Founder and President of AEW, is a man of many hats. He’s currently taking on All Elite Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and the Jacksonville Jaguars simultaneously, but in a new interview with Maggie and Perloff of CBS Sports, Khan also revealed that he was considering purchasing WWE before the merger with UFC. Even though it didn’t come through, Khan believes Endeavor’s purchase of WWE will positively impact the industry as a whole.

“I can’t speak to that except to say that I was interested. It will also be very interesting to see what happens with that sale. Certainly, in many ways, it’s a big positive to the pro wrestling business.”

You can read more about this story here.

Good evening, folks! Let’s get this week started with a new Monday Night Raw episode! It’s a stacked one, too — we’ve got a Women’s Tag Team Title match, a battle royale to determine the #1 contender to Gunther’s Intercontinental Championship, and appearances by top stars Cody Rhodes and Becky Lynch.

In the news world, significant stories have been breaking throughout the day, including a new report revealing Bray Wyatt’s status in WWE. Apparently, Wyatt is not listed on the SmackDown or Raw internal rosters. However, Fightful followed that by noting that the decision was made to keep Wyatt and Uncle Howdy off the rosters until Wyatt recovers from the undisclosed illness he’s dealing with.