Quick Links

This week's Raw seemed to start before anyone was even ready as Brock Lesnar attacked Cody Rhodes as The American Nightmare was arriving at the arena. The tease here is that Rhodes may have suffered an arm injury. Also on the show, Bronson Reed won, Alpha Academy picked up a victory and Shinsuke Nakamura lost, again. The main event was a six-man tag match between Matt Riddle, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn vs. Imperium. Here are your winners and losers for Raw, on May 22, 2023:

Winner: Pre-Raw Opening

As Rhodes was walking into the arena, Lesnar attacked and absolutely destroyed his opponent at Night of Champions. Throwing him all over the backstage area, Lesnar picked up a keg and smashed Rhodes' arm up against the arena bay door. The insinuation later was that Rhodes may be too injured to compete on Saturday.

This segment got Raw off to a chaotic and violent start. WWE will likely offer updates throughout the show, teasing that Rhodes will be questionable for the pay-per-view. Of course, Rhodes will be there, but this injury adds to his underdog status as the David to his Goliath in The Beast Incarnate.

In a promo after the attack, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn chased Paul Heyman from the ring with their arrival and vowed to dedicate their tag team title match on Saturday to The Usos. As they started to talk about their six-man tag match later that night against Imperium, the trio showed up at ringside ready to take out the tag team champions. Matt Riddle showed up to even the numbers -- confirming he would be their tag team partner in the six-man later on. All six men battled with Imperium being driven from the ring.

Winner: Bronson Reed Defeats Ricochet

In a fun match that pitted size against speed, size won out. Reed and Ricochet mixed their styles in a bout that was entertaining and these two had strong chemistry. A contest that was made after both battled in last week's Battle Royal, Reed proved he's on his way up the WWE totem pole and will be a force to reckon with. Reed hit a wicked power slam, followed by a top-rope splash for the victory.

Winner/Loser: Zoey Stark Defeats Candice LeRae

Prior to their match, WWE aired a vignette of Zoey Stark and she said she was coming to dominate the women's division. The hint here was that Stark is possibly a heel. Her match with LeRae leaned Stark even more toward the darkness as she attacked early and officially before the bell rang. She then took out Nikki Cross and LeRae when the two were outside the ring celebrating a series of offensive moves from the Poison Pixie. Stark hit the Z360 for the win. It was a fairly dominant performance, just as she promised in her pre-match video package.

Winner: Lesnar's Attack Continued

Cutting off a promo by Mustafa Ali backstage, Lesnar made his way through the Gorilla position and to the ringside area. He got into the ring and said that Cody would not be on the show tonight, nor would he be fighting Lesnar at Night of Champions. But, not wanting to let down the fans, Lesnar was prepared to issue an open challenge. He dared anyone to come to the ring and step up to him and that person would get Cody's spot on Saturday. Only, it was Cody that showed up. With his arm in a sling and officials trying to hold him back, Cody walked to the ring and was ready to fight.

It wasn't a smart move by Rhodes because Lesnar immediately applied a kimura arm bar and damaged Cody's arm even further. Creative keeps pushing the idea that Rhodes has bitten off more than he can chew and that he's either not going to make it to Night of Champions, or if he does, he won't be anywhere close to 100 percent.

Winner: Alpha Academy

Another entertaining match pitted The Viking Raiders against Alpha Academy and, for once, Chad Gable came out of the bout as the wrestler to pull out the victory for his team versus the member of the duo eating the pin. Maxxine Dupri was involved, but not to the point where she caused Alpha Academy to win. They simply won on their own as Gable rolled up Erik for the pin. Valhalla was furious, as were Erik and Ivar, so this probably isn't over yet.

There was a lot of size in the ring, but it was fun to watch how agile all three big men are.

Loser: Shinsuke Nakamura

A wrestler who was supposed to get a fresh start on Raw has lost quite a few matches since his arrival. Granted, he's losing to credible opponents, but if WWE wants to build Nakamura into a main event star (perhaps they don't), focusing on his entrance and having him back that entrance up by being in matches where he can show off his Strong Style rep and win a few bouts, this isn't the way to do it. On paper, this match between Finn Balor and Nakamura could have been incredible. Instead, it was just a bit better than a typical Raw match that happens every week. Balor needed Priest's help to secure the victory, but in the end, Nakamura still lost another contest.

Winner: Shotzi Steps Up For Liv Morgan

Following a one-on-one match where Raquel Rodriguez defeated Sonya Deville, Deville and Chelsea Green tried to double-team Raquel who was without her partner because Liv was injured. Shotzi made the save and helped take out the heels. It seems like Rodriguez has found her partner.

Winner: Contract Signing

WWE continues to do a good job of building the feud between Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus despite no titles being involved. On Monday, the two women met in the ring for a contract signing. Trish teased an altercation backstage when she asked Adam Pearce to implement and no-contact rule, but he declined. Thinking things might break down, these two settled for a war of words and both did solid work on the mic. Lynch clearly had a few lines set to go and she rhymed her way to a statement promo win. She then called back to Trish's days barking like a dog in promos with Vince McMahon from years ago. It was an entertaining and useful reference for fans old enough to have watched it back in the day.

Winner: Dominik Mysterio

Dom Dom continues to roll as he picked up another victory on Monday night, this time against Apollo Crews. This one featured a creative finish where Rhea Ripley and Dom worked together in an attempt to get Crews counted out. When he barely made his way back into the ring ahead of the ten-count, Dominik was waiting, perched on the top rope to deliver a frog splash for the victory. It was a creative way to give Dominik another victory, slightly protect Crews, and make sure Ripley stayed the x-factor in Dom's wins.

Winner: Zayn, Owens and Riddle Pick Up the Win

In a six-man tag match that was as good as anyone would have imagined it would be on paper, Imperium continued to step up to the plate and knock it out of the park with some of the more proven members of the WWE roster. Owens, Zayn and Riddle picked up the win here and it's hard to say anything other than this was a solid contest that showed how good WWE is at booking these matches.

Backstage, Triple H made a special appearance to try and talk Cody into getting medical attention for what he said was an obviously broken arm. Cody refused, begging The Game to remember what he would have done in Cody's position. The American Nightmare vowed to go to Night of Champions and fight.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErKeoqqSowaa%2BjZympmenrLJuvsCwZKudo6q5tb%2BMppiyZWJnenN8kWxkoKddnbyusYyrmLBlpKR6r7XGoatmp5ZisKmtzKmgqKajZA%3D%3D