Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Raw Deal - Raw recap for May 22, 2023

In backstage footage from moments ago, "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes is attacked out of nowhere by Brock Lesnar, who demands that Cody fight him as he tosses him around. Lesnar then smashes Cody's forearm with a metal drum, and Cody is in absolute pain.



Paul Heyman is in the ring. He states that he had nothing to do with Brock Lesnar's attack on "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes, yet says it is a taste of what is in store for Cody at Night of Champions, then says that he has been invited back to talk about the show's triple main event. Heyman states that Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn will lose the tag team titles back to The Bloodline while The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso) watch from home, then welcomes the fans to tonight's show before Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn show up. Heyman leaves, and Sami Zayn wonders where he went, as they have a score to settle after last week. He then says that nevertheless, he and Owens are feeling good before their biggest title defense to date. Sami says that the match is very personal and that he said everything he had to say to Roman Reigns' face. Owens mentions Roman's dedication to his potential victory to The Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika), then dedicates his and Sami's potential victory to "the true pillars of The Bloodline, Jimmy and Jey Uso." Sami then says they have business to take care of tonight, as they are in six-man tag action with Imperium (Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser, Giovanni Vinci), who then show up. As Imperium surround the ring, Matt Riddle quickly slides into the ring, and Imperium immediately step off the ring apron. They feign leaving before rushing back into the ring, but Sami, Owens and Riddle clean house.





Backstage, Byron Saxton reports on "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes' condition when WWE official Adam Pearce walks by. When asked, says he does not have any information at this time, even as there are rumors that Rhodes may have suffered a broken arm.

Bronson Reed beats Ricochet.



Backstage, Cathy Kelley interviews Apollo Crews. After hoping that Cody Rhodes is okay, he is met by Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio. Dominik says it is Rhea's interview time, and after Cathy says that Rhea is scheduled after Apollo and Apollo says it is still his interview time. Dominik calls Apollo "Apollo who?", then says that Apollo's interview is over and that Rhea has something to say after Apollo says he is everything Dominik is not. Rhea says that Natalya has had a legendary career, but she got in her way, and at Night of Champions, she will make an example out of her and end her career. Apollo interrupts, and Dominik says nobody interrupts Rhea. Apollo says he did, then asks Dominik what he will do about it. Rhea says he will remind everyone that The Judgment Day (Finn Balor, Damian Priest, Rhea Ripley, Dominik Mysterio) run Monday Night Raw.

We see the third part of Corey Graves' interview with Seth "Freakin'" Rollins. On the subject of Roman Reigns' championship reigns, Rollins says he loves Roman, but he does not like him, and that while he will always have respect for Roman, he does not like the man and the champion he has become, as his ego has been poisoned and he has taken opportunities from everyone else. He says she wants to become World Heavyweight Champion so everyone can forget about Roman. He says that with a new world title, there is a means for the business to move forward and for new opportunities, as somebody needs to carry the torch when he and Roman are gone. As for "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles, he says that Styles is one of the best talents of all time and is "truly special." He then says he and Styles have done this dance before, but he is at the top of his game, nobody can touch him right now, and he feels "pretty invincible."



Backstage, Byron Saxton interviews Finn Balor and Damian Priest. Damian Priest gets angry at Saxton for interrupting and starts speaking Spanish, but Finn stops him and asks Saxton to congratulate them on their victory last week, then says he faces Shinsuke Nakamura tonight after Nakamura cost Priest a title opportunity and disrespecting him by pouring salt in the word later on backstage. He says that whoever disrespects one member of The Judgment Day disrespects them all, and that if Nakamura is lucky, he will leave some of Nakamura for Priest so he can pick the bones.

We see a vignette for Zoey Stark, who threatens to take everyone's favorites and idols and tear them apart as she exposes all of their weaknesses, for the time of heroes is over and "the Zoey Stark era" begins.

Zoey Stark beats Candice LeRae after Nikki Cross celebrates prematurely.



Backstage, Byron Saxton interviews Mustafa Ali. Mustafa stumbles and says he cannot say anything about positivity, as his situation is too real to him and that nobody believes he can beat Gunther and become a champion after his career in WWE has been a series of failures. Suddenly, Brock Lesnar walks right by him and Saxton and tells Mustafa "Get a life, kid!" Mustafa is crushed as Lesnar heads to the ring. After mocking "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes' "What do you want to talk about?" line, he says that Cody will not be here tonight or facing him at Night of Champions, then tells the crowd that he will not let them down, as he will issue an open challenge for anyone to face him that night. He proclaims that all anyone has to do is get in the ring and stand up to him. All of a sudden, Cody Rhodes shows up with his left arm in a sling and an icepack as WWE official Adam Pearce and two referees try to talk him out of getting in the ring. Cody takes off the shirt, the sling and the icepack while Lensar takes off his hat. As soon as Lesnar drops his hat, he goes on the attack and goes for the Kimura Lock. Pearce screams at Lesnar to break the hold, while Lesnar dares Cody to fight him. Lesnar then breaks Cody's arm before standing on it and stomping on it, then puts his hat back on and leaves. Adam Pearce then calls for medical help as officials head to the ring to check on Cody.





Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis) beat The Viking Raiders (Ivar and Erik) after Valhalla chases Maxxine Dupri around the ring, distracting The Viking Raiders.



Backstage, "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes yells at WWE official Adam Pearce and Byron Saxton to stay away from his locker room and that he does not need help.

We hear from Indus Sher (Jinder Mahal, Veer Mahaan, Sanga). Jinder Mahal says last week was the last day for many Superstars, then says that "the storm is here."

Finn Balor beats Shinsuke Nakamura after Nakamura sends Damian Priest tumbling into the timekeeper's area.



Raquel Rodriguez beats Sonya Deville. After the match, Chelsea Green attacks Raquel Rodriguez, and as Sonya Deville joins in, Shotzi shows up and makes the save.





After a referee addresses "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes' current condition - which is not good - to WWE official Adam Pearce, Pearce says he will address it tonight. Trish Stratus shows up and mentions her contract signing before asking for a no-touch clause between Becky Lynch and herself. Pearce declines, then leaves.

We see a vignette for Matt Riddle. He says the greatest mistake is fearing you will make one, and says he has been against opponents bigger, faster and stronger than him before saying there is no reason to be afraid as there is no other way to challenge himself and laugh in the face of adversity. He says this is his time and that doubting him is a mistake nobody can afford to make.

Becky Lynch shows up for a contract signing overseen by Corey Graves for a match between herself and Trish Stratus at Night of Champions. Becky calls out Trish before signing the contract, then Trish shows up. Trish says it is funny that Becky was more eager to have the contract signed than to return to Raw, then says this is her first contract signing and she wants to enjoy this. Trish then says that Becky has had a lot of contract signing because of her and the work she did to single-handedly change women's wrestling, then says she has been #1 the day since she showed up in WWE and it did not take a broken nose to get there. She then says that beating Becky at Night of Champions will make her "it" and asks if Becky will crawl into a deep, dark place again after she beats her, and states that she knows Becky's weak spots and that Becky is her own worst enemy. She also says that the name and face to Becky's badness was Becky herself, then signs the contract before stating her first contract signing is also Becky's last. Becky then stares at Trish before stating she will not hurt her, because she wants her at her best at Night of Champions, then says Trish is really scared that she has been forgotten when the fans remember her as being better than she is. She then says that the fans remember how she can be and that Trish should be worried that she is back, then says that Trish wants her flowers before thanking Trish for being everything she is not. Becky says that she can look in the mirror and know she is not perfect like Trish thinks she is, and that she will punch her in the face every time before teling Trish "Welcome to the big time, bitch! Woof, woof!" Trish shoves the table at Becky and leaves.



Backstage, WWE official Adam Pearce is on the phone regarding "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes.

Backstage, Byron Saxton interviews Shotzi and Raquel Rodriguez. Shotzi says she has a lot of respect for Raquel and that she has her back. Raquel says she respects Shotzi and that she has a new tag team partner to regain the women's tag titles with.



Dominik Mysterio beats Apollo Crews. Crews is able to beat the ten count after Rhea Ripley sends him into the ring post on the outside, but he falls victim to Dominik's top rope frog splash.



We see the final part of Corey Graves' interview with Seth "Freakin'" Rollins. Rollins says that Night of Champions is important to him because it is time for change and since he was never pegged to be the guy, it made it easier to take the top spot. He says that his road has been everything he ever dreamed of and given him a life beyond his wildest dreams, and that he wants it to be the best he can be. He calls Night of Champions an opportunity to make something special and that he is going all in on the World Heavyweight Championship and giving it everything he has. Rollins says he wants to create something that is legendary and will live forever, and that he wants to be someone the future looks to as a man who carried things forwards.





Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Matt Riddle beat Imperium (Gunther, Ludwig Kaiser, Giovanni Vinci) in a six-man tag match.



Backstage, Cody Rhodes is met by Triple H, who talks with Cody. Cody insists that he does not want medical attention for his arm and that he does not want to return to Raw as a coward, and that he will fight Brock Lesnar at Night of Champions.



This week on Raw Talk: Bronson Reed! Raquel Rodriguez and Shotzi! Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis) and Maxxine Dupri!



Here are the top ten moments from tonight's show!





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