WWE RAW Results: May 23, 2016

Detailed Results

After a shocking return at Extreme Rules where he left WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns laid out with the Pedigree, RAW kicks off with former champion Seth Rollins for the first time since his serious knee injury back in November as the crowd erupts for the return of “The Architect”, chanting “welcome back”. Rollins says that, for 200 days, he has been envisioning what it would be like to step into his ring once again, declaring that he’s back. Rollins then says that, for seven months, he has been waiting to get back the WWE World Heavyweight Championship that he never lost and, at Extreme Rules, he fired the first shot. The crowd responds with chants of “thank you Rollins” before saying that, when he put a steel chair in Roman Reigns’ back and dissolved The Shield a couple of years ago, they started booing him out of the building. Rollins continues, saying that, after he won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, they started referring to him as the “weakest champion of all-time”.

Rollins then says that the fans basically “discredited” every second of work that went into his reign as champion before saying that his knee buckled under the weight of carrying WWE on his back for so long! Rollins says that he got so much fan mail while he was injured before saying that he didn’t open or read a bit of it, saying that he threw it in the trash can and burnt all of it! Rollins continues, saying that he doesn’t “need” any of the fans and he has never needed them, saying that he doesn’t need them to get the title back either. With the cheers now turning to boos from the crowd, Rollins says that there is only room on the Seth Rollins bandwagon for one person and that’s him, saying that the fans weren’t there when he was rehabbing his knee injury. Rollins continues, saying that he put more work in in seven months than most of them have put in in their entire lives, saying that they can cheer him or boo him because it doesn’t matter, he’s back to regain the title that he never lost. Rollins then declares that he “rebuilt” Seth Rollins, he “redesigned” Seth Rollins, and he alone will take back his WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

This brings out WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns, who doesn’t take his eyes off of Seth Rollins as he makes his way to the ring. While Rollins takes off his jacket and looks ready to fight the champion, Rollins would decide otherwise once Roman sets foot in the ring as Rollins would exit the ring. One of the two McMahons in charge of RAW then comes out as Shane McMahon makes his way to the ring. As Seth Rollins cautiously gets back in the ring at the request of Shane McMahon, Shane jogs everyone’s memory on when Rollins turned his back on The Shield and when he cashed in his Money-in-the-Bank contract and won the title at last year’s WrestleMania. Shane then says that a match between Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins is “WrestleMania worthy”, but they are not going to wait for WrestleMania, announcing that, at next month’s WWE Money-in-the-Bank pay-per-view, Roman Reigns will defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Seth Rollins! Seth Rollins then exits the ring with a smile on his face, clearly looking forward to the opportunity to get the title back that he never lost.

With the annual Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match coming up next month at WWE Money-in-the-Bank where the winner will earn a guaranteed shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at any time they want it, the opening match of the night would be a Money-in-the-Bank Qualifying Match as “The Underdog from the Underground” Sami Zayn would go one-on-one with last year’s Money-in-the-Bank winner Sheamus. In the end, it was Sami Zayn catching Sheamus out of nowhere with the Helluva Kick, pinning “The Celtic Warrior” to become the first Superstar to qualify for the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match. After the match, Sheamus was incensed at losing the qualifying match, clearly frustrated at not being able to beat Sami Zayn.

Backstage, Apollo Crews is getting interviewed about his Money-in-the-Bank Qualifying Match against Chris Jericho when Apollo is ambushed by Sheamus! “The Celtic Warrior” tosses Crews into some anvil cases in the backstage area before saying that, if anyone from the “new era” tries to rise up, he will be there to knock them down!

After successfully retaining the WWE Tag Team Titles against The Vaudevillains at Extreme Rules, WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day were in a celebratory mood on RAW as Xavier Woods, Big E, & Kofi Kingston were celebrating the 1200th episode of RAW with a special “Happy Birthday” cake for the occasion. Pointing out that a cake is never safe in a WWE ring, Xavier & Kofi carefully hand the cake to Big E on the outside as Big E taunts the fans as well as the commentators with the cake, acting like he was going to throw the cake on them. However, The New Day’s party would be stopped by their scheduled opponents, The Social Outcasts, as Heath Slater, Bo Dallas, & Curtis Axel ambush Xavier & Kofi in the ring while keeping Big E, kicking Xavier & Kofi out of the ring before The Social Outcasts celebrate in the ring.

Following the ambush by The Social Outcasts, the scheduled 6-Man Tag match would get underway as WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day would face The Social Outcasts. In a quick match, it was Big E and Kofi Kingston hitting the Midnight Hour with Kofi pinning Heath Slater to pick up the win for The New Day. After the match, The New Day would set their sights on humiliating Heath Slater, smashing the “Happy Birthday” cake into Slater’s face.

After surviving a Fatal 4-Way Match to retain the Intercontinental Championship at Extreme Rules, Intercontinental Champion The Miz, with Maryse in his corner, would go one-on-one with one of his three opponents from Extreme Rules, “The Swiss Superman” Cesaro in a Money-in-the-Bank Qualifying Match. Throughout the match, The Miz would target the previously injured shoulder of Cesaro, but despite one of his arms being nearly useless, “The Swiss Superman” would continue to fight back. However, when Cesaro would try for the Cesaro Swing, he would only get a few rotations before the shoulder would give out as The Miz would briefly take advantage, but when The Miz comes off of the top rope, Cesaro catches The Miz with a European uppercut. Cesaro then follows this up with the Neutralizer, pinning the Intercontinental Champion to become the second Superstar to qualify for the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match.

One night after the hellacious Asylum Match against Dean Ambrose at Extreme Rules that saw Ambrose slam him on a bed of thumbtacks, Chris Jericho would be covered in bandages as “Y2J” would face newcomer Apollo Crews in a Money-in-the-Bank Qualifying Match. Despite the best efforts of Apollo Crews, it was the veteran Chris Jericho who would emerge the winner, scoring with the Codebreaker and pinning Crews to qualify for the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match.

RAW would then see the return of Enzo Amore as Enzo & Big Cass would be together in a WWE ring for the first time since Enzo suffered a concussion at Payback as Big Cass, with Enzo Amore in his corner, would go one-on-one with Bubba Ray Dudley, with D-Von Dudley in his corner. During the match, D-Von would blindside Enzo on the outside, briefly distracting Big Cass. Shortly after this, Big Cass would aid Enzo on the outside as Enzo takes out D-Von before Big Cass heads back into the ring, hitting Bubba Ray with a big boot and following it up with the Empire Elbow, pinning Bubba Ray for the win.

After Dana Brooke came out dressed as Ric Flair, ultimately costing Natalya the Women’s Championship in a Submission Match at Extreme Rules, the Women’s Champion would be on RAW as Charlotte makes her way to the ring with her Hall of Fame father Ric Flair and her new ally Dana Brooke by her side. Ric Flair says that, ever since Charlotte was a little girl, she has been “that damn good” before saying that, without Charlotte, there is no Dana Brooke. “The Nature Boy” then hands the microphone over to his daughter as the Women’s Champion says that she couldn’t be more proud of Dana Brooke, saying that Dana made the “right decision”. Dana then thanks Charlotte for letting her stand in the ring with the “dirtiest player in the game”. Charlotte then says that what she remembers growing up is Thanksgivings, Christmases, and birthdays that Ric Flair was not a part of. Charlotte says that, now, she gets why her father was gone so much because she’s the Women’s Champion and she’s never been more “powerful” or more “confident”. The champion continues, saying that she’s the “woman” and that is why she finally has the courage to tell her father to “get out”!

As the Hall of Famer stares at his daughter in disbelief, Charlotte says that people from Flair’s era are all the same, saying that her father never wants to “leave the spotlight”. Charlotte then says that she was “compassionate” enough to let her father “bask” in her spotlight, saying that everyone looks at her as “Ric Flair’s daughter”, but the truth of the matter is that Flair is seen as “Charlotte’s dad”. The champion continues, saying that her spotlight “shines brighter” than Ric Flair’s ever did and, as Flair’s eyes well up with tears, Charlotte mocks her father’s distress, saying that Flair is the “second dirtiest player in the game” and she doesn’t have time for people who come in “second place”. The Women’s Champion then says that she doesn’t him anymore before saying that Flair “abandoned” her, saying that now she knows how Flair has felt for the past thirty years. Charlotte continues, saying that, to the fans, Ric Flair is “immortal”, but to her, Flair is “dead”. Without shedding a tear, Charlotte again tells her emotional father to get out of her ring, saying that Flair can just watch her on TV like she watched him for most of her life. Naturally, the Hall of Famer is reluctant to leave the ring, but “The Nature Boy” does as he is told as Ric Flair leaves the ring an emotional wreck as Charlotte shows no remorse for breaking her father’s heart.

In the fourth Money-in-the-Bank Qualifying Match of the night, “The Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose would go one-on-one with Dolph Ziggler with the winner joining Sami Zayn, Cesaro, & Chris Jericho in the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match. In the end, it was Dean Ambrose spiking Dolph Ziggler with Dirty Deeds, pinning Dolph to win the match and qualify for the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match.

Backstage, Ric Flair is embraced by his longtime friend and fellow Hall of Famer Arn Anderson following Flair’s emotional dismissal by his own daughter. “The Nature Boy” is then asked to comment on Charlotte basically disowning him, but the broken hearted Hall of Famer had nothing to say, walking out of the arena.

After a hellacious Extreme Rules Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns where he came so close to winning the championship on several different occasions, “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles would address the fans on RAW. Styles says that you never know how good someone is until you step in the ring with them and he found out at Extreme Rules that Roman Reigns is just as good as he says he is. AJ then says that, if it wasn’t for the involvement of The Usos and Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, he would have had Roman Reigns beat at Extreme Rules and he would be standing there right now as the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Styles continues, saying that he doesn’t live in the past and he has an opportunity tonight to earn a spot in the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match.

However, “The Phenomenal One” is then interrupted by Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, who make their way to the ring to confront their longtime friend. Anderson says that Styles makes it sound like he didn’t want them out there fighting with him at Extreme Rules. AJ says that he’s said from the beginning that he wants to do things on his own, saying that “things have changed” since their time together in Japan. Anderson agrees, saying that, if they were in Japan, then Styles would have bought them a round of drinks for having his back. Anderson then says that AJ Styles has “changed” before Styles says that he didn’t bring Gallows & Anderson to WWE so that they could watch his back. Luke Gallows then speaks up, saying that, if they didn’t have AJ’s back, then there were a lot of bar fights that Styles wouldn’t have walked away from and, if they didn’t drop everyone that had a problem with Styles, then AJ wouldn’t have made it to Extreme Rules.

AJ then tells Gallows & Anderson to not let their professional life ruin their friendship, saying that, professionally, they need to go their separate ways. Styles then says that they can each do their own thing but, for now, they’re “done” before saying that nothing and no one can ever separate them from being “brothers”. Karl Anderson then says that they’re not “brothers” anymore and they’re not “friends” anymore before Styles says that, if that’s the case, then they don’t need to be in the ring together anymore, saying that, as of now, this is his ring, prompting Gallows & Anderson to exit the ring.

Then it was time for the main event as “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles would go one-on-one with Kevin Owens in a Money-in-the-Bank Qualifying Match. During an incredible match between the two veterans, both Superstars would lay it all on the line and, at one point in the match, Kevin Owens would grab AJ Styles off of the ring apron and deliver a vicious powerbomb to “The Phenomenal One” on top of the steel steps! Somehow, AJ Styles was then able to make it back into the ring before the referee reaches his ten-count. Owens would then look for the Pop-Up Powerbomb, but Styles counters, taking Owens down before looking for the Phenomenal Forearm. However, Owens would hang Styles up on the top rope before planting “The Phenomenal One” in the middle of the ring with the Pop-Up Powerbomb, pinning Styles to pick up the win and earn a spot in the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match! Kevin Owens then celebrates in the ring as AJ Styles sits in disbelief on the entrance ramp, clearly disappointed and in pain.

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