WWE Raw London Review: A Flat Afternoon with a Huge Main Event Finish
WWE took Monday Night Raw across the pond to a packed O2 Arena in London this week for a special afternoon broadcast on Netflix. While the crowd was ready for a hot international TV taping, the show itself largely felt like a placeholder go-home episode for Night of Champions.
With zero additions made to the premium live event card and a trimmed-down lineup of just four televised matches, it's easy to see why the show pulled a middle-of-the-road 5.43 Cagematch rating.
That said, the two major tag team angles bookending the broadcast gave fans plenty to talk about. Here is a breakdown of what went down in London.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Brie Bella & Paige (c) def. Bayley & Lyra Valkyria (8:02)
The hometown pop for Paige was massive, and the champions worked a solid, albeit brief, opener.
The real story happened after the bell. Paige put Valkyria away with the Rampaige to retain the titles, but as a disappointed Bayley went to console and hug her partner, Lyra shockingly snapped. Valkyria laid out Bayley with the Nightwing, officially cementing a heel turn.
The Takeaway: This turn has a lot of potential to inject some serious edge into Lyra, but given how cold the women's tag scene has felt lately, it's hard to get overly invested just yet.
Singles Match: Ethan Page def. Dragon Lee (9:59)
A fast-paced, hard-hitting athletic showcase that gave the London crowd some life in hour two. Dragon Lee looked incredible on a spectacular flip over the announce table, but "All Ego" played the classic heel card.
Page blatantly used his head to deliver a low blow right in front of the referee before hitting the Egoplex to secure the pinfall.
Singles Match: LA Knight def. Jimmy Uso (12:23)
Born out of a backstage confrontation earlier in the night, these two veterans went back and forth in a standard TV match. Just as things peaked, the Bloodline drama reared its head. Solo Sikoa emerged from the crowd and completely cost Jimmy by hitting him with a Samoan Spike while he was perched on the top rope.
LA Knight didn't hesitate, planting Jimmy with the BFT for the victory before staring down a retreating Solo.
WWE World Tag Team Championship: The Street Profits def. The Vision (Austin Theory & Bron Breakker) (w/ Logan Paul) (c) (19:36) — TITLE CHANGE!
The main event easily carried the show and justified the nearly 20 minutes it was given. Chaos ruled the final stretch. Logan Paul’s interference was cut short when Joe Hendry unexpectedly showed up to chase him to the back.
From there, Seth Rollins arrived through the crowd, blasting Austin Theory with brass knuckles.
Bron Breakker chased Rollins out of the building, leaving Theory completely isolated. Montez Ford capitalized, soaring with From the Heavens to crown the Street Profits as 4-time Tag Team Champions.
The Takeaway: Massive win for Dawkins and Ford, who desperately needed this spark after being sidelined and battered by The Vision over the last month.
Final Thoughts
If you didn't catch this live on Netflix, you can safely skim everything between the opening bell and the main event.
The Lyra turn gives the women's division a new narrative thread, and the Profits getting the straps ensures the show will at least matter historically.
However, as a final hype piece for Night of Champions this weekend, the creative felt like it was largely spinning its wheels.
