When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up forfor news on the biggest players and tournaments Reigns and Lashley have been arguing about who should be the next No1 Contender for Brock Lesnar’s Universal Championship and their tensed conflict escalated last night on RAW. The MMA hero accused The Big Dog of being an egomaniac after insisting to compete in back-to-back Tag Team Matches. Reigns teamed up with former Shield partner Seth Rollins to take on Drew McIntyre as well as the new Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler and won via disqualification after interference from The Revival. The three-time world champion then paired up with Lashley against Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder but their bout also ended in a DQ.<doc-sep>This article is more than 2 years old. Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley has been made official for WWE Extreme Rules and Dr. Shelby made his long-awaited return to attempt to salvage Bayley and Sasha Banks' friendship through a series of awkward vignettes. Ronda Rousey was also announced as a ringside guest for WWE Extreme Rules as Nia Jax is scheduled to take on Alexa Bliss for the Raw Women's Championship. Credit: WWE.com After picking up momentum in recent week, Raw's viewership took a step back with a big drop last week. Raw may catch a break by avoiding the July 4 holiday, but the shocking news of Demarcus Cousins signing with the Golden State Warriors could drive viewers to talking heads on sports networks after completely taking over social media during Raw. WWE Raw Viewership—Last Five Weeks Air Date Average Viewership June 25, 2018 2.663 million June 18, 2018 2.903 million June 11, 2018 2.730 million June 4, 2018 2.525 million May 28, 2018 2.494 million (Second-lowest viewership ever) WWE Raw Key Competition The Bachelorette Demarcus Cousins is a Warrior Now (Social Media) From the Forbes WWE Vault: WWE Raw Total YouTube Viewership Last Monday: 7,595,678 views (Down from 21,533,118) Most-Viewed: Brock Lesnar's Contract Negotiations Hit a Snag (1,697,373 views) Least-Viewed: Rich and Rex Gibson vs. The Authors of Pain (194,542 views) Median Viewership: 528,285 WWE Raw Estimated Attendance for "C City": 4,546 Average WWE Raw Ticket Price at the Denny Sanford Premier Center: $49 WWE Raw Estimated Live Gate: $222,754 WWE Raw: Monday, July 2, 2018 Opening Segment Featuring Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler (YouTube Views: 64,177) Roman Reigns began by saying "I'm not making any excuses or anything..." a phrase he has now said enough times to warrant its own t-shirt. Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, Bobby Lashley, the Revival, Brock Lesnar...Roman Reigns wants the smoke with everyone in WWE. Matt Hardy vs. Curtis Axel (YouTube Views: 8,224) Coach's word for the hour was "momentum," which I swear has been his word of every hour since he joined the Raw announce team. Whether it's the B-Team or the imitation Deleters of World, I don't know which version of Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel would hurt the Raw Tag Team Championships more. How many hours did Curtis Axel have to spend on Skype with The New Day before finally nailing that Floss dance? The Friend Zone with Bayley and Sasha Banks (YouTube Views: 13,976) In the five years since we last saw him, Dr. Shelby received a certificate in friendship counseling and a new pair of sideburns. For what it's worth, Bayley was wearing black. It was around this segment that Demarcus Cousins signed with the Warriors. A move which somehow made the Warriors an even bigger heel than Roman Reigns will be in Brooklyn. Authors of Pain vs. Titus Worldwide (YouTube Views: 5,175) After last week's mauling, I was hoping for a run-in by the Gibson Brothers. Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler (YouTube Views: 4,984) WWE desperately wants you to believe that Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre will one day headline WrestleMania. This remains to be seen. I have a fleeting feeling that the 30-minute Iron Man Match Between Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler will just be the two exchanging rollup pinfalls and the last Superstar with a fistful of tights will win. The Revival may have ruined a perfectly good match, but at the same time, they exercised excellent tag team etiquette by showing up to their match early. Constable Baron Corbin Confronts Finn Balor (YouTube Views: 2,900) Kevin Owens wore a Baron Corbin hoodie and I'm pretty sure he was doing it ironically. Wise-cracking Finn Balor belongs on 205 Live. Ember Moon vs. Liv Morgan Ruby Riott was off the show due to injury, so there was no lipstick to add a finishing touch to the Riott Squad's vandalism. Nobody wanted any part of this match when it started, but by the time Ember Moon hit her all-world finisher, the place was in a frenzy. The Revival vs. Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley Bobby Lashley's new theme song is a slight improvement, but unfortunately, it can't cut promos for him. This TV feud pitting Roman Reigns and Lashley vs. The Revival is just a slow build to a Triple Threat Match between Lashey, Reigns and Reigns' pride. Mojo Rawley vs. No Way Jose I would have preferred if Mojo Rawley actually ate the burger he berated last week. No Way Jose's Conga Line should come with multiple individuals who are at least dressed like security. Mickie James vs. Nia Jax Credit: WWE.com Apparently, Ronda Rousey finally figured out the "I bought a ticket" loophole to being suspended, which is among the oldest tricks in the pro wrestling bible. Nia Jax's delivery on this night could only be described as sedated. Which number is higher? Bret Hart's age or the number of times a Montreal Screwjob finish has been used in WWE? Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman The way this feud is going, Kevin Owens and Braun Strowman will do battle in a Lumberjack Match where the lumberjacks are local valet drivers. Raw ended with its first-ever "porta-potty" chant. Stay tuned for the timely "Wash These Hands" merchandise.<doc-sep>For the second week in a row, Roman Reigns was teaming up with Bobby Lashley to take on The Revival. Some fans are pleased that Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder are getting television time, against two of the biggest names on Monday Night RAW no less. MONDAY NIGHT RAW Others, however, haven't been as receptive to seeing an identical tag team match for the second consecutive week, even if the outcome was different. With general manager Kurt Angle making the announcement that the multi-person number one contender match at Extreme Rules is no longer going ahead, they did drop a tease towards which match could feature on the card. It's thought that The Big Dog will take on Lashley, with the winner earning an opportunity to challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. Eagle-eyed viewers that did tune into RAW this week and caught this tag team match, though, might have spotted something rather strange involving the referee. Although, it wasn't entirely obvious what was going on. As you'll be able to see in the video below, Lashley was waiting to get tagged in while Reigns was locked in a submission hold by Wilder. For some reason, the referee turned his focus to Lashley out of nowhere, and the small number of fans that did catch it have realised why the referee approached Lashley on the apron. WWE'S INSTRUCTIONS While Lashley was waiting to get tagged in, the Nike logo was clearly visible on his headband before the camera cut away again. Instantly, the referee left his job to head over to Lashley, signalling that he needed to flip his headband over to hide the Nike logo. Although some might praise the referee for his ring awareness, it's clear that as soon as Lashley was seen on the cameras behind the scenes, the referee was given a directive through the earpiece to head over to Lashley and give the instruction. Considering the WWE practically owns 'TapOut,' it might have made for sense for WWE to hand that headband to Lashley instead. Now, it looks clear that WWE isn't a fan of giving any company free advertising - even if you're Nike. Still, it shows how seriously the WWE might have taken this catch as the referee wasted little time to rush over to Lashley. What do you make of WWE instructing the referee to tell Bobby Lashley to hide the Nike logo? Have YOUR say in the comments section below. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE LATEST EPISODE OF TURNBUCKLE TALK - GIVEMESPORT'S WWE PODCAST - THIS WEEK FEATURING NXT CHAMPION ALEISTER BLACK. News Now - Sport News<doc-sep>
What's the story? Paul Heyman recently went to social media and posted a rant about how nobody in the current RAW roster was at Brock Lesnar's level. He took shots at Bobby Lashley dubbing him 'The Man Who Would Be Lesnar' and also, at Roman Reigns, calling him a 'Sloppy Second Samoan'. I never ducked @BrockLesnar in college. I never had the chance to meet him earlier in @WWE. Never was in same #MMA organization. Now we're both here again in #WWE. I'm ready. Let's do it. I'd LOVE to fight Brock. Take that any way you want! — Bobby Lashley (@fightbobby) June 24, 2018 This isn’t a college mat or an octagon. This is the squared circle, aka My Yard. So do yourself a favor Bob, don’t assume you’ll make it out of #ExtremeRules. And @HeymanHustle come say all this at #RAW. Please. https://t.co/1CWo6GHLhx — Roman Reigns (@WWERomanReigns) June 24, 2018 Lashley responded to Heyman, and so did Reigns. It looks like Reigns and Lashley are the front-runners for Brock Lesnar's Universal Championship. In case you didn't know... Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley teamed up to take out The Revival last week. At the same time, it is certain that the two men are far from friends and are currently gunning for the same prize, Brock Lesnar's Universal Championship. Fans have wanted a Lesnar vs. Lashley feud for years now, because of their similar combat sports background. As for Reigns, he has unfinished business with Lesnar after their disputed finish at the Greatest Royal Rumble. As of right now, it is not known whom Lesnar will square off with next. The heart of the matter Much to the dismay of The WWE Universe, Brock Lesnar hasn't been seen since the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia. Paul Heyman's Facebook status indicated that he was a level above the rest of the roster, and therefore would focus on his goals in UFC. This is obviously a work and a setup for Brock Lesnar's SummerSlam program, which, from the looks of it, will boil down to either Roman Reigns or Bobby Lashley. More details should come to light when RAW comes around, this week. What's next? It remains to be seen when Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman will return to RAW in the near future. From what we know, there will be a multi-man match at Extreme Rules to determine the next Number 1 Contender for Lesnar's title. Also, do not forget the monster with the briefcase. Do you want to see Reigns or Lashley as the next Universal Champion? Sound off in the comments below. Follow Sportskeeda for the latest WWE news, rumors and all other wrestling news.