Seth Rollins vs Dolph Ziggler ended in no contest
Rollins took it upon himself to defend Shawn Michael’s honor after last week’s Smackdown attack, and when Ziggler came out to HBK’s music, it just added insult to injury.
Rollins attacked Ziggler following Ziggler insulting him and was in the process of thoroughly pummeling him until Ziggler hit with a DDT on the apron.
After surviving a sling blade and powerbomb for pin attempts, Ziggler hit with a Zig Zag, but Rollins kicked out.
Rollins countered a superkick with two of his own, then readied for the Stomp but Brock Lenser’s music started and Lesner and Heyman came out.
Lesner hit with a clothesline while Ziggler held onto his leg, then a pair of German suplexes followed before throwing Rollins into the barricade a few times before F-5ing Rollins into the ring post. After throwing Rollins into the ring, Lesner grabbed a steel chair and hit Rollins with it before opening it and sitting down for a few.
Three F-5s onto the open chair later and Heyman managed to stop Lesner from inflicting further damage.
Paramedics came to the ring to take him out on a stretcher and wheeled him past Lynch and Roman Reigns. A brawl broke out when Samoa Joe attacked Reigns.
The ambulance tried to leave, but was stopped by Lesner, who then pulled Rollins out of the backed F-5’d him onto the gurney twice.
Samoan Summit Cancellation
After instigating a brawl backstage with Roman Reigns while Rollins was being taken out, Samoa Joe took to the ring to proclaim, “I regret to inform you tonight that the Samoan Summit has been canceled because of catastrophic breakdown of peace talks.”
He then challenged Roman Reigns to a fight, and Reigns agreed.
It was your standard WWE brawl until Reigns threw the steep steps at Joe and was ambushed by Drew McIntyre. Cedric Alexander came out to help and hit Joe and McIntyre before Joe knocked him out of the air.
McIntyre and Alexander hade their way to the top of the stage and McIntrye suplexed Alexander into the wall then threw him off to the side.
The Usos, Revival, and OC came out in a full out brawl.
Meanwhile, Alexander climbed to the top of the titantron and jumped off, leveling everyone below before going back after McIntyre. In the ring, Alexander countered a Claymore with a dropkick, but the OC interfered. Reigns then cleared out the OC and McIntyre with Superman punches and the Usos superkicked Joe before Reigns hit him with a spear.
The Rest of Raw
Mosh Pit (Lumberjack) Mixed Tag Team 24/7 Championship: R-Truth (c) and Carmella beat Drake Maverick and Renee by pinfall
With the ring surrounded by superstars and the 24/7 championship rules suspended for the match we got a pretty fun match. Seeing Maverick caught after going over the top rope and carried back into the ring without touching the floor was pretty cool.
Following a pin attempt by Truth, Renee broke it up and her and Carmella went at it. Maverick separated them, earned a slap by Carmella, and a front face suplex by Truth for the pin.
As has become the norm, the superstars outside enter the ring and pile on to Truth.
24/7 Championship: Mike Kanellis beat R-Truth (c) by pinfall
Kanellis managed to pin Truth while under the pile up and a referee counted. Kanellis then ran into the backstage area and locked himself in a room. His loving with Maria showed upand the others left. She talked Mike into letting her in by threatening to “knock down this door or I’ll kick you in the vagina!” He opened the door.
24/7 Championship: Maria Kanellis beat Mike Kanellis (c) by pinfall
After the gauntlet match, we’re backstage where Mike was telling Maria that they were now champions and she could be proud of him. She then told him “to get on your back like you usually do,” and called over a referee. When Mike questioned her, she said, “I’m pinning you, so my unborn child has a champion as a parent. Get down.”
Yay. First ever pregnant champion. What history (please note the sarcasm) She then approached Titus and asked what he’d do to become champion again, “wrestle a pregnant woman? No?” She then invited them to come to her OBYGYN appointment.
Well, the 24/7 run has taken a weird and potentially stupid turn now.
Braun Strowman’s Silencing Growl
After interrupting Maria Kanellis’ photoshoot, Maria decided to give him a verbal lashing, saying, “Monster among men, how about you show me how big and strong you are?” Strowman responded with a nice growl and she backed away.
United States Championship Gauntlet: Richochet won and will face AJ Styles at SummerSlam
Round One: Rey Mysterio beat Cesaro by pinfall
A fun and brutal match with counters and quick pin attempts, both men got to display their skills, including the pair going over the top rope with Mysterio on Cesaro’s shoulders and Cesaro landing on his feet.
Mysterio eventually hit with a 619 and frog splash for the pin.
Round Two: Rey Mysterio beat Sami Zayne by pinfall
Zayne ran down and started beating on Mysterio before Mysterio rolled him up in a small package for the win.
Round Three: Andrade beat Rey Mysterio by pinfall
Andrade caught Mysterio in a 619 and hit with a backbreaker and double hook DDT for the pin.
After the match, Andrade continued beating on Mysterio and ripped off his mask.
Round Four: Ricochet beat Andrade by pinfall
Ricochet came out to help Mysterio before the final round began.
While not quite as good as the first gauntlet match, this was still a fun one as we got to see two top young stars do their thing.
After exchanging blows on the top rope, Ricochet hit with a 630 for the pin.
After the match, Ricochet said everyone will believe in him when he’s holding the US championship over his head, to which AJ Style, who’d been watching backstage, laughed.
It was good to see Ricochet back after missing last week.
A Moment of Bliss: Back to Face Turn?
After a brief mention of Raw Reunion and how they are all family, Bliss showed a clip from earlier in the day where Becky Lynch assaulted Natalya training with Fit Finley while he was showing her how to counter the Dis-Arm-Her. Lynch slapped her hold on Natalya before Finley pulled her off and was called a traitor.
The fans chanted “Becky” among Bliss’ criticizing her.
Bliss said she’d “knock the Man down a few pegs,” when they faced each other that night. Lynch responded on the titantron, pointing out they would be facing each other one on one, then questioned Cross’ Celtic pride for being a coffee maker for Bliss.
Kinda weird when the heels are more face than the face, huh?
Becky Lynch beat Alexa Bliss by forfeit
A pretty good match where Bliss countered the Dis-Arm-Her into a rollup pin attempt and continued exchanging moves and hit with Lynch until Bliss “hurt” her ankle following a Beck-Sploder and really sold it, forfeiting the match.
Afterwards, Cross started jawing at Lynch, so…
Becky Lynch beat Nikki Cross by pinfall
A Man-Handle Slam ended a match and signaled Bliss’ “miraculous recover” as she and Cross attacked Lynch and beat her down in the corner.
Natalya when ran out and slapped the sharpshooter on Lynch for payback for Lynch’s earlier attack.
Backstage, Natalya was approached about whether he actions destroyed their friendship, and she said it wasn’t about friendship, but treating others as equals. She then said she’d love to challenge Lynch to a submission match between her Sharpshooter and Lynch’s Dis-Arm-Her, but said Lynch was too cowardly to accept, so we wasn’t going to issue the challenge.
Triple Threat Raw Tag Team Championship: The OC (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) beat the Usos (pinfall) and The Revival (c)
In what was the second best match of the night, most of it was between the Revival and Usos as they left the OC on the apron until around the midway point.
After a pin on the Usos was saved by the OC, Dawson tried to suplex Gallows over the top rope, but Gallows held on and puled them both over.
Jimmy Uso then superplexed Dawson off the turnbuckle and onto the others outside the ring. Jimmy eventually rolled Dawson back into the ring, but Dawson rolled out of the way, but Gallows made a blind tag on Dawson. A Revival Shatter Machine on Jimmy, a double cross body by Jey on the Revival, followed by the OC’s Magic Killer on Jimmy for the pin ended the match.
Backstage, Styles was waiting with a buffet to celebrate with Gallows and Anderson.
The Viking Raiders beat Cole Carter and Johnny James (enhancement talent) by pinfall
Another squash match ended with the Viking Experience and pin.
Final Thoughts
One of their better shows of the year saw a return to many ECW and Attitude Era style of matches. Brock Lesner cemented himself once again as the most dangerous superstar through tried and true methods dating back to the 80s and putting Rollins in the position of the wounded hero who rises to fight. Though, Rollins shouldn’t be the one to take the title from Lesner at SummerSlam. His arc should be shifted elsewhere.
Cedric Alexander is making a name for himself in the Jeff Hardy mold, and the OC have cemented themselves as a legitimate power as tag team champions.
The downside is the 24/7 title. While it was never meant to be a serious title, it’s jumped the shark with their record breaking “first pregnant champion” spiel.
It should be fun to see where the stories go from here.
