Y’all know the deal by now. It’s Monday and that means a live Raw Recap. Watch this space to get all the details.
Sasha Banks opens the show.
Not sure if that’s happened before. She says for four months she’s been gone, minding her own business, not saying a word to anyone but all she hears is ‘Sasha Banks, Sasha Banks, Sasha Banks’. She admits to throwing a fit, how she was seen crying on the locker room floor at Wrestle Mania, and take her ball and went home. She says “You’re damn right I did”. But not for the reason you think. She says she was stuck in a tag team match that meant nothing to her, defending titles that meant even less whilst Becky Lynch headlined Wrestle Mania with Ronda Rousey. She remarks on the difference in paychecks between the two.
Sasha moves on to saying that she was waiting for the perfect time to come back. That’s when Nattie came into play. And now here she is, in the center of attention like she deserves. Sasha claims to be the boss of the women’s division, having run the show since day one. She claims to deserve all this glory. Nattie’s music hits to cut her off, she runs out ready for a fight. Sasha goes out to meet her and catches a double leg! A brawl starts. Natalya still has some bandages on her elbow. Officials come in to separate the two. They do a pretty awful job though!
Street Profits backstage.
They run down the card for tonight. Two more KOTR matches, a US title rematch between AJ Styles and Braun Strowman. And they talk about the eight teams in the Tag Team Turmoil and put them all over for the most part. Heavy Machinery, The Revival, Lucha House Party, B-Team who still exist apparently, Hawkins & Ryder, Gallows & Anderson, The Viking Raiders and a new team, Ziggler & Roode.
King Of The Ring Round 1: Drew McIntyre vs. Ricochet
McIntyre tosses Ricochet all across the ring with an overhead belly to belly early. Ricochet dumps McIntyre to the floor. Hops onto the apron, runs across it, moonsault off the second rope! McIntyre avoids it though. Grabs him up in Side Slam position and rushes over to slam him atop the barricade! Still holding him that way he walks up the steps… then hops up and drops him right onto the apron! Hot damn. Commercial break.
Ricochet flipkicks off McIntyre into an enziguri to start his comeback. Low dropkick takes him to the middle ropes. Springboard dropkick takes him to the floor. Ricochet wants a dive. Corkscrew tope takes him down! Back in the ring, Ricochet attempts a reverse rana, but Drew is able to catch him and hold him there! Inverted Alabama Slam gets a nearfall! Beats him to the corner… charges and tries for a crossbody, but Ricochet shows off his power by catching him! Northern Lights Suplex, tries to follow up with a rollthrough into a vertical but Drew shoves him away. But Ricochet nonetheless keeps it up, knocks him down, standing shooting star press for the near fall!
Ricochet gets onto the apron, tries for a high kick but McIntyre counters and knocks him onto the floor! Whips Ricochet towards the steps, but Ric hops over them, then turns and springs off them for an enziguri! Awesome move there. Tries for a run off the steps again but gets caught midair by the Glasgow Kiss headbutt, seemingly knocking him out! Drew drags him into the ring. Looks for the Claymore… superkick counter! Tries to keep up the offense but a surprise clothesline flips him over, Drew pulls him from the mat to his shoulders for a big sitout powerbomb! Nearfall. McIntyre gets him into a fireman’s carry, tries to take him up top with him. Ricochet escapes, knocks him to the ground, comes off the middle with the Recoil single-knee codebreaker! RIcochet goes up… 630!
Winner: Ricochet
Aaaand there’s my bracket totally busted. But I can’t complain after seeing such an awesome match, perhaps the best opener Raw has seen all year.
Next up, we’ll hear from the new Raw tag champs, Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman. Cathy Kelley (?) is backstage to speak with them. They will be defending their titles at the Clash of Champions against the winner of tonight’s tag team turmoil. She notes that every title will be defended at this show, including both of Seth’s. Seth tries to amp Braun up for the tag title defense, but he gets the sense that Braun isn’t thinking of those particular titles. Braun makes it clear that he’s challenging Seth for the Universal Championship. Seth says he doesn’t back down for a fight, challenge accepted.
And now Raw’s side closes out the first round. Before the bell, Miz gets on the mic and runs down his accomplishments over his career. People always ask him what he wants and he says he wants it all. Everyone is on a quest with him to get onto the iron throne.
King Of The Ring Round 1: Baron Corbin vs. The Miz
Miz starts out hot with strikes, clotheslining Corbin over the top rope. Tries for a baseball slide dropkick, but Baron slips away and nails a haymaker to the mouth. They get back in the ring to keep brawling. Baron gets whipped to the corner, escapes, ring-around-the-ringpost, back in for a clothesline nearfall. Commercial.
Miz getting the comeback as we return, high kicks in the corner. Cedric is watching backstage, he faces the winner. Deep Six counter gets a nearfall. Tries for an End of Days, Miz rolls through for a DDT counter, nearfall! It Kicks follow. I guess he could only do this as a face whilst Bryan is a heel, but let’s not pretend they think too hard on these things. Baron tries his ring-around-the-ringpost again, Miz counters into a Skull Crushing FInale, but it’s the weakest finisher of all time so of course Baron kicked out. Miz tries for a Springboard Nothing, gets countered into the End Of Days. That’s it.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Suffice to say, not uh, quite on the same level of Ricochet/McIntyre. They did do well though all things considered, can’t knock it that much. Afterwards, Baron sits upon the throne and puts on a crown and holds the scepter. On the mic, he says there was a poll where the WWE Universe wanted absolutely anyone else to win the King of the Ring. Thankfully, none of you actually matter to him. Because on their very best day they couldn’t accomplish a single that he has. He’s where he is today because of one person: himself. And after he’s coronated, you will hear it from him first: All Hail King Corbin.
Backstage, we speak to Gallows and Anderson. They complain about Rollins and Strowman getting a tag title match out of nowhere, when they have to overcome seven other teams to earn a rematch. They say it’s unfair, but this turf belongs to the official, the original, the only club that’s ever mattered.
Bayley vs. Nikki Cross
Bayley forces Nikki to the outside, tries for a baseball slide, Nikki catches her foot but gets kicked away. Bayley follows her, but Nikki takes over out there, forces her inside and gets into her a body scissor. Bayley fights out but Nikki keeps the aggression on. Bayley counters a corner whip by getting the outside, tries a sunset flip pin. Nikki kicks out but gets hit with a Back Suplex. Top rope elbow drop… and that’s all she wrote.
Winner: Bayley
Not much to this match, they could certainly have a much better one. But it’s nice to see a champ getting momentum in non-title bouts.
Backstage, Braun talks about what an historic night Clash of Champions will be for him. He intends to defend the tag titles and the US title – after winning it tonight – before winning the Universal title all on the same night.
Tag Team Turmoil
The Viking Raiders are out first. B-Team are their opponents, I have no idea if they’ve had a match on Raw this year up to this point. Unsurprisingly, after a short-lived isolation, the Viking Raiders dispatch the B-Team with the Viking Experience. The OC are out next. OC double team Ivar whilst keeping Erik outside the ring. I may never memorize which is which with their new names, just going on commentary. Ivar hits a suicide dive but hits his own partner as well as both OC members. All four end up in the ring brawling… and the ref calls for a Double DQ, eliminating both from tag turmoil. Can’t say I’ve ever seen that one before. A way to keep from beating either team and maybe setup a feud in the process, so I’m not that upset I guess. Roode & Ziggler out next. After the break, we see that Lucha House Party are their opponents. Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik rep the team. Dorado with an enziguri, tags Metalik with a headbutt basically. Metalik flipping all over the place to take Ziggler down. Rope roll for the middle rope dropkick. Dorado comes in, gets dumped, Metalik tries for a handspring – superkick to the back of the head to counter takes them out quick. The Revival are out next.
Hawkins & Ryder and Heavy Machinery still yet to enter.
Dawsons wins a chop trade with Roode, but eats a Back Body Drop. Dawson escapes, Dash tags in, gets a springboard shoulder block, and the isolation ensues on Ziggler. Double Catapult into the ropes gets a nearfall. Dash cuts off Ziggler’s attempts to fight back. Dawson tags in and hooks him up in the ropes to pummel him. We have a heat segment going on between two heels right now in case you’re wondering. Slingshot Suplex gets a nearfall. I’m glad an actual tag match eventually broke out here but this was a very cold time to do it, just saying. Dolph fights back with a Fameasser, but gets tossed away. Brainbuster by Dawson, but Roode had blind-tagged in… Glorious DDT on Dawson. That’s it.
Hawkins & Ryder are out, for their first appearance in God knows how long. Samoan Drop/Middle Rope Flying Neckbreaker combo gets a nearfall. Hawkins is tossed out of the ring. Superkick to Ryder and that’s that for them. Heavy Machinery now out in a terrible spot for a babyface team against these valiant heels. Confounded by the booking here. Ziggler and Roode do atleast demand a timeout and bail from the ring, but they don’t get it. Heavy Machinery get them back into the ring. Tucker with a springboard crossbody for a nearfall. Tucker gets Ziggler up into a suplex, then hands him off to Otis to finish it off.
Tucker dumped to the outside after trying to hit the ropes, Roode rams him into the steps as hard as he can. In the ring, Ziggler tags in, neckbreaker for a nearfall. Gets him in a sleeper. Dolph tries a Tornado DDT on Tucker, who counters with a catapult that takes him headfirst into the post. Simultag, Otis runs through Roode and Ziggler. Gets several twirls before planting Roode with a scoop slam.
Avalanche crash to Roode… Otis starts looking for the Caterpillar! Dolph runs in, gets a pop-up drop. Otiis sends Dolph into the corner, avalanche to both! Now Otis looks for it on ZIggler… Caterpillar hits! But Dolph’s not the legal man. Roode sneaks up, roll-up, but Otis kicks out. World’s Strongest Slam, nearfall. Tucker tags in. They look for the Compacter… Dolph takes down Tucker, Zig Zag to Otis lands him right on both Roode and his own partner! Pin to follow, and we have our…
Winners: Dolph Ziggler & Bobby Roode
Mmmmkay. Just gonna have this heel team come out of nowhere and cleanly defeat four other teams in turmoil to try and pretend they haven’t been booked into oblivion and non-existence respectively over the last few months. Sure. They’re threats to Rollins and Braun, sure.
Sasha Banks vs. Natalya
Nattie with an immediate double leg. Go the outside, Nattie slams her into the barricade. Snap suplex to the floor, and then another! Nattie forces her back into the ring. Rains down punches. Sasha looks to take the advantage, wheelbarrow countered into a crazy German Suplex! She just got tossed. Nattie should get mad more often. Sasha bails, Nattie follows, gets tossed over the announce table into a chair! Sasha posts her twice, before taking her inside for a nearfall. Starts working on the arm, kicking her in the elbow. Nattie tries for the Sharpshooter, but Sasha escapes by upkicking that elbow. Banks Statement! Natalya struggles towards the ropes, but Sasha is able to isolate both arms! It looks really damn snug! Natalya is forced to submit.
Winner: Sasha Banks
Brief, but a really fun TV match, better than I expected. Crowd was really deflated by that tag turmoil though. Afterwards, Sasha gets on Nattie with a Banks Statement in again. Crowd starts chanting for ‘Becky’ but she doesn’t show. Eventually Sasha releases the hold and walks.
Interview with AJ Styles backstage. AJ starts to say this is a bunch of bull- before saying that Gallows and Anderson were screwed out of the Tag Team Turmoil. And now, nobody thinks he can beat Braun Strowman. Maybe they’ve forgotten how phenomenal he is. Braun intimidates everyone, but he doesn’t intimidate AJ. AJ says Braun won’t get his hands on his US Championship.
Cesaro vs. Cedric Alexander up next! Why thank you.
Cesaro vs. Cedric Alexander
I don’t really know why they bothered giving Cesaro such a grandiose new entrance only to have him basically achieve nothing ever since. But this oughta be real fun. Cesaro takes the early advantage with hard european uppercuts. Cedric tries to respond with chops. Headscissors to Cesaro, dropkick takes him to the floor. Tries for a suicide dive but a huge uppercut cuts him off! Deadlift Gutwrench Suplex for a 2. Cedric fights out, gets Cesaro the floor, tope wipes him out. Gets him back into the ring, springboard clothesline for 2. Tries for a back suplex, Cesaro counters with an uppercut. Crossbody to Cesaro takes both to the outside! Commercial break.
When we come back, Cesaro is beating on Cedric in the ring. During the break, Cesaro singled out the knee, ramming it into the LED board and then onto the apron. Cesaro whips Alexander to the ropes, handspring kick. Cedric lifts Cesaro up, struggles for a moment from his bum knee but eventually hits the Michinoku Driver for a nearfall! Alexander wants a springboard, but his leg makes that difficult… Cesaro cuts him off as he tries to go up top instead, deadlift Superplex from the outside for a nearfall! Single Leg Boston Crab in the middle. Cedric crawls over to the ropes to break the hold. Cesaro hits the ropes… C-4 gets a nearfall! Nice counter.
Back Suplex, but Cesaro shifts the weight to fall onto Cedric. Cloverleaf follows, with a knee buried into the small of the back, transitioned into another single leg boston crab. Somehow Cedric manages to counter this with a Victory Roll to break the hold. One-legged Handspring, but Cesaro gets him back into the hold, only for Cedric to roll through to force him to the outside. Cesaro slides back into the ring as fast as he can, only to run right into a Lumbar Check! That’s it.
Winner: Cedric Alexander
Another fun TV match. Cedric favoring his leg afterwards, might come into play against Corbin next week.
We hear from Ziggler and Roode backstage. They’re asked how this team came about. Dolph says he rarely sees any superstar backstage that he cares about, but sometimes you see a superstar with a little twinkle in their eye who wants it more than anyone else. And you gravitate towards those people. He assumes that Rollins and Strowman’s singles match will be before their tag title shot because they’re the real main eventers. Roode says when you’re hot you’re hot and promises they will be the tag team champions. And it will of course be absolutely glorious.
Montez Ford claims that tonight Raw has been lit. He asks Dawkins if it’s possible for Rollins and Strowman to hold it together. But Dawkins seems distracted. He says he’s just focused on the afterparty on Bourbon Street. Ford says before then, we’ve got a match bigger than the Big Easy. He asks who he’s got in Braun/AJ… just as Strowman himself walks past them. They decide to just walk before finishing their spiel here.
Firefly Funhouse highlight reel plays. I appreciate that they’re keeping appearances for The Fiend sporadic, keeping him special.
WWE United States Championship: AJ Styles (c) vs. Braun Strowman
Braun immediately tosses AJ over the top rope. Goes out, does his long run around ringside to barrel through AJ once, then a second time! Back in the ring, AJ tries to fight back, goes for the Springboard Forearm but Braun counters with a Chokeslam! Big boot to AJ to take him to the floor. Back from commercial and AJ has control now with a sleeper. But Braun powers him up and crushes him in the corner. Goes for a charging big boot, but AJ avoids it, Chop Block takes him down! He starts targeting that leg with scything kicks now. Springboard Moonsault gets a 2.
AJ gets him into the Calf Crusher. Braun struggles. Until he doesn’t… he just hoists up onto his knees and stares AJ down. Headbutt breaks the hold! Shoulder block runs through AJ once, twice. Running Powerslam, AJ slips behind him. Braun tries to run through him, but AJ avoids it and nails right into the ringpost! Referee barely avoids contact there, goes out to the apron to avoid it. Dropkick to Braun knocks him right into the ref, taking him to the floor! AJ with a lowblow to Strowman, channeling his feud with Shinsuke. AJ takes up a chair. Wallops Braun in the back with the steel. Charges for a shot, but Strowman counters with a quick Running Powerslam for the pin, but of course there’s no ref. Anderson and Gallows charge out. Rollins is apparently not here tonight I guess they just pre-taped that segment earlier. But before long Braun’s able to fight back, taking the OC out with steel chair shots. But the ref gets in the ring in time to catch Braun with the chair. He heard chairshots and DQs him even though he never actually hit AJ with it!
Winner: Braun Strowman (by DQ)
Braun is of course pissed. Now he happily takes the chair to AJ. Powerslam to Anderson and then another to Gallows. One more for AJ, plants him right between his buddies. Strowman lifts the US title even though I don’t think he’s gonna be challenging for it again. Tosses it onto AJ and poses as we go off the air.
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