Jordan Huie of The Overtimer here, with another night of recaption. Tonight our crosshairs are on Monday Night Raw, where we’ll finally crown the King Of The Ring! As always, watch this space for results!
Seth Rollins opens the show. He had quite the night last night, losing the tag titles, retaining the Universal title but being attacked by the Fiend to close the show. Rollins recounts that, giving the show a mini-recap. A chant of Yowie-Wowie hits as he gets to the Fiend. He says as he was laying there choking half to death, the last thing he saw was the face of the Fiend. When he came to, surprise surprise, Bray Wyatt was nowhere to be found. But in three weeks he gets to go one-on-one with him in Hell of a Cell.
Firefly Funhouse theme interrupts and Bray appears on the tron. He calls Rollins his future best friend. He says he’s glad that he’s here and glad that he’s okay. Seth calls him a freak or something to that effect. Ramblin’ Rabbit tries to warn Seth and tell him to run, but Bray knocks him away. Bray says namecalling is a mistake. But a lot of people make mistakes. Friends forgive… but HE never forgives. Maybe that’s why he said hello at Clash of Champions. Who knows? He might even have more to say to you tonight… the Fiend’s face flashes across Bray’s. Bray stares intensely for like ten seconds before cackling and saying “See you in Hell!”
Graphics for matches tonight play up, funnily upside-down. It takes a while for anyone to acknowledge this. Backstage, Braun Strowman tells Interviewer Girl #1 that he’s in a bad mood and the next guy he sees will get these hands. Roode and Ziggler make their way out with their newly won Raw tag team titles for what’s being called a Tag Team Summit. The new SmackDown tag champs the Revival join them in this.
Roode says when he and Dolph got together, nobody believed in them, not even Michael Cole. And God knows he thinks he knows everything. He tells the world to take a good hard look at greatness. But before he can keep going Braun interrupts them. He makes his way out, Dash and Dawson go out to meet him but quickly regret that as Braun tosses them aside. He enters the ring and Roode and Ziggler bail. Strowman does his run around the ringside bit and goes through Dash, Dawson and Ziggler but Roode escapes unscathed; he evidently has a match with Rollins later.
Backstage, Nikki and Alexa rip on Fire & Desire. They also jab at Sasha for not properly valuing the women’s tag titles or the friends that help you get them.
The OC vs. Cedric Alexander & The Viking Raiders
AJ and Cedric start the match together, Cedric with a bunch of rights on Aj in the corner. Enziguri kick takes AJ to the mat. Cedric runs to the opposite corner, AJ charges right into a knee lift to the face. Cedric pummels him into the face corner, tag to Erik. Big knee to the face, AJ has to tag out to Anderson. Erik with a bodyslam as Ivar tags in, Erik bodyslams Ivar onto Anderson for a quick pin attempt. Ivar with a wristlock, short-arm shoulder block. Anderson tags to Gallows as Ivar tags to Erik. Erik welcomes the fight, they brawl with each other, Buisaku Knees, Gallows evades it and Erik bounces wildly off the corner. Taken to the outside where Gallows and Anderson meet him with running boots and we go to break.
Anderson keeps Erik down with a headlock. Reverse hip toss into brutal kneelift, Erik gets to make the tag to Ivar who comes in like a freight train, big crossbody to Gallows on the mat, Senton to AJ in the corner, Clothesline to Anderson! Cedric is tagged in, springboard clothesline! Gallows get Ivar with a Gallow’s Pole, Erik catches him with an exploder, Anderson gets him with a superkick, Cedric with a back elbow to him but AJ was tagged in and hits a Phenomenal Forearm for the win.
Winners: The OC
AJ attacks Cedric until the Viking Raiders chase him off, and they proceed to brawl with Gallows and Anderson, they fight to the outside until Ivar comes off the top rope with a flying senton to the floor and nobody catches him at all, geeze. Back in the ring, AJ goes up top until Cedric crotches him. Cedric follows him up and punches the hell out of him up there. Tries a rana, but AJ catches him! Styles Clash off the middle rope to put Cedric down. OC reigns supreme.
Truth and Carmella are visiting some kind of basketball museums. Truth seems concerned about the giant basketball that’s above them and asks how they dribble it. Knoxville County Mayor Kane comes in to give some basketball facts, since we’re in town. Truth looks Kane up and down and says, “Don’t I know you…?” Before suggesting several basketball players he could be. Kane introduces himself as Mayor Glenn Jacobs and offers him a tour of Knoxville. Truth is thrilled to ride with the President.
Finals next!
King Of The Ring Tournament Final: Baron Corbin vs. Chad Gable
Gable with the immediate ankle pick, Baron gets to the ropes to force the break. The two grapple, Gable gets him to the mat with a reverse headlock. Corbin breaks away with a hard punch. Gable whips behind him for a waistlock, Corbin elbows him away. Clubbering blow to the back. Baron slams Gable into the corner to a chant of “Corbin Sucks!”. Gable dropkicks him over the top rope to the floor! Gable gains a head of steam charging in, Baron with a back body drop takes him right into a leather chair at ringside!
We come back to see Gable struggling his way back to the ring to try and break the count, he barely gets into the ring. Corbin with a big forearm, cover for 2. Baron with a cravate of sorts. Gable fights up, evades Baron in the corner, but a ring-around-the-ringpost leads to a high velocity clothesline from Gable flipping him inside out. Cover, nearfall. Gable fights back, hits the ropes, gets leveled with a big boot. Power whip to the corner, Gable takes it like Bret Hart. Baron gets Gable up top, tries for a slap but Gable counters with a crossarmbreaker over the rope… but Baron powers him up into a powerbomb to the mat for a 2 count!
Sorta cravate and half nelson. Gable with body shots, Baron with a clubbering blow to the back of the neck to take him down. Gable with a back roll to finagle Baron to the mat with an ankle lock! It takes several attempts for Baron to kick him away, he charges, Gable avoids it, Corbin hits the post! Chant for “Gable” as he goes up top… missile dropkick! Rolling Liger Kick in the corner, and a second one! And a third! But a forth one is met with a Pop-Up World’s Strongest Slam for a nearfall!
Corbin takes Gable to the outside, slams him into the barricade. Another one, wild one. Corbin gains a head of steam, but Gable avoids him as he slams his shoulder into the steps. Corbin now struggles to get in to break the ten count. Gable gets his legs as he enters, slamming them against the steel post! Running dropkick to the knee takes him down! Flurry of punches to the face. Gable hits the ropes… huuuuge Deep Six to counter! Nearfall! Gable evades Baron in the corner, ring-around-the-ringpost clothesline, Gable ducks it, Chaos Theory German! But Baron kicks out!!! Gable rolls through out of an End Of Days attempt, picks the ankle… gets him into the ankle lock!! And there’s the grapevine!!!!
Baron struggles for a lengthy period as the crowd rises, but Corbin finally gets to the ropes! Corbin reverses a headscissors into a wild End of Days, and that’s that.
Winner: Baron Corbin
If nothing else, this tournament provided a lot of really good matches and that was another one, up there with the best Corbin singles matches ever. Sad this tournament couldn’t crown a star though.
Cut to the Street Profits backstage for Maria Kanellis’ Baby Gender Reveal party. After commercial we come back for it and Maria’s introduced. She thanks everyone for being here and now she can finally reveal the gender… it’s a boy. She also says the true father of the child… is Ricochet. RIcochet says she’s lying and tries to explain that he’d never, but Mike slaps him and tells him to meet him in the ring. Dawkins notes that he’s worried she’d claim he was the true father. Somehow they go to discussing a potential baby-on-a-pole match, or even a Maria-on-a-pole match, which Ford shoots down as the way this whole thing started in the first place.
Mike storms out, furious. Ricochet comes out, skipping his usual entrance to explain his case.
Mike Kanellis vs. Ricochet
Ricochet ducks an immediate clothesline. He’s still pleading his innocence as Kanellis gets him with a huge punch. Ricochet fights up and gets him with a superkick. Running forearm, shoulder charge in the corner, kick to the face, springboard clothesline. Recoil. And that’s it.
Winner: Ricochet
Firefly Funhouse outta nowhere. Bray is hanging up portraits of past attack victims with their eyes X’d out. Bray calls it his wall of friendship. But he says something’s missing… it’s time to find more friends!
Back from break, Mike Kanellis is on the apron moping. Maria is berating him on the mic, asking what it takes to motivate him. She says Ricochet obviously isn’t the father, but she felt if she humiliated him, maybe he’d be man enough to defend the baby. But obviously not. So maybe she’ll reveal the real father…
Out comes Rusev! His first appearance in a long time! He marches his way to the ring, full Rick Rude hair and stache. Mike takes up a mic and tells Rusev that he’s having a really bad day, he’s not looking to fight let alone have another match. He says if he’s the child of Maria’s child, at this point, he’s okay with it. Mike leaves the ring as Cole buries him for being a loser. Rusev chases him around ringside and clotheslines him. He tosses him into the barricade and apron as Maria just watches on calmly. He takes Mike into the ring and stomps to setup for a running superkick…
Rusev vs. Mike Kanellis
…the bell rings right in time for Rusev to hit him with it. He gets him in The Accolade and of course Mike taps immediately.
Winner: Rusev
What on Earth did Mike do to piss off the McMahons? Really have to ask.
Kane’s tour for Truth continues as he takes him to Neyland Stadium, where the Tennessee Volunteers play football. He introduces him to an officer of Knox County that’s been sworn in by Glenn Jacobs. But Jacobs says that, actually… he’s a referee. Truth gets nervous and decides to back away… he turns and runs and slams right into the goalpost. Glenn of course pins him to take the 24/7 title, and walks off celebrating, saying “I’ve still got it!” all singsongy. Beautiful.
Rey Mysterio comes out for a match with Cesaro, who comes out saying “You shouldn’t have listened to your kid, Rey. If he ever comes here I’ll do to him what I’ll do to you right now, beat the hell out of him.”
Rey Mysterio vs. Cesaro
Rey charges right into an uppercut. Suplex. Cesaro fighting in street clothes like he wasn’t ready for some reason but going fine. Another uppercut. Chokes him against the ropes. Headscissors takes Cesaro into the post. Tries for a suicide dive but Cesaro catches him with an uppercut to counter. Tries to suplex him to the floor from the apron, Rey fights out, 619 to the back! Suicide Dive Tornado DDT takes Cesaro down! Commercial break.
Back from break, Cesaro with a clothesline in the ring, headlock to keep him grounded. Rey reverses a whip, Cesaro tries a back drop, Rey with a headscissor to stay in, Cesaro takes him to the apron, Rey tries a springboard, uppercut takes him to the floor. Cesaro whips him back in the ring, hilo for a 2 count. Rey escapes another headlock, springboard crossbody, Cesaro rolls through on it and powers him up, tries for something like a Jeff Cobb Tour Of The Islands, Rey counters it into a power crucifix taking him down hard! They slowly rise to their feet, springboard moonsault, Cesaro catches him but Rey spins around to turn it into a Tornado DDT for a nearfall! Big boot from Cesaro, puts him in a crossface, Rey escapes, enziguri! Rey tries for the 619, Cesaro catches him onto his shoulders. Military Press GTS! Nearfall.
Cesaro with the Three Amigos, but Rey counters the third into a rana to take him to the middle rope! 619 connects! Rey up top, flies in for the West Coast Pop, Cesaro catches him to try for a powerbomb, Rey counters with a sunset flip bomb and that’s it!
Winner: Rey Mysterio
Awesome finish, pretty good TV match as you’d always get from these two.
Bray hangs up Seth’s picture and then turns to smile at the camera for a long while. Fiend flashes again.
Vignette for the AOP. They introduce themselves. They talk about their lack of matches. They say they’re warriors, but everyone complains about being hurt. They say they couldn’t make a name for themselves in mixed martial arts because nobody wants to fight them and the same holds true for WWE. They call the tag division soft, no one hard enough to fight them, no one man enough. They call themselves the future of the division and the future will be written in PAIN.
Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Nikki Cross & Alexa Bliss (Non-title, probably)
Bayley and Sasha isolate Bliss in the corner immediately. Double team shots. Bliss fights back, slapping and forearming Bayley. Insult to Injury hits for a quick pin attempt. Bayley fights back, shoulder thrusts in the corner, Alexa leapfrogs one and hits a sunset flip bomb for a 2 count. Sasha and Bayley bail to the floor, Alexa with a running senton off the apron clearing the both of them. Nikki tags in, quickly gets controlled, double knee drop to the stomach on her in the corner. Sasha with a suplex. Tries another double kneedrop, Nikki avoids it, tries for the tag but Bayley gets Alexa off the apron to stop the tag. She singles out a leg and smashes it against the steps repeatedly. Alexa is now selling a leg injury on the outside as Nikki is being doubleteamed in the corner. Commercial.
Back from break, Nikki is fighting back but is taken down by a clothesline from Bayley. Sasha tags in and kicks her around the ring. Reminder that a couple months ago Bayley beat Nikki and Alexa singlehandedly in dominant fashion in a handicap match on PPV. Nikki with a botched spring off Sasha’s back onto Bayley, she’s unloading but Sasha pulls her off and throws her to the floor. Bayley follows but Nikki knocks her away, catches Sasha in the apron and pummels her. Bayley tries for the sliding dropkick across the corner, Nikki avoids it and tosses her into the barricade. Back in the ring, crossbody gets a nearfall. Series of clotheslines. Seems Alexa’s been taken to the back during commercials.
Baseball slide to Sasha keeps her holed up in the apron. Reversed whip into a corner, leads to a rough Tornado DDT from Nikki. Hangman’s Neckbreaker, but Sasha finally comes in to break it up. Tagged in, Sasha gets the Backstabber into the Bank Statement! Nikki has to tap.
Winners: Sasha Banks & Bayley
After the match, Sasha takes up a chair and enters the ring… but Becky’s music hits and out she comes to make the save with a chair of her own! They have a chair fight, letting them collide a few times. Sasha ducks a few shots until Bayley comes in with another chair! Charlotte comes out to even up the odds and kicks Bayley’s chair out of her hand as she charges at her up the ramp! Charlotte takes the chair to Bayley’s back. Sasha turns slowly to face Becky, eventually swings but Becky avoids it, gets her with one to the stomach and another to the back. Sasha bails.
After commercial, Sasha Banks is backstage and challenges Becky to a rematch at Hell In A Cell. She calls her a bitch because that’s how Vince McMahon makes things edgy.
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs comes out the back of a limo, which R-Truth happens to be riding on top of. Jacobs says “It’s great to back at Monday Night Raw”. Truth agrees and rolls him up for a 3 count to re-take the title. Jacobs is furious and goes for the throat, but Truth talks him down explaining that being 24/7 Champ is a full-time job and Jacobs already has enough on his plate.
We then hear from Becky backstage who says that was a cat and mouse game and last night Sasha was cornered. Becky notes the $10,000 fine for hitting a ref last night but isn’t even interested in talking about that. She’s also not interested in facing her AT Hell In A Cell… she’s interested in destroying her INSIDE Hell In A Cell!
Lacey Evans vs. Dana Brooke
Lacey takes her skirt off and throws it into Dana’s face to get the immediate advantage, pummeling her in the corner. Dana escapes though, drives her right into the corner and returning the blows. Whip to the opposite corner, handspring elbow. Snap suplex, quick pin attempt. Lacey bails, Dana drags her up to the apron, Lacey with a spinning legsweep. Springing double foot stomp right onto Dana’s head!
Lacey gets Dana into a vague hold, Dana knees her way out of it. Gets a few clotheslines, body slam, looks for a running moonsault, Lacey gets the foot up to counter. Grabs the hair to force her up to her feet and nails the Woman’s Right! Takes a handkerchief to wipe herself down, taking a loooong time to get the win… she grabs Dana’s legs and hooks in the Sharpshooter! Dana has to submit.
Winner: Lacey Evans
I’ve concluded that Lacey has a great four minutes in her. Any longer than that, she falls apart a bit. That was perfectly acceptable wrestling there though.
Seth Rollins vs. Robert Roode (Non-title)
Chain wrestling to start. Roode with an elbow to the face out of it, shoulder block. Rollins with a leapfrog, gets a couple of arm drags. Kneedrop to the face, snap kick to the head. Roode reverses a whip, Kitchen Sink knee to the gut flips Rollins over. Rollins fights back, gets Roode to the floor, looks for a Suicide Dive but Dolph cuts it off from the outside. Rollins goes out to pursue Dolph who leads him over to Roode, Roode tries to take advantage but Rollins counters and takes him into the ring. Ziggler distracts Rollins as he goes up to the apron, Roode knocks him off the apron into the barrier. Ziggler with a drive-by shot as he runs across ringside. Roode goes out and gets Rollins with a front suplex onto the barricade as we go to break.
Back from break, Rollins is chopping his way out of a hold in the ring, hits the ropes but gets caught with a Tilt-A-Whirl Backbreaker. Rollins rolls to the outside, Ziggler comes up to him and gets superkicked! Roode goes out and brawls with him, Seth whips him into the barricade. Back in the ring, Seth gets him with a Slingblade! Seth gets him up, Roode takes him to the apron, Rollins goes for the Springboard Knee, Roode avoids it, Rollins rolls through, Roode tries for the Glorious DDT, Seth counters with the Falcon Arrow for 2! Seth goes up top, Roode catches him. Tries for a superplex, Rollins slips out underneath him, Buckle Bomb, thrust kick to the stomach, Rollins with The Stomp!
Rollins covers… but in comes Ziggler to attack him for the DQ!
Winner: Seth Rollins (by DQ)
Rollins and Ziggler brawl. As this goes on, out come the OC who help Ziggler take out Rollins. Magic Killer. Styles Clash. Rollins is hooked by Gallows, punched and even superkicked by Ziggler… but then Kane’s music hits! Out he comes, in full mask and gear, to clear the ring. Chokeslam to Gallows! And a double for Anderson and AJ!
Kane raises his arms to ignite the buckles… but the lights lower. Everything goes dark.
The light shine and we get a great shot of the Fiend right behind Kane! Kane turns and gets the Mandible Claw! He’s taken right down to the canvas, another victim! The Fiend gets in Seth’s face as he’s still laid out. We then get a very messed up version of the Firefly Funhouse theme.
Cut to black.
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