Tag: summerslam

Date: August 7, 2023
Location: Target Center in Minneapolis, MN 

********** 

Show Recap —

There was a long SummerSlam recap video.

Michael Cole and Wade Barrett are the new Raw announce team.

Opening segment

Cody Rhodes kicked off the show and received a big reaction. Rhodes spoke about Minnesota’s own Brock Lesnar. Rhodes has had the privilege, honour and misery of standing across from the Beast and — surviving him. He couldn’t have imagined what happened next. He showed a picture of Lesnar shaking his hand.

Rhodes spoke to his mother this morning and he shared his shock over the moment. She said, “Dummy, don’t you know what just happened? Brock Lesnar just acknowledged you.” Rhodes felt on top of the world after SummerSlam and felt like he could beat anybody.

Seth Rollins interrupted. He welcomed us to Monday Night Rollins (while staring at Rhodes, who smiled back). Rollins said he came out a while back to address the future of the world title and Rhodes was the first to enter, so Rollins wanted to return the favour. Rollins said if Rhodes felt like he could beat anyone, they just put that feeling to the test.

Judgment Day, minus Finn Bálor, interrupted. Damian Priest said Rollins and Rhodes must be confused if they thought that they ran Raw. Rhea Ripley said Judgment Day ran Raw. Priest said they decide what happens with champions and he held up his briefcase.

Priest said Ripley was already the most dominant world champion (she was cheered) and they had the NXT North American Champion in Dominik Mysterio (he was booed). Priest told Rhodes that Dom wasn’t done with him.

Before Rhodes could respond, Bálor jumped Rollins from behind and Judgment Day attacked both men.

Sami Zayn ran out to make the save and the good guys cleared the ring.

Rhodes challenged them to a six-man tag match. Rollins didn’t say anything but seemed taken aback by Rhodes making a challenge on his behalf. They argued off-mic as Zayn tried settling them down.

******** 

Earlier today, Ricochet complained to Adam Pearce about the finish to his match against Logan Paul. Pearce was apologetic but said the referee’s decision was final.

Matt Riddle, Chad Gable, and Tommaso Ciampa entered Pearce’s office. Pearce said they all had reason to be frustrated but they were all on the cusp of greatness. He put them in a match and the winner would get to face Gunther for the Intercontinental title. They each stated they would win before Gable told them to shoosh. Gable said he would win in his neck of the woods tonight.

Fatal four-way match: Chad Gable defeated Tommaso Ciampa, Matt Riddle and Ricochet (10:07)

The crowd chanted for Gable who gave them a big “Thank you!” a minute into the match. Gable and Riddle applied ankle locks to Ricochet and Ciampa respectively until they each escaped the ring. They led to an exchange between Gable and Riddle but Ciampa clonked their heads together. Ricochet hit Ciampa with a lionsault for two.

The four men exchanged moves and they showed a slow-motion replay of Ciampa giving Gable a reverse DDT because Gable’s head bounced right off the mat.

There was a big tower of doom spot that led to Gable bringing down the three other men with a triple-German suplex (Ricochet took a particularly big bump). The crowd popped for that and Gunther looked on in the back in amusement.

Gable put Ciampa in an ankle lock but Riddle nailed him with a knee strike and powerbomb but Ricochet broke up the cover. Riddle suplexed Ricochet before giving Ciampa a superplex. Ricochet and Gable tried moves off the top but both Ciampa and Riddle got their knees up leading to cradles for two counts.

Riddle wiped out Gable with a springboard diving before Ciampa gave Riddle a draping DDT. Gable got knocked down again, this time by a Ricochet dive before Ciampa hit Ricochet with a knee strike and Project Ciampa for two. Riddle gave Ciampa a Bro Derek but Gable broke up the cover with a diving headbutt.

Gable went for a Chaos Theory on Riddle but Ricochet brought Riddle down with a Recoil. Gable tried the Chaos Theory on Ricochet but Ciampa brought Ricochet down with a leg drop. Gable then gave Ciampa the Chaos Theory for the pinfall win. Gable earns a shot against Gunther.

This was a really fun match and the finish was awesome. The crowd was very happy to see Gable win. (The lack of a commercial break was nice, too.)

Gable pulled his young son out from the front row and celebrated with him around ringside. This was all great.

******** 

There was a recap of Rhodes beating Lesnar and the aftermath. Cole said Lesnar has never shown that sort of respect for his opponent in his fight career.

The six-man match set up in the first segment was made official.

Rollins confronted Rhodes in the back as he was speaking with Zayn. Zayn settled them down and said they have a chance to do something important tonight. Zayn was sick of Judgment Day and they were the reason Kevin Owens was on the shelf and their titles were in jeopardy.

Zayn said they could put Judgment Day away once and for all. Zayn asked if they were cool. Rhodes said yes. Rollins said yes and stormed off. Zayn wasn’t convinced.

******** 

There was a recap of Roman Reigns beating Jey Uso thanks to Jimmy Uso. Reigns will be on Friday’s Smackdown.

Miz walked through the back toward a planned photoshoot but was told to wait because LA Knight was in the middle of his own photoshoot. Miz was pissed and stormed off.

(The first hour of Raw is apparently commercial free but they’re also killing time with video packages.)

********

Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Bronson Reed (11:55)

Nakamura was on offence but Reed ran him over, hit an elbow drop and knocked him out of the ring which led to our first commercial break of the evening (at 8:55 pm).

[SECOND HOUR]

The crowd was quiet but Nakamura’s comeback got them back into it a bit. Reed cut him off with a powerslam and a running sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall. Reed cut him off again moments later with a Death Valley Driver for two. Nakamura tried a kick but Reed dropped him with a clothesline.

Reed went for Tsunami but Nakamura moved and hit Kinshasa to the back of the head and another to the face for the pinfall win. The crowd was happy that the good guy won. (Nakamura also beat Reed a few months back in a Money in the Bank qualifier.)

********

Medical staff told Pearce that Raquel Rodriguez’s injury was serious and she couldn’t be cleared yet. Pearce relayed the message to a disappointed Rodriguez. Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell tried comforting her and said she needed to be 100% to face Ripley.

******** 

Ludwig Kaiser approached Maxxine Dupri in the locker room. Kaiser congratulated her on Gable’s win and said Gunther was looking forward to wiping the ring with his body. Dupri told him to get out of their locker room. Kaiser said he’s had his eyes on her for a while and talked about how perfect he was but said she hung out with a big, disgusting freak. Dupri slapped him.

Kaiser was knocked back a bit. He smiled and went to look back at Dupri but saw Otis in her place. Otis challenged him to a match tonight and said he won’t be so pretty after he was done with him. Kaiser said he’d see Otis tonight and would see Dupri later.

********

Becky Lynch promo 

Lynch said she was almost close to the end and was getting her rematch against Trish Stratus next week. Lynch said it was the greatest of the previous generation against the greatest of this generation — and the next generation and the one after that and to infinity.

Zoey Stark interrupted. Stark said Lynch was scared of her and said “The Man” left her balls back at home. Lynch asked her what the heck she was doing. Lynch knew how good Stark was — but no matter how good she was, she was too stupid to realize she was playing second fiddle to Stratus instead of wrestling for championships.

Stark said she played second fiddle to no one and knew how amazing she was. Stark said the greatest of all time kicked Lynch to the side and picked her instead. Stark called herself the fastest-rising star in WWE.

Shayna Baszler interrupted. Baszler had a black eye. Lynch said, “Damn, Shayna, you’re looking rough.” Baszler said you should see how Ronda Rousey looks. Baszler said we won’t actually be seeing Rousey because she beat her and drove her out of WWE. The crowd applauded and there was a modest, “Thank you, Shayna” chant.

Baszler got in Stark’s face and asked her who was the baddest now. Stark called her the baddest punching bag and threatened to send her home just like Rousey. Lynch was entertained and thought they should have a match tonight.

Pearce walked out and made the match official.

******** 

JD McDonagh spoke with Bálor in the back. Priest approached them and wanted to speak to Bálor alone. Bálor said he’s known JD for 20 years and could say whatever he wanted in front of him. They argued over what happened at SummerSlam. Priest said that, even with his help, Bálor still lost.

Bálor got in Priest’s face and said maybe it was because of him that he lost. Priest said Bálor was crowding him. Bálor said his briefcase was crowding them.

Ripley ran in to separate them and tried to get them on the same page. She told Bálor that they were all there at SummerSlam to help him. At her behest, Bálor and Priest agreed to stay on the same page.

McDonagh chimed in. He thought the briefcase was getting between them and they should get rid of it. Bálor left with McDonagh. Priest was annoyed but Ripley stopped him from going after them.

******* 

Lynch sat at ringside to watch the match and shared a pitcher of lemonade with Wade Barrett. (Lynch made a social media post the day of SummerSlam — which she was left off of — about turning lemons into lemonade.)

Shayna Baszler defeated Zoey Stark (11:49)

Stark took control ahead of a break with a missile dropkick. Stark tried to do Baszler’s arm stomp spot but Baszler avoided it and hit a gut wrench suplex for two. Stark countered a Kirifuda Clutch and hit a springboard dive. Stark was distracted by Lynch who was just standing there so Baszler hit her with Rousey’s Piper Pit (spinning Samoan Drop) for the pinfall win.

(This match was fine but it felt long and there were some rough spots, including the finish.)

— Lynch toasted Baszler with her lemonade for beating Stark.

******** 

Nakamura told Byron Saxton he was tired of people getting involved in his business and was ready to carve his own path.

Just as he said this, the interview stopped when they heard crashing noises nearby. It was McDonagh attacking Sami Zayn. Officials stepped in to stop it.

******** 

Ludwig Kaiser (w/Giovanni Vinci) defeated Otis (w/Maxxine Dupri) (3:01)

Otis was too much for Kaiser early on but he ran shoulder-first into the ring post. Kaiser got face-to-face with Dupri so Otis went after him. Otis set up for the Caterpillar but Vinci jumped on the apron. Otis suplexed Vinci from the apron into the ring.

The ref was distracted trying to get Vinci out of the ring so Gunther ran into and booted Otis. Kaiser followed with a running boot for the pinfall win. Kaiser gave Dupri a look as they announced him the winner.

— Imperium attacked Otis after the match but bailed after Gable ran down to make the save. The crowd chanted for Gable as Gunther smiled confidently at him.

******** 

Jackie Redmond caught up with Rollins and Rhodes as they left the trainer’s room. She asked about Zayn. They both tried to answer at the same time and gave each other an annoyed look. Rhodes left and invited Rollins to do the interview himself. Rollins said Zayn wouldn’t be cleared to wrestle tonight.

Nakamura appeared and offered to be their partner. Rollins said he has respected Nakamura for years and accepted his offer. 

(They zoomed in on a smirking Nakamura as he watched Rollins leave.)

********

[THIRD HOUR]

The Miz / LA Knight segment

Miz entered. He complained about LA Knight (and the battle royal) and about a lack of respect. He spoke about learning the hard way early in his career about having to introduce yourself in the locker room, show respect, and shake hands. Miz said Knight never shook his hand. (The crowd yelled, “Yeah!” whenever Miz said Knight’s name.)

LA Knight interrupted. He was cheered. Knight thought they had a good introduction in the battle royal but offered a handshake anyway. Miz said no.

Miz has seen other wrestlers come into WWE and try to ride his coattails. Miz said if you stripped away his charisma and his hot wife, you get guys like LA Knight. The crowd loved him now and they’ll buy his t-shirts for five months but Knight was just an Attitude Era fanboy playing cosplaying in his ring. The crowd chanted “Tiny balls.”

Knight said he had no problem with Miz but warned him not to make this personal. Miz said he always took it personally because people told him he’d never make it but he main evented WrestleMania, won world titles, etc. Miz wondered what Knight has done over the last 20 years.

Knight said he’s been making himself a dangerous man, scratching and clawing to get in, while WWE bet on all the wrong horses — Miz’s included. Knight was a thoroughbred waiting for the right opening but Miz got a 20-year head start because he was safe. They knew they could smack Miz around and kick him out of the locker room and Miz would just take it.

They knew that they couldn’t do that to LA Knight because he wasn’t to be messed with. Knight said his career was climbing while Miz’s was in the toilet. Knight said he would step over Miz to get to the main event. Miz said he was the main event and Knight was not on his level. Knight offered to prove him wrong because he wasn’t going anywhere.

Miz took off his suit jacket but didn’t fight. Knight looked away for a moment so Miz chucked his jacket in his face and tried to hit a Skull Crushing Finale. Knight countered it and gave Miz the Blunt Force Trauma. As Miz lay on the mat, Knight “shook” his hand.

******** 

The following segment was billed as an open challenge by the Viking Raiders and it led to a return.

Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods defeated The Viking Raiders (w/Valhalla) (5:39)

Erik and Ivar had control over Woods until he hit Erik with a tornado DDT. Kingston made the hot tag and hit Ivar with strikes, a dropkick, clothesline, crossbody, leg drop and an SOS for two. Ivar dropped Kingston and Erik followed with a knee strike for two. Ivar tagged back in but Kingston used a hurricanrana to take out Erik.

Kingston hit Ivar with Trouble in Paradise before wiping out Erik with a flip dive. Woods hit Ivar with Limit Break (ropewalk elbow drop) for the pinfall win.

******** 

Saxton wanted to interview Lynch but they were interrupted by Baszler. Baszler said she didn’t want Lynch’s help tonight or ever. Baszler had a list of scores to settle. She was done with Rousey and would be coming for The Man one day. Lynch said she looked forward to it.

******** 

Redmond approached Kingston and Woods in the back as they celebrated. Kingston looked surprised upon seeing her and asked, “Who are you?” Woods knew what she was going to ask and they said they felt great to be back. Kingston said the Viking Raiders wanted to make a sacrifice to the gods but the New Day were the gods of the tag team division.

Woods noted the Usos breaking up and said they needed to bring positivity back to the tag team division. They planned on becoming tag team champions and invited Redmond to dance with them as they chanted “New Day rocks.” Kingston and Woods told Redmond it was nice to meet her.

******** 

They announced, via TMZ, that Sonya Deville was out indefinitely with a torn ACL. (You could hear a few fans sighing at the news.) They provided no other updates other than Cole saying, “We’ll have to figure out who is going to become Women’s tag team champions.”

******** 

Rodriguez jumped Ripley during Judgment Day’s entrance for the main event and hammered away at her until officials broke it up. Ripley broke loose and went after Rodriguez but they were separated again. LaRae and Hartwell joined to help separate them but Ripley attacked them too. LaRae went after Ripley and officials had to separate them too.

Despite what happened, Ripley remained at ringside following a break.

********

Six-man tag team match: Cody Rhodes, Shinsuke Nakamura & World Champion Seth Rollins defeated Finn Bálor, Damian Priest & NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio (w/Rhea Ripley) (14:41)

Rollins and Rhodes couldn’t agree on who should start first so Nakamura stepped in for them. Bálor was ready to start for his team but Priest tagged himself in. They had a discussion before Dom tagged himself in to start. Nakamura was all over Dom so Priest pulled Dom out of the ring and they went to break a minute into the match.

Judgment Day worked over Nakamura as the crowd chanted, “Dom’s a loser.” Barrett thought that was ludicrous. Rollins made a hot tag and ran wild on Priest until Priest cut him off and tagged in Bálor who dropkicked Rollins into the barricade. That led to another break at 10:52 pm.

(The initial entrance for Judgment Day, before the Rodriguez attack, happened before 10:30 pm. They went to break, the babyfaces entered, the match started, and they went to break a minute later. They came back at 10:48 pm but went to break again 4 minutes later.)

At 10:56 pm, Rollins made the hot tag (after a slight hesitation) to Rhodes who had an exchange with Bálor that led to a Cody Cutter for two after Dom broke it up. Nakamura took out Dom, Priest took out Nakamura, Rollins took out Priest, and Bálor took out Rollins.

Priest hit Rhodes from behind with the briefcase as the ref was distracted. Zayn ran in and attacked Priest with his one good arm (heavily selling his left arm). Bálor tried using the briefcase but Rollins superkicked it into his face. Rhodes followed with a Cross Rhodes on Bálor for the pinfall win.

— Rollins invited Zayn into the ring and the four babyfaces celebrated. Rhodes tried to get Rollins to cheer up and Zayn raised their hands in victory. Rollins shook hands with Rhodes.

— As they all celebrated, Nakamura dropped Rollins with a Kinshasa and casually left the ring. Zayn and Rhodes checked on Rollins as Nakamura sauntered up the ramp.