Jinder Mahal was back in action on tonight’s episode of Raw.
In his first match in more than 10 months, Mahal defeated Akira Tozawa on tonight’s show. Mahal got a dominant win in his return. He overpowered Tozawa at the start, threw him into the LED board and a barricade on the outside, and got the win after hitting a Samoan drop and the Khallas.
Mahal underwent surgery in June 2019 to repair a ruptured patellar tendon. He wrote at the time: “On the mend. Ruptured my Patella Tendon in Denver Colorado June 15 in a match against @aliwwe. Happy to say surgery went well, and my knee was better than expected. This comeback is going to be legendary.”
Jinder Mahal is facing time out of action after undergoing surgery.
In a post on Instagram today, Mahal revealed that he’s undergone surgery for a ruptured patellar tendon: “On the mend. Ruptured my Patella Tendon in Denver Colorado June 15 in a match against @aliwwe . Happy to say surgery went well, and my knee was better than expected. This comeback is going to be legendary.”
The match against Ali was at a SmackDown house show.
Mahal’s surgery was done at the Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center in Birmingham, Alabama.
Pro Wrestling Sheet reported earlier this week that Mahal recently signed a new five-year deal with WWE. He moved to the SmackDown roster in April’s Superstar Shake-up and has been involved in the 24/7 Championship scene. Mahal has held the 24/7 title twice, winning it in title changes that WWE posted online. Mahal dropped the title back to R-Truth on the same day as winning it each time.
More than two months removed from the first women’s WrestleMania main event, the WWE women’s division is struggling to regain the momentum it had earlier this year.
In a rematch from Money in the Bank, Becky Lynch will defend her Raw Women’s Championship against Lacey Evans at Stomping Grounds. Bayley and Alexa Bliss will look to improve upon their underwhelming feud from 2017 as they face off for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at the pay-per-view.
A look at what we can learn from the ticket sales to AEW’s All Out show, the ticket demand, how it compares with WrestleMania’s and major UFC events, details on the number, why the secondary market tickets are so limited, why ticket demand was so strong out of the block, reaction of the ticket industry, details on the process used for selling the ticket and what the number mean, and rate of sales for the biggest WrestleMania.
Also have a look at WWE Stomping Grounds, including ticket demand, lineup, thoughts on the matches, interest in Super Showdown and more.
Read a preview of the G-1 Climax tournament, with the lineups, who are the favorites, different storyline directions, what matches will air on television, live broadcast times of every show on the tour and more.
Take a look at Adrian “Lionheart” McCallum and his recovery from a broken neck to become a U.K. star, and the sad ending of his life.
Also look at cities being considered for WrestleMania, what city is a favorite for the next two years, value of WWE to FOX and FOX Friday numbers, WWE gets an Espy, full card for next Takeover, update on XFL, death of AAF and how they are related, more Ric Flair legal issues, funny stories on WWE names, new movie with WWE stars, new TV deal, WWE salaries and revenue, and a WWE star honored.
This issue has a complete rundown of Bellator in Madison Square Garden, the plight of Aaron Pico, notes on the new fighters, pushed fighters who lost and match-by-match coverage.
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
by Joseph Currier and Bryan Rose
WWE
The post-Stomping Grounds episode of SmackDown is taking place at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon tonight. WWE Champion Kofi Kingston will respond to Samoa Joe attacking him and putting him in the Coquina Clutch on last night’s Raw. Kingston vs. Joe is official for Extreme Rules.
Sonya Deville indicated that she’ll be facing Ember Moon on SmackDown: “I didn’t forget, tonight I get to whoop @WWEEmberMoon back into her fantasy world I love Tuesdays! #SDlive”
Drew Gulak will make his first appearance as Cruiserweight Champion on tonight’s 205 Live. Jack Gallagher vs. Mike Kanellis is also set for the show.
PCW thanked WWE for granting permission to a number of wrestlers who have asked to work PCW’s tribute show for Lionheart this Friday. The event is taking place at Evoque Nightclub in Preston, England, with all profits from ticket sales, merch, and the raffle going to Lionheart’s parents to help with funeral costs.
While taking part in a nickname contest during last night’s Raw, a young fan answered CM Punk when asked who calls themselves the Best in the World.
Abby the Witch and Mercy the Buzzard from Bray Wyatt’s Firefly Fun House appeared in the background of backstage segments on last night’s Raw.
Zack Sabre Jr. retained both his RevPro British Heavyweight Championship and his spot in this year’s G1 Climax by defeating YOSHI-HASHI in the main event of this morning’s Kizuna Road show.
After defeating IWGP Tag Team Champions Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa in a non-title match this morning, Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls said they want Tonga & Loa’s titles. Tonga & Loa vs. Robinson & Nicholls (in what was announced as a non-title match) is set for Southern Showdown in Melbourne this Saturday.
NJPW has a look at Robbie Eagles prior to his IWGP Junior Heavyweight title match at Southern Showdown.
ITV did a story on Darby Allin for their YouTube page.
EVOLVE released their updated cards for this weekend:
EVOLVE 129 (Saturday, Queens, New York):
EVOLVE Champion Austin Theory defending against Leon Ruff
Roderick Strong vs. Anthony Henry
Tyler Breeze vs. AR Fox
EVOLVE Tag Team Champions Eddie Kingston & Joe Gacy defending against Anthony Greene & Curt Stallion
Josh Briggs vs. Arturo Ruas
Shotzi Blackheart vs. Brandi Lauren
JD Drake vs. Stephen Wolf vs. Sean Maluta vs. John Silver
Harlem Bravado vs. Babatunde
Adrian Alanis & Liam Grey vs. Brandon Watts & Randy Summers
EVOLVE 130 (Sunday, Brooklyn, New York):
EVOLVE Champion Austin Theory vs. Roderick Strong in a non-title match
WWN Champion JD Drake defending against Babatunde
Tyler Breeze vs. Anthony Greene
Anthony Henry vs. Arturo Ruas
EVOLVE Tag Team Champions Eddie Kingston & Joe Gacy vs. AR Fox & Leon Ruff vs. John Silver & Alex Reynolds in a non-title match
Josh Briggs vs. Brandon Taggart
Curt Stallion vs. Sean Maluta
Brandi Lauren vs. Natalia Markova
Dragon Lee has been announced for ROH’s Manhattan Mayhem TV tapings in New York City on July 20 and their Mass Hysteria HonorClub show in Lowell, Massachusetts on July 21.
This week’s episode of MLW Fusion is now available on YouTube. It was headlined by Tom Lawlor, Ross Von Erich & Marshall Von Erich vs. Contra Unit (Jacob Fatu, Josef Samael & Simon Gotch) in a tornado tag match.
Glover Teixeria vs. Nikita Krylov is set for UFC Fight Night in Vancouver on September 14.
Despite previously saying that he’d be retiring this year, Jose Aldo signed an eight-fight contract with the UFC before facing Alexander Volkanovski in May.
Demetrious Johnson vs. Tatsumitsu Wada in the semifinals of the flyweight World Grand Prix and Eddie Alvarez vs. Eduard Folayang are set for ONE FC’s show in Manila on August 2.
UPDATE: Following up on Jinder Mahal’s title win, WWE uploaded a video where R-Truth pinned Mahal to win the title back while he was sleeping on the plane. Truth then hid in the bathroom to avoid people trying to take the title from him.
**********
In another title change that was done outside of Raw or SmackDown, Jinder Mahal has won the WWE 24/7 Championship.
WWE posted a video today where Mahal snuck up on R-Truth and pinned him. R-Truth was talking on the phone while on an airport tarmac when Mahal rolled him up to win the title.
WWE also did a title change last weekend where Mahal ambushed R-Truth on a golf course to win the title, but R-Truth then immediately defeated Mahal to regain the championship.
R-Truth lost to 24/7 title to Elias in a lumberjack match on SmackDown this week, then pinned Elias while under the ring to win the title back.
The 24/7 Championship was introduced by Mick Foley on the May 20 episode of Raw. Titus O’Neil, Robert Roode, Truth (four times), Elias (two times), and Mahal (two times) have held the title since then.
Video of Mahal’s latest title win is available to watch below:
WWE has done their first two 24/7 title changes outside of Raw or SmackDown since introducing the championship.
In a video that WWE posted today, Jinder Mahal ambushed R-Truth while Truth and Carmella were at a golf course. Mahal rolled up Truth to win the 24/7 title. As Carmella was yelling at Mahal, R-Truth then rolled him up to win the title back. The video ended with Truth and Carmella taking off on a golf cart.
The 24/7 Championship was announced on the May 20 episode of Raw. Playing off the old Hardcore title’s 24/7 rule, Mick Foley made an appearance to introduce the championship. Titus O’Neil won a scramble that night to become the first 24/7 Champion. He then lost it to Robert Roode, who lost it to R-Truth.
R-Truth briefly dropped the 24/7 title to Elias on last week’s SmackDown but regained it at the end of the episode.
The video of today’s title changes is available to watch below:
A week after the Superstar Shake-up, WWE continued to add to the SmackDown roster.
Jinder Mahal and The Singh Brothers (Sunil & Samir Singh) joined SmackDown on this week’s episode. A match between Mahal and Chad Gable on the show never got started due to an angle where Lars Sullivan attacked Gable during his entrance.
Mahal bailed from the ring to avoid being attacked by Sullivan, and Sullivan laid out both Singh Brothers. R-Truth came out to fight with Sullivan but was laid out as well.
Mahal was WWE Champion for nearly six months when he was on SmackDown in 2017. He moved to Raw in last year’s Shake-up and has been making appearances on Raw and Main Event in recent months.
United States Champion Samoa Joe and Cesaro were added to the Raw roster on Monday night. Andrade & Zelina Vega and Aleister Black were initially announced as joining Raw in the Shake-up but have been moved to SmackDown.
The Big Takeaway: Two fairly bland matches this week with Rezar beating No Way Jose in the opener and The B-Team & Tyler Breeze notching up another win over Jinder Mahal & The Singhs in a rematch of last week’s main event.
**********
Rezar (w/ Drake Maverick) defeated No Way Jose (4:26)
On the surface, this match didn’t feel all that different from something that would have appeared on the old WWF Superstars: you had the heavyset villain complete with a milquetoast manager and the babyface trying to pull off a short-sighted gimmick in whacky colored tights.
What was different, though, was the length. This ought to have been a squash match that showed off Rezar’s strength and potential for dominance. Instead, he beat up Jose, who only got some brief hope and spent more than half the match using rest holds.
After making much more of this than they needed to, Rezar ended this with a big boot and a chokeslam in the middle of the ring. The win leaves Rezar undefeated as a main roster singles competitor.
The B-Team & Tyler Breeze defeated Jinder Mahal & The Singh Brothers (4:34)
This was a rematch of last week’s Main Event match and was almost move for move the same with exactly the same outcome. Breeze, who was the standout again here, is so undervalued at this point that it would do him no harm to hit the reboot button.
Mahal was once again notable by his lack of in-ring presence. He was in and out quickly — and the babyfaces made short work of him in order to clear their path to beat down the Singh Brothers. It’s clear that Sunil and Samir are improving, slowly but surely.
At the finish, the ring was empty with Sunil looking like he was going to finish off a prone Breeze. But Breeze was playing possum and, just as he did last week, sprung up as Sunil was running the ropes and nailed him with The Beauty Shot for the win.
The Big Takeaway: The babyfaces won both matches this week. The Lucha House Party combined to defeat Jinder Mahal & The Singh Brothers, and The B-Team then took out The Ascension in under two minutes.
**********
Byron Saxton and Renee Young led the announce team again this week alongside Percy Watson. This seems to be the permanent setup now.
Lucha House Party (Kalisto, Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik) defeated Jinder Mahal & The Singh Brothers (5:35)
It’s not been much of a start to 2019 for Mahal. The loss here left him without a win since the end of December, and his Royal Rumble performance saw him with one of the five shortest survival times.
This was a rematch of their Raw bout from the Royal Rumble go-home show. In that one, Metalik won with a backbreaker — and the finish might’ve been a botch when Sunil didn’t break up the pin in time and the announcers seemed caught off guard.
Here, Lucha House Party took out Mahal and used a combination of their finishing moves to see off the Singh Brothers.
Samir broke up a cover by Kalisto on Sunil. Dorado hit him with the Golden Rewind, then Kalisto sprung up and nailed Sunil with the Salida Del Sol. Dorado came off the top rope with a Shooting Star Press on Sunil for the win.
This was okay, but the Singh Brothers were a little sloppy and struggled to take some of the moves towards the end.
The B-Team defeated The Ascension (1:50)
Curtis Axel took to Twitter this week commenting on a fairly glaring issue with WWE’s booking. With Nia Jax taking out R-Truth so that he didn’t enter the Royal Rumble, Truth was gifted a United States Championship title match. Axel never got the same treatment and has a point, but his stock is pretty low these days.
There was nothing to this match and they went quickly with it, despite it even going through a WrestleMania commercial. These two teams have been facing off against each other over the last few months on Main Event and Raw. The B-Team have generally been taking the spoils, but this was their first win of the year.
They went to the finish after Konnor broke up a pin attempt by Axel on Viktor. Konnor ran towards Bo Dallas, but Dallas pulled the top rope down and sent him to the matting outside.
Dallas tagged in and they teamed up to hit their as yet unnamed belly-to-back suplex/neckbreaker combo on Viktor for the win.
Alicia Fox & Jinder Mahal vs. Carmella & R-Truth will be the finals of Mixed Match Challenge season two.
Fox & Mahal and Carmella & R-Truth both won semifinal matches on tonight’s Mixed Match Challenge episode to advance to the finals, which are being held at TLC in San Jose, California this Sunday. Both of their wins were pushed as being major upsets.
Fox & Mahal defeated Bayley & Apollo Crews in Raw’s semifinal match, with Fox pinning Bayley after hitting a big boot. The Singh Brothers had broken up a pin after Bayley hit a Bayley-to-Belly on Fox, but it didn’t cause a disqualification.
Crews was replacing Finn Balor as Bayley’s partner.
Carmella & R-Truth defeated Asuka & The Miz in SmackDown’s semifinal. There has been a storyline of dissension between Asuka and Miz since they lost to Charlotte Flair & Jeff Hardy in the round-robin portion of the tournament. After Miz pulled Asuka in his way so that she would take a superkick from Carmella instead of him, Asuka turned against Miz, hit him with strikes, and walked out on him. R-Truth then hit an Unprettier on Miz for the win.
The team that wins Mixed Match Challenge season two will receive the number 30 spots in their respective Royal Rumble matches and “an all-expenses paid vacation to anywhere in the world.”
Here’s the updated card for TLC
WWE Champion Daniel Bryan defending against AJ Styles
Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins defending against Dean Ambrose
If Braun Strowman is able to wrestle at the PPV: Strowman vs. Baron Corbin in a tables, ladders, and chairs match (Strowman will challenge for Brock Lesnar’s Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble if he defeats Corbin. If Corbin wins, he’ll become the permanent general manager of Raw. Corbin will lose all of his GM power if Strowman wins)
Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey defending against Nia Jax
SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defending against Charlotte Flair and Asuka in a triple threat tables, ladders, and chairs match
SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus defending against The Usos and The New Day in a triple threat match
Natalya vs. Ruby Riott in a tables match
Finn Balor vs. Drew McIntyre
Elias vs. Bobby Lashley in a ladder match (the first person to reach the guitar suspended above the ring will be able to use it during the match)
Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton in a chairs match
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy defending against Cedric Alexander
Alicia Fox & Jinder Mahal vs. Carmella & R-Truth in the finals of Mixed Match Challenge season two
The U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio hosted WWE Starrcade 2018 on Saturday night. A one-hour special of the event will air on the WWE Network at 8 p.m. Eastern time tonight.
– Elias was in the ring performing and then brought Ric Flair out. Flair mostly flirted with women in the front row until Nia Jax, Tamina, Alicia Fox, and Mickie James came out. Jax had a lot of heat. Sasha Banks, Bayley, Ember Moon, and Dana Brooke eventually came out as well.
– Sasha Banks, Bayley, Ember Moon & Dana Brooke defeated Nia Jax, Tamina, Alicia Fox & Mickie James
They had a short house show-style match where Banks submitted Fox with the Banks Statement. Bayley got the best reaction of the babyfaces.
– Drew McIntyre defeated Finn Balor
Pretty good match. McIntyre won with the Claymore Kick in about 10 minutes. Balor got a big reaction and was the most over face on the first half of the show. Dolph Ziggler was ringside and interfered a few times.
– The B-Team defeated The Revival
They had a short match, ending when Curtis Axel pinned Dash Wilder with a sunset flip.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus defeated The New Day to retain their titles
The Bar retained with a Brogue Kick in about eight minutes. This was mostly a comedy match.
– Baron Corbin issued an open challenge since Braun Strowman (his scheduled opponent) couldn’t be there. Bray Wyatt answered to a big reaction, getting tons of “fireflies.”
– Bray Wyatt defeated Baron Corbin
Corbin stalled a lot. They ended up having about a five-minute match that Wyatt won with a roll-up, but Corbin ordered the match to be started again as no DQ and then brought out Ziggler and McIntyre.
– Bray Wyatt defeated Baron Corbin in a no DQ match
Elias and Balor made the save and Wyatt ended up hitting Corbin with Sister Abigail. They forgot it was technically a match and had to roll Corbin back in the ring for the pin.
– Charlotte Flair defeated Asuka
They had a pretty good match. Charlotte won with a small package in about 10 minutes. They did a babyface match and then embraced after.
– Shinsuke Nakamura and Rey Mysterio appeared on Miz TV. Mysterio was wearing a neck brace to sell the attack from Randy Orton on SmackDown. The Miz asked why he was here instead of recovering at home, and Mysterio talked about how important Starrcade is to him because it was the first place he saw his heroes like Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Sting, and Eddie Guerrero. There was a big “Eddie” chant.
Miz and Mysterio ended up getting in each other’s faces and Nakamura attacked Mysterio from behind to start the match.
– Rey Mysterio defeated United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura by DQ
Less than two minutes in, Mysterio took out Miz with a dive after Nakamura moved. Miz broke up a 619 attempt for the DQ. Rusev came out and made the save, with this being turned into a tag team match.
– Rey Mysterio & Rusev defeated United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura & The Miz
Mysterio and Rusev won in about five minutes after a 619 and a Machka Kick on Miz. There were big “Rusev Day” chants throughout.
– WWE showed highlights of Sting vs. Flair from Starrcade 1989 while the cage was put up.
– AJ Styles defeated Samoa Joe in a steel cage match
Styles won in about 12 minutes with the Calf Crusher. Joe had the rope break, but Styles wouldn’t let the hold go since it was no DQ. Good match, though they didn’t incorporate the cage too much.
– Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins defeated Dean Ambrose in a steel cage match to retain his title
Rollins retained after escaping the cage. It was a great match and went about 20 minutes. The crowd was hot for both guys, especially Ambrose since the show was in his hometown.
They used the cage a lot, along with a kendo stick that Rollins brought in. Ambrose seemed to be playing the cowardly heel. He begged off, raked the eyes, and tried to escape as much as possible. Definitely match of the night.
Daniel Bryan vs. Shelton Benjamin and a mixed tag match between Carmella & R-Truth and Zelina Vega & Andrade “Cien” Almas are set for tonight’s episode. The show is taking place at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon and is the final SmackDown before Super Show-Down.
Before AJ Styles and Samoa Joe’s WWE Championship match in Melbourne, Australia, their storyline will continue in tonight’s opening segment. Paige will address Joe’s actions after last week’s cliffhanger where he showed up at what WWE said was Styles’ house and rang the doorbell as the show went off the air.
Becky Lynch revealing a “Super Show-Down surprise” for Charlotte Flair ahead of their SmackDown Women’s Championship match on Saturday is advertised for tonight, and The New Day will reveal Big E’s family’s “secret, decades-old recipe for their famous pancakes.” That will be part of the final build to New Day defending their SmackDown Tag Team titles against Cesaro & Sheamus at Super Show-Down.
Aiden English bringing video proof of the accusation he made against Lana was advertised for tonight during last Tuesday’s SmackDown. There was an angle last week where English asked Lana if she was going to tell Rusev about that one night in Milwaukee.
Finn Balor & Bayley vs. Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox and Jimmy Uso & Naomi vs. Rusev & Lana are the matches that will be taking place on week three of Mixed Match Challenge season two.
With this being a round-robin tournament, Mahal & Fox will be wrestling on Mixed Match Challenge for the second straight week. They lost to Bobby Lashley & Mickie James last night. The Miz & Asuka also defeated R-Truth & Carmella on this week’s episode.
WWE started building to Balor & Bayley vs. Mahal & Fox with Balor defeating Mahal in a singles match on Monday’s Raw.
Uso & Naomi wrestled on the season two premiere of Mixed Match Challenge, losing to AJ Styles & Charlotte Flair.
This season of Mixed Match Challenge will culminate with the finals being held at TLC on December 16, where the team that wins the Raw block will face the winners of the SmackDown block. Here are the updated standings:
WWE has announced the two matches that will be taking place on next week’s episode of Mixed Match Challenge.
Bobby Lashley & Sasha Banks will be facing Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox in Raw’s match. On the SmackDown side, The Miz & Asuka will take on R-Truth & Carmella.
Miz & Asuka were the winners of Mixed Match Challenge season one.
Season two of Mixed Match Challenge premiered on Facebook Watch after SmackDown last night, with Braun Strowman & Ember Moon defeating Kevin Owens & Natalya and AJ Styles & Charlotte Flair picking up a win against Jimmy Uso & Naomi.
This season of Mixed Match Challenge is a round-robin tournament, with there being a Raw block and a SmackDown block. The tournament will conclude at WWE’s TLC pay-per-view in San Jose, California on December 16.
Michael Cole, Renee Young, and Vic Joseph are the commentary team for this season of Mixed Match Challenge.
They had a solid opener with a few false finishes. Jose came out to a decent pop and hit his pop-up punch finisher to extend Hawkins’ losing streak to 0-210.
– Titus O’Neil & Apollo Crews (w/ Dana Brooke) defeated The Ascension
Crews got a decent pop in his home state. The Ascension dominated the first half of the match. They isolated Crews until O’Neil got the hot tag, winning with the Clash of the Titus on Viktor.
– Elias came out, played a song, and did his usual “Who wants to walk with Elias?” promo. He touted his new EP on iTunes until Bobby Lashley interrupted his song.
Elias challenged him to sing “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” which Lashley did while getting the crowd involved. Elias attacked him from behind, but Lashley turned it around and hit his vertical suplex.
– Bayley & Sasha Banks defeated Alicia Fox & Liv Morgan
Bayley and Banks got big pops. This was a standard tag match with the heels isolating Bayley. A big moment was when Banks hit the 619 on Morgan, tagged Bayley in, and they hit the 3D on her. Fox broke up the pin, and it broke down from there.
Banks hit the backstabber on Fox, then Bayley landed the Bayley-to-Belly to win.
– Finn Balor defeated Baron Corbin
Corbin was really playing up his “Constable” gimmick, forcing the ring announcer to reintroduce him. Corbin dominated the majority of the match. There was a nice moment where he countered the slingblade into a Deep Six for a near fall.
Balor hit his comeback sequence and got the Coup de Grace on his third attempt for the pin.
– The Authors of Pain defeated Chad Gable & Zack Ryder
The Authors of Pain dominated this from the start, with Gable and Ryder barely getting any offense in. Gable did get to hit a Northern Lights suplex on Rezar. Akam broke up the pin after dispatching Ryder on the outside, and AOP hit their finisher on Gable for the win.
– Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss (w/ Mickie James) defeated Ember Moon and Natalya in a triple threat match to retain her title
This was a fun match. Bliss played the cowardly heel to perfection, and James got involved a lot.
Natalya had Bliss in the Sharpshooter, but Moon hit a superkick to break it up. Moon connected with The Eclipse on Natalya, then Bliss got in the ring, threw Moon into the post, and used a roll-up to retain.
Mahal, Singh, and McIntyre were playing foreign heels in a military town. There were big “USA” chants throughout the match, and Rollins and Reigns got the loudest pops of the night.
The heels isolated Rollins and Reigns at separate points throughout the match. There was a funny moment when McIntyre did the “Suck It” gesture at Reigns. Reigns seemed to flip him off in response, but I couldn’t tell for sure from my angle. Singh interfered late before getting tossed in the ring and eating a Superman punch.
McIntyre got speared and Rollins hit the Curb Stomp on Mahal for the win, sending the crowd home happy.
The Big Takeaway: The Ascension grabbed a very rare win in the opening bout against Heath Slater & Rhyno, and former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal returned to Main Event to beat Zack Ryder and close out the show.
**********
The Ascension defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno (5:08)
Both matches on the show this week felt slow and labored. And at just over five minutes, this easily felt twice as long as that. Nigel McGuinness noted on the bell that Rhyno and Slater had been “tearing it up at the live shows” of late, but there was little evidence of that here.
The Ascension don’t get many victories. You have to go back as far as February of 2016 to find a tag team win for the pair — and it came on a show that no longer exists (Superstars) against a team that featured a wrestler who no longer works for WWE (Damien Sandow).
The finish started when Konnor broke up a pin attempt by Slater, then Rhyno clotheslined Konnor to the outside. Viktor, in turn, sent Rhyno out and Slater tried to steal the pin on Viktor. Konnor then sent Rhyno into the dasher boards, while back in the ring Viktor clotheslined Slater and tagged Konnor back in. Together, they hit The Fall of Man on Slater for the win.
Mahal hasn’t appeared on Main Event since March of last year, and that’s probably quite a good barometer of just how much his push totally transformed his career. He went from a regular on Superstars and then Main Event to WWE Champion within months. His change in physique was marked and appeared to have a significant influence on the timing of his upturn in fortunes.
He and Ryder worked as you would expect: Mahal’s move set is a slow, heel one that included several long headlocks here. It stifled what Ryder does best and took the pace and thrust out of his offense. The match only really picked up when Ryder got some hope.
Ryder connected with a forearm on Mahal in the corner, but Sunil Singh distracted him on the apron. After he had scared Singh off, Ryder went for the Broski Boot, but Mahal had it telegraphed and was able to hit the Khallas for the win.
