Ronda Rousey will appear on Raw this week to continue the storyline between herself, Kurt Angle, and the Authority that began tonight.
Stephanie McMahon confirmed on Raw Talk after the Elimination Chamber that Rousey will appear live tomorrow. She said that she hopes to air things out between all parties following what went down tonight, and assured everyone that everything would be just fine.
During the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Rousey came out to sign her contract. It went along pretty well until Angle mentioned to Rousey that Triple H told him backstage that this had been in the making for three years and now they “owned the b****”.” Triple H tried to get Angle out of the ring, with Stephanie mentioning that he had the flu and was out of it, but before he could make his exit, Angle said Stephanie had badmouthed Rousey as well, saying that she was washed up and even she could take her.
This led to a confrontation between Rousey and Stephanie. Triple H tried to intervene, but Rousey put him through the contract table. Stephanie slapped Rousey, but bolted before Rousey could do anything. She then signed the contract, slamming it on Triple H’s chest.
Video of tonight’s contract signing segment is available to watch below:
Editor’s Note: With more monthly PPV-esque events available to watch than ever, an elite group rises to the top when it comes to total pageviews on our site — a good indication of what moved the meter in terms of general fan interest for both pro wrestling and MMA. The other day, we brought you 6-10 and here’s the top five. Despite the buzz about NJPW this year, WWE is still what moves the needle.
5) WWE Survivor Series | November
The 30th Survivor Series in history came to us from Houston, Texas, billed as “the one night a year that RAW and SmackDown Live superstars compete against each other” — almost ad nauseam. The card featured the champions from each show facing off against one another and the night culminated in a 5-on-5 traditional Survivor Series match for “brand supremacy”. SmackDown Live would get the edge early in victories leading up to the final two matches on the card.
The most intriguing/anticipated match for most was was AJ Styles representing Smackdown Live as the WWE Champion taking on RAW Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, voted as the best match of the show by readers of the Observer and garnering a ****3/4 rating from Dave Meltzer. The main event, however, would not fare as well. Team RAW (HHH, Kurt Angle, Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe & Finn Balor) against Team SmackDown Live (John Cena, Shane McMahon, Shinsuke Nakamura, Randy Orton & Bobby Roode) would be voted worst match on the card by readers of the Observer and only grabbed a *3/4 rating.
4) WWE Fastlane | March
What normally would be considered a B show became an A show if for nothing else than for the main event featuring legend Bill Goldberg challenging Kevin Owens for the Universal title. At that point, Owens owned the longest Universal title reign in history but that come to an abrupt end when he lost to Goldberg in just 20 seconds. Another streak also ended that night as Roman Reigns defeated Braun Strowman, ending his undefeated streak. That this was the fourth most viewed show on our site says a lot about how well the nostaglia run of Goldberg worked.
3) WWE SummerSlam | August
The biggest event of the summer came to us from Brooklyn for the third straight year with a main event of Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe & Braun Strowman in a four-way. Voted as the best match of the night by Observer readers, Lesnar successfully defended the gold in a wild and thrilling match. Lesnar, after doing a stretcher job, returned to the ring and was able to get out of Brooklyn with the title after hitting Reigns with an F-5.
The unlikely WWE Championship title reign of Jinder Mahal also continued as he downed Shinsuke Nakamura with some help from the Singh Brothers. AJ Styles retained the US title against Kevin Owens with Shane McMahon as special guest referee with the story in this match being that Owens didn’t agree with McMahon’s referee skills. SummerSlam also saw the return of “The Demon” Finn Balor as he defeating Bray Wyatt in a feud that lasted months.
2) Royal Rumble | January
The Road To WrestleMania kickoff centered around the Rumble match itself as the participants were a who’s who of stars like Goldberg, Brock Lesnar and even The Undertaker. There were several title changes and one milestone reached on the night “where anything can happen”. Braun Strowman continuing to dominate the scene as he eliminated the most superstars at seven while Goldberg eliminated Lesnar to continue their grudge from Survivor Series. Goldberg was eliminated by Undertaker who was then eliminated by Roman Reigns, leaving the final two were Randy Orton and Reigns. After an RKO and a toss, Orton won his second Rumble.
Perhaps most impressive on the show was the highest-rated match of the WWE calendar year between then-WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. John Cena, garnering a ****3/4 rating by Dave Meltzer. Cena tied Ric Flair’s vaunted 16 World title reigns in a classic battle between the two.
Also on the show, The Club became the Raw tag team champions when they beat The Bar and the Cruiserweight title changed hands when Rich Swann lost to Neville.
1) WWE WrestleMania | April
The biggest professional wrestling show of the year came to us from Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, with the main event ofThe Big Dog going one-on-one with The Deadman for control of “the yard”. There were also five title changes on the show, a mixed tag match that featured a marriage proposal, a non-sanctioned match, and a Rob Gronkowski run-in.
The annual Andre the Giant Memorial battle royal was won by Mojo Rawley when he eliminated Jinder Mahal after he got some help from the aforementioned Gronkowski. Kevin Owens beat Chris Jericho to regain the U.S. gold while the Raw tag titles were the next to find a new home when the returning/surprise Hardy Boyz won a ladder match that featured The Club, The Bar & Enzo/Big Cass.
Naomi became the SmackDown Live Women’s champion when she won a six-pack challenge match while John Cena and Nikki Bella got the best of The Miz and Maryse and afteward, Cena proposed to Nikki (she said yes).
Bray Wyatt lost his WWE Championship to Randy Orton in a weird match that featured images of maggots and such on the canvas while Brock Lesnar become the Universal Champion by beating Goldberg in a memorable brawl that ended Goldberg’s WWE return run.
The main event of the evening saw Reigns defeat Undertaker in his unofficial retirement match. The show ended with Taker placing his coat, hat, and gloves in the center of the ring, kissing his wife at ringside and vanishing from the entranceway as he saluted the crowd. Fade to black.
The Raw roster was in Birmingham, England for another house show on their European tour yesterday, with Kurt Angle wrestling at his first non-televised event for WWE in over a decade. Here are the results from the show:
– Finn Balor defeated Bray Wyatt
Both got a good reaction. There was a lot of stalling by Wyatt early, with Balor getting on the mic and telling him to come into the ring or Balor will come to him.
Wyatt controlled the match until Balor made his comeback and won with the Coup de Gras.
– Titus O’Neil & Apollo Crews defeated Goldust & Curt Hawkins
They had a basic match. The crowd seemed into Crews, and O’Neil got the pin on Hawkins with the Clash of the Titus.
– Jason Jordan defeated Bo Dallas (w/ Curtis Axel)
Jordan threw Dallas around before pinning him. The crowd liked Jordan here.
– WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne defeated Dan Moloney to retain his title
Dunne got a big pop. The match was short, with Moloney getting in a bit of offense until Dunne came back with kicks, strikes, and the Bitter End to retain.
– Asuka defeated Dana Brooke
Asuka got a much better reaction here than she did in Cardiff earlier in the tour. Brooke tried playing the cowardly heel, but Asuka wouldn’t give in. She used hip attacks and a stink face before Brooke got a short period of basic offense, then Asuka fought back and won with the Asuka Lock.
– Braun Strowman defeated Kane by DQ
There was a big pop for Strowman. Kane got disqualified for using a chair, but Strowman countered a chokeslam after the match and powerslammed him through a table.
Alicia Fox was the special guest referee for the match and tried to pin Bliss at one point. Bayley and Banks got big reactions, including the crowd singing to Bayley until Bliss attacked her.
Bayley pinned Bliss after hitting the Bayley-to-Belly.
– Intercontinental Champion The Miz (w/ Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas) defeated Matt Hardy to retain his title
Hardy got a big pop. Axel and Dallas got ejected but came back to distract Hardy, who got poked in the eye by Miz and hit with the Skull Crushing Finale for the finish.
– Kurt Angle, Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose defeated Samoa Joe, Cesaro & Sheamus
Rollins got on the mic before this started to say that him and Ambrose were a man down and would have beaten the three of them in a handicap match, but he made a call and found a partner who’s a Hall of Famer and Olympic gold medalist. There was a big pop for Angle after that.
Rollins started the match with Sheamus before Ambrose and Joe were brought in. Ambrose then tagged in Angle, who took a couple of punches from Joe but hit him with a belly-to-belly throw.
The heels worked over Rollins until he got the hot tag to Angle. The crowd erupted for that. He hit German suplexes on Sheamus and Cesaro and locked on the ankle lock on Cesaro, but Joe broke it up and tried to choke Angle out. Rollins made the save for Angle and they hit the Shield powerbomb on Cesaro, with Angle pinning him for the finish.
Rollins and Ambrose put over Angle after the match to send the crowd home happy.
Prior to wrestling at Survivor Series later this month, Kurt Angle will be in action in Birmingham, England today.
Though he was previously announced as just making an appearance at the event, Angle confirmed in a tweet today that he would be wrestling in Birmingham. He wrote: “Birmingham UK!!! WWE Raw is here! My first ‘WWE live event’ in 11 years, in which I will be wrestling. #itstrue”
Angle took part in his first WWE match in over a decade last month as he teamed with Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose at TLC. He filled in for Roman Reigns at that pay-per-view, with WWE having to find replacements for Reigns on their European tour as well. Triple H, Rollins & Ambrose took on Cesaro, Sheamus & Bray Wyatt at Raw’s first five stops in the United Kingdom.
Angle will captain one of Raw’s teams at Survivor Series on November 19th, with the match currently scheduled to be Angle, Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Samoa Joe & Jason Jordan vs. Shane McMahon, Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura & a partner that has yet to be announced.
The Big Takeaway: Sheamus and Cesaro recaptured the Raw Tag Team Championships by beating Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins when the New Day showed up to tease another SmackDown invasion. Kurt Angle brought most of the Raw roster out of the locker room, but it turned out to be a false alarm, which Sheamus and Cesaro took advantage of to win the titles. Angle completed his Raw Survivor Series team, adding Finn Balor, Samoa Joe and Jason Jordan. Alicia Fox added Asuka and Sasha Banks to her Raw Women’s team, but not Bayley, who didn’t appear pleased over that. Enzo Amore will defend his cruiserweight championship against Kalisto at Survivor Series. To build up for that match, the WWE UK Champion, Pete Dunne, pinned Amore clean on this show. Dunne was the most over performer on the card. Pretty solid show for a taped program.
Show Recap:
The show opened with a message of remembrance to the victims of the shooting in Sutherland Spring, Texas.
Miz, Dallas and Axel opened the show inthe ring with MizTV. Axel was in a neck brace from last week’s attack by Strowman. Miz warned Baron Corbin that if he ever talked about Maryse again, he would knock Corbin’s teeth down his throat. So Corbin responded by saying after their match at Survivor Series, Miz would be calling Corbin “Daddy.” Miz said Corbin was the bathroom break of SmackDown Live while he was the whole damn show on Raw. Miz said when Corbin steps through the ropes at Survivor Series, Miz will do something Corbin can’t do, which is make the United States Championship relevant. Then Miz introduced Angle.
Miz wanted to discuss Survivor Series. Angle said despite their differences, the Miz has his complete support against Corbin. Miz questioned that and Angle brought up the TLC PPV. Miz replayed Stephanie McMahon’s promo from last week where she made Angle the Raw team captain, and if Angle’s team doesn’t win then she will find a new GM. Angle said he wasn’t going anywhere, this is Raw, a show that has the best talent and the best fans. Angle said that Shane McMahon has an inferior (inferiority) complex because SmackDown will always be the “B” show. Miz brought up the SmackDown invasion from two weeks ago and replayed various Raw wrestlers getting annihilated. Miz showed Angle’s retaliation by claiming he set up Daniel Bryan when Kane choke slammed him. Miz claimed Angle locked Bryan in Angle’s office to get beaten up. Angle denied Miz’s allegations and apologized to Bryan.
Miz didn’t believe him and said when Stephanie made Angle the team captain, he saw a glimpse of the real Kurt Angle, the cutthroat Kurt Angle. He claimed Angle planned to eliminate Bryan just like Angle planned to eliminate the Miztourage. Angle didn’t know what Miz was talking about. Miz brought up last week when Angle forced him to defend the Intercontinental Championship, leaving him prone to getting jumped by Strowman. Fortunately, Miz said he and Dallas escaped. But Axel didn’t. Miz told Angle to apologize to Axel, but Angle refused. Miz said if Angle had nothing to do with Strowman’s attack on the Miztourage, why did Angle put Strowman on Team Raw the next day. Angle said Strowman deserved to be on Team Raw and Strowman was a hell of a negotiator because he had to promise Strowman one thing: a match against Miz tonight. Miz was on his hands and knees begging Angle to reconsider.
Jason Jordan defeated Elias in a Guitar on a Pole match (7:20)
The rules were the first person to use the guitar against their opponent was the winner. Elias got the guitar down from the pole, but swung and missed twice. Jordan grabbed the guitar and chased Elias around the ring with it. Jordan used a Northern Lights Suplex, followed by a Rolling Northern Lights Suplex. Then he executed a high angle throw before slamming the guitar across Elias’ back to earn the win. During the match, Booker T compared Jordan to Eric Watts getting heat when he walked into the locker room in 1992 WCW. Before the bout, Elias asked the fans what song they wanted him to sing. They responded Oasis’ “Wonderwall.” Instead, Elias did his standard song running down the town they were in.
The Bar walked in to talk with Angle. Cesaro was upset that Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins haven’t been ordered to defend their championships representing Raw at the Survivor Series. Sheamus wanted the Bar to represent Raw against the Usos as the Raw Tag Team Champions at Survivor Series. Angle agreed and ordered Rollins and Ambrose vs. the Bar for the Raw Tag Team Championships tonight.
Asuka defeated Stacy Coates via submission (1:12)
Asuka won with the Asuka Lock following the Kana Lock. Asuka didn’t get much of a reaction. Fox appeared on the big screen, wearing a captain’s hat pretending to be a boat captain because she’s off her rocker. She announced that Asuke has been added to the Raw women’s team for the Survivor Series.
Titus O’Neil and Apollo Crews did an interview with Charly Caruso. They showed Samoa Joe beatng Crews last week. O’Neil said Titus Worldwide was all about having fun, but tonight he had his eyes on Joe tonight.
Joe ran out during O’Neil’s ring entrance and knocked Crews off the ramp, then choked out O’Neil with the Coquina Clutch. Joe walked to the ring and said it doesn’t matter if you’re as big and powerful as Titus or the athleticism as Crews, if anyone stands in his way Joe will put you down. He challenged anyone in the back to come out. Finn Balor answered the challenge.
Finn Balor and Samoa Joe battled to a double countout (14:37)
Balor went for the Coup de Grace, but Joe rolled out of the way. Balor caught his 2nd slingblade of the match, but missed the Woo Dropkick and Joe hit a senton. Balor came back with a double stomp and Joe rolled out of the ring. Balor did a somersault tope onto Joe as the referee started his count. Joe caught Balor with a few right hands before the referee counted both men out. Within the first few minutes, Balor attempted the Coupe de Grace, but Joe crotched him. Joe was on offense for several minutes throwing various knee strikes and generally overpowering Balor for two counts. Balor made a comeback with a flying forearm, a running kick to Joe’s nose on the apron and the Woo dropkick on the floor.
They continued to brawl with Balor battling evenly with Joe. Several referees and security officials ran out to stop them. Finally, Angle came out and said he needed two men as aggressive as they were on his side. So Angle added Balor and Joe to Team Raw at the Survivor Series. As Balor started to go backstage, he jumped off the ramp onto Joe with a forearm tope.
Miz paced in the locker room about facing Strowman. Dallas was back in his motivtational speaker gimmick, saying Halloween was over and the monsters were gone. He said Strowman is nothing but flesh and bones, though he was a lot of flesh. Axel didn’t sound as optimistic, saying they should start running now. Miz just glared at him.
Angle called Bryan, who left a message for him wanting to personally apologize for Kane’s actions last week. Then Jordan walked in. Angle added Jordan to Team Raw, joining Angle, Strowman, Joe and Balor.
Bayley and Sasha Banks did an interview. They both said Fox hadn’t spoken to them about joining Team Raw. Bayley said she led Team Raw to victory last year at Survivor Series. Banks said they should be on this team and Fox better add them.
Sasha Banks and Bayley defeated Nia Jax and Alicia Fox via submission (11:45)
Banks made Fox tap out to the Bank Statement. Bayley sold for Nia Jax almost the entire spot with the same spots done on countless episodes this year. Before the finish, Bayley and Banks had to hoise Jax over the top rope, and it didn’t look good. Jax had to practically throw herself over the top. Bayley didn’t get much of a response coming out, but once the match started the fans in England starting singing “Hey, won’t you be my girl?” to her. After a year of being booked as poorly as one can be booked, Bayley was clearly overjoyed about that reaction.
After the match, Fox screeched that she needed Banks on her team. Banks looked pleased, but Bayley appeared upset that she was left out. Banks appeared to shurg when Bayley wondered about her plight.
Braun Strowman defeated Intercontinental Champion the Miz by DQ in a nontitle match (5:06)
Kane walked in and went toe-to-toe with Strowman, who hit the running powerslam on Kane. Then Kane sat up, so Strowman gave him a clothesline over the top rope. Kane landed on his feet. The match itself was Strowman throwing Miz around and Miz doing his best to run away. Strowman threw Miz onto Dallas and Axel over the top rope to the floor before Kane came out. After Kane left, Axel and Dallas jumped Strowman, who easily laid them out. Strowman finished Miz with a running powerslam, as well.
Rollins and Ambrose did an interview with Renee Young. Rollins said they were going to win tonight. Rollins talked about how no one wanted to see Sheamus and Cesaro win. He said Sheamus and Cesaro claim to be the bar, but Rollins rolled up his fist and said this has always been the bar since they entered WWE. After Rollins and Ambrose left, Young held out her fist like she wanted the Shield to win.
Enzo Amore came out and said he was the biggest name to enter the UK since the Bubonic Plague. Fans wanted to sing Amore’s name to the tune of “Seven Nation Army,” but he shouted them down. Amore said everyone from TMZ to newspapers wanted to know what was the future of the Cruiserweight Champion. He said a kid about the size of Kalisto asked him in the hotel who was he going to defend the cruiserweight title against. Amore said Kalisto at Survivor Series. He went on and on about how he had already defeated Kalisto for the championship and Kalisto was in cahoots with Angle to earn this title shot. Corey Graves actually talked over this interview at points, legitimately sounding like he had heat with Amore.
Kalisto came out. Then Pete Dunne’s music came on and the place erupted. Angle walked out and introduced Pete Dunne, the WWE UK Champion. Dunne didn’t need the introduction because he got the biggest pop of the show. Angle announced Dunne vs. Amore immediately.
WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne defeated WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore in a nontitle match (3:39)
Dunne pinned Amore with the Bitter End. Before the finish, Amore tried to pin Dunne with his feet on the ropes, but Kalisto alerted the referee, which distracted Dunne. Crowd was completely with Dunne and there was a huge pop when he won. Kalisto laughed at Enzo after losing for making fun of his size earlier.
Alexa Bliss did an interview with Caruso. Bliss said she heard Natalia talk about how Bliss ran off to Raw after Natalia joined SmackDown Live. Caruso interrupted her and said Bliss did, in fact, go to Raw. Bliss corrected her and said she was a two-time SmackDown Women’s Champion, just like she is now a two-time Raw Women’s Champion. Bliss asked Caruso was dows two plus two equal? Caruso said four. Bliss said she was wrong, it really equaled one. One goddess.
Next week, Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman return to Raw in Atlanta.
Also returning next week, Roman Reigns.
Sheamus and Cesaro defeated Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose to win the Raw Tag Team Championship (18:50)
They had an excellent going when the New Day showed up out of the crowd. Xavier Woods teased there would be an Under Siege 2. The match, which had been going on for over 15 minutes, simply stopped. Upon seeing this, Angle rallied Rhyno, Heath Slater, Curt Hawkins (I guess every army has to have privates), Goldust and others Raw wrestlers to surround ringside. As Joe, Banks, Fox, Crews, O’Neil, and many others came out to ringisde, the New Day bolted. As soon as they did, Sheamus hit Rollins with a brogue kick for the pin.
It was a very good match. Early on, the Shield used a Hart Attack on Sheamus with Rollins doing a slingblade. Down the stretch, Cesaro and Sheamus took out Ambrose with a double crucifix bomb into the barricade. Cesaro hit the Doomsday Device on Rollins, who kicked out at two. Everyone thought that was the finish. Then Ambrose hit Sheamus with Dirty Deeds, followed by Rollins coming off the top rope with a frog splash, but Cesaro tackled Ambrose, who fell onto Rollins to break up the pin. Crowd was loving the match at this point, which was when the New Day showed up. Cesaro came out wearing the kits of the Liverpoot Futbol team, the archrival of Manchester United.
In a fitting stipulation for their guitar-based feud, WWE announced today that Elias and Jason Jordan would face off in a guitar-on-a-pole match on next week’s episode of Raw from the Manchester Arena.
Elias and Jordan last wrestled on television two weeks ago, with their match ending in a disqualification when Elias bruised Jordan’s arm with a guitar shot. Their issues continued on last Monday’s Raw as Jordan broke Elias’ guitar after interrupting his musical performance.
Their angle began at TLC last month, with Jordan throwing food at Elias while he was singing after Elias interrupted a conversation that he was having with Kurt Angle on the pre-show. Jordan then defeated Elias in a match on the pay-per-view.
Also set for next week’s Raw is a Miz TV segment with Kurt Angle that will open the show after Angle was confirmed as the captain of Raw’s Survivor Series team last Monday.
Both Raw and SmackDown will be taped in Manchester next week as part of WWE’s European tour. Jinder Mahal defending his WWE Championship against AJ Styles and Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable challenging for The Usos’ tag titles are scheduled for SmackDown.
Date: October 30, 2017 Location: Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, MD
The Big Takeaway —
This was a night of returns, most notably Braun Strowman who reappeared from a garbage truck to ambush The Miz, Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas in spectacular fashion. Along with Strowman and Bo Dallas, tonight saw the returns of Nia Jax, Samoa Joe, and JoJo. Jax defeated Bayley and was added to the Raw women’s team by Alicia Fox. Joe beat Apollo Crews and choked out Titus O’Neil.
Stephanie McMahon returned too and made up for lost time. She berated Kurt Angle, made him the captain of Team Raw, and demanded retribution on Shane McMahon. Daniel Bryan showed up to reason with Angle later in the show, but was laid out by Kane (off-camera) and stretchered out of the arena. Kane also beat Seth Rollins, and laid out Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Finn Balor (with help from Sheamus and Cesaro).
Also, Alexa Bliss retained her women’s title over Mickie James in the main event, and Asuka killed a jobber.
Show Recap —
They aired a recap of SmackDown’s invasion last week and Michael Cole let us know they’ve ramped up security tonight. The Raw roster was on the stage and Kurt Angle was in the ring.
Angle said Shane McMahon took the friendly competition too far and he apologized to the Raw roster as the crowd dumbly chanted “What.” He said he put the wrestlers in harm’s way but promised never to do it again.
Stephanie McMahon interrupted. Stephanie didn’t want the show to start off on such a depressing note and enthusiastically welcomed everyone to Raw. She also announced the 25th anniversary show in January.
Stephanie said she supported Vince McMahon’s decision to make Angle the GM and thinks he’s done a good job, despite the situation with Jason Jordan, the virus going around the roster, and what happened to Braun Strowman. She applauded his effort at TLC joining The Shield and the crowd chanted “You still got it.”
She said it takes years to gain a reputation but only seconds to lose it. Angle was about to respond but Stephanie cut him off. Stephanie wasn’t surprised by Shane’s actions and figured this was an attack on her personally. She said Shane embarrassed Angle and everyone on the show and put the blame directly on Angle.
Stephanie said Angle would have to prove himself and made him the Raw team captain at Survivor Series. Stephanie wanted SmackDown annihilated or she’d find a new GM.
Seth Rollins vs. Kane, Finn Balor vs. Cesaro, and Bayley vs. Alicia Fox were announced for tonight.
After a break, Angle was helping Stephanie with her car door and apologized for everything. He should take her dog for a walk while he’s at it. She reiterated what she said earlier and left.
As her limo pulled away, another one pulled up. It was The Miz with Curtis Axel and a returning Bo Dallas. Sounded like the crowd popped when Dallas appeared. Angle berated Miz for being late and for being absent when they were attacked last week. He said Miz would have to defend his IC title tonight but wouldn’t announce his opponent.
Nia Jax defeated Bayley (7:22)
Alicia was supposed to be Bayley’s opponent but she came out (wearing a sailor captains hat) and said she needed to take her duties as captain seriously, so she had a different opponent in mind for Bayley, which brought out Nia Jax.
Bayley made a brief comeback but Jax countered a guillotine by tossing her in the air and hit a running leg drop for the win. Afterwards, Fox announced that Jax would be on her Survivor Series team. I guess Kurt Angle has given Fox complete control over Raw’s women’s division.
As Jax walked up the ramp, Samoa Joe’s music hit and he entered to a big pop and “Joe” chants. Cole mentioned this was his first appearance since SummerSlam.
Joe asked if the crowd missed him and they popped big again. Joe found that amusing because he didn’t miss them. He claimed the fans didn’t reach out to him while was gone and said they didn’t care about him. Joe said the next time he’s beating down an opponent, he’ll be thinking of the fans.
Samoa Joe defeated Apollo Crews (w/Titus O’Neil) (3:40)
Cole said Crews demanded this match. He knew Joe was returning? Crews got more offense than you might expect, but Joe still won quickly via submission after an STO and Coquina Clutch.
O’Neil and Joe had a staredown after the match, but after it appeared Joe would leave, O’Neil checked on Crews. Joe then applied the Coquina Clutch on O’Neil. They pushed Joe pretty hard here.
The announcers plugged the 25th anniversary show on January 22nd and mentioned that SmackDown wrestlers would be there in addition to Undertaker, Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels. They probably should’ve waited before announcing that SmackDown wrestlers would be on Raw.
Just noticed JoJo has also returned.
The Miz (w/Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas) defeated Matt Hardy to retain Intercontinental Championship (13:01)
Matt made a comeback and got a two count after consecutive elbow drops. Matt then countered a clothesline into a Side Effect for a nearfall. Matt followed that with a moonsault off the top for another nearfall. “This is awesome” chants.
Miz drove Matt into the turnbuckle and followed with It Kicks. Matt ducked the last kick and hit a Twist of Fate but Miz rolled under the bottom rope. Matt went after him, so Miz snapped his neck over the top rope and nailed Skull Crushing Finale for the win. This ended up better than expected.
Alexa Bliss approached Kurt Angle backstage. She congratulated him on being named team captain and said his speech was inspiring. He asked her what she wanted. Bliss thought they should improve the women’s division by cutting dead-weight and getting rid of Mickie James.
Bliss figured they can replace her with someone from the Mae Young Classic, or just dig up Mae herself. Angle said James fought back against SmackDown last week while Bliss did nothing. Angle made a women’s title match for the main event tonight.
Asuka defeated Stacie Cullen (1:39)
Asuka completely destroyed her opponent and won with the Asuka Lock. This was perfect.
The crowd wasn’t that hot for Asuka but that’ll change if they keep doing this. Cole mentioned before the match that Asuka was off to a good start, but didn’t mention that she beat Emma twice. Not sure why they can’t say her name.
Angle was shown backstage when he suddenly freaked out and alerted security over radio that it was happening again. The camera panned back and Daniel Bryan was just standing there. The crowd exploded and chanted “Yes.” Angle asked what he was doing here and they cut to commercial.
After the break, Angle accused Bryan of showing up to finish the job. Bryan said he had nothing to do with last week. He was taking a risk being in a building filled with Raw guys ready to take him out and didn’t even tell Shane he was doing this. Angle didn’t think he should trust Bryan and said “I got my ass chewed out by Stephanie McMahon.”
Bryan apologized for what happened and didn’t agree with Shane’s actions. Angle decided to spare him a beating from Raw because he wanted Bryan to tell Shane that he was going to take out Shane and SmackDown at Survivor Series. Bryan wasn’t pleased.
They recapped the Paul Heyman promo from last week for the Brock Lesnar vs. Jinder Mahal match. They cut back to Bryan who was on the phone, still in Angle’s office (Angle was not there). The lights cut out and they went to commercial.
After the break, Bryan was ranting on the phone. The lights were still out, but the phone screen is lighting up his face. He admitted this wasn’t going as he wanted. Bryan thought he could reason with Angle, but now the lights are off and the door is locked.
Suddenly, Kane showed up and put his hand around Bryan’s neck. Bryan dropped his phone, which made the screen pitch black, and there was a loud noise, presumably Kane taking out Bryan. The announcers were concerned for Bryan, except for Booker T who said he got what he deserved.
Finn Balor defeated Cesaro (w/Sheamus) (11:24)
Balor was distracted by Sheamus, allowing Cesaro to take control. Later, Balor was distracted by Sheamus again, allowing Cesaro to hit a big uppercut. Cesaro then hit a crazy superplex, lifting Balor from the apron. Cesaro applied the Sharpshooter before switching to a crossface, but Balor slipped out and hit a foot stomp, sling blade and running dropkick.
Sheamus tried to get involved again, so Balor kicked him off the apron and sent Cesaro outside. Balor then nailed a flip dive to both men, tossed Cesaro back in the ring and hit him with a foot stomp to the head/neck (with Cesaro hunched over) for the pinfall win. Good match.
As the announcers talked about Balor as a potential member of team Raw, Kane came out. Balor went after him but Kane fought him off easily and gave him a tombstone on the stage.
Kane defeated Seth Rollins (w/Dean Ambrose) (5:42)
Sheamus and Cesaro remained at ringside for this match. It was four minutes into the match before Cole noticed they were still there, even though they were shown on camera several times.
The match was a clunky mess. Kane was in control until Rollins managed to hit a suicide dive. Rollins hit a second dive and Kane went down, but I’m not sure he was supposed to as he popped right back up. Booker tried to claim that Kane hit Rollins on impact. Rollins hit a couple of flying clotheslines back in the ring, but Kane no-sold them both.
Cesaro and Sheamus attacked Ambrose outside the ring, so Rollins hit them with a dive. Kane then hit Rollins with a chokeslam for the win. Ambrose jumped in the ring after the match and gave Kane a Dirty Deeds. Kane sat up and Ambrose was attacked again by Cesaro and Sheamus. Kane gave tombstones to both Ambrose and Rollins.
Backstage, Daniel Bryan was taken out on a stretcher. D-Von Dudley and Jamie Noble were there with him.
The Miz was ready to celebrate his win with Axel and Bo. When they entered his locker room, Miz noticed a funky smell. There was a full garbage bag in there and Miz thought it meant Strowman was back.
Axel said Strowman was never coming back. Bo assured Miz he had nothing to worry about, because even though he and Axel weren’t at TLC, they were with him now. Miz responded, “Ok, now I am a little worried.” That was funny.
After a break, Miz found Kane backstage and asked him if he thought there was a chance Strowman was back. Kane said Strowman knew where to find him. Miz felt better knowing Kane was on his side, but Kane laughed and told Miz he was on his own.
Trick or Street Fight: Heath Slater & Rhyno defeated Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (4:51)
Slater was dressed as Santa Claus, Rhyno was dressed a Mrs. Claus (with makeup and lipstick), and Gallows & Anderson were dressed as their characters from Southpaw Regional Wrestling. Gallows and Anderson were in this same gimmick match last year on Halloween.
They lost last year and they lost here, too. Anderson put a pumpkin on his own head and tried a dive off the top, but Rhyno caught him and hit a spinebuster through a table for the win. Suffice it to say, Gallows and Anderson looked like clowns here.
There’s a new Table for 3 tonight featuring Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns.
Miz freaked out to Sheamus and Cesaro backstage. They assured him Strowman wasn’t coming back and told him to relax. Miz cheered up and was happy to be on their team. They laughed and told him he was on his own. Miz called Axel and told him they were leaving now.
Elias sang a song as they showed replays of him hitting Jason Jordan with a guitar. This was the longest he’s been able to perform in a while but he was still interrupted by Jordan, who ran down and suplexed him out of the ring. Jordan was about to smash the guitar but Elias pleaded with him not to (even though Elias willingly destroyed his own guitar last week). Jordan destroyed it anyway.
Miz, Axel and Bo were about to leave but Angle stopped them and demanded they stay until the end of the show.
Enzo Amore, whose voice has recovered, came out to a big pop and the crowd sang along with his promo. Drew Gulak was already in the ring and mentioned Stephanie McMahon calling Angle incompetent. Amore agreed and didn’t think Kalisto deserved another title match. Gulak attempted to do Cass’ usual bit but spelled out “S-O-F-T” instead. That part was funny, and Amore’s reaction to this was great.
Kalisto defeated Drew Gulak (w/Enzo Amore) (0:57)
Kalisto won quickly with Salida Del Sol. Immediately after the match, Amore attacked Kalisto with Eat Defeat.
Miz told Axel to tell the limo driver to get the car ready so they could leave as soon as the show was over.
Alexa Bliss defeated Mickie James to retain the Women’s Championship (11:13)
Perhaps they are running low on time, but they didn’t do the in-ring name announcements like they usually do for title matches, which they did earlier for the IC title match.
James made a comeback hitting kicks, flying forearm and neckbreaker for a two count. The crowd chanted “CM Punk” and my feed cut out for a moment. Bliss yanked James from the top but James followed by kicking her out of the ring.
Bliss tried to run away but James pulled her back in the ring and hit a few rollup variations, each for a two count. Bliss suddenly hit a punch to the face for the pinfall win.
They immediately cut backstage to Miz and his crew leaving. They cut back to Bliss who posed with the title. They showed replays of the finish and cut backstage again. Even though they were in a hurry, Miz still made the driver open the door for him. There’s a cameraman in the car so we can see them.
The car braked suddenly because there was a garbage truck in the way. The truck backed up and Miz somehow didn’t immediately suspect Strowman. He eventually figured it out and panicked.
They used several camera cuts to reveal Strowman appearing from the back of the truck in the most cartoonish manner possible. (This was very clearly a different truck than the one at TLC.) Strowman shouted and the Miztourage ran away. They cut back to Bliss in the ring and the Miztourage made their way to the stage.
Strowman followed them out and tossed them all over the place. Miz managed to escape so Strowman gave Axel a powerslam. The crowd chanted “one more time” so Strowman did it again. They chanted some more so Strowman gave him a third and fourth powerslam.
Miz and Bo ran to the back, so Strowman picked up Axel, walked up the ramp and gave him a powerslam through the announce table. He posed and the crowd cheered.
Nia Jax, Bray Wyatt, and Bo Dallas are all in Baltimore for Raw. That doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to be on the show, because the Raw crew all had to be there to fly to Glasgow, Scotland for the Wednesday house show. Wyatt has been cleared. Dallas had not been cleared as of a few hours ago but was being evaluated today.
Jax was not ill, and had just taken a few weeks off and was always scheduled back starting today for the European tour. As noted earlier today, Roman Reigns is right now expected back for the November 13th Raw show in Atlanta.
Alexa Bliss vs. Mickie James for the Raw Women’s Championship and Finn Balor vs. Cesaro are scheduled for the show tonight. If James were to win, theoretically they’d flip-flop her and Bliss’ matches at Survivor Series.
The men’s Survivor Series match, according to multiple sources, will be Kurt Angle, Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe, Roman Reigns & Finn Balor vs. Shane McMahon, Bobby Roode, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura & AJ Styles. The current issue of the Observer covers the rest of the card as that was the only match not finalized this past week.
Making the most of a bad situation, Sunday night’s TLC pay-per-view provided a fun ending for what must have been a rough week for WWE.
Two wrestlers (Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt) being pulled from a PPV due to a viral infection just days before the show is always a bad situation. But TLC being built almost solely around the in-ring reunion of The Shield made the timing especially awful. Having a mediocre PPV is forgivable in the Network era, but WWE knew that they had to give ticket holders worthy replacements. AJ Styles stepping in for Wyatt against Finn Balor was a logical choice with both being former leaders of the Bullet Club, but Kurt Angle returning on such short notice to team with Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose was surprising.
The strong fill-ins led to inevitable claims about WWE
With a card that had to be revised due to a major shakeup in the days leading up to the show, WWE returns to pay-per-view as TLC takes place at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota tonight.
Both Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt had to be pulled from the PPV due to medical issues. In Reigns’ place, Kurt Angle will wrestle in a WWE ring for the first time in over a decade as he teams with Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose against The Miz, Cesaro, Sheamus, Braun Strowman & Kane in a tables, ladders, and chairs match.
Wyatt will be replaced by AJ Styles on the show, with Styles facing Finn Balor at the otherwise Raw-exclusive PPV. This will be the first time that Styles and Balor, both former leaders of the Bullet Club, have wrestled each other.
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Also scheduled for tonight, Asuka will make her main roster debut against Emma, Alexa Bliss will defend her Raw Women’s Championship against Mickie James, Enzo Amore challenges Kalisto for the Cruiserweight title, and Rich Swann & Cedric Alexander team up to take on Jack Gallagher & Brian Kendrick.
On the pre-show, Sasha Banks faces Alicia Fox and Drew Gulak’s PowerPoint presentation continues. Our coverage begins with that before the main card starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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Drew Gulak was told he was cut for time. He was just doing a promo for the TV crowd. He wants no more chanting, flying, flipping, coming off the top rope, chanting and then they went to a commercial while he complained that Elias has been given time on the PPV. They teased the idea of an Elias vs. Jason Jordan angle.
SASHA BANKS VS. ALICIA FOX
Banks won a standard match using the bank statement after Fox missed an ax kick. A few cool things, including Fox doing two great bridging Northern lights suplexes and a spinning backbreaker on the floor.
ASUKA VS. EMMA
A little longer than I expected for Asuka’s debut but of course she won with a high kick and the Asuka lock. The crowd seemed into her. It was definitely slower moving than her NXT matches. Emma got some good offesne with the biggest thing pulling her by the air off the apron and throwing Asuka to the floor.
Miz, Cesaro and Sheamus were backstage doing an interview. Sheamus said he wanted to Brogue kicked a gold medalist. Miz said Kurt Angle would never have stepped in for Sheamus and Cesaro. He said Kurt Angle only cares out himself and waited for the perfect moment to put himself in a main event against me. Miz was taunting Angle, said Angle thinks he’s a super hero but he’ll be meeting a monster among men. Strowman said told them to stay out of his way as he’s snuffing out Angle, Rollins and Ambrose. Kane showed up and confronted Strowman. Miz after tonight with Angle done and Ambrose & Rollins broken down they will rule raw. Kane said he’s turning the match into hell on Earth. The story here is Miz & Cesaro & Sheamus are together and the other two are for themselves.
Elias is out. Jason Jordan was throwing vegetabels adn bannana peels at him. So that’s a new program. And then the segment ended.
BRIAN KENDRICK & JACK GALLAGHER VS. CEDRIC ALEXANDER & RICH SWANN
Good match, best so far. Short but all action with some cool moves. Kendrick had the captain’s hook on Alexander, but Swann broke it up with a Phoenix splash. Swann gave Kendrick a spin kick and then Alexander pinned Kendrick after the Captain’s hook. The highlight was Alexander doing a running flip dive onto both Gallagher & Kendrick, and actually pretty much missed both and landed on his feet.
The whole show is being pushed around Kurt Angle’s return.
Alexa Bliss did an interview. She doesn’t know what biscuit butt means and she said she likes her butt and it’s cute. Mickie is just a mom, when I was young I idolized Mickie James, she’s gone toe to toe with Trish Stratus, Lita and Beth Phoenix. Bliss said James talks about her good old days but now it’s just old.
ALEXA BLISS VS. MICKIE JAMES FOR WOMEN’S TITLE
Bliss pulled James’ shoulder into the turnbuckles and hit the DDT for the pin. So far favorites are up 4-0 although these were pretty easy bouts to call. Bliss worked over the left shoulder during the match. Match told a story, there was a hot slapfest after kind of a slow open. The crowd disrespected them with a “We want tables” chant for no reason.
Charly Caruso interviewed. James. She said she’s proud of her perforrmance and said she gave her heart and soul and hoped she proved she was worthy of the title shot and it won’t be her last time getting a title shot and she’ll win the title again.
Rollins, Ambrose and Angle were backstage. Angle said he doesn’t know what he has left, but says he’ll give 100 percent. Rollins gave Kurt a Shield jacket. So he’ll be wearing the outfit and basically said Kurt was in The Shield. The crowd popped for this.
Elias is out again. Crowd booed him pretty heavy. Jordan threw lettuce at him again. He was pelting Elias with food. Weird that the heel commentator was backing Jordan (Graves) and Michael Cole was backing Elias.
Enzo’s voice is almost gone. He joked that he lost his voice. He said his voice is the only thing I’m losing. There are three types of people, people who make things happen like me, those who watch things happen like you fans who are losers, and the third type of person is the one who sits around and wonders what happened. He did the SAWFT deal with the fans.
KALISTO VS. ENZO AMORE FOR CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE
Amore regained the title with a thumb to the eye when Enzo pulled the apron drape into the ring and the ref tried to pull it out of the ring. Enzo used tthe Jordanzo for the pin. The fans cheered the title change. Nothing much to the match. Kalisto kept working for a Salida del Sol but never got it. Enzo did a cool flying DDT for a near fall. There was a very light “We Want Neville” chant.
Enzo said he wanted to thank himself and told the fans he’s giving them a no thank you.
DEMON FINN BALOR VS. A.J. STYLES
Really good match. Not close to a match of the year or anything but two great wrestlers both working hard. Balor won witht he Wooo dropkick and a killer coup de gras for the clean pin. They did the “too sweet” sign together after. Balor did a running flip dive. Styles tackled him over the German table. They did most of their regular stuff. Styles did a springboard Frankensteiner for a near fall. It was very professional in the sense everything was good, everything made sense. The crowd was very into it with “This is awesome chants” before the match even started..
JASON JORDAN VS. ELIAS
Elias was singing and said that he was having a match with Jordan.
The finish Jrodan reversed a suplex into an inside cradle. Samson kicked out before the three but his shoulder was actually down even though he kicked out. But they will play it up like Elias had his shoudler up for controversy to set up a rematch and probably a longer program. Jordan looked impressive here. They were put in the death spot on the show but the work was solid and people were okay with it.
The Survivor Series commercial is built around Raw vs. Smackdown matches.
The Miz said he had a surprise at the end and said they were going to treat the other team like garbage and send them to the dump.
KURT ANGLE & DEAN AMBROSE & SETH ROLLINS VS. BRAUN STROWMAN & KANE & THE MIZ & CESARO & SHEAMUS IN A TLC MATCH
Long crazy match which ended when Angle & Rollins & Ambrose gave Miz a triple power bomb and pinned him. The match told a ton of different stories. At first the faces had the edge with tons oof chair shots. Then Cesaro & Sheamus came back with chair shots. Rollins & Ambrose both came off high on ladders to splash Strowman & Kane both through two different announcers tables. Angle did a shine spot with Gemran suplexes on everyone until Strowman broke up an ankle lock and powerslammed Angle through a table. Angle was carried to the back to make it 5 on 2. Then Strowman and Kane argued and Strowman shove down Kane. Ambrose, who took a ton of punishment, was given a double crucifix bomb and bounced off the table that didn’t break. They set the table up in the corner and Strowman threw Ambrose through the table. Kane turne on Strowman and choke slammed himi through a gimmicked part of the stage. Kane pulled down chairs hanging from the ceiling and the chairs all fell on Strowman. This looks to be the Strowman face turn to feud with Kane. Kane choke slammed Ambrose & Rollins through a table. Ambrose landed badly again. Stormwn recovered and threw Miz iuto the wall. Strowman was beating on the heels until Kane put Strowman down. All the heels beat him down and threw him into the back of a garbage truck. In theory, Strowman was crushed into a million pieces in the garbage truck but he’ll be fine. The truck drove off and that was it for Strowman. Angle then came back out and destoryed Sheamus & Cesaro. Kane went to give Angle a tombsone piledriver but Rollins hit Kane with a chair to the back. Rollins & Amborse gave Kane a double tackle through the barricade. Miz hit the skull crushing finale on Angle, who kicked out. Angle got the ankle lock on Miz, but Miz kicked Angle out of the ring. Rollins gave Miz the knee, Ambrose gave him Dirty Deeds, Angle gave Miz the Angle slam and then they used the Shield triple power bomb on Miz for the pin.
There’s been a major shakeup to the TLC card ahead of Sunday’s pay-per-view.
WWE.com announced today that Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt are off of the show due to medical issues that are impacting them. In Reigns’ place, Kurt Angle will be wrestling in a WWE ring for the first time in over a decade as he teams with Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins against The Miz, Cesaro, Sheamus, Braun Strowman & Kane in a tables, ladders, and chairs match.
The in-ring reunion of The Shield, which the PPV was heavily built around in the weeks leading up to the show, will now be delayed until some point after TLC.
SmackDown’s AJ Styles will fill in for Wyatt in his match against Finn Balor, which means that the two former leaders of the Bullet Club will be facing off for the first time on short notice. Wyatt, his brother Bo Dallas, and Jojo have been off of TV, with Dallas having an undisclosed illness. Dave Meltzer noted in yesterday’s daily update that Wyatt is said to be ill as well.
The Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota will host TLC on Sunday night. The rest of the card will have Alexa Bliss defending her Raw Women’s Championship against Mickie James, Asuka making her main roster debut against Emma, Kalisto defending the Cruiserweight title against Enzo Amore, Brian Kendrick & Jack Gallagher vs. Rich Swann & Cedric Alexander, and Sasha Banks vs. Alicia Fox.
The Big Takeaway: The main event of SummerSlam will be a Fatal Four-Way with Brock Lesnar defending the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman and Samoa Joe. Next week, it will be Reigns vs. Strowman vs. Joe in a Triple Threat match.
Also at SummerSlam, Alexa Bliss will defend the Raw Women’s Championship against Bayley. That became official after Bayley defeated Sasha Banks in a number one contender’s match. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose defeated the Miz, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel in the main event, but Ambrose stopped short of declaring a full-fledged Shield reunion when he declined to bump fists with Rollins after the victory.
Jason Jordan debuted to little reaction with a victory over Curt Hawkins.
Show Recap:
Angle came out and said he had been distracted over the past few months over the fact that Jordan was his son. He announced that Jordan would have his first Raw match tonight. Angle shifted the subject to the Reigns-Joe-Strowman situation. He was about to announce who Lesnar would face at SummerSlam when Strowman came out and said the next words out of Angle’s mouth better be “Braun Strowman” or else.
He said, unlike Reigns and Joe, he won at Great Balls of Fire, that Lesnar fears him and that he would be the Universal Champion. That brought out Joe, who walked out to “Joe” chants. Joe said he was the man who came within seconds of putting Lesnar to sleep, he doesn’t fear Lesnar and he doesn’t fear Strowman. Joe said the only thing Strowman accomplished by interfering in his match last week was keeping Reigns from losing to him for the third straight time. Joe told Angle to give the beast to him.
Reigns walked down to loud boos past a sign that said “I miss Tom Zenk.” Reigns said neither Joe or Strowman have done anything, while in five years he had been a tag team champion, a 3-time world champion, a U.S. champion, had headlined three WrestleManias and retired the Undertaker. He asked Joe and Strowman what they have done. They remained silent. Reigns said he’ll show them what he’s about to do. Reigns started to go after Joe when Angle stepped between them. Angle said Lesnar would face Joe, Reigns and Strowman in a Fatal Four-Way match at SummerSlam for the Universal Championship.
Joe was mad over that announcement and screamed at Angle. Strowman said he didn’t care if it was one-on-one, two-on-one, he just wanted to pile up bodies. Reigns told him to shut up and punched Strowman in the mouth. Strowman started to fight back, but Joe joined Reigns and sent him to the floor, then dumped him in into the crowd. Joe sucker-punched Reigns and they brawled into the ring.
Strowman recovered to send Reigns to the ring. Angle then ordered security to come out to separate them, but Stowman cleared the ring, with one guard being thrown over the top rope to the floor right on his hip. Angle cleared the locker room with Axel, Dallas, Heath Slater, Curt Hawkins, R-Truth, Karl Anderson, Goldust and many others trying to pull them apart, but Reigns set almost all of them to the floor. Strowman wound up giving Reigns the Oklahoma Stampede and walked out while Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson held Joe back.
Elias Samson defeated Finn Balor in a no-DQ match (18:26)
Balor had Samson pinned after four chair shots across Samson’s back, a corner drop kick and the Coup de Grace. Then Bray Wyatt appeared in the ring and gave Samson Sister Abigail. Samson crawled over Balor for the pin. A good match where Samson introduced the chair when a shot across Balor’s back. Balor’s left shoulder was taped after Samson’s guitar shot from last week. Samson worked on that arm most of the way. Balor turned the tables with a unique spot where he trapped Samson’s body inside the ring apron, then kicked and punched him at will. Crowd was really into the match, particularly Balor. Afterwards, Wyatt crab walked from the corner over Balor’s body and hovered over him.
They showed a package of Renee Young’s interview with Angle and Jordan last week. Young, in her first Raw backstage appearance in a long time, then interviewed Angle as Jordan was about to face Curt Hawkins. Angle started to say he was a nervous father watching his son compete in a match. Emma walked in and asked Angle what she had to do to get ahead. She claimed to have started the Women’s Revolution, only to have Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss get more opportunities than her. She said she figured the way to get ahead was to start dating Jordan. Angle gave her a match tonight with Nia Jax, which didn’t leave Emma happy.
Enzo Amore was backstage about to fight Big Cass. Big Show asked Enzo if facing Cass tonight was a good idea. Enzo said screw plans, he was going to take the fight to Cass. Show just watched Enzo leave like a lamb walking to his slaughter.
Enzo did a pre-match promo calling himself the little engine that could that’s fueled strictly by passion and he’s got a full tank. He said the key that starts his engine were the people. Enzo said Cass had lost the key to success and Cass’ tank is running on E. Enzo quoted Drake that Cass was like the finish line and he can’t wait to run into him.
Big Cass defeated Enzo Amore (3:36)
Cass won a squash with a big boot. Cass hit two Empire Elbows are basically destroyed Amore, who got in a brief bit of offense with a dropkick to the knee.
Show came out as Cass continued to punish Enzo post-match. Cass warned Show not to get in the ring or else he would break Enzo’s neck. Show got in the ring anyway. Cass threw Enzo into Show, then gave Show a boot to the ribs. Cass beat up Show using an Empire Elbow and various other big man moves. Michael Cole talked about how it’s time for Enzo to move on from Cass.
Bliss did a promo with Young. She said she wasn’t worried about SummerSlam. Tonight, she said Bayley and Banks would destroy their friendship when they face each other tonight. Bliss said she would watch SummerSlam at home eating Twinkies watching her former best friend lose to her. Bliss said she would be the biggest winner tonight.
Nia Jax defeated Emma (1:23)
Jax pinned Emma in another squash with a somersault senton. No offense at all from Emma.
Charly Caruso interviewed Akira Tozawa, who still had his left shoulder taped up. They showed Tozawa defeating Ariya Daivari after reversing a crossbody block. Daivari rammed Tozawa’s shoulder in the post after the match. Tozawa is set to wrestle Daivari again tonight, but Titus O’Neil walked in and said that Tozawa can’t wrestle and told Angle to cancel the match. Tozawa screamed at O’Neil that he was going to wrestle. The two argued as Tozawa went to Gorilla and out to the ring. They continued to bicker until Tozawa slapped O’Neil before a commercial.
O’Neil bolted after being slapped. Tozawa called out Daivari. Instead, Neville came down and badmouthed Tozawa, calling him a shell of his former shelf and a parody of himself. Tozawa belted Neville and gave him a senton bomb.Tozawa immediately started selling his injured shoulder. Daivari ran down and gave Tozawa a hammerlock into a short-armed clothesline. Daivari then gave Neville a hammerlock into a short-armed lariat and posed with the Cruiserweight championship.
Bayley laced up her boots backstage as Banks walked up. Banks was mad over Bliss’ comments. Bayley said Banks can’t let Bliss interfere in their friendship. Banks said she couldn’t wait to get her hands on that little troll at SummerSlam. Bayley said maybe Banks should focus on tonight because she wants to win the championship at SummerSlam as badly as Banks does. Bayley said “May the best woman win.” Banks said “May the best woman win, because I will.”
Jordan did an interview with Young. He discussed how surreal the past week had been learning that a childhood hero had also been your biological father without even knowing it. You could hear the groans and catcalls in the background as Jordan recited his dialogue. This gimmick feels like its DOA.
Rollins and Ambrose talked backstage. Ambrose wanted nothing to do with him. Rollins wanted to go over strategy, but Ambrose said he wasn’t one for planning and just wanted to fight. Rollins said Ambrose’ plans hadn’t helped against the Miz lately. Ambrose said Rollins had to worry about three people while he had to worry about four.
Bayley defeated Sasha Banks to become the #1 contender for the Raw Women’s Championship (12:11)
Banks hit a frog splash and got a two count, then Bayley reversed it into a lateral press for the three count. A good match where the crowd was cold early, but they got into it after a sequence where Bayley hit a running knee, which Banks no sold and responded with a Shining Wizard. Banks hit the back stabber into the Bank Stabber, then rolled Bayley back to the middle of the ring. Bayley broke free with a snap mare. Bayley went for the Bayley-to-belly, but Banks slapped her, Bayley slapped Banks back and the two started throwing punches. There was a big dueling chant late in the match.
Cole mentioned that today was the one year anniversary of Bayley’s WWE debut as Banks’ mystery tag team partner at Battleground, where they defeated Charlotte and Dana Brooke. Look up the reaction to Bayley last year and compare it to tonight. Bliss was on commentary. Afterwards, Bliss went to the ring and held up the belt in front of Bayley. Banks looked on the verge of tears after losing, which may finally lead to her turning heel at SummerSlam.
Hawkins did an interview with Caruso. Hawkins said he didn’t care about Jordan, he was going to smack Jordan in his face tonight and ruin Jordan’s Raw debut. Hawkins said everyone would be talking about him tomorrow.
James Jordan defeated Curt Hawkins (1:43)
Jordan won with a hoisted neckbreaker after ripping down a piece of his singlet like his “father.” No reaction at all for Jordan. Angle watched with a smile on his face from the back.
The Revival came out for an in-ring interview with Caruso. Dawson interrupted Caruso and said he and Wilder knew exactly what she was going to ask before she even got the questions out. Wilder said they dominated NXT and are the greatest tag team on the planet, now they are ready to take their place as the greatest tag team on Raw. Dawson said they sent the New Day packing for SmackDown and beat the Hardy Boyz last week, which meant they were the best tag team going.
Anderson and Luke Gallows came out and said they didn’t want to hear the Revival anymore. Gallows said they beat up the New Day first, they beat up the Hardy Boyz first and were even baldski first. Gallows said the Revival call themselves top guys but all they see are a couple of top nerds.
The Revival defeated Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson (8:35)
There have been tons of distraction finishes on Raw, but this was probably the first one where both teams got distracted by the same team. Gallows gave Dawson a big boot in the corner. Anderson tagged in to give Dawson the Boot of Doom, but Wilder ran in. Dawson gave Gallows a chop block. Dawson and Wilder were ready to give Anderson the Shatter Machine when the Hardys came out. The Revival got distracted, allowing Anderson and Gallows to throw Dash and Dawson out of the ring. Then, for some reason, Gallows and Anderson got distracted by the Hardys. The Revival recovered and gave Anderson the Shatter Machine, and Dawson pinned Anderson. Afterward, Jeff Hardy gave Wilder the Poetry in Motion. Matt Hardy gave Wilder the Twist of Fate, but Dawson pulled Wilder out of the ring before Jeff could deliver the Swanton.
Miz addressed Dallas, Axel and Maryse in the back. Miz said they were one big happy family, as opposed to Rollins and Ambrose. Comparing his MizTourage to Ambrose and Rollins is like comparing his Marine 5 to Tom Cruise’s Mummy, which Maryse claimed flopped because Hollywood doesn’t have any original ideas anymore and just reboots any semi-successful idea. Miz said Rollins was trying to reboot a semi-successful franchise in the Shield. Miz gave Dallas and Axel they will prove that Rollins and Ambrose are a box office bomb waiting to happen.
Next week, it will be Reigns vs. Strowman vs. Joe in a Triple Threat match.
Wale was at ringside, complete with his own diamond-crested Million Dollar belt.
Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose defeated The Miz, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel in a 2-on-3 handicap match (17:20)
Good finishing sequence that ended with Ambrose pinning Miz with Dirty Deeds. Long heat segment with Rollins that lost the crowd. Miz got a two count after his backbreaker/neckbreaker combination. After Axel hit a Rolling Neck Snap just like his father, hit nailed Rollins with a dropkick. Dallas was much more aggressive. Miz hit Rollins with Yujiro Takahashi’s Pimp Juice DDT and started throwing the Daniel Bryan “Yes” kicks, which Corey Graves calls the “it” kicks.
Miz and Rollins clotheslined each other, leading to Ambrose getting the hot tag. Ambrose gave Dallas a bulldog awhile clotheslining Axel, then delivered a pescado to Miz. Miz tagged Dallas and gave Ambrose the Skull Crushing Finale. Rollins dropped in at the last possible second for the save. Dallas snapped his neck on the bottom rope getting thrown out of the ring by Rollins. It led to Rollins and Ambrose doing stereo topes onto Axel and Dallas.
Post-match, Rollins and Ambrose shared a brief hug. Ambrose largely celebrated by himself. Rollins stuck out his fist for a Shield salute handshake, but Ambrose left the ring and left Rollins hanging.
Going into last night’s Raw, it was advertised that Kurt Angle would reveal his big secret and that we would find out who would be challenging Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam.
One of those things came to fruition, with the Angle storyline resulting in him revealing that Jason Jordan is his son. But Braun Strowman returned and attacked both Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe before a winner could be decided in the main event.
Also on the episode, Alexa Bliss took on Bayley in a non-title match, Elias Samson laid out Finn Balor with a guitar shot, and some matches were made for next week’s show.
After months of speculation, the storyline surrounding Kurt Angle and his secret led to a revelation on Raw tonight: he has a son, and it’s none other than one half of American Alpha, Jason Jordan.
Angle made the announcement at the top of the third hour of Raw. He revealed that he had a relationship with a woman during his college years. They broke up, but nine months later she gave birth to a baby boy. The son was adopted to loving parents, with Angle being unaware of the pregnancy or the birth until recently, and eventually grew up to be Jordan, who he also announced as the newest member of the Raw roster.
He said that in making the announcement, he had the full support of both his family and the WWE.
The storyline had been building for months, with Corey Graves sharing text messages with Angle in various backstage segments. Angle felt the need to make the announcement after more information came out last week, ending Raw with an “I love you” to what is now known to be his (in storyline) son.
Jordan had been absent on SmackDown recently, with Chad Gable becoming a regular as a singles competitor in recent weeks.
Jordan posted on Twitter shortly after the reveal: “I am proud to be Gold-Blooded!!”
The Big Takeaway: Kurt Angle’s big revelation was that Jason Jordan was his son based on a relationship Angle had during his days at Clarion University. Somehow, since Jordan is now Angle’s gimmick son, he’s switched from SmackDown to Raw.
The Roman Reigns-Samoa Joe match to determine the #1 contender for the Universal Championship ended in a no contest when Braun Strowman came out and attacked both men, leaving both of them writhing in pain. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins continued to tease the reformation of the Shield. Rollins said he was sorry for destroying the Shield three years ago and encouraged Ambrose to hit him in the back with a chair, an offer that Ambrose didn’t accept.
Ambrose’s program with Bray Wyatt appears to have been abandoned as Wyatt cut a promo on Finn Balor, who was busted up hardway after being hit with a guitar by Elias Samson. Match of the night was the Revival defeating the Hardy Boyz. Next week, Rollins and Ambrose face the Miz, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel in a 3-on-2 handicap match, Samson takes on Balor in a no-DQ match and Bayley wrestles Sasha Banks in a #1 contender match for the Raw Women’s Championship.
Show Recap:
Ambrose came out carrying a chair, calling it “Steely Dan.” Ambrose challenged Miz, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel to come out, but they didn’t. Ambrose said he was looking for a fight and said he would burst Miz’s bubble so fast, Miz would be back on the “Real World” by the time he wakes up. Rollins showed up instead and asked Ambrose why was he picking a fight that he can’t win on his own. Rollins asked Ambrose why he came out at the end of Raw last week, and said Ambrose should come up with a better plan. Ambrose said not everything is about Rollins and ordered him to leave. Rollins said he was out there to ask Ambrose that when he takes the fight to Miz, “Brother, will Ambrose be standing in his way or will Ambrose be standing by his side?” Ambrose said he wasn’t Rollins’ brother, his brothers were in the Shield. His brothers had his back and his brothers stood for something. His brothers fought in the trenches. Ambrose didn’t know who Rollins was, he knew a guy who looked a lot like Rollins, he was a liar and a cheater and he took a chair and stabbed it in his back and through his heart.
Rollins raised his voice and said that was over 3 years ago and he was sorry for breaking up the Shield. Rollins said he had never said that before and repeated that he was sorry. He also remembered the two of them battling inside Hell in a Cell and Ambrose cashing in the Money in the Bank to beat Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Rollins said all of that was in the past and he wanted to know what was it going to take for Ambrose to move on? Ambrose said he saw Rollins mouth moving but he didn’t hear anything. Rollins said if Ambrose wasn’t going to trust him, he’ll let his actions speak for him. Rollins turned his back to Ambrose and told Ambrose to hit him with the chair. He ordered Ambrose to hit him as many times as it takes to get it out of Ambrose’s system. Ambrose folded the chair and slid it out of the ring. Rollins turned around and then the Miz came out with the Miztourage.
Miz said that was quite a scene, it could be a country song. Miz told Rollins that Ambrose would never forgive him. Plus, Miz has owned the Lunatic Fringe for months and talked about all the times he’s beaten Ambrose recently. He told Ambrose that he didn’t have the ability to beat Miz on his own. Dallas and Axel walked down to ringside. Dallas, Axel and Miz all picked up chairs at ringside. Crowd started chanting for Reigns. Axel slammed Rollins in the knee with a chair while Miz slammed his chair across Ambrose’s back. The Miztourage triple-teamed Rollins inside the ring, culminating with Miz carefully giving Rollins a Skull Crushing Finale across the seat of an unfolded chair. Miztourage didn’t get very much heel heat walking to the back as Miz hit Ambrose across the back again.
Charly Caruso stopped Miz, Dallas, Axel and Maryse backstage, but they were in a rush to leave, which they did and weren’t see again.
Bayley defeated Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss in a nontitle match (8:14)
Bayley defeated Alexa Bliss with a Belly-to-Bayley. Nia Jax came down to stand in Bliss’ corner about a minute into the match. Bliss worked on Bayley’s left arm. After Bliss rolled out of the ring, Bayley went after her but Jax stood in her way. Bliss gave Bayley a cheap shot. Sasha Banks ran down and drop kicked Jax into the apron. They highlighted that Bayley has pinned Bliss in consecutive weeks.
Corey Graves got another text message and went to the back to meet with Angle.
They showed highlights of the ESPY Awards, including John Cena with Jarrius “Little JJ” Robertson. Stephanie McMahon was shown receiving the Stuart Scott ENSPIRE Award.
Backstage, Angle told Graves said he was having second thoughts and he was thinking about keeping this to himself. Graves says we live in a social media age and the truth was going to come out regardless if Angle told them or not. Angle thanked Graves and said his friendship means a lot to him.
On last week’s 205 Live, Akira Tozawa was in action against Ariya Daivari when Neville interfered and put Tozawa in the Rings of Saturn. This was because of Neville’s loss to Tozawa last week on Raw. Shifting back to tonight, Titus O’Neil talked to Apollo Crews and Tozawa backstage. O’Neil told Crews not to worry about Braun Strowman kicking his head off two weeks ago because Strowman has done that to plenty of people. O’Neil gave Tozawa a pep talk, but Daivari walked in. Daivari ripped Tozawa for begging for rematches and in Iran, they hold wrestlers like Hassan Yazdani to a much higher standard. Daivari challenged Tozawa to a match tonight.
Mustafa Ali and Jack Gallagher defeated Brian Kendrick and Drew Gulak (2:17)
Drew Gulak walked out carrying a “No Fly Zone” sign, which has to be a rib on Rip Rogers. They showed another angle from 205 Live where Brian Kendrick started dressing up like Jack Gallagher and called him a phony and a third-rate William Regal. In this match, Gallagher gave Kendrick a head butt. Mustafa Ali went right to the top rope for an inverted 450 and the pin. Crowd was silent.
Enzo Amore came out and said for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. He said there isn’t a man in this business who can elicit a reaciton over the microphone like him, and he does it knowing full well the reprecussions of his every word and his every action. If he says it, then he owns it and sometimes the losses outweighs his assets, which is fine. Amore says you’re going to win some and lose some, but you always have to fight for what you believe in. Amore said there was a time when Big Cass believed what he fought for. For five years, Amore allowed Cass to pick him up and toss him at opponents because he wanted to win. Amore said when Cass threw him at opponents, Cass was left standing at 7-foot tall, which didn’t win them any championships. Amore said when Cass threw him 14-feet to the floor, it was going to hurt him. Last week, Cass said at Great Balls of Fire he threw Amore out of the ring and threw him out of his life. Amore said Cass didn’t throw him out of his life because if he gets knocked down nine times, he’s getting up ten. Enzo said Cass threw 14 feet, and it took everything he took to get back in the ring, but he did and made Cass finish that fight like he’s always have. Enzo showed the highlight from last week where Cass had a showdown with the Big Show.
Enzo said Cass had one foot and 100 pounds on him and Enzo didn’t care. Last week, Cass couldn’t look Show in the eye and when push came to shove, Cass folded like a lawnchair. Enzo would have at least buzzed around Show’s ankles. Enzo said there was only one word to describe Cass, but Cass walked out before he could spell it out for him. Cass walked over to the commentator’s table and told Graves if it wasn’t for him none of this would have happened. Cass said Enzo always runs his mouth and he was going to come down to the ring and beat some sense into him. Cass got in the ring, but Enzo rolled out. Enzo went to the crowd, brought over a fan with an Enzo wig on and said he was going to watch Cass have to face something he didn’t want to face. Show came out, but Cass stood his ground this time. As Show was bout to get in the ring, Cass kneed him in the leg, but Show recovered and threw him into the barricade three times. Cass fought back with several punches, but Show threw Cass into the LED apron and slammed him on the floor. Show choked Cass and chopped him across the chest. On the apron, Cass backed Show into the post twice, then threw him into the ring. Cass threw a few punches from the mount, then kicked Show in the ribs twice. Show had blood trickeling across the bridge of his nose. Enzo ran in the ring, but Cass gave him a big boot with no effort at all. Cass was left standing and getting booed.
Reigns was interviewed by Caruso. She said Joe has beaten Reigns twice and tonight the stakes are higher. Reigns said when the stakes are high, that’s when he’s at his best. He said he would beat Joe tonight and this was his yard now.
Rollins and Ambrose were recovering from their beating earlier and bickered with each other. Angle walked in and said Ambrose and Rollins could face any two members of the Miztourage next week. Ambrose said he wantd to face all three of them in a handicap match, and Angle agreed.
Elias Samson was in the ring for another prematch song. Samson said he had a long history with Nashville. He played in the War Memorial a few times. Crowd chanted “We want Balor.” Samson said he wanted Balor too, and he was going to get him soon enough. Samson dedicated a song to a town filled with lust, greed, ugliness and lies. Samson said the people in Nashville was awful and the town couldn’t be much worse. Balor came out.
Finn Balor defeated Elias Samson by DQ (5:04)
Balor was outside the ring when he delivered a dropkick to Samson. He was about to hit another when Samson picked up his guitar and wallopped Balor across his shoulder for the DQ. It was such a great highlight they showed about six replays. Balor had blood coming from the back of his head and the ringside doctor had to attend to him. A few ringside fans chanted “one more time” at Samson, but he got booed pretty heavily as he walked up the ramp.
As Balor limped to the back, Bray Wyatt showed up on the TitanTron and said he bet Balor wasn’t expecting that. Wyatt said Balor felt pain, and that’s what real people do, they have feelings. Wyatt lives for that look of pain and suffering. It ignites the fire in his soul. Wyatt feels the need to put Balor in pain and agony. Wyatt said he feels the need to put Balor in pain. Balor said he’s the product of Irish mythology, but he’s no myth. Wyatt said he’s real, he’s the worst nightmare Balor has ever had. Wyatt said the best part was he’s going to enjoy every minute of it.
Angle was on the phone with someone and said he was anxious but ready to make his admission tonight. Bayley and Banks walked in. They had a disagreement over who should get the Raw Women’s title shot at Bliss. Bayley said she had beaten Bliss twice in two weeks. But Banks said she beat Bliss by countout at Great Balls of Fire. Angle said Bayley would face Banks next week on Raw and the winner gets the Raw Women’s title shot at Bliss.
Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson did an interview with Caruso about why they attacked Matt and Jeff Hardy last week. Dawson said they didn’t care about the Hardys or their legacy, but after tonight they would remember the Revival.
Ariya Daivari defeated Akira Tozawa via corner stoppage (2:55)
Before the bell, they aired a graphic highlighting Yazdani as an Olympic gold medalist from the 2016 Summer games who captured the 74 kilogram championship. The story of the match was Tozawa’s left arm was still banged up after Neville put him in the Rings of Saturn last week on 205 Live. Daivari worked over the shoulder, but Tozawa refused to quit. O’Neil then ordered the referee to stop the match and Daivari was declared the winner. Daivari taunted the crowd after the match. Tozawa was furious with O’Neil and walked out on him saying he never quits.
Angle came out for the big revelation. He started by apologizing to the WWE Universe for being a distraction over the past few months. As a child, he learned that every action has a consequence. But recently he learned an action from his past has a serious consequences becasue it changed his life. Crowd chanted “What” at him. He was afraid because it affected his family, but his family and the WWE supported him. When he was in college at Clarion Universtiy, he dated a young lady for awhile. Then they stopped dating. It wasn’t until recently that he learned that she gave birth nine months after their last date to a baby boy. Angle was unaware of the pregnancy or the birth. The baby boy was put up for a closed adoption. He was adopted by two loving parents who taught him American values. Angle said the young man was a three-sport athlete in high school, a great student and was even drafted to play professional baseball. But he chose to go to college to excel in wrestling, which he did.
After college, he had many options but he decided to pursue his dream of becoming a WWE superstar. Angle said he’s glad he did that. Angle introduced the newest member of Raw, his son Jason Jordan. Angle teared up as Jordan came out to the American Alpha music. As Jordan got in the ring, Angle was in tears. The two hugged. Crowd had a lukewarm response as they didn’t really buy this and it really felt like much ado about nothing.
The Revival defeated The Hardy Boyz (13:21)
Excellent match designed to get over the Revival as the modern day Ole and Arn Anderson, which was a comparison that Booker T made several times. Dash and Dawson tagged in and out working over Matt’s left leg. Matt backdropped Wilder to tag Jeff, who hit the Whisper in the Wind on Dawson. Jeff went to the top rope for the Senton Bomb, but Wilder crotched him. Dawson pinned Jeff and the Revival celebrated like it was the biggest win of their careers. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows watched from the back. Matt made more facial expressions like his Broken character and the crowd chanted “Brother Nero” at Jeff. Crowd was hot as Matt built up the hot tag and it was a stellar presentation.
Caruso interviewed Joe, who said he had no qualms about facing Reigns. Joe said he showed the world he didn’t fear Brock Lesnar. Joe said Reigns has made a mistake to thinking he’s just an obstacle in front of Lesnar. Joe said he’s beaten Reigns twice and tonight the third time would be the charm.
They honored Special Olympian Norris Peterson, who was at ringside.
Backstage, Tozawa had an icepack on his shoulder. O’Neil explained to Tozawa why he stopped the match with Daivari. O’Neil said he knew that Tozawa wasn’t going to quit. He wanted Tozawa to think about next week, next month or next year. O’Neil said if Daivari permanently injured Tozawa, it would ruin Tozawa’s chances of winning the Cruiserweight championship. Tozawa said he wanted to face Daivari tomorrow night on 205 Live. O’Neil didn’t want that.
Next week, Balor faces Samson in a no-DQ match.
Samoa Joe and Roman Reigns fought to a no contest (19:27)
This match had a big match atmosphere from the fans, who were into this match more than anything else on the show by a mile. The big spot was Reigns going for a drive-by, but Joe gave him a clothesline to send Reigns bouncing off the apron. Earlier, Reigns hit a Yakuza kick on Joe that had Kawada-style stiffness. Lots of dueling chants.
The final sequence was Joe attempting an Uranage, but Reigns escaped and hit a Superman punch for a two count. Then Braun Strowman came out and pulled Joe out of the ring. Reigns looked stunned that Strowman would show up after he was carried away in an ambulance eight days earlier at Great Balls of Fire. Strowman started to get in the ring, but Reigns hit an uppercut on Strowman and they brawled to the floor. Strowman threw Reigns from the floor to the ring. Joe looked pissed that Strowman interrupted the match and fought with him, but Strowman laid out Joe with a short-armed clothesline. The match simply ended.
Strowman went back to work on Reigns choking him in the corner. Reigns gave Strowman a kick, then Joe held Strowman in a Coquina Clutch. As joe grabbed him, Reigns gave Strowman a Superman punch. Strowman went down on two knees as the crowd chanted “This is awesome.” Regins went for another Superman punch on Strowman, who caught Reigns and gave him a spinebuster. Strowman gave Joe the Oklahoma Stampede, then did the same thing to Reigns. Strowman started to leave, then turned around and went after Reigns again. Six security guards ran out trying to stop Strowman, who held an unconscious Reigns in his hand. Strowman gave Reigns another Oklahoma Stampede and bolted as Reigns and Joe were left writhing in pain in the ring.
