The Big Takeaway: Lacey Evans saw off Dana Brooke in the opener for her third win in a row against Brooke. The team of Titus O’Neil & Heath Slater then defeated Mojo Rawley & Eric Young, leaving Rawley without any kind of a win since May.
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Lacey Evans defeated Dana Brooke (6:00)
Evans and Brooke have had a good little program on Main Event through July and August, with Evans going 3-0 against Brooke. Both Evans and Brooke are certainly improving, but both would benefit from working with stronger opponents.
Of the two, Evans is getting the more even hand. She has been able to work with Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Natalya over the last few weeks, while Brooke has been left to take on Sarah Logan, Nikki Cross, and Ruby Riott.
The match was pretty good, with lots of back and forth, but they did quite a neat finish that let Evans heel her way to the win.
Brooke was looking to lock in a submission hold and dragged her by the leg across the ring. Evans clung on to the apron, which the referee had to pay attention to. While his back was turned, Evans gouged Brooke’s eyes and then landed The Women’s Right for the win. Brooke was left looking completely bereft.
Titus O’Neil & Heath Slater defeated Mojo Rawley & Eric Young (3:28)
Rawley’s WWE career continues to stutter. He debuted a new look back in April, sporting face paint and new ring gear after a series of vignettes were aired on Raw. From there he had a run of matches on Main Event. His last televised appearance was at Super ShowDown back in June.
Here, Rawley was wearing more of the blue-lined face paint and looked a little heavier than in previous months. He didn’t work much in the match and only tagged in for O’Neil’s heat segment, which culminated in him taking a clothesline over the top rope.
Eric Young looked very good, doing a flip over the top turnbuckle and a baseball slide under the ropes in quick succession just before the end. Young took the Clash of the Titus from O’Neil at the end for the pinfall.
Ultimately, this was pretty much what you’d expect from this match with these kind of time constraints.
The Big Takeaway: Lacey Evans saw off Dana Brooke in the opener. The team of Cesaro & EC3 then defeated Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins to leave the latter without a televised win since May.
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Lacey Evans defeated Dana Brooke (5:09)
Evans and Brooke faced off against each other on Main Event two weeks back with the result going in the same direction. This was probably a better match all told, with the ending putting Evans over strong.
Evans spent much of the match working over Brooke’s left arm, but Evans does look to have improved in recent weeks. They did a spot where she mimicked Brooke’s one-handed press-ups, but this was otherwise quite a slow, formulaic match.
The ending looked good, with Evans using a sleeper hold, taking Brooke up to the second rope. When she then released Brooke, Brooke lay prone and Evans waited for her to get to her feet. Evans then came off the top with the Women’s Right for the win.
EC3 and Cesaro tagged together in six-man tag action back in June when they teamed up with Robert Roode. They defeated the Lucha House Party then and looked strong again here.
For Ryder and Hawkins, things seem to have returned to normalcy. They are without a televised win as a team since May and are being used more on this show than they are on Raw, where their appearances have been sporadic since they lost the Tag Team titles in June.
Cesaro looked so smooth and comfortable throughout and Hawkins and Ryder both had spots where they impressed. Hawkins came off the top rope to nail EC3 and Cesaro on the outside and Ryder did a tope on them both before the finish.
It was an all-action finish, though, after they had all hit their finishing moves. Cesaro pinned Ryder with the Neutralizer to give these two their first tag team win together.
The Universal and Raw Women’s titles will be on the line in a mixed tag match at Extreme Rules in Philadelphia tonight.
Universal Champion Seth Rollins & Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch will face Baron Corbin & Lacey Evans in an extreme rules match. Both Corbin and Evans will win their respective titles if either of them gets the pin.
In the WWE Championship match, Kofi Kingston is defending his title against Samoa Joe.
The Undertaker will also be in action at tonight’s PPV. He’ll team with Roman Reigns in a no holds barred match against Shane McMahon & Drew McIntyre.
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s show as well as the other major shows over the weekend, which are New Japan’s second and third day of G-1, AEW Fight for the Fallen and Evolve’s 10th anniversary show. You can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to all of the shows to [email protected]
Also set for tonight’s main card: Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross in a handicap match for the SmackDown Women’s Championship, Ricochet vs. AJ Styles for the United States Championship, Bobby Lashley vs. Braun Strowman in a last man standing match, Daniel Bryan & Rowan vs. Big E & Xavier Woods vs. Heavy Machinery in a triple threat match for the SmackDown Tag Team titles, The Revival vs. The Usos for the Raw Tag Team titles, Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler, and Aleister Black vs. Cesaro.
The pre-show begins at 6 p.m. Eastern time and will feature two title matches. Finn Balor will defend his Intercontinental Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura, while Tony Nese is set to challenge for Drew Gulak’s Cruiserweight Championship.
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By Dave Meltzer
FINN BALOR VS. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA FOR IC TITLE
Nakamura won the title in a short match when Balor missed the coup de graceE, and Nakamura did the Kinshasa to the back of the head and a second traditional one led to the pin. Balor did a flip dive early and the matfch was fine but they simply didn’t have time to do much, The TV match was much better.
DREW GULAK VS. TONY NESE FOR CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE
Another short match that didn’t have time to bulid much. Some fans were into Gulak because he’s from Philadelphia but mainly quiet and very well wrestled. Gulak retained cleanly with two power bombs and the cyclone crash, which is a neckbreaker like move.
ROMAN REIGNS & THE UNDERTAKER VS. SHANE MCMAHON & DREW MCINTYRE IN A NO RULES MATCH
Really good match ending when Undertaker pinned Shane with a tombstone piledriver. Elias interfered and laid out Undertaker with a guitar shot. McIntyre laid out both Reigns and Undertaker with Claymore kicks. Shane did an elbow off the top rope onto Taker through the announcing table far away. Shane did the Coast-to-Coast dropkick into a garbage an on Undertaker. It looked like it was over but Reings came back. McIntyre took out Reigns with a Russian leg sweep on the floor. But Undertaker sat up. He choke slammed Shane and Elias. McIntyre went for the Claymore kick on Undertaker but Reigns jumped in and speared him to save Undertaker. Undertaker then hit Shane with the tombstone. They left the ring to Undertaker. It was definitely a strong comeback for Undertaker after the match in Saudi Arabia. They talked of Undertaker as being near the end of his career.
Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch promo. They talked about stuff in Philadelphia. Lynch said if they made a statue of Lacey Evans pidgeons would poop all over it.
They announced a Raw reunion show with all stars on deck. for the 22nd. It’s not an anniversary or anything. They’re just looking to pop a rating bringing in Steve Austin, Ric Flair, Booker T and tons of others.
THE REVIVAL VS. USOS FOR RAW TAG TITLES
Good match. As far as quality of work, it was really high. Lots of near falls. About what you’d expect from these teams. They had a hard time early following the previous match but in the end the crowd was with them. The Revival won clean with the shatter machine.
ALEISTER BLACK VS. CESARO
This was a hell of match. This was a different style tan you ever see in WWE. Just lots of strikes low kicks, forearms, knees and good mat wrestling. Black did a moonsault to the floor. At one point Black had a kneebar that Cesaro turned into a sharpshooter. They were exchanging all kinds of strikes until Black used the black mass to win. There were fans chanting “This is awesome” but a lot of fans didn’t see them as stars, but a lot of people conversely really liked it.
R-Truth and Carmella are looking for Drkae Maverick. Alexa Bliss gvae Nikki Cross a gift, a Bliss t-shirt, when The Street Profits showed up. They asked if they win the title where’s the part out. Bliss said if they win they are co-champions. The Street Profits laughed at them. Cross said they would do anything for each other and tonight they’ll become the first Smackdown women’s co-champions.
BAYLEY VS. NIKKI CROSS & ALEXA BLISS FOR THE SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S TITLE
Most of the match saw them working on Bayley but they kept Bayley strong including at one point she had an Indian deathlock on Cross and crossface on Bliss. Bliss bit her hand to break it and then broke it up. Bliss went for twisted Bliss but Bayley got the knees up. Cross tagged in and came off the top rope into a knee by Bayley and Bayley used the Randy Savage elbow for the pin.
BRAUN STROWMAN VS. BOBBY LASHLEY LAST MAN STANDING
This was a brawl all over the building including in the mezannine. At one point Lashley turned the German table over on Strowman but Strowman called out. Strowman suplexed him in a gimmick table wall. Lashley speared Strowman through a barricade. Strowman hip tossed him in the row of international announcers. They were in the rises and Strowman broke the railing and powerslammed Lashley off the risers into a gimmicked floor and they fell through the ground. Stromwan climbed out of the rubbish and was awarded the match. The crowd loved this chanting “ECW” when it was over.
DANIEL BRYAN & ROWAN VS. BIG E & XAVIER WOODS VS. HEAVY MACHINERY FOR SMACKDOWN TAG TITLES
This was great. The New Day won the bbelts when Woods pinned Bryan after the Midnight hour after a great echange with E and Bryan. Bryan was kicking like it was Japan to E chest and slapping him. Bryan did a backflip off the top rope but E caught him and carried him over to Woods for the Midnight hour. Bryan and Woods did a great opening spot with leapfrogs. Machinery did the compactor on Woods but E saved. E did his tackle on Bryan to the floor. Tucker even did a crossbody to the floor on E and Rowan.
Paul Heyman came out. He said “I am Philadelphia.” “I am the entire concept of extreme.” He said your spoiler is that Lesnar will be cashing in the Money in the Bank contract tongiht. Heyman said hje would leave with either the WWE title or Universal champion. Then he said “Am I telling you the truth or am I Paul Heyman?”
RICOCHET VS. A.J. STYLES FOR U.S. TITLE
Styles won the tilte with a reverse Styles clash off the middle rope. Basically it was the Styles clash except A.J. was facing the corner off the middle rope instead of facing away. This was very good and smooth but not great. It was more about the story that Ricochet kept having to deal with Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson. They jumped him before and stayed out. Ricochet did a shooting star press but Karl Anderson told the ref that Styles’ foot was under the ropes. Ricochet went back to the top with the ref distracted by Anderson, Gallows pulled his leg and he was crotched on the top rope to set up the Styles clash.
DOLPH ZIGGLER VS. KEVIN OWENS
.Owens won with a stunner in 15 seconds.
Owens did a promo wanting Shane McMahon. He said he expected to get suspended or fired but since Shane was in with the Undertaker so he lived another day. Said Shane McMahon can kiss his ass and go straight to hell.
KOFI KINGSTON VS. SAMOA JOE FOR WWE TITLE
Crowd was kind of quiet as the show is now at the four hour mark. Joe controlled most of the match, which was short and didn’t build much, but was fine. The crowd was chanting “We Want Lesnar, No We Don’t” and out of nowhere Kingston hit the Trouble in Paradise for the pin.
SETH ROLLINS & BECKY LYNCH VS. BARON CORBIN & LACEY EVANS FOR UNIVERSAL & WOMEN’S TITLE IN AN EXTREME RULES MATCH
Brock Lesnar cashed in and pinned Seth Rollins to win the title after Rollins had pinned Corbin in the tag match after three curb stops. The tag match dragged at points, but Rollins looked really good the entire match. It got really intense at the end. Rollins did a cross body onto Corbin off the top rope to the floor while Lynch did a senton off the middle rope onto the floor putting Lynch through a table. The match picked up when Corbin used the End of Days. Rollins went crazy on Corbin, nailing him with kendo stick and chair shots until pinning him after three curb stomps. Immediately, Lesnar came out, and hit two German suplexes. Paul Heyman cashed in the briefcase and Lesnar used an F-5 and pinned Rollins in seconds to win the title.
A stipulation has been added to Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch vs. Baron Corbin & Lacey Evans at Extreme Rules.
WWE announced this afternoon that Rollins & Lynch vs. Corbin & Evans will now be an extreme rules match. The match also has a winners-take-all stipulation, with Rollins’ Universal Championship and Lynch’s Raw Women’s Championship both on the line.
The mixed tag match was announced for the pay-per-view on last week’s episode of Raw. The announcement came the night after Rollins retained his title against Corbin and Lynch retained her title against Evans at Stomping Grounds. Evans was the special guest referee for Rollins vs. Corbin but was taken out by Lynch near the end of the match.
Extreme Rules is taking place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 14. The updated card for the PPV is listed below:
The Undertaker & Roman Reigns vs. Shane McMahon & Drew McIntyre
Universal Champion Seth Rollins & Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defending against Baron Corbin & Lacey Evans in an extreme rules match (winners-take-all stipulation with both titles on the line)
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston defending against Samoa Joe
SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley defending against Alexa Bliss
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak defending against Tony Nese
After it was set up at Stomping Grounds, WWE has made a mixed tag match official for Extreme Rules.
Universal Champion Seth Rollins & Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch will team against Baron Corbin & Lacey Evans at Extreme Rules. Rollins and Lynch’s titles will both be on the line in the match, with the winning team getting the respective titles.
Rollins & Lynch kicked off tonight’s post-Stomping Grounds episode of Raw. They were interrupted by Corbin’s music, with Evans then ambushing Lynch. Rollins & Lynch fought Corbin & Evans off, then Corbin & Evans proposed the mixed tag match for Extreme Rules.
Lynch accepted under the condition that Corbin & Evans couldn’t get another shot against Rollins & Lynch if they lost. Corbin & Evans wanted another stipulation, and Rollins accepted without hearing what it was. Corbin then said Rollins and Lynch’s titles would both be on the line in the match.
Rollins retained the Universal Championship against Corbin in the main event of Stomping Grounds, while Lynch retained her Raw Women’s title against Evans in the opening match of the main card. Evans was the special guest referee for Rollins vs. Corbin but was taken out by Lynch at the end of the match.
Extreme Rules is taking place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 14.
Going into Stomping Grounds, WWE had yet to announce the special guest referee for Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin.
The reveal was left until right before the main event started, with Corbin choosing Lacey Evans to referee the Universal title match. Evans being the referee played into Rollins and Becky Lynch’s real-life relationship being part of their on-screen characters. After Evans slapped Rollins and low blowed him near the end of the match, Lynch came down and took out Evans.
Referee John Cone then counted the pin for Rollins as he retained the Universal title after hitting a Curb Stomp on Corbin.
Evans had added no countout and no disqualification stipulations during the match to help Corbin. She also refused to count to three for Rollins.
In storyline, Corbin got to pick his own referee for the match. The stipulation stemmed from Corbin losing to Rollins at Super ShowDown after Corbin got into an argument with Cone.
Lynch retained the Raw Women’s Championship by submitting Evans with the Dis-Arm-Her in the opening match of the Stomping Grounds main card.
Three title matches have been added to the card for Stomping Grounds.
Universal Champion Seth Rollins will defend his title against Baron Corbin, Kofi Kingston will defend the WWE Championship against Dolph Ziggler in a steel cage match, and Becky Lynch will defend the Raw Women’s Championship against Lacey Evans. All three of those matches were announced during today’s Super ShowDown broadcast.
Rollins vs. Corbin and Kingston vs. Ziggler are both rematches from Super ShowDown.
Rollins retained against Corbin at Super ShowDown after Corbin argued with the referee. Corbin tried to bring a steel chair into the ring, Corbin and referee John Cone argued, and Rollins rolled up Corbin to get the win.
Corbin gave Rollins the End of Days after the match. Brock Lesnar came out with a steel chair and his Money in the Bank briefcase, but he never cashed in. Rollins low blowed Lesnar, repeatedly hit him with chair shots, and gave him a curb stomp on the MITB briefcase.
The steel cage stipulation for Kingston vs. Ziggler at Stomping Grounds was set up by their match today. After Ziggler superkicked Xavier Woods on the outside, Woods kicked Ziggler when the referee wasn’t looking. Kingston then hit Trouble in Paradise on Ziggler to win.
Ziggler did a post-match interview backstage, calling Kingston a coward and demanding the steel cage match.
Lynch and Evans’ storyline has continued since Lynch defeated Evans at Money in the Bank last month. On this week’s Raw, Lynch caused Evans vs. Charlotte Flair to end in a disqualification.
Stomping Grounds is taking place at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington on June 23. Bayley will defend the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Alexa Bliss at the pay-per-view, and Roman Reigns will face Drew McIntyre.
Bayley & Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte Flair & Evans on last week’s SmackDown. Bayley pinned Charlotte to get the win.
Kofi Kingston will defend his WWE Championship against Ziggler at Super ShowDown in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Friday, June 7. The build to that match began as Ziggler returned to WWE television and laid out Kingston last week. He also attacked Kingston on Raw last night. Ziggler then fought with Xavier Woods, and Kingston made the save as Ziggler was attacking Woods with a steel chair.
Kingston vs. Owens in a non-title match is set for tonight’s SmackDown. The episode is taking place at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston will take on Sami Zayn in a non-title match, Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch will team with new SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley in a tag match against Charlotte Flair & Lacey Evans, and Mandy Rose will face Carmella.
Kingston retained his title against Kevin Owens at Money in the Bank on Sunday.
The SmackDown Women’s Championship changed hands twice at Sunday’s pay-per-view, with Charlotte first defeating Lynch for the title. Bayley saved Lynch from Charlotte and Evans in a post-match angle, then cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase she won earlier in the night and became SmackDown Women’s Champion by defeating Charlotte.
Rose and Carmella have been going back and forth on social media after their interactions in the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match.
Bayley giving an “exclusive interview,” The New Day holding a welcome back celebration for Big E, and Roman Reigns vs. Elias are also set for SmackDown.
SmackDown and 205 Live are taking place at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island tonight. A fatal five-way main event has been announced for 205 Live. It will feature Ariya Daivari, Mike Kanellis, Oney Lorcan, Brian Kendrick, and Akira Tozawa.
Daivari unsuccessfully challenged for Tony Nese’s Cruiserweight Championship at Money in the Bank.
Raw’s Money in the Bank participants will be facing off on the episode, which is the go-home show for the pay-per-view. The men’s Money in the Bank ladder match wrestlers will be in singles matches, with Braun Strowman vs. Drew McIntyre and Ricochet vs. Baron Corbin set.
Naomi, Natalya, Alexa Bliss, and Dana Brooke are Raw’s women’s Money in the Bank ladder match participants. They’ll be facing each other in a fatal four-way match on Raw.
Two segments have also been announced for Monday’s episode. Becky Lynch and both of her Money in the Bank challengers will take part in a double contract signing ahead of the PPV. Lynch has two matches at Money in the Bank, defending the Raw Women’s Championship against Lacey Evans and defending the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair.
SmackDown’s Roman Reigns appearing on Miz TV is set for Monday. Reigns will face Elias at Money in the Bank, while Miz will take on Shane McMahon in a steel cage match. Shane and Elias have been aligned during the build to Money in the Bank.
Monday’s Raw and Tuesday’s SmackDown are both being taped at the O2 Arena in London.
Becky Lynch will have two title defenses at next month’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view.
On tonight’s SmackDown, it was announced that Lynch will defend the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair at Money in the Bank. Charlotte defeated Bayley in a number one contender’s match to get the title shot.
Lynch holds both the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships and will defend the Raw title against Lacey Evans at Money in the Bank.
Lynch and Charlotte took part in a face-to-face segment on this week’s SmackDown, with it being the first time they’ve shared the ring since Lynch defeated Ronda Rousey and Charlotte in the main event of WrestleMania 35. Charlotte said Lynch pinned Rousey at WrestleMania, which means that she didn’t beat Charlotte. Lynch said she’s defeated Charlotte more times than she can count and wanted to prove that she could beat Rousey.
The segment led to Charlotte and Bayley both wanting to be next in line for a title shot. After Charlotte won the number one contender’s match, Lynch did a backstage interview and said she would have two defenses matches at Money in the Bank.
The XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut is hosting Money in the Bank on May 19. Here’s the updated card for the show:
Universal Champion Seth Rollins defending against AJ Styles
Raw & SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defending the SmackDown title against Charlotte Flair
Raw & SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defending the Raw title against Lacey Evans
WWE has confirmed when Lacey Evans will be getting her shot at the Raw Women’s Championship.
On tonight’s Raw, it was announced that Evans will challenge for Becky Lynch’s Raw Women’s title at Money in the Bank. The pay-per-view is taking place at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut on May 19.
Evans defeated Natalya in a number one contender’s match on last week’s Raw to set up her getting the title shot. Lynch and Evans went back and forth on the microphone this week, with Evans saying she’ll teach Lynch a lesson at Money in the Bank. Lynch said she’ll dismantle Evans at the PPV.
After Lynch defeated Alicia Fox on tonight’s Raw, Evans gave Lynch a Woman’s Right punch. Evans then laid her out with another one when Lynch got up.
Lynch holds both the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships, but only the Raw title will be on the line at Money in the Bank. Lynch defeated Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair in the main event of WrestleMania 35 to win the titles.
A face-to-face segment with Lynch and Charlotte will take place on this week’s SmackDown.
AJ Styles challenging for Seth Rollins’ Universal Championship is also set for Money in the Bank. Raw’s participants for the men’s and women’s Money in the Bank ladder matches will be announced next Monday.
The Big Takeaway: Lacey Evans remains winless since joining the main roster, this week submitting to Natalya. No Way Jose picked up his first singles win of 2019, defeating Tyler Breeze in the main event of the show.
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Natalya defeated Lacey Evans (6:06)
Evans made her main roster debut against Natalya on what seemed to be a Main Event taping last month, but for some reason it didn’t air. Instead, they ran an in-studio Raw-rehash show that was hosted by Scott Stanford. At that taping, she tapped out to Natalya, just as she did here.
They were looking to revive their Royal Rumble rivalry, where Evans and Natalya started the women’s Royal Rumble match off together. Evans managed just under 30 minutes that night, but was ultimately dumped out by Charlotte Flair.
Here, though, Evans was pretty fantastic. And working with such an excellent wrestler like Natalya, she was made even more impressive. Evans sold really well, had believable histrionics, and looked really tough when she got fired up for the heat. Her Merosault is also quite the finisher.
After teasing the Sharpshooter early on, Natalya eventually locked it on in the center of the ring — and Evans didn’t take long to tap. This was very good; Main Event could do a lot worse than to have more of this each week.
No Way Jose defeated Tyler Breeze (3:37)
This one went surprisingly quickly and was played as babyface vs. babyface, with Breeze applauding Jose’s entrance into the ring and both men shaking hands and helping each other up during the match.
To give both their due, they did well in the time that they had: they did several close finishes, with Breeze just kicking out of a flapjack and Jose getting his shoulder up after a superkick. They teased a ref bump, went through a commercial, and did a spot where Jose was able to reverse the Unprettier.
Whether this is a compliment or a good thing, I don’t know, but there’s something strangely reminiscent of Koko B Ware in some of Jose’s moves. Ultimately, he won when he slingshotted Breeze into the turnbuckle and then whipped him into the rope to nail him with the pop-up punch.
There is always lots of energy to their matches and Breeze is a very competent technical wrestler, so they probably deserve better than this.
The new NXT call-ups continued to cement themselves on the main roster during tonight’s Raw.
Lacey Evans came out following a brawl between the Raw participants in this year’s women’s Royal Rumble match. After Alexa Bliss, who was hosting her Moment of Bliss talk show, announced that she would be entering the Rumble Evans appeared and announced she was entering. She also called Bliss a “sawed off, girly little runt”.
Meanwhile, Heavy Machinery made their in-ring debut taking out the Ascension in under three minutes with their Compactor finish. The match highlighted Otis Dozivich, who did some comedy spots including the worm.
The two other new call-ups were also seen during tonight’s show. Nikki Cross was involved with the women’s Royal Rumble brawl and will be a part of Sunday’s match as well. EC3 was briefly seen posing in a mirror as Dana Brooke asked him questions about his physique.
Lars Sullivan, who was also set to be called up, wasn’t seen on tonight’s episode of Raw.
Several new WWE talents made their first main roster appearances tonight during Raw.
Nikki Cross made her televised in-ring debut, teaming with Bayley and Natalya in a six person tag match defeating the Riott Squad. It was noted during Cross’s entrance that all of the NXT stars coming to the main roster will be free agents in the coming weeks until they are signed to a brand.
EC3 made a silent appearance during a segment that had Dasha Fuentes question a number of stars about being a potential replacement for Braun Strowman in the Royal Rumble Universal title match. Lacey Evans also appeared, talking to other talent backstage as Finn Balor as walking to the ring for his match against Jinder Mahal.
Heavy Machinery made their debut during the Moment of Bliss talk show segment. Otis Dozovic interrupted the interview between Alexa Bliss and Paul Heyman and eventually had to be escorted away by tag team partner Tucker Knight.
Lars Sullivan did not make an appearance. According to last week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Sullivan flew himself home before last week’s SmackDown tapings due to what is being reported as an anxiety attack that took place before Raw last Monday.
