Wrestling Entertainment Series has announced the lineup for its debut event.
The show was originally scheduled for June 4 but was later rescheduled to Saturday, July 9.
Several wrestlers advertised for the original date do not appear on the lineup for the rescheduled show. Adam Scherr (Braun Strowman) was once scheduled to face Alistair Overeem but has now been replaced by Moose. Westin Blake & Steve Maclin are no longer advertised for the tag team title match against the Legion of Pain. Killer Kross, Deonna Purrazzo, Chelsea Green, Madison Rayne, Tenille Dashwood, Mike Bennett, Biff Busick (Oney Lorcan), and Dirty Dango (Fandango) are no longer scheduled to perform as well.
Damo (Killian Dain), Steph de Lander (Persia Pirotta), and Eric Young have been added to the show.
The debut event for WES will take place on July 9 from the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England. It will air live on FITE TV. The full lineup for the show is as follows:
Alistair Overeem vs. Moose for the World Championship
Lina Fanene (Nia Jax) vs. CJ Perry (Lana) for the Women’s World Championship
The Legion of Pain (AOP) vs. BT Gunn & Kez Evans for the World Tag Team Championships
Steph de Lander (Persia Pirotta) & Anastasia vs. She Wolves for the Women’s Tag Team Championships
Samuray del Sol (Kalisto) vs. Lince Dorado
Dean Muhtadi (Mojo Rawley) vs. Damo Mackle (Killian Dain)
Pre-Show: Eric Young vs. Zac Zodiac
Pre-Show: Levis Valenzuela Jr. (No Way Jose) vs. Jody Fliesh
In addition to Perry being on the show, there will be another professional wrestling connection with Basketball Hall of Famer and nWo member Dennis Rodman being part of the cast. The cast will also feature August Alsina, Stormy Daniels, Tamar Braxton, Frankie Muniz, Kim Coles, and Manny MUA.
VH1 hyped that the cast is “coming together for a wild, over the top journey that pushes them to reveal different sides of themselves in surprising ways.”
“The Surreal Life is known for bringing together some of the biggest names in pop culture and creating many unforgettable moments in reality television,” said Nina L. Diaz, President of Content and Chief Creative Officer of MTV Entertainment Group. “We are excited to see how this stellar celebrity cast will make captivating television for audiences everywhere.”
Perry was released by WWE during a round of roster cuts this June. During an appearance on Talk is Jericho earlier this month, she discussed being blindsided by her release.
Pro wrestlers Chyna and Maven appeared on previous seasons of “The Surreal Life.”
CJ Perry, the former Lana in WWE, talked to Chris Jericho on his podcast about her WWE tenure, getting released, and what she hopes her future holds — as long as it has a no-cut clause.
She said she was completely blindsided by getting the call from John Laurinaitis and thought it was about an outside TV project WWE had just given approval to. She got the call when a lot of her family was at a house she and husband Miro are renting so she could train more. Her heart dropped when she got the call, but she was also relieved.
Perry said she was texting with Mandy Rose at the time so she was the first person to know, followed by Natalya who she called. Budget cuts were given as the reason and she was glad it was Laurinaitis who gave her the news as he’s more business-like than Mark Carrano would have been.
She said Vince McMahon texted her to thank her for her contributions and work ethic. Perry was very complimentary of McMahon, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Brian “Road Dogg” James and Billy Gunn for helping develop the Lana character in NXT and her WWE work. McMahon scripted her promos for her first year in WWE.
She isn’t sure what’s next as it’s only been three weeks and she has a 90-day non-compete. She doesn’t want to be done with wrestling and felt like she was improving in the ring, working out of TJ Wilson and Natalya’s ring on the side to get better. If it is wrestling, she wants a no-cut clause due to the constant state of fear of being released wrestlers have.
She said it was hard to say goodbye to the Lana character as so much of it was what she wishes she could be.
On the Survivor Series match last year where she backed into a win by not really doing anything, Perry thought it would have got over bigger had it been in front of fans. McMahon wanted the finish as he and Shane McMahon thought it was hilarious if she didn’t get in there at all because it had never been done. There was supposed to be a table spot in the match, but there was pushback from Roman Reigns because of a planned table spot in his match that night.
She talked a lot about the ThunderDome era and how working in front of no fans was difficult. She turned to social media to get feedback and was overwhelmed with the negativity. She was happy to be out of the Performance Center and live in the ThunderDome because McMahon couldn’t “rethink the show and rewrite things 17 times.” She also told a story of how she was once on set for 19 hours just to do a 60-second backstage segment.
She said she was surprised by how much she gets buried on Twitter and “the dirt sheets” and feels she resonates with a live crowd much more than with the Internet. Jericho said the live audience is reflective of 90% of the overall audience while the real hardcore fans are about 10%.
In the hour-plus podcast, Perry also talked about the rise of the Rusev/Lana team and why it got split up, his release, getting put through a table for nine straight weeks, and the heat she got for her engagement picture to Rusev/Miro getting to social media even though she didn’t post it.
There’s an axiom that goes back to the beginning of time, which is that you draw based on the main event and not the depth of the show. It’s been shown over-and-over again in every combat sport. Granted, in wrestling, things have changed in the sense that WWE draws based on the name value of its biggest shows although in the PPV era, the highs and lows of those shows were always main event based.
Double or Nothing on 5/30 turned out to be the exception, because most saw it as a deep card, but it didn’t have the killer main event that other shows had. But it ended up as the second most successful PPV show in company history, trailing only Revolution earlier this year.
Unlike with Revolution, which, when it became clear it was breaking the old record, we asked people why and the reason was largely exactly what one would think, people were interested in the explosive barbed wire match with Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley for the AEW title and that match got people to buy.
A Tag Team Turmoil match has been announced for WrestleMania 37 on April 10, with the winners facing the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions the following day on April 11.
It was announced on tonight’s Raw that Lana & Naomi, Dana Brooke & Mandy Rose, The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan), and Tamina and Natalya will compete in a Tag Team Turmoil match. The winners of that match on Saturday will advance to the second night of WrestleMania, where they will face WWE Women’s Tag Team champions Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax for the titles.
Jax and Baszler appeared on tonight’s show, defeating Asuka and Rhea Ripley after Ripley abandoned her tag team partner. After the match, the champions were confronted backstage by all of the aforementioned teams.
The team of Billie Kay and Carmella was also brought up as possibly taking part in the match. Jax asked Kay if she even had a partner for the match. Kay mentioned that Carmella was looking at her resume, which she gave to Carmella this past Friday.
Naomi & Lana are the new number one contenders to the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles.
Naomi & Lana defeated Charlotte Flair & Raw Women’s Champion Asuka and Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke in a triple threat match on Raw tonight to become the number one contenders to Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler’s Women’s Tag Team titles. When Naomi & Lana will be getting their title shot hasn’t been announced.
Charlotte tagged out near the end of the number one contender’s match and walked out of the match as Ric Flair and Lacey Evans were coming out to the ring. Asuka then turned around into a Rear View from Naomi. Naomi pinned Asuka to get the win.
Charlotte & Asuka lost the Raw Tag Team titles to Jax & Baszler on Sunday’s Royal Rumble pre-show due to interference by Ric Flair and Evans. Ric gave Evans brass knuckles, then Evans used them to lay Charlotte out with the Woman’s Right.
Naomi and Lana both made their returns as entrants in the women’s Royal Rumble. Lana eliminated her rival Jax in the match.
– Naomi returned to action in tonight’s women’s Royal Rumble match.
Naomi entered the women’s Royal Rumble at number two, starting the match off with Bayley. It was noted that Naomi lasted in the match for over 47 minutes. She was eliminated by Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler.
This was the first time Naomi has wrestled since August of last year. In September, Naomi wrote that she was recovering well after having to undergo surgery:
In the midst of hurricane sally and Covid I also underwent an unexpected 6 hr surgery to finally remove a massive fibroid that’s caused me severe anemia fatigue horrible abdominal pains and more problems I don’t even want to mention over the past year and a half…I’m recovering well I’m relieved and already feeling so much better so family friends and fans don’t worry I’m ok lol miss ya #myomectomyrecovery
Naomi had been on SmackDown prior to being drafted to Raw in October’s WWE Draft.
– The women’s Royal Rumble also saw Lana make her return to WWE television. She entered the match at number 26 before being eliminated by Natalya.
Lana was set to team with Asuka against Jax & Baszler at TLC in December, but there was an angle where Lana was taken out of the match after being attacked by Jax and Baszler on Raw. Tonight was the first time Lana has appeared since then.
Asuka instead teamed with the returning Charlotte Flair at TLC and won the Women’s Tag Team titles from Jax & Baszler. Jax & Baszler regained the Women’s Tag Team titles by defeating Charlotte & Asuka on tonight’s pre-show.
Lana eliminated Jax in the Royal Rumble.
The full list of women’s Royal Rumble entrants — including surprise legends appearances and NXT entrants — can be found here.
WWE has announced that Lana is out of TLC following an angle that took place on Monday’s go-home episode of Raw.
It was said on Monday’s Raw that — due to being attacked by Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax earlier in the show — Lana won’t be able to wrestle at TLC. Raw Women’s Champion Asuka and a partner of her choosing will now challenge Baszler & Jax for their Women’s Tag Team titles at the pay-per-view.
Who Asuka will be teaming with at TLC hasn’t been revealed.
Lana defeated Jax on this week’s Raw, pinning her after fighting out of a Samoan drop attempt from the second rope. As Asuka celebrated Lana’s win backstage, she was ambushed by Baszler. Jax then attacked Lana in the ring. Baszler and Jax beat Lana down and ended the attack with Baszler bending Lana’s leg back and Jax giving it multiple leg drops. Asuka then recovered and ran out to make the save.
WWE said that Lana had been taken to a local medical facility and had “devastating injuries to her elbow and leg.” Later on Raw, Baszler vs. Dana Brooke ended in a disqualification when Jax interfered and pushed Brooke off the top rope. Mandy Rose ran out with a kendo stick to make the save for Brooke after the match. She attacked Baszler and Jax with the kendo stick, but Baszler was able to get it away from her. Asuka then attacked Baszler and helped Brooke and Rose clear the ring.
TLC is taking place on Sunday (December 20). Here’s the updated card for the show:
Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends his title against Kevin Owens in a tables, ladders, and chairs match
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre defends his title against AJ Styles in a tables, ladders, and chairs match
SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks defends her title against Carmella
Randy Orton vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt
Women’s Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax defend their titles against Asuka and a partner of her choosing
Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) defend their titles against The Hurt Business (Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander)
Lana and Nia Jax will face off in singles action ahead of TLC.
WWE has announced that Lana vs. Jax will take place on Raw next Monday. The episode is Raw’s go-home show for TLC. Jax & Shayna Baszler are defending their Women’s Tag Team titles against Lana & Raw Women’s Champion Asuka at the December 20 pay-per-view.
To set up them getting the title shot, Lana & Asuka twice defeated Jax & Baszler in non-title matches. Asuka defeated Baszler in a singles match on tonight’s Raw following a distraction. Jax had attacked Lana at ringside, but Lana sent her into the steel steps. Jax then tried to powerbomb Lana, but Lana countered it and sent Jax into the announce table. Baszler got distracted by that and Asuka rolled her up to get the win.
Asuka gave Lana a pep talk later on tonight’s show as Lana was worried about facing Jax next week. After Asuka left, Jax appeared behind Lana and Lana backed away.
Jax had put Lana through the announce table several times leading up to Survivor Series. At that PPV, Lana was the sole survivor for Team Raw in their five-on-five women’s elimination match against Team SmackDown. After Jax and Baszler ordered Lana not to tag in, she was the only person left at the end of the match when Jax and SmackDown’s Bianca Belair got counted out.
After getting two non-title wins against the champions, Raw Women’s Champion Asuka & Lana are set to challenge for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles.
WWE has announced that Women’s Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax will defend their titles against Asuka & Lana at TLC on Sunday, December 20. A stipulation for the match hasn’t been announced as of now.
Asuka & Lana have defeated Baszler & Jax in non-title matches on Raw each of the past two weeks. In their first win, Lana avoided a charging Jax and Jax went over the announce table. Asuka then rolled up Baszler as Baszler was focused on Lana. Baszler had Lana in the Kirifuda Clutch at the end of this week’s tag match, but Asuka broke it up with a kick. Lana then pinned Baszler to get the win.
Lana was the sole survivor for Team Raw in the women’s elimination match at Survivor Series last month. After Baszler and Jax ordered her not to tag in, Lana was the only person left standing after Jax and SmackDown’s Bianca Belair were counted out at the end of the match.
Baszler & Jax have been Women’s Tag Team Champions since winning the titles from Sasha Banks & Bayley this August.
Here’s the updated card for TLC:
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre defends his title against AJ Styles
Women’s Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax defend their titles against Asuka & Lana
“Hard work in the shadows doesn’t mean you won’t be able to shine in the spotlight. So honored the next edition of #WWEChronicle will feature my journey to #SurvivorSeries. @WWENetwork,” Lana tweeted.
On WWE television, Lana has been put through a table by Nia Jax eight times over the last several weeks. Lana, Jax, Shayna Baszler, Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke will be on Team Raw for this year’s Raw vs. SmackDown Survivor Series women’s elimination match. Bianca Belair and Ruby Riott have qualified for Team SmackDown thus far.
WWE.com wrote about the Lana episode of Chronicle: “WWE Chronicle: Lana will take you behind the scenes of the vivacious Superstar’s life away from the ring, including as she spends time with her family. Expect to see a side of Lana that you’ve never seen before when the next episode of WWE Chronicle drops Saturday, Nov. 21, only on the award-winning WWE Network.”
The Raw team for the women’s Survivor Series elimination match has been set.
WWE officials Pat Buck and Adam Pearce announced on tonight’s Raw that WWE Women’s Tag Team champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler and the team of Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose would be part of the women’s Survivor Series elimination match. They then announced a fatal four way match would determine the final participant.
The match involved Nikki Cross, Lacey Evans, and Peyton Royce. The finish had Royce taking out both Evans and Cross with a German suplex off the turnbuckle, but Lana pulled Royce out of the ring and pinned Cross to win the match, making her the fifth and final member of the team.
After the match, Lana went to celebrate with her new teammates. She hugged Nia Jax, but Jax held on and put her through the Raw announce table for the sixth time in as many weeks.
Date: October 19, 2020 Location: Amway Center in Orlando, FL
The Big Takeaway —
Raw was bad but with a few different wrestlers this time.
Show Recap —
Raw kicked off with a new theme song: “The Search” by NF.
The announcers ran down tonight’s show which includes “The Viper’s Message from Hell.”
Alexa Bliss appeared in the ring covered in red lighting. She announced, “He here. Let him in.”
The Fiend entered. They held hands when the lights came back on and different music played. It was the song for Retribution. All five members, including Mustafa Ali, surrounded Bray Wyatt and Alexa Bliss.
Ali raised his hand and the lights went out. That appeared to be a signal for an attack but when the lights turned on, Wyatt and Bliss were gone.
That cued the music for Hurt Business who entered next. (Mia Yim left the ring.) Hurt Business cleared the ring and Cedric Alexander wiped out Retribution with a dive and they abruptly went to break (9 minutes into the show).
There was a Matt Riddle video package.
8-man tag match: The Hurt Business defeated Retribution (10:57)
Hurt Business were in control of Slapjack until Alexander was distracted by T-Bar and Mace outside the ring. Slapjack yanked him off the top and tagged in Ali who took over.
There was a face-off between the two teams on the outside when the Fiend suddenly appeared on the screen with his creepy music playing. He stuck out his tongue. Nobody looked at the screen. They went to break.
Tom Phillips said the two teams have been fighting throughout the break, which is normally what happens during a wrestling match, and Byron Saxton said it’s a sign of the disdain between the two teams.
Shelton Benjamin gave Mace a German suplex and step-up knee strike. Lashley followed with a spinebuster before spearing T-Bar but Ali broke up the cover.
Lashley put T-Bar in the Hurt Lock and he tapped out. Retribution lost.
The lights turned red and the Fiend appeared on the apron. He took out each member of Retribution. T-Bar saved Ali from a Sister Abigail. Wyatt gave T-Bar a Sister Abigail instead.
Bliss appeared on the screen and said, “let me in” in Wyatt’s voice. I laughed.
AJ Styles (w/Jordan Omogbehin) defeated Matt Riddle (11:23)
AJ Styles entered with Jordan Omogbehin. Jordan looks especially gigantic next to Syles. Styles commended Raw for finally drafting a real leader. He bragged about beating Seth Rollins and Jeff Hardy. He said this was never Monday Night Rollins and called this a new era that belongs to him.
Matt Riddle entered. Fireworks went off when he kicked off his sandals and they showed a slow-motion replay.
They rang the bell to start the match but Omogbehin wouldn’t leave the ring. The referee told him to leave before a five-count or else Styles would be disqualified. Omogbehin stopped him from counting. The ref pleaded with him to leave the ring. Styles thought this was amusing. Omogbehin left the ring.
Riddle sent Styles to the outside and was about to attempt something but Omogbehin stepped in his way which caused him to frantically scamper back into the ring.
Styles was in control after a break. Riddle came back with strikes and a t-bone suplex but Styles got his feet up on a senton attempt. They exchanged strikes until Riddle hit a German suplex. Styles followed with a fireman’s carry neckbreaker for a nearfall. Riddle came back with a fisherman buster for two.
They fought while standing on the top rope until Styles fell into the ring and riddle fell out of it. Omogbehin walked up to Riddle and clenched his fist. Riddle slipped back in the ring where Styles gave him an enziguri and a Styles Clash for the pinfall win.
(The match itself felt short with a mid-match commercial break and 90 seconds of stalling at the beginning.)
There was a Drew McIntyre/Randy Orton video package.
[Second hour]
Charly Caruso attempted to interview McIntyre in the back but he asked her for the mic so he could speak directly to Orton. He said throughout his career, especially over the past few months, Orton has been the most evil, sadistic, entitled and selfish person in WWE.
McIntyre knew he should have left Orton his the past when he beat him at Clash of Champions. Orton was intelligent knew how he’d react when he attacked the legends on Raw. McIntyre knew that Orton thrived inside Hell in a Cell, a match he’s never been in himself.
McIntyre said he’s been in more hell in life than you can imagine and would put Orton through hell on Sunday. McIntyre warned Orton not to be surprised if he shows up for Orton’s scheduled speech tonight.
Asuka defeated Lana to retain the Raw Women’s Championship (2:20)
Lana got some brief offense and a two count but Asuka won easily with the Asuka Lock. (If you’re curious, they played fake booing for Lana when she was introduced.)
Nia Jax’s music hit as soon as the match ended. Jax and Shayna Baszler entered. They knocked down Asuka before Jax put Lana through the announce table for the fifth time.
Baszler went after Asuka but Asuka fought her off with a kick and knocked her out of the ring with a running hip attack. Asuka escaped and posed with her belt as Jax and Baszler looked on.
Jax and Baszler cut a promo after a break. Jax noted how well they worked as a team despite not being the type to braid each others’ hair and follow each other on Instagram. Baszler called them the dominant team on both brands. Jax dared anyone to challenge them.
Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke entered. Saxton wasn’t sure this was the right time to step up to the champions and Samoa Joe let him know this was exactly the right time to step up.
Lacey Evans entered and was followed by Peyton Royce. They walked down together but Evans kept stepping in front of her so she could be on camera.
Smackdown’s Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan entered next. The bell rang and I guess a match is starting.
Non-title fatal four-way tag match: Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler defeated Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans & Peyton Royce and Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan (8:29)
As Jax/Baszler and Rose/Brooke brawled on the outside, Royce knocked everyone down with a dive. Evans followed with a dive herself (which barely connected). Ruby and Morgan also hit dives on the pile which led to a break.
Everyone traded moves a few minutes later. The Riott Squad almost had Evans beat after a Codebreaker/Riott Kick combo but Baszler broke up the cover. Baszler choked out Ruby as Jax gave Evans a Samoan drop for the pinfall win.
Elias concert
Elias had a full band with him. He plugged his album which comes out next week. He played a song called “Amen” and said he hoped Hardy was listening.
Elias played the full song. They cut to fans on screens, many of whom held up their cell phone flashlights while swaying or nodding their heads. Elias played a short song called “Lead Me Home.” He thanked the audience before saying, “I love none of you.” He was about to leave but came back because he assumed the fans wanted an encore.
A mystery guitar man under a hood began playing on his own. Elias demanded he stopped. It was Hardy. Hardy swung the guitar at Elias who ducked and rolled away. Hardy told him that he didn’t hit him with the car. Hardy’s music played.
The Miz and John Morrison spoke in the back about Otis and Mandy Rose. Tucker interrupted them. He claimed Miz used his influence with the USA Network to get him and Rose drafted away from Otis. Tucker said he would find a partner and ruin them tonight. Miz and Morrison accepted. They laughed maniacally at the idea that Tucker could find a partner.
Caruso caught up to an upset Elias backstage. He couldn’t believe people were still interrupting him. He challenged Hardy to a match at HIAC.
New Day promo
Kofi Kingston said New Day were the Raw tag champs for the first time in nearly four years. Xavier Woods said he got injured last year and 2020 has been a garbage year and he returned just for them to get drafted away from Big E. Kingston got him to calm down.
Sheamus interrupted. He called their segment on Smackdown embarrassing and threatened to Brogue Kick Kingston. He also said they were only two-thirds of New Day. Kingston said New Day wasn’t done. Big E could hold things down on the blue side while they do their thing on the red side. They said they would spread their seeds all over WWE.
Sheamus told them to shut up before they reminded him that he got beat up by Big E. Woods told him to come to the ring to get beat up by Kingston.
Sheamus dropped Kingston over the edge of the ring and they went to break less than 2 minutes into the match.
[Third hour]
Sheamus was in control after the break. A shirtless Big E was shown watching on one of the screens and Woods let Kingston know E was there to help encourage him. Kingston came back with a foot stomp, chops, dropkick, clothesline, leg drop and flying crossbody for two. Sheamus caught him off the ropes and hit a swinging side slam for two.
Kingston tried a dropkick but Sheamus caught him and applied a Texas Cloverleaf. Kingston countered into a small package for two. Sheamus ducked a Trouble in Paradise and hit an Alabama Slam for two. (Joe wondered how much Kingston had left. Woods yelled, “He’s got a lot left, Joe!” which was funny because Woods wasn’t standing that close to the announce table.)
Sheamus went to the top but Kingston brought him down with a side Russian leg sweep for two. Woods yelled, “New moves! New moves!” They exchanged cradles for two counts before Kingston caught Sheamus with Trouble in Paradise for the pinfall win.
They replayed Retribution losing and getting beat up by Bray Wyatt.
Mustafa Ali promo
Ali cut a backstage promo with Retribution standing behind him. Ali said Hurt Business and Wyatt made a mistake thinking his only strength was strength in numbers. His real strength was causing chaos. All he needed was a laptop or a cell phone or a secret. With one click he can make anyone’s world come crumbling down.
Ali sat at home over the summer because this corrupt company couldn’t figure out how to make money with a guy named Mustafa Ali. But he didn’t just sit at home watching. He watched all of the spineless wrestlers backstab each other just to get ahead while he learned their secrets.
Ali admitted to being the hacker on Smackdown. He figured out that this sick place is infecting everyone with greed and corruption. Good individuals were being forgotten and their dreams were being left behind. But he found them and united them. He promised them that their truth would be heard. He didn’t care who tried to stop them. “We will shut you down.”
Ali was very good here.
Hurt Business stood shoulder-to-shoulder-to-shoulder backstage, happy with their work earlier. Titus O’Neil congratulated them and said he would love to join and said he could bring something to the group. MVP faked discussing it with the group. O’Neil thought they wanted him to join. He was wrong. They beat him up.
Miz and Morrison entered and wanted to see who Tucker’s partner was. Tucker entered and said he found a great luchador. Out came El Gran Gordo. It was Otis under a mask. Miz immediately noted that it was Otis under a mask and that he was even holding the lunchbox.
Tucker said he was the next Rey Mysterio. Miz cut them off and cut a long promo until he called Otis a pig in a mask. Tucker and Otis attacked and cleared the ring.
Tucker & El Gran Gordo defeated The Miz & John Morrison (4:40)
El Gran Gordo made a hot tag and gave Miz an arm drag before doing a cartwheel. R-Truth showed up and ran through the ring as a few losers ran after him. This distracted Miz. Gordo used to the distraction to hit a Caterpillar and a Vader Bomb for the pinfall win.
New Day, Tucker and El Gran Gordo danced backstage. Mandy Rose handed Gordo a big thing of ham. They all celebrated together.
Firefly Fun House
Wyatt tossed out props from his past including a miniature mallet and black sheep mask. He was sad to leave his friends on Smackdown but was happy to make new friends on Raw.
The rabbit mentioned having a wife and Wyatt was confused. The rabbit was sad that he didn’t know. Wyatt promised to be a better friend. There was a black-and-white montage of the rabbit getting eaten and destroyed throughout the show’s history.
Wyatt said the past was in their heads but the future was in their hands. The rabbit was happy to get a fresh start but was eaten again by the buzzard.
Someone knocked on the door. It was Alexa Bliss (wearing black and red). She said their fun was just getting started. Everyone was happy and they waved goodbye.
Braun Strowman defeated Keith Lee (2:43)
Strowman was in control and ran over Lee on the outside. He tried a powerslam in the ring but collapsed because of the injured ribs at the hands of Roman Reigns on Smackdown. Lee hit a splash for a nearfall.
Strowman took a page out of Reigns’ book by using an “incidental” low-blow. (Lee was trying to pick him up off the mat but Strowman headbutted him low.) Strowman followed with a running big boot for the pinfall win.
As Strowman celebrated, Lee turned him around and kicked him in the nuts. Lee yelled at him for taking a shortcut against the wrong man.
(Ric Flair and JBL were shown watching this match on the screens. Booker T was shown earlier tonight, too.)
Randy Orton promo / main event segment
Orton came out with about 6 minutes left in the show.
The Hell in a Cell cage was lowered and Orton locked himself inside.
Orton noted all of the promos that suggested that those who enter HIAC always leave a piece of themselves behind. Orton has had seven of these matches but only comes out of them with a better understanding of himself.
He recalled his HIAC matches in the past: facing Mark Henry, surviving Sheamus, beating Jeff Hardy and Daniel Bryan, facing John Cena twice, and winning the world title twice. The most important thing he remembered was looking the Dead Man in the eye and earning his respect inside HIAC. He said all of those men were current or future Hall of Famers.
He said the word “legend” gets thrown out a lot these days and called McIntyre’s win over Brock Lesnar legendary. As he spoke, McIntyre interrupted.
McIntyre couldn’t get in the cage because it was locked, so Orton taunted him. McIntyre pulled bolt cutters out from behind a barricade which caused Orton to panic. Orton grabbed a chair as McIntyre cut the chain and entered the cell. As soon as he did, they went off the air.
What the hell?
Raw was bad but I did enjoy the New Day and Ali’s promo.
WWE also announced overnight that Erik of The Viking Raiders has signed with Raw as a free agent and Tamina, Billie Kay, and Zelina Vega have signed with SmackDown.
**********
After tonight’s Raw went off the air, an additional round of draft picks was announced on Raw Talk.
Lana, Riddick Moss, and Arturo Ruas were selected by Raw in the last round of the draft. Natalya and The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan) were selected by SmackDown.
Lana won a dual-brand number one contender’s battle royal in the main event of Raw tonight and will challenge Asuka for the Raw Women’s Championship on Raw’s season premiere episode next Monday. Natalya said she was done with Lana earlier in tonight’s show and appeared to have the battle royal won, but Lana returned and eliminated Natalya to get the win. Lana had been put through a table by Nia Jax during the battle royal but was never eliminated.
Andrade, Erik of The Viking Raiders, Billie Kay, Tamina, and Zelina Vega were in the night two draft pool but weren’t picked tonight. Mickie James hasn’t been drafted from the night one draft pool. Shorty G and Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado also weren’t originally drafted from the night one draft pool, but it was announced prior to Raw today that Shorty G has been selected by SmackDown and Metalik & Dorado have been selected by Raw.
Andrade and Vega were laid out by stereo Sister Abigails from “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt and Alexa Bliss on tonight’s Raw. Wyatt and Bliss were both selected by Raw in the draft.
The updated rosters for Raw and SmackDown following this year’s draft are listed below:
Raw —
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre
Raw Women’s Champion Asuka
The Hurt Business (MVP, United States Champion Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander)
AJ Styles
Naomi
Women’s Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax
Ricochet
Mandy Rose
The Miz & John Morrison
Raw Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods
Two matches and a concert were announced for next week’s Raw.
Lana won a battle royal on tonight’s show to earn a title match against Raw Women’s champion Asuka next week. The finish had Natalya eliminate Lacey Evans to seemingly win the battle royal. However Lana, who earlier was put through a table but not eliminated, appeared and kicked Natalya to the floor to eliminate her, winning the match.
An angle earlier in the show broke up the team. Following a loss to the team of Dana Brooke & Mandy Rose, Natalya told Lana that “she couldn’t do this anymore.”
Keith Lee will face Braun Strowman in a sanctioned match. Since Strowman was not a part of the Raw brand, Adam Pearce made an exhibition match between Strowman and Lee on last week’s Raw that ended in a double count out. Strowman has since been drafted to Raw, setting up the match for next week.
Additionally, Elias will hold a concert. He made his return to the company on tonight’s show, attacking Jeff Hardy with a guitar. He blamed Hardy for the hit and run attack that took him out in May and declared he would be holding a concert on next week’s show.
