Tag: the street profits

Date: October 21, 2019
Location: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, OH 

The Big Takeaway — 

There were no women’s matches on Raw and none of the women’s wrestlers were featured or even mentioned. 

(Lana appeared at a restaurant with Bobby Lashley, and Zelina Vega was with Andrade.)

Show Recap — 

Ric Flair entered to start the show in front of what appears to be a pretty good crowd. Flair wore about a hundred gold chains to go with his gold watch and ring. 

Flair started right away by noting that a few members of the Cleveland Browns were at ringside, but not Baker Mayfield or Odell Beckham Jr. He wished they were there because he wanted to give them the rub because, with LeBron James gone, the only champion they have is the Nature Boy. 

He wasn’t impressed with Hulk Hogan on Smackdown. (He pointed at a fan in the crowd and told them that he used to know their mother.) He had the last hand to play and introduced his final team member — Drew McIntyre. Flair told McIntyre to put Ricochet in the same column as the Browns. The crowd lightly booed. McIntyre invited him to watch from ringside. Commercial break. 

Drew McIntyre defeated Ricochet (17:40) 

The match began after the break. McIntyre worked over Ricochet for four straight minutes until Ricochet began mounting a comeback. It looked like he was going for a suicide dive, but instead, he did a cool flip dive through the ropes… then they went to break. They’ve gone to break twice in the first 20 minutes of the show. 

Back from break, Ricochet is in a rest hold. McIntyre tossed him into the post during the break. As McIntyre worked over Ricochet, Sarah Schrieber interviewed Flair at ringside. He ranted about Hogan and got confused about what city they were in for Friday’s Smackdown. 

Ricochet came back after catching McIntyre with a dropkick as McIntyre came off the top, then followed with a springboard clothesline and standing shooting star for just a one count. Ricochet followed with a Disaster kick and Lionsault for a nearfall. 

McIntyre caught Ricochet with a fist as he came off the top, then hit a Razor’s Edge into the turnbuckle, followed by a sit-out powerbomb but Ricochet kicked out. Ricochet hit a jawbreaker and spinning kick. Ricochet then hit a superkick, Death Valley Driver, and a shooting star press for a very close nearfall. 

McIntyre avoided a 630 splash and a Codebreaker, then chucked Ricochet into the post. McIntyre followed with a Claymore Kick for the pinfall win. This was quite good by the end. 

After the match, McIntyre attacked Ricochet and gave him a Dirty Deeds/double underhook DDT, then slammed him against the steel steps with an inverted Alabama Slam. 

They showed Cardale Jones at ringside. He’s the quarterback of the DC Defenders. The DC Defenders are a team in the XFL. The XFL is a professional football league. 

The OC spoke to Charly Caruso. Karl Anderson called the Street Profits rookies. He didn’t think they should be given this platform with them. AJ Styles wondered about them “getting that smoke” and informed them that they were in Cleveland, where that was illegal. Luke Gallows said that Cleveland sucks. Styles said the Street Profits were going to get a beating. 

They aired a quick video package for the incoming Raw wrestlers Andrade, Buddy Murphy and Aleister Black. They cut to Black who was ready to pick a fight. 

Aleister Black defeated Jason Reynolds (1:44) 

Reynolds actually got some offense but Black used a series of strikes and Black Mask for the quick pinfall win. 

[Second hour] 

AOP did a taped promo segment. They said Raw signed them to keep them from Smackdown, not to compete on Raw, which was funny. They said the next chapter of tag wrestling will be written in blood by the AOP. 

King’s Court with Rusev 

Rusev and his moustache wore a white t-shirt and light coloured pants with red and white sneakers. Lawler wondered about Lana’s claim that Rusev was sending too much money back to Bulgaria and claim that not enough was given to her. The crowd yelled “What” at Lawler’s questions. Rusev didn’t like the chants and reminded them that Lawler was a Hall of Famer. 

Rusev said this was all Bob Lashley’s fault and he would be crushed. However, he still wore his wedding ring and wished that he and Lana would end up happily ever after. Lana and Lashley showed up on the big screen from a restaurant as they had dinner. Lana was happy to be at this restaurant that Rusev never took her to. Lana and Lashley said they love each other. 

Lawler asked Rusev for a response. Rusev said he would respond to them in person because he knew exactly where they were, then he ran off.  

Andrade (w/Zelina Vega) defeated Sin Cara (12:00) 

Before the match, Vega said Andrade’s music was a siren, a warning to everyone that their careers were in jeopardy. He said “Sin Cara” meant “without a face” and tonight, he would also be leaving without a victory. 

Sin Cara immediately hit a suicide dive, followed by a high cross for two. Humberto Carrillo was shown watching in the back. Vega grabbed Sin Cara’s leg behind the referee’s back to allow Andrade to take over briefly. Sin Cara used a hurricanrana, then hit a moonsault to the outside off the top rope. That’s often a big spot, or it’s a spot that leads to a commercial break. 

After a break, Vic Joseph let us know that Andrade was in control during the break. How? Sin Cara made a comeback, hitting a springboard crossbody and springboard moonsault for two. Andrade sent him face-first into the turnbuckle (even though, as Lawler noted, Sin Cara doesn’t have a face) then followed with a facebuster for two. 

Andrade hit the three amigos suplexes for two and Lawler made sure to mention Latino Heat. They battled on the top rope which eventually led to Sin Cara hitting a powerbomb for a nearfall. Andrade then tripped him off the top and hit a running double knee strike in the corner for two. 

Sin Cara used a hurricanrana on the outside, then sent Andrade in the ring. Andrade distracted the referee as Vega gave Sin Cara a hurricanrana. Andrade then gave Sin Cara a hammerlock DDT for the pinfall win. This was fine but unnecessarily long. 

Backstage, Carrillo told Caruso that he had respect for Andrade. He knew that Andrade and Vega were a package deal, but hoped he could win a championship one day before Andrade. He knew he had a lot to prove, but also knew that he could be a great champion, though maybe not one that played with fire like Seth Rollins. He thanked Caruso. 

The Street Profits talked about the OC and made jokes about AJ Styles’ hair. Montez Ford was amped to be main eventing Raw on their debut. Ford asked Angelo Dawkins who their partner was, wondering if it was maybe Ric Flair, Booker T or Kurt Angle. Dawkins assured him it was somebody who didn’t like AJ Styles. 

Sunil Singh beat R-Truth for the 24/7 title after he was directed by Samir. (If you haven’t been watching, they wear a lot of black and pink in honour of Bret Hart and the Hart Foundation.) 

Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders defeated Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins in a non-title match (3:42) 

Schreiber interviewed Hawkins and Ryder before the match and said that “some say” they’re the underdogs in this match. It was an unannounced match. Nobody even knew this was happening. Anyway, they said they’re not the underdogs and maybe they’ll get pyro. They didn’t. 

Hawkins and Ryder briefly worked over Erik until Ivar tagged in and ran wild on both men. The Raiders gave Hawkins the Viking Experience for the pinfall win. 

We’re back with Lana and Lashley at the restaurant. Some guy (presumably a manager) interrupted them and asked if they could leave because he heard Lana’s husband was on his way. He said their meal was on him. Lashley blew him off. 

After a break, we’re back at the restaurant. Just in the nick of time, Rusev showed up and attacked Lashley as patrons screamed. Some lame cops showed up to take Rusev away as Lana yelled, “take him to jail.” 

[Third hour] 

Rey Mysterio promo 

Mysterio said he’s been training with Cain Velasquez for his match with Brock Lesnar. He wanted to take time to thank the fans for their support after what happened with Lesnar and his son, Dominick. The crowd cheered for Mysterio. He considered the fans his family and wanted to celebrate together when Velasquez wins the WWE title. 

Paul Heyman interrupted from the back. Heyman didn’t think Mysterio would be saying this if Lesnar was on Raw, but he can’t be on Raw, because he was drafted to Smackdown. Heyman, on the other hand, can be on either show because he’s merely an advocate. Heyman knew that Mysterio wanted Velasquez to give Lesnar another scar on his face. 

However, Lesnar has been staring at his face in the mirror the past nine years awaiting revenge, and now Mysterio has served Velasquez up on a silver platter. Mysterio interrupted him and yelled at him in Spanish. (I like that Mysterio has now twice interrupted Heyman instead of just standing there like most people.) 

Shelton Benjamin interrupted. Benjamin wondered about Mysterio not being able to defend his family, and now Velasquez gets a WWE title shot for nothing. Mysterio told him this was a family issue. Benjamin didn’t care. He let Mysterio know that Lesnar was his family, that he trained Lesnar at the University of Minnesota. 

Benjamin started shoving Mysterio and thought maybe if he attacked him, he could get a WWE or US or IC title match. He smacked around Mysterio and wondered where his buddy was. Velasquez came out (to music). 

Benjamin went for a takedown, but Velasquez blocked it, nailed him with strikes and applied a headlock until Benjamin tapped. The crowd seemed into Mysterio and even Benajmin got some heat, but they were very lukewarm on Velasquez’s offense. Either way, I thought this was good. 

Caruso interviewed Rollins backstage. He was booed. He admitted that maybe “the Fiend” got inside his head, but he got inside the Fiend’s head too. After all, he did find the Firefly Fun House. He said some other stuff as the crowd chanted “CM Punk.” Rollins got distracted and saw Carrillo in the distance. Rollins approached him. 

Rollins said he heard what he said earlier. Rollins said being a champion was about doing what’s right, so he burned down the Firefly Fun House, even if it wasn’t popular. Rollins welcomed him to Raw. Rollins then offered to have a match. Carrillo was all smiles. 

There was a bizarre clip of Undertaker on a float in a parade in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

Universal Champion Seth Rollins defeated Humberto Carrillo in a non-title match (11:53) 

The crowd chanted “we want Wyatt” as the match began. They went a couple of minutes until a break, and after the break, Rollins was in control and the crowd seemed restless. Carrillo came back with a corkscrew dive but Rollins dodged a missile dropkick and followed with a falcon arrow for two. Rollins then connected with a springboard knee for two. 

Rollins blocked a hurricanrana by Carrillo, then hit a bucklebomb and superkick for a nearfall. Carrillo caught Rollins in a schoolboy for two, then hit a kick and DDT for two. Carrillo followed with a moonsault for two. Rollins blocked another moonsualt attempt, hit a superkick and curb stomp for the pinfall win. Rollins shook Carrillo’s hand after the match. 

This died. The match could have been booked perfectly and it wouldn’t have mattered. The crowd didn’t care about Rollins and didn’t care enough about the new guy. 

Backstage, R-Truth rolled up Samir Singh, but the referee didn’t count because that was the wrong Singh Brother. Sunil and Samir ran off. 

The Street Profits defeated Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (w/US Champion AJ Styles) (13:06) 

Before the match, Styles wondered where the Street Profits’ partner was and claimed nobody wanted to help them after what the OC did last week. 

After a break, the match started and the Street Profits were on their own. Styles still had his vest on and watched from the outside (instead of the apron). The Street Profits wore red and white gear. The OC were in total control, without the help of AJ Styles, and they went to break less than four minutes into the match (which started after a break). 

Back from break, the OC were still beating up the Street Profits without AJ Styles. Ford eventually made the hot tag to Angelo Dawkins who ran wild on both men. Dawkins and Gallows fought on the outside, then Styles pushed Ford off the top into a spinebuster by Anderson for a two count. 

Styles went after Ford and the referee yelled at him. So I guess Styles was never part of this match. The referee was about to toss Styles, then Kevin Owens’ music hit. Owens ran down and gave Styles a stunner, then Ford took out Gallows with a flip dive. Dawkins gave Anderson a sit-out powerbomb and Ford followed with a frog splash for the win. 

The Street Profits celebrated with the crowd was the show ended. 

They advertised a six-man tag but, without any sort of announcement or clarification, it became a regular tag match. Owens was the Street Profits’ surprise guest, but I guess he was late and was ultimately on the show for about 30 seconds. 

Final Thoughts — 

Raw was a dud.