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My Thoughts on RAW (9/5/16): The Kevin Owens Show

  • Before the show, Mick Foley & Stephanie McMahon discuss what Triple H did last week. Stephanie says she has no idea why Triple H did what he did, but Foley doesn't believe her. Stephanie says she was embarrassed by what Triple H did.
  • We kick off the show with a celebration for the new Universal Champion Kevin Owens. The crowd chants "You Deserve It" because dammit, he does. Owens thanks Foley & Stephanie for the celebration before saying the crowd is right; he does deserve it. He then trashes the crowd for trying to hijack his moment by chanting that because he doesn't need anyone else to tell him that he deserves it. He admits Triple H helped him win, but says he did most of the work and Triple H just put him where he belongs; at the top of the pedestal. He says RAW is officially the Kevin Owens Show before Seth Rollins comes out. Rollins is pissed and yells at Stephanie for Triple H screwing him out of the title. Rollins doesn't believe that Stephanie didn't know what Triple H was going to do, but Foley steps in to defend her. Rollins says Owens has been carried by Triple H since he came to WWE, so Owens says Rollins has been a failure since he came back. Rollins attacks Owens, which leads to Stephanie suspending him. Except Foley overturns it and gives Rollins a rematch a Clash of the Champions. 
  • After a commercial, Foley & Stephanie argue backstage before Owens comes in and blasts Foley for giving Rollins a rematch after ruining his celebration and bad talking the general manager. Foley decides to book him against Sami Zayn tonight, so incomes Chris Jericho. He blasts Foley for mistreating his best friend and the longest reigning Universal Champion in history, so Foley books him in a match tonight against Seth Rollins
  • Charlotte vs Bayley-Dana Brooke is at ringside with a clipboard because Charlotte wants her to take notes so she can stop losing. The two lock up to start before Charlotte hits a waist lock takedown. The two trade wristlock before Bayley hits a few arm drags. Charlotte regains control with a knee to the gut and goes to work on Bayley. Bayley fires up after being thrown head-first into the turnbuckle and rams Charlotte into the turnbuckle multiple times. Charlotte rolls out, only to eat a really stunted diving dropkick through the ring post where Bayley hurts her leg. Dear god, please no. After a commercial break, Charlotte takes control with headscissor slams. Charlotte continues to work over Bayley until Bayley hits a crossbody for a near-fall. Charlotte rams Bayley into the corner before knee dropping Bayley's injured leg. Charlotte continues to work over Bayley's leg. Bayley is able to block the Figure 8, but Charlotte locks in a half crab. Bayley escapes, only for Charlotte to spike her bad leg into the mat. Bayley reverses a slam, but can't stand and Charlotte goes back to work. Bayley almost gets the roll up after reversing a move on her knee and is able to hit a spinning back elbow. Bayley continues to take Charlotte down, but Dana pulls Bayley out of the way of a corner back elbow. Charlotte almost gets the roll up win, but Bayley kicks out and throws Charlotte into Dana. This allows Bayley to hit the Bayley-to-Belly for the win. Good, decent little match.
  • Another Cruiserweight Division commercial, announcing that Gran Metalik, Jack Gallagher, and Akira Tozawa will be on the roster.
  • Backstage, Charlotte yells at Dana for costing her the match. Dana says she'll make it up to her, but Charlotte slaps her.
  • Bo Dallas vs Kyle Roberts-Yeah, somebody let "The Lion King" Bo Dallas out of jail! Pre-match, Bo cuts a very cryptic promo. Very un-Bo Dallas like. Bo beats Roberts down before hitting Cross Rhodes for the win. After the match, Bo takes a victory lap with a sign that says "Bo-Lieve in Bo." And while he does that, somebody in the crowd yells "HEY, LION KING!" at him. He saw the opportunity, and he took it. A+ to you, good sir. Interested to see what they do with Bo now.
  • Backstage, Jericho & Owens strategize for Jericho's match before hugging it out. What a great bro-ment.
  • Chris Jericho vs Seth Rollins-Rollins starts off hot with a dropkick and beats down Jericho. Rollins goes for a high knee, but Jericho ducks out of the ring, only for Rollins to take him down again with a suicide dive. Jericho tries to hop the barricade and leave, but Rollins pulls him back and beats Jericho up at ringside. Rollins throws him back in the ring, which allows Jericho to kick Rollins in the face and chop him. Jericho beats down Rollins in the corner until Rollins fires back with a clothesline before tossing Jericho back outside. Rollins throws Jericho into the barricade and breaks the referee's count by rolling back in the ring. Rollins boots Jericho in the head, but Jericho puts the referee between him and Rollins, allowing him to hit a springboard dropkick on Rollins before the commercial break. We come back to Jericho working over Rollins before Rollins hits a corner STO, which Jericho sells by keeping his face on the second turnbuckle for a long time. It's great. Rollins runs wild and hits a Sling Blade for a near-fall before hitting two running forearms. Rollins hits a Blockbuster for a near-fall, but Jericho reverses a suplex and after a series of reversals, goes for the Walls of Jericho. Rollins counters with a small package and goes for a high knee, but Jericho catches him and locks in the Walls of Jericho. Rollins is able to make it to the ropes and after hitting an enziguri, nails Jericho with a superkick for a near-fall. Rollins goes to the top rope, but Jericho meets him up there and goes for a superplex. Rollins blocks it and goes for the Frog Splash, but Jericho rolls out of the way and hits the Lionsault for a near-fall. Rollins blocks a Codebreaker, but Jericho hits an enziguri, only for Rollins to catch him with a Pedigree for the win. Great match, very exciting.
  • Cesaro vs Sheamus-Match #3 in the Best of 7 Series (Sheamus leads 2-0)-Who's already tired of this match? Cesaro tries to get the quick roll up victory to start and gets a lot of quick offense in until Sheamus hits a back body drop. Outside the ring, Cesaro hits a clothesline, but Sheamus hits a tilt-a-whirl slam when they go back in the ring. Sheamus batters the back of Cesaro before the referee stops him and goes for the Cloverleaf. Cesaro fights out and uppercuts Sheamus, but can't get the pop-up uppercut because of his back. Sheamus hits multiple Irish Curse backbreakers for a near-fall and goes for the Celtic Cross, only to drop it into a backbreaker. Man, that looked really nasty.  The referee asks Cesaro if he wants to end the match, but Cesaro says no, only to take a Brogue Kick and Sheamus gets the win. Fine match, told a great story of Cesaro trying his hardest but not being able to overcome his injuries.
  • The Shining Stars vs Enzo Amore & Big Cass-Pre-match, the Shing Stars talk about how it's always summer in Puerto Rico. They are interrupted by Enzo & Cass, and Enzo pretends to go into labor because it's Labor Day. It's not funny. At all. Primo & Cass start and Cass tosses both Stars out of the ring, followed by Enzo hitting a suicide dive before the commercial break. We come back the Shining Stars beating up Enzo. Epico hits three suplexes in a row before Primo hits a body guillotine. Enzo dodges a dropkick by Primo, who manages to get caught in the Tree of Woe in the process. Cass gets the hot tag, runs wild, and tags in Enzo for the Bada-Boom-Shaka-Laka, but a distraction from Epico stops them. Enzo hits a crossbody on Epico, only to get rolled up by Primo for a Shining Stars win. The Shining Stars should not be beating Enzo & Cass. Or anyone.
  • Tom Phillips interviews Sami Zayn. Zayn thought that his career wouldn't move forward unless he beat Owens, but now he's directionless while Owens is Universal Champion. He admits he's a bit jealous, which brings in Owens. He says he was jealous of Zayn getting to NXT first, but he was the first to win a world championship. He says that solidifies him as the better one. Zayn says he'll be Universal Champion one day too, and he'll do it on his own.
  • Nia Jax vs Ann Esposito-We see a tweet shows that Ann is friends with Alicia Fox, which means that Alicia Fox will more than likely be squashed by Nia in the near future. Ann actually gets some offense in and locks in a sleeper hold, but Nia gets out and proceeds to murk Ann, finishing her off with a falling slam.
  • Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows are in the ring. They say they're set to end the New Day's reign as Tag Team Champions at Clash of the Champions. They bring out "The Old Day", which are three old dudes who come out to a slower version of the New Day's entrance, from the future. Gallows & Anderson make a bunch of jokes before helping the Old Day into the ring. The Old Day says that Gallows & Anderson beat the Power of Positivity out of them at Clash of the Champions. Old Big E says he soiled himself and hurts himself while doing the W-W-E-WORLD-TAG-TEAM-CHAMPIONS thing. This brings out the New Day, who mock Gallows & Anderson for their lame comedy. Kofi then jokes that they could destroy the WWE universe if the New Day and the Old Day came into contact. Woods then proposes they beat up Gallows & Anderson, who flee the ring. The Old Day then tries to dance, but they're bad at it so the New Day show them how to do it. The Old Big E then touches Big E with his cane, so the New Day beats up the Old Day, ending with the Old Big E taking the Midnight Hour.
  • Darren Young vs Jinder Mahal with Titus O'Neil on commentary-Young starts off hot with a neckbreaker, but Mahal hits a Stun Gun followed by a high knee for a near-fall. Mahal works over Young before Young runs wild and hits a belly-to-belly suplex followed by a baseball slide. O'Neil runs down to ringside, but Young is able to hit the Gut Check for the win. After the match, Young attacks O'Neil, despite referees trying to keep him off of him.
  • Backstage, Nia Jax mocks Alicia Fox after beating up her friend. Fox tells her to get out of her face before flipping out for no reason and hitting Nia in the face on accident. I know it was an accident because Fox said "sorry" before going back into character and acting like she wasn't sorry. Nia pushes her and walks away.
  • Braun Strowman vs Sin Cara-Well, it's Strowman's first real challenge. Sin Cara actually requested this match after Strowman disrespected his Lucha Libre culture by forcefully unmasking Americo last week. Sin Cara hits a big dropkick to start, only to get checked to the ground. The two go back and forth before Strowman clotheslines Sin Cara to the ground. Strowman locks in a shoulder claw, but Sin Cara escapes with a jawbreaker. Strowman tosses Sin Cara out of the ring, but Sin Cara hits an enziguri outside and dropkicks Strowman. Sin Cara tries to get back in the ring, only to be dragged back out and into the barricade by Strowman. Strowman gets back in the ring and gets the count out win. Afterwards, Strowman mows over Sin Cara on the outside and tells him to stay out of his ring.
  • Outcomes Sasha Banks with some bad news. She says every story has an end and a final chapter. She talks about the great women in wrestling who broke the mold and started a revolution. She says the fans were able to put an end to bra and panties matches and terrible butterfly titles, and now the women aren't Divas, they're superstars. She says the Women's Revolution is for every woman, and she does what she does for every little girl who had a dream. She talks about how hard she's fought her entire life and how she was pushed to the limit at SummerSlam. She says Charlotte beat her straight up and says she met with a doctor and that she has bad news. And then outcomes Dana Brooke, so don't cry, it's just an angle. She decides to make it up to Charlotte by beating down Sasha right now. Dana throws the mic at Sasha, but Sasha counters the attack and locks in the Bank Statement. Sasha grabs the mic and says the bad news is for Charlotte because Sasha's winning the title back at Clash of the Champions. Thank god, I honest to god thought she was going to retire for a second. Very Mark Henry-esque promo by Sasha.
  • Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens-The two go right at it with punches to start before Owens rolls out. Zayn follows him and the two fight around ringside. Back in the ring, the two trade blows before Owens floors Zayn. Zayn hops over Owens and hits a dropkick before Owens rolls out and pulls Zayn out with him. Owens throws Zayn at the barricade, but Zayn hops up and hits a moonsault, which Owens is out of position for but Zayn is able to catch him with his feet. After a commercial break, we come back to Owens working over Zayn. Owens drops Zayn on the ropes and hits a senton for a near-fall. Owens slaps Zayn, so Zayn slaps him back and makes Owens fall out of the ring before hitting the somersault tope to the outside. Zayn does it again before hitting the Blue Thunder Bomb in the ring for a near-fall. Owens blocks the half-nelson suplex and goes for the cannonball, but Zayn catches him and hits an exploder suplex in the corner. Zayn goes for the Helluv Kick, but Owens rolls out. On the apron, Owens tries to powerbomb Zayn but Zayn fights out and goes for the half-nelson suplex. Owens fights out and tries for a Death Valley Driver, but Zayn lands back in the ring. Owens then hits a Stunner in the ropes and follows that up with a cannonball. Zayn hops over Owens on the Pop-Up Powerbomb and hits the half-nelson suplex for a near-fall. Owens avoids the wristlock springboard tornado DDT and causes Zayn to tweak his ankle he hurt two weeks ago. Owens takes advantage and goes for the powerbomb on the apron, but Zayn hops over and hits the half-nelson suplex on the outside. Back in the ring, Zayn goes for the Helluva Kick, but his ankle gives out, allowing Owens to superkick him and hit a powerbomb for the win. Great match, as usual when these two face off. After the match, Roman Reigns shows up to a chorus of boos. Reigns walks down and gets in the ring, so Owens gets out and Chris Jericho comes down. Foley comes out, who books Reigns vs Owens next week on RAW, where if Reigns wins, the match at Clash of the Champions becomes a triple threat between Owens, Rollins, and Reigns. After that, Jericho tries to blindside Reigns but gets a spear for his troubles.
And that's about it. Overall, a decent episode of RAW. Nothing was too bad, and aside from a few matches, nothing was too good either. Let's see if SmackDown can top it next week.
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