- We kick off the show with John Cena & Nikki Bella...sort of. Actually, it's the Miz & Maryse dressed up as Cena & Nikki, just like last week. Miz mocks Cena's over-exaggerated reactions to the live crowds before telling the crowd that John Cena's house rule #1 is no one can chant "Cena Sucks"...so the crowd chants "Cena Sucks." He implies that Cena only proposed to Nikki for the publicity before Maryse, as Nikki, says they tried to go to Hollywood, but they were rejected by because they aren't good actors, so they've come back to RAW. Outcomes another new RAW superstar...Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose! Ambrose plays along with Miz & Maryse's act and congratulates "Cena & Nikki" on the engagement. He congratulates them on beating Miz & Maryse at WrestleMania because they're the worst and mocks the Marine 5:
No Seriously, There Are Five Of TheseBattleground. Miz gives up the act, so Ambrose gives him Dirty Deeds to close out the segment. - Kurt Angle is taking a phone call when Sami Zayn approaches him, asking if he's staying on RAW or not. Angle says SmackDown has had a lot of interest in him before Miz & Maryse interrupt them. Miz tells Zayn to leave before the two argue. Angle stops them before booking them in a match against eachother.
- The New Day vs The Revival-Big E & Xavier Woods come out without Kofi Kingston, who is recovering from an injury the Revival gave him last week. Instead, they straight up have a blow-up doll in his place. No joke.Woods even called it that. They say they're going to beat up the Revival tonight. The Revival kill it without even saying a word, with Dawson sporting a "RIP: Pop-Cycle" shirt & Wilder rocking a shirt just saying "WE BROKE KOFI'S ANKLE."
These two are the best and I will fight anybody who thinks otherwise. Woods starts off right away with a superkick on Wilder before tagging in Big E for a corner spear. The New Day work over Wilder until a Dawson distraction allows Wilder to slam Woods down by his hair before the commercial break. We come back to Dawson working over Woods with a waist lock. Woods tries to tag in Big E, but Dawson stops him and hits a back suplex. The Revival control the match, cutting off Woods' attempts to tag in Big E until Woods hits a discus forearm on Dawson. Big E tags in and suplexes Wilder around the ring before hitting the big splash and calling for the Big Ending. However, another Dawson distraction allows Wilder to roll up Big E with a hand full of Big E's singlet for a near fall. Dawson tags in for a double clothesline, but Big E runs right through it before giving Dawson a belly-to-belly suplex into the corner. Woods tags in and hits a Leap of Faith elbow drop from across the ring. The New Day go for the Midnight Hour on Dawson, but Wilder makes the save and catch Woods with a Shatter Machine off the top rope for the win. Fine match, nothing special though. Good ending, though.
- Charly Caruso interviews Neville. He says he's already proven Austin Aires isn't on the "Neville Level" before TJ Perkins tells him to watch what he says. Neville brushes him off, saying he doesn't think Perkins can take the title off of him because he'll never get another shot at it. He says Perkins has fallen so far down the totem pole since losing the Cruiserweight Championship that he's an afterthought, with opportunities that could be his going to Aries. Neville says he's the only person who respects Perkins even a bit before Aries comes over and tells him Neville is full of sh*t. However, Perkins doesn't respond and walks off.
- Curt Hawkins is out for a promo. He says he's on RAW now and he's the greatest get since the Louisiana Purchase. He says they should have a party for him, so Big Show comes out and knocks him out. I don't know if I've asked this before, but why did WWE hire Curt Hawkins back? Seriously, what benefit does he bring to the table? Instead of just paying some local indy guy to do a job for a couple of hundred dollars or something instead of paying someone a salary to do the same job. It makes no sense.
- Austin Aries vs TJ Perkins-Neville is on commentary for this match. Aries & Perkins go back and forth before Perkins hits a drop toe hold and dabs at Aries, earning him (well deserved) boos. More back and forth action before Aries hits a basement dropkick, laying on the ropes, and dabbing. Aries follows up with a slingshot senton bomb followed by an elbow drop to the back for a near fall. Perkins responds by sending Aries out of the ring but misses the pendulum dropkick before Aries hits a middle rope neckbreaker followed by double axe handle off the top rope. Neville leaves the commentary table and stares down Aries, who almost gets counted out. However, Aries gets rolled up by Perkins back in the ring for the win. Fine match, but the distraction roll-up always sucks. After the match, Aries challenges Neville to get in the ring, only for Perkins to run back in and attack Aries, hitting a Detonation Kick on Aries. That might seem like a heelish move, but clearly, this was revenge for that time Aries beat up Perkins and stole the Suicide costume in TNA so he could win the X-Division Championship. Perkins finally got his closure three years later!
- Outcomes Seth Rollins. He says he was so focused on WrestleMania that he didn't focus on what would happen after. He says he was in pain after WrestleMania, but he was at peace because he beat Triple H. He thanks the fans for having his back and says he's just getting started on RAW. He says he wants to get his hands on Samoa Joe and win the Universal Championship but based on how he (sort of) caused Stephanie McMahon to go through a table, he may not have a future on RAW. He says he wants to stay on RAW and he's not leaving if Stephanie tries to send him to SmackDown. I never thought I'd hear someone voluntarily say they want to be on RAW over SmackDown. This brings out Kurt Angle, who says Stephanie does want Rollins gone, but he says his performance at WrestleMania is what kept him here. Angle says he wants Rollins to stay and he'll have a job as long as he's the general manager. Angle leaves before Samoa Joe ambushes Rollins from behind. Angle runs back to try to calm down the two, but the two brawl before Rollins boots Joe from the ring with a superkick.
- Charly Caruso interviews Kevin Owens. He says it doesn't matter what show he ends up on because the cream always rises to the top. He says Chris Jericho would probably want to be on the show Owens' isn't on so maybe he can find some success. He also says Jericho is at home recovering after being put through a table last week and that he's the top champion on RAW.
- Charlotte Flair vs Nia Jax-Nia overpowers Charlotte at first before Charlotte gets some strikes in. Nia floors Charlotte with a body block before Charlotte hits neckbreaker. Nia Jax then proceeds to drop Charlotte's head right onto her knee while going for a shoulder breaker, then dropping her on her head AGAIN. That's unforgivably unsafe. She dropped her on her head TWICE. That's beyond just being green. Nia controls the match until Charlotte chop blocks Nia and hits Natural Selection for a near fall. Charlotte sends Nia to the outside and hits a top rope moonsault, which Nia fails to catch her on. Nia barely beats the count, only to walk into a big boot from Charlotte. Charlotte goes for the Figure 8, but Nia powers out and hits a corner splash followed by a Samoan Drop for the win. This was bad. Nia botched so much this match it's ridiculous.
- Finn Balor vs Jinder Mahal-Mahal takes the fight to Balor until Balor hits a basement dropkick followed by an arm drag. Mahal fights back, booting the top rope into Balor's face while he's between the ropes. Mahal controls the match until Balor hits a Pele Kick followed by a Sling Blade. Balor dropkicks Mahal into the corner before hitting the Coup de Grace for the win. After the match, Bray Wyatt appears on screen, saying that RAW is his new home. He says that at Payback he'll torture Randy Orton in his House of Horrors, but warns Balor to watch himself.
- We get the announcement that Apollo Crews, Kalisto, Heath Slater, and Rhyno will also be moving to RAW from SmackDown.
- The Miz with Maryse vs Sami Zayn-The two lock up before Zayn hits three arm drags and clotheslines Miz out of the ring. Zayn sets up for the somersault tope, but Miz pulls Maryse in the way to stop him before the commercial break. We come back to Miz working over Zayn with a chinlock. Zayn fights out, only to take a backbreaker followed by a neckbreaker from Miz for a near fall. Miz sets up Zayn on the top rope for a superplex, but Zayn blocks it and knocks Miz down, only for Miz to hit a snap DDT for a near fall. Despite being on RAW now, Miz mocks Daniel Bryan before doing his signature kicks, only for Zayn to dodge the last kick and hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for a near fall. Zayn goes for the Helluva Kick, but Maryse saves Miz by pulling him out of the ring. Back in the ring, Miz goes for the Skull Crushing Finale, but Zayn rolls through and pins Miz for the win. Pretty good match.
- Backstage, Michael Cole interviews Roman Reigns. Remember that great segment last week where Reigns just stood there for ten minutes and said one thing while just taking in all the boos? Get ready to throw it right out the window. He says ending the Undertaker's career was a bittersweet moment, but he did what he had to do. Suddenly, Braun Strowman shows up and throws Reigns into a wall before throwing him through a table. Strowman continues to throw Reigns around before giving him a running powerslam onto some equipment crates and slamming another one into him. EMTs run over and put him on a stretcher, only for Strowman to come back and shove the stretcher off a ramp. The EMTs pick Reigns back up and load him into an ambulance, only for Strowman to scream "I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!" and run into beat up Reigns a bit more. Strowman then proceeds to tip the ambulance over onto to its side.The whole crowd cheers this the whole time. Braun Strowman just became the top babyface. This was absolutely brutal. However, it was still safer that booking a flight on United Airlines. After a commercial break, the EMTs pull Reigns out of the tipped ambulance and load him into another ambulance, taking him the hospital where Braun Strowman is presumably waiting for him disguised as a doctor, Stone Cold style.
- Cesaro, Sheamus and the Hardy Boyz vs Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, and the Shining Stars-Before the match...Aw f*ck, it's the Drifter. For those of you who don't watch NXT...that's Elias Samson, aka the Drifter. What does he do? He shows up with a guitar...that's it. He has no character outside of that. He recently lost a Loser Leaves NXT match to Kassius Ohno, aka the greatest wrestler in the history of the world, and he just kind of walked onto the stage before walking off. That literally the only drifter-like thing he's done in his entire run as the Drifter. Awesome, and it only to took him a year and a half. Matt Hardy & Primo start with Matt hip tossing Primo before tagging in Jeff. Jeff hits a basement dropkick before Cesaro tags in. Anderson tags in before Sheamus tags in for a rolling senton followed by a double stomp from Cesaro for a near fall. The babyfaces control the match before the commercial break. We come back to Cesaro landing on his feet off a suplex, but Anderson & Gallows quickly hit a back suplex/neckbreaker combo. Cesaro is able to make the tag to Matt Hardy, who runs wild on Epico before hitting a running bulldog. Primo takes a Side Effect before Hardy goes for the Twist of Fate on Epico, only to take a big boot from Gallows. Everyone gets their spots in, including the Hardy's hitting Poetry in Motion to the outside, before Matt Hardy blocks a backstabber by Epico, hits a Twist of Fate, and tags in Jeff for the Swanton Bomb and the win. Pretty good, entertaining match.
- Backstage, Dana Brooke is reading a book called "How to be Your Own Protege" when Emma comes over. She reminds Dana that she was Emma's protege before she was Charlotte's and is the whole reason Dana is on RAW. Dana says she doesn't need to be anyone's protege anymore before walking off.
- Outcomes Sasha Banks. She brings out "her best friend" Bayley. She is going to turn on Bayley so hard one day. She thanks the fans for sticking with her throughout her entire career. Sasha congratulates her on having her WrestleMania moment but says that moment is over before being interrupted by a new RAW superstar...Alexa Bliss! She calls the two of them nauseating before telling the crowd to stop cheering her because she doesn't need her approval. She says she's going to take over the RAW Women's Division and she's going to put all the SmackDown drama behind her...so Mickie James comes out next. She says she's on RAW now as well before telling Alexa that their drama is not over. Suddenly, Nia Jax attacks Mickie from behind before getting in the ring. Alexa pushes Sasha into Nia before leaving the ring, allowing Nia to squash Sasha & Bayley before holding up the title. Nia & Alexa stare eachother down as Nia walks up the ramp.
- We get a medical update for Roman Reigns, with Michael Cole saying he has suffered broken ribs, internal injuries, and a separated shoulder while Braun Strowman has been removed from the building.
- Kevin Owens vs Dean Ambrose-Owens beats down Ambrose to start until Ambrose turns the tables. Ambrose goes for Dirty Deeds quickly, but Owens avoids it and rolls out of the ring. The two fight at ringside before Ambrose goes back in the ring so he can hit plancha before the commercial break. We come back to Owens punching away at Ambrose. Ambrose comes back with a body block before a back and forth exchange ends with Owens kneeing Ambrose's head against the ring post for a near fall. Owens controls the match, at one point throwing Ambrose from a fireman's carry into the ring post on the outside. Ambrose barely beats the 10 count, only to take a fisherman's neckbreaker for a near fall. Owens goes for a senton, but Ambrose blocks it with his knees before sending Owens out of the ring and hitting a suicide dive, falling into the crowd in the process. Ambrose goes for Dirty Deeds in the ring, but Owens avoids it, only for Ambrose to hit a swinging neckbreaker. Ambrose goes for a bulldog, but Owens counters it, only to get crotched by Ambrose on the top rope. Ambrose clotheslines him down to the mat for a near fall before going to the top rope. Owens rolls out of the ring, but Ambrose still jumps down onto him with an elbow drop. Back in the ring, Ambrose goes back to the top for a double axe-handle, but Owens catches him with a superkick to the ribs before hitting a package side slam for a near fall. After a series of reversals, Owens hits a superkick and goes for Dirty Deeds of his own, but Ambrose counters it with a roll up before hitting Dirty Deeds for the win. Really good match, as usual from these two when they face off. After the match, Chris Jericho comes down to the ring and gives Owens a Codebreaker to close the show.
Comments
Post a Comment