Paris, France – a small country located in, what is commonly and locally known as the European Union, or more simply, the EU. A black van pulls up to the curb, and out walks four women in black dresses. The Bellas, Eva Marie, and Natalya are finally at the restaurant from Something’s Gotta Give. The girls propose a toast, to the four originals. A beautiful French man hits on them and quickly walks away. And just as fast as they entered the restaurant, they are out of the restaurant. I have to admit I am pretty bummed that we didn’t even get to finish watching them drink at least one glass of that French wine.
The girls walk over to the Eiffel Tower. They seem to be under the spell of some sort of pagan superstition and believe that if one makes a wish upon the Eiffel Tower at night then the wish will come true. The girls are amazed at the site of the Eiffel Tower again, and Nikki makes her wish. “I wish John Cena will marry me.” The American dream.
Nattie then makes her wish. She wishes TJ to be there with her. Eva Marie wishes something about love and Jonathan. Brie wishes for Bryan to be cleared because she believes in his dreams. Nikki tells everyone that John Cena wants to marry her, but he still doesn’t want to have kids.
It’s the daytime now, and Paige, Fox, and Mandy are talking about last night. Mandy has a hat that says, “Paris.” I’d buy that hat, too. She’s still so pissed that Eva Marie went to dinner with the Bellas. Mandy is the ultimate third wheel.
Rosa and her fiancé decide to celebrate their impending nuptials by sight-seeing around Paris. Rosa wants to go to some kind of arch. Her fiancé, his name is Bobby, thinks she is talking about Noah’s Ark. If only there were some sort of famous triumphant Arch in Paris that would be easy for Rosa to look up on her phone. Rosa asks when the wedding will be. Bobby redirects the question. Rosa says six months. Bobby says six months from when the baby is born. Rosa says get married by a minister. Bobby says he wants Brad to perform the ceremony. They start to argue and then decide to not talk about it anymore.
A beautiful French man takes a picture with Paige and tells her she is crazy. Fox decides to plan an impromptu party at the hottest party venue in the world, Moulin Rouge. She has a fantasy that the other Divas will dress up in French fashion, and she will be the photographer. Fox overhears Nattie telling Mandy that the fashion photo shoot is stupid. Fox is so pissed. She goes into Rosa’s room to complain about Nattie. Fox cancels the photo shoot. All the Divas argue in the living room. They work out their issues. The photo shoot is back on. Thank god. They decide to drink that French wine.
Eva Marie apologizes to Mandy in her room. Mandy speaks her mind. She is mega-butthurt. Eva Marie acts pretty classy. But Mandy doesn’t really think Eva Marie is being real, so she responds by lying and telling her they are friends again. Whelp, sorry Mandy, we won’t get to see how this plays out because you won’t be returning next season.
Rosa is so happy to go out with all the girls. They are at a really nice, really fancy French restaurant. Fox gives a speech. Fox loves giving speeches, it’s obvious. All the girls go over to the Moulin Rouge, and they are all super impressed and mega excited. They are so amazed, and they keep saying the word amazed. Nattie tells us how much she loves all the girls, and how important this trip has been.
Back in the states, and keeping with the French theme, the WWE is in New Orleans. Rosa shows Big Show her ring, and Big Show shows Rosa warmth and compassion. She can’t wait to give birth to Baby Jordan. Rosa interviews Dolph Ziggler. Dolph brings this season full circle, as he wasn’t man enough in his attempt to steal Nikki away from Cena. They all eat cake.
TWO MONTHS LATER
Tampa, FL
In Nikki and John’s house, Nikki chases around her cute dog, Winston. Winston is adorable. Nikki’s mom is in town to babysit the dog if Nikki has to have surgery. Nikki tells her mom that she feels like shit every day. She gets an MRI.
Pittsburgh, PA
Rosa is having cramping, she’s in a ton of pain. She and Bobby go to the hospital. Rosa decides to leave her Rolex at Bobby’s parents’ house. After the commercial, Rosa has had her baby. The baby is cute. Rosa feels so emotional. Rosa wishes her mom was there. Rosa and her mom are at odds due to Bobby’s atheism.
Back in Tampa, Nikki tells her mom that her back is getting worse. Everything is worse than they originally thought. She has to have surgery. She doesn’t want to retire from wrestling. She is in so much pain all the time. She is so frustrated.
In Pittsburgh, Rosa feeds her baby. Bobby is so excited and completely anxious. Rosa hasn’t heard from her mom in two months. Rosa says she could move to Pittsburgh. Bobby tells her that while she can’t go down the street and get a kale juice, but she can go down the street and milk a cow. Rosa said she’d rather just feed the baby. They get in a car and Rosa sees a frozen lake. She is amazed. Rosa’s mom told her to tell her baby that she is going to burn in hell. Bobby is so pissed at Rosa’s mom.
Columbus, OH
Nikki has a meeting with Carrano. John calls her from Tampa. Cena is hanging out with Nikki’s mom, and he tells her not to worry about Carrano. He apologizes for not being there, but he just had surgery himself.
Back in Pittsburgh, Bobby and Rosa look at baby Jordan. Rosa wants to move to Pittsburgh. She is happy there. I’m not worried about them, they are going to be OK as a family.
Back in Columbus, it’s time for the meeting with Carrano. They make jokes about business casual dress codes. Then things get serious. They don’t know what the future looks like. Is Nikki done? Could this be it for her? Nikki asks, “What is Nikki Bella without wrestling?” She answers, “There is no Nikki Bella.” It’s a race for survival, if she can’t wrestle again, then not only will she be forced to retire, but it seems as though Nikki Bella will cease to exist all together.
Submitted by Stephen Lyon from Manchester, UK’s Manchester Arena
– Cesaro beat Stardust
Cesaro won, following 10 giant swings & making him submit in the sharpshooter. Fun 10 minute opener.
– Zack Ryder & Darren Young beat Heath Slater & Bo Dallas
Finish saw Ryder pin Dallas with the Rough Ryder. Exactly what you’d think it would be.
– Rusev beat Jack Swagger
Swagger came out with the Union Jack flag. Rusev won with the Accolade submission win. Average match.
– WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day beat Usos & Dudleys
Fun match, one of the best on the show. Dudleys came out with a Liverpool FC flag in Manchester to get heat (soccer rivals, plus Bubba is a Liverpool fan). New Day’s house show act is great. All sorts of wackiness from the trio, mostly weird dance moves.
– Sin Cara beat Tyler Breeze
SC won after hitting the swanton bomb. Average match.
– Divas Champion Charlotte beat Sasha Banks & Becky Lynch
Ric Flair was in Charlotte’s corner. Fun match. Charlotte pinned Becky with both feet on the ropes.
– WWE Champion Roman Reigns beat Sheamus
Sheamus came out and did a promo based on the Liverpool/Manchester soccer rivalry, and even sang the Liverpool FC club anthem (“You’ll Never Walk Alone”) to major heat. Reigns still came out to boos, I’d say 60/40 cheers in his favour. Standard match, Reigns won after a spear.
Notes:
It was a by the numbers house show with nothing spectacular. Obviously, there were less stars than usual due to the Smackdown tapings going on at the same time in London. But still, we got the World, Tag & Women’s champions so it wasn’t that bad. Lots of kids in attendance. Reigns got 60-40 cheers. Booing him is definitely becoming the cool thing to do, even for the kids/families that Reigns claimed he was being targeted to.
In other news, the U.K. dates for the November 2016 tour have been announced:
4th November – London (Wembley Arena)
5th November – Manchester
6th November – Newcastle & Leeds
7th November – Glasgow – Raw TV
8th November – Glasgow – Smackdown TV
9th November – Birmingham
10th November – Cardiff
Tickets are on sale starting Friday, May 6.
The notable things here are that they are doing TV from Glasgow, Scotland for the first time ever, at the Hydro Arena. This is really interesting because they’re running the Hydro Arena building less than 2 weeks before ICW is running the biggest show in their history at the same arena, which simply can’t be a coincidence.
– They opened with Miz TV with A.J. Styles. They showed the clips of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson attacking Roman Reigns. Maryse came out and got heat by speaking in French. Miz brought up that Styles, Gallows and Anderson were all friends from Japan and told Styles to admit to the fact he set up the attack on Reigns. Styles denied it. Miz then asked why he did nothing to stop them if he didn’t set it up. Styles said that he was upset with them and doesn’t need their help to beat Reigns. Miz continued to push the idea that Styles thought he needed help against Reigns. Miz kept pushing Styles to tell the truth. Miz and Maryse got heat again by making out. Eventually, Styles attacked Miz.
– Ryback beat U.S. Champion Kalisto in a non-title match after hitting the Shellshock.
– Dolph Ziggler came out for a match and was attacked by Baron Corbin. He got laid out again with the End of Days.
– A.J. Styles beat The Miz. Miz was taking the worst of it and tried to walk out. Anderson and Gallows came out and blocked him from leaving. Styles threw Miz back in the ring and pinned him after the Phenomenal Forearm.
– Sami Zayn and Dean Ambrose were interviewed. They said Chris Jericho and Dean Ambrose were the best in the world at sneaking up from behind. Zayn & Ambrose then tried to do a comedy bit where they’d come up with a name for their new tag team.
– The Miz did a promo and said what happened earlier was proof Styles, Anderson, and Gallows were all working together. He demanded an investigation and refused to leave the ring until it was done. Shane McMahon then came out. Miz yelled at Shane and put his finger in his chest repeatedly until Shane laid in some punches and a flying back elbow before clotheslining Miz to the outside. This may have been just for the live crowd to give them something since Undertaker wasn’t there as advertised.
Here’s a video of the segment for as long as it stays up:
– Anderson & Gallows did an interview. They were asked if they are aligned with Styles and they said they weren’t. They also said they would be wrestling on Raw Monday night against the Usos.
– Paige & Natalya beat Naomi & Tamina with a double submission win.
– R-Truth pinned Fandango with Goldust as referee. R-Truth and Goldust danced after the match.
– Enzo and Cass came out. The crowd was big time into them. The Vaudevillains then did a promo making fun of Enzo. Good segment building up their match on Raw next week to determine the top contenders for the tag titles.
– Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho beat Sami Zayn & Dean Ambrose. Ambrose was on the top rope and Jericho shoved him off. Ambrose sold it like he had injured his knee and Owens pinned him, which was retribution for Ambrose pinning Owens on Raw.
Tonight’s Raw from London will once again have Shane McMahon in charge. At this rate, he will surpass Bud Selig’s record as longest interim authority figure in history. However, the string of good Raws will likely continue. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn will continue their program, and so will Chris Jericho-Dean Ambrose. The semifinals of the #1 Contenders tag team tournament feature the Usos vs. the Vaudevillians and Enzo Amore/Big Cass vs. the Dudley Boyz, which has been teased ever since WrestleMania. The WWE website is also teasing a potential Emma vs. Becky Lynch program.
Our coverage starts at 8 ET.
The Big Takeaway: A show that dragged at points that was full of wrestling. The #1 contender tag team tournament will feature the Vaudevillains vs. Enzo Amore and Big Cass in an NXT final. Only storyline news was the acknowledgement of a relationship between A.J. Styles, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows from New Japan Pro Wrestling (simply referred to as New Japan on the broadcast, because we can’t be having pro wrestling mentioned on our pro wrestling show). Anderson and Gallows jumped Roman Reigns after Styles confronted Reigns in an another interview segment where Reigns was heavily booed. Styles denied any knowledge that Anderson and Gallows were going to jump him, but Reigns didn’t believe it.
Show Recap:
Dean Ambrose came out for the first full-length edition of the Ambrose Asylum. He told a joke about a large monster being discovered in the Thames River and said he didn’t know Braun Strowman could swim. CBS late night talk show host James Corden’s parents were at ringside, who Ambrose introduce a nice response. Then he brought out Shane McMahon to a big reaction. He told Shane to have a seat, but since the set didn’t include chairs, they stood.
They replayed the clip of Shane jumping off the Hell in a Cell onto the table against the Undertaker. They showed an angle that showed how gimmicked the table really was. Ambrose still put over the stunt as something even he wondered “What was Shane thinking?” Ambrose asked Shane what his agenda was. Shane said the fans were on his mind because he was giving stars a chance who, ordinarily, would never get a chance. He mentioned Sami Zayn, A.J. Styles and Sasha Banks.
Kevin Owens interrupted him. Owens said he’s been watching the same old crap he’s seen for years: a McMahon filled with power with a vendetta against him. Shane denied that. Owens asked why did he remove him from the building last week? Shane said because he threatened to go after Zayn before his match with Styles. Owens said he was being honest and Zayn didn’t deserve to be the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
Zayn came out with the crowd singing his theme song before he could start his promo. Zayn said Owens was riding his coattails because he was signed by the WWE before Owens. That’s why Owens attacked him in NXT. But they both knew Owens would have never ended up in the WWE without him. Crowd had a mixed reaction for that.
Then Chris Jericho showed up. So do the 20-minute opening segment. Jericho told Zayn there were bigger issues than his emotions. Jericho told Shane he was drunk with power, and he never liked Shane. Jericho told Shane to remember he was the best in the world at what he does, which included hosting the greatest WWE talk show of all time “The Highlight Reel.” Shane said the new generation was about new opportunities, which is why they had the Highlight Reel. Shane got in a plug for the WWE Network. They all started arguing, and Ambrose yelled at everyone to be careful around his plant. Shane ordered Jericho to face Ambrose at Payback, along with Owens vs. Zayn. Shane left the ring and Ambrose handed him the plant. It wound up as a four-way brawl where Zayn and Ambrose cleaned house quickly.
It was announced that Shane had ordered Ambrose vs. Owens as the main event.
Chris Jericho defeated Sami Zayn (12:47)
Jericho won after thumbing Zayn in the eye while referee Charles Robinson tried to break them up in the corner, followed by a codebreaker. Good match. Jericho applied the Walls of Jericho, but Zayn made the ropes. Zayn later did his spot where he dove through two sets of ropes into a tornado DDT on the floor. Zayn hit his Blue Thunder bomb for a near fall. Consecutive jobs for Zayn isn’t helping him burst out of the gates early.
Mauro Ranallo made his Raw debut doing a backstage interview with Styles. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows showed up and Styles greeted them like they were old pals. It was stange to see Anderson and Gallows treated like babyfaces when they basically made a heel debut last week attacking the Usos. Anderson said he had been trying to get in the WWE for years. They laughed together and left to catch up on old times. Michael Cole mentioned that Styles, Anderson and Gallows were old friends from New Japan.
Enzo Amore and Big Cass came out. Fans chanted Amore’s name to the tune of “Seven Nation Army” again. Amore had a riddle. There is “hell” in “hello.” There is “end” in “friend.” And there is “Dud” in “Dudley.” Amore said the Dudleyz were a couple of duds. Amore says he and Cass were A cups because they were real whether anyone liked them or not.
Enzo & Cass defeated the Dudley Boyz to advance to the finals of the WWE #1 Contenders Tag Team Tournament (8:33)
Enzo pinned Bubba Ray Dudley after a Rocket Launcher. Bubba Ray accidentally hit Devon Dudley with a forearm before the finish after Cass got the hot tag. Cass hit the Empire Elbow and big boot after the hot tag. Match was fine and the announcers put over Enzo & Cass winning as a major one.
Roman Reigns came out. The crowd reactions just get worse. They weren’t chanting “Lou,” they were booing. And Reigns did the exact same opening line he’s given over the past two weeks about being “the guy.” Reigns put over Styles, who got a minor chant. Reigns said this was the era of the Roman Empire, which got jeers and boring chants.
Styles came out. Crowd liked him, but it wasn’t an overwhelming reaction or anything. They sure like him better than Reigns, without a doubt. Styles put over Reigns as being “one heck of a champion.” He had power, explosiveness and quickness. Styles admitted he would have to have the match of his life in order to beat Reigns, but having the match of his life is what he does. Having the match of his life is what’s made him a champion everywhere he’s been, and it’s what is going to make him champion at Payback.
Reigns said he had the match of his life at WrestleMania. He admits the whole world like Styles, but they won’t like it when he beats Styles at Payback. But they will respect him. Reigns said he would rather be respected as WWE champion and that liked without it. Styles said he wants to be liked and respected, because that’s what is going to make him a phenomenal WWE Champion.
Styles left, but Anderson and Gallows ran out of the crowd to jump Reigns. Placed popped big when Gallows kicked Reigns while he was on Anderson’s shoulders. Styles watched on and looked disappointed when his friends jumped Reigns.
First thing we saw after the break was Regins walking backstage, not selling a thng. Styles told Reigns he didn’t know that was going to happen. Reigns didn’t buy any of that, reminding Styles that Anderson and Gallows’ jumped his cousins, the Usos, next week. Reigns told Styles to bring all of his friends, because he would withstand them all. He muttered one vs. all.
Baron Corbin defeated Fandango (1:21)
Baron Corbin won with the End of Days in a squash. Dolph Ziggler was at ringside doing commentary. Corbin threw Fandango into Ziggler before the finish. Ziggler jumped Corbin afterwards, only to have Corbin give him the End of Days on the floor.
Maryse and the Miz walked backstage. Maryze found spilt coffee on their way and demanded a stage manager place his jacket over it so they could walk over the stain.
Another Greetings of Puerto Rico vignette from whatever the Primo and Epico will be called in this new gimmick. They put over Puerto Rico beaches.
MizTV started with the photo of Prince Charles, saying you would never know it’s royalty. Miz said his baby was like royalty. They started making out when Cesaro came out. Lots of Cesaro Section signs to be seen as Cesaro said the only royalty Miz knew was how to be a royal pain in the ass. Miz said he was the one with a starring role but Cesaro was just as supporting actor. Crowd chanted “boring.” Miz claimed he prepared a monologue taken from the movie “Taken.” It was orginally delivered by Liam Nesson. Miz got on his cell phone and acted out a scene that was supposed to be in Cesaro’s words, and sounded like it was taken straight from every one of Neeson’s films over the past 10 years.
Cesaro put his hands over Miz’s mouth and said “When my hand goes up, your mouth goes shut.” Cesaro said he would becoming the Intercontinental Champion at Payback, and since Miz likes movie quotes, he quoted Roddy Piper from “They Live.” Cesaro mentioned it was Piper’s birthday last week. He gave the famous “I came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum” line. Miz teased a fight with Cesaro, but Miz said Cesaro had a match with Rusev.
Cesaro said he talked with Shane earlier in the day and said there wouldn’t be a singles match. Instead, it would be the League of Nations and Miz vs. Cesaro. Then Cesaro stripped off his suit to reveal a New Day t-shirt, and the New Day came out for the 8-man tag.
The New Day & Cesaro defeated the League of Nations & the Miz (13:27)
If you looked at this match for 30 seconds, you might have thought the hot blonde at ringside was Lana. But it was Maryse. Anyway, Cesaro pinned Sheamus after the Gotch Neutralizer after the usual spots where guys did their finishers on each other. Cesaro teased the Cesaro Swing on Sheamus, but Alberto Del Rio stopped him. Xavier Woods got the heat. Crowd lost interest about midway through.
Charlotte did an interview with Ranallo. They showed a replay from last week where Ric Flair helped Charlotte retain the title against Natalya. This led to Natalya walking in and saying Shane had granted her a rematch against Charlotte for the WWE Women’s Championship, and she would have Bret Hart in her corner. Charlotte and Ric didn’t look happy at all over that.
They announced that E! would start airing a Total Divas spinoff called Total Bellas, featuring Nikki and Brie Bella, Daniel Bryan, John Cena and John Laurinaitis.
Natalya, Paige, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch defeated Naomi, Summer Rae, Tamina and Charlotte via submission ( 10:25)
Natalya made Charlotte tap out to the sharpshooter. Classic New Japan booking where the challenger wins over the champion in a tag match before the title match. Becky Lynch was kicked hard on the floor by Tamina to set up the hot tag. Crowd liked the match, which dragged at points. Well executed hot tag sequence by Natalya on Summer Rae, which included a slingshot atmoic drop, then stepping over Rae’s back into a seated drop kick.
Styles was shown talking to Anderson and Gallows. Since there was no audio, you couldn’t tell what he was saying. It was vague because he didn’t look
More from the Puerto Rico guys. They’re surrounded by history and they walked past Ponce De Leon’s house. Is walking past the Fountain of Youth supposed to get them heat?
The Vaudevillains defeated the Usos in the semifinals of the WWE #1 Contenders Tag Team Tournament (3:25)
Simon Gotch pinned Jey Uso after the Whirling Dervish. They were doing hot tags within two minutes, which was just as well because the crowd was dead. Jey had his right shoulder taped selling the beating by Anderson and Gallows from last week. He did a tope on Gotch, but starting selling his shoulder. Aiden English rammed Jey’s shoulder into the post. Fans weren’t into the Vaudevillains at all, so the decision on who goes over in the tournament final should be easy.
Apollo Crews defeated Heath Slater (4:29)
There was actually a stipulation to this match. If Apollo Crews won, he had to join Social Outcasts. They did a skit on the Raw preshow where Heath Slater, Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas tried to get him to join their group. There was no Adam Rose, nor any mention of him. Slater actually got a near fall reversing a crossbody before Crews won with the Spin-Out Powerbomb.
On his way to the back, Crews crossed paths with Owens. They shared a brief glare before Crews went to gorilla.
Dean Ambrose defeated Kevin Owens (17:15)
The highlight of the show. Ambrose won with Dirty Deeds after Owens got Ambrose’s knees to the gut going for the frog splash, then missed a cannonball. Early on, the match was a brawl. Each man threw the other into the announcer’s table. Highlights after the commercial break included Owens giving Ambrose a frog splash off the apron to the floor, followed by a successful cannonball. Ambrose attempted his elbow off the top rope, but Owens rolled out of the ring, so Ambrose hit Owens with a plancha. The two fought on the top rope before Owens caught the Super Fisherman’s Buster for a really good near fall, which got the crowd to chant “This is Awesome.”
Afterwards, Jericho ran in and gave Ambrose a codebreaker.
SUMMARY: Your usual taped Raw. Beginning and the end were very good. There was a lull in the middle. Only real takeaway as far as how Reigns is concerned is to compare with how Daniel Bryan was booked two years ago. Of course, Reigns is far from over in the fans’ eyes, but at least he’s booked as being smart. He’s suspicious of Styles after being jumped by two of Styles’ friends. In the months after winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Bryan was constantly being outsmarted by Kane, looking every bit as dumb as any Friday the 13th victim that got beheaded by Jason Vorhees. It goes to show you when Vince McMahon has his heart behind someone, he’s going full throttle. If he isn’t, even the most promising of prospects job to HHH for no reason.
The show opened with a pre-taped recording of Kevin Owens on the screen trash talking Sami Zayn before being interrupted by R-Truth, who did his usual ‘my bad’ routine for some laughs. Owens sold the interruption well and refused to do the rest of the promos.
U.S. Champion Kalisto def. Ryback to retain
An okay match to start the show, with Kalisto being overpowered for most of it before coming back with high flying offense and a nice reversal out of the ShellShock into Salida del Sol for the win. The ‘lucha’ chant is really over with the kids, and I saw a handful wearing the (£60!!) replica mask.
R-Truth def. Bo Dallas (w/Heath Slater)
Truth won a short match with a roll-up after several breaks for crowd interactions, including a Bo-lieve vs What’s Up battle and Bo’s lap around the ring. Slater got on the mic after the match and trash-talked before he and Bo attacked Truth, which brought Goldust out to make the save. There was a Golden Truth chant and Truth even got Goldust to dance with him for a while.
Fandango def. Damien Sandow
Sandow came out first to a decent pop and thanked the fans for their appreciation despite him not being on TV. He said that having fans chanting his name while he was getting off the bus meant more than any championship ever could. Switching seamlessly into the Intellectual Saviour of the Masses, he lamented the “certifiable, card-carrying idiots” of the UK that enjoyed Fandangoing. Sandow got back on the mic mid-match during a beatdown of Fandango to ask if this is who we really idolised, which led to him being rolled up while still holding the mic. Funny. He genuinely looked emotional during his thank you speech at the start.
AJ Styles and Sami Zayn def. Kevin Owens and Alberto Del Rio
Huge pops for the babyface team. I hadn’t checked the card before the event, so I was pleasantly surprised with this one. The kids were really excited to see AJ, which is a nod to WWE’s booking of him so far as you have to assume that not many of them know him from NJPW or TNA. There was an improvised spot on the outside where Owens grabbed a Styles sign and almost took the kid holding it over the barrier with him.
The crowd was hot for Owens v Zayn, but the match was effectively over when Del Rio collided with Owens on the apron. Moments later, KO refused a tag and walked out, leaving Del Rio to eat a Helluva Kick, a Phenomenal Forearm and the pin.
Paige, Natalya, Eva Marie and Alicia Fox def. Tamina, Naomi, Summer Rae and Lana
Huge home country pop for Paige and the obligatory boos for Eva. All 8 women worked the match well (including relative newcomers Eva and Lana) with a nice Tower of Doom spot that was well executed. I thought it was over when Paige locked in the PTO on Summer Rae but it was broken up. After some chaos, Paige got the pin after a Rampaige on Tamina. Nattie managed to start a small Eva chant amongst some of the fans down the front, but they were really playing up the divide between her and the rest of the Total Divas babyfaces.
Big Show def. Los Matadores (2-on-1 handicap match)
This ended up being a comedy match, with Diego y Fernando taking it in turns to get shoved to the other side of the ring by Show. After some slaps in the corner and the giant paying homage to the New Day with a booty dance, Diego sat on Fernando’s shoulders and patted Show on the head. Another slap and a double chokeslam ended the bout, with Show staying behind for a good few minutes to sign autographs, pose for pics with the crowd.
WWE I-C Champion The Miz (w/Maryse) def. Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose to retain
Miz came out with Maryse who told the crowd that real men like Miz have women like her, while other men have women like that, pointing to someone in the crowd which drew some heat. Miz showed the audience how to kiss a woman properly, prompting an interruption from Ziggler. Ambrose was out next to the loudest pop of the night. The match was decent, with Miz staying on the outside to start and breaking up pinfalls.
After about 10 minutes, a distraction from Maryse allowed Miz to roll up Ambrose and grab the ropes for the 3 count. Afterwards, Miz called upon Superman in the front row to use his X-Ray vision to confirm that the Miz hadn’t cheated. Ambrose was having none of the Miz’s offer of a handshake and told him that Ziggler had something to say. That something was a superkick, and Ambrose nailed Dirty Deeds to send the crowd home happy.
A really enjoyable first live event for me, despite New Day and three of the four horsewomen being in Nottingham instead of Leeds. AJ and Sami were ridiculously over, along with Big Show and obviously Paige. Some more mic time for guys like Bo Dallas and KO would have been nice, but nobody was walking out of the arena disappointed.
There is talk that the feud between HHH and Stephanie McMahon vs. Shane McMahon will kick off on tonight’s Raw show from London’s O2 Arena.
Even though Shane McMahon lost the match, he is now official as in charge for the third straight week. HHH and Stephanie were scheduled to return to Raw this week as well and a feud between the two sides was on the books.
There has been talk the past few days that Finn Balor will debut, which given the location, makes sense for a debut. This has not been officially confirmed.
What is confirmed for today’s show are the semifinals of the tag team tournament for a title shot at the Payback show, with the Usos vs. Vaudevillains and Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. Dudleys, as well as a singles match with Emma vs. Becky Lynch.
As it turns out, a lot was changed beacuse the singles match ended up as an eight-person match.
Thanks to Chris Fox:
Superstars results
Big Show beat Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas
The live crowd booed Show even though he was the face. Show won after choke slamming both at the same time.
Kalisto beat Tyler Breeze. Breeze got good heat. Salida del Sol for the finish,
Raw opened with Dean Ambrose out with them trying to put over the fans as the Ambrose Asylum. He made a joke about Braun Strowman, points out James Corden’s parents in the front row and then introduced Shane McMahon. Shane put over that the WWE fans deserve better than what they’ve been getting. Kevin Owens came out and said this new Shane McMahon era is hte same old crap and how Shane has been punishing him for being an honest man in saying Sami Zayn never deserved to be put in the world title picture. Sami Zayn came out and said he was signed by WWE before Owens and if it wasn’t for him, Owens would have never made it to WWE. Chris Jericho came out and said that Shane was drunk with power for taking the Highlight Reel segment away from him.
Shane announced Jericho vs. Zayn for Raw.
Chris Jericho beat Sami Zayn clean with the codebreaker.
A.J. Styles hugged with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. They acknowledged their past.
Enzo & Cass beat The Dudleys to advance in the tournament clean with the rocket launcher.
Roman Reigns came out and was heavily booed. He put over A.J. Styles who came out. Styles said he’ll need to have the match of his life to beat Reigns. Gallows and Anderson came out to attack Reigns and left without Styles.
Backstage, Styles told Reigns that he had no idea Gallows & Andeson were going to attack him. Reigns told Styles that it won’t matter how many friends Styles brings, he’s not winning the title.
Baron Corbin beat Fandango with the End of Days.
Dolph Ziggler was on commentary. Fandango was really over in London. Corbin threw Fandago onto Ziggler which led to a brawl between the two. Corbin then hit the End of Days on Ziggler outside the ring.
Next was Miz TV with Maryse. Miz made fun of Prince George, calling him plain and generic, and said his baby, referring to his IC title belt, is pristine. Cesaro came out and called Miz a royal pain in the ass. This segment drew “boring” chants and Miz said that the crowd was jealous because they could never get a woman who looked like Maryse, and he also couldn’t understand what they were chanting. He tried to do a scene from “Taken” and Cesaro cut a line from “They Live.” This led to an eight-man tag.’
New Day & Cesaro beat Alberto Del Rio & Rusev & Sheamus & Miz. Cesaro pinned Sheamus using the Neutralizer.
Charlotte and Natalya were talking. It was annnounced that Bret Hart would be in Nataya’s corner in the match at Payback, to counter Ric Flair, so they are doing the same scenario as their NXT match.
Paige & Sasha Banks & Becky Lynch & Natalya beat Naomi & Tamina & Summer Rae & Charlotte when Natalya made Charlotte tap to the sharpshooter.
Vaudevillains beat Usos. Vaudevillains didn’t get much of a reaction. They won with the whirling dervish.
The Social Outcasts, or at least the three left, tried to add Apollo Crews to their stable. He said he would join if one of them could beat him.
Apollo Crews beat Heath Slater with the spinning power bomb.
Kevin Owens pushed that he’d be back tomorrow for Smackdown tapings to big cheers.
Dean Ambrose pinned Kevin Owens with Dirty Deeds. After the match, Jericho laid out Ambrose with the codebreaker. Styles then made the save.
They did a dark match where Styles & Ambrose beat Jericho & Owens.
So no Authority and no Finn Balor this week, no big feud, no big anything.
Good reaction for Cesaro. Good heat for Rusev after taking a young child’s ‘Cesaro section’ sign. “Let’s go Rusev/Rusev sucks” chant breaks out. Rusev works over Cesaro’s shoulder for most of the match. Cesaro makes his comeback with the multiple uppercuts. Rusev goes for the Accolade, but Cesaro reverses it into the sharpshooter. Cesaro does the giant swing to a loud pop and then immediately puts Rusev in the sharpshooter again. Rusev taps immediately.
Sin Cara def. Tyler Breeze
Match opens with breeze taking down Cara and doing his turnbuckle pose. Cara then takes down Breeze, and does the same. Suicide dive to the outside by Cara. Comedy spot in the middle of the match where Breeze went up to the top rope and Cara would keep rolling to the opposite corner. Breeze did this 5 or 6 times. Cara then quickly hits the Swanton bomb for the win.
Jack Swagger def. Tyler Breeze
Breeze then gets the mic and says he came here to stand in the middle of the ring and take a victory selfie. He demands another match and out comes Swagger waving the Union Jack flag. Really quick match with Breeze tapping out to the Patriot Lock.
Kane def. Stardust
No reaction for Stardust but quite a good pop for Kane. Another comedy match of sorts. Kane & Stardust playing to the crowd. Stardust drinks a bottle of water from ringside and tries giving it to Kane as peace offering then spits water at Kane. Basic match otherwise nothing special. Kane wins with a chokeslam. Stardust sells the chokeslam post match and makes two referees help him up.
WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) def. The Dudley Boyz
Lots of New Day antics pre match as always. Bubba gets the mic and says he and D-von are fed up hearing people chant “New Day rocks”. “New Day Rocks” & “Get The Tables” chant breaks out and Bubba again gets the mic asking if the fans want tables. D-Von pulls a table out, but bubba says the fans don’t deserve it. Nothing special in the match itself. Dudleys messed up the reverse 3D when D-Von went quicker than Bubba. New Day hit the Midnight Hour on D-Von for the win.
WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte (w/Ric Flair) def. Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks in a three-way match
Good pop for Sasha and a lot of Whoooos for Charlotte and Ric. Really good back and forth match. Sasha hits the corner knee drop to Charlotte and Becky. Charlotte with a double DDT and double Natural Selection. Sasha gets the Bank Statement on Charlotte, and then Becky breaks it up and puts Sasha in the Disarmer. Charlotte hits the Natural Selection on Becky to break the submission and pins Becky for a 2 count. After interference from Ric, Charlotte rolls up Becky and uses her feet on the rope for the 3 count.
The Usos def. Erick Rowan & Braun Strowman
No reaction for The Wyatts. Good initial reaction for the Usos, and then some boos mixed in. Basic match with the usual spots. Usos take out Strowman on the outside with a dive, and then hit Rowan with a superkick and uso splash for the win.
WWE Champion Roman Reigns def. Sheamus
Sheamus cuts a pre match promo bashing England and saying how the League Of Nations is stronger than ever and the weak link was an Englishmen. Reigns comes out to a mostly positive reaction but loud boos a couple of times. Good back and forth match with Sheamus beating down on Reigns. Mixed booss and cheers for Reigns when he makes his comeback. The ending saw Sheamus kick out of the Superman punch, and then Reigns kicks out of the Brogue kick. Sheamus argues with the referee, and then Reigns hits him with another Superman punch and the spear for 3. Loud pop when Reigns won. Post match, Reigns goes round ringside having photos taken with fans and signing posters.
The WWE announced today that The Undertaker would not be appearing on the U.K. tour after all.
The Undertaker’s status has changed constantly over the past week, but the announcements yesterday that HHH and Shane McMahon would be appearing on the tour is because both were going in place of Undertaker.
Undertaker was originally going to do the entire tour, then his schedule was cut to three dates, then to two, then to zero.
The show in Newcastle on Wednesday, which was going to be his only house show, was announced as having a HHH vs. Dean Ambrose main event, plus A.J. Styles vs. Chris Jericho and Kalisto vs. Ryback vs. Alberto Del Rio for the U.S. title.
The web site is also listing Kane, Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman, Kevin Owens, King Barrett, Big Show, Paige, Natalya, Goldust, Eva Marie, Damien Sandow, The Miz, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, Naomi, Tamina, R-Truth, Curtis Axel, Adam Rose, and Fandango for the show.
Rose is obviously also off the show due to his being on a 60 day suspension for a Wellness policy violation.
Results from today’s show in Birmingham, England:
Cesaro beat Stardust Sin Cara beat Tyler Breeze Jack Swagger beat Tyler Breeze Kane beat Rusev New Day beat Erick Rowan & Braun Strowman to retain the tag titles Charlotte won over Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch to keep the women’s title Usos beat Dudleys Roman Reigns beat Sheamus to retain the WWE title
Kalisto def. Heath Slater w/ Social Outcasts by pinfall
The obligatory terrible pre-match promo centres around Bo calling Kalisto “sugar face”. Yeah, I have no earthly idea why that’s supposed to be funny either.
Rich Brennan mentions that Kalisto was “banged up” on RAW, but apparently it’s feasible to recover from “minor whiplash” in 24 hours. The match was about what you’d expect from these two; exciting when Kalisto was on offence and stultifyingly dull during the heat.
Kalisto hit his usual comeback sequence, before finishing a needlessly long 11 minute match with a Salida Del Sol. The US Champion used an interfering Curtis Axel for leverage in a repeat of the finish from his match against Bo Dallas on last week’s Superstars. Way to go, creative.
– We return from the second commercial break with the defeated Outcasts still in the ring, squabbling amongst themselves. Bo breaks it up by recommending that they take their frustration out on the next man that walks to the ring. That man is Apollo Crews.
Apollo Crews def. Bo Dallas by pinfall
Crews enters to one of CFO$’ better recent entrance theme efforts, a tune that seems to fit his buoyant personality perfectly. I was tempted to say it fits his character perfectly, but he doesn’t really have one; hence the nickname ‘Smiley Black Man’ that he enjoys in this household, which helpfully marks out his only three defining characteristics.
Crews, like Kalisto, is another athletic babyface that is doomed to cycle through the Social Outcasts at the minute. He adds to his recent victories over Axel and Adam Rose by putting away Bo Dallas in a three minute squash here, finishing him with the spinning sitout powerbomb deal.
Kevin Owens def. Dolph Ziggler by pinfall
Well now, this was something to behold; unquestionably the best match that this show has produced since I started covering it last year. Owens put on a heel clinic here, with the majority of the bout focused on burnishing his new self-gifted “headlock master” moniker.
A string of Owens side headlocks kicked us off, with the former IC champion desperate to convince the referee that Dolph was conceding defeat: “He said yes, I heard him!”. Owens’ attention then turned to the old reliable reverse chinlock, with one application of the hold engaged after running the ropes to fool the fans into expecting action (Owens: “This is my new thing!”).
Ziggler eventually fought up from one of these with a back suplex (Owens: “He broke my headlock!”), before commencing a hot comeback that the crowd very much went with. Owens cut him off with a boot to the chin, before hitting a massive frog splash from the top rope for two. The former Mr. Steen roared at Jerry Lawler to tell the ref that was three, to which The King shouted back: “I agree!”.
Owens signaled for his finish, but Ziggler leaped over his shoulders instead and planted him with a superkick for an excellent nearfall that everybody (including me) bit on. This prompted the lesser-heard “This is awesome!” chant from the watching San Diego crowd.
That led us into the finish, with Owens kicking out of a schoolboy before catching a frantic Ziggler on the rebound with the Pop-Up Powerbomb for the win.
After the bell, the always insecure bully heel ran to the announce desk to shout the odds at Rich Brennan, before stealing his phone to teach him a lesson! Hilarious.
Final Thoughts
What an absolutely amazing heel performer this company possesses in Kevin Owens. The fact that they prefer to use their anointed top babyface as a tweener rather than feature the best natural bad guy at their disposal makes no sense to me. Every heel in the business should sit down and watch what this guy did with restholds for 16 minutes here. And the little nuances he adds to his character – like the need for praise from babyface announcers – are something that very few others can bring to the table either. Watch this match and skip the Social Outcasts tripe.
The WWE announced this morning that Ray Leppan (Adam Rose) and Ryan Parmeter (Konnor) have both been suspended for 60 days for a second Wellness program violation.
The suspension is effective immediately.
All violations are supposed to be announced publicly.
Both men were not on the current tour but did work the television tapings earlier in the week. The Ascension lost in the tag team tournament taped Tuesday in a first round match to Enzo & Big Cass.
WWE has in the past delayed suspensions to tie up booking issues and in the case of these two there wouldn’t have been the need for much of a delay.
Parmeter (Konnor) was suspended on a Wellness policy violation the first time in 2006 and Leppan (Rose) was suspended on a Wellness policy violation the first time in 2013.
Rose is part of the Social Outcasts group, but only Heath Slater and Bo Dallas were sent to Dubai. It is possible that Los Matadores, who haven’t been used of late and are already doing vignettes for a new gimmick without masks, were on that same tour as replacements because The Ascension would have fit into that spot.
Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez will discuss this on tonight’s new edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.
