The WWE announced today a new group of signings to developmental deals with the company.
Babatunde Alyegbusi – Alyegbusi got some publicity as something of a gimmick signing of the Minnesota Vikings last year as a 6-foot-9, 350 pound football player from Poland. He didn’t make the team, but his size got pub. The Observer had already reported his recent tryout.
Bianca Blair – Blair is a Crossfit competitor who was an All-American at the hurdles at the University of Tennessee and has been featured in a number of women’s fitness magazines.
Nikola Bogojevic – Bogojevic was a bronze medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2014 Pan American Games and was training with the Olympic wrestling team.
Carolyn Dunning – Dunning is a bikini contest competitor within the bodybuilding bikini world.
Macey Estrella – A woman wrestler who trained with American Premier Wrestling who a Marine Corps SWAT team background.
Nicola Glencross – Better known as Nikki Storm, she has wrestled all over the world including with top women’s groups like Stardom and Shine, as well as many of the U.K. based promotions.
Terrance Jean-Jacques – A 6-foot-3, 265 pound All-American wrestler from the University of Iowa and University of Rhode Island.
Deniella Kamela – Kamela was on-air talent working for Fox Sports Arizona and trained under Rikishi and Gangrel at the Knoxx Pro Wrestling School in Southern California and was a cheerleader for the Arizona Cardinals and dance team member of the Phoenix Suns.
Michael Nicholls – The Australian-based Mikey Nicholls, who agreed to the deal last year but just started at the Performance Center recently.
Shane Veryzer – Better known as Shane Haste, he and Nicholls were a tag team in Pro Wrestling NOAH and the pair have extensive experience, including winning the Tag Team of the Year award in Japan in 2013.
It’s the first Raw after WrestleMania season tonight in Los Angeles, but it promises to be an intriguing show on several levels. With the debut of Enzo Amore and Big Cass, Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin, along with the return of Cesaro, how will their second week be handled? Specifically, can the debut of Enzo and Cass be sustained, or was it a one-week sensation in front of the world’s largest gathering of insider fans in Dallas last week? Tonight’s show will also start the build towards Roman Reigns vs. A.J. Styles for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. In particular, how Styles will be treated as a will be interesting. Will he be the latest person to have his weaknesses exploited by the company? Or will he built as a worthy challenger? The Miz, after retaining the Intercontinental Championship against Zack Ryder on SmackDown, will also appear, along with the returning Maryse.
Our coverage begins at 8 ET. Please join us.
The Big News: 2nd straight show that was very good. With the best workrate roster the WWE has had in years, they focused on having good wrestling matches and delivered Sami Zayn vs. A.J. Styles & Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens, both of which were 4 stars or better. While Roman Reigns was booed once again, they did have creative booking for an intriguing main event for Bray Wyatt teamed with Reigns to defeat the League of Nations’ team of Alberto del Rio and Sheamus. Also, Karl Anderson and Drew Gallows made their debut with a run-in to attack the Usos. There’s a tag team tournament to crown the number one contenders to face the New Day at Payback, which included the Usos and the Dudley Boyz advancing tonight. They’re already teasing the Dudleys vs. Enzo and Big Cass in the semifinals.
Show Recap:
The show was dedicated to Blackjack Mulligan.
Shane McMahon came out and was given control for last night’s show because of increased social media activity. He sounded odd like he was nursing an injured jaw or some sort of intestinal injury. He announced Natalya would face Charlotte for the WWE Women’s Championship, there would be a tournament for a new #1 contender to face the WWE World Tag Team Championship, and he congratulated A.J. Styles on winning the Fatal Fourway last way to face Roman Reigns. But Shane said Sami Zayn didn’t get a chance to fight in the fourway, so Zayn would wrestle Styles tonight. If Zayn wins, then the Styles vs. Reigns match would become a Three Way Championship match.
This brought out Kevin Owens, who said if Shane thinks Zayn deserves that opportunity, he must have knocked a few screws loose jumping off of the Hell in a Cell. Shane said Owens has had opportunities and lost them, like when he lost the Intercontinental Championship to Zack Ryder. Owens complained about not getting a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship and demanded it right now. Shane said Owens had to earn that shot against Cesaro, and the winner gets the Miz for the I-C belt.
Cesaro defeated Kevin Owens to become the new #1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship (14:47)
Excellent match where Cesaro pinned Owens with a Neutralizer. Owens hit a frog splash for a two count. Cesaro’s left shoulder was taped, and the match revolved around Owens’ offense onto that arm. Later, Cesaro tried the Cesaro Swing, but could only do three rotations because of the injured shoulder. Owens tried the Pop-Up Power Bomb, but Cesaro escaped over Owens, rolled him into a Sunset Flip into the finish. Cesaro’s ring entrance is now a takeoff of James Bond, where he comes out in a three-piece suit with target hairs following up in the background, then he strips off the suit to reveal his wrestling trunks. Really good opener.
Charlotte talked to Ric Flair backstage upset she was having to defend her title tonight against Natalya. Flair said it was all Shane’s fault. It led to Dr. Phil making his first apperance. The crowd booed Dr. Phil, who told Charlotte he was disgusted that she had to rely on her father’s cheating in order to win and to stand on her own two feet. Charlotte didn’t want to hear that and walked off. Flair acted incredulous and started to shout “Whooo!” into Phil’s face. But Phil screamed “Whoo” at Flair, stunning the Nature Boy. This was so well scripted, fans were with Phil by the end.
Owens confronted Shane backstage and threatened to go after Zayn again. Shane said Owens would be escorted out of the building by security in order to keep it from happening again.
The New Day came out. Xavier Woods said the WWE tag team division was on fire like a game of NBA Jam. Big E. said the tag team tournament would be sponsored by Booty-Os.
The Dudley Boyz defeated Lucha Dragons to advance int he WWE Tag Team #1 Contenders Tournament (3:15)
Bubba Ray Dudley pinned Sin Cara after a 3-D. Kalisto got injured legitimately when he took a terrible bump over the top rope and appeared to injure his shoulder. Trainers were by his side the whole way. It looked like one of those bad roller derby bumps from the 70s when a skater didn’t catch themselves going over the rail.
Enzo and Big Cass came out to confront the Dudleys. Good response for Enzo and Cass as the fans knew who they were, but it wasn’t nearly on the level of last week. Devon Dudley told them they owed their creation to the Dudley boyz. Enzo shot back they owed their creation when his mother and father got it on. Cass gave the Saft catchphrase.
Owens was shown being escorted out of the building by security.
Reigns came out to a big-time negative reception. He got mostly cheered in San Diego in December, but this crowd was nowhere near as generous. He let the boos sink in for awhile and gave the exact same line about being “The guy” he gave last week. Reigns mention of Styles got cheered. Regins said he had respect for Styles and Zayn, but neither one of them had ever won THE championship.
The League of Nations came out. Sheamus wondered how confident Reigns would be if he had to face a member of the League of Nations at Payback. Sheamus talked about being stronger than ever after they kicked King Barrett out of the League of Nations, and they weren’t happy about being left out of the number one contender’s match last week. Rusev said he was better looking than Reigns and he should be the face of the WWE. Reigns said Rusev just proved he was the ass of the WWE. Alberto Del Rio started talking and cheered. Reigns challenged them to all come down and get their asses kicked.
The heels all jumped on Reigns, but the Wyatt Family appeared. Bray Wyatt, Erick Roawn and Braun Strowman cleared the ring quickly. Reigns looked uncertain to see the Wyatts in the ring. Shane came out and ordered a match between two members of the League of Nations against Wyatt and Reigns in a tag team match.
Another vignette from Primo and Epico, or whatever they will be named underr this new gimmick. They sniffed hibiscus, the official flower of Puerto Rico. They said you can’t grow flowers like hibiscus anywhere in America, so come visit Puerto Rico. From Los Boricuas to Los Matadores to Carlito and Santino Morella, failing to get Puerto Rico tag teams over has been a time-honored WWE tradition for 20 years now. And the next chapter is before us.
Natalya defeated Charlotte (C) by DQ, so Charlotte retains the WWE Women’s Championship (10:55)
Dr. Phil was at ringside. Another good match with Charlotte that had heat. Fans want to see her lose, which means her father’s lessons of being a heat-magnet heel for 40 years is rubbing off. Natalya nearly made Charlotte tap out with a Sharpshooter, but Flair pulled the referee out of the ring, just as Charlotte was tapping. The referee disqualified Charlotte. Earlier, Charlotte put Natalya into the sharpshooter, leading to a rope break. Phil was interviewed by Byron Saxton afterwards, saying he was disappointed that Charlotte had to rely on her father again to retain the championship. He tried putting over the women’s division, but it was clear he was just reeling off lines that were fed to him beforehand as he couldn’t name one other women’s wrestler on the roster aside from the one he was involved in the skit with.
Zayn did a promo with Renee Young. He got in that lame “Underdog from the Underground” line again. He said he’s been trying to get to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship all his career and he didn’t come this far to lose. Styles walked in. He looked four inches shorter than Zayn. Styles told Zayn he’s the only number one contender and he plans on keeping it that way.
The Usos defeated Social Outcasts to advance in the WWE Tag Team #1 Contenders Tournament (4:16)
Jimmy Uso pinned Curtis Axel after a schoolboy cradle after Axel started doing the Bo Train with Heath Slater, Bo Dallas and Adam Rose.
Postmatch, Karl Anderson and Luke (not Doc) Gallows ran out of the crowd and gave Jimmy Uso the Magic Killer. They threw Jimmy Uso around
Maryse dressed down a stage manager who gave her and the Miz a bowl of M&Ms. Miz’s contract called for no blue M&Ms. That’s a takeoff of the old Van Halen backstage tale about having a contract that included a clause about not being served brown M&Ms before or after concerts. David Lee Roth once said he included that clause in the contact just to see if anyone read those contracts. Maryse also scolded the manager for included domestic bottled water instead of French water. Meanwhile, Miz was sitting back with cucumber slices on his eyes. Jojo came in to ask Miz about a possible rematch with Ryder. Miz said he drives to work in an Audi 5000 while Ryder goes on the Long Island subway on his father’s pass. As for Cesaro, he said he had the Swiss Superman’s Kryptonite. He tried that line in a deeper voice twice, with Maryse reeling off the take numbers. Then Cesaro showed up and said he would roll out the red carpet for all the uppercuts he would throw on the Miz at Payback. Miz and Maryse are really a great tandem.
A.J. Styles defeated Sami Zayn to keep the main event at Payback a singles match (16:44)
Another terrific match. Styles won with the Phenonemal Forearm after Zayn failed to hit the Helluva Kick. Zayn hit the Blue Thunder bomb for a near fall that got the crowd involved after a bit of a lull. Fans did dueling chants as they exchanged the early holds. Styles clamped on the calf crusher but Zayn made the ropes. I guess the mindset here was to get Styles strong for the main event at Payback. Zayn had so much offense he wasn’t hurt doing the job.
WWE regular Seth Green was at ringside.
Styles and Zayn talked backstage when Shane walked in putting over both men for the previous match. Styles and Zayn slapped hands.
Chris Jericho hosted the latest edition of the Highlight Reel. Jericho said his guest tonight was the biggest star in WWE history…it was him. Fans would learn more about Jericho than they would ever had before. He started interviewing himself about how he became so successful. He offered fans the Gift of Jericho and offered them a chance to drink it in. He posed with his arms open. Jericho talked about being the first undisputed world champion after beating the Rock and Steve Austin in one night. Jericho’s reply mentioned beating Styles at WrestleMania, and said there was no one on the roster who could touch him right now.
Dean Ambrose interrupted him and came out with a potted plant and looked for a place to put it. Ambrose said it was his show now. Jericho didn’t know what he was talking about, but Ambrose pulled out a memo from Shane. Jericho said it was a speeding ticket. Ambrose took the paper back and handed him another memo. Jericho read the Highlight Reel has been cancelled and replaced by the Ambrose Asylum. Ambrose put on a clip-on tie, hung a posterboard sign over the Jeritron 5000 and introduced Jericho. Ambrose wanted to know what was up with Jericho’s scarf. Jericho got into his Javier Bardem voice, said the scarf cost $750 and said he doesn’t play by anybody’s rules but his own. Jericho said Ambrose should be smart or he would bury him. Jericho told Ambrose to get out of his ring. Ambrose said “So you aren’t going to tell us about the scarf?” Jericho slapped the microphone out of Ambrose’s hands. Ambrose gave Jericho Dirty Deeds. So the postponed Jericho-Ambrose program is on. Hopefully it will have a point, because in retrospect I have no clue what the point of the Ambrose-Brock Lesnar feud was.
It was announced that Goldust and R-Truth would team together for the resumption of the tag team tournament on Smackdown. Goldust confronted Truth saying Truth told him that were going to Los Angeles for an audition. Truth explained the tag team tournament was the audition. Goldust said they weren’t a tag team. Truth said he took someone’s advice, then looked over to Dr. Phil, who stated to say something. But Goldust’s outfit left him speechless and he just walked away.
Apollo Crews defeated Adam Rose (3:30)
Apollo Crews pinned Rose after a Spin Out Power Bomb. Crews really needs a good promo or else he’ll be another smiling babyface.
Another promo from the Puerto Rico boys, the Shining Star of the Carribbean appears to be the tag team name.
Wyatt did a promo saying that even though he despises everything that Reigns stands for, they appear to have an unbreakable bond. Wyatt, with a eerie smile, said Reigns could trust him.
Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt defeated Alberto del Rio and Sheamus (11:05)
Wyatt pinned Del Rio with Sister Abigail. It was clear the fans in L.A. wanted to turn Del Rio face. They also cheered whenever the heels got offense on Reigns. Fans were really into Wyatt as a babyface, who got the comeback after Reigns sold the majority of the match. When Reigns was setting up for the hot tag, Wyatt did a great tease of turning on Reigns, only to stick his hand out for the tag. Rowan and Strowman came out to brawl with Rusev near the end. Fans had no idea how to react to Rowan and Strowman at all. With Wyatt’s pending face turn, it appears Strowman has gone from being a potential Undertaker opponent to being the dancing hillbilly everyone thought he would eventually become. An interesting match from a booking standpoint and another good one.
Reigns and Wyatt engaged in a staredown as the screen faded to black as Wyatt grinned and Reigns looked concerned.
SUMMARY:
A strong show. Best top-to-bottom match quality show in quite sometime. It’s odd that the least over person on the roster holds the World Championship. The good news is the company’s depth has improved drastically since the start of the year, and it’s truly apparent now with Styles, Zayn, Cesaro, Crews, Owens and enough good tag teams to make up a tournament to face the New Day.
Simple match with Jose pinning Moss clean for the victory
Elias Sampson vs. Corey Hollis
Hollis being from Charleston got a huge pop! Crowd chanted “Play Freebird” at Sampson so he started playing it and made the lyrics heelish by taunting the crowd. Sampson pins Hollis clean for the victory.
Carmella vs. Eva Marie
Pre-match, Carmella walked around ring with a fans sign “Eva sucks”. Eva pins Carmella with the help of putting her feet on the ropes. Post match, Carmella punishes Eva Marie until she rolls out of the ring.
Blake vs. Alex Riley
Nothing special. Riley pinned Blake clean for the victory.
NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha vs. The Revival
Great storytelling match. This match drew my non-wrestling fan wife in and she loved it. Alpha retains belts over Revival via pinfall.
Intermission for 20 minutes. Crowd pops loud for a picture of Bayley on the screen.
Austin Aries vs. Manny Andrade
Manny won the crowd over big time. He moonsaulted off the middle rope, landed on his feet and flipped into a backflip on Aries. Maybe the biggest pop of the night for that move. Aries pinned Manny for the victory and post-match, the contenders shook hands. Aries gets on the mic and puts over Manny although Manny has already won the crowd over during the match.
NXT Women’s Champion Asuka vs. Peyton Royce
Royce controlled most of the match but Asuka wins in the end via submission with the Asuka lock.
Tye Dillinger and Baron Corbin vs. Nakamura and NXT Champion Finn Balor
Crowd chants “take your shirt off” at Corbin because he is wrestling in a shirt. Match stops and he finally takes shirt off to reveal a second shirt under that. Crowd pops. Balor’s offense was Flair chop heavy and he did the Flair strut a few times during the match. Of course crowd loves it. Balor pins Dillinger for the victory. Balor and Nakamura get on the mic post match and thank the fans and NXT universe for the support.
Jose got the crowd going with chants early on. He and Blake worked the crowd for a good 3 minutes before they locked up. The crowd chanted Jose to the tune of Sami Zayn’s Ole, and “Hey, we want some Jose”. Jose was a good comedy character and did some comedy spots with Blake. The match was good for an opening match to get the crowd going. Jose won with a wind up baseball pitch punch to Blake’s head.
Riddick Moss d. John Skyler
Riddick came out with the mic and cut a generic “this town sucks” promo. Skylar came out and is from Columbia, SC, apparently. He was mildly over throughout the match. No mention of why Patrick Clark got swapped out. The match was very bare bones like a tryout match. At the start, Riddick wanted the ref to take his vest off. He turns his back and Skyler takes it off for him, then poses with it. He then teases a toss the vest to the crowd spot, then tosses it to Riddick and dropkicks him to start the match. The match was very basic, but Riddick got the majority of the offense in. Riddick pinned Skyler while holding onto the ropes. I don’t know how the ref didn’t see it, since from my angle it looked like he was looking right at it.
Carmella d. Peyton Royce
Carmella cut her standard promo before the match. She said that she wasn’t the Queen of Staten Island today, but the Queen of Columbia. This match was slow and painful. Crowd wasn’t really into it. Lots of holds, lots of slow kicks from Royce. Carmella eventually won in a short match.
Elias Sampson d. Alex Riley
Elias comes in from the crowd to boos. He gets in the ring and cuts a short promo about the city. He then starts playing for a couple of seconds before being interrupted by Alex Riley. This match had the longest chinlock spot ever: at least 8 minutes of Samson putting a chinlock on Riley. They teased Riley breaking from it multiple times to no avail. The crowd was really turning on the match until the very end of the chinlock spot where they started getting into it. Then, Riley broke out and the crowd really didn’t react that much. It was like they wanted to see how long the chinlock was gonna last. This match was decent and Samson gets a lot of heat. Riley is overlooked by the crowd. Samson wins with his neckbreaker finisher.
NXT Tag Champions American Alpha d. The Revival
This was by far the best match and the one the crowd reacted to the most. AA come off as stars and were so hot with the crowd throughout the entire match. The match itself was almost like a repeat of the Takeover match, with the same spots being repeated, like Dash and Dawson holding onto each other while they get German Suplexed. It was still very fun.
During the match, either Dash of Dawson inside cradled Gable and pinned him. The crowd was stunned silent for about 3 seconds until Drake reversed his decision when he realized the wrong Revival member was in and kept the match going. AA then did their spots and hit Grand Amplitude for the win. Crowd is ecstatic.
NXT Women’s Champion Asuka d. Eva Marie
Eva was booed coming out, but during the match, she was cheered quite a bit. However, it felt more like the crowd was cheering Eva to spite the fans who were booing her. There was a “You Can’t Wrestle/Yes She Can” dueling chant going on with both sides equally loud. Eva worked heel throughout the match. She got a lot of offense in, it was pretty much evenly split. The match was decent. Eva didn’t botch any moves. Asuka put a lot of work in though wrestling circles around eva. Asuka won when she transitioned the armbar into the Asuka lock.
Shinsuke Nakamura d. Manny Andrade
Manny came out first and got a pretty mild reaction while Nakamura came out like a star, People overwhelmingly cheered Nakamura. The match was really good but was short because it was a house show. I think it went no longer than 12 minutes. As the match went on, there’s blood on the side of Nakamura’s head, and the match is stopped. The doctors came out to work on Nakamura causing the crowd to chant “PG Sucks” among other things.
They worked on Nakamura for a long time, and I thought he might actually not be okay. Then Nakamura started thumping his foot against the ring to get the crowd going and then he went after Manny. He didn’t seem affected by his time on the ground. Manny did a lot of lucha moves that got under Nakamura’s skin throughout the match. When Manny would hit a lucha move, Nakamura would immediately go outside and sell for a bit.
Manny did a moonsault off the stage ramp onto a standing Nakamura on the floor. Manny didn’t much of a reaction until he did the Kota Ibushi spot. The moonsault off the rope that misses and then follows up with another moonsault. It got a nearfall and the crowd popped and chanted for Manny. Nakamura then quickly cut him off and hit the Kinshasa for the win. It was a good match that could’ve been a lot better if given the time.
NXT Champion Finn Balor and Austin Aries d. Baron Corbin and Tye Dillinger
Tye comes out first and starts talking about Columbia and himself and how he’s a perfect ten. He hypes up Corbin as his partner. Corbin comes and keeps his shirt on. He kept his shirt on for the entirety of the match despite the pleas from the crowd to take it off. Finn and Aries hit the ring and Finn cuts a promo hyping up Corbin on his debut and winning the Battle Royale. He then says that he’s gonna throw Corbin over the rope tonight in Columbia.
The match starts and it revolves around whether Corbin or Finn will throw the other over the top rope. Corbin throws Aries over very early on, grabs the mic and says to Finn, “See how easy it was for me to throw that little guy over the top rope, now im gonna do it to you”. The match is good, Tye takes around 70% of the offense for Finn/Aries. Finn and Aries trade getting the heat from Corbin throughout the match. Then Finn hits slingblade on Corbin and Corbin staggers to the rope. Finn then finally clotheslines Corbin over the rope. Aries dives outside onto Corbin.
Finn hits the Sling Blade on Tye, then hits the Blood Sunday for the win. Finn then gets the crowd to sing Nah Nah Nah Nah Wave Goodbye to Corbin. After the match, Aries and Finn get the ref (not drake) to toss Tye over the rope and he does to much applause. This was a really good show overall, wish some matches got more time than others.
After a scare, Shinsuke Nakamura seemed to be okay and finished his match tonight.
Nakamura was wrestling Manny Andrade, the former La Sombra, in Columbia, SC tonight during a WWE NXT Live Event. Andrade did a moonsault off the top rope to the floor and Nakamura was down. The match was stopped for two minutes as medical officials were attending to him.
Nakamura was able to get up and finish the match.
We’re waiting for an update but I believe he did suffer a significant cut during the move.
Nakamura and Sombra had a program together in both Japan and Mexico in 2013 where Nakamura lost the IWGP IC title to Sombra at Arena Mexico, but regained it later in the year. The program established Sombra as a star outside of Mexico.
Both guys are pretty green, but this was a prelim house show match. Jose got some solid chanting, and has a Latin baseball player’s walk-up music. Lots of dancing and then he won the match with a baseball pitching wind-up punch.
Elias Samson defeated John Skyler
As soon as Samson’s music hit, the place starts booing. He cut a promo and sang a song but the sound at floor level was not great, so you could not really make anything out. Skyler is from Concord but fans were more focused on booing Samson. Lots of “drift away” and “you can’t wrestle” chants.
Alex Riley defeated Blake
No Murphy or Alexa with Blake who is pretty dead without them. Lots of “Where’s Alexa?” chants. Alex Riley smiled at the “young Triple H!” chants, commenting on his look, but that’s about the only good thing to say about this. Riley won the match, but I’m not sure anyone was the better for it.
Eva Marie defeated Carmella
Carmella out first to a huge pop. Eva came out to tremendous heat and boos, but you can tell the crowd loves booing her and she loves getting that reaction. Lot of knee-in-the-back rest holds from Eva to Carmella. Carmella got her comeback, but Eva got the win by keeping her feet on the bottom rope. Carmella left, but came back and hit her finisher on Eva to pop the crowd.
NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha defeated The Revival
Gable is great, but I was most impressed by Jordan, Dash, and Dawson. Revival got lots of heat on Gable and were bantering back and forth with the crowd. They were sarcastic and heelish, and it was great. Jordan got his babyface comeback and took off the shoulder straps, then later in the match emphatically put them back on and immediately got fired up and took them back off — to the roar of the crowd.
Spot of the night was a new one for this match-up (from what I can tell) where Gable was in the corner and one member of Revival tries to schoolboy him, but Gable has his arms around the other Revival member and suplexes him. Alpha wins, but no signature finisher.
– Short promo from Tom Phillips and Dasha Fuentes about merch & and then intermission.
Austin Aries defeated Manny Andrade
Manny out to generic Latin music and very little reaction — but that would change by the end of the match. Most people, including NXT fans, may not know who Manny is/was and how good he is. Very quiet during the first half of the match, but some of the best wrestling of the night. Aries had the crowd support at first but credit to him for getting Manny over. By the time this match was done, Manny was the star leaving the ring. Aries pinned him but helped up him and pointed at Manny in a way that let the fans know the former La Sombra is the real deal.
NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Peyton Royce
Peyton Royce out with new heel music, attire, and heel mannerisms. She has a small flower she carries with her and smells from time to time. Asuka was out but had no belt. Eva Marie came out before the match got underway, carrying the “belt” underneath a blanket, challenging Asuka to a match for the title at NXT Columbia the next night.
The crowd loved Asuka, and was really one of the best on this show tonight. Peyton got a lot of offense in, but Asuka tapped her out to the Asuka Lock. Asuka then asked for a mic and in confident English said “Eva, I’m going to kick your ass.”
NXT Champion Finn Balor/Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Tye Dillinger/Baron Corbin
Wildly entertaining man event. Dillinger out first and the “10” gimmick is over. He cut a promo about how this crowd/show is a 4 but since he’s a 10, he’ll give them a perfect match and perfect victory. Corbin out next and the banter was excellent. Nakamura out third and the crowd made known who they came to see. The entire arena could not have been more excited to see him live. Finn Balor still wildly popular as NXT champ and cheered but not as big as Nakamura. Corbin worked the match with his shirt on and bantered with the crowd, rubbing his fingers together to show the only way he’d take it off would be for money.
Finn was up first and the crowd erupted when he tagged in Nakamura. Tye and Baron tagged in and out to delay eventually facing him. Lots of the usual Nakamura spots like the vibrating stomp, knees and kicks, but you don’t even care if you’ve seen it before because it’s so great live. His facial features sell it even further.
Since Concord is just outside of Charlotte, the Flair chops were used heavily. Finn hit Tye with chops and then went FULL-Flair and started strutting and WOO!-ing. He sold it like he had dreamed of working the Carolinas as Flair as a kid. The Flair spots culminated in a perfect Flair-flop from Dillinger and the crowd laughed uproariously and applauded. Nothing bad but nothing memorable from Corbin. After some grappling, Nakamura hit Tye with a knee strike from the top rope and tagged Finn who hit the Bloody Sunday for the pin.
Finn and Nakamura celebrated, and then Balor grabbed the mic and cut a promo. He was very passionate and said that after ‘Mania there were a lot of tired, sore, and even some homesick wrestlers, but crowds like tonight make them want to go out and not let anyone down. The crowd appreciated the candor. He then handed the mic to Shinsuke who said he only had one thing to say: “YEAOH!” — and the entire crowd did it with him.
Fun moment after the match: Finn grabbed a fan’s sign and held it up to all sides of the ring. The sign read “WHERE ARE DOC AND KARL?”
Welcome to the biggest party of the year, the Total Divas after WrestleMania, where up is down and down is out of control. Sit back, strap it on, and enjoy yourself, WWE Universe, because this is going to be one hell of a wild ride.
In Cincinnati, JoJo, Mandy, and Rosa are sitting around in catering talking about Rosa’s baby shower. Paige sits at another table. She has too much on her plate to deal with baby stuff. Rosa and Fox go sit with her and try to make her talk about Rosa’s big, famous baby shower.
Brie shows Nikki a picture of a house in Washington. Nikki is so mad that Brie wants to move to Washington. Nikki is excited to go to the wine bar there, but she wants to wear heeled Timberlands when they go hiking.
Someone spanks Nattie.
Work has been going great for Fox, but due to Nikki’s injury, she is getting some time off, too. Which is good for her, because she has some family issues to take care of.
In a hotel bar, Fox and Paige have a drink and commiserate. Fox is so tired. Her family is coming in and she wants to have a family talk. A father figure in her life, Priechy, who her mother used to date, is dying, and it’s making her realize she has to deal with all the dysfunction. Paige tells Fox that she has to talk to her family. Fox is going to miss Rosa’s big, famous baby shower.
In a car in Washington, Brie’s brother points out a bumper sticker with a dick joke. Everyone loves it. Nikki likes Washington, but she hates how rural it is. Brie and Nikki argue over how high maintenance Nikki is. Bryan joins in.
Back in Florida, Fox tells Rosa she can’t go to her big, famous baby shower. Rosa doesn’t understand. She gets upset and walks away.
In Washington, they are in the backwoods, on a dirt road. It’s beautiful. Nikki hates it. She is wearing high heeled camping boots. Nikki is crazy. They are looking at an empty lot. Bryan and Brie consider building a house there. Nikki is pissed because she doesn’t want to go there when John is filming a movie.
In Florida, Fox is driving with her sister. She starts crying really hard, talking about her mother. Her mom recently blew her off in Houston. Her sister calms her down.
Back in Washington, the music is intense as everyone pulls up to a beautiful house where if you want water, you have to get it from a well. Nikki is pissed, and Bryan acts passive aggressive. Nikki tells everyone she is a good person.
In Florida, Fox’s mom arrives. They reminisce in the car. Fox and her sister don’t like their mom’s perfume. It smells gross.
At Raw, Rosa is backstage. She sits down with Mandy and Eva. No one is going to Rosa’s big, famous baby shower. Paige has a secret that she’s been hiding and she needs to tell it to Rosa. In the ring, Paige symbolically taps out to Nattie’s Sharpshooter. Big Show thinks Paige looks sad. He comforts her backstage and pulls her aside for a pep talk. Paige reveals that she once lost a baby, and that she had to have a cyst removed and she may never be able to have kids. That’s why Rosa’s big, famous baby shower thing has been so hard for her.
In Florida, Fox and her family go to a really nice outdoor restaurant right on the beach. It’s the kind of place you go on vacation, but Fox can eat there whenever she wantsbecause she lives in town. I’m getting so chilled out just imagining being there. This is, by far and away, my favorite place I have ever seen anyone ever eat on Total Divas. It’s a shame that this has to be the place for Fox to hold her big family meeting, and she can’t just relax with a cold drink. But maybe the chill vibes are just what she needs to make a tense situation manageable for her. I think she made a great choice in restaurants. Priechy shows up. Fox’s mom already knew about his illness, but she never told her daughters. This pisses Fox off.
Back in Washington, Nikki and Bryan make a bet that she can’t last the night camping outside. Nikki tries to set up a tent, but she’s having trouble. Bryan teaches her and shegets it. Bryan tells her she has to use the bathroom outside. Nikki says no way, and Bryan wins the bet and fifty dollars in cold, hard cash.
In Los Angeles, Rosa and Paige are driving around. Paige tells Rosa that she can’t go to Rosa’s big, famous baby shower because she has to go on MTV. Rosa is so pissed.No one is coming to the party now.
In Washington, Bryan is chopping wood. Nikki remembers her victory over Bryan in a wood chopping contest many years ago on another season of Total Divas. Thisawakens the competitive fire in Nikki’s heart, and she decides she wants to go fly fishing. Nikki chops wood.
In Florida, the Fox family are going to another chill looking outdoor restaurant in Jacksonville. This episode is doing a great job making me want to move to Florida. Fox confronts her.
In Washington, Nikki goes fishing and Brie and Bryan go shopping. Brie comments on the irony. They look at baby hiking books. Meanwhile, Nikki is learning to fish. She isstarting to come around to the Washington lifestyle. She realizes that her problem isn’t with Washington, it’s that everyone is moving to the next step in their lives, but she isn’t ready yet.
Back in Florida, Fox and her mom leave the restaurant, and start fighting. Her mom is acting like a total nut. Fox feels guilty, but she really doesn’t need to. Her mom appearsin this episode as the dictionary definition of dysfunctional. Fox drops her mom off, and she is really sad about what happened.
Back in LA, It’s time for Rosa’s big, famous baby shower. There is a photo booth. Rosa is so sad that none of her work friends are there. She is especially mad at Paige. Lillian Garcia shows up, and they take a picture together.
On the MTV set, a strange guy talks to Paige. Paige feels like she is betraying Rosa. Perhaps all the Divas’ problems would be solved with a little truth and transparency.
At Rosa’s party, Rosa talks smack about Paige, and then Paige surprises everyone and shows up. Paige tells Rosa her secret. They hug, and Rosa realizes she’s been a little selfish. Paige hopes to one day be a mom, as good of a mom as she has. They play a game called suck the nipple.
Back in Washington, everyone goes to this really nice North Western styled bistro. Nikki loves it. She tells Brie she is pissed that Washington is too far from her. Nikki tells them she feels like they are moving there to get away from her. She said she went fishing to prove to them that she can be a mountain mama and hang with them in the Wilderness. They tell her that they love having Nikki be their third wheel. Everyone feels a lot better. Brie tells them that they probably aren’t going to move to that particular town anyway.
WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) beat The Ascension with the Midnight Hour
Baron Corbin beat Fandango with the End of Days
Paige beat Emma with the Ram-Paige. Good match. They had time, much more than the three previous matches. The crowd was really behind Paige. Greg Hamilton announced the match as a women’s division match
SmackDown:
– WWE Champion Roman Reigns opened the show. Because it’s more of a casual crowd than the ones for Mania and Raw, he got a lot more cheers than the previous nights. Actually, it might have been 50-50, with kids and women cheering for him. He used the “I’m not a bad guy. I’m not a good guy. I’m THE guy” line again. He said what matters to him was to beat AJ Styles.
Styles came out to a huge pop and a big chant of “AJ Styles” when he got in the ring. He shook hands with Reigns congratulating him for the title, saying Roman had a good WrestleMania, but that he had a heck of a Monday Night Raw. Reigns told him that to be THE champ, he needs to beat THE guy. He said that Styles beat guys all over the world, but he never beat him, and he will never be. He tapped him on the shoulder and left.
– The Vaudevillans beat Lucha Dragons with the Gentleman’s Congress
Weird thing. The Vaudevillains’ music started, but after 20 seconds or so, it stopped. Then, after a minute, the Lucha Dragons’ theme started and they made their entrance. Obviously, someone messed up in the back and mixed up the order. Apparently, the music mess-up was not a mistake and just a teaser. The Vaudevillains got very little reaction. Those who were reacting were clapping to the sound of the music, only to realize that they were not babyfaces. Clearly, a lot of the fans didn’t know who they were.
– Natalya beat Summer Rae with the Sharpshooter in a short match. Charlotte and Ric were doing commentary for this match. They are building Natalya as the next contender.
– Intercontinental champion The Miz beat Zack Ryder
Maryse removed one of the bottom corners and threw it in the ring. As Charles Robinson was trying to put it back, Miz raked Ryder’s eyes and hit the Skull-Crushing Finale for the win. Good match, and the crowd got into it.
Maryse got her own entrance, the old one she used to have. She cut a promo, saying her name was Maryse, but that everyone should know that, and that she’s the living proof that behind every great man there’s a great woman and there’s no greater man than her husband. She then introduced The Miz. Ryder didn’t get much of a reaction during his entrance, but it got better during the match. Maryse got some heat during her promo.
– Social Outcasts played a game of rock, scissors and paper to decide who would face Apollo Crews. Curtis Axel had paper while the others all had scissors, but said it was actually an axe, therefore he’s in the match.
– Apollo Crews beat Curtis Axel with a spin-out power bombeat in a total squash match.
– We got two big screen interviews: Baron Corbin did a short one saying the end of days is here, and Becky Lynch saying she would be back in the title picture. Emma cut her off and made fun of her black eye. I guess that’s the next program for both of them. We also got another Colon “Greetings from Puerto Rico” vignette.
– Dean Ambrose beat Tyler Breeze in basically a squash match.
– Cesaro & AJ Styles beat Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens
Cesaro clotheslined Jericho and both ended up outside. Cesaro then hit a European uppercut on Jericho. As Owens was to throw Styles in the ropes for the pop up powerbomb, Sami Zayn made his way to the ring. He had his left elbow wrapped up and was followed by some referees trying to stop him. Styles schooled boy Owens for the pin. Following that, they did a pull apart between Owens and Zayn.
– The Dudleys then came to the ring and attacked AJ. Roman Reigns came to clean house. Reigns and Styles were alone in the ring and looked at each other for a long time before they finally shook hands. Jericho took the mic and asked AJ to shake his hands in apology for calling him Y2Jackass. Styles hit the Styles Clash on him, followed by Reigns’ Superman punch.
The Raw after WrestleMania, usually the highest rated episode of the year, did 4.08 million viewers, down from 5.35 million for the same show in 2015.
The number was the largest for the show since the day after the Royal Rumble (when Dwayne Johnson made an appearance) and was only the second show to hit four million viewers on average since June.
However, the number is well below what would have been expected for the show. For a comparison, the audience grew 1.2 million viewers from the go-home Mania show to the day after Mania show last year, while this year, the increase was just 318,000 viewers.
Raw was fourth for the night on cable, and all three shows that beat it were focused on the NCAA championship game on TBS. The game did 13.85 million viewers, the pregame show did 9.67 million viewers, and the postgame show did 4.97 million viewers. The basketball barely impacted ABC’s Dancing With the Stars which did 11.72 million viewers, down from 11.97 million the week before.
RAW had a familiar pattern with the big drop in the third hour when the game was in its second half. RAW’s main event was a #1 contender’s match between AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Cesaro, and Chris Jericho.
Tonight is the most anticipated Raw of the year, the famed Night After WrestleMania show where the fans who traveled in often take over the program, leading to a wild evening of live television. Now the question is, after building up to WrestleMania for three months, where does the company go from here and who do they trust? It’s a given that Roman Reigns will get a profoundly negative reception after his victory over HHH to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for the third time. In regards to the Authority, the usual pattern is the night after they lose in a blowoff match, they get their heat back immediately. Perhaps Stephanie McMahon will return with her WrestleMania haircut as Aunty Entity from Mad Max Beyond Thuderdome as an added bonus.
Our coverage starts tonight at 8 ET.
The Big News: More than just a night after WrestleMania show, this felt like a milestone program where new stars debuted. And playing in front of a crowd that instantly got acts over, it made for as good a 3-hour Raw as possible. There were negatives, namely in the first hour. Shane McMahon was given “control” of the show by Vince McMahon, which is exactly what Vince was fighting against for weeks. There was no trace of the Authority. After winning the Intercontinental Championship last night, Zack Ryder dropped the title to the Miz after Maryse returned to distract Ryder. Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin, Enzo and Big Cass all debuted from NXT. Of that group, Enzo and Cass made a huge sensation and felt like guys who could be top faces. A.J. Styles will be the next challenger for Roman Reigns after winning an excellent four-way match against Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens and the returning Cesaro, who also came off like a potential star if the company will only let him.
Michael Cole said right at the top that the fans would be different from the standard Raw crowds, with JBL and Byron Saxton saying they were having fun.
Roman Reigns came out for his victory speech. No…..Vince McMahon came out. The fans even sang his theme song. Vince gloated over the Undertaker’s victory over Shane McMahon, but admitted when Shane climbed to the top of the Hell in a Cell, Vince thought to himself “Don’t do it.” He had no idea Shane would risk he life to achieve his goals, but it also reminded him of how foolish Shane was. Vince said this Raw would be one the fans never forgot.
Before Vince could leae, Shane came out. He was carried out on a stretcher last night and he gradually walked out. Vince thought Shane would be in a hospital bed. Crowd chanted “Thank you, Shane.” Shane, who had a scare on his left eye, said he was the only man in the family, he came out to shake his hand like a man and admit his father won. Shane thanked the fans and started to tear up. Fans chanted “You still got it.” Vince chastized the fans, saying it was because of them that Shane got the hell beat out of him. Shane then said goodbye.
Vince got mad and accused Shane of upstaging him. Vince said he thought of how crazy it would be for Shane to run Monday Night Raw. Fans chanted “Let him run it.” Vince said, to prove his point, he told Shane to run the show tonight. And with that, the point of last night’s match, in addition to five weeks worth of buildup, was largely rendered pointless.
The New Day came out next and the fans chanted along with Big E’s introduction routine. Big E. admitted that not everything went according to plan last night for them, but Kofi Kingston acknowledged getting to twerk with Shawn Michaels. Kingston also admitted Xavier Woods got stunned by Steve Austin. They held up the last flake of the giant box of “Booty-O’s,” and Woods held it up and sang in tongues last he was Indiana Jones holding the prized grail from “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Fans knew the catchphrases before Big E. could even say them, and everyone looked elated at the response they got. Came off like they were the modern day New Age Outlaws or Edge and Christian.
The New Day (C) defeated King Barrett and Sheamus to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles (8:45)
Kingston pinned King Barrett after the Midnight Hour. Barrett collided with Sheamus before the finish. As will be the case all night long, the match was a backdrop for the crowd, who started doing the wave and chanted “We are Awesome” only a half hour into the show. Woods had to get on the PA mic and say the wave meant the fans liked Sheamus. That stopped the wave dead in its tracks.
Postmatch, Sheamus said the League of Nations are a group of elite athletes that should be champions, but aren’t. He said it was time to identify the weak link. Rusev and Alberto Del Rio held up Barrett, and Sheamus gave Barrett the Brogue Kick, then kicked him out of the ring. Fans chanted goodbye at Barrett.
Then, for whatever reason, Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman and Erick Rowman showed up and started brawling with the remaining League of Nations members, ending with Wyatt giving Sheamus Sister Abigail.
Vince left in a limo. He told Renee Young that he didn’t want to stay around a witness a disaster. Why the hell did he stay around last summer? He said Shane being in charge of Raw was only temporary.
Summer Rae did a prematch promo saying if she had been in charge of the Bad n’ Blond team, they would have won. She started running down Sasha Banks, who came out. Banks said she was still the boss and slapped Rae.
Sasha Banks defeated Summer Rae via submission (1:40)
Banks beat Rae with the Bank Statement. Even at 1:40, Rae was exposed.
Apollo Crews will make his debut tonight, and he and Shane shook hands bacstage. So how did Shane know his father would put him in charge before the show, allowing Crews to be booked? I know these shows are frequently booked with very little time in advance, but still.
They showed the mainstream media articles from various outlets that WrestleMania received. Every time Roman Reigns was shown, loud boos could be heard.
Apollo Crews defeated Tyler Breeze (1:54)
A standard debut squash where Crews pinned Tyler Breeze with a Spinout Power Bomb. Crews got a good response, but he’s not going to fly with the standard interview procedure.
Reigns and Charlotte were shown on the Today show.
Reigns came out to get booed out of the building. I mean, when Hulk Hogan got booed on Nitro in 1995, at least there was a vocal minority cheering him. This was an unanimous negative reception. There were “Reigns is Booty” signs. Reigns, who knew it was coming, said “I’m not a bad guy, I’m not a good guy. I’m THE guy.” That only made things worse. He challenged anyone from the back to fight him for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Chris Jericho came out and tried to turn the crowd against him. He might as well have been the Philadelphia 76ers facing the 1997 Chicago Bulls with this crew.
Jericho shouted down the fans, saying they weren’t going to hijack the show on his watch. He bragged about beating the “Internet favorite” A.J. Styles at WrestleMania and challenged Reigns. Then Styles came out, followed immediately by Kevin Owens (selling injuries from last night’s ladder match). Sami Zayn (not selling injuries from last night’s match). Fans sang Zayn’s theme song, which Reigns got a kick out of. Zayn got in the ring, and he and Owens immediately started brawling. Styles and Jericho also fought while Reigns hanged out by himself. Zayn did a flip tope on Owens. Jericho threw Styles out of the ring. Reigns gave Jericho a spear and got booed some more.
Backstage, Shane told Reigns that tonight’s main event would be a Fatal Fourway between Owens, Jericho, Styles and Zayn, with the winner becoming number one contender.
Baron Corbin debuted after winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Corbin stood in front of the Andre trophy and said he’s carved a path of devastation and destroyed dreams to get to Raw, and devastation awaits anyone who gets in his way.
Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler battled to a double countout (8:32)
Strange way to book Corbin in his debut. They have a whole crew of Social Outcasts back there waiting, but they put a solid midcarder in Dolph Ziggler in there with him. And Corbin doesn’t even get the win. Instead, he sells for half the match, which he doesn’t do well. Ziggler kicked out of his backup finisher, the Deep Six. Then they brawl into the crowd for a countout. Corbin looked like he had never heard of a countout and screamed “You’re the cause of this” to the referee. He gave Ziggler the End of Days on the floor, which is basically Sister Abigail with a deeper dip. Crews had a simple and standard debut. Corbin had a debut where the fans chanted for a beach ball, then got mad when it was taken away.
Titus O’Neal, in a commercial taped before he was suspended, invited fans to register for a contest where the prize is a trip to Disneyland where they would spend the day with his family.
Zack Ryder came out to a nice reception. Crowd chanted “You deserve it, Wo Wo Wo.” Ryder showed a photo of him as a child where he was with Razor Ramon holding his Intercontinental Championship. Last night, he had a chance to take a picture with Ramon, this time with Ryder’s Intercontinental Championship. He thanked his father, who looks like he could make bicep curls with Vince. Seriously, if he becomes a regular character like John Cena’s father in 2009, USADA may pay a visit while he’s in the garage changing oil. The Miz came out and said Ryder was lucky to win the match last night, and said if Ryder wanted to put his name alongside Shawn Michaels, Ramon and Miz, he would put the title right now. Ryder declined, but Miz said Ryder was just all hype. That got the match started.
The Miz defeated Zack Ryder (C) to win the Intercontintal Championship (10:26)
Miz won is a sequence where Maryse made her return. Miz started arguing with Ryder’s father, who shoved him down. This led to Maryse walking out of the crowd and confronting Ryder’s dad, and then slapping him. Ryder was distracted by all this, and Miz gave him the Skull Crushing Finale for the pin. Sad to see Ryder drop the title so soon, and it further devalutes the championship when it winds up back around Miz’s waist.
Owens did an interview blaming Zayn for him losing the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania, but Zayn wouldn’t cost him a chance for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. He said the road to KOMania 2 begins tonight.
The Vaudevillains will debut on this week’s edition of SmackDown. This team getting called up to the roster so soon smeels like a total Ascension job.
Lita was in the ring with all of the women’s wrestlers in the company. She put over the effort they put in their matches at WrestleMania, then formally introduced the first WWE Women’s Championship belt. Charlotte and Ric Flair (who, no doubt, had to be pulled away from the National Championship game, where his beloved UNC Tar Heels were playing) came down. Fans chanted for Bayley, which Cole acknowledged as saying “She isn’t here.” Fans sang soccer songs over her interview, as she was trying to put over her fellow wrestlers. She held up the title and said this was the future. Fans chanted “Women’s wrestling,” which made everyone in the ring smile. Charlotte said she wouldn’t have gone down in the history books as the new women’s champion without her father. She thanked everyone in the audience, whose energy fueled her to victory.
Charlotte said some of the wrestlers had been there 7 or 8 years, but she hasn’t even been here 1 year and she’s still champion. Charlotte turned her attention to Becky Lynch and Banks, saying they did it, but she did it. Lynch walked out, as did Paige, Tamina, Brooklyn, Eva Marie (not acknowledged), and everyone else. Then Nataliya told Charlotte she needs to learn something about humility. Natalya said she had given Charlotte some of her most difficult matches. Charlotte talked down to her and spoke badly of the entire Hart family. Natalya shot a double leg and briefly put her in the sharpshooter until Flair pulled Charlotte out.
Styles was interviewed by Young. He said this is a day of new beginnings. Shane is running Raw, Regins wants to face all challengers as WWE World Heavyweight Champion, and he came to the company not to lose one match at WrestleMania. He came to be WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
Another debut, this time a vignette with the artists formerly known as Los Matadores. This time, they had sans masks, outfitted in dress shirts and shorts putting over how great it was to live in Puerto Rico “unlike where you live.” No name was given for the act.
The Dudley Boyz defeated the Usos in a tables match (8:53)
There was a mix-up at the finish. Jimmy and Jey Uso were ready to perform simultaneous splashes to the Dudleys on each table, but Bubba Ray Dudley and Devon Dudley moved and the Usos crashed through the wood. The bell sounded, but it wasn’t supposed to. Bubba Ray then threw Jey threw a table stationed in the corner for the official finish, and Bubba yelled at the timekeeper for the screwup. Standard spots you see in every tables match, including where the Dudleys give Jimmy a double suplex, but Jey moved the table.
Zayn did a promo where Young actually asked him if he had ever been in a four-way match before. I could hear Gabe Sapolsky groaning from here. Zayn said tonight was bigger for him than WrestleMania. He said he was known as the Underdog from the Underground. Owens jumped Zayn from behind and power bombed him through a table backstage.
The Dudleys were still out there when Enzo Amore and Big Cass made their debut to a huge ovation. Enzo Amore did his whole routine and he was over instantly. Enzo called the Dudleys a couple of haters, then said Hate was nothing but love disguised as jealousy. Enzo cut down Devon saying he would put his lazy eye back to work. He said Bubba better think twice, it would be two more thoughts than he had all day. Fans started chanting “Enzo Amore” to the tune of “Seven Nation Army.” Cass challenged them to come down to the ring. Dudleys went to the ring, then retreated. Cass did his “Sawft” catchphrase and the fans knew it by heart. This debut couldn’t have gone any better for Enzo and Cass.
They’re back to doing guest stars. Next week, Dr. Phil will be featured.
It was announced by Cole that Zayn was out of the main event after getting attacked by Owens. Instead, Lillian Garcia announced Shane had appointed a replacement: Cesaro, who came out dressed like Bautista, then stripped down to his trunks.
A.J. Styles pinned Chris Jericho to win a four way for the number one contendership for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a Fatal Fourway that also included Cesaro and Kevin Owens (16:44)
This was a Raw match on the caliber of some of those John Cena U.S. Championship Series bouts last year. An excellent match where Styles won after hitting the Styles Clash on Jericho. Cesaro had his moments to shine, as well, and did the crowd ever love him. He threw forearm uppercupts to opposite corners with the fans eating up every one. There was a Tower of Doom spot where Styles took a bump off the top rope, which had to feel like hell after his back injury from earlier this year. Styles did a 450 Springboard Splash on Jericho. Later, Jericho attempted the Walls on Cesaro, who made the ropes. Excellent stuff.
SUMMARY: It felt like a new company. New faces abound with guys that are fresh acts who are already over. There was a great main event. No Authority, which seemed to make a difference in the fact that the show wasn’t built around who controls the company. It’s simply about who can get the championship from Reigns. This is a fresh start that a lot of fans have wanted for quite sometime. Can they sustain this? Or will the laziness of prior years take over, as it has done so often? We’ll see.
