While it might not be “The End” of NXT, tonight’s TakeOver show from Full Sail University in Florida will likely be the end of one of the longest and most entertaining rivalries in NXT history as Samoa Joe and Finn Balor will battle in a first for NXT: a steel cage match.
Also on the show, Nakamura and Austin Aries look to advance to the next step in their respective NXT runs while NXT tag champions American Alpha are hoping this will be the end of their multi-month run against The Revival. NXT women’s champion Asuka looks to make a statement as she battles Nia Jax for the first time with the belt on the line, and Andrade Cien Almas finally makes his TV debut after months working NXT house shows, winning over crowds.
Almas won his debut in a hot five minute match. This was similar to Apollo Crews’ debut last August in that it was a more competitive match than most NXT debuts have been over the years. The fans at one point did dueling chants of “He’s 100” and “Perfect 10” as it was mentioned that Cien means one hundred in Spanish.
There was a hot move where Andrade went for a moonsault, but Dillinger rolled out of the way. However, Andrade landed on his feet and immediately hit a standing moonsault to Dillinger. Dillinger got several near falls, including one after a superkick when Andrade was upside down on the top rope. In the end, Almas won with a running double knees in the corner while Dillinger was sitting in the corner.
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NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha vs. The Revival
Revival became the first team to become two-time NXT Tag Team Champions as they won clean with Shatter Machine on Jordan. This was different than the usual American Alpha match as it didn’t start with several minutes of Gable and Jordan suplexing their opponents all over the place. Instead, it was more of a fight than a wrestling match.
At one point, the fight broke down into a 4-way with Jordan and Gable doing simultaneous takedowns and then using a double ankle lock, which made the fans go bananas.
Dawson hit a Spinebuster which looked nicer than Triple H’s. Dash and Dawson clipped Gable’s knee out during the heat and used a real nice double team combination legdrop for a near fall. Jordan made the hot tag and went all Full Suplex University on both men. Revival got many near falls before the finish, making you believe that they would lose at the end, but alas, they did not.
The fans were legitimately shocked by the finish and then they were shocked further when The Authors of Pain (Sunny Dhinsa and Gzim Selmani) attacked American Alpha after the match was over! They laid out Gable and Jordan before WWE Hall of Famer and Road Warriors manager Paul Ellering appeared on the ramp nodding his approval. The fans chanted “Who are you?” at Ellering.
The Authors of Pain have been working the Florida NXT house shows for a few months.
Asuka was warming up with Seth Petruzelli backstage and Bayley walked in, offering a handshake.
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Shinsuke Nakamura vs Austin Aries
Nakamura won with his second attempt at the Kinshasa. As expected, this was an excellent match. Aries had his ribs taped for some unknown reason, but that didn’t really play into the match. The fans sang Nakamura’s theme song, which, if you recall, is completely instrumental. It was pushed in commentary that no one had ever controlled Nakamura the way Aries was, while Aries stretched Nakamura on the mat. The story told was every time Nakamura would go for one of his moves, and Aries would have the counter.
Nakamura kicked Aries seven ways from sideways when he was on offense. Nakamura, at one point, went for the Kinshasa, but Aries blocked it and suplexed Nakamura before locking on the Last Chancery. Aries gave Nakamura a death valley driver on the ring apron, which looked like it killed him. The crowd did that annoying thing where they count one number ahead of the referee during a countout. Aries went for a Suicide Dive, but Nakamura moved causing Aries to crash into the barricade. Nakamura threw him back in the ring for the finish.
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Tickets are on sale this Saturday at 12Noon for NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn.
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NXT Women’s Champion Asuka vs. Nia Jax
A much better match than expected. This built similar to the Nia-Bayley match from a few weeks ago where Jax just completely dominated Asuka from the bell. Every time Asuka went for a move, Nia would either block it or power out of it. Asuka’s biggest move was a kneebar, but Nia was right near the ropes.
Asuka made her comeback using a series of spinning back fists that Nia was blocking with her face. Nia used a power bomb like during the contract signing last week, but Asuka somehow turned a pinfall attempt into an armbar. Asuka won with several hard kicks to the face and head.
Not at the level of the great TakeOver matches, but still really really good.
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Earlier today, Mr. William Regal was talking to Cathy Kelly when Bobby Roode entered, walked past Mr. Regal, and entered the locker room.
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NXT Champion Samoa Joe vs Finn Balor in a steel cage match with pinfall, submission or escape rules
Joe retained the title with a Muscle Buster off the middle rope in yet another excellent match. This was exactly the physical match you expect from these two and at least this time Joe didn’t accidentally bleed in the first 30 seconds of the match. Joe on two occasions hip tossed Balor into the cage.
There was an amazing spot where both men were on the top rope and Finn went to hoist himself over the top of the cage, but Joe did his jumping Inzigiri to the back of Finn’s head, causing both men to crash onto the mat.
Joe at one time was caught between the ropes and the cage. Balor was on the top rope and kicked Joe in the face, causing Joe to hunch over on the top rope, crotching Balor on the ropes. Later on in the match they were back on the top rope and Balor gave Joe a Slingblade off the top rope and then one normal one. Balor kicked out of a Muscle Buster and Joe kicked out of a Coup de Grace before the finish.
For the first time since October, an NXT TakeOver event comes home to Full Sail University! NXT’s 11th quarterly special may be living up to its own subtitle as this may be the end for several of the men and women on the show. With the WWE brand extension just five weeks away, odds are half of the competitors on this show won’t be on NXT in time for SummerSlam weekend.
Before we deal with the future, let’s deal with the now, shall we?
NXT Champion Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor in a steel cage match
This is the first ever cage match in NXT history and has the potential to be the most violent match in NXT history. This is the culmination of the longest feud ever in NXT and one of the longest continuous feuds in WWE, period. Samoa Joe has been NXT Champion since April 21 when he beat Balor in Lowell, Massachusetts. However, this was after Balor had defeated Joe at TakeOver events in London and Dallas. On a side note, Joe is the first man to win the NXT, TNA, and ROH titles — one of the more random accomplishments in wrestling today.
Each match was better and more violent than the previous bout, with the two men waging war on each other. Now NXT is locking them within the confines of a cage, which should only encourage the match to be more violent. My only hope is Joe does not bust himself open in the first 30 seconds causing the ridiculous sight of a cage match being halted due to blood.
– Prediction: Balor has been in NXT longer and Joe just won the belt. I’m going with Joe to win, setting up a series of matches with the winner of the semi-main event.
Austin Aries vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
NXT’s acquisition of Nakamura has led to a series of never before seen, one of a kind matches. Some have been excellent (Sami Zayn) and some not so much (The Drifter), but this could very well not only steal the show, but steal the pro wrestling month.
Aries debuted in March and has had quite the different road than Nakamura as he hasn’t had the chance to have that one amazing showcase match. While Aries hasn’t had any bad matches, he has obviously been holding out for the right time and this is it.
While not officially announced as such, this match will probably set up the next challenger for the NXT title. Aries is better off as a heel and has been teasing aturn the last few weeks, bringing up that Nakamura’s debut got all the press clippings, leaving Aries in the lurch.
Prediction: Nakamura wins, setting up future title matches with Joe, pissing off Aries more, and setting up his eventual heel turn.
NXT Women’s Champion Asuka vs. Nia Jax
This match has the chance to overachieve. Jax is a lot better than she’s given credit for, while Asuka is arguably the best woman wrestler under WWE contract. While the money, for lack of a better word, is in an Asuka-Bayley rematch, Jax has been a very effective monster and laid out the champ just last week.
This match has really been built up from each lady’s debut. Both ladies had their debuts being built up at the same time and had their first tv match within a week of each other. Asuka has had a series of hard hitting bouts with Emma, Dana Brooke, and Bayley, while Nia has beaten every B-level NXT woman before flattening Bayley just 3 weeks ago on TV.
Prediction: Asuka wins and leads to Asuka vs Bayley in Brooklyn, one year after Bayley won the title the first time.
NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha vs. The Revival
This is a rematch of a solid match from Dallas with both teams just getting better since. Jason Jordan and Chad Gable are easily the most popular team on NXT while The Revival have become better characters since losing the titles. This is yet another match where the losers will probably end up on the main roster, so you are left wondering if WWE needs a third super popular baby face tag team or another team of solid, yet unspectacular workers.
Prediction: American Alpha wins because WWE doesn’t care enough about tag teams to have 3 super popular teams at the same time.
Andrade Cien Almas vs. Tye Dillinger
My #1 question is wondering why they changed Manny Andrade’s name — a perfectly fine name that rolled off the tongue, while Andrade Cien Almas sounds forced and fake. Dillinger has won less than five tv matches and despite winning last week, I doubt he picks up two in a row.
The TakeOver: Dallas dark match against Chris Girard was a better match than three other matches on that show, so I am expecting a really good showing here. Dillinger has a fun gimmick and is popular with the crowd. However, his job is to lose.
Prediction: Almas wins and moves into a feud with Austin Aries.
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I honestly believe this could be the best TakeOver show since Brooklyn and possibly even better. Money in the Bank is being built up as perhaps the best PPV in WWE history, but after tonight, it will be second best of the month…at best.
The WWE’s July tour of Japan is coming into shape with the cards officially released on their Japan microsite including Nakamura’s first official scheduled WWE action.
Nakamura will face both Bray Wyatt and Kevin Owens on the tour, while WWE Champion Roman Reigns will be involved in two fatal-four way matches for the title. Also, it looks as if the John Cena/AJ Styles feud will last a few months as they are also scheduled for both nights.
Thanks to reader Robin Clarke for sending these over:
Friday, July 1st:
– Fatal Four-Way: WWE Champion Roman Reigns vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins
– John Cena vs. AJ Styles
– Fatal Four-Way: WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. The Usos vs. Vaudevillains vs. The Club
– Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bray Wyatt
– WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte vs. Natalya
– Dolph Ziggler vs. Curtis Axel
– Titus O’Neil vs. Baron Corbin
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka vs. Becky Lynch
– Ric Flair is also listed as doing an appearance.
Saturday, July 2
– Fatal Four Way: WWE Champion Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Chris Jericho vs. Seth Rollins
– John Cena vs. AJ Styles
– WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. Vaudevillians
– Sheamus defeated Zack Ryder. Dolph Ziggler was on commentary.
– Titus O’ Neil beat Viktor
– U.S. Champion Rusev beat Sin Cara
Smackdown Tapings:
AJ & The Club did a show opening promo about how they would win at MITB. Enzo and Cass interrupted and called them ‘Sawft’. Gallows made fun of Enzo for being a former manager of a Hooters. Enzo said The Club had been champs on every continent but Antartica. The New Day made their way to ringside and got on commentary.
– Enzo/Cass and The Club went to a double DQ after The Vaudevillains and New Day interfered and all four teams brawled.
– Renee Young interviewed Rusev backstage. Rusev said he was greater than Muhammad Ali. Titus O’Neil interrupted and said he would beat him at MITB.
– Kevin Owens and Alberto Del Rio beat Cesaro and Sami Zayn. Zayn and Owens disappeared for part of the match and fought to the backstage area before returning. When Owens came back, he attacked Del Rio and then pinned Cesaro.
– Becky Lynch defeated Dana Brooke by submission
– Another promo with Bob Backlund and Darren Young. Bob tells Darren he saves money by only wearing one pair of clothes, right down to his “tighty whities”.
– Baron Corbin defeated Kalisto with End of Days. Dolph Ziggler was on commentary.
– Backstage segment with Sheamus and Apollo Crews. Sheamus makes fun of Crews but Crews punches Sheamus, sending him into a bunch of objects.
– Chris Jericho defeated Dean Ambrose after hitting the Codebreaker. After the match, Ambrose attacked Jericho with a ladder to end the show.
The Monday, June 6th Raw did 3.24 million viewers, up slightly from last week’s 3.22 million.
Last week had far tougher competition with a monster NBA game, but it was helped by being John Cena’s return to the show. This week has the Stanley Cup playoff game (Pittsburgh vs. San Jose) that did 4.23 million viewers on NBC, but The Bachelorette, in the spot of Dancing With The Stars, is doing just over half of what DWTS was doing.
Raw’s second hour was the high point, leading to a big third hour fade of 587,000 viewers. The second hour featured the Cena-A.J. Styles confrontation while the big things pushed in the third hour were Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens and the New Day vs. Club six-man tag match.
Despite a promising opening half hour, Monday night’s edition of RAW ultimately flattered to deceive. Here are the weekly sparse hits and myriad misses from this week’s Money in the Bank build-up show:
— The Hits —
The comedy-laden opening segment
Given the scriptwriting standard we’re accustomed to, six men reciting lines at each other in the ring should have been a disaster. Instead, highlighted by Owens’ interruptions and Jericho’s obnoxiousness, Monday night’s opening segment was consistently amusing.
The other members of the MITB ladder match finally challenging Jericho on his record in the match he created was wonderful. Jericho maintaining that he won “the first one….the sixth one!” in “Apple…..Appleton…..Stupididiotville!” was hilarious, as was Chris responding to Cesaro’s “your hometown?” rejoindre with: I’m from Winnipeg, idiot!”. That of course led to the crowd chanting “stupid idiot” for the second consecutive week, to which Jericho delightfully responded: “I know you are, but what am I?”.
While I could do without wacky Dean Ambrose talking about fighting polar bears, at least we also had Owens’ “Ooh, Spanish!” as soon as Alberto Del Rio opened his mouth. It was nice to see Teddy Long too, despite his flubs, if only to hear the on-fire Jericho insult him. Great stuff.
Backstage segments
Further credit must be directed towards the writing staff for the quality of this week’s backstage segments. From Del Rio cutting a strong heel promo on Zayn in the locker room to Long dancing along to his theme on his smartphone to Ambrose finally getting serious in response to Owens, they all worked really well.
Big Cass’ intensity
I wasn’t crazy about Enzo & Cass’ Ali-laden tribute promo, but I really liked the idea of using Aiden English’s attempt to repeat the events of Payback to fire up Cass. Cass showed signs of being able to exhibit believable aggression during his short-lived recent singles run, and that was on display here again as he dismantled the Vaudevillains. I didn’t even mind the cheap DQ finish for not responding to the referee’s instructions.
— The Misses —
Meaningless matches
It was very difficult to care about any of the seven matches on this show, particularly the three matches involving the MITB participants. All six men are already in a key match at the PPV, and nothing is going to change regardless of the results of their singles bouts. Why, therefore, am I supposed to get invested? At least all three matches were fine, with those who most needed credibility picking up the victories.
Repetition, repetition, repetition
There was so much on this show that I’ve seen before, with much of it as recent as last week. Rusev’s match against Swagger was a repeat from last week’s Smackdown as was the Life Lessons promo. Enzo & Cass fought the Vaudevillains on last week’s Main Event too, while Ambrose vs. Owens is a match that I really never need to see again for a very long time. News of another Ambrose vs. Jericho bout on this week’s Smackdown only increases my jadedness.
Reigns/Rollins “History Revisited”
Although last week’s WWE 24 documentary on the returning Seth Rollins was a fantastic piece of television, airing clips of it here only underlines how utterly boneheaded it was to bring “The Future of the WWE” back as a heel. If this two-part video package was intended to get the crowd to boo him and cheer Roman, it failed as anyone who saw it would surely be inclined to get behind Seth.
Getting Rollins to call Reigns a “placeholder” and reminding us of his Wrestlemania cash-in is unlikely to build sympathy for a champion that few like.
The Cena/Styles follow-up
The feud that the company is billing as a “Wrestlemania match” did not have a great sophomore outing this week. Their promo was as meta as a bad episode of Community with Cena’s jorts self-awareness and AJ’s talk of getting the shovels. The explanation that Styles recruited the Club to help him best Cena out of fear of getting “buried” is weak sauce in the extreme. Very disappointing.
Stephanie’s characterisation
So apparently Stephanie McMahon is an all-out heel this week, in Shane’s absence, abusing the doddery Long and stealing his ideas. She did deliver one piece of big news however, informing us that she will be the head honcho of Smackdown when it goes live on Tuesday nights. Hands up who laughed heartily at the laundry list of the qualities she supposedly possesses: “intelligent, young, vivacious, smart, has business acumen, and can usher in the New Era!” That’s a no-hitter for you there Steph, I’m afraid.
The Golden Truth follow-up
One Smackdown repeat I would have liked to see was the karaoke version of R-Truth’s new song, complete with a bobbing Goldust head to help you sing along. If the company was willing to spend months filming vignettes for these two, it might be an idea to get out of the way and let them get themselves over. Not only were the lyrics not on-screen, but Michael Cole talked over the song for the second week running too!
With 13 days until Money in the Bank, Raw originates tonight from Oklahoma City. The WWE is promoting the Club as its new top heel group, which is new considering its a pushed faction that has no connection to the Authority. At least, not yet. A.J. Styles, as the group’s mouthpiece, will likely be relied upon to give a promo explaining his attack on John Cena last week.
It could also be another night of returns. Bray Wyatt has been rumored to return imminently. With only two weeks to go before the show, there’s only three matches announced for Money in the Bank, and even the Money in the Bank match itself is unclear. Originally, there were seven participants announced, but only six are currently listed.
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The Big Takeaway:
This was a show that was full of talking and not much action. John Cena and A.J. Styles had a verbal joust full of inside references. Cena said wrestling Styles at Money in the Bank was a dream match (and was promoted that way throughout the show), then called Styles a bust because he lost to Roman Reigns twice. Teddy Long made a surprise return, booked to look like a out of touch goof who had no idea what the current fans want to see. The only match officially made for Money in the Bank is a Fatal Four-Way for the WWE tag team titles with The New Day vs. Anderson & Gallows vs. Enzo & Big Cass vs. the Vaudevillains.
Show Recap:
The show started with the six men involved in the Money in the Bank match already in the ring hovering on top of their own ladders.
Kevin Owens put down Sami Zayn as being less famous than the other five. Chris Jericho said he was more famous than any of them. Owens said he would be more famous than any of them because he will be the one who will take the Money in the Bank briefcase and the other five will be in his shadow. Dean Ambrose wanted to skip the talking and get to fighting. Owens talked him down and said he would get the briefcase some more and said he would take on all comers as champion. Owens said he wouldn’t defend the title against any of the men in the ring, but he would face anyone else, including the Nation of Domination, Waylon Mercy or the Four Horsemen.
Alberto Del Rio ignored Ambrose’s pleas to start fighting and said Zayn was a dog covered in fleas compared to him. Crowd actually started chanting “Si, si, si.” Cesaro spoke up before Jericho shouted him down and reminded everyone he created the Money in the Bank match. Cesaro then asked “How come you’ve never won a Money in the Bank match?” Jericho said he had. Zayn asked which one? Jericho mumbled something about the first one. Then he said the sixth one in Appleton, Wisconsin. Cesaro acted like had no idea what Jericho was talking about and called him a stupid idiot.
Jericho did his new “Gift of Jericho, Drink it in, man” catchphrase. Ambrose climbed up and punched Jericho. They all started brawling.
Then, out of nowhere, Teddy Long made a surprise return to “Teddy” chants. Long heard that SmackDown was heading to Tuesdays live. Teddy was all over the place on the mic. He said SmackDown was the longest running network wrestling show. Michael Cole had to issue a correction afterwards saying SmackDown was the 2nd longest weekly episodic series in television history. Cole had to explain the entire purpose of the Long cameo afterwards. Ordinarily, Long said he would arrange a disqualification match (that’s what he said), a six-way match and various other stipulation matches. Everyone looked confused.
Stephanie McMahon came out acting like she had no idea Long was going to be there. She asked what Long was doing. Long said he wanted to run SmackDown. Stephanie said a decision on who would run SmackDown hasn’t been decided yet. Teddy asked to see Shane McMahon. Stephanie said Shane was on vacation and asked him to get to stepping. Long wanted to dance off the stage, but Stephanie ordered that his music not be played.
Stephanie said Zayn would face Del Rio; Ambrose would take on Owens, and Cesaro takes on Jericho immediately. Then Stephanie ordered Long’s music to be played and she danced to the back. This was a really weird segment that Stephanie actually had to save.
Cesaro defeated Chris Jericho via submission (12:05)
Cesaro used a 13-rep Giant Swing then used a Boston Crab to get the tapout. Earlier, Jericho blocked an attempt at the Giant Swing and turned it into a small cradle. Some spots were mistimed, including Cesaro going for a springboard uppercut but Jericho catching him with a Codebreaker. Overall, a solid match.
– Anybody else notice the Money in the Bank music is also Donald Trump’s WWE music from WrestleMania 23?
– They honored Muhammad Ali by showing tribute tweets from HHH, Bret Hart, Shane McMahon and Steve Austin.
An amazing but perplexing video package aired focusing on Seth Rollins.
It was basically a five-minute version of the documentary that’s airing on the WWE Network. They showed the debut of the Shield at Survivor Series 2012, where they jumped Ryback. Rollins said, in or out of the Shield, he always wanted to be the best, not one of the best. Rollins said people misunderstand his relationship with Roman Reigns. He doesn’t dislike Reigns, it’s just that Reigns is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Rollins said when he won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania, it was his moment, not Reigns.
They replayed his injury in Dublin, Ireland. There were even videos of Rollins as an infant playing with a Hulk Hogan stuffed action figure, pinning it to win the championship. When the video of Rollins’ surgery aired, he was shown cutting a promo from his bed, slurring his speech, saying he was coming back for his championship on day one. Cameras caught him watching Reigns beat HHH at WrestleMania from a luxury suite. Rollins said Reigns was a placeholder, not a real world champion.
Reigns is just sitting on Rollins’ throne, keeping it warm for him. Rollins said Reigns has never beaten him. It was such a good piece…so how are fans supposed to treat Rollins as a heel now? This is something straight out of Florida Championship Wrestling in the 1970s if an injured babyface sidelined for six months was rehabbing for a run against Dory Funk Jr for the NWA strap.
U.S. Champion Rusev defeated Jack Swagger via countout in a nontitle match (3:36)
Rusev and Jack Swagger did a double clothesline spot on the floor that looked still as hell. Titus O’Neal was on commentary. As the referee got closer to a 10 count, Rusev kicked Swagger into O’Neal and got back in the ring for the win. Postmatch, Swagger and O’Neal sent Rusev packing. Odd to see two babyfaces send one heel out of the ring. Swagger was over in his home state.
John Cena came out.
He said you don’t know what you got until its gone. Last week, there was energy and excitement when A.J. Styles and Cena was in the ring together. He called it a once in a generation moment. He tried to get it over like it was the 2002 staredown between the Rock and Hulk Hogan, then started doing his own dueling chants to mimmick what the crowd was doing. Cena said he’s only had electricity like that with one other Superstar, the Rock. Cena said for 15 years, people had been curious to see Styles vs. Cena. But Cena wanted to know why Styles chose the easy way out.
Cena wanted Styles to come out and explain himself. Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson came out. Crowd had more dueling chants. Styles said he took the easy way out because he had a plan to punch Cena right in the face. And it worked perfectly. Styles said Cena insults him. He said Cena was great on his morning shows and his movies. But Cena insults him when the bell rings. And Cena knows deep inside that “You can’t beat me.” Styles says his kids ask him all the time why doesn’t he wrestle Cena. He answers because if he did, he would run rings around Cena.
Cena said Styles’ jokes are as outdating as his jorts. Cena said he looks at Styles as someone who worked two decades to get to the Royal Rumble, and failed. He failed twice against Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Cena said Styles was a bust. Styles said attacking him was desperate. Cena said Styles didn’t know who he was dealing with because he failed twice against Reigns, and now he was going after him?
Styles shot back that he could go back to Japan tomorrow and sell it out tomorrow. He said he nothing else to prove because he has nothing left to lose, so that makes him dangerous. Styles said after someone wrestles Cena, they get out the shovels and bury Cena’s opponent. Styles said Cena didn’t know who he was dealing with.
The Club went to the ring and surrounded Cena. The New Day ran down to join Cena and chase them away and it ended. A trios match between the three was announced for later tonight. A strange promo by Cena. On one hand, he compared Styles to the Rock. Then minutes later, he called him a bust. Styles did a promo straight from the heart of every Internet fan, or anyone else who has paid attention over the last 11 years. It was the time for Styles to give the best promo of his life, and it was very good.
The Vaudevillains defeated Enzo Amore and Big Cass by DQ (2:22)
Aidan English teased throwing out Enzo Amore over the top rope the same way he did at Payback. He threw Amore to the ropes, but Amore slid under the ropes and still sold it like he suffered a concussion. Big Cass went nuts, pounding English in the corner. The referee called for the bell when Cass refused to back off. Fans booed the DQ. Cass gave Simon Gotch the East River Crossing. Enzo got back in the ring. It’s clear they want Cass to break out of the singles pack because he’s tall, but he doesn’t have the charisma that Enzo has. Big Cass quoted Ali. Enzo Amore brought up the Vaudevillains knocking him out and said he could blow a bubble with a Now-A-Later.
Zayn did an interview saying he would have to consider himself an underdog against Del Rio tonight because ADR has captured the World Heavyweight Championship. Del Rio showed up and said if Zayn won the Money in the Bank briefcase, it would prove all those people who Zayn could never win wrong. But Del Rio said Zayn’s dream is his reality and Zayn was destined to stay in the same spot he’s in now.
– More tribute tweets to Ali from Cena, Stephanie, Jerry Lawler and Mick Foley.
Long walked up to Stephanie dancing to his music, which was the ring tone on his phone. Long said if he was running SmackDown, he would take Enzo & Cass, the Vaudevillains, Anderson and Gallows and the New Day in a four-way for the tag team titles. Stephanie blew off that idea and asked Long how he got back security. Long pulled out a dollar bill and said “it makes you go holla holla.” Stephanie just glared at him. Teddy showed himself out. First thing Stephanie did was arrange the Fatal Four-Way tag team match that Long suggested for Money in the Bank.
Alberto Del Rio pinned Sami Zayn (8:18)
Surprisingly one-sided match where Del Rio won with the diving double foot stomp off the top rope. Zayn didn’t get much of a comeback after the heat. In fact, he didn’t even get a ring entrance. Del Rio’s first attempt at the double foot stop led to Zayn throwing him off the top rope. But Del Rio was back up in no time for the finish.
Ambrose walked backstage with Owens laughing at him. Owens said he was concerned for Ambrose, not just because of the Money in the Bank match, but because Ambrose has been more off the deep end than usual. Ambrose asked if Owens thought he was off when he beat him for the Intercontinental Championship. Owens said Ambrose needed help. Ambrose said Owens is the one who needs help.
Reigns got a video package just like Rollins from earlier.
They showed Reigns pinning Daniel Bryan to win the tag team titles. Reigns said Rollins thinks he’s the smartest guy on Earth. Reigns said he felt betrayed when Rollins broke up the Shield. He said being in the main event of WrestleMania against Brock Lesnar was a roller coaster by itself. When Rollins cashed in the Money in the Bank contract, Rollins took away his WrestleMania moment. His wife, father and daughter were all there.
He felt anger, but sometimes anger is the best motivator a man can have. Reigns said Rollins has always attacked him from behind because Rollins is scared of him. Reigns said there will be a big fight feel (Cole used those exact words earlier) at Money in the Bank since it will be in Las Vegas. Reigns said he’s expecting a better Seth Rollins, and he will beat a better Seth Rollins.
Dean Ambrose defeated Kevin Owens (6:33)
Ambrose won with Dirty Deeds. Before the finish, Ambrose went for a tope, but Owens caught him and rammed his back into the apron. Owens followed with a Bullfrog splash. Crowd was quiet for much of the match until Ambrose did a superplex. After the match, Ambrose pulled out a ladder and climbed to the top. Why did he do that? To show he could climb a ladder? The answer, of course, was to give Owens a chance to recover and throw Ambrose off the ladder and scream how he would win Money in the Bank.
– Life Lessons with Bob Backlund had Darren Young saying he’s been running. Backlund said Young should always be walking and that he hasn’t run since 1978. Young said that was long before he was born. Backlund said he had Young’s car keys and he wanted him to walk eight hours to Backlund’s house. Young just walked off unhappy about walking eight hours.
Charlotte and Dana Brooke came out.
Cole said the world was still reeling about what Charlotte said to Ric Flair two weeks ago. I’m still reeling from Stephanie stealing her heat last week. Charlotte acted like she was going to apologize for saying what she said to her father. Charlotte said when she said Flair was dead to her, she meant professionally. She still wants to spend the holidays with her father, work out with her father, etc. But she didn’t want Flair stealing her spotlight.
Natalya and Dana Brooke came out laughing over Charlotte’s acting routine. Charlotte said Natalya had a trainwreck of a family and they should have their own reality show on E! Lynch said Brooke would eventually get stabbed in the back by Charlotte. Natalya warned Brooke that Charlotte was a master manipulator, something she and Lynch learned the hard way. Brooke looked at Charlotte like she was concerned and started to walk over towards Charlotte and Natalya. Then Brooke punched Natalya, who fell over Lynch. Brooke gave Lynch a Samoan Driver whie Charlotte held Natalya in a Dragon Sleeper and they posed over the babyfaces bodies.
Primo and Epico did a promo about how great drinks in Puerto Rico are.
Tyler Breeze and R-Truth went to a no contest (:53)
Goldust and Fandango brawled into the ring for a quick DQ. Long came out and ordered the rematch restarted. Everyone just glared at him like he was crazy. Security ordered Long out with no more action between these four, and not a moment too soon. Breeze and Fandango did an inset promo where Breeze shaved Fandango’s back. Fandango said something about how having the right lotion on your body makes your muscles aerogigantic.
– Long walked out before we got our weekly “Stephanie chews someone out” moment. Stephanie scolded Long and said Raw was going to be in the hands of someone young, vivacious and strong, and it was going to be her, not her brother Shane. She said Raw wasn’t going to be in the hands of old, incompetent, out of touch geezer. The irony alert was instantly activated from the local Emergency Alert System. Then she ordered Long to get the hell out of her building.
– Ali tribute tweets from Vince McMahon, Booker T and Flair were shown. Cole introduced a tribute package to Ali, showing his knockouts of Sonny Liston and George Foreman. They showed Ali talking about how much Gorgeous George and Freddie Blassie influenced him. There was rare footage of Vince interviewing him with Blassie managing him, I assume for the buildup that aired on ABC’s Wide World of Sports that built up his match with Antonio Inoki. Plus, there was the angle with Gorilla Monsoon. Of course, there was also his appearance at WrestleMania I. Crowd gave the video package a standing ovation.
– They announced the Ambrose Asylum next week would return with Reigns and Rollins as the guest. So it’s a Shield reunion, even though Stephanie cancelled the Ambrose Asylum a month ago. We didn’t even get Shane texting in an order to revive the show, they just advertised it with no warning.
– New Day came out and compared The Club with the Mickey Mouse Club. Kofi Kingston said they were the WWE World Tag Team Champions, and that was the only club that mattered. It all started as a three-on-three fight that ended with Styles giving Xavier Woods the Styles Clash on the floor. Woods was carried to the back and they carried on with the bout now a 2-on-3 handicap match.
The Club defeated The New Day in a handicap match (5:12)
Styles pinned Kingston after the Phenomenal Firearm. Kingston got a near fall earlier after the SOS. Afterwards, Anderson and Gallows threw Big E. into the dasheboards. Cena ran out for the save and he decked Anderson and Gallows. Styles retreated. Anderson and Gallows jumped back on the apron, and Styles wallopped Cena from behind. Kingston gave Styles a missile dropkick. Big E. gave Anderson the Big Ending, and Cena gave Gallows the AA.
During the match, Styles gave Big E the Pele Kick on the floor, and Gallows followed with the Yakuza kick. The crowd actually chanted for Cena after that. Cole mentioned it’s been 288 days since the New Day recaptured the WWE World Tag Team Titles.
SUMMARY:
The highlight of the show was the video package for Rollins. It was almost as good as the documentary made about him on the network. The timing of the video is the lingering question. Why didn’t they show that in the month preceding his return, then have him come back as a babyface to feud with Reigns? Rest of the show was ordinary in front of the deadest Raw crowd since WrestleMania.
Bubba took a little boy’s sign and threatened to tear it up pre-match. Enzo saved the day and grabbed it, returning it. Fairly basic tag match. Enzo and Cass win with the big splash.
– Viktor vs Jack Swagger
Big pop for the hometown hero. Back and forth standard offensive the whole match. Pretty lengthy. Swagger wins with a Swagger Bomb.
– Darren Young vs Apollo Crews
Only big move Crews hit was the standing moonsault. Darren attempted a somersault pin which Apollo reversed to get the pin and win.
– Video of Kevin Owens backstage trash talking Ambrose saying he’s going to beat him. He gets a call from his mother who says Ambrose will beat him. In a fury, KO says Ambrose doesn’t stand a chance.
– The Wyatt Family vs Kane and Big Show
Rowan and Braun dominated the whole match until they both tried to get involved. Kane tossed out Braun and Show KO Punched Rowan for the win.
– Lana and Dana Brooke vs Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch w/Summer Rae as special ref
Glad to see the ladies getting time. The only thing that didn’t make much sense was Summer Rae as ref. Becky locked in the Disarm-her on Lana for the win while Sasha had Dana in the Bank Statement.
– WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day vs The Vaudevillians
Both sides got in good offense. The Vaudevillians hit the Whirling Dervish but New Day still pulled it off with Big E hitting the big ending with the assist from Xavier.
– Dean Ambrose vs Kevin Owens
Fun match. For a night where not a lot happened outside the ring, both went out a couple of times. KO teased Byron Saxton and even took his chair to use but Dean hit Dirty Deeds for the win.
After UFC announced Saturday night that Brock Lesnar was returning to the Octagon for UFC 200, WWE responded shortly afterward with a post on their own website that gives some insight into the arrangement and when we’ll see him next in a WWE ring.
“Brock Lesnar remains under contract to WWE. However, he has been granted a one-off opportunity to compete at UFC 200. Following this milestone event on July 9, Brock will return to WWE for SummerSlam on Sunday, August 21, live on WWE Network.”
Lesnar has been out of WWE action since downing Dean Ambrose in a street fight at April’s Wrestlemania in Dallas, TX.
The 38-year-old Lesnar had a history of big matches at “the Wrestlemania of the summer”. Last year, he lost to the Undertaker in a rematch of their classic Wrestlemania clash (the infamous ‘call for the bell’ match) while the year prior, he destroyed John Cena to take the WWE title — the birth of Suplex City.
The year prior, he faced and beat CM Punk, and the year prior to that, he faced and submitted Triple H.
