The Big Takeaway: Two more matches announced for Battleground. They aren’t rushing the John Cena-A.J. Styles singles rematch. Instead, it will be a trios match with Enzo Amore, Big Cass and Cena vs. The Club. Also announced for the show was Natalya vs. Becky Lynch.
It was a holiday-themed Raw where the company knew beforehand it would get a low rating, perhaps the lowest in show history. So they handled it like a throwaway show. No Shane or Stephanie McMahon. Names like Mark Henry, Jack Swagger and Zack Ryder were in the main event. And the zany opening would have fit right in during a 1985 Saturday Night’s Main Event episode.
Show Recap:
They signed on with a scene straight from Tuesday Night Titans. Almost the entire roster was sitting around eating a Fourth of July meal together. R-Truth led the group in singing Naughty by Nature’s “Hip Hop Hooray.” Then the Vaudevillains asked them to leave the stage and Aiden English started singing the Declaration of Independence. Bubba Ray Dudley threw guacamole on him, but before a food fight could start, The Miz and Maryse got up to plug the July 19th draft live on SmackDown.
Miz said that tonight was not about food fights, which led to Dolph Ziggler spraying chocolate syrup on him. Someone threw macaroni onto Maryse, and the food started flying everywhere while the “War of 1812” played. While everyone was pelting each other with anything you can think of, Apollo Crews and Cesaro were oblivious to it all, focusing solely on their arm wrestling match. Bo Dallas was about to dump the punch bowl over Enzo Amore, but Big Cass stopped him and Dallas got the punch dumped on his head instead. Kevin Owens hid under a table in an attempt to escape the madness.
The Big Show was enjoying chicken wings when Kalisto doused him with cake. Show threw a chicken wing at Kalisto, but he ducked and it hit Kane instead. Kane and Show teased choke slamming each other when they saw Heath Slater laughing at them. So Kane and Show gave Slater a double chokeslam through a table. Everyone laughed as Slater was down and out, and then the room cleared. Owens got up from under the table unscathed and said, “This would never happen on Canada Day.” Then a cake wound up in his face. Owens screamed, stopped to lick the icing, then screamed some more.
Lillian Garcia performed the National Anthem.
United States Champion Rusev defeated Titus O’Neal via submission to retain the U.S. Championship (5:42)
Rusev got the clean submission with the Accolade after two roundhouse kicks. Titus O’Neal stayed in it for about 35 seconds before he tapped. O’Neal hit Clash of the Titus but Rusev kicked out. It appeared Rusev was supposed to get his hands on the ropes to force a break, but he was too far away. After he won, Rusev denounced America as Lana smiled. Lana was an afterthought here, she didn’t come out with Rusev during his ring entrance and only stood in front of the hard camera when the match went to the floor.
The Bella Twins were pictured on the cover of the new Latina Magazine.
Dallas, Curtis Axel and Slater came out dressed as minutemen. Slater had the complete Spirit of ’76 gear on, and was selling the chokeslam from earlier with his arm in a sling and his head bandaged. Enzo and Cass interrupted Dallas for their routine. Amore said it was the Fourth of July so it was only right to give the fans some Star Spangled Banter. Amore actually reeled off all the presidents of the United States in order, which had to take his entire Independence Day to memorize, and said they would all be insulted if they saw the Social Outcasts dressed like they were.
Enzo & Cass defeated Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel (2:04)
Enzo pinned Dallas after the Bada Boom Shaka Laka. Axel and Dallas wrestled with blue robes and British court dress wigs on. Enzo posed in the wig after the win.
Charlotte and Dana Brooke came out. Charlotte said Sasha Banks gets a lot of people to chant “We Want Sasha,” but chants don’t pay the bills. Charlotte said Banks was all hype. Banks came out to interrupt the two and said Charlotte would never be her. Charlotte said she didn’t want to be Banks, but Banks said that Charlotte has done almost everything she can do over the past year except beat her. Banks said Charlotte would have never won at WrestleMania if it wasn’t for her father and said she would dominate Charlotte when they meet.
Charlotte said next week would be the one year anniversary of their debut on the Raw roster and she’s held the WWE Women’s Championship almost that entire time, so that makes her the boss. Banks started saying all the things that make her a true boss. Brooke tried to give Banks a forearm, but Banks easily ducked that and sent Brooke out of the ring. Charlotte kicked Banks in the head and said her reign had only begun. Charlotte tried to lift Banks up, but Banks escaped and hit the Back Stabber, followed by the Bank Statement. Brooke pulled Charlotte out of the ring for the save.
WWE Champion Dean Ambrose defeated I-C Champion The Miz in a nontitle match (9:35)
Ambrose won with Dirty Deeds after a series of near falls following a small package, a victory roll and a schoolboy cradle. Miz clamped on the Figure Four, which they’re still trying to get over as a submission finisher. Ambrose sold the leg effectively for the rest of the match as Miz attempted the Skull Crushing Finale but failed, leading to the finish. Miz was down for a long time after the match and the referee checked on him outside the ring.
Post-match, Seth Rollins came out for his match with Ziggler. Rollins and Ambrose had a face off as Rollins passed by him on the ramp. Ambrose ran back to the ring like he was going to attack Rollins, but instead went to the commentator’s table, where he started doing analysis at the Spanish table.
Brock Lesnar’s opponent for SummerSlam will be announced on this week’s SmackDown. If you’re wondering how much Saturday’s UFC fight was mentioned, the answer is zero.
Seth Rollins defeated Dolph Ziggler (11:15)
Rollins won with the Pedigree. Ziggler hit his jumping DDT, but Rollins was up within five seconds of taking it. Immediately, Ziggler tried for the Zig Zag, but Rollins blocked it and hit the finish. Solid match.
Post-match, Rollins stood on the announcer’s table and cut a promo on Roman Reigns, saying that Reigns needs to take shortcuts in order to achieve anything in life, just like all of the fans. Rollins said Reigns should be ineligible for the main event of Battleground, which got cheered.
Rollins walked past Ambrose at the commentator’s table dismissively, then started talking about how he was going to take his championship back from Ambrose at Battleground. Ambrose stood on the Spanish announce table and said that Rollins could have it, he threw the belt at Rollins, then jumped him. It ended with Ambrose giving Rollins Dirty Deeds onto the Spanish announce table.
The Wyatt Family have a new vignette look. Bray Wyatt said New Day comes from a world that doesn’t exist because the power of positivity doesn’t actually exist. In the world he comes from, the pains of the real world are apparent. Wyatt invited them into their world where he would deliver them the truth, because the power of positivity is nothing but a fairy tale.
They aired another Baron Corbin video where JBL called him a future world champion.
Vickie Guerrero came out for the first time in two years as the latest authority figure. She was a total heel, still using her “Excuse Me” catchphrase. She reminded the fans she was the former general manager of SmackDown and Raw. She said that while Shane and Stephanie McMahon are handling Raw, SmackDown can’t be left in the hands of Teddy Long or Kane, but it should be left for her to run. She submitted her name for the job of SmackDown COO and dropped in her famous cackle. Security had to force her out.
Big Show lined up members of his American team for the 16-man elimination tag like he was General Patton addressing his troops. His team consists of the Dudley Boyz, Kane, Zack Ryder, Jack Swagger, Crews and Mark Henry. He gave them a rah-rah speech about how this would not be a walk in the park, but they wouldn’t be afraid, they would never back down, this was the Fourth of July and they were Americans. They were going to show the same fight against the International Alliance that soldiers showed 240 years ago to win America’s freedom.
Vickie was being hauled out when she ran into Ziggler. She claimed that she was invited by Shane and Stephanie. Ziggler said he had never seen that woman before in his life, then hopped back on the phone with someone to say, “Yeah, I lost but I tried really hard.”
The Golden Truth defeated The Vaudevillains (1:25)
R-Truth pinned English with Solid Gold, which is a Powerbomb/Final Cut combination. R-Truth now has the lyrics to his rap song on the screen so fans can try to follow along. Fandango and Tyler Breeze watched from ringside.
Life Lessons with Bob Backlund is next. Backlund wanted to know what Darren Young’s finisher was. He said the Gut Check. Backlund wanted to know what his submission finisher was, but Young said he didn’t have one. Backlund gave him permission to use the crossface chicken wing, which was the last move Randy Savage sold before he left the WWE. Young was thrilled that Backlund would give him his finisher.
John Cena came out and actually chided the fans for lack of crowd heat. Fans started the usual dueling chants, and Cena started in on A.J. Styles. Cena said he knew Styles would bring out the best in him. But he was disappointed when Styles couldn’t stand on his own two feet and leaned on the shoulders of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows to defeat Cena at Money in the Bank. Now he has to worry about The Club every time he steps into the ring. Cena said he was sick of looking over his shoulder and challenged them to come out.
Styles, Anderson and Gallows came out. Styles said Cena was pathetic for crying about a personal setback. If he wanted to talk about something being unfair, Styles said they arrived in Japan this past weekend for a heroic return. Instead, all they saw was Cena’s face all over posters and walls. But The Club proved they ran Tokyo this weekend and soon they would run the WWE.
Styles said the reason why The Club always stays by his side is because Cena could bury him at any point, just as he’s done many times before. Styles also mentioned how no WWE superstar is coming out to help Cena because Cena has put himself on an island. No other WWE superstar can relate to Cena, but they can relate to The Club. He said most superstars would love to beat up Cena, but they were the only ones who had the balls to get it done.
Styles said they would continue to beat up Cena because there was nothing more fun to do. They vowed to do it week after week after week for the rest of the year. When Labor Day rolls around, Styles asked Anderson what he was going to do? He said beat up Cena. Styles asked Gallows what he was going to do for Halloween. Gallows said he was going to dress up as Bushwhacker Luke and beat up John Cena. Styles said he was thinking about dressing up as Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, do some strutting and cutting, and beat up John Cena. Anderson said for Christmas, he would hang out with his hot Asian wife and beat up John Cena. Then they said for the Fourth of July, they were going to beat up John Cena.
The Club surrounded the ring and immediately put the boots to Cena. Styles laid in the punches, as did Gallows. Enzo and Cass came out for the save. Cass gave Gallows a big boot while Cena threw Styles out of the ring and Enzo disposed of Anderson.
The Shining Stars said Puerto Rico wasn’t over-commercialized like the United States.
Becky Lynch defeated Summer Rae via submission (2:58)
Becky Lynch won with Dis-arm-her. They botched a vertical suplex spot where Lynch fell right on top of her head. She looked shaken up but finished the match. Natalya watched the match from backstage.
The multinational team of Chris Jericho, Sin Cara, Sami Zayn, Kalisto, Cesaro, Owens, Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus were backstage. Jericho was the captain. Del Rio wanted to know who made him the captain of the team. Jericho started speaking Spanish to Del Rio. Everyone started talking until Owens, deadly serious, said he was ready to beat some American ass after what happened to him earlier tonight in the food fight. Jericho told the rest of the team to “watch out for it.” Zayn asked, “What is it?” Jericho said “It” and walked off. Zayn, Cara, Cesaro and Kalisto vowed to stay together in unison because the rest of the team made them look bad.
Enzo and Cass did a product placement for Sonic restaurants. There’s now a “How You Doin?” lunchbox. They’re naturals as product guys.
New Day came out. Kofi Kingston said a lot of people think the Wyatt Family are weird looking hillbillies. Big E said rumor has it the Wyatt’s don’t stray far from the family tree, they keep it Archie Bunker, as in “All in the Family.” Kingston said they like the Wyatts and the Wyatts like them because why else would they invite them to their world.
Erick Rowan popped up on the TitanTron. He said the sound of laughter is a precious thing. Braun Strowman said the sound of a scream is music to his ears. Wyatt said the New Day should come to his world and seek the truth like men. Wyatt said it’s a challenge to see if they’re men or cowards. He wanted to know how far they would go to fight for what they believe in. Wyatt said the New Day started this, and he must end it.
Kingston said they accept and they would spray positivity all over the place. Big E started to quote Lil’ John and said they would spray positivity “to the windows to the wall,” but Xavier Woods screamed at his cohorts and said Wyatt is a true threat. He couldn’t understand why Kingston would fight them on their grounds. Woods said everything up to now has been fun and games, but if they don’t see the threat that Wyatt poses to them, he doesn’t think the New Day will survive. Woods walked off while Big E and Kofi watched on.
Team USA (The Big Show, Zack Ryder, The Dudley Boyz, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry, Kane and Apollo Crews) defeated the International Alliance (Chris Jericho, Lucha Dragons, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Cesaro, Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio) in a 16-man elimination tag team match in 22:14.
Bubba Ray eliminated Cara after a 3-D in 1:05. In an instant, Sheamus gave Bubba Ray a Brogue Kick, and Kalisto pinned Bubba at 1:16. Cesaro eliminated Devon Dudley via submission with a Sharpshooter after a 10-rep Giant Swing at 5:34. Jericho (who was born in New York while his father played for the Rangers) pinned Jack Swagger with a Codebreaker after he broke up a Swagger Bomb at 7:44, which made it 7-on-5 in favor of the Internationals.
The 12 remaining men filled the ring for a brawl to go into a commercial. Mark Henry eliminated Kalisto after the World’s Strongest Slam at 13:18. There was another instant elimination when Owens got Henry up for the Pop-Up Power Bomb at 13:34. Owens threw Ryder into Zayn, and then Zayn ran in to start brawling with Owens. Kane was about to give Zayn a choke slam, but Owens ran in with a chair and popped Zayn in the back. That got Owens disqualified at 14:46, even though he did it to his own partner. Then Kane grabbed the chair and hit Owens with it. That got Kane disqualified at 15:13. Kane choke slammed Zayn anyway. Crews ran in and gave Zayn a splash for the pin at 15:45. Then Sheamus gave Owens a Brogue kick and pinned him at 15:56.
At this point, the Internationals began arguing with each other and Cesaro started throwing forearms against his heel partners. Cesaro went for the Neutralizer on Ryder, but Ryder turned it into a jackknife cradle for the surprise pin at 18:31. So it was 3-on-2 for the Internationals, with Jericho, Del Rio and Sheamus vs. Show and Ryder. Show eliminated Jericho with the Knockout punch at 20:05. Show pinned Del Rio with a choke slam at 20:26. Suddenly it was 2-on-1 for the Americans. Sheamus gave Ryder a powerslam, but Ryder kicked out. Show grabbed Sheamus by the throat and threw him into the Rough Ryder, and Ryder got the pin on Sheamus for the American victory. Show and Ryder did the woo-woo-woo chant as a giant American flag came down above the ring.
