The card for Kizuna Road itself isn’t all that interesting, though we do have a unique match in Will Ospreay and Okada teaming up to take on Naito and Bushi in the main event. The real interest will be during the intermission, in which the participants for the G1 will be announced, and the big matches on the tour will be highlighted as well. Will Tanahashi make the cut? Who gets left out? Will Yujiro still somehow maintain a spot? We’ll find out soon enough!
David Finlay vs. Ryusuke Taguchi
About as solid of a match as you’d expect from these two. Taguchi looked good, as did David, who is now sporting a beard. He lost here to the dodon by Taguchi.
Rocky Romero, Trent Baretta, Tomohiro Ishii and Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, Captain New Japan and Manabu Nakanishi
Nakanishi has a new shirt that says Monster Morning, because he has a really big breakfast. No, really, he posts his breakfast like every day on Twitter. Captain New Japan demanded for Sakuraba to get in there. Sakuraba wasn’t interested. Eventually he relented but CNJ ran to Liger for protection. A lot of comedy stuff to start out with- Baretta wanted to shake Liger’s hand. Liger, who is probably aware by now the handshake spot almost always leads to the dumb babyface getting jumped, had no interest.
Baretta went around shaking everyone’s hand (including a member of the audience) until Liger finally relented. This time, however, Liger caught Baretta trying to lay him out and instead took him out. Basic eight man tag with with pretty fun spots. CNJ and Sakuraba did have another confrontation towards the end, with the latter getting the upper hand. Ishii’s the one to get the win, pinning CNJ with the brainbuster.
Hangman Page, Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Satoshi Kojima, Yoshitatsu and Matt Sydal
Heels jumped faces before the bell rang. Everyone looked good here, as it was an action packed six man tag. Page and Sydal worked together and aside from one noticeable botch they worked pretty well with one another. Kojima made the hot tag, took out Yujiro who was interfering, and pinned Owens with the lariat.
Bullet Club didn’t like that too much, so they jumped the faces after the match and hanged Yoshitatsu. Given he was out for over a year with severe neck injuries I’m pretty sure they could have put someone else in this spot.
B Block: Katsuyori Shibata, Yuji Nagata, Tomoaki Honma, Michael Elgin, Toru Yano, Tetsuya Naito, Evil, Kenny Omega, Yoshi-Hashi, Katsuhiko Nakajima
Big matches:
7/18: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Sanada, Okada vs. Marufuji
7/22: Nagata vs. Naito, Shibata vs. Honma
7/23: Tanahashi vs. Makabe, Okada vs. Sanada
7/24: Nakajima vs. Shibata, Honma vs. Yoshi-Hashi
7/25: Makabe vs. Sanada, Okada vs. Goto
7/27: Yano vs. Naito, Shibata vs. Elgin
7/28: Ishii vs. Marufuji, Goto vs. Sanada
7/30: Omega vs. Elgin, Shibata vs. Naito
7/31: Makabe vs. Marufuji, Tanahashi vs. Goto
8/1: Yoshi Hashi vs. Nakajima, Honma vs. Naito
8/3: Tanahashi vs. Ishii, Makabe vs. Okada
8/4: Nakajima vs. Naito, Shibata vs. Omega
8/6: Tanahashi vs. Marufuji, Okada vs. Ishii
8/7: Omega vs. Nagata, Naito vs. Evil
8/8: Ishii vs. Sanada, Tanahashi vs. Kojima
8/10: Honma vs. Elgin, Shibata vs. Nagata
8/12: Goto vs. Marufuji, Tanahashi vs. Okada
8/13: Shibata vs. Evil, Naito vs. Omega
Additionally, all shows will be airing live on New Japan World.
Yuji Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tomoaki Honma vs. Juice Robinson, Togi Makabe and Katsuyori Shibata
Good match, fast paced and solid throughout. Honma and Shibata, who are in the same block and are also facing off soon over the NEVER title, worked against one another for a lot of the match. Tenzan, who is not in the G1 this year, seemed particularly motivated in this match. He got the win with the moonsault, pinning Robinson. I guess that’ll stick it to those in charge.
Shibata and Honma had to be separated after the match. Tenzan cut a short promo once that was all settled, wondering why he wasn’t in the G1.
Evil and Sanada vs. Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi
Really great match, easily the best of the night in terms of heat. This was all about Yoshi-Hashi and Sanada as they’ve been feuding for the last month.This got a lot of great heat towards the end as Yoshi-Hashi got a submission in on Sanada and nearly tapped him out. They had a really good back and forth exchanged towards the end. Yoshi-Hashi is ready in terms of being a big breakout singles star. They’ve kept him in tags for years and it’s time to go beyond that. Sanada is going to excel here and in the G1. Evil flattened him with a lariat but Yoshi-Hashi kicked out. They did several more great near falls that people were super into. Finally Sanada went for the Skull End once again but Yoshi Hashi slipped to the ground and rolled up Sanada for the flash pin.
Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito and Bushi
Since Naito didn’t have Milano Collection AT or any announcers to bully, he opted to lay out the camera guy instead. Pretty good main event overall. It couldn’t match the previous bout, but people were still very much into it. This crowed loved Naito and there were huge changes for him throughout the match. Ospreay came in for fun great highspots including a tornillo dive to the outside. He hit a spanish fly on Bushi, then a spinning kick but missed the springboard cutter and ate a Canadian destroyer by Bushi. Okada broke up that fall, but Bushi came back and hit the codebreaker for the win.
Bushi cuts a promo and asks why he isn’t in the Super J Cup. Naito says yes, those are the two big events of the summer…but until then, tranquilo.
Good show, and very newsworthy to boot. Definitely check out the co-main as it has some awesome heat and action.
First show is from August 15, 2015 at Sumo Hall. No intro, I guess Ishii didn’t feel like introducing us.
Yuji Nagata vs. Hirooki Goto
This was a good match.Even though Ross and Barnett put over both of their wrestling backgrounds over before the match started ,this was a very stiff back and forth match. Like Jim Ross said, it was nothing fancy- lots of stiff punches, forearms and kicks. Also really interesting to hear Nagata is 47. I know that Nagata is called Mr. Anti-Aging but I’ve never really thought of his actual age. The way he’s moving at 47 should really be commended. He got the win here.
Satoshi Kojima vs. Karl Anderson
This was also a very good match. Anderson worked hard and did his usual heel tactics. Kojima looked really strong. Not much more beyond that, just a good back and forth match. Kojima picked up the win with a lariat.
Tomohiro Ishii was interviewed. It didn’t mean anything to him to hear that this G1 was the longest ever. On Elgin, he likes his moves and any of them can be finishers. Unlike most Americans, he fights with his heart.
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Michael Elgin
This was one of my favorite matches from the last year. Elgin showed in this match that he’s one of the best commodities New Japan has picked up in recent years – he’s just tremendous working a stiff style and excelled here against Tomohiro Ishii, who is also one of the best in this style too. They worked themselves into an excellent match with some scary spots, including a death valley driver to the floor by Elgin.
He followed that up with one of the scariest moves in some time with a running powerbomb right into the steel guard railing on the outside. Insane. Ishii turned him inside out with a lariat but Elgin kicked out, only to taste defeat following a brainbuster. Fantastic match, well worth taking the time to watch. Definitely one of the best matches in the G1 tournament.
Ishii says he’s become nothing but a boaster and is disappointed in himself. Elgin vows with every last breath, drop of sweat and blood, he and Ishii will go at it again.
In an interesting note, Ishii mentions he lost consciousness after the first blow of the match, so he doesn’t have much memories of it. He was out of it. He thought although it was a good, he got beat badly. He thought he was doing well in the tournament until he lost to Okada .He says it’s been another disappointing year.
Okada welcomes us to part two of the August 15, 2015 G1 event in Sumo Hall.
Yujiro Takahashi vs. Tomoaki Honma
This was fine. Yujiro’s in the bottom rung of workers in the New Japan roster, but Honma is so over this turned into a good match anyway. Yujiro used a ref bump to low blow and the Miami shine to pin Honma.
Okada says that the G1 was probably the best condition he could have been in. He doesn’t fight against Nakamura too often, so this was interesting for him. He wasn’t sure if the math would go ahead due to his injury, but it did. When mentioning that one block was AJ vs. Tanahashi and the other one was him vs. Nakamura, he noted that it was the four best wrestlers in New Japan, so it was hard for him to compete against them.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
The match that these two had in the previous year’s G1 was absolutely awesome. I forget how this one went, though I remember it being awesome as well, so let’s see how this fares with new eyes.
They started off slow, feeling one another. The match largely went with a back and forth style; well worked, nothing fancy .Once they started to go to the finishers it became great. Nakamura spun into that wonderful armbar, went into the gogoplata position, then sent him chest first to the ground and submitted him. I really liked that finish, but I thought the match they had in the G1 finals in 2014 has a bit more oomph to it. Still, these were two of the best workers in the business having a great match by any standard, so good on them. That makes it Tanahashi vs. Nakamura in the G1 2015 finals.
Nakamura says there’s only one more match to go, and he’s ready to give it his all.
Okada says it was frustrating he got submitted instead of pinned. By far, it’s the most frustrating match for him. If Nakamura wins the whole thing, he’s sure to face him again. The usually chatty Gedo this time says he has nothing to say, Nakamura was incredible. Meanwhile, Nakamura says he gave it his all today. One more match…he’s on fire.
In his reflective interview, Okada says for him, it was one of the most memorable matches of 2015. He remembers it even more than his match in 2014, perhaps because he lost. He also forgot about the armlock. It was his first tap out since returning to America. After taking part in such a big series, he was proud to take on so many matches. On Nakamura leaving, he’s going to miss him. But he’s not worried about New Japan Pro Wrestling. He’s excited for what’s to come. But with that said, he misses him but hopes he does well in America. He wants to fight him again, He’ll make the New Japan ring the best in the meantime.
Two very good episodes of New Japan on AXS this week. This show still remains as one of the best TV shows in North America, featuring both hot matches and fresh insight into them.
H returns to traditional PPV Friday night for Best In The World, the seventh such event in company history. The event emanates from Concord, NC, the first time BITW has been held there.
Headlining the show is ROH World Champion Jay Lethal vs. Jay Briscoe, a rematch from last year’s BITW event where Lethal downed Briscoe for the belt in a winner takes all match.
KYLE O’REILLY VS. KAMAITACHI
O’Reilly won with a brainbuster and armbar. Very good technically. The crowd reacted but didn’t go wild. Kamaitachi reufsed to shake hands and left. The crowd isn’t mic’d well as you can see them reactingbut dont’ hear it that well. Kamaitachi didn’t look as impressive as he usually does. But his role was to put O’Reilly over as the whole thing they pushed was how O’Reilly gets a shot at the winner of the main event tomorrow.
SILAS YOUNG VS. ACH
Yeah, we’ve got the same problem with the bad crowd micing whicnh hurts the matches. You can see people are into it and hear it lightly. This was a good match. ACH did a great springobard flip dive. Young missed a springboard move, and ACH won with jumping double knees, a brainbuster and a 450 splash.
They just introudced Jay White at ringside. He looks like a teenager in the crowd.
Mark Briscoe was hilarious on his pre-match interview.
MARK BRISCOE VS. RODERICK STRONG
With Strong leaving, Mark got the pin after a brainbuster and fisherman buster in a really good match. Strong was excellent here and Mark hung with him. Mark has shaved his head but came out with a wig to surprise Strong. Both worked at a hard pace, with Mark doing all kinds of cool stuff and Strong solid with everything he did. Mark survived the sick kick and gutbuster. Mark used a sick kick on Strong. I think if the crowd was mic’d this would have come across as excellent. Fans were chanting “Thank you Roddy” and he was shaking hands on the way out.
WAR MACHINE & MOOSE VS. YOUNG BUCKS & ADAM COLE IN A TORNADO MATCH
Excellent match. Non stop action and the crowd was pretty hot. Finish saw them use the Meltzer driver on Moose and all three kissed each other after winning. We’ll update this later because it was a crazy match with all kinds of big spots and a ton of superkicks. Once again it was hurt by the crowd micing. Hanson in particular did crazy stuff for a guy his size.
CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & FRANKIE KAZARIAN VS. CHRIS SABIN & ALEX SHELLEY FOR THE TAG TITLES
Another good match. Actually this at first had a hard time following the previous match. Kamaitachi came out and attacked Jay White at ringside. They were brawling and distracted ref Paul Turner and Daniels hit Shelley with a low blow and he was out of commission. Daniels & Kazarian then pinned Sabin after the Best Meltzer ever. You’d think at this point I was the booker and had an ego twice the size of Dusty Rhodes. Daniels & Kazarian & Kamaitachi left together so they are forming a group.
STEVE CORINO VS. B.J. WHITMER IN AN UNSACNTIONED FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR
Corino came out to Shinya Hashimoto’s theme music. Corino bleached his hair blond. The commentators said this is a match that nobody wanted to see happen. This match was crazy. It came from another era as Whitmer went to hardway him. Corino bled like crazy. Whitmer juiced and it was a bloodbath. The crowd loved it. Whitmer put Corino through a table with an exploder suplex. They beat each other with broken pieces of the table. The lights went out and Kevin Sullivan showed up, teased hitting Whitmer with the spike but instead spiked Corino and Whitmer pinned him. Because nobody does this kind of match, it really worked. They saved things like tables, never do blood like this and used rolls of quarters but didn’t over do the foreign objects like in TNA where the shots meant nothing.
BOBBY FISH VS. DALTON CASTLE FOR THE TV TITLE
Another good match. Castle dominated. Castle suplexed Fish on his head and they teased Fish being hurt, but he then went for the bang a rang and Fish turned it into a front rolling cradle for the pin.
The All Night Express and Caprice Coleman came out. They came out to Presidential music. Coleman noted they were never defeated for the titles. He claimed they had to pay for this segment. Said each watched each others back and said all three are underrated and underpaid and now they are uniting and are now the group is called The Cabinet. Coleman is the Minister of Information. Rhett Titus said this whole show has been young punks flip flying around and nobody looks like pro wrestlers, said guys need to do bench presses and squats, how the tag champs have no abs and how the Young Bucks skip leg day and keep doing superkicks. Said there is an Olympic gold medalist is selling T-shirts to make wrestling great again. The Cabinet will will make wrestling great, won’t skip leg day and will win all the gold.
JAY LETHAL VS. JAY BRISCOE FOR THE ROH TITLE
Great match. Shorter than you’d think but time got out of control. The crowd loved it, chanting “That was awesome” after the finish. Lethal retained with a diamond cutter and Lethal iinjection. So right after the match ended, they turned up the crowd mic and you could hear how loud they were. If they’d done that during the show every match would have come across better. Both shook hands after the match. Briscoe nearly go the pin earlier with the Lethal injection and Jay driller. Lethal did two tope’s in a row and Briscoe came back with two of his own and a running flip dive. A lot of near falls. Crowd may have been hottest in this match.
On the go-home show leading to Best in the World on pay-per-view, Ring of Honor television from Toronto features ROH all-stars vs. Bullet Club in an eight-man tag team match. Elsewhere, Tomohiro Ishii circles his prey and Steve Corino threatens BJ Whitmer. Also on the show, Dalton Castle shines ahead of him challenging Bobby Fish for the TV title at the PPV.
Dalton Castle (with the Boys) beat Gedo
They did some comedy early on in the match. At one point at ringside the Boys began fanning Gedo, angering Dalton. He charged out after him. It was all a ploy as in getting the babyface to chase the heel around the ring. As Gedo slid into the ring, he cut off Dalton in one of the oldest tricks in the book.
Castle fired up moments later though Gedo countered the bang-a-rang. Gaining revenge for being dupped earlier in the match, the Boys smacked Gedo with punches and he fed into Dalton for the finish. After a bang-a-rang, Dalton covered him for the pinfall.
In a backstage promo, Adam Cole promised he would not get involved in the main event at Best in the World. He also promised to be the next ROH world champion.
Tomohiro Ishii beat Will Ferrara
Far from a squash match, the story was still the bout was a mismatch. Ferrara got a lot of offense and even got a nearfall on a small package. Even though Ferrara would knock him down, the “Stone Pitbull” would rise again to pummel his smaller prey. Ishii would hoist him up to deliver a vertical drop brainbuster for the pin.
Afterwards, Ishii was at ringside ranting at announcer Kevin Kelly in Japanese. As Ishii stormed off, Kevin said, “There you have it.”
In an in-ring promo, Steve Corino cut a go-home promo vowing to rid ROH of BJ Whitmer at Best in the World. Corino talked about all the evil things he’d done throughout his career. “I am what I am,” he kept saying. He tried to change his ways, fell in love and got married. That was all a fairytale he said. He is what he is. Corino said he was an evil man. He called Whitmer “trash” and mentioned all the evil things Whitmer did. He then said after the Fight Without Honor at BITW, Whitmer would no longer be in ROH as Corino will “take out the trash.”
Jay Lethal & Roderick Strong & the Briscoes beat Bullet Club (Matt Jackson & Kenny Omega & Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa)
Kenny Omega subbed for Nick Jackson in the match. Despite being pre-taped, no mention of the substitute until just before the match began. A subplot of the match was Jay Briscoe teaming with Jay Lethal as they will meet in the world title main event at Best in the World. However, they hardly teased dissension in this match. Also notable was Roderick Strong in the match in what could be one of his last appearances on ROH TV before departing the company.
Lots of tags and lots of action in the eight-man tag match itself. Almost too much to call. In the most dramatic showdown of the match, Lethal squared off with Omega for a heated exchange. Everybody exchanged moves in rapid fire succession in the closing moments. Eventually, Jay Briscoe executed the Jay driller on Tanga Loa to score the deciding pinfall.
Closing out the show was a series of promos hyping Best in the World which airs tonight on PPV. Our Dave Meltzer will have coverage starting at 8 PM EST.
Last week, Team Gadelha finished the first round 7-1 with Kate Jackson’s victory over Ashley Yoder. The quarterfinals: Andrew Sanchez vs. Eric Spicely, Amanda Cooper vs. Lanchana Green, Tatiana Suarez vs. Kate Jackson, and Josh Stansbury vs. Cory Hendricks. Unfortunately, Hendricks’ injury has proven to be too much for him so he’s pulling out of the tournament and someone gets to come back to replace him.
Dana White sets up a Skype call with the coaches live from his location in London (presumably for the Bisping vs. Silva fight). He’s bringing back Khalil Rountree to face Josh Stansbury, so Sanchez and Spicely are still fighting each other as previously planned, and if Hendricks is healed up, he gets a shot on the TUF Finale in July. Gadelha is “very happy” with the decision.
Rountree is frustrated that he’s having to fight a friend for the second time on the show, and Jedrzejczyk tries to encourage him to cheer up, but in his interview, he says he has to deal with it the way he needs to. “I’m in a situation where I have to put myself first and that’s not something that I’m used to.” Neither team is thrilled about fighting friends in their matchups.
It’s time for the annual COACHES CHALLENGE.
Two giant glass tanks have been filled up with ice water and there are platforms to stand over the top of them. The coaches have to stand up there and shoot air rifles at targets with 5, 10, and 20 point circles. The 20 is the bullseye and also says “DUNK.” For every 20 points, they go in the water, which Gadelha is already very unhappy about, but after winning the coin toss, she gets to shoot first.
Gadelha scores 10. Jedrzejczyk misses. Gadelha scores 20 and Jedrzejczyk gets dunked. Jedrzejczyk scores 20 and Gadelha gets dunked. Gadelha scores 20 for another dunk. Jedrzejczyk scores 5. 10, 10. 20 and Jedrzejczyk is dunked again. Jedrzejczyk with a 20 and Gadelha is dunked. It’s 80 to 55. Gadelha hits the bullseye again and that’s game over – Jedrzejczyk gets dunked one last time. Gadelha gets $10,000 and her team gets $1,500 each. Jedrzejczyk vows to win even more money when they fight in July.
Now, White goes up to the platform! She gets three shots to dunk him and if she succeeds. Gadelha gets another $15,000 and $500 more to each member of the team. Gadelha hits the bullseye on her very first try.
* Eric Spicely (204.5, Team Gadelha) vs. Andrew Sanchez (201 pounds, Team Gadelha)
Spicely is in the red trunks, Sanchez is in the navy blue trunks. Sanchez is hurting him early and hurting him often and the fight is over by KO in just 47 seconds! An overhand right set it up and a head kick really shook Spicely up, and it was only a matter of time until the stoppage after that. Sanchez isn’t happy about it because he had to fight a friend.
“It’s very bittersweet. It’s strange and unexpected,” he said.
Welcome to the longest running episodic Internet Wrestling Show recap report in the history of all time and space: The main Eeent of weekly WWE recaps, the weekly recap of WWE Main Event.
The Ascension vs. Big Cass and Enzo Amore
The commentary team is very concerned about the WWE right now. Tom Phillips thinks that the WWE is in the midst of a time of change. David Otunga, I’m not too sure about him. Between showing up regularly at the Steve Harvey Show, painting the town red with his Hollywood wife, being a high powered attorney, and making sure his arms are ripped to the point of absurdity, I can understand how he doesn’t have time to reflect on how I find his fashion offensive. He is wearing a sleeveless hoodie over a shirt that has to be a Youth XL, because it looks like it is about to tear itself in half from being so tight.
And Phillips is right, things are changing because the other Ascension is back from his suspension.
Enzo and Cass make their way out to a huge ovation from the crowd, and Otunga has the nerve to make fun of Enzo’s outfit. Enzo says his piece, and they get a few laughs over on the Ascension. Big Cass talks a lot about football for a really long time. Otunga continues to make fun of Enzo’s outfits. Enzo starts off the fight against Viktor, and then Konnor gets tagged. There’s a cool spot where Enzo lands a springboard plancha and Viktor hits him with a corkscrew uppercut. Otunga loves that move. Konner beats up Enzo, and the Ascension cut him off and everyone wants the HOT TAG.
Enzo makes tag to Big Cass and they hit the Badda Boom Shaka Laka for the win.
We learn that John Cena speaks Mandarin.
Sin Cara vs Baron Corbin
Otunga reminisces for a moment on his in-ring career. Out comes Corbin. He’s closed the book on his rivalry with Dolph Ziggler, according to Phillips. So with that out of the way, now is the opportunity to establish who Corbin is with the audience. I know what he is. He’s a sweaty biker dude with a skullet, who also drives an old white van, carries a pocket knife and will do unspeakably horrific things to you if he doesn’t like you, and man oh man, he doesn’t like you because Corbin doesn’t like anyone. Otunga thinks Corbin is a future world champion, and everyone knows Otunga is famous for his eye for talent.
Sin Cara kicks Corbin, and then Corbin throws Cara across the ring. Cara fights back for a bit and attempts the pin to no avail. Corbin hits the End of Days, and as my girlfriend always says, “No one ever kicks out of the End of Days”.
Otunga is so excited about the upcoming brand split.
US Champion Rusev vs Zack Ryder
If there is any justice in the world, Rusev will be a multi-time World Champion by the time his run is over. His talent and charisma is off the charts. Plus he gets to hang out with Willie Nelson, Woody Harrelson, and Kris Kristofferson in Hawaii, he tries to play the acoustic guitar in his spare time, he seems like he is in a happy relationship, and he loves Space Jam.
Dolph Ziggler is on commentary wearing a Degeneration X shirt and a blazer. I have to apologize to Ziggler because I lied to him once. He was doing a comedy thing and I went to laugh, but I didn’t laugh at all because I didn’t think anything was funny. I saw him leaving the venue and I shouted “Good job” to him, and I feel bad because that is not how I felt at the time. Dolph, I hope you can forgive me, and I promise to be honest from now on.
Otunga, such a brave and bold broadcast journalist, asks Dolph about Rusev and Lana’s engagement. Dolph rambles off about Twitter. Sometimes I think all he has in this world is his Twitter account, @heelziggler. Rusev kicks Ryder in the damn face because Rusev is a damn beast and he can and will rip your damn heart out in front of your damn face. But, he can also steal it from you.
Rusev has everything it takes to be America’s sweetheart and American Psycho. Otunga is so mad that Rusev is US Champion. No one on commentary thinks that there’s any truth to Rusev’s claim that he is an American hero. What a bunch of ignorant meatheads. Rusev continues to beat the living puke out of Ryder. Ryder shows his heart for a bit, and puts up some offensive. But Rusev machka.
Ryder taps out to the Accolade. Ziggler calls Phillips “TP”…and we’re done.
– Air Date: June 23, 2016 – Location: Tucson Convention Center in Tucson, AZ
– The Big News:
There was no acknowledgement of the Roman Reigns wellness policy violation or suspension. There was also no mention of what happened with Jerry Lawler this week. Smackdown did feature Sami Zayn vs. Seth Rollins for the first time ever, and it delivered.
Show Recap:
They started with a video package recapping Dean Ambrose’s night at Money in the Bank and Raw. They officially announced Ambrose vs. Rollins vs. Reigns at Battleground. The commentary team was Mauro Ranallo, Byron Saxton and David Otunga. The Raw/Smackdown podiums were on the stage too, even though they were never used.
Seth Rollins Promo
Rollins said all of our parents told us that we can accomplish our goals if we work hard, but MITB was proof that they’re all liars. Nobody works harder than him and he proved it when he came back early from his injury and pinned the paper champion Roman Reigns. Rollins said Ambrose snuck up behind him and stole his title.
Rollins said he would prove again that he was, and always will be, the best member of the Shield. Tonight, he wanted to prove he was the man and issued an open challenge, which brought out Sami Zayn. Rollins asked him of his master Kevin Owens let him off his leash. Rollins was taking Zayn lightly and called him the perfect opponent.
Before Zayn could say anything, Dean Ambrose interrupted. Ambrose called for the production guys to bring his Ambrose Asylum set into the ring, which they did. Ambrose has a cactus now. He also (poorly) drew the WWE title belt on the bristol board sign. Rollins thought this was crap and didn’t want to be a guest on his show, but Zayn played along, acting overly excited and honoured to be on.
Ambrose’s first question was for Rollins, asking him why he’s such a jackass. Rollins didn’t want to be there, so Zayn challenged him to a match right now. Rollins was pissed about this whole thing and stormed off. Ambrose announced the match for the main event, and Ranallo called it a first-time ever match. Perfectly fine opening segment.
Cesaro beat Alberto Del Rio via pinfall
They went to commercial one minute into the match. The story behind this was that Del Rio blames Cesaro for costing him the ladder match. Cesaro won an 8-9 minute match after reversing the armbar into a Neutralizer. Really good match and the crowd got into it the more it went.
Sheamus beat Apollo Crews via countout
Otunga said he understood Sheamus’ position because when Otunga himself was out, he was afraid somebody else would take his spot, and Sheamus must be worried about the same thing.
Crews had control until Sheamus gave him a rolling senton on the outside. Sheamus grabbed the steel steps, stood them up, and eventually hit Crews with a Brogue kick, sending him into the steps. This was somehow not a DQ, and Sheamus got in the ring as the referee counted out Crews.
The announcers discussed the Draft and the AJ Styles/John Cena program.
Backstage with The Club
Gallows said there’s no better feeling than beating Cena, which Styles did. Anderson said there was no better feeling than beating up Cena, which they all did on Raw. The Usos interrupted and told Styles he can’t win without his boys “Head and Shoulders.” Styles couldn’t tell the Usos apart. Jimmy said they’ve fought Gallows and Anderson before, but not Styles one-on-one, and challenged him.
Styles agreed to a match and would take him on without the Club at ringside. Jimmy wanted to shake on it, but when Styles went to shake his hand, Jimmy pulled his hand back and dabbed. The crowd laughed. They cut to Ranallo who said the match was made official, even though the segment literally just ended a second earlier. Whoever runs Smackdown works quickly, I guess.
AJ Styles beat Jimmy Uso (w/Jey Uso) via pinfall
Otunga picked Jimmy Uso to win this match. He also mentioned listening to the Stone Cold podcast and thought Styles was insecure about his size, which is why he hangs out with such big guys. Amazing. As Styles held a headlock, the younger portion of the audience chanted “AJ sucks.” Jimmy made his comeback and hit a superkick.
At this point, Gallows and Anderson ran down through the crowd to attack Jey. Jimmy nailed them both with a dive, and Styles followed with slingshot forearm on Jimmy. Styles pushed him back in the ring and hit a Phenomenal forearm for the win. The action was good but this was too short. The story, of course, was that Styles won thanks to the Club.
Non-title: WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & Big E (w/Xavier Woods) beat The Vaudevillains via pinfall
New Day won very quickly after hitting Gotch with Midnight Hour.
After the match, the Wyatts appeared on the screen. Bray said the measure of a man is what he does with power, but New Day used their power of positivity to interrupt the eater of worlds and that would be a grave mistake. New Day falls… Run.
There was a new segment with Bob Backlund and Darren Young. Young said his goals were to win a singles title and main event WrestleMania. Backlund said his era was called the “Bob Backlund era” and this will be the “Darren Young era.”
Backstage Interviews
Sami Zayn told a new interview man that it was time to move on from Kevin Owens, which is why he accepted Rollins’ challenge. He said the earlier segment may have been fun and games, but it was time to get serious. Zayn said he wouldn’t be worried about Owens tonight, and he hoped Rollins wouldn’t be worried about Ambrose, because Zayn would kick his face off. This was great.
Elsewhere, Renee Young asked Charlotte and Dana Brooke about Sasha Banks, which led to “We want Sasha” chants in the background. I missed Charlotte’s response. I’m sure it doesn’t matter. Brooke said she would beat Carrot Top Becky and playtime was over. One of the announcers (or someone) coughed into their mic during this segment and they didn’t bother editing it out.
Dana Brooke (w/Charlotte) beat Becky Lynch via pinfall
After Lynch hit a reverse DDT, Charlotte jumped on the apron, so Lynch knocked her off. The distraction allowed Brooke to apply a small package for the win in less than 2 minutes. Stupid. Another short women’s match and it was the only one on the show.
Afterwards, the heels doubled teamed Lynch. Lynch gave Brooke an Exploder, but Charlotte nailed her with a big boot. Sasha Banks came down for the save. Charlotte bailed and Brooke attacked Banks from behind, but she gave Brooke the Bank Statement as she stared at Charlotte.
Backstage, Rollins walked toward Gorilla when Ambrose showed up behind him. Ambrose said he wasn’t about to miss this match and casually walked along behind Rollins. Rollins was annoyed and responded by just walking really fast to get away. Funny.
Seth Rollins beat Sami Zayn via pinfall
Dean Ambrose joined commentary. Ranallo called him the new kingpin of WWE, and Ambrose really liked that. There were dueling chants of “Let’s go Rollins” and “Sami Zayn.” After a break, Rollins stomped a mudhole into Zayn. They each tried to hit a vertical suplex, but Rollins got the better of it and hit a Falcon Arrow.
Ranallo asked Ambrose what it was like to get “You deserve it” chants. Ambrose said you can’t outsmart the people and, “to quote John Cena, even though I don’t want to, real recognizes real.”
Zayn began making a comeback but Rollins escaped to the outside. Zayn went right after him with a clothesline, followed by a crossbody back in the ring for two. Zayn then hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for a near fall.
Zayn went for the Helluva kick but Rollins countered with a jumping kick and turnbuckle bomb. Zayn countered into a school boy for two, then reversed a Pedigree into a tornado DDT. Zayn went for Helluva kick again, but again Rollins escaped the ring. Zayn hit a flip dive, but as they re-entered the ring, Rollins immediately hit the Pedigree for the win. Very good match, although it was only about 12 minutes.
After the match, Rollins confronted Ambrose, but when Ambrose got in his face, Rollins backed off. Ambrose went to sit back down so Rollins gave him a cheap shot. With Ambrose down, Rollins celebrated, but Ambrose wildly attacked him. Ambrose went for a Dirty Deeds in the ring but Rollins bailed.
– Final Thoughts:
Based on normal Smackdown standards, this show was pretty good, especially with what felt like a light crew. Del Rio vs. Cesaro and Zayn vs. Rollins were both really good and the talking segments were entertaining too. I love that Seth Rollins seems like he’ll be perpetually annoyed as long as Dean Ambrose is WWE champion.
The episode begins with a recap of the importance of the Gift of the Gods Title, Cage’s win and then cash-in against Matanza that led to Matanza retaining. We see the history of Famous B and Mascarita Sagrada and the Black Lotus-Dragon Azteca Jr. feud. Dario meets with a new luchador – Night Claw, who will compete in a medallion match to determine who gets a Gift of the Gods match at Ultima Lucha Dos.
Dario gives Night Claw a history lesson about his jaguar tribe being destroyed, and Night Claw cuts a promo with a wacky voice filter about being on top of LU and Dario tells him to not be overconfident.
The Voodoo Glow Skulls sing ‘Revenge of the Nerds” while fans dance back and forth. Striker says that the “new luchador” debuts at Ultima Lucha Dos, and will compete for one medallion while the others will be on the line tonight. Daga is mid-ring and gets a “Daga” chant while Famous B interrupts Melissa and gets a “423-GET-FAME!” chant. Brenda brings Sagrada down while his epic theme plays.
Daga vs. Mascarita Sagrada – Medallion Match
Daga tosses him across the ring while Vamp talks about how Kobra Moon is stalking Daga from atop Dario’s office. DON’T STAND THERE – BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN. Brenda cheers on Mascerita while Vamp buries her for having an annoying voice. A one-footed dropkick gets 2 for Daga. Sagrada gets a rana cradle for 2. We get a shot of Kobra and Daga tosses Sagrada high in the air. A Russian Legsweep into a crossface gets a tap – but Daga keeps moving and the ref can’t see it.
Finally, the ref sees it and stops things long after they should’ve been stopped. Maybe it was just an homage to PRIDE. Brenda gives Sagrada a big kiss resulting in comedic lips appearing on his mask, and Famous B kicks his ass with his shoe before telling Brenda to go get it. It’s amazing how he went from the biggest babyface to a huge heel in no time. Striker says that the next match will be for three medallions.
Dario talks to Dragon Azteca Jr. about how his brother didn’t kill El Dragon Azteca. Azteca calls him a liar, and Dario says that Black Lotus will destroy the Azteca mask by beating him. “When you look into her eyes, you will see the eyes of your mentor’s killer”. The Crew and Joey Ryan walk down the aisle and Striker talks about how he shoves himself down everyone’s chest and Vamp says he doesn’t want to wrestle someone with a very oily chest. Marty tells Killshot to hang on and not kill him and offers him his dogtags back as a show of unity for tonight.
The Crew & Joey Ryan vs. Killshot, Sinestro & Marty the Moth
Marty kicks Castro and Striker rattles off movie characters that Marty reminds him of. Flying neckbreaker gets 2 for Castro. Marty and Joey go at it and Marty steals the lollipop and puts it in his mouth, before Joey recovers his stolen property and chomps on it. God, just imagine how great a Kings of Sleaze team would be with Joey and Marty.
Sinestro goes at it against Mr. Cisco and Cisco chops away and lands a fancy armdrag to a huge pop. Sinestro goes for a blindside lariat, but eats a snap powerslam for 2. Striker calls Cisco a hispanic Buzz Sawyer, which Vamp doesn’t sell. Striker talks about the Canadian trip and then calls it a Mexican trip before talking about how it originated from Lance Storm and Vamp says he’s not Canadian – he’s from Alberta.
Marty and Castro go at it and a DDT gives Castro a chance to recover and he tags in Cisco who lands a series of lariats. Cisco hits a sloppy and kinda scary rana off the second rope for 2.
Sinestro comes in for a low blow on Joey, but it has no effect. Marty teases a dive, but flaps instead and gets sent to the floor so folks can do dives. Killshot hops off the top onto Castro’s chest and onto the pile! Marty tags in Killshot and they double team Cisco before a Marty spinebuster leads to a Killshot dropkick for 2. Cisco comes in and hits a rewind rana before The Crew goes for the 3D Codebreaker, but Joey superkicks Sinestro and nixes that.
Marty curbstomps Cisco and a Killshot double stomp ends it! This was a blast! Marty steals Killshot’s dogtags again – absolutely perfect. Sexy Star teams with Mariposa against Ivelisse and Taya next.
The Voodoo Glow Skulls play more music so the fans can dance more. Sexy Star comes down and they talk about her character’s backstory being a victim of domestic abuse. Vamp calls her “the face of Lucha Underground”, which is some grade A BS even by pro wrestling standards.
Taya and Ivelisse vs. Sexy Star and Mariposa
Taya starts off against Sexy after arguing with Ivie. Taya armdrags her down and wants more. A wacky cradle leads to a wacky submission by Sexy. They go back and forth on the mat in an expressive exchange before they tag their partners in. They exchange a variety of headlocks and Ivie gets 2 off a sunset flip before eating a lariat. Mariposa locks on a modified Sharpshooter, but gets pushed into the buckle and schoolgirled for 2. Taya and Mariposa tag in, argue and Sexy tags in.
Sexy eats a superkick to the gut, but lands a flying armdrag off the top. Running rana sends Taya to the floor and they talk about how we could see a female Gift of the Gods or LU Champion. Mariposa tosses Taya into a set of wooden steps on the floor. Sexy lets about another F bomb and Mariposa dives onto Taya on the chairs, before Ivie dives onto Mariposa on the floor.
Taya hits a corner choke with he foot and hits a back elbow. Double knees hit Sexy and only get 2. Sexy hits a yakuza kick and a lariat before a spinkick and DDT give her a brief edge.
A victory roll gets 2 for Sexy. Taya tags in Ivie before a chop exchange breaks out between Ivie and Sexy. A series of cradles get 2 for each. A standing backslide gets 2 for Sexy before a jackknife cradle gets 2 for Ivie. Taya runs in for a spear, but “misses” Sexy and hits Ivie before Mariposa hits the Celtic Cross and tosses Sexy on top to score the win.
This was far better than it seemed like it could be going in. Prince Puma talks to the crowd next.
Prince Puma comes down and Striker talks about him being the face of the company – like Tanahashi, Cena, and Bockwinkel. Puma debuts a new mask and says that he wants only one match at Ultima Lucha Dos. When Konnan was training him, he was told he could be the best – he could be the next Rey Mysterio.
He says Rey is the best and he wonders what he has to offer, and is he really the next Rey or is he even better? Rey comes down and Vamp says this is a meeting of a legend and icon against a future legend. Rey says he was one of the people who paved the road for a talent like Prince Puma, and he has a lot of respect for him.
Rey says that Puma is still a prince, while he is El Rey. Rey says that Puma needs to know if he’s better, while Rey needs to know if he’s still the best. This was built up very little in-storyline, but done so in a way that makes perfect sense now and it should lead to a classic.
To see every screenshot for the show, just click here.
The Big News: Finn Balor will wrestle Shinsuke Nakamura on July 13!
The Medium News: Bayley returned to the ring after 5 weeks, picking up a big win
The Little Beaver Sized News: Chris Girard changed his name but shockingly won a match
Oney Lorcan pinned Tye Dillinger
We start things off with the Perfect 10. Dillinger had won a match 3 weeks ago, but since that, he has straight losses to Andrade Cien Almas. Lorcan is the new dumb name for Chris Girard. This is the first time Dillinger has wrestled where his opponent was already in the ring, which gave him a really good chance of winning as per the rules of wrestling.
Lorcan got more offense than you would think, including nearly taking Dillinger’s head off with an uppercut. Lorcan hit a series of elbows in the corner until he got smacked right in the jaw with a superkick, which popped the crowd. Dillinger went for the 10 Punches of Doom, but Lorcan pushed him off…and pinned him with a neck breaker?
So much for the rules of wrestling.
*******
Austin Aries cut a promo backstage with Cathy. He said he will prove his greatness and one day become NXT Champion. You don’t become the greatest in one match and you don’t lose it in one match. He is now more focused and has a bigger chip on his shoulder.
Up walked No Way Jose, who told him to stay positive.
*******
Bayley was standing outside in her wrestling gear and announced that she just found out she has been cleared to return to action.
*******
No Way Jose pinned Josh Woods
Woods looks like an indy MMA fighter, but we proved that the real tough men are in WWE. This match was 95% Jose and he won with the Full Nelson Slam.
Jose danced after the match when he was interrupted by Aries. I guess that’s only apropos since Jose interrupted his promo time. Aries told him that in this industry, you are not defined by your victories, but by your victories. He was not 100% at Takeover, but will not make excuses.
Aries then realized what Jose taught him. Aries forgot that NXT is about having fun and thanked Jose for reminding him of that and reminding him what he needs to be. Aries shook his hand and went to leave, but Jose dragged him back into the the ring to dance.
This actually happened.
Jose and Aries danced all the way up the ramp and over to the announce position…and then Aries finally turned on Jose. Aries beat Jose back to ringside and eventually slapped the Last Chancery on on the ramp.
*******
William Regal met with Shinsuke Nakamura and informed him that in 3 weeks it will be Balor vs Nakamura.
In walked Buddy Murphy who was mad that Mr. Regal wasn’t treating him like a top star. Nakamura basically informed her that they would be wrestling.
*******
Bayley defeated Deonna Purrazzo
This is Bayley’s first tv match in 5 weeks since a worked injury angle in a match with Nia Jax. The fans exploded for her. This match was all about Bayley, which is exactly what the fans wanted. Bayley won with the Bayley to Belly Suplex.
*******
Carmella wants to be the face of the women’s division and wants to be the next champion. Up walked Alexa Bliss who said no one knows who she is. They argued over who was more important to their respective team.
They challenged each other and will wrestle next week.
*******
We got a video package for Samoa Joe and then a video package of the Asuka-Nia Jax match from Takeover. If that wasn’t enough for you, we also got a video package for The Authors Of Pain.
*******
Nia Jax destroyed Liv Morgan
Morgan went for a headlock in the first ten seconds, which caused Nia to squash her like a bug. Morgan did her best to run from Nia, but Nia ran at her, smashing Liv with her entire body and winning with a power bomb.
*******
Shinsuke Nakamura pinned Buddy Murphy
Blake and Murphy seem to have finally thrown the towel in on the team. However, I do remember saying that about Jason Jordan and Tye Dillinger, but they kept breaking up for months until they finally did.
The match didn’t even start until 8:55 and the first thing that happened was Nakamura kicking poor Murphy. Murphy got to use both an armbar and a headlock before resuming his position as Nakamura’s kicking bag. Nakamura eventually got tired of kicking Murphy and won with the Kinshasa.
So, that does it for this week. It’s almost a skippable episode, but we are just three weeks away from Nakamura-Balor! Until next week, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
The Big Takeaway: The main event of Battleground will be Dean Ambrose defending the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in a Triple Threat match. That match was ordered after Reigns and Rollins fought to a double countout in tonight’s main event. The Wyatt Family made their return to set up a new program with The New Day. Xavier Woods appeared to be put in a momentary trance by the Wyatts. Sasha Banks also returned and went after Charlotte. The show also built up the draft on Smackdown. It was a show run by Shane McMahon as Stephanie McMahon had the night off.
Show Recap:
Dean Ambrose opened the show in a pretape, getting out of a taxi cab wearing all black. He really is a lunatic because it reached 120 degrees in Phoenix this weekend. He tossed the cab driver a wad of bills. Just as the cab pulled away, Ambrose stopped him and pulled the WWE World Heavyweight Championship out from the backseat.
Ambrose did an interview with “You deserve it” chants. He said last night was a long night and dropped a reference to the Cleveland Cavaliers winning the NBA World Championship. He told Seth Rollins that last night was a lesson where what goes around comes around. He said if Roman Reigns called himself “The Guy,” does that make him “the dude?” He said the reason why he patched himself together after getting knocked down every time was because he wanted to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Reigns came out. He got booed before he started speaking. Reigns said last night wasn’t his night, it was Ambrose’s night. He congratulated Ambrose, then asked “What did it feel like to cash in against Seth?” Ambrose said he would have cashed in against Reigns, too. Fans started a loud “You can’t wrestle” chant. Reigns told all the dudes to relax, take a sip out of their beer and shut up. Reigns brought up that he had a rematch clause. Then Rollins showed up saying he rehabbed his injured knee for seven months, beat Reigns fair and square, but Ambrose had his championship moment stolen from him. Reigns said “it doesn’t feel good, does it?” Rollins said at least he did to to Reigns’ face.
Rollins claiimed he never lost the championship. Reigns wondered why it was then on Ambrose’s shoulder. Reigns said there was an easy way to settle this and wanted to fight Rollins, who shot back there was nothing to settle because he beat Reigns. Shane McMahon came out and said Reigns and Rollins should wrestle to determine who faces Ambrose first. Rollins wanted to know if Shane consulted Stephanie first. Shane pretended Stephanie was there, then said she wasn’t here tonight so he’s running the show tonight. So Shane ordered Reigns vs. Rollins tonight for the #1 contendership tonight.
Michael Cole announced the draft on Tuesday, July 19th. JBL told Byron Saxton that he could get drafted to ECW.
They aired the HHH tweet congratulating the Cavaliers on winning the NBA Championship. They’ll be getting the next custom made WWE World Championship strap. They also showed LeBron James getting off the airplane wearing an Ultimate Warrior t-shirt. That led to one writer tweeting that Stephen Curry should wear a Renegade t-shirt.
Sami Zayn defeated Kevin Owens (8:47)
Sami Zayn won when Kevin Owens attempted the Pop-Up Power Bomb, but Zayn reversed it into a victory roll. They opened with a hockey fight sequence which Zayn got the better of. Owens spent the first part of the match trying to walk out, including trying to get away through the crowd. Zayn chased him back in, but was thrown into the dasherboards. Owens hit a Superkick at the end for a near fall.
Postmatch, Owens attacked Zayn as he was celebrating. Owens tried to power bomb Zayn off the ramp to the floor, but Zayn blocked it with a double-leg takedown and they had a pull-apart brawl. They continued to fight backstage, where Owens threw Zayn into trunk cases. Zayn recovered, then took a page from Larry Holmes’ brawl with Trevor Burbick where he ran onto the cases and jumped on Owens again. Finally, Fit Finley came in and pulled Zayn off.
John Laurinaitis was this week’s throwback authority figure. He came out wearing a red blazer, red pants and white shoes. JBL said he looked like Craig Sager. Shane wondered what John was doing there. Laurinaitis said he wanted to run Smackdown. Shane said SmackDown wouldn’t be run by a corporate yes man. Shane said he was running SmackDown. John said he wanted to run Raw and mentioned “People power” as he disappeared.
Enzo and Big Cass came out with Enzo Amore comparing sneakers with Shane. Enzo called him Johnny Laryngitis and did his “No dimes” line saying that’s the amount of money he would have every time something worthwile came out of Laryngitis’ mouth. Cass said Laurinatis may have been “Ace Dynamic Dude” back in his day, but in the new era he was “Sawft.”
Enzo and Big Cass defeated the Vaudevillains (2:55)
Amore pinned Aidan English after the Rocket Launcher, which has been redubbed the “Bada Boom Shaka-Laka.” Vaudevillains lost in less than three minutes and didn’t get a ring entrance.
Returning to the Cleveland celebration, they showed Kevin Love in the locker room copying Steve Austin where he guzzled two beers at once.
A.J. Styles came out after his win over John Cena. Styles said he should be happy because he’s envisioned beating Cena for years, and then it became a reality. But the win was tainted. Styles maintained he beat Cena and repeated it twice. But it didn’t go down the way he dreamt it would because Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson had no business in his business. He called Gallows and Anderson to come to the ring and give him a public apology.
Anderson and Gallows came out. Styles said he didn’t need their help. Anderson said they were just trying to help. Styles said they gave Cena an excuse. They dragged his name through the mud by interferring. Styles asked for Karl to look him in the eye and apology. Anderson looked at Styles and, in the most condescending way to the fans and Cena, apologized to Styles. Gallows did the same. Styles acted like that was proof he had no idea he knew about it and then asked them to apologize to Cena.
Cena came out in his new t-shirt designed after the PBR logo. Cena said he didn’t need an apology because he and Styles had a signed agreement and Styles broke it. Gallows said Styles didn’t know about the interference. He apologized. Anderson said Cena and Styles signed a contract last week, but he and Gallows didn’t. Anderson said he was sorry. Styles tried to pass that off as proof.
Cena wasn’t hearing any of it. He said Styles is struggling to survive in the WWE and got a win last night by any means necessary. Styles said he was using the apology only to hide he isn’t as good as he says he is. Styles says he was using the Club as an excuse because Cena isn’t as good as he says he is.
Cena says he respects the win because that’s how you advance in the WWE. But above the win is your win. And when you’re a champion and your back is against the wall, you have two things: your balls and your word. Last night, Styles proved he had neither one of them. That got loud “Cena” chants.
Styles said Anderson and Gallows did Cena a favor by giving him an excuse. Styles said he would give Cena a chance to fight any member of the Club he wanted. Cena immediately said Styles. But Styles said he couldn’t fight him because he has to do the Stone Cold Podcast. And he’s already beaten Cena. Cena asked if it even mattered because one will be in the ring and the other two will be at ringside. Styles said Cena was wrong. The Club huddled and Styles said Anderson would fight Cena one-on-one and would prove Cena isn’t as good as he thinks he is.
John Cena defeated Karl Anderson by DQ (2:22)
Match was a total squash with Cena getting all of the offense. He hit the AA on Anderson before Styles and Gallows ran in for the DQ. Anderson and Gallows delievered the Magic Killer on Cena, following Styles orders. Styles followed with the Styles Clash on Cena and they posed over him to mostly boos.
JoJo interviewed Rollins about his match with Reigns. Rollins said last night was about proving things to the world, and when he defeated Reigns he proved he was the best and Reigns didn’t deserve to be champion. He said Ambrose also proved something last night. When he stole the WWE Championship from him, Ambrose proved he was a cockroach and a thief. Rollins said he’ll beat Reigns tonight and prove who the best member of the Shield really is.
Becky Lynch did an interview with Renee Young after Natalya turned on her last night. Lynch said she’s had three friends turn on her since debuting on Raw. She said she was going to start looking out for herself when Natalya came up and jumped her from behind. Natalya said for the first time in years, she’s going to worry about herself.
Baron Corbin defeated Zack Ryder (3:02)
Baron Corbin won with the End of Days. Zack Ryder had a chance to do the Randy Savage elbow before losing.
They showed the press conference in China. It was the first appearance by HHH on Raw since the Monday before WrestleMania. Cena was also featured. They also highlighted the first Chinese athlete signed to a developmental contract, Bin Wang.
Paige started to do an interview with Young, but Charlotte and Dana Brooke interrupted her. Charlotte said when Team PCB broke up, she rose to the top of the women’s division while Paige sank like a rock in the ocean. Brooke said “Timber!” Paige treated her like an airhead and said Charlotte’s championship would look great around her waist when she beats her tonight.
Charlotte (C) defeated Paige to retain the WWE Women’s Championship (8:23)
Finish appeared to be somewhat screwed up. Paige hit the Rampage. Brooke was supposed to put Charlotte’s boot on the rope. But Brooke couldn’t do that before the referee finished the three count. So whent the referee looked up, he had to pretend he didn’t see Brooke holding on to Charlotte’s boot, which the viewers at home did. The referee looked like he had someone screaming in his earpiece because he belatedly ordered Brooke to the back. Brooke didn’t go to the back. In the midst of all this, Charlotte hit Natural Selection for the win.
After the pin, Sasha Banks came out to a huge pop. Charlotte ordered Brooke to go after her, but Banks decked her with one punch. Banks went after Charlotte, but Brooke jumped Banks from behind. Paige awakened and sent Charlotte and Brooke out of the ring. So they’re finally getting to the Charlotte-Banks program.
Reigns did a promo with Jojo saying tonight he would be the guy for defeats Rollins.
Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan and Braun Strowman made their return. They got “Welcome Back” chants. Wyatt asked if the fans missed him? Wyatt said they had been locked away, but through it all they have never forgotten what they stand for. He said the Wyatts are as strong as they have ever been. Then the New Day came out with their regular routine. They have rainbow socks now.
Xavier Woods siad Bray had been talking way too long “you need to cut it.” Big E. said Rowan has a big, ole booty. Kofi Kingston said whenever the New Day comes out, the fans have fun. It wa the power of positivity that allowed them to be WWE Tag Team Champions. However, as Kofi talked, Woods walked towards the ring like Wyatt had put him in a trance. Big E. had to snap him out of it, but Woods again looked like he had fallen under Wyatt’s spell.
Wyatt said he saw the New Day’s future. And it goes “New Day Falls. New Day Falls.” The segment abruptly ended. So they’re forgetting about Wyatt’s face turn when he teamed with Reigns just before his injury in April.
The newest Life Lessons with Bob Backlund featured Darren Young saying that he had been reading lots of poetry that motivated him. Backlund said Young shouldn’t take advice from anyone. Young asked if that includes Backlund, who said he doesn’t give advice, he gives orders. He then ordered Young to do 100 knee raises.
Lana was in the ring, as Ric Flair would say, looking as only as she can look with a black dress. She introduced Rusev. This led to a Titus O’Neal interview. He was furious over Rusev telling his kids last night that their father was a loser. He screamed that Rusev should never disrespect his family. He would have made his point much better if he had looked in the right camera when delivering that line.
Rusev vs. O’Neal never started. It was simply a brawl around ringside. O’Neal was much more intense as they traded hard knees and punches. O’Neal ended it when he whipped Rusev towards the timekeepers table and clotheslined him over the barricade. Rusev walked to the back.
The Miz and Maryse did another promo from the set of the Marine 5. Miz talked about how he liked to enjoy lunch with the members of the crew. Then someone walked up to him with a plate of food. Miz threw it back in his face because the plate didn’t contain quail. Maryse fired him. Miz screamed how no one on the set can do anything right as the rest of the crew stared at him blankly as they were eating. Miz did an about face saying everyone was doing a great job, but everyone still glared at him.
Chris Jericho met Shane backstage. Jericho claimed that Shane had hated him for 16 years. Shane cancelled the Highlight Reel and hadn’t made him #1 contender for Ambrose’s championship. Shane brought up that Jericho didn’t win the Money in the Bank match last night and lost to Ambrose at Extreme Rules. Jericho said he had 60 thumbtacks in his back after that match. He went on to say he’s drafted to the brand that Shane isn’t on because he would rather work with 10 Stephanie McMahons than one of Shane. Shane warned him that he would be running both brands and Jericho would be a loser either way.
Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins went to a double countout (17:26)
Very good match that ended with the Spanish announce table coming into play. Reigns speared Rollins onto the table. I’m not sure if the table was supposed to break, but it didn’t. Neither man could get back in the ring before the ten count. Lots of good near falls, including Rollins kicking out of the Superman punch. Rollins hit a springboard knee that Reigns escaped from. Earlier, Rollins attempted a kneedrop off the apron, but missed and Reigns gave him a big boot. Fans had a loud “You can’t wrestle” chant aimed at Reigns early on. Ambrose was on commentary. Though he threw in a few jokes, he wasn’t acting like Reigns’ little buddy anymore.
After the finish, Shane came out and said there had to be a number one contender. Ambrose’s stepped in and said he would face Reigns and Rollins on the same night. Shane then ordered a triple-threat match between the three as the main event for Battleground. Reigns looked like he had something to say to Ambrose, but Ambrose gave him Dirty Deeds, then started to leave. Rollins was about to deliver the Pedigree on Reigns, but Ambrose ran back in and gave Rollins Dirty Deeds, as well.
