WWE Raw (4/20/26)

WWE Raw

T-Mobile Arena

Las Vegas, NV

April 20, 2026

Commentators: Michael Cole and Corey Graves

Ring Announcer: Mark Nash

Its the Raw after Wrestlemania and what a weekend it was. Roman Reigns is the new World Heavyweight Champion after defeating CM Punk clean with no interference. Brock Lesnar lost to Oba Femi and promptly retired, Liv Morgan is still the World Women's Champion after the Judgment Day helped her beat Stephanie Vaquer, The Usos and LA Knight knocked off the watered down Vision when IShowSpeed joined the Usos for the beat down. Gunther defeated Seth Rollins after the returning Bron Breakker interfered, Rhea Ripley is the new WWE Women's Champion after taking out Jade Cargill, Finn Balor defeated Dom Mysterio and Penta is still the Intercontinental Champion after winning the ladder match. Rumors are rampant about releases and call-ups so let's see what happens.

We begin with a recap of Wrestlemania as Roman Reigns is announced to be here. We're shown Judgement Day entering the arena as well as Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky. First out of the gate is Oba Femi in coat and tie. He stands in the ring as the crowd doesn't even let him talk, they chant his chant and name. He says "The ruler has arrived" and drops the mic. That's it, no 20 minute soliloquy, no big speech, he's here and deal with it. We cut to a vignette of The Kabuki Warriors with Asuka telling everyone in Japanese that Iyo is nothing without them and they carried her. Asuka says that she'll always be Iyo's Sempai and Iyo's not ready for Asuka. Time for our first match.

Match 1

The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) vs Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley

Rhea will be on her way to Smackdown after this so this will be the final time we see Rhiyo for a while. Bell's gone and Iyo starts with Kairi. They roll around to start as the announcers say Iyo is trying to take Kairi away from Asuka. Kairi grabs Iyo by the hair and tries to throw her but Iyo flips away. Kairi charges in the corner and Iyo flips her to the apron. Kairi comes off the top but Iyo runs through it. Kairi tells Rhea and Iyo to kiss her ass then stomps on Iyo's foot. Kairi hits a head scissors and goes to tag Asuka but Iyo rolls her up for 1...2...no. Iyo and Kairi trade punches until Iyo hits a double underarm backbreaker. Iyo tags in Rhea Ripley and they double team Kairi then covers for 1...2...no. Kairi slaps Rhea and Ripley faceplants her. Rhea hits a dropkick and Asuka tags in. Asuka and Ripley miss kicks but Asuka misses the backhand punch. Asuka then does it again along with savate kicks and a dropkick. Rhea hits a kick of her own and covers for 1...2..no. Rhea grabs Asuka who kicks at Iyo and eats a kick to the face. Kairi distracts Rhea and Asuka kicks her outside of the ring. Kairi tags in and hits a clothesline to the floor. She grabs the camera and starts shaking as we go to break. Back from commercial the Kabuki's double team Rhea and Kairi covers for 1...2...no. Cole asks how much Rhea has left after going to war with Jade Cargill last night. Rhea ducks under a flying Kairi and kicks her in the head. Iyo gets the hot tag who cleans house of Asuka and Kairi tries to kick her, but Iyo catches the leg and swings it into Asuka's face.  Iyo backflips over the double clothesline and hits one of her own. She cleans house with running knees to both of them then roundhouse kicks Asuka. She covers for 1...2...no. Rhea tags in who hits Razor's Edge on Asuka. Iyo comes off the top with a missile dropkick and Rhea covers for 1...2...no. Asuka wiggles out of riptide and hits a codebreaker. Kairi tags her self in for the double kick. Kairi covers for 1..2...no, Iyo breaks up the count. Iyo victory rolls through Asuka and stomps on her stomach. Asuka rolls outside and Kairi accidentally sends Iyo through the ropes into Asuka. Kairi turns around into a headbutt from Rhea and a Riptide. Iyo tags in and hits Over The Moonsault, covering for 1..2...3 to win the match. Good opener between four vets with good chemistry. Essentially this was it for Rhiyo.

Time of match: 11:43

Winners: Rhiyo by pinfall

After the match Rhea and Iyo celebrate while Asuka berates the fallen Kairi outside. We cut to a useless Wrestlemania graphic although we do get Back In the Saddle by Aerosmith playing over it. Raw GM Adam Pearce is with IC Champion Penta and congratulates him for winning the previous night. Pearce doesn't know how Penta can follow that and Je'Von Evans walks in shaking hands with them. Evans congrats Penta but says he's going to be champion one day and he's not going away. Penta says his title isn't going anywhere and he leaves. In walks none other than "All Ego" Ethan Page from NXT. Adam says he's Raw's newest star and Je'Von Evans gets instant flashback to NXY Vengeance Day from the previous year. Ethan says why should Evans get another title shot when he himself wants to be champion and he won't need a second chance. Evans gets in his face and Pearce says they will settle this in the ring tonight. The crowd loved that and Evans says no one's taking his spot, especially not Page. Pearce and Page shake hands as Cole says coming up next, a lookback at CM Punk.

Apparently during the broke, an exclusive promo was shot by Los Americanos with El Grande Americano saying in Spanish he's going to unmask the original El Grande Americano. When TV resumes, naturally Cole and Graves send things to the Spanish announce desk. Royce Keys is shown in the crowd and Cole says catch him on Smackdown.

Here comes CM Punk for a philosophical discussion and apparently his new entrance is waiting until Its Clobberin Time to play Cult of Personality. CM Punk gets in on the mic and says he dealt with a lot of loss lately. His MMA trainer Duke Rufus died in October and his dog Larry died in November and then every two weeks WWE family lost one guy after another including Kerwin Silfies and the crowd cheers the fallen. Punk says on April 1st he lost his friend Harm's Way guitarist Bo Leuders and he lost the previous night to Roman Reigns. Punk says the personal losses matter more than losing the title and he thanks the fans for staying behind him no matter what. He says being champion was like having an anchor keeping him sane and the fans will help him get through last night. He says he was never supposed to be champion after he survived Gunther only to get cashed in on by Seth Rollins. Punk says "You know, being world heavyweight champion for 3 minutes at 46 years old is a hell of a Sunday". Then he could have stayed home but instead he stayed ready and put everything he had. Then Seth gets hurt and Punk got an opportunity. He says if he didn't stay ready, they'd be here right now yeeting and Jey Uso would be in the ring. The crowd boos and Punk asks why because he likes to yeet (BURN!). Punk says he's smiling because he's still the best in the world and the baddest ass. Punk says his childhood dream was to prove it on the biggest stage and it just wasn't his night. He says he's not going anywhere and he's going to stay ready when you never know when a title shot will fall out of the sky.

Right on cue, here comes WWE Champion Cody Rhodes supporting a massive shiner and a limp after his war with Randy Orton the night before. As Cody gets in the ring, Punk checks out the shiner and screams "Woahhhh" with the song (Hahahaha!). Punk asks if he went over his time and Cody says don't leave because its Raw and its his time as well. Cody sounds downtrodden as he says this isn't what he expected out of Punk and Punk waives his arms saying "Did you think I was gonna freak out?" Punk asks "You thought I was gonna crash out?" Cody says "Yeah. You know who I am and I know who you are and how you like to handle things. You're buttoned up and I'm glad Vegas gave you the flowers that they did because you deserve them." Cody says he's glad Punk is handling it like this because Cody himself feels like a loser. Punk "Wait, you think I should feel like a loser?" Punk tells the crowd "Stop it, we're friends." Punk says its okay to think that but he doesn't feel like a loser. "I have a tattoo of a marshmallow on a stick. I know, its weird." Punk says Cody isn't a loser as he beat a first ballot hall of famer and it was hard because he beat a friend and a mentor. Punk says he fought someone he hates and its easy to stomp "his stupid face" and make fun of his sweet pepper necklace but Cody was the real challenge. He says Cody is the winner and in a word, he's the loser. Punk says Cody feels like that because heavy is the head that wears the crowd and now he's free as a bird. Punk says his path is to stay ready and look directly at Cody's belt. He says "You never know when a championship opportunity is going to fall out of the sky." Punk leaves but Cody says "Hey Punk, just say when." The crowd roars as Punk nods his head in approval.

We cut to Finn Balor saying last night Dom brought out the Demon and the Demon put Dom down. He says he's not finished with Judgment Day because Dom drew first blood but was only the first to fall. He expected Dom to betray him but not from JD McDonough. Finn remembers JD as a 12 year old and how he trained JD when McDonagh was 16. Finn says he helped JD become one of the greatest performers on Earth and when he needed someone to have his back, it was only going to be JD...but JD made a choice. Finn says he brought JD in but tonight he's going to take JD out. Very good stuff from Balor here. On to the next match.

Match 2

"All Ego" Ethan Page vs Je'Von Evans

The battle of the NXT guys as Cole says they've met 3 times including a street fight. Graves say he called that match. Page gets a headlock in and shoulderblocks Evans down. Evans hits a leapfrog roll up for 2 then backflips out of trouble. Evans kips up into a stunner and Page bails to the apron only to cheapshot Evans down. Page executes a side backbreaker but Evans chops him in the chest. Evans lands left hands but Page hits a big right. Page drops Evans with a back elbow smash and covers for a deuce. Cole says Evans isn't 100% after last night as Graves says he needed a bodycast and he wasn't even in the match. Ethan gets in another headlock but Evans rolls out of it, hitting a dropkick. Evans hits a hurracarana and tells the camera "We at". Evans dives over the top rope to the floor on Page as we go to break. Back from commercial we get another Evans suicide dive to the floor. Cole says Graves wrestled Page before and Graves said he knew then Ethan would be special. Evans rams Ethan's head in the buckle and land a kick to the back. Evans hits a springboard crossbody for 1..2....no. Evans cathers to the crowd as Cole says it must be nice to be young. Page catches Evans on the middle rope and throws him onto the middle of the ring. Ethan hits a powerslam for 1...2..no. Ethan taunts the irate crowd by pointing at Evans as if to say "This your boy?" Ethan rips Evans shirt off to show the athletic tape on Evans body, the scars of last night. Outside the ring Evans sends Page into the ring post and a superkick puts Page on the Spanish announce table. Out of nowhere Alexander Rusev appears and takes a swing at Evans. Je'Von ducks and clocks him. Evan dives over the barricade on top of Rusev then runs into the ring. Evans goes for Tiffy Time but Page knocks him off the turnbuckle. Ethan hits Twisted Grin and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Damn good match showcasing the classic heel tactics of Page and the high flying Evans. Relatively clean win too as the Rusev distraction didn't prove that fatal.

Time of match: 10:15

Winner: Page by pinfall

After the bell Rusev runs in and starts stomping Evans. Ethan Page laughs at Evans and just exits the ring. Rusev stomps on Evans' back and hits the Accolade. Ruh roh....here comes Penta to even the odds. Penta chops and kicks away at Rusev. Penta superkicks Rusev and goes up to the top rope...only for Page to throw him off. Rusev superkicks Penta in the face and Page applauds him. Page says "all yours" and leaves. Rusev locks Penta in the Accolade for a little more heat. The crowd chants Rusev sucks as he holds the IC strap on his shoulder. 11 years ago he was the US Champion going into Wrestlemania and never fully recovered his heat. This might be a last ditch effort to get something out of him.

We get a vignette advertising the upcoming Hulk Hogan Netflix documentary on Wednesday and cut to Cole saying this was the first Wrestlemania without Hulk alive and Graves says he was immortalized in a different way. Loved him or hate him, he's still one of the most talked about wrestlers ever. Here comes Judgment Day heading to the ring as we go to break. Back from commercial here comes Judgment Day for a conference. Dom Mysterio, Roxanne Perez, Raquel Rodriguez, JD McDonagh and of course World Women's Champ Liv Morgan.

Morgan does a victory lap around the ring holding the mic to the crowd and the men start chanting "You deserve it" and she says that's the smartest thing they've said all day. Liv calls herself the greatest world champion of alllllllllllllllllllllllll time. She wants to thank a few folks first including Judgment Day for helping her and Stephanie Vaquer for helping her remind herself she's the most talented woman in WWE. Liv says its her ring, her show, and her women's championship. Liv goes to say something else when none other than Sol Ruca from NXT walks out. She gets in the ring and says "Hey Liv" getting a pop. She apologizes for interrupting and she says Liv is an inspiration to her and it taught her that Liv is the top woman in the division. Sol says she deserves it and Liv says thanks but she has SOME NERVE interrupting. Liv says since Sol was nice to her she'll be nice too in saying Sol is no Liv Morgan. Liv says if Sol wants to make it to the next Wrestlemania then she'll leave her ring right now. Sol says this is a misunderstanding since she's not here to pick a fight....but she's not gonna back down from one. They go to throw down when Adam Pearce walks out saying "Hold on, hold on." Pearce says he knows the crowd wants to see a fight and he brings out Jessika Carr for an impromptu match right now....after commercial that is.

Match 3

Sol Ruca vs World Women's Champion Liv Morgan (with Judgment Day)

Non title match and as the bell rings, Sol handstands and kips up out of clothesline trouble. Ruca hits a superkick but Liv slugs and kicks away at her. Liv victory rolls for 1...2, Ruca reverses for 1...2..no, Ruca carthweels out of trouble then dropkicks her. Cole apologizes for making a mistake on commentary as Ruca back elbows Liv in the corner. Ruca goes for a standing moonsault but Liv gets the knees up. Ruca rolls to the apron and goes for a springboard but Liv kicks the rope to cause Sol to go crashing. Liv pounds away on Ruca as Cole says Sol will face Zaria tomorrow night on NXT. Liv stands on Ruca then hits a back elbow in the corner as Cole brings up Ruca's victory on Saturday Night's Main Event. Liv hits a running knee in the corner and a dropkick. Cole says Tatum Paxley will take on Blake Monroe tomorrow night on NXT as well. Liv covers Sol and sticks her tongue out at the camera for 1...2...no. Liv charges twice right into kicks but she blocks and O'Connor Roll attempt. Sol rolls out of a scoop slam and hits a waistlock. Liv rerverses into a front head lock. Liv knees Sol in the ribs but Sol carthweels into an X-Factor on Liv. Liv bails to the outside and Sol hits the apron moonsault as we go to break. Back from commercial  Liv hits a snap supex...and goes for the 3 Amigos to chorus of boos. Sol Ruca blocks the third suplex and hits one of her own. Liv's face is priceless. They trade punches for "yay boo" with Ruca getting the yays. Ruca hits an uppercut and a back elbow smash. Ruca hits a second one before sending Liz into the corner for a released German suplex. Up to the second rope, Sol hits a missile dropkick and a kip up. Sol hits a running knee and covers for 1..2...no. Sol sells her lower back and goes back to the top rope. She jumps off into a codebreaker by Liv. She covers for 1...2...no. Sol backflips out of ObLivion and hits a superkick. Sol hits Sol Snatcher but Liv rolls to the floor in front of Roxanne and Raquel. Ruca does a handstand backflip to the floor on top of the interlopers and throws Liv back in. Out of nowhere Zaria appears and shoves Sol into the ring post, of course. Zaria hits a spinebuster onto the floor, yells at her as Cole says they have a Last Woman Standing match tomorrow night. Jessika Carr turns around to see Zaria leaving but didn't see what she did. Sol slides in at nine but Liv catches her with ObLivion, covering for 1...2...3 to win the match. Damn good effort by Sol to use her athleticism to put Liv on the run. It took a run in from Zaria to help Liv retain.

Time of match: 11:57

Winner: Morgan by pinfall

Nice to see WWE using Raw to further NXT storylines like Zaria/Ruca. As Liv celebrates with her girls, here comes Stephanie Vaquer. They stare each other down and Liv holds up the title. This feud is NOT over. After awkward silence, we're shown celebs at ringside. Fabulos...who hasn't had a hit in 25 years, Maino, Dave East and Jim Jones....did they pay for a plug? Cole at ringside sends us to a Brock Lesnar career vignette set to I Stand Alone by Godsmack. 

Speaking of Brock, his manager Paul Heyman comes out with the World Tag Team Champions Logan Paul and Austin Theory....after commercial. Paul gets on the mic and the crowd boos. He says he had a speech prepared but the program threw him off. He says his favorite part of Wrestlemania is expect the unexpected and he starts getting teary thinking about the Lesnar impromptu retirement. He then snaps  and says the WWE production team still has Brock in the "Now" part. He says the stupid bitches need to take him out of Now and put him into Forever because he'll forever be the baddest motherfucker (he doesn't actually say those two words but implies it) that will ever be in a WWE ring. That beasts name....is BROCKKKK LESNARRRRRRR. The crowd pops and chants "Thank You Brock" before Paul gets back in character. Paul says the Now is Austin Theory and Logan Paul, your heavyweight tag team champions of the world. Paul passes the mic to Logan Paul and the crowd lets him have it. Logan soaks in the boos and tries to say the only reason the Usos won at Wrestlemania is IShowSpeed but the crowd won't let him speak. Logan says he's sick of Youtubers and Streamers thinking they can come into the business and do what they do, he hates those outsiders. (Ha, clever!) Logan says nothing at Wrestlemania matters because Speed got punched in the face and they're still the champs. Logan hands the mic back to Paul and the champs pose. Paul says its only fitting that they take a moment to give thanks to Guther for taking out Seth Rollins and he owes him one. Paul says the best moment of the weekend was Seth Rollins getting cut in half by Bron Breakker. Paul introduces Bron as he heads to the ring. Bron takes the mic and crowd does his father's dog chant.

Bron says one year ago in this very same arena, he became the leader of the Vision because Seth Rollins was too weak. More like six months ago but anyway. Bron goes on to say he ruined everything for Seth as the crowd starts singing Seth's song. Bron says he hopes Seth is watching because he's going after him every single day. Seth's music hits and Seth appears from behind, whacking Bron in the back with a chair. Seth takes down Logan but Theory catches him with a left hand. Theory and Paul beat down Rollins when out of nowhere THE STREET PROFITZ hit the ring for the first time since October to even the odds. Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford clean house of The Vision and Montez flips outside. The duo take out Theory and Paul as Rollins superkicks Bron. Rollins punches away at Breakker and kicks, busting him wide open. Breakker hits the spear and takes his shirt off. Breakker says all these people will remember Seth as a shel of who he used to be. Bron runs the ropes and hits another spear to keep some heel heat. Graves "Who can stop Bron Breakker?"  This was a great segment with Paul tearing up paying tribute to Brock, Logan drawing massive heat, the return of Breakker & the Profitz and Bron keeping his heat intact.

We cut to a JD McDonagh vignette and tells Finn Balor that he brought him in and taught him that Judgment Day is family. He says put the others to the side and says Finn changed by taking his cues from CM Punk getting in his head. JD says he's been behind him for 20 years and what about him? He says he defended Balor while Balor talked down to him like he was the leader. People asked him how he could do that to Finn and he says it was easy, he'd do it again. He claims he's going to step out of Finn's shadow and the Finn we knew and loved is dead. Normally Balor vs McDonagh would be cucka so I at least appreciate them making this a big deal.

We cut to WWE US Champion Trick Williams at ringside for a "Whoop That Trick" chant.

Match 4

Finn Balor vs JD McDonagh

We all know the story by now. Finn Balor was kicked out of Judgement Day and now he wants revenge. He brought back the Demon to take out Dom Mysterio at Wrestlemania and now he's after his protégé McDonagh who comes out alone. Finn doesn't wait for the bell to clothesline him to the floor. They brawl on the floor and then into the crowd. Finn beats JD all around the arena as Graves on commentary says he can see Dom turning on Finn but not JD. Eventually Balor throws JD inside for the official bell ring. Balor chops JD in the corner but catches a back elbow smash. JD punches away at Finn and sells his taped ribs from last night's ladder match. Finn goes for the Coup De Gras early but JD rolls out of the way. JD knees Balor through the ropes to the outside as we go to break. Back from commercial Balor powers out of a chin lock and hits an Eye of The Hurricane. Finn punches away at JD, trips him up and hits a big stomp. Finn hits the slingblade and his mouth is visibly bloodied. He calls for the shining wizard but misses. JD jacknife covers for 1..2...no. JD hits a headbutt and covers for 1...2...no. JD's top rope moonsault eats knees. Balor hits a dropkick, goes up top and hits Coup De Gras. He covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. Balor takes out both members of Judgement Day 24 hours apart. Not the best worked match but this was Balor out for revenge, holds be damned.

Time of match: 6:14

Winner: Finn by pinfall

After the match here comes Dom Mysterio for the beat down. Cole calls him a sore loser and Dom calls for the 619. Balor counters with a clothesline and a dropkick. Finn goes for the Coup De Gras but JD pulls Dom out. This feud isn't over either. We cut to Jackie Redmond with a very pleased looking Gunther. She asks how he feels after his big win and he says he feels fantastic. He says he was right about Seth Rollins and she asks if he knew about Bron Breakker. Gunther says there's no "me" and Paul Heyman, only that Paul owes him a favor. She asks what it is and he says he's going to be World Heavyweight Champion very soon. LA Knight shows up and says from one Wrestlemania winner to another congratulations. Knight goes on to say he beat Rollins but Gunther knows he's not the only one who wants the World Championship and Gunther needed 3 guys to help him win. Knight says he deserves the title shot and leaves. Graves "How dare ANYBODY interrupt the ring general"

Cole runs down next week's card in Laredo, Texas as new Women's Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch will be there, Joe Hendry will be in concert (seriously?) much to Graves' chagrin. We cut to Rhea Ripley and Iyo sky looking sad. Rhea essentially says goodbye as she's off to Smackdown and they hug it out. Rhea walks down the hall past Liv Morgan. Liv "Guess I'll see you around." Rhea "I'm looking forward to it." We get a fact that this was the first time Roman Reigns has won the World Heavyweight Championship and right on cue, a limo pulls up with him coming out. He's on his way to the ring as the crowd chants "Roman...Roman Reigns". Once he gets to Gorilla there's Jimmy and Jey Uso to greet him. The original Tribal Chief theme hits and the trio make their way to the ring. Thank god they brought that back.

Inside the ring Roman soaks up the crowd cheering before asking to acknowledge him. He says he was going to keep it short tonight but he ran into his cousins and wanted to discuss family business. He says he misses "this" and Jey says "Yeet." Roman misses having their trust, respect, love and admiration. He misses doing business with them and right now they're separated and scattered. He says separated CM Punk can run his mouth and disrespect them and some 90's rapper can disrespect Jey. For those that don't know, Jey got in a worked argument with Cam'ron....who hadn't had a hit since Hey Ma in 2002. Roman says he's Main Event Jey Uso the Yeet Man and right on cue the crowd chants Yeet. Roman says Jey changed the environment and he's got washed rappers running their mouths. Roman holds up 5 fingers and says that's because we're like this, this ain't us.  Roman makes a fist and says THIS is us and this is the power. He says combined they ran the business for 4 years straight. He's not asking them to serve him but to be his blood and stand with him. Jimmy says he speaks for Jey and he'll always be their OTC and any city they go to, they're the two and they the ones. Jey and Jimmy does the Bloodline signal but as Roman goes to put his finger up, here comes Jacob Fatu. If there was ever a time to recruit Jacob to fight the MFT's for WWE dominance, it would be now.

Jacob enters with a mic and the crowd chants Fatu. Roman says its been a while and there can only be a few reasons he'd come out. Roman says the first is he's there to acknowledge him but Jacob says "Naw, that ain't it." So much for the MFT war. Roman says its because Jacob wants a title shot. Jacob says he doesn't want the title, he needs it. Roman sighs and rolls his head around as Jacob says he's not there to be tribal chief. He needs everything that the tribal chief has. He needs the shoe deal, the private jets, a rolex, vehicles, a bigger house and his children in better schools even if he has to go through Roman. He says at Backlash Roman will know Jacob is all gas and no breaks with it. The crowd chants Fatu as Roman says he agrees with Jacob that he wants those things for him too. He says maybe Jacob can beat him but asks if he can handle the burden of being champion. Roman says if he can't beat him, can he handle the burden of acknowledging him. Roman says its thin air at the top and he'll give him a week to think it over "little cousin". Roman and the Uso's leave as Roman tells Jimmy to talk some sense into Jacob.

All in all if you were looking for pure wrestling, you got 40 minutes of actual wrestling. But between Sol Ruca and Ethan Page's debuts, Jacob Fatu putting Roman Reigns on notice, the return of the Street Profitz and Breakker vs Rollins forming....at least it was eventful. A lot of people say Oba's short and sweet speech rivaled Roman Reigns the night after he beat The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 33 where its his yard now. The funny thing is, that's a LOT of potential main event talent. If its gonna be Roman vs Jacob at Backlash, now you have Punk, Rollins, Oba Femi and Gunther hanging around. Liv vs Vaquer isn't over yet and Rhea leaving opens the door for Iyo vs Kabukis. Maybe she can get Kairi to turn face or overcome both to beat Asuka. All in all there's a lot of good things on the horizon if you can look past the nonstop commercials and unnecessary celeb shoutouts. As Cole mentioned, tomorrow night's NXT featuring Sol Ruca vs Zaria is up next. I'll see you there. 

WWE Smackdown (5/14/15)

We're just days away from Payback and now we finally have a card. The main event will be Seth Rollins defending his WWE Championship against Roman Reigns, Randy Orton and Dean Ambrose in a Fatal Four Way. Bray Wyatt takes on Ryback, Curtis Axel & Damien Sandow take on The Ascension, The New Day faces Tyson Kidd & Cesaro in a 2 out of 3 falls match for the WWE Tag Team Championship, John Cena defends the US title against Alexander Rusev in an I Quit Match and The Bella Twins take on Naomi and Tamina. Let's get to the go home show.

WWE Smackdown

Ford Center

Evansville, Indiana

May 14, 2015

Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton & Jerry "The King" Lawler

Ring Announcer: JoJo Offerman

After the intro we waste no time with a backstage Bray Wyatt soliloquy. Bray says he knows Ryback is scared and he doesn't blame him. He stood toe to toe with fate and won, but Bray knows his achillies heel. He's going to make an example of him and says the garden of eden doesn't exist. Tonight he's going to scratch an itch and turn his dreams to nightmares. Wyatt says to resist the itch and run. 

Here comes Dean Ambrose for a conference. We get a highlight of him standing tall on Raw as he gets a huge ovation from the crowd. He says he works best alone, fights alone and drinks alone (YEAHHHHHH WITH NOBODY ELSEEEEEE) and it felt good to stand alone on Monday. He says Sunday its every man for himself. He says Rollins is a chicken weasel troll with a lolipop guild goon squad, Randy Orton who just got speared by Roman Reigns. Speaking of Reigns, Dean says that's his only friend and he hit Dirty Deeds on him in the heat of the moment. He says he's got one thing to say to Roman and right on cue, here comes Reigns to join the fun. Tom Phillips says tonight's main event will be Reigns vs Kane, for real this time. Dean says he's not going to apologize and Reigns wasn't expecting one. Reigns says he hit him with Dirty Deeds with one time but not again because its payback at Payback. Reigns says they're cool tonight but Sunday he's bringing the big guns, and hopes he does the same. They go to shake hands but here comes Kane to wreck everything.

Kane in full coat and tie says he's sorry to break up their bro-ment but they should be less concerned for winning the Slammy Award for romance of the year and more concerned about this Sunday. He says Payback will be every man for themself but Ambrose cuts him off and says Kane should be concerned after Triple H said he'd be out of a job if Rollins doesn't walk out the champion. Ambrose says this could be the last time we ever see Corporate Kane. Kane says he's not concerned and he'll still be employed this coming Monday. He says he'll see Reigns later but right now he wants Ambrose. Kane says Dean has a match because that's best for business....against Sheamus....RIGHT <Ambrose cuts him off> NOW! Ambrose says the only way Kane knows how to make a match is right now and tells Sheamus to stop braiding his beard and to come on out. Here comes Sheamus and we're not going to waste any time....after the break

Match 1

Sheamus vs Dean Ambrose

Bells gone and they circle to start. Ambrose backs Sheamus into the corner but Sheamus shoves him away. They lock up and Sheamus is arm barred into the ropes forcing a break. Sheamus gets a headlock takeover then shoulderblocks Dean down. Dean tries the drop toe hold but Sheamus doesn't go down. Amrbose eventually catches him in a modified STF and grabs the mohawk for leverage. Ambrose kicks the hand of Sheamus but they start stiffing each other in the corner. Sheamus hits a European uppercut and a scoop slam before kicking him in the back. Ambrose rallies with right hands but another European uppercut backs Dean into the corner. Dean drops Sheamus and punches away at him but a charge in the corner eats boot. Sheamus misses a charge of his own but Ambrose hits a running clothesline and bulldog out of the corner. Dean chops Sheamus against the ropes but is thrown over the top to the apron. Dean holds Sheamus off on 10 Beats but Sheamus knees him in the head to send Ambrose spiraling to the floor. Sheamus throws Ambrose into the barricade and taunts him as we go to break. Back from commercial Sheamus locks in a Texas Cloverleaf in the center of the ring. Ambrose makes it to the ropes to force a break but is kicked in the head for his trouble. Dean counters White Noise with a sunset flip for a deuce but Sheamus catches him with it on a second attempt. Sheamus calls for the Brogue Kick but Ambrose rolls out of the ring. Sheamus goes to throw him back in but Dean does a 180 and clotheslines Sheamus down. Dean kicks him into the barricade, goes inside but runs into a forearm. Back inside Dean counters the Brogue Kick by clotheslining Sheamus to the floor. Dean hits the suicide dive outside and throws Sheamus back inside. Up to the top rope, Dean jumps off but Sheamus moves. Dean charges right into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and cover for 1...2...no. Sheamus stiffs Dean with a few right hands but Dean rallies with some of his own. Dean hits a devastating lariat on Sheamus and goes up to the top. Sheamus catches him and goes for a top rope powerslam but Dean jumps down and trips up Sheamus. Sheamus catches himself head first on the ring post and Dean rolls him up for 1...2....3 to win the match. Damn good opener and it serves its purpose of giving Ambrose some momentum going into Payback.

Time of match: 12:42

Winner: Ambrose by pinfall

Ambrose taunts Sheamus in the aisle as Phillips says he might walk out of Payback the champion. Backstage Kane doesn't look happy when Seth Rollins, Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble walk in. Seth reminds Kane that if Rollins loses Sunday, he's fired. He says he heard a rumor Kane won't help him this Sunday and asks if that's true. Seth reminds Kane that he's paid to be Director of Operations and Kane says he's saved his money and that's no concern of his. Seth says Kane needs to do the right thing and Kane says he's struggling with that. He doesn't know what the right thing will be until he's standing at ringside this Sunday. He tells Seth he has to prepare for Roman Reigns and Rollins laughs at him saying "good luck with that." Kane says "Good luck in your match too....against Ryback." Well that was a curveball, there's your double main event tonight. Lawler laughs at Rollins' face but then says Daniel Bryan's retirement was no joke and we'll be seeing highlights of his speech from Raw later.

Back from break, Phillips shouts out the band doing the Payback theme and here comes Rusev and Lana. They have Rusev come out first for the boo with Lana coming out moments later for the pop....brilliant. We get a highlight of two weeks ago where Fandango gets Lana to do the Fandango only for an irate Rusev to clobber him from behind like a bolt of lightning....very very frightening. Back to real time, Rusev in the ring hands a mic to Lana as the crowd chants USA. Lana reads a prepared statement by saying she betrayed her country by "indulging in perverse western customs." She begs forgiveness from her family, mother Russia and Rusev. Lawler isn't buying that this was legit as Rusev grabs the mic and says last Monday shows why John Cena would lose this Sunday. He's unfocused and unprepared as we go to a clip of Cena vs Adrian Neville last Monday where Rusev lays Cena out. Rusev says Cena was saying "I quit" before he passed out. He goes to a doctored clip of Cena simply saying "I quit" over and over again which gets annoying after a while. Finally Rusev cuts the clip and yells at the crowd as Lawler hates everything that's going on. Lawler says Cena never gives up as Phillips says Rusev's name and legacy are on the line.

Back to Renee Young in the back with Ryback. She asks if he can focus on Seth Rollins tonight with Bray Wyatt lurking. Ryback says winning tonight will be a big opportunity for a title shot and despite what anyone thinks, he's not a meathead nor a dummy. Ryback says he saw the fear in Bray's eyes when he hit him with the Meat Hook. He says "the big guy is hungry" and Feed Me More. The match is next...after commercial.

After break we're sent to more Tough Enough submissions with one of them being future TNA Champion Tessa Blanchard, a badass marine who lost his leg in Iraq that's not gonna let it stop him from trying to wrestle, a legitimate leukemia survivor, "Hollywood" Mike Verna, a bunch of idiots and comedian Gabriel Iglesias....no I'm not kidding. The announcers guffaw over Iglesias as Seth Rollins makes his entrance with J & J Security in tow. He grabs the mic and shows a clip of Monday's Raw where Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Randy Orton spam finishers on him. Rollins says he hopes the crowd loves that because that's the last time he'll ever be humiliated again. Press X to doubt. He says the others are just as cut-throat as he is and he'll pick up the pieces after the others cut each others throats. Rollins says his talent, his bodyguards and Kane, he'll be victorious. He goes to say something about Ryback but here comes Ryback anyway. Out of nowhere Bray Wyatt ambushes him with a shoulderblock into the barricade. Wyatt crawls toward Ryback and laughs at what he's done. Lawler says this is the lowest he can sink. Wyatt disappears as Rollins in the ring just laughs at Ryback. The referee tends to him as the crowd goes hush. Some kids in the crowd chants "Let's go Ryback" as we get a highlight of Wyatt's ambush. We go to commercial with the announcers speculating if Ryback can continue. Back from break Ryback is in the ring telling the ref to ring the bell. The ref calls for it and we're on.

Match 2

Ryback vs WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins (with Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble)

Non title here as Rollins throws his shirt at him at the bell. There's a sign in the crowd that says Feed Me Smores, ha!  Rollins kicks away at Ryback and headlock punches him. Rollins gets in a front facelock but the suplex attempt is blocked. Ryback goes for his own suplex but Rollins counters with a knee to the head. Rollins ram Ryback face first into the buckle and a knee to the back sends Ryback through the ropes to the outside. Noble and Mercury put the loafers to him for some heat as Phillips says its like being attacked by a shark. The ref goes to count out Ryback but he makes it back just in time. Rollins stomps away at him as Lawler says Ryback isn't thinking straight. Rollins hits a DDT and covers for 1....2..no. Rollins chokes Ryback on the second rope and punches away at him. Ryback rallies with right hands and a Thez press. Rollins hits a rude awakening neckbreaker and covers for 1...2..no. Rollins hooks the leg a second time for a deuce. Rollins gets a front facelock as Lawler says Wyatt cowardly attacked Ryback as Ryback heaves Rollins much to Jerry's delight. Jerry says Iron Sheik tweeted Jabroni & Jabroni Security (it wasn't actually Sheik behind the account) earlier as Ryback hits a backdrop on Rollins. Rollins misses a charge but Ryback's charge eats boot. Rollins jumps into a bearhug and a tilt-a-whirl slam. The kids in the crowd chant Feed Me More as Ryback rallies with shoulderblocks and a spine buster. Ryback covers for 1...2....no. Ryback calls for the Meat Hook but gets distracted by Mercury on the apron. Mercury retreats and Rollins goes for the O'Connor Roll, but it gets blocked. Ryback hits the Meat Hook clothesline and goes for the Shell Shock. Rollins rakes the eyes and goes to the apron. Rollins kicks Ryback in the head and goes up to the top rope. Rollins hits a one legged dropkick which leads to a superkick. Rollins "Come onnn big guyyyy". Rollins hits another superkick and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Lawler says that's a tainted victory. Interesting to see Ryback take the pin without taking the Curb Stomp but it was mostly to show Ryback was essentially out on his feet. Its funny how Ryback can be hit with chairs and chainsaws but one shoulderblock from Bray Wyatt knocked him goofy? Either way the match told a story of Ryback trying to beat the champ while seeing double, give credit for that.

Time of match: 8:23

Winner: Rollins by pinfall

After the match Phillips asks if Seth needs Kane if he can beat Ryback. Lawler counters that this match would have gone different if Wyatt didn't attack. We get a graphic for Reigns/Kane saying pinfall for submission only....so its a Street Fight without actually calling it that. Back from commercial we get a graphic for The Meta Powers (Damien Sandow and Curtis Axel) vs The Ascension for this Sunday's pre-show match. I said this on my Raw writeup but its a sign of the times when you have to steal other people's gimmicks to get over. We get a graphic saying The Bella Twins take on Naomi and Tamina. So much for the one on one match between Naomi and Nikki. Guess Naomi needs just a little more heat before their inevitable clash.  

We go to Renee Young with Naomi and Tamina Snuka. Renee immediately goes to Naomi and Tamina attacking the Bellas two weeks ago and says she's shown a different side of herself. Renee asks what caused the attitude change and Naomi answers she and Tamina are tired of being overlooked. Naomi says she's the best athlete and Tamina is a powerhouse but WWE gave them nothing. They're sick of walking around empty handed and they're taking what's theirs. Tamina says they run the Divas now and Naomi laughs at Nikki calling her fake. Naomi says Brie is a pathetic quitter just like her husband Daniel Bryan. Naomi says sometimes a good girl gotta be bad in order to get things done. She's got a point how the ex-Funkadactyls and Tamina accomplished nothing so far and this is their chance. Hell why don't they reunite her with Cameron at this point? 

Before we get to the next match, here comes New Day to annoy everyone. Xavier says Tyson Kidd and Cesaro are CHEATERS. Out of the kindness of their souls they're giving them a second chance this Sunday. Big E Langston says Kidd and Cesaro are bad people because they don't recycle (HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!), when they go to the movies, they buy one ticket and see two! Kofi "Oh no no!" Kofi says there's good news that they don't have to be like Kidd and Cesaro, they can choose to be like New Day. Kofi are the change the fans need to see in this world, so sing with them. Xavier goes for New Day Rocks and naturally the crowd chants New Day Sucks. Here's the siren and out come Kidd and Cesaro with Natalya in tow. Apparently we got singles action with Cesaro in street clothes but they haven't said who he'd be facing. Woods and Big E leave so now its going to be Kidd and Kofi.

Match 3

Tyson Kidd (with Cesaro and Natalya) vs Kofi Kingston (with Big E Langston and Xavier Woods)

Singles action as Kofi takes on Kidd here. Bell's gone and Kidd gets a waistlock but Kofi kicks his way out of it. Kidd rallies with right hands but Kofi hits a reverse suplex and rolls through it for the chinlock. Kofi turns it into an armbar as Xavier screams "we're the champions, we're so good" Kidd powers out of it and Kofi slides out of the ring. Kidd kicks him away from the ring and hits a running cannonball to the floor on top of Kofi. Kidd throws Kofi in the ring and covers for 1...2.no. Lawler says the match this Sunday favors Cesaro as Kidd goes for the sharpshooter. Big E hops on the apron but Cesaro snatches him off, dropping him with a clothesline. Xavier hops up on the apron and Natalya grabs him allowing Kidd to kick him off. Kofi rolls him up for 1..2...no. Kidd blocks Trouble In Paradise and goes for the sharpshooter and locks it in. Kidd drags him into the center of the ring but Kofi taps to end the match. Short and sweet, gave Kidd & Cesaro some momentum going into Sunday's showdown. Having Natalya there does counter whoever of the New Day won't be wrestling.

Time of match: 2:08

Winner: Kidd by submission

Kidd caters to the crowd after the match as Phillips says that could be the result of one of the falls. Saxton says they don't know which of the New Day will be wrestling as Lawler says Cesaro can beat any of them. Phillips hypes up Elimination Chamber on May 31st just 17 days from now. Want to know how you ruin big matches? That's how. No matches have been signed or advertised two weeks out and its not like this is an international effort like Insurrextion or Rebellion. Its a WWE Network exclusive just like King of The Ring last month. Good luck finding it now.

Up next after the break is the highlight of Daniel Bryan's speech on Raw. Back from commercial we get the highlight of Daniel Bryan saying he's stepping away due to injuries and vacating the Intercontinental Championship. After that, the announcers give a eulogy of Daniel Bryan....but here comes Bo Dallas for absolutely no reason. Dallas says it sucks to lose Daniel Bryan and life isn't about yes or no. Dallas says Bryan being gone will be difficult but this is Bo's chance to be there for all of you. He says there's the five stages of grief, denial that DB let them all down. The second is anger, and being angry at Bryan letting them down is healthy. The third is bargaining and they're going to get a heck of a bargain on DB t-shirts now that he's gone. The fourth is depression and Bryan will be completely engulfed in it when everyone forgets about him. Last is acceptance and he can help the fans accept Bryan is never coming back, all they have to do is Bo-Lieve. His high pitched voice made that heel promo perfect but here comes Adrian Neville for a match. Neville makes his entrance with JoJo Offerman calling him the man that gravity forgot. Saxton puts over his former NXT brethren as we go to commercial.

Match 4

Adrian Neville vs Bo Dallas

Joined in progress after the break, Wade Barrett sits in on commentary to say some not so nice things about Neville. Neville backflips over Dallas and hits a bodypress for 1...2..no. Dallas screams at the top of his lungs as Barrett and Lawler have a back and forth King-off. Neville is hurled over the top to the apron but pulls it down to send Dallas flying. Neville is pulled off by Bo and thrown back in the ring. Bo chokes Adrian with the ring apron and clotheslines him down. He covers for 1...2..no. Phillips asks if he's impressed with Neville and Barrett says he's impressed and not doubting his talent. Neville dropkicks Dallas as Barrett says when he's in the ring, gravity always wins. Neville hits a running enziguiri as Barrett says he'll ground him like at the King of The Ring. Neville goes upstairs and hits a delayed Red Arrow for 1....2...3 to win the match. Phillips says that could be Barrett taking the fall this Sunday. Squash match to give Neville some momentum going into Sunday.

Time of match: 2:17

Winner: Neville by pinfall

After the match, King Barrett in full robe and crown says "How dare you try and pass yourself off as a challenge to the king's throne. I don't have the time to deal with the frivolities of a mere peasant like you." Barrett says Neville comes out week after week in a ridiculous costume....as Barrett is waiving a goofy scepter at him. Barrett says Neville needs some corporal punishment and he's going to get that this Sunday courtesy of a royal bullhammer. Barrett says all hail King Barrett as we get a replay of Neville's Red Arrow. Neville and Barrett point at each other before we cut.

Adam Rose is giving butterfly kisses to Rosa Mendez as the Rosebuds led by Hot Dog ask when they're going to be paid. You can see the future Alexa Bliss in the background as Hot Dog is actually named Carl. Adam says they're not being paid to talk. Rose says they're creating a revolution and Carl replies "So we're not getting paid?" Rose grabs the poor guy and says he doesn't get it, he's just like Bunny. Rosa Mendez says they don't get him like she does as Rose pushes Carl to the ground. Rose says the party is officially over but Rosa says the party is about to begin as they kiss. Suddenly Kane shows up, steps over the fallen Carl, scoffs at the lovebirds and makes his way to the ring. It was about time to get rid of the Rosebuds since he had long turned heel at that point, but it was funny to look back and see just how many huge stars were in the Rosebuds that totally eclipsed Rose himself by the end of their careers (and still going in some cases).

Back from commercial we get another Tough Enough plug with a highlight on Mike Tarverna (aka Hollywood Mike Verna from the New York and New England independents). Here comes Kane for the final match followed by Roman Reigns. No pre-match promos, just fight time.

Match 5

Roman Reigns vs Kane in a glorified Street Fight

Roman headbutts Kane as he makes his entrance and they brawl before the bell just like Monday. Kane slugs away at Reigns before Roman rallies with right hands. Kane throws Reigns into his old mentor Jerry Lawler but Reigns fights back. Kane sends Reigns into the steel steps before sliding into the ring. Kane tells the ref to ring the bell but he waits till Reigns gets in. Reigns slides in and the ref makes it official now. Kane rallies with right hands and heaves Reigns back outside. Lawler "Here the come again, guys." Kane grabs the steel steps but Reigns moves before he can be hit with them. Reigns sends Kane head first into the ring post as Lawler says Kane's mission is to take out Roman before Sunday. Roman grabs a singapore cane from under the ring and waffles Kane with it as Phillips says there's no disqualification in the match. Back inside Kane grabs the cane, no pun intended, and goes to town on Roman as Kevin Dunn's camera zooms are making me sick. Rollins, Mercury and Noble are watching in the back as Kane covers Roman for 1..2..no. Back from commercial break Kane's charge in the corner eats boot as Roman rallies with right hands. Kane counters with a big boot and covers for 1...2..no. Kane picks Reigns up and throws him through the ropes to the outside. Kane then clears off the announce table and calls for the chokeslam. Reigns lands feet first on the table and superkicks Kane then hits a jumping clothesline. Roman rams Kane headfirst into the table and hits a dropkick with Reigns landing ass first onto the table. Roman grabs the steps and bashes Kane with them. He grabs a table from under the ring...make that two. Roman sets one of them into the corner but Kane counters with a boot and a DDT. Kane covers for 1...2...no. Kane sets the other table up in the center of the ring and calls for the chokeslam. Reigns elbows out of it then hammers Kane with strikes. He goes for the Superman punch but runs right into a chokeslam through the table. Kane covers for 1..2...no. Kane can't believe it and he pounds around the ring. Kane calls for the tombstone but Reigns slides out of it and hits the Superman Punch. Kane staggers and Reigns spears him through the other table. Reigns covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Reigns wins a hell of a fight and has momentum going into Sunday. Power brawls are always entertaining and that one delivered.

Time of match: 11:16

Winner: Reigns by pinfall

Reigns celebrates on the entrance ramp as Lawler says Rollins won't like that. Speaking of which, we cut to Renee Young with Seth and J & J Security for a final interview. Renee asks Seth what Roman's victory does to his confidence and Seth says that was a hell of a performance but it'll take more than that to beat him. He says that goes for Dean Ambrose and Randy Orton as well but Renee starts to back up. Ambrose sneaks up on the trio as they ask where Renee is going. Seth asks what he's doing as Dean has a plate of cookies in his hand. Dean "Anyone want a cookie?" as he throws the cookies at Rollins and the cookie pan at Mercury. Ambrose beats down Rollins until J & J seize Ambrose. Rollins punches Dean but from out of nowhere Roman Reigns heaves a luggage crate into Noble. Roman grabs Rollins as Ambrose snatches Mercury. Reigns and Ambrose clean house before turning to face each other. Ambrose and Reigns look down to see the pile of cookies and the World Heavyweight Championship. Roman offers a hand shake and Dean teases taking it but grabs the belt instead. Dean puts it on Roman's shoulder and says "Don't worry, I'll take it on Sunday". Roman ends the show holding the title....get used to that, folks.

That show went by quick with some of the matches being really short but thankfully everything got to the point. The only ones truly missing on this show was Randy Orton and John Cena as everyone else involved in Payback....well important anyway, was here. The stage is set, will Rollins walk out as champ facing Orton and his Shield mates or will one of the others win and Kane goes bye bye? The next show is Payback itself, I'll see you there.

WWE Smackdown (5/7/15)

WWE Smackdown

Canadian Tire Centre

Ottawa, CA

May 7, 2015

Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton & Jerry "The King" Lawler

Ring Announcer: JoJo Offerman

We're just 10 days away from Payback and Monday's Raw gave us Dean Ambrose in the main event to set up a Fatal-Four-Way for the main event. Rusev vs John Cena "I Quit" is also featured in ten days but let's see if we get any more matches for the show. New Day vs Tyson Kidd & Cesaro could be on the table and Ryback vs Bray Wyatt as well, but nothing's concrete. Let's get started...with a dark match.

Dark Match

Charlotte Flair vs Natalya

Yes, the NXT Women's Champion Charlotte Flair was getting a trial run before making her way to the main roster. She faced Natalya in this special dark match. Natalya got the duke, but Flair was definitely on her way.

Winner: Natalya

We begin with a recap vignette of Dean Ambrose being added to the main event. Then we see Roman Reigns vs Randy Orton end with an Authority beat down until Dean Ambrose to make the save...only for Randy Orton to rKo Reigns. Ambrose hit Randy Orton with Dirty Deeds to leave him standing tall to end it. Tom and Byron welcome us to the show and hypes up the contract signing tonight between the four participants in the main event. Then we're sent to Jerry "The King" Lawler in the ring who recaps the King of The Ring last week and brings out King Barrett to address his subjects. Barrett comes out wearing the crown, holding the scepter and has the cape draped over one arm. Lawler says "From one king to another..." and Barrett cuts him off. Barrett says there's only one king in WWE and its not Lawler. Wade says Jerry just calls himself the King, Barrett earned it by beating three guys in 24 hours. Barrett refuses to be treated as an equal and demands Jerry say "All hail King Barrett". Lawler can't even get a response in before Barrett says there's no castles in the Memphis trailer parks or the phony king Elvis Pressley. Barrett says the only throne Lawler should be on is the toilet and demands him to say All Hail King Barrett. Lawler refuses and Barrett gets in his face to say "Bloody do it." Lawler says "no" and Barrett says the interview is over. Barrett goes to load up a bull hammer but Dolph Ziggler walks out. Dolph gets in the ring and says Barrett is acting like a Renaissance Fair reject. Referee Mike Chioda gets in the ring and Dolph says its a good thing Mike is here because he's going to drop Barrett. Guess we got an impromptu match.

Match 1

Dolph Ziggler vs King Barrett

Bell rings and they circle to start. Lawler says Barrett's only been king for a week as Wade drops Ziggler with a shoulderblock. Barrett "All hail the king" as he kicks away at Dolph in the corner. Barrett hits a floatover suplex for 1...2..no. Barrett drops a knee and covers for another deuce but gets dropkicked by Ziggler. Barrett bails to the outside as Ziggler shouts to get back in as we go to break. Back from commercial Ziggler punches away at Barrett but misses the splash in the corner. Barrett covers for two as Lawler asks if Saxton will grovel at Wade's feet. Byron says no as we go to Barrett hitting the big boot to Ziggler during commercial. Barrett's chinlock is fought out of it by Ziggler and he knees Ziggler in the head anyway. He covers for two as Lawler says 20 years ago he called the fans peons and told them to kiss his royal feet and it didn't work out, he ended up having to kiss his own foot. Ha! At least we finally get a reason why he just stopped being a heel by 1999. Barrett drops a knee to the back and locks in a surfboard. Lawler says he's going rub the locker-room the wrong way as Ziggler runs into Winds of Change. He covers for 1...2...no. Lawler says Barrett can go bowling with his boogers as Ziggler hits a fameasser out of nowhere. Ziggler covers but here's Sheamus out of nowhere to wreck everything. Lawler "Are you kidding me?" That was going well until the run in.

Time of match: 6:48

Winner: Ziggler by DQ

Post-match Sheamus and Barrett double team Ziggler. They tie Dolph in the ropes but here's Adrian Neville for the save. Neville dropkicks Sheamus, ducks the line and dropkicks Barrett to the outside. The faces stand tall in the ring as we go to break. Back from break.....we got another match!

Match 2

Dolph Ziggler & Adrian Neville vs King Barrett and Sheamus

During commercial, apparently we got an impromptu tag match. Barrett has Neville down and immediately makes the tag to Sheamus. Sheamus taunts Neville and kick him in the chest. Lawler says he's co-existed peacefully with all the previous kings of the ring except Bret Hart. Ha, Lawler is on fire tonight with logic. He did support Owen Hart, Mabel and HHH for sure. Neville kicks Sheamus in the ribs but can't make the tag. Sheamus knocks Dolph off the apron and hits the Irish Curse, covering for 1...2...no. Sheamus has a healing black eye because Dolph kicked him in the face in the KoTR match for real by accident the week before. Barrett tags in and hits a backbreaker of his own before covering 1...2...no. Neville kicks Barrett in the head but Wade hits a big boot. Sheamus tags in and locks in a chinlock before Neville crawls toward Ziggler. Neville walks into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and shouts "Are you not entertained??" Neville crawls to the apron and Sheamus goes for 10 beats of the Bodhran. Sheamus clubs him three times but Neville snaps him off the top rope. Back inside Sheamus misses a charge in the corner and Ziggler gets the hot tag. Barrett tags in too to get rocked by Ziggler. Ziggler hits the Stinger Splash in the corner and a dropkick. Dolph hits a DDT and covers for 1...2..no. Ziggler hits the superkick and covers for 1..2...no. Ziggler clotheslines Sheamus over the top and out and Neville hits a suicide dive on Sheamus but Barrett rolls up Ziggler with his feet on the ropes 1...2....no, Neville throws the feet off at the last second. Ziggler hits Zig Zag and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Lawler whoops it up as King Barrett begins his reign with two losses in one night. Barrett always took losses when he shouldn't.

Time of match: 6:02

Winners: Dolph and Neville by pinfall

We're getting a Six-Man-Tag later with the New Day facing Tyson Kidd, Cesaro and a mystery partner. Who could it be? Find out later. We cut to Renee Young with Dean Ambrose and asks about his chances. Ambrose says he's not a math guy or an Authority guy. He says he's the chaos theory of the Authority as he's the last guy they expected to be in, and he's walking out the last man standing. Ambrose has a feeling that nobody will be happy to see him. We go to commercial and back from break, we get a blurb that WWE is the Number 1 sports channel on Youtube. Poor UrinatingTree....on to the next match.

Match 3

Luke Harper vs Fandango

Harper hasn't done a damn thing since losing to Ambrose at Extreme Rules and he gets the glorified jobber Fandango here. Bell rings and Harper does his own parody of the Fandango dance before booting him in the head. Hahahaha! Harper chokes Fandango in the corner as Phillips said he once belonged to the Wyatt Family. Harper gets chopped in the chest and dropkicked by Fandango. Fandango hits a heel kick and hits a tornado DDT from the second rope. Fandango goes upstairs but Harper throws him off before hitting a superkick. Harper hits the big lariat and covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. If you want to re-establish Harper as something, that helps. Short and sweet squash.

Time of match: 2:08

Winner: Harper by pinfall

All of a sudden Erick Rowan's music hits. He hasn't been since since Wrestlemania really but he heads to the ring. Rowan and Harper fighting again? NO! Rowan puts the boots to Fandango and drops a knee. Rowan hits the pump handle slam and just leaves. What, he just hates Fandango? Even Harper looks confused inside the ring. That was stupid, should have just had them shake hands or leave together. 

We get a graphic for our ppv main event before we go to break. Back from break, Lana is in the ring who gets a babyface pop. Lana says not to cheer for her because it angers Rusev causing a chorus of boos. Speaking of which, here he comes to the ring. Rusev yells at Lana for no reason and tells her to leave. They're really hammering the Marc Mero/Sable storyline here. Lawler "She's the only thing to ever make Rusev bearable to watch." That one hits home big time....too close. Rusev cuts the same promo as always, promising to break John Cena and his victories are a fluke. Rusev says Cena showed mercy to Sami Zayn and mercy is a sign of weakness. Rusev will make Cena say I Quit....yeah yeah. Does anyone in the world think Rusev has half a chance to win that match?

The announcers at ringside plug the WWE Network shows before sending us back to Renee with Roman Reigns. Reigns has no emotions since he's been rivals with Randy Orton since day one. He hates everything about Seth Rollins but Dean Ambrose is like a brother to him. He trusts Dean (that's a mistake) and he's bringing the fight at Payback. The quicker he signs the contract, the quicker he gets to punch someone in the mouth for championship gold. Up next is our six man tag match as we go to break. On to the next match back from break and New Day comes out first. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro along with Natalya come out next. The mystery partner is....Ryback. Someone who can counter Big E for sure.

Match 4

The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E Langston) vs Tyson Kidd, Cesaro and Ryback (with Natalya)

Now THAT'S a mystery partner and New Day isn't happy about it. Woods says "he can't take E" as the crowd chants feed me more. Ryback starts with Kofi as the crowd chants New...Day sucks. Kofi kicks Ryback in the side of the leg then in the ribs. Kofi locks in a hammerlock but Ryback reverses it. Ryback shoulderblocks Kofi down and catches Kingston in mid air. He tags in Kidd who hits a dropkick. He covers for 1 but Kofi gets a knee to the ribs. Woods tags in but runs into a drop-toe-hold. Woods doesn't see the bling tag to Cesaro and runs right into a clothesline. Cesaro gets Ryback's attention and executes a delayed suplex. Ryback then picks up Big E and Kidd gets Woods for a triple delayed suplex. The crowd loved that one. Cesaro throws Woods in his corner then tags in Tyson. They double stomp Woods in the corner to the rhythm of "New...day sucks" and Ryback does it as well. Woods sunset flips Kidd, but Tyson counters with a sharpshooter attempt. Woods bails to the outside and Kidd somersault planchas Xavier on the floor. Cesaro takes out Kofi and Ryback bowls over Big E as well. Kidd throws Woods back in the ring but Woods dropkicks him off the apron. Big E gets the tag and he rams Tyson into both the barricade, then the side of the ring, back to the barricade, back to the side of the ring. We cut to commercial and back from break, New Day has Tyson isolated in the corner. Woods hits a tornado DDT and covers for 1..2....no. Kidd is rammed into the corner and Langston tags in. Big E hits an overhead belly to belly suplex and claps at Kidd. E hits a second one and covers for 1..2....no. Xavier tags in and kicks Tyson in the ribs but misses a charge in the corner. Kofi knocks Cesaro off the apron but forgets about Ryback who gets the hot tag. Ryback cleans house and hits a spinebuster on Kofi. Ryback calls for the meat hook but Kofi distracts him. Ryback hits an overhead suplex on Kofi and tags in Cesaro. Cesario does the running uppercuts in the corner and a spinebuster. Cesarp throws Big E outside and Kidd takes Woods out with a kick. Cesaro tags Kidd who does the old Tower of Doom on Kofi. Kidd covers for 1..2....nooooo. Ryback drops Woods an clotheslines E over the top rope. Ryback tosses Woods over the top to the floor but the lights go out...uh oh. The lights go on as Ryback is clotheslined down on outside. Kofi rolls up Kidd inside for 1..2....3 to win the match. The Bray Wyatt distraction worked long enough for New Day to steal one. That was a great match, too bad the crappy ending ruined it.

Time of match: 12:11

Winners: New Day by pinfall

Renee Young is in Randy Orton and says Orton couldn't win at Extreme Rules and asks what his new strategy is. Orton says he's going to hit whoever closest to him is and will do anything to win. He's facing the entire Shield but he says that one of them ain't gonna make it to Payback. Who could he be referring to? Back from break, its on to our next match.

Match 5

Emma vs Naomi (with Tamina Snuka)

Naomi has a PiP interview with Naomi and everybody's "gonna know" about them. I see....Bell's gone and Naomi immediately attacks. She kicks away at Emma in the corner but Emma reverses it and throws Naomi into the center of the ring. Emma hits a dropkick and covers for 1..2...no. Emma gets kicked in the head and taken down by the hair by Naomi. Naomi hits a rude awakening and nips up before taunting the irate crowd. Naomi kicks Emma in the ribs and chokes her on the first rope. Naomi then chokes her on the top rope and throws her down. Naomi hits a dropkick and covers for 1...2...nope. Naomi throws Emma in the corner but misses a charge. Emma tries a sunset flip for 1...2...no. A schoolgirl gets 1...2..no. Another pinfall gets two but Naomi reverses it into a backslide for a deuce. Emma runs right into the Rear View and Naomi covers for 1..2....3 to win the match. Total squash by Naomi to establish her as top heel with Tamina by her side.

Time of match: 3:11

Winner: Naomi by pinfall

Post-match Naomi and Tamina beat down Emma and Tamina lays her out with a superkick. Emma is completely lost on the main roster without Santino Marella but fear not, help is on the way in NXT. If she can't do it, others can. We go to the announcers who hype up the upcoming season of Tough Enough....oh god, no. Next! Back from commercial Renee Young is with Seth Rollins with J & J Security in tow. Rollins says its HIS championship on the line and he makes the impossible, possible. He shocked the world at Wrestlemania but Renee counters that Kane takes credit for helping him win. Rollins says that sounds desperate and he's jealous of him. Rollins says Kane is trying to keep his job and jealous of him. Rollins has something Kane will never have, brains. He always has a plan for Payback and tonight. Seth says the future is now. On to the next match.

Match 6

Los Matadores (Diego and Fernando) with El Torrito vs The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto and Sin Cara)

Kind of a pointless match near the end of the show but at least we get to see Lucha Libre....yay? Kalisto and Fernando start and shake hands to begin. They chain wrestle to start then go to the chinlock 10 seconds into it. Kalisto hits a head scissors and a headlock takeover as Phillips says the Dragons were NXT tag champs. Sin Cara tags in with a hilo and a head scissors of his own. Sin Cara gets a headlock takeover as Lawler asks how New Day would handle these teams. Diego tags in and hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker before covering for a deuce. Fernando tags in and they catch Cara mid air, but Diego is armdragged out of the ring. Cara does a headstand on the top turnbuckle but Fernando kicks him out of the ring. Torrito does a bronco buster outside as we go to break. Back from commercial the Matadores hit a double suplex on Cara. Fernando covers for 1...2..no. Cara hits a modified Angle Slam and Kalisto gets the hot tag. Kalisto hits a springboard sky twister press and hits the Listo Kick. He hits a head scissors for 1..2...no, Diego breaks it up. Kalisto hits a springboard Pele kick on Fernando but Sin Cara botches a suicide dive, hitting face first on the ground in front of Fernando outside. He caught his foot on the ropes that Kalisto was standing on. Diego sunset flips Kalisto for 1...2...no. Sin Cara gets a blind tag but misses the swanton bomb. He still hits a cradle for 1...2...3 to win the match. Kalisto moves like a young Rey Mysterio and is similar size as well. Good lucha libre match even if Cara botched that one spot.

Time of match: 9:13

Winners: Lucha Dragons by pinfall

Post-match the Dragons celebrate but Diego shoves down Torito. Oh no! Fernando calms him down though. We get one last graphic for the final segment before we go to commercial. Back from break, Kane is in the ring for the contract signing. He brings out Randy Orton first, then Roman Reigns, then Dean Ambrose who gets a bigger pop then both Orton & Reigns. Finally Rollins comes out last with J & J security holding his own mic. Rollins doesn't get in the ring, he just stands on the stage. Kane goes to emcee then Ambrose calls Rollins "Justin Bieber" and tells him to bring "Frodo" and "Bilbo" to come down there. Rollins says Ambrose humor was just as bad as Roman trying to form sentences. Rollins says he'll stay up there and let the other 3 sort their business out. Roman has a sentence, he's going to sign the contract and kick hiss ass. Roman signs as Orton says they all want that world championship around Seth's waist. Randy signs it and Dean says he's gonna drag Rollins down there himself. Rollins says Kane will sign for him and Kane says he COULD do that in theory but Kane remembers Seth calling him obsolete and irrelevant. Kane says he could sign as a proxy if he was injured but Kane insists to come sign himself since he's healthy. Seth says fine and heads to the ring steps as the crowd chants "Justin Bieber". Seth sends Joey Mercury in to get the contract so Seth can review it. Instead he calls Ambrose "low rent Roddy Piper" which apparently is what Roman called him. Seth says Roman signs autographs better than he wrestles which is what Ambrose used to say about him. Seth says its no secret Dean and Roman called him spoiled, entitled and never worked a day. Rollins "What's wrong with a little honesty." Seth gets in the ring with J & J as the crowd chants rKo. Seth signs it and hands it to "Mr. Obsolete" and Kane says he's the only reason Seth is champion. Dean rearranges the chairs and sets up the table in the corner. Dean says we all know this was how it was going to end anyway so he's got dibs on the table. He throws Mercury up the table since its a real one and not the easily breakable ones. A brawl envelops with J & J and Ambrose outside with Roman slugging it out with Kane. Randy kicks away at Rollins until clotheslining him over the top rope. Ambrose heaves chairs onto Jamie Noble and suicide dives Kane into the announce table. Roman superman punches Kane and Ambrose catches Rollins inside the ring. Rollins dropkicks Reigns into Ambrose and avoids the rKo. Ambrose and Reigns shove each other and Orton rKo's Ambrose. Reigns hits the Superman punch to Orton and Rollins comes off the top with a dropkick to Reigns. Rollins superkicks Reigns, grabs the belt and poses with it as we sign off.

Rollins standing tall in the end had to be done because he was getting beat up every show at this point by the other three. By dividing and conquering, his game plan is real clear. The rest of the show was a big bag of meh although the lucha match was good. Erik Rowan returned to turn heel but not join Luke Harper was bizarre although they may elaborate on that one. New Day being as obnoxious as they can be is working perfectly. We still got two big shows left before Payback so the card will be set for sure. The next show after this is the upcoming Raw. I'll see you there.