WWE Raw (3/24/25)

WWE Raw

Ovo Hydro

Glasgow, Scotland

March 24, 2025

Commentators: Michael Cole and Pat McAfee

Ring Announcer: Alicia Taylor

We're 26 days from Wrestlemania 41 and last week in Belgium established John Cena's heel turn....sort of. He had an epic rant against the fans he's probably wanted to go off on for years but he never revealed why he joined The Rock or attacked Cody for that matter. Tonight may shed more light on the subject since they're supposed to both be here. We also got a men's Intercontinental title showdown between Bron Breakker and Penta, a women's IC title match between Lira Valkyria and Raquel Rodriguez along with Dragon Lee vs Chad Gable.

We're shown CM Punk, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Lira Valkyria, Rey Mysterio Jr, Penta, Bron Breakker and Dragon Lee all ariving. After an unusually long silence, here comes John Cena. Let's see if Glasgow can get as loud as Belgium....and its not even close. The "John Cena sucks" chant is loud but not THAT loud. Cena stares at a little kid in Cena merch waiving at him and blows him off to walk to the ring. Maybe now we'll get an answer why he joined The Rock. Cena says the crowd seems like it has something to say. Cena says they're ready to do their worst because the spotlight has been turned on them. He says he can pick apart anyone and no one is safe and last week he put a kid on blast. He laughs that his face was everywhere and the crowd loved it. The "Fuck you Cena" chants start as McAfee is glad to hear it. Cena laughs and says he's the one guy that actually the truth and everyone else just uses profanity. Cena says they're all horrible people for laughing at the little kid and he's going to make them pay for the 25 years of abuse. Cena says he paid attention as the crowd chants "Shut the fuck up" and says they make it so easy. Cena says he's been paying attention, learning and putting up with their childish nursery rhymes. John says they know nothing about him and he knows more about them then they do, their lives are sad. John says this is the best they're gonna get but to him, they're just an experiment, rats in a cage. John says pick out any moment of his career and he'll tell you how he played the crowd and shoots down the "what" chant by saying fans desperately want to matter. He said April of 2005 he gave the crowd the WWE Championship spinner belt and they ate him alive. He goes on to say the fans weren't happy he turned the championship belt into a toy and he remembers it. He says he's going to ruin wrestling for every fan (McAfee "What?") and everyone at Wrestlemania by winning his 17th championship. Cena says he's going to make everyone forget about Ric Flair and forever remember John Cena, even worse, he's going to win the championship and retire with it. Cena says he's taking the belt home with him and leaving them to create a toy belt because he's bringing it home, promising to be the last real champion. Cena says his final revenge will be ripping the fans hearts out by walking away with their title and there's nothing anyone can do to stop him. Right on cue, here comes Cody Rhodes. Cody gets in the ring and the crowd chants "Cody, Cody Rhodes" much to Cena's visible dismay. Cody "I'm sorry, what did you say?" Cody says Cena claims he's going to take the belt from the fans, but he has to go through him first. Cody says he made a mistake last week saying he wanted the old Cena, but this IS John Cena. Cody says John made a massive mistake, not hitting him but saying what he just said while Cody was in the building. The crowd chants again before Cody asks if the chanting bothers him because he doesn't have to unpack their history. Cody says Cena of all people knows how hard Cody had to work just to win the title one time and Cody mocks John saying the history of wrestling hangs in the balance because of his vanity. Cody puts the belt down and says come and take it, disrobing. Cena tosses the mic and goes to square up before walking away to a chorus of boos. Cody picks up the mic and screams "JOHN!" He takes his suit coat off and Cena walks away for a second time. Cody "One thing John, I cannot let you do it." Cody says he wants Cena to see him & the fans and his psychotic need to take the title doesn't outweigh the fans & his desire to keep it. Cody says the champ isn't walking away, the champ is here in the ring. He finishes by saying Cena walking empty ended right now will be Cena walking away from Wrestlemania and WWE the same way. Not as epic as last week and more of the same, really. Cena still hasn't explained why he joined The Rock. Its as if The Rock was never there. Hopefully they explain it soon because we're getting closer to Wrestlemania.

Moving on to Cole & McAfee at the announce desk shilling Raw Recap tomorrow before hyping up tonight's IC title match. We're shown last Monday where Bron Breakker defeated Finn Balor with Finn upset with Judgment Day. Its the Damian Priest face turn all over again only with Finn. Now its time to yeet as Jey Uso makes his way to the ring for the tag team match against A-Town Down Under. He was supposed to have a mystery partner but there's no mystery. Jimmy Uso comes out with him for a reunion of The Usos as we go to break. Back from break we're shown Stephanie McMahon chilling with various WWE stars & legends for her upcoming ESPN show. 

Match 1

A-Town Down Under (Grayson Waller & Austin Theory) vs The Usos (Jimmy & Jey)

Not like an un-anounced reunion of one of the greatest tag teams in WWE history to take on Waller & Theory. Bell's gone and Jey starts with Theory. Jey starts with a shoulderblock on Theory as Cole says this is the Uso's first tag team match just the two of them since Money In The Bank 2023. Jey blocks an arm-drag and hits a clothesline, forcing Austin to retreat to the corner to tag in a reluctant Waller. Waller goes for a kick but Jey uppercuts him in the corner. Hey hits a dropkick and tags in Jimmy to a big pop. A double elbow followed by a double elbow drop and double clothesline over the top to the floor. The Usos's throw Theory over the top as well. Jimmy dives over the top onto Waller & Theory before Jimmy throws Waller inside. Cole says Jimmy was victorious in a tag team match this past Friday in Italy. Jimmy uppercuts Waller and covers for 1...2...no. Jimmy chops Waller as Cole brings up Jey should be feeling good about having Jimmy in his corner against Gunther.....which may not be the case since it was Jimmy that cost Jey at Summerslam two years ago. Jimmy chops Waller as Theory blind tags in. Jimmy punches Waller on the floor but Theory hits a loud forearm to Jimmy. That looked REAL as we go to break. Back from commercial Waller has a chinlock on Jimmy. Jimmy fights out of it but Waller sends Jey off the apron. Waller dives inside the ring and runs into a Samoan drop by Jimmy. Theory tags in but Jey gets the hot tag. Jey cleans house of both heels and slugs away at Theory, hitting the Yeet Punch. Jey hits a step up enziguiri and yeets, hitting the Umaga to Theory. He superkicks Waller then Theory, covering Austin for 1...2....no. Jey's samoan drop is blocked and Waller makes a blind tag. Jey eata a double forearm and double punch. Waller covers for 1...2...no. Waller hops up on the second rope but misses the elbow drop. Jimmy gets the tag and they hit a double samoan drop before Jimmy goes up top. He kicks Theory away but gets crotched by Waller. Waller walks into a superkick but Theory tags in. Waller gets speared by Jey and Austin runs right into 1D. Jey covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Waller & Theory are glorified jobbers at this point but the match was at least watchable. The Uso's having a one night reunion was fun as they celebrate in the ring.

Time of match:

Winners: The Uso's by pinfall

The celebration is shortlived as Gunther hits the ring, shitcanning Jimmy outside. Jey cuts him off and they slug it out in the center of the ring. Jey catches Gunther with two superkicks to send him into the corner. Jey trips up on the spear attempt and Gunther dives on top of him, hitting forearm after forearm. Jimmy grabs a chair and chases off Gunther as Cole says that Jey has been slipping up lately. Either Jey botched again and Gunther thought very fast on his feet or that was supposed to happen to try to hide the fact Jey has been a botchfest lately. Either way a lot of fans aren't happy on social media with Jey getting the push despite his botches.

We cut to Raquel Rodriguez warming up for her title match with Liv Morgan next to her. Carlito and Dom Mysterio show up with Dom looking down. Apparently Finn isn't happy but Liv says that's just him being himself. Liv says things are looking up because she beat Jade Cargill and Raquel is about to be IC champion. Dom "Double champ!" Carlito says its his turn to challenge for the IC title as Liv tells Dom to talk to Penta again. Dom says Finn doesn't want him and Liv says Finn didn't want her either and it worked out. Liv butterfly kisses his nose and she walks off with Raquel. Carlito says Dom brought him in as well and it worked out, but doesn't have another apple for Dom. Carlito is trying to play the dumbass like R-Truth did last year but its not funny most of the time. 

Cole says tomorrow night Stephanie Vaquer is pulling double duty tomorrow night on NXT as she faces Jaida Parker for the NXT Women's title and Fallon Henley for the Women's North American title as well. We cut to Lira Valkyria getting some last minute love from Bayley as she heads to the ring. Adam Pearce is shown talking to Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee as we go to break. Back from commercial we get a fake vignette of the history of lucha libre before highlighting El Grande Americano as the greatest of all time from the Gulf of America. He was blackballed by jealous promoters and disappeared. Now he's back to bring Lucha Libre back to its former glory. We cut to Adam Pearce with a disgusted Dragon Lee and Mysterio. Rey asks what the hell was that and Pearce rolls his eyes saying that's the newest member of the Raw roster, El Grande Americano. Rey says that's just Chad Gable but Chad himself walks in saying he's wrong. Gable says he's physically similar but he doesn't have the energy to argue because he's sick. He hands Adam Pearce a doctor's note and Pearce says its legit. Rey says they don't need a match, they'll see him in the parking lot. Chad says he has a replacement, El Grande Americano and Rey doesn't like it. Pearce says his hands are tied but Lee says he'll take the match anyway. Rey calls Gable a jackass and Pearce mocks him for the doctor's note. Gable coughs and Cole says he should be wearing a mask, not the luchador kind.

Actor Richard Gadd from Baby Reindeer is in the crowd as Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez are in the ring, time for the next match. Liv Morgan's bodyguard gets a crack at the IC champ and this has all the vibes of Razor Ramon vs Diesel with Shawn Michaels from 31 years ago only in female form.

Match 2

Raquel Rodriguez (with Liv Morgan) vs Lira Valkyria for the WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship

Bell's gone and Lira gets a quick go-behind. Raquel flings her across the ring then does a modified giant swing. Cole says Lira has a problem with bigger women as she gets heaved into the corner by Raquel. Lira's up and over is blocked but she does dropkick her in the left knee. A northern lights suplex is blocked by Raquel but Lira sunset flips her. Lira ducks under the elbow and sends Raquel through the ropes to the outside. Lira's baseball slide is blocked but she still headscissors Raquel into the announce table. Cole says Liv is failing as a coach as Lira throws Raquel in the ring. She jumps right into a big boot as McAfee says "HOLY HELLLL WHAT...A..BOOT!" as we go to commercial. Back from break Raquel grabs Lira by the hair and delivers a Blanchard Bomb for 1...2....no. Raquel pushes Lira's face and drags her to the corner. Raquel taunts the crowd but misses the skytwister press. Lira hops up on the top rope and hits a legdrop. She rolls Raquel over and covers for 1...2..no. Lira picks up Raquel but she slides out of it, clotheslining Lira in the back. Raquel hits the skytwister press and covers for 1..2....no. Raquel throws Lira head first into the buckle before placing her on the top rope. Lira's crossbody is caught in midair, but Lira turns it into a tornado DDT. She covers for 1...2...no, Liv puts Raquel's foot on the rope. Lira points at Liv and goes for Nightwing but Raquel blocks it. Lira blasts Liv with a baseball slide then counters the Tejana Bomb with a victory roll for 1....2....3 to win the match. Lira survives with an upset victory over the much larger Raquel. Lira's beaten Ivy Nile and Raquel Rodriguez, eventually she's going to run out of opponents.

Time of match:

Winner: Valkyria by pinfall (still IC Champion)

Liv attacks Lira after the bell and Bayley hits the ring for the save. Bayley naps Liv off the second rope but Raquel goes for the Tejana Bomb. Bayley and Valkyria block it and dump Raquel over the top rope. Possible tag team match next week perhaps? Back to Cole and McAfee who shills Pat's new show before Pat stands up wearing a kilt. Pat says he's only renting the kilt and he's going old school in it...yuck. Cole hypes up the Clash In Paris this coming August before we get a recap highlight of the ongoing drama between Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky and Bianca Belair. Last week Rhea Ripley powerbombed Iyo on top of Bianca and signed the contract to make it a triple threat match much to Adam Pearce's chagrin. Adam Pearce is on his way to the ring to make a decision on this as we go to break.

Back from commercial we get a highlight of HHH's rivalry with The Rock over the IC title at Summerslam 98. The Uso's are sitting on the stairs together. Jimmy asks him what's up because he's been botching left and right. Jimmy says he's out here slipping and if that keeps up, he won't win Wrestlemania. Jey says he knows and he's reminded every week that he's 3-0 (he meant 0-3) against Gunther. Jimmy says he can't beat Gunther the way things are going, but the right hand man, Main Event Jey, the Royal Rumble winner, HE can beat Gunther. Jimmy says he's got him and spots Gunther walking by. Jimmy walks up to him and says he wants him next week. Gunther says as long as he doesn't trip and fall like his brother, sure. Jimmy slaps him across the face and walks off leaving Gunther smiling.

Adam Pearce is in the ring saying they're officially on the road to Wrestlemania. Adam says the match is between Iyo Sky and Bianca Belair and the crowd boos. Adam says Rhea scribbled her signature and he assures the crowd that Ripley is not in the match. Adam says the match is Iyo and Bianca and he's been trying to get Rhea her re-match with Iyo for weeks but Bianca winning Elimination Chamber put her as number one contender. Pearce says Rhea only wants it on her time and therefor....and here comes World Women's Champion Iyo Sky. Iyo with a mic says she doesn't care about contracts and will take on both Rhea & Bianca because she's World Women's Champion. Cole "Yeah you tell em Iyo". Pearce goes to say something but here comes Bianca Belair to interrupt. Bianca says she earned the number one contenders spot and says she's not going to let Rhea into the match because she didn't earn it. Pearce goes to answer again but here comes Rhea Ripley. Pearce "Good god almighty!" Pat "Mami's here!" Rhea says she doesn't give a damn about Wrestlemania or who she has to go through to get her title back. Rhea wants her rematch and Adam goes "Oh NOW you want a rematch." Bianca says Rhea waited 3 weeks already so she can wait three more. Bianca goes nose to nose with Rhea and Iyo tries to butt in, only to get piefaced by Rhea. Here we go again! Iyo throws the belt down and goes after Rhea but Adam holds her back and says "ENOUGH!" He says that next week on Raw Rhea will face Iyo for the title and the winner faces Bianca at Wrestlemania. He tells them to have a good night, throws the mic down and storms out. Bianca kicks the mic out of the way and Iyo hits a tornado DDT on Rhea. They brawl in the ring and Iyo hits a head scissors to Rhea out of the ring. Bianca does a KOD on Iyo over the top onto Rhea and stands tall at the end. The interesting thing is the crowd booed Bianca here, but that could have been just a Scotland thing. The crowd was behind Iyo there but let's see how that looks when we get back to the States.

We cut to Penta warming up for his IC title match when Dominik Mysterio walks up to recruit him for Judgment Day. Penta goes to answer but Dom cuts him off to say he could be IC champ tonight. We get a graphic for the match as we go to break. Back from commercial we get a vignette on the World Tag Team Champions the War Raiders just to let us know they're still there. Love how Smackdown's tag team division is featured every week but the War Raiders are barely ever on TV. We cut to New Day demanding Adam Pearce for a tag team title match at Wrestlemania. The already irate Pearce goes off saying if they came in asking for a match next week to prove himself, that would have been fine. Instead "Don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya." Woods says check your blood pressure and Adam says bring him a glass of water. Suddenly Bianca walks in and asks who she's facing at Wrestlemania and Pearce makes her the special guest referee. Bianca "I don't know how to referee" Pearce "You got a week to figure it out, thank you for dropping by. Drive safe." Cole "Pearce has lost it." Hahahaha Pearce has been the best part of the night hands down.

We cut to the ring with Dragon Lee in the ring for his match with "El Grande Americano" and the most stereotypical Mexican music hits. Here we go.

Match 3

Dragon Lee vs El Grande Americano

That's definitely Chad Gable under the mask and he's billed from "Gulf of America" to really rub it in. Cole "Google has everything and they've never heard of this guy." Dragon rushes him but Americano Olympic wrestles circles around him, yeah we know who this is. Lee gets knocked off the apron and Gab....Americano runs into a hurracarna. Lee hits a suicide dive through the ropes and rolls him inside. Lee goes for the mask but Cha....Americano chops him. Grande hits a hurracarana and a headbutt before covering for 1...2...no. The crowd chants Ole as Lee hits a knee to the head on the apron. Americano htis a Taz-plex from the apron to the floor, ouch! Back from commercial Lee fights his way into a victory roll for 1..2...no. Lee hits a big high knee and goes for a superplex to the floor, but Americano fights back. Lee hits a coup de gras on the top rope onto a hanging Americano, hurting his knee in the process. Between the Taz plex on the floor and now that, they're playing with fire here. Both men get back in the ring at the count of nine and they play "yay/boo" in the center of the ring. They chop each other and Lee hits a german suplex followed by a superkick on Grande. Lee is overhead suplexed into the buckle and Grande covers for 1...2..no. Gable goes for the moonsault but lands on his feet and Lee counters with a sitout powerbomb for 1...2..no. Lee puts Grande on the top rope but suddenly Grande rips Lee's mask off. Lee rolls around on the floor holding his face and Chad Grande applies the ankle lock. Lee taps out and this one's over. That was a dangerous match but a lot of fun. Definitely didn't see that ending coming.

Time of match: 8:55

Winner: Americano by submission

McAfee says if Americano keeps this up, he'll be hall of fame bound. Cole wishes Gable recovers before we get a clip of Gunther ripping on the LFG recruits in character. We then get a recap of the recent Seth Rollins/Roman Reigns/CM Punk drama. Reigns stood tall at the end of Smackdown and its official, a triple threat for Wrestlemania has been signed.

Here comes CM Punk for a conference as we go to break. Back from break Punk is in the ring and gets a big pop. Punk says its great to be in Glasgow but he's not in a good mood. He claims he's jet lagged and hasn't slept well mostly due to his road to Wrestlemania. Punk says what he wants, he's not getting...or is he! He wanted to win the Rumble, he didn't. He needed to win the Chamber, but he didn't. He says the more things change, the more things stay the same "I work with children". For those that don't know he infamously said that line when describing the AEW booking team while he was there. Punk calls Seth Rollins a diaper baby and he screwed him at Elimination Chamber which doesn't get him what he wants. Punk says its personal between Rollins and Reigns but for him, its just business. Punk says they gotta go and Rollins has been crying since Punk's shadow belittles him. Punk acknowledges Roman is taking things too personal and its because his wise man isn't just HIS wise man. Punk says this is just business and business takes him to London this Friday for a contract signing. The crowd boos and Punk asks why. He then says they wanted it here tonight and the crowd cheers. Punk says he did too and that's why he's here. He doesn't want to wait to read the fine print and says this better be a stepping stone to what he wants or else it'll be just another rug pull from the powers that be. Punk says Seth and Romans to fuel their jets and he'll see them in London. Punk says listen to two things. First, neither of them have ever beaten him without the other's help. The second thing is he brought them into the business and he can't wait that takes them out of it. He signs off saying "Best in the world." Bottom line is Punk wants a WWE Championship title shot and if they do decide to have Cena beat Cody, Punk makes the perfect opponent to possibly take it from Cena. He also brought up some continuity as it was Punk who brought The Shield to the main roster in 2012.

Cole says next week's show will be at 3 PM Eastern since London is five hours ahead. Logan Paul pops up to say he's going to be in London and he wants AJ Styles for embarrassing him at Madison Square Garden. Also next week we get Jimmy Uso vs Gunther and yet another Cody Rhodes and John Cena promo. Hopefully this time John will explain The Rock's influence. Iyo Sky defends the World title against Rhea Ripley with Bianca as the special guest referee. 

We cut to Cathy Kelley with IC Champ Bron Breakker and asks what he thinks of Judgment Day recruiting Penta. Bron says that doesn't concern him because he's going to beat Penta for one reason, because the dogs are barking. He heads to the ring for our main event as we go to commercial. Back from break, its time for the match.

Match 4

Penta vs Bron Breakker for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

Penta hasn't officially joined Judgment Day so this may be on the level. Bell rings and Penta gets a go-behind as Cole says Penta lasted the longest at 42 minutes in the Royal Rumble. Penta ducks a line and kicks Bron in the leg twice. Breaker runs the ropes like a freight train and runs over Penta with a clothesline. Breakker shoulderblocks Penta in the corner but eats a hurracarana. Penta caters to the crowd as Bron bails to the apron. Penta jumps into a knee and falls to the floor. Bron hits a Steiner Line from the apron to the announce table but here comes Carlito and Dom Mysterio as we go to break. Back from commercial Penta chops Bron in the chest and he no-sells it. Bron forearms Penta down and Penta rallies with forearms of his own. Penta runs right into a right hand but Bron runs into a superkick. Breakker gets a knee up but runs right into another superkick. Penta kicks Bron in the head and back before doing a modified bulldog. Penta runs into a big right hand and Bron goes for a fireman's carry, but Penta hits a backstabber much to Carlito's delight. Penta calls for the Mexican Destroyer but Bron turns it into a military gut buster, covering for 1....2..no. Bron says its over and calls for the spear, running into a superkick. Penta puts Bron on the second rope but Penta hits a top rope hurracarana. Penta hits a hilo to the floor as the crowd chants this is awesome. Penta calls for the Destroyer and hits it, covering for 1...2....NOOOOO. Penta spots Dom and Carlito on the floor but doesn't look like he wants them out there. Penta goes to the second rope and Bron scales the rope for the Frankensteiner, hitting it. He covers for 1...2...no. Breakker pulls his straps down and says this one's over. Dom hops up on the apron to distract the ref so Carlito hops up on the other side. Bron heaves Carlito in the ring and spears him. Dom chopblocks Bron for the DQ finish and this ones over. Good match but the BS finish was to establish Judgment Day as a threat. Penta will get another shot down the road for sure.

Time of match: 11:26

Winner: Breakker by DQ (Still IC Champion)

Post match Dom beats on Bron until Breakker starts fighting back. All of a sudden Finn Balor appears out of thin air and waffles Bron in the back with a chair. Finn clocks Bron with the chair, teases hitting Dom and tosses him the chair. Dom pounds Breakker with the chair as Penta is confused. Dom hands the chair to Penta and tells him to hit Bron. Penta teases hitting Breakker and tosses it to Dom. Penta superkicks Dom to a massive pop but Balor puts the boots to Penta. Balor hits Breakker with the chair again, goes up top and hits the coup de gras. Balor pulls Dom to his feet and they stand tall over Penta as we end the show.

Really not liking these four match cards this close to Wrestlemania with 3 hours to work with, but at least the matches are good and treated as important. We're 26 days away and most of the card is set, especially on the Raw side. Logan Paul vs AJ Styles is all but official but it'll be interesting to see how the World Women's Championship will play out. All signs point to a triple threat but you never know. Again, the matches tonight were great but the Cody/Cena thing just didn't hit the same this time. Hopefully they do something different next week. Chad Gable pulling a Mr. America is starting to get over one way or another and Penta turning down Judgment Day means a possible Penta/Balor match soon. All in all it wasn't a bad show, just too much down time. The next show after this is tomorrow night's NXT. I'll see you there.

WWE Raw (3/10/25)

WWE Raw

Madison Square Garden

New York City, NY

March 10, 2025

Ring Announcer: Mike Rome

Commentators: Michael Cole & Pat McAfee

Last week's Raw was a high impact show dealing with the fallout of Elimination Chamber but this week was a well hyped event with two big matches signed already. LWO vs New Day and Seth Rollins vs CM Punk in a steel cage. Also, AJ Styles wants a piece of Logan Paul and that might be a Wrestlemania match. Iyo Sky won the World Women's Championship last week when Rhea heeled on Bianca Belair, so Rhea might be apart of tonight's show for an explanation. We're 41 days away from Wrestlemania so let's get this one started.

Michael Cole welcomes us to Madison Square Garden and apparently Cody Rhodes is here tonight. Iyo Sky and Dakota Sky are here as well. Bianca Belair arrives through the freight elevator and she looks pissed. Seth Rollins is here as well as CM Punk for their steel cage match. Jey Uso makes his way through the crowd of cheering fans for our opening match McAfee stands on the announce table while Cole remains on the ground to greet Uso, hahaha. We're shown comedian Andrew Schulz in the front row as we get started.

Match 1

Grayson Waller (with Austin Theory) vs Jey Uso

Cole informs us that Waller wants Uso because he's going to Wrestlemania and Waller isn't. Bell's gone and they tie up to start. Waller throws him off to start before they tie up again. Waller gets in a headlock and drops Jey with a shoulderblock. Waller runs into a running back elbow and Uso follows with a scoop slam. McAfee mocks A-Town Down Under as Uso gets in a right hand in the corner but Waller dropkicks Uso in the knee. Waller rallies with punches to a chorus of boos then goes for the blatant choke. Waller throws Uso into the ring post and Grayson stands on his head before taunting the irate crowd. Grayson misses a charge in the corner and Uso responds with a running ass bump. Jey hits a step up enziguiri and clotheslines Waller over the top to the outside. Uso hits a suicide dive onto Waller on the outside before throwing him back in. Theory grabs the leg from the outside allowing Waller to dropkick Uso off. Waller slides outside and drops Jey with a clothesline as we go to break. Back from commercial Waller is on the top rope and he hits a second rope flying elbow drop. Waller covers for 1....2..no. Waller kicks away at Uso before they play "Yeet/boo". Uso drops Waller with a big right hand and hits a superkick to the ribs. Jey hits the samoan drop and calls for the Umaga. He hits it in the corner then goes for the top rope splash. Theory distracts him long enough for Waller to get up. Waller gets superkicked through the ropes to the outside. Uso runs into a cutter on the ropes as Waller dives into the ring, hitting a Flatliner He covers for 1...2...no. We're shown WWE2K25 ratings which is ridiculous as Waller makes another cover for a two. Jey ducks under the right hand but gets kicked in the head. Waller hits the discuss punch but runs into the superkick. Uso kicks Theory off the apron and hits the spear on Waller. He covers for 1....2...3 to win the match. Serviceable match to keep Jey hot going into Wrestlemania even if its against guys cold as ice right now.

Time of match: 9:10

Winner: Uso by pinfall

The celebration is short-lived as Austin Theory attacks from behind after the bell. Theory rallies with right hands as Waller joins in for the double team. Jey backdrops Waller out of the ring and spears Theory as well. Uso heads to the top and hits the top rope splash on Theory but all of a sudden Gunther appears out of nowhere. Gunther lays him out with the sleeper for the second week in a row. WWE referees pry Gunther off of him as Cole reminds us that this was Gunther's plan to mess with Jey as often as he could until Wrestlemania.

Back to Cole and McAfee as Pat does the Mr. Perfect pencil toss and Cole says he hopes Jey serves it back to Gunther. He hypes up the steel cage match between Rollins and Punk coming up as we get a highlight package. Punk returned after Survivor Series 2023 and Seth Rollins was visibly pissed. Rollins isn't happy that Punk abandoned WWE for 10 years while he stayed and built his legacy, only for Punk to return with all the hooplah he did. Punk defeated Rollins on the first Netflix Raw and Rollins vowed to take Wrestlemania away from Punk. Punk eliminated Rollins and Rollins curb stomped Punk to cost him the Elimination Chamber to John Cena. Last week on Raw, Punk dropped a pipe bomb on everyone but once he mentioned Becky Lynch, Rollins came running to fight. General Manager Adam Pearce made a deal with Rollins to blow off steam by putting them in a cage tonight. Rollins is wearing some of the finest pajamas you've ever seen while Punk warms up in the New York Knicks locker room as we go to break.

Back from commercial, Jey Uso is in the back where Alpha Academy comes in to console him. Otis gives him a big kiss on the head and says he's got his back as they walk off. We head back to ring side where Logan Paul is introduced, guess he's beating AJ Styles to the punch. Logan spots a fan wearing an "I Hate Logan Paul" shirt and rips it off him. Must be one of their PC guys because the dude looks ripped. Paul gets royally booed by the fans and can't even get a word in because of it. Paul says he doesn't associate with guys like AJ Styles and he's Logan Paul. Paul compares himself to The Rock and John Cena, transcendent superstars and would do anything it took to get to the top. Paul was shocked that Cody Rhodes rejected Rock's offer and it took Cena 20 years to realize that nice guys finish last. He's known that since Day 1 and he says his soul is for sale and doesn't run away from opportunities, that's why he's in the ring at MSG and the "reggies" are in the stands. He says guys like Andrew Schulz are there to see him and they show him on camera. He gives Schulz a mic and he says he's there to see the steel cage match, CM Punk and Seth Rollins. Andrew "Logan, nobody is here to see YOU. This is not Cleveland, Ohio, this is New York City. We're a real arena and we like real pretzels." He wants to see AJ Styles and Paul pulls him over the barricade. Paul throws Schulz in the ring and goes to suplex him, but here's Styles himself to make the save. AJ unloads with right hands to drop Paul and he hits the Phenomenal Forearm. AJ and Schulz high five as Paul rolls out of the ring. AJ tells him to come back and get some. Logan walks off as AJ baits him to come back. AJ raises Andrew Schulz's arm as the fans cheer. This is definitely setting up for Styles/Paul at Wrestlemania as Schulz climbs to the second rope for the obligatory cheer.

We cut to the announcers who hype up the steel cage match and sends us to last week's main event where Iyo Sky defeated Rhea Ripley Before the next match, we're shown a steel cage match from 1975 where Bruno Sammartino defeated Ivan Koloff in Madison Square Garden. On to the next match.

Match 2

The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) vs The LWO (Dragon Lee and Rey Mysterio Jr) in a Tornado Tag Team Match

Oba Femi is shown in the crowd to hype up tomorrow night's NXT as the LWO makes their entrance. Tornado rules means no tags, everyone's in there. They brawl to start with Lee taking Kofi and Rey taking Woods. They hit double splashes in the corner and 10 punches. A double bulldog drops both members of New Day and they bail. Rey kicks Woods in the back as Lee sends Kofi into the ring post. Rey rams Woods' head into the announce table as McAfee says "eat the table Xavier Woods!" Woods is rammed into the post by Rey and the faces pull out a table. New Day jumps them from behind as Woods sends Rey into the ring post. Woods tries to start a "tables" chant and puts the table back under the ring. Rey fights back against woods as Lee scoop slams Kofi on the floor. Rey hits a seated senton on Woods and throws Kofi back in the ring. Lee and Rey get the table back out and set it up outside. Lee puts Kofi on his shoulders but Kofi fights out of it and Woods trips Lee off the apron. Kofi and Woods send Rey shoulder first into the ring steps and catch Lee mid air. They double powerbomb Lee on the floor as we go to commercial. Back from break, inside the ring Kofi puts Lee on the top rope. Woods shitcans Rey outside as Woods & Kofi get pushed off by Lee. Rey crotches Kofi on the top rope but Woods knocks Mysterio down. Woods climbs up to the second rope to trade punches with Lee. Rey somehow joins all four on the top rope, hitting a huracarana on Woods. Lee hits a huge double stomp on Kofi and covers for 1...2...no. Lee hits a hurracarana on Woods through the outside to a big pop but Kofi hits the O'Connor Roll on Rey for 1...2..no, Rey kicks him into the ropes. Rey calls for the 619 but Kofi goes for Trouble In Paradise. Rey ducks under it and hits a springboard crossbody for 1...2...no. Rey slides under Kofi and his head scissors puts Kofi on the ropes. Rey hits the 619 and goes for the frog splash, but Kofi gets his knees up. Kofi covers for 1...2..no, Lee saves the day. Lee clotheslines Kofi over the top to the floor and hits a hilo to the floor on Kingston. All of a sudden a dude in a mask and black clothing hits a hurracarana on Lee on the floor. Then drops him with a flying headbutt. Rey goes to attack but he's sent into the side of the ring and the dude does a german suplex. Judging by the red white and blue mask, that's gotta be Chad Gable. Security pounces on the guy and whisks him away as the announcers start to figure out its Gable. Meanwhile Kofi has no idea where he is but somehow revives Woods. Kofi in the ring hits a backbreaker and Woods hits the big stomp. Woods covers for 1...2..3 to win the match. Damn good tag match but somewhat ruined by Lucha Gable. Now the concept of Lucha Gable is either going to be not funny at all or too hilarious for woods, there won't be an in-between. New Day just happened to be there, the LWO could have been facing the Hardy's and Gable would have interfered. New Day gets the win to keep their heat moving forward.

Time of match: 11:16

Winners: New Day by pinfall

McAfee says Kofi ruined everything yet got the win at ring side. Then we cut to last week where Bron Breakker cleaned out Judgment Day. We cut to the Judgment Day in the back where Finn Balor is ranting and raving about Breakker last week. Carlito isn't paying attention as he just stares at an apple. Dom Mysterio along with Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan walk in, Liv says Bayley will face Raquel Rodriguez for a women's IC title shot. Carlito says "Now THAT'S cool" and goes to fist bump Raquel who just blows him off. Carlito then just punches Dom's arm so he's not left hanging. Dom says he got Balor a title shot for the men's IC title next week on Raw if Balor wants it. Balor hugs Dom and thanks him before leaving to talk to Adam Pearce. Dom says Balor has got this but Liv isn't convinced. I know Carlito is supposed to be the comic relief of the group, but he's even more detested than R-Truth and Truth was never an official member. Without Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest, this group is virtually useless.

We then get a plug for WWE Evolve this coming Wednesday before we're shown Peter Rosenberg in the crowd. The rapper Fabolous is shown in the house as well and now I feel old because its been 20 years since Holla Back Youngin came out. Next we're shown long time WWE fan Macaulay Culkin and his brother Rory sitting next to him, although Rory doesn't get named. He rubs his brother's head who gives him a weird look, hahaha.

Here comes Cody Rhodes for a conference with the crowd. He already appeared on Smackdown to tell John Cena to come get some, what's in Satan's fire does he want now? Cody "So, New York City, whataya want to talk about?" He says he's here because MSG is the cathedral of wrestling and brings up the fact John Cena isn't here tonight. Cody says Cena must have told Travis Scott and The Rock that he'll be in Brussels, Belgium next week. Cody says this was the same man that won the US title here in MSG and won the Royal Rumble after tearing his pectoral muscle. Cody says it was easy for Cena to sucker punch him after kicking him in the gonads with backup around him. He doesn't begrudge Cena for a part time schedule because Cena part time is better than a lot of people full time. What he DOES begrudge is Cena going on social media....and he's cut off by the old "Lets go Cena/Cena Sucks" chant with the adults screaming let's go Cena and the kids saying Cena sucks, which is surreal. Cody says let's hear it for Cena and gets a mixed reaction. Cody says he begrudges Cena for posting on Twitter "Have the discipline to do what needs to be done, even if you don't feel like it." Cody compares Cena to a spiteful mentor or coach that some day you have to say "John, sit down and shut up you god damned moron." Cody mocks the term best for business although he says Cena always knew what's best for business, until it changed. Cody says its tacky to count stats in wrestling but one stat that's been on everyone's mind is "seventeen". Cody says that's not happening because he's going to beat his hero in his hero's last chance at "seventeen." Cody "John, I'm the captain now. Good night, New York." The message is clear, Cena is after the record breaking 17th title and Cody says its not gonna happen. McAfee wants to hear what Cena has to say next week in Belgium as we go to break.

Back from commercial we're shown the famous MSG cage match between Don Muraco and Jimmy Snuka with Mick Foley and Bubba Ray Dudley in the front row. We get more hype for tonight's cage match before we see actress Ali Ahn in the crowd with some overzealous Cody Rhodes fan in the crown. The cast of the Netflix show Selling The City is shown as well before we're shown Rich The Kid. Finally we're shown championship boxer Amanda Serrano who's going to be fighting Katie Taylor this July in MSG. On to the next match.

Match 3

Bayley vs Raquel Rodriguez (with Liv Morgan and Dom Mysterio)

Number one contender's match for Lira Valkyria's IC title. Bayley enters alone despite the 3-1 odds. Cole can't help himself to heckle Dom & Liv during Bayley's introduction. McAfee joins in and Liv heckles them back. Cole brings up how Bayley beat Lira to get into Elimination Chamber as the bell rings. Raquel backs Bayley in the corner and chokes her in the corner. Bayley kicks her in the knee but Raquel works the arm, throwing Bayley down by the hair. Bayley plays cat & mouse with Raquel until she's dropped off the apron. She stomps on Bayley's hand before throwing her back inside. Bayley hits forearms to the back but runs into a shoulderblock. Rodriguez misses a charge in the corner but Bayley's not strong enough to arm drag Raquel. Rodriguez drops her with a shoulderblock but runs into a boot in the corner. Cole says if anyone can pull this out, its Bayley....which is surreal considering these two had hilarious interactions when Bayley was a heel. Bayley finally arm drags Raquel and elbows her in the corner. Bayley's spear is blocked and Raquel swings her around like a rag doll. Raquel hits a fallaway slam and stands on her. Bayley pulls her off the second rope and clubs away with forearms. Bayley hits a knee to the face and a bronco buster, but Raquel kicks her off. Raquel regroups with Liv but Bayley sneaks around to hit an elbow to the back of the neck. Bayley taunts Liv as we go to commercial. Back from break Raquel misses a legdrop on the apron but doesn't scream "my hole". Bayley snaps her off the second rope and hits a running knee to the head. Bayley snaps her off the second rope but Bayley hits a sliding clothesline. She covers for 1...2..no. Raquel blocks a back suplex and throws her across the ring. Bayley rolls her up for 1...2..no. Bayley hits another running knee to the head and goes up to the top rope. Bayley hits the flying elbow and covers for 1...2...noooo. Pat McAfee "OOOOHHHH YEAHHHH" Cole brings up Randy Savage having a cage match in MSG as Bayley sends Raquel into the buckle. Bayley ducks under a clothesline and hits a back suplex, covering for 1...2..no. Bayley's rose plant is blocked and Bayley sends Raquel out of the ring. Bayley goes for a baseball slide but Raquel moves. Raquel gets thrown into the ring post and Bayley slides back in. Dom Mysterio hops up on the apron to distract referee Jessika Carr but Liv hops up on the other side. Bayley drops her first then Dom but Raquel catches Bayley mid-air. Raquel slams Bayley on top of the announce table and rolls back inside. Bayley just barely makes the count back inside but runs right into a big boot. Raquel hits Tejana Bomb and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. The numbers game catches up to Bayley as it was too much for just one person to overcome. Bayley beat Lira Valkyria to get to EC but Raquel beats Bayley, the message is Lira is going to have to face the vicious bodyguard of Liv Morgan.

Time of match: 10:05

Winner: Rodriguez by pinfall

Cathy Kelley is with Chad Gable who accuses him of attacking Rey and Lee. Gable says that wasn't him and it was just a common fan. Cathy says all evidence points to him since he's wearing the same exact clothes as the attacker. Gable replies they're in MSG and security is pathetic to let that fan do what he did. Cathy calls him a liar when the camera pans behind him to see security escorting out a masked man wearing the same clothes as Gable. Chad looks at Cathy with an "I told you so" look and once again says New York security is pathetic. This reminds me of the angle Owen Hart had going on where he'd attack someone as the Blue Blazer then had Koko B Ware or Jeff Jarrett as the Blazer with him as himself in the ring. Like I said, this angle is either going to be great or bomb and so far its interesting.

As Cole mentioned earlier, we're shown a highlight of Randy Savage vs Ted Dibiase in a cage from 1988 for the WWF Championship. We get more hype for tonight's cage match before Michael Cole hits the ring to interview the new World Women's Champion Iyo Sky. The crowd chants for Iyo as Cole congratulates her. She says its a dream to be here at Madison Square Garden as champion and proved the impossible is possible. Iyo says she's over the moon to be champion going into Wrestlemania. Cole says the number one contender is Bianca Belair and introduces her. Bianca says congrats to Iyo and even though they've been rivals, its going to be excited to go to Wrestlemania together. Cole brings up how Bianca got into it with Rhea Ripley and Cole speculates that if she weren't there, Rhea might have won. Bianca says she's had enough drama as it is and denies costing Rhea the match. Right on cue, here comes Rhea herself. Rhea "Cut the music!" Ruh roh. Rhea asks Bianca why she was there and Bianca says she won Elimination Chamber. Rhea doesn't want Bianca's excuses, she says Bianca had no reason to be there unless it was to help Iyo win since she's scared of Rhea. Rhea says she should have handled business with her friends while she herself handled Iyo. Bianca "Really Rhea?" Bianca says let's be real and she's not mad that she didn't clap for her, Rhea's mad that Bianca clapped for both of them. Bianca says Rhea couldn't beat Iyo and is blaming her for it. Iyo interjects and Rhea piefaces her down. Rhea says she's hiding behind Iyo the same way she's hiding behind Jade and Bianca gets in her face saying no one's hiding. Iyo tries to separate them and Bianca piefaces her away as well. Iyo throws the mic down, slaps Rhea in the face, and slaps Bianca in the face as well. The crowd LOVED that and Iyo wants respect because she's the champion. Iyo storms off as Rhea and Bianca look at each other confused. Good for Iyo to defend herself like that and we're heading more toward triple threat than just Sky vs Bianca.

We get a graphic that next week in Belgium, John Cena and Cody Rhodes will be there. Pent will face Ludwig Kaiser one on one NO HOLDS BARRED! Jey Uso faces Austin Theory one on one (with Grayson Waller), Dakota Kai takes on Ivy Nile and Bron Breakker takes on Finn Balor. The good news is since these shows will be taped, they'll air earlier in the day here in the United States. CM Punk and Seth Rollins make their entrance for the cage match, here we go.

Match 4

Seth Rollins vs CM Punk in a Steel Cage Match

Escape, pinfall or submission rules here. Cole says this stems all the way back to 2012 when The Shield made their debut and they don't wait around, Punk and Rollins brawl at the start of the bell. The door is locked as Rollins unloads with right hands to start. Punk rallies with his own right hands before Rollins backs him into the corner. They trade blows and rub elbows in each other's faces. Cole brings up how Punk eliminated Rollins from the Royal Rumble, defeated him on the first Netflix Raw and eliminated him from Elimination Chamber. Rollins and Punk block strikes into the cage as fans duel chants. They continue to slug it out for a full minute before they both miss kicks. Back to brawling before Rollins hits a chop. Punk returns it before they trade right hands. They play "yay/boo" with Punk getting the yays. Punk goes for the Go To Sleep early but Rollins gets out of it. Punk goes for the running knee but Rollins hits the buckle bomb into the cage as we got to break. Back from commercial Rollins rakes the face as Cole says no pins or submission attempts has happened yet. Rollins rakes Punk against the cage and chokes him with his boot. Rollins with a boot to the mid-section and goes to the door. It opens and Rollins taunts him to take the coward's way out. The camera is on Rollins and apparently Punk flipped him the bird according to McAfee. Punk rallies with right hands but Punk calls for another buckle bomb. Punk hits a headscissors to send Rollins into the cage, Seth turning around right into the GTS. Punk doesn't leave, he just sits and stares at Rollins. Rollins and Punk get to their feet and Punk hits a running knee to the face. Punk rakes Rollins face against the cage and goes to the door. Punk tells Rollins to get out and once again the camera misses Rollins flipping Punk the bird in return. Punk hits a running knee in the corner and a neckbreaker in the center of the ring. Punk drops an elbow on him and goes to the top rope. He hits the flying elbow drop and once again there's no cover. Punk drops a second flying elbow as the crowd chants for one more. Punk goes for a third one and hits it before covering for 1...2...no. Punk climbs all the way to the top of the cage but Rollins gets to his feet. Rollins climbs up to the top as well as a drone camera shows the two of them up that high. Punk kicks Rollins onto the top of the cage and Punk gets crotched as well. Rollins falls to the top turnbuckle and hooks up Punk for a superduperplex. Rollins covers for 1...2....nooooo. The crowd chants "This is awesome" as McAfee says "Yes it is." Rollins and Punk slug it out in the center of the ring before Rollins goes for the pedigree. Punk counters with the GTS and covers for 1...2...noooo. Punk calls for another GTS but this time Rollins counters by hanging onto the leg, rolling into an STF. Cole says this is how Cena won Elimination Chamber as Punk looks like he's fading. Rollins "Come onnn, go to sleep!" Punk reverses it into the Anaconda Vice and Rollins flails about. Rollins grabs the rope but referee Rod Zapata says rope breaks don't count in the cage. Rollins rakes the face instead to get free and hits the curb stop. He covers for 1...2....noooo. Rollins calls for a second rope curb stomp but is tripped up by Punk. Punk hits a third GTS and covers for 1...2...nooooooooo. Cole and McAfee can't believe it, Punk can't either. The crowd chants "This is awesome" as Punk gets back to his feet. Punk hits his own curbstomp and covers for 1...2..noooo. The door is opened and Punk makes his way to it but Rollins stares at him. Rollins screams "Put me out, take it from me. You want this?" Punk hits another knee to the head and goes for a fourth GTS. Rollins rolls out of it and hits his own GTS. He hits a curbstomp and covers for 1..2....noooooooo. You gotta be kidding me. Rollins can't believe it and he goes toward the open cage door. He instead goes up to the second rope again and hits a super curbstomp. Rollins sits in the corner but here comes Roman Reigns for the first time since the Royal Rumble. Reigns pulls Rollins out of cage to officially end the match. BS ending aside, that was a damn good match with both men refusing to leave without beating the other. Neither one could beat the other until Roman showed up. You don't always need a bloodbath to have a damn good cage match.

Time of match: 19:29

Winner: Seth Rollins by Escape

Roman throws Rollins against the barricade as Mike Rome announcers Rollins the winner. Reigns hits a superman punch on Rollins and a spear as Cole says this is revenge for the curb stomp at the Rumble. The crowd starts a thunderous OTC chant as Rollins is heaved into the barricade again. Reigns chills on the barricade for a minute and tells the camera man to beat it. He hits a curb stomp of his own on the floor and the crowd cheers. Roman says one more time and puts Rollins on the ring steps. Reigns says he's going to end it all for him now but here comes Adam Pearce and the Suit Brigade to stop him. But wait....Paul Heyman made his way into the ring to help up CM Punk. Uh oh....Roman didn't like that. Reigns charges into the ring and throws Punk face first into the cage. Reigns sends him into the other side of the cage and hits a spear. Heyman didn't like that one but still pledges allegiance to Roman as we sign off.

Lot to unpack as this was a 3 hour Raw with only a 4 match card. The talk segments dominated the show with Cody's being kind of unnecessary since he already rambled on Smackdown. The Logan/AJ/Shulz crossover was killing two bird with one stone and Bianca/Ripley/Iyo looks like it might be a triple threat. In ring action was okay but only 4 matches. They're setting up Jey as the underdog to Gunther like Sami was last year only without the obvious Rocky storyline. Lucha Gable looks to be interesting since they're doing the "Owen is not Blue Blazer" angle from 26 years ago. Who the luchador might be is anyone's guess at this point. Raquel needing Liv and Dom to beat Bayley is right up Judgment Day's alley and Lira Valkyria is in trouble. New Day as heels is working to perfection but they don't have a blowoff in sight yet. Unless Big E comes back out of nowhere, they're just kind of "there" so to speak. Finally, with Roman Reigns back all signs point to triple threat with him against Punk and Rollins with Heyman being the wild card. They might have Heyman turn on Roman and go back to Punk or Heyman cost Reigns at Wrestlemania as the "favor" Punk is owed. Rollins and Reigns have been feuding off and on for 10 years so to have them go at it again isn't the end of the world. All in all it was a fun show, especially the second half and the crowd was very into it. The next show after this is tomorrow night's NXT. I'll see you there!

WWE Smackdown (8/5/22)

WWE Smackdown

Bon Secours Wellness Arena

Greenville, SC

August 5, 2022

Commentators: Michael Cole & Pat McAfee

Ring Announcer: Samantha Irvin

With Summerslam in the past, its time to focus on Clash at The Castle coming up in Wales. Raw on Monday established The Uso's were still the team to beat while Smackdown had to do something to counter. Let's see how they do it. We open with a Summerslam recap vignette set to Kid Rock before we're shown The Bloodline arriving. Jimmy & Jey Uso in their own car with Roman Reigns in a different car. He knows better than to have them driving. We're in Greenville, South Carolina tonight as McAfee says coming up tonight is a confrontation between Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns. Pat uses his telestrator to show him kicking Baron Corbin in the gonads. Baron himself is watching from the back and gets laughed at by Ricochet, Angel Garca, Humberto Carillo, Megan Morant, Xia Li, Drew Gulak, Shanky and Jinder Mahal. Ricochet says karma is a b...eautiful thing. Corbin says he's going to wipe the smile off his face and Ricochet challenges him to a match right here, right now. McAfee "Hahaha loooooser, loserrrrrr" Back to ringside, Cole says Pat is having way too much fun as its on to our first match.

Match 1

Ricochet vs Baron Corbin

"Happy" Corbin is on a cold streak of late and Ricochet wants another IC title shot, so let's see how this plays out. Bell's gone and Corbin heaves him into the corner but misses a charge. Ricochet gets the Pele kick on the apron, blocks the End of Days and Ricochet dropkicks him out of the ring. Ricochet dives over the top rope onto Corbin. Ricochet dives off the top but lands on his feet, only to take a 360 clothesline by Corbin. Baron punches away in the corner and stops to hear the boos. Ricochet punches away but gets dropped with a back elbow smash. Ricochet on the apron shoulderblocks Baron in the ribs but Baron hits a right cross to stop the springboard. The crowd chants for McAfee as Baron gets a knee to the ribs. Baron slides under Ricochet but gets kicked in the face twice. Ricochet flips over Corbin, sits on Samantha Irvin but gets launched right into the ring post by "Happy" as we go to break. Back from commercial Corbin has a neck twist on in the ring before hitting a backdrop. Corbin covers for 1..2.....no. Corbin yells at the ref and then the crowd as Cole says he's wasting too much time. Richochet flips over Corbin and gets a knee to the ribs. Ricochet hits an elbow and a shoulderblock in the corner. Ricochet hits a flying clothesline and a standing shooting star for 1..2....no. Ricochet goes for a spring board but Corbin counters with a torture rack neckbreaker. Corbin covers for 1...2....no. Corbin eats a frankensteiner and Ricochet overs for a deuce then hits a sunset flip for another two count. Ricochet kicks Corbin but runs right into Deep Six, Baron covers for 1..2....no. Ricochet goes for the sunset bomb but Corbin drags Ricochet to the top rope. Corbin throws him into the top rope (OW!) as McAfee stands up for the distraction. Ricochet crotches Corbin and hits the running jawbreaker. Ricochet hits the shooting star press and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. McAfee celebrates at ringside as Cole says the bum luck of Corbin continues. Good big man/little man match as Ricochet used his speed to frustrate Corbin. The McAfee distraction didn't hurt either.

Time of match: 11:50

Winner: Ricochet by pinfall

Post-match, Ricochet and McAfee throw a football around before Pat autographs it. Pat punts it into the crowd but the fan totally fails to signal for the fair catch. We go to a highlight of Liv Morgan pinning Ronda Rousey by complete accident while Liv was tapping. We then get a graphic of a gauntlet match coming up to decide the number one contender to Liv's Smackdown Women's Championship. Sami Zayn knocks on Roman Reigns' door as we go to break. Back from commercial we get another damn Summerslam montage when the Uso's answer the door for Sami. Jimmy is happy to see him but Jey isn't. Sami says he respects them for winning the tag match and asks how Paul Heyman is. Sami says he's trying to text him so he could talk to Roman. Sami says it'll be quick but Jey says its not a good time but Jimmy says he'll text him later. McAfee says that's a tough look for Sami Zayn at ring side. Cole shows us the Liv Morgan/Ronda Rousey match. Liv clearly tapped before Rousey was pinned and Cole says the official blew the call. Rousey turned heel by attacking Liv and the referee. Cole says we got a gauntlet match to determine Liv's opponent at Clash at The Castle but McAfee gets stopped mid sentence to mark our for Shinsuke Nakamura's theme. Hahahaha! Before we get to the next match, we get a highlight from all the way back in April 27, 2000 of Steve Austin destroying the DX Express bus. That's a fun stroll down memory lane, on to the next match,

Match 2

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Ludwig Kaiser (with Gunther)

Basically winner gets a title shot at Gunther and Guntger tells Kaiser to go get him. Kaiser beat Nakamura a few weeks earlier after Nakamura beat him a month ago. This is the rubber match as Kaiser gets some elbows to the head. Kaiser rams Shinsuke's head into the buckle and stomps away in the corner. Nakamura counters with kicks in the corner and choking him with his boot. Shinsuke tells him to come on and hits an enziguiri. Shinsuke covers for a one count and Kaiser hits a right hand to the jaw. Kaiser is dropped on the top rope and hits a running knee to send him to the floor. Shinsuke hits a kick but runs into a tilt-a-whirl slam as we go to break. Back from commercial Shinsuke hits a knee to the head followed by an axe kick to the back. Shinsuke hits a sliding dropkick and a siding german suplex. Nakamura taunts Gunther to hit him but gets a baseball slide courtesy of Kaiser. Kaiser is thrown on the apron and Shinsuke hits a running knee. Shinsuke runs into an uppercut and Ludwig covers for 1...2...no. Ludwig hits a fisherman's plex and covers for 1..2...no. Gunther is frustrated outside and tells Kaiser to finish him. Nakamura gets an arm-bar but Kaiser lands on top for 1..2....no. Nakamura hits Kinshasha and covers for 1..2....3 to win the match. Next week its Shinsuke vs Gunther for the IC strap. Good match and it serves its purpose to set up the big showdown.

Time of match: 8:45

Winner: Nakamura by pinfall

Post-match Shinsuke goes toe to toe with Gunther and taunts him. We get a highlight of the Viking Raiders taking out Xavier Woods last week and we cut to Megan Morant with Kofi Kingston. She asks how Kofi and Xavier are doing and Kofi says Xavier will be fine. He'll get back to normal and he's not used to being alone without Big E and Xavier. Kofi says its time to make the Vikings pay because New....Day rocks....New....Day rocks. Up next is the controversy surrounding Liv Morgan.....after Sami knocks on Roman's door again. Jey is irate but Jimmy says he needs a favor from Sami. He wants him to assume Heyman's role and Sami says its not really his job. Jimmy says it'll mean a lot to Roman and Sami agrees to do it. Sami says he'll take care of it and leaves while Cole says lock the door to the production truck (Hahahaha!). Kayla Braxton brings Liv Morgan to the ring who's arm is in a sling. Kayla asks how she's feeling since her arm is in a brace and Ronda's been suspended. Liv says she's feeling so many different emotions and the crowd legit boos her. She wants to address the elephant in the room as the crowd chants "You tapped out!" Liv says she appreciates people calling her out on her shit (yes, she said that). Liv says she tapped but she thought the ref had counted three so when Ronda comes back....oh wait, here comes Sonya Deville of all people. Sonya says she can fool the dumb crowd with her innocent act but they know she doesn't deserve to be champion. Liv raises the belt as Sonya says Liv screwed her over. Sonya admits that Adam Pearce sucks at his job but Sonya really loves seeing her hurt. She says she's going to win the gauntlet match then beat her at Clash At The Castle. She's going to take what matters most, the Smackdown Women's Championship. Here comes Aliyah to face Sonya for the gauntlet match, so let's get started.

Match 3

Sonya Deville vs Aliyah vs Raquel Rodriguez vs Shotzi Blackheart vs Xia Li

Match one of the gauntlet has Aliyah taking on Sonya. Liv will be at ringside for the duration as the bell rings. Aliyah starts with a shoulderblock and blows her a kiss. Sonya drops her with a back elbow smash and chokes her on the second rope. Aliyah rolls her up for a one count but Sonya ducks the line. Sonya hits a spinebuster and covers for 1..2...no. Sonya locks in a chinlock but Aliyah hits a jawbreaker. Aliyah with a Thez Press and a second rope crossbody for 1...2...no. Sonya drops Aliyah on the second rope as the crowd chants for Ronda Rousey. Sonya hits Eye of The Hurricane (she calls it Deville's Advocate) and covers for 1...2...3 to win the fall.

Next out is Aliyah's partner Raquel Rodriguez. Raquel backs her up in the corner and hits shoulderblocks. Raquel clotheslines Sonya for 1..2...no. Sonya clips the left leg of Raquel and hits a facebuster for 1...2...no. Sonya locks in a chinlock but Rodriguez stands up and hits a sidewalk slam. Raquel elbows Sonya and hits snake eyes, followed by a big boot. Raquel hits a Vader Bomb followed by a Tejana Bomb before covering for 1...2....3 to send Sonya out.

Next up is Shotzi Blackheart as we go to break. Back from commercial Shotzi has an abdominal stretch on Raquel but Rodriguez powers out of it to land a fallaway slam. Raquel hits a Vader Bomb followed by a normal powerbomb. Raquel covers for 1...2...3 to win the fall.

Xia Li's turn to face Rodriguez and she kicks away at Raquel to start. Xia kicks at the left leg and does a double knee drop, covering for 1..2...no. Xia rolls up Raquel then locks in a half crab. She makes the ropes and Li kicks away at her before slapping her across the face. Raquel gets mad and headbutts Xia down. Xia counters with a kick to the ribs but runs into a fall away slam. Another Vader Bomb is followed by a Tejana Bomb and the cover gets 1...2....3 to eliminate Li.

Natalya is up next and she goes after the left leg of Raquel. She goes for the sharpshooter but Raquel kicks her off. Natalya clips the left leg and works it over. Natalya applies a deathlock (for real) and slaps Raquel's stomach. Raquel rolls through and somehow hits a vertical suplex. Raquel covers for 1...2..no. Natalya applies the sharpshooter but Raquel makes it to the ropes. Natalya goes up to the top and Raquel hits a Tejana Bomb. She covers for 1....2....3 to eliminate Natalya.

Shayna Baszler is the last one out and the winner of the fall goes to Clash at The Castle. We go to break then after the commercial, Shayna locks in a leglock. Shayna kicks at the left leg and then works over the left arm. She points at Liv Morgan and rolls through with an armbar. Shayna goes for a sleeper but Raquel throws her in the corner. Raquel hits the corner splash but Shayna counters the Vader Bomb with the Kirifuda Clutch. Raquel tries to roll through it but Shayna hangs on and german suplexes Raquel for 1...2....3 to win the match. Damn good showing by Raquel with a smart move to end it by Shayna. She essentially choked out Raquel so she had nothing left to kick out.

Time of match: 21:05

Winner: Shayna Baszler by pinfall

Post-match Shayna poses on the second rope and calls out Liv Morgan. Cole says that with Liv dinged up, this is the worst possible outcome for her. Back to Sami with the Usos and tells them that everything's all taken care of with the production truck. He has to talk to Roman and Jimmy says it ain't gonna happen. Sami says they're giving him the runaround and Jey shouts the truth is the Bloodline don't need him and if Sami doesn't get with the program, he'll rip that shirt off real soon. We get a graphic for tonight's confrontation between Drew and Roman before we cut to commercial. Back from break we get yet another Summerslam vignette before we head to our next match.

Match 4

The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) vs Tommy Gibson and Jim Mulkey

Interesting names for the job guys. Tommy Gibson is 19 year old "Hollywood" Hunter James out of the Georgia indies while Jim Mulkey is Marcus Kross (no not Karrion). Gibson runs right into an Erik forearm to start. He heaves Mulkey in the ring where Ivar tags in to do a bronco buster to Mulkey. Ivar scoop slams Gibson and Erik scoop slams Ivar onto Gibson. Ivar elbows Tommy in the corner and tags in Erik. Erik splashes Mulkey and scoop slams him before tagging in Ivar. Ivar hops on the second rope and hits a powerslam on Gibson. Both Raiders slam Mulkey on Gibson and Erik covers for 1..2...3.. to win the match. A good old fashioned squash match right out of 1993.

Time of match: 1:28

Winners: Viking Raiders by pinfall

Post-match the Raiders shitcan the jobbers but here comes Kofi Kingston with a singapore cane. Kofi cleans house of both Raiders to a huge pop. Erik "You're a dead man!" as we go to break. Back from commercial, its an impromptu match!

Match 5

Erik (with Ivar) vs Kofi Kingston

Impromptu match since Erik had no problem with the jobbers. Kofi punches away at Erik in the corner but runs into a knee to the face. Erik pounds away on Kofi and hits a snapmare. Erik applies a chinlock and pounds away with forearms. Erik hits a modified Bossman slam and covers for 1...2...no. Erik  goes for a full nelson and knees the back of the head. He covers for 1..2...no. McAfee says he's never seen the moves Erik has done before as Kofi hits a second rope dropkick. Erik is sent out of the ring and Erik dives over the top rope onto him. Ivar misses with the singapore cane and Erik uses the distraction to send Kofi in. Kofi rolls up Erik anyway for 1..2....3 to win the match. That was sudden although it doesn't really prove anything. He barely beat Erik but oh well, a win's a win. 

Time of match: 3:44

Winner: Kingston by pinfall

Cole says he has breaking news, the women's tag team belts are vacant and this Monday, the tag team tournament starts to crown new champions. Finally, its time for the confrontation. Roman Reigns and The Uso's hit the ring as we get a highlight of Reigns winning the Last Man Standing Match with Brock Lesnar. We cut to commercial and when we come back, we get a mini-vignette of Gunther highlights. Then Roman stands in the ring with his crew and demands his acknowledgement. McAfee "They have to. How could you not?" Reigns say you know the deal and how they're going to brag about winning, but there's a few things first. Roman says he hates Brock Lesnar but he respects him. Reigns says they hate Lesnar because he tried to kill Heyman who's not here. Reigns says Heyman is in the hospital (yes, not medical facility, another sign Vince is gone). but Drew McIntyre shows up for a rebuttal. Drew calls him the "tribal queef" and says he talks too much. He just wants to fight and doesn't want to wait. Drew goes to the ring but strange music plays and things go black and white. A woman is at the entrance way as even the Bloodline is confused. Suddenly Drew McIntyre is attacked by....KARRION KROSS! Yup, the guy who was released in 2021 along with fifty others for Vince's "budget cuts" is back! Kross beats the hell out of McIntyre and sends him into the ring steps. The woman at the entrance is Scarlett Bordeaux and Kross looks at the Bloodline. Scarlett sets up an hourglass as Cole says time is running out on Reigns. Kross and Scarlett stare at the Bloodline and Reigns holds up his title belts as we sign off.

Looks like Triple H is righting the wrongs of the past by bringing back Kross & Scarlett who should have never been fired in the first place. Not only that, he's going to put legit badass Baszler against Liv Morgan in Wales. Then he's bringing back the women's tag team belts. Things are looking up around here. Sami continues to be the sidekick to The Uso's and McIntyre now has to watch his back against Roman. Not just from the Uso's but Kross as well. Also Reigns said "hospital" and not medical facility, that's definitely a sign Vince doesn't run the show. Hopefully Raw this Monday keeps up the momentum. I'll see you there!

WWE Raw (8/1/22)

WWE RAW

TOYOTA CENTER

HOUSTON, TX

AUGUST 1, 2022

Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves and Byron Saxton

Ring Announcer: Mike Rome

Now that Summerslam is over, it is now up to Triple H to reverse the damage Vince McMahon caused the last 13 years or so. Let's see what he has in store, but first.....in case you missed it, Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar on Saturday night to remain Undisputed Universal Champion, The Usos defeated The Street Profitz to remain the Undisputed Tag Team Champions, Logan Paul defeated The Miz, The Mysterios defeated Judgment Day thanks to the returning Edge and Bianca Belair defeated Becky Lynch to become the new Raw women's champion. We also had the return of Bayley & Iyo Sky from injury along with Dakota Kai who was released in April to confront Bianca and the now injured Becky. Things are looking up already so let's get started.

Jimmy Smith welcomes us to start the night as Becky Lynch makes her way to the ring with her right arm in a sling. We go to highlights of Summerslam where Bianca defeated Becky and Becky hugged her after to turn face. All of a sudden Bayley, Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai came out basically all turning heel and confronting Bianca & Becky. I assume the idea was going to be those two and another against Bayley's crew but now Becky's hurt. Becky gets on the mic and says "Houston, welcome to the big time!" Becky basically gives a speech saying she lost herself and now she's seen the error of her ways. She says she separated her shoulder but gave it everything she had. She says a new era starts now and she wants to bring out Bianca Belair. Bianca comes out in a pantsuit missing a pantleg and gets in the ring. Bianca says she's the man and they hug much to the crowd's delight. Becky says she'll see her soon and leaves. Now by herself, Bianca says she has nothing but respect for Lynch. She goes on a speech about respect but the camera picks up Bayley, Iyo and Dakota attacking Becky with a chair. Bianca makes a mad dash to Becky's aid with the heels gone. This was their way of writing Becky off TV to heal her shoulder, she'll be back. The commentators go over what we just saw and shill tonight's main event of The Mysterios vs The Uso's for the Tag belts. We also are going to see Edge tonight and two triple threat matches. Dolph Ziggler battles Tomasso Ciampa and Chad Gable while AJ Styles takes on Mustafa Ali and The Miz. The winners will face each other later tonight in a number 1 contender's match for the WWE United States Championship. We go to more Summerslam highlights before we cut to commercial.

Back from commercial we get a nice montage narrated by JBL about the legacy of the United States championship using old footage from Mid-Atlantic, WCW and old school WWE. With HHH in charge, I guess he wants the secondary titles to mean something again. Good on him, let's get to our first match.

Match 1

AJ Styles vs Mustafa Ali vs The Miz in a Triple Threat Match

The winner of this match faces the winner of the other triple threat match to decide who's the number 1 contender to Bobby Lashley's US title. The Miz makes his entrance with a highlight package of him losing to Logan Paul with AJ taking out Ciampa during the match. Then we're shown Logan crowing about it on a Twitter video and saying he'll be back. Miz' ribs are still taped as Mustafa Ali makes his entrance during the montage. Bell rings and Miz bails immediately to allow Ali to hit a hurracarana on Styles. Miz hops up on the apron and trips up Ali. Styles hits a baseball slide on Ali and flips over into a sunset flip. Styles goes for the Styles Clash but Miz trips up AJ and pulls him outside. Miz rams Styles into the announce table but Ali suicide dives through the ropes onto Miz. Ali tosses Miz back in and fakes him out in the corner then sends him into the second buckle. Styles gets in and chops Miz in the corner but is also thrown into the second buckle. Miz charges and hits a splash before dropping Ali off the apron. Miz sunset flips Styles for a two count but Styles counters with a right hand. Styles is whipped into the corner but he blocks a monkey flip. Him and Miz battle on the second rope but Miz knocks Styles down. Ali jumps up but is sent down as well into Styles who hits a back suplex. Miz hits a ddt on Styles and covers for 1..2....nope. Graves says he forgot to hook the leg or else it would be over. Miz kicks Styles in the chest as a graphic shows Alexa Bliss facing Asuka later tonight. Styles counters with an enziguiri before Ali and Styles slug it out. Styles slaps Ali full force in the face as Graves says Ali might not know his own name after that. Styles does a reverse ddt at the same time Ali catches him with a neckbreaker. Ali covers Styles for two then Miz for two as well. Ali goes upstairs but misses the 450 splash and AJ hits a neck crusher before hitting a Pele kick on Miz to knock him out of the ring. AJ gets pulled out of the ring by Miz and AJ slams Miz rib first into the table. Ali from out of nowhere hits a top rope tornado ddt on the floor. Ali rolls Miz in the ring but walks right into the Skull Crushing Finale. Miz takes forever to cover because of his ribs and only gets a two count. Miz kicks Ali in the corner but eats a superkick. Ali goes for another 450 splash and hits hit but AJ grabs him then hits the Styles Clash right ontop of Miz. Styles covers Ali for 1...2...3...to win the match. The HHH era starts with a bang with a great match. Styles will face the winner of the other triple threat match later tonight.

Time of match: 8:41

Winner: AJ Styles by pinfall

We go to Becky being attacked from earlier before cutting to the trainer's room. Becky asks for ice with Adam Pearce looking on concerned. Cathy Kelley catches up with Bayley, Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai and asks why they targeted Becky Lynch. Bayley says its not about Becky or Bianca but its about them and everyone will find out shortly. The Uso's make their way in as the ladies leave and they both check them out after saying hi. Cathy asks if they have a chance to win tonight against The Mysterios. Jey says 100% they'll win and Jimmy says it'll be business as usual. Jey says the Mysterios are the twos and Jimmy says they the ones. 

Seth Rollins makes his way to ringside as we get a recap of the Rollins/Matt Riddle feud so far. Rollins curbstomped Riddle on the steel steps on Raw to postpone their Summerslam match. At Summerslam, Riddle jumped into the ring and called out Rollins for a fight. Rollins obliged and and had a free for all in the ring which ended with another curbstomp. Back in real time Rollins says welcome to Monday night Rollins and he's the host. He says tonight is a night of celebration because Matt Riddle isn't here. There's a line between gutsy and stupid and Riddle crossed the line. Now Riddle can join Randy Orton which leaves Seth free to chase Roman Reigns which actually gets a babyface pop. But wait! The Street Profitz of all people hit ring side for a rebuttal. Rollins says "No no no no no no no shut it down. Stop it! Stop it!" Rollins is irate the crowd pops and says the Houston Rockets are losers as well as the Profitz. Rollins says all they do is lose and to get lost. Dawkins says they beat Rollins for the tag belts and Seth lost to Cody Rhodes who only had one "boobie". Seth gets mad and says he'd love to fight but he's outnumbered. The Profitz play rock, paper, scissors to see who faces Rollins next and Montez tosses Dawkins the mic then heads to the ring with the ref. Brilliant!

Match 2

Montez Ford vs Seth Rollins

Ford almost gets curbstomped immediately but slides out of the way. Ford slides in and Rollins slides out to take off his ring jacket. Ford sheds his jersey and clotheslines Rollins over the top to the outside as the bell rings. Ford takes it to Rollins outside and makes fun of Seth's entrance. Rollins rolls Ford in but eats a superkick. Ford covers for 1...2....nope. Ford goes upstairs but Rollins bails outside causing Ford to follow. Rollins tries a pedigree but gets backdropped before they go back inside. Rollins front suplex's Ford across the top rope then rams him ribs first into the ring post. Rollins rolls inside and the ref starts to count out Ford. Ford makes it just before the 10 count and Rollins goes to work on Ford then chokes him on the second rope. Rollins chops Ford as Graves says Ford is one of the few that is more athletic then Rollins. Ford chops him back but Rollins gets in some knees to the ribs then delivers a gut buster. Rollins covers for 1...2...nope. Rollins goes to a waistlock then hits a back suplex followed by a replay of it. Rollins slaps Montez on the head and goes for the suplex back into the ring. Ford blocks it and hits a kick to the head. Ford goes to the top rope and hits the crossbody for 1...2...no. Smith says that took the wind out of Ford but Montez and Seth slug it out in the ring. Ford drops Rollins with a clothesline, two kicks and an enziguiri. Ford hits a moonsault and covers for 1...2...no. Rollins goes for the back suplex but Ford rolls out of it, ducks the line and hits a blockbuster. Montez covers for 1..2....noooooo. Saxton says this is where a tag to Dawkins would be but its one on one. Ford eats an enziguiri and Rollins rolls him up for 1..2...no. Rollins hits a superkick and covers for 1...2..no. Rollins calls for the curb stomp but misses. Ford's superkick is blocked and Rollins goes for a powerbomb. Ford lands on the second rope and hits a tornado DDT for 1...2...no, Seth gets the foot on the rope. Ford gets crotched on the top rope and Rollins hits the buckle bomb in the corner. Rollins hits the falcon arrow and covers for 1...2....nooooooo. Rollins goes to the top rope but misses the big splash. Montez goes to the top rope but Rollins gets his knees up on the frog splash. Rollins hits the curb stomp and covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. Hell of an effort and hell of a match by Rollins and Ford. 2 for 2 so far tonight.

Time of match: 10:41

Winner: Rollins by pinfall

After the match Rollins goes for another curb stomp but Dawkins runs in to save the day. Rollins laughs his way up the ramp as the announcers put over Montez' effort. Smith talks about Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar then sends us to a clip of the main event including the tractor. It'll be a while before we see Lesnar again. Graves in real time says he has chills from that match and we have bonus footage of that night later. Then we get a graphic for Clash at The Castle coming up with Roman Reigns defending the WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre on September 3rd in Cardiff. We then get a montage of all the media coverage Summerslam got. On to the next match.

Match 3

Alexa Bliss vs Asuka

Alex comes out with her demented doll and the announcers say Alexa wants a title shot against Bianca. Bell rings and they shake hands to start. They tie up but Asuka lands a forearm to the face but Alexa counters with a Peterson Roll for 1...2..no. Alexa hits a dropkick and does her pose then rolls Asuka up. Alexa drops Alexa with a shoulderblock then mocks her pose. Alexa whips Asuka into the corner but Asuka misses the dropkick. Alexa covers for a deuce then Alexa punches away at Asuka. She covers for a deuce then locks in a chinlock. Alexa does the double knee drop but misses the moonsault. Asuka does a dropkick on the ground and screams. Asuka hits chops and kicks before doing a german suplex. Asuka delivers a knee to the face but here comes Dakota Kai, Iyo Sky and Bayley for the triple team beatdown. Bayley hits a knee to the head of Alexa then Dakota hits a kick to the head of Asuka. Kai puts a chair on the faces but here comes Bianca to chase them off. Bianca grabs the mic and says she doesn't care who but she wants one of them tonight in a match. Iyo stands in front of the others and says bring it. Guess its going to be Bianca and Iyo later tonight. This match was doing well but it was broken up.

Time of match: 2:31

Winner: No one (No contest)

We cut to commercial and when we come back, we get a highlight of the post-match beatdown and Bianca's challenge. Then we get a graphic that Bianca will face Iyo later tonight. On to the next match.

Match 4

Dolph Ziggler vs Tommaso Ciampa vs Chad Gable in a Triple Threat Match

The winner of this takes on AJ Styles for the US title shot. Gable comes out with the mic and says "Shoooooosh, Houston we have a problem. He says the Houston Astros are a failure of an organization (which did not age well, the Astros went on to win the World Series two months later). Bell rings and Ciampa attacks Ziggler at the start. Dolph hits a dropkick and Gable rolls him up for nothing. Dolph hits a dropkick on Gable and Ciampa throws him off. Dolph goes up and over and Gable forearms him from behind. Gable and Ciampa double team Ziggler with both men working over the left leg. They do a double back elbow but Gable goes for the cover. Ciampa pulls him off and shoves him then Ziggler rallies with right hands. Ciampa slingshots Dolph into the ring post and Gable goes for the Oklahoma roll on Ciampa. Gable shouts Shoooosh and surfboard stomps Ciampa but Ziggler catches Gable with the fameasser. Ziggler covers for 1...2...no. Back from commercial Gable has the anklelock on Ziggler then Ciampa locks in the Cripper Crossface on Ziggler. Ciampa and Gable try to kicks each other off and Ziggler rolls up Gable for 1...2....no. Ciampa hits Gable with a fameasser and covers for 1...2....no. Ciampa works over the left leg of Ziggler and hits a Samoan drop from off the top rope. Ciampa covers but Gable hits a flying headbutt to stop the count. Ciampa hits a roaring elbow but Gable rolls through for a german suplex. Ziggler covers Gable for 1....2..no. Gable is sent outside and Ciampa does an O'Connor roll for 1....2....no. Ziggler counters with his own for 1...2....no. Ziggler hits the superkick on Ciampa but Gable throws Ziggler outside. Gable covers but Dolph pulls him outside. Ciampa knees Ziggler outside but Gable backslides for 1...2...no. Ciampa hits Fairy Tale Ending on Gable and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Damn good match and Tommaso goes from Miz' stooge to one win away from being number one contender to the US title.

Time of match: 10:30

Winner: Tommaso Ciampa by pinfall

We cut to a vignette of Edge forming Judgment Day and then getting thrown out of it after Finn Balor joined. Damien Priest hitting the concerto on Edge put him out on June 7th. Then Judgment Day tries to recruit Dom Mysterio in between him getting beat up by Rhea Ripley. Then we see the Summerslam match where Edge returned to aid the Mysterios against Balor and Priest.

Back from break we get some Summerslam highlights and then here comes Edge for a soliloquy to his old Metalingus theme. Edge thanks the fans for the ovation and says he's been a bit of an asshole the last few months. Edge says now we all get what we want and he created Judgment Day to help underutilized talent. He says he wanted to pass knowledge on to Rhea and Damien who get loudly booed. Edge says it felt like they were just getting started but the taste of power clouded their judgement. They were DAMN wrong thinking they knew it all. Edge admits he didn't see the attack coming but he pulled himself out of the hell they put him in, and its time to kill what he created. Edge says he's going to end Judgment Day and drops the mic. Quick and to the point, no rebuttal, no interruptions, good stuff.

The Mysterios are interviewed by Kevin Patrick about their chances tonight. Rey says Judgment Day is in their rearview and they have no idea what a savage Edge will be. Rey thanks Edge for his help and tonight they want to defeat the Usos to become champs. We get a graphic for Iyo vs Bianca coming up next before we go to break. Back from commercial we get a vignette of a tryout for the Performance Center where even Dwight Howard of the Houston Rockets tried out. Next, Sarah Schreiber interviews Bayley and her new crew. Bayley cuts her off and says everyone's talking about them, not Bianca and Becky. Bayley says Raw has been a downward spiral since she left so she outsourced for help. Dakota says they know how to play the game and Bayley says they're in control. On to the next match.

Match 5

Iyo Sky (with Bayley and Dakota Kai) vs Bianca Belair

"The genius of the sky" Iyo takes on the Raw women's champion in a non-title match. Bell's gone and Bianca backs her into the corner to start. Bianca sends her into the buckle and kicks away at her.  Bianca moonsaults over Iyo and dropkicks her into the corner. Iyo snaps Bianca off the top rope and hits an Asai moonsault onto Bianca as we cut to commercial. Back from break Bianca hits a scoop slam, slides outside and runs in to shoulderblock her down. Bianca hits a dropkick but Iyo counters a full nelson by jumping on Bianca's back. Iyo chokes Bianca with her boot as Graves says Bayley's team are not rookies. Iyo covers Belair for 1......2..no. Iyo takes Bianca down and locks in a chinlock then a Russian leg sweep. Iyo covers for 1...2....no and Iyo taunts the irate crowd. Iyo goes for a crossbody but Bianca rolls through it and hits a fallaway slam. Bianca tells Iyo to get up and hits a Glam Slam then a springboard moonsault for 1...2..no. Tajiri and Beth Phoenix would be proud of her. Bianca scoop slams Iyo then goes up to the top only for Bayley and Dakota to get her attention. Iyo stops Bianca with a right hand and hits a top rope frankensteiner. Iyo covers for 1...2....no. Bianca's suplex is countered into a cradle for a two count but Bianca rolls through still holding on. Bianca finally hits the suplex and goes for the KOD. Iyo lands on her feet and Bianca catches herself on the apron. Both women are on the apron and Bianca tries to german suplex Iyo to the floor. Iyo blocks it and goes for the frankensteiner off the apron but Bianca catches her.  Bianca heaves Iyo into the barricade head with Bayley looking concerned. They sit on the apron and distract Bianca when Asuka and Alexa Bliss come down to even the odds as we go to break again. Back from commercial, Bianca hits a superplex off the top rope. Bianca hits a standing moonsault and covers for 1...2...no. Bianca ducks the enziguiri and Bianca goes for a waistlock. Iyo victory rolls out of it and stomps Bianca in the ribs. Sky hits the double knees in the corner but Bianca catches a second attempt, landing a spinebuster. Bianca goes for another springboard moonsault but Iyo gets the knees up. Bianca gets tripped up by Bayley but still tries for a big boot. Iyo moves and rolls up Bianca with the feet on the ropes, but Alexa pushes her feet off. All four outsiders get in the ring and brawl as the ref calls for the bell. Asuka nails Bayley with a knee to the head and Alexa does the same to Dakota. The referees get in the ring along with the Suit Brigade & Adam Pearce break them up. Jamie Noble tells Bayley's crew to get lost as Adam Pearce holds back Bianca's crew. Good match and the screwy ending actually works because you don't blow Iyo's comeback or make Bianca look weak. HHH is cooking so far. This feud is FAR from over.

Time of match: 17:19

Winner: No one (no contest)

The Miz is hyping up Tommaso Ciampa in the back. He starts naming past US champions and Kevin Patrick sneaks up to ask about Miz's thoughts on Ciampa and Logan Paul. Miz says he had Paul beat but AJ Styles blindsided Ciampa. Ciampa says AJ Styles chose the wrong side at Summerslam and he used to respect him. Ciampa says Paul is mocking "our home" and he's going to crush Styles. Miz says Ciampa has passion and emotion and because of him, you're looking at the next champion. Least we're getting good matches out of this. Before we go to break we get a "just say no" ad for vaping before some Kevin Owens facts like he was born in Quebec....yay. Before the next match, our special guest commentator for the US title match is.....FIVE TIME, FIVE TIME....WCW CHAMPION BOOKER T! We got four guys at the table for our next match.

Match 6

AJ Styles vs Tommaso Ciampa (with The Miz)

Winner gets Bobby Lashley and a US title shot. Graves says AJ is favoring his neck after the match he was in earlier as the bell rings. AJ and Ciampa get a test of strength to start and Tommaso gets in a headlock. Ciampa drops AJ with a shoulderblock and chokes him with his boot. Ciampa goes back to the headlock but AJ counters with a side backbreaker. AJ does a second side backbreaker but Ciampa rolls out of a suplex attempt, throwing AJ shoulder first into the ring post. Outside Tommaso gets a knee to the head and slides in to cover 1....2...no. Styles misses the Pele kick but Ciampa runs into the Lethal Combination. Ciampa regroups with Miz outside before being chased back in. Styles ducks the line and hits a dropkick to send Ciampa to the outside again. Styles hits a slingshot plancha as we got to break. Back from commercial, they slug it out in the middle of the ring before Styles hits the running forearm. A stinger splash in the corner is followed by a death valley backbreaker. Styles covers for 1...2....no. Styles goes for the Styles Clash but Ciamoa counters with a roaring elbow. Ciampa hits a fameasser and covers for a deuce before missing a running knee. Styles goes for a Canadian Destroyer but Ciampa kicks out of it. Styles suplexes Ciampa into the corner and catches his breath. AJ hits a big forearm and goes for the Phenomenal Forearm but Ciampa counters with a knee to the head. Ciampa covers for 1..2....no. Ciampa hits the Project Ciampa and covers for 1...2..no. Ciampa chops AJ in the corner and says he deserves the title shot, not AJ. Ciampa goes for White Noise off the tope rope but AJ counters it with Styles Clash. AJ covers but Miz puts Ciampa's foot on the rope. Smith says Ciampa was done but Miz saved the day. AJ clotheslines Miz into the timekeeper's table but Ciampa throws him first into the ring post, then into the timekeeper's pit as well. Styles has to run back in to beat the count but Ciampa hits him with a knee lift. Ciampa hits Fairy Tale Ending and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Another damn good match even with the dicked ending. Ciampa's two wins tonight are more important than anything else he's done the last six months. HHH taking care of his NXT guys big time so far. Its gonna be Bobby Lashley against Tommaso Ciampa next week.

Time of match: 13:41

Winner: Ciampa by pinfall

Back to Kevin Patrick with Bobby Lashley himself. He asks what he thinks of Ciampa and Lashley says he'll defend his title every week if needed. He praises Ciampa for getting this far and he's dangerous with Miz in his corner. Lashley says he'll take anyone and he humbled Austin Theory, he'll put Ciampa in the Hurt Lock. We get a graphic for our main event as we go to break. Back from commercial, its time for the tag title match.

Match 7

The Mysterios (Rey Jr and Dominik) vs The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) for the WWE Tag Team Championships

Before the match, we see the carnage of Summerslam after they went off air with Brock Lesnar tipping his hat in the elevated ring. Rey starts with Jey Uso and Jey runs into the corner but heave Mysterio under the rope. Rey pulls the top rope down to send Jimmy flying and he makes the tag to Dom. Dom dives on top of both Usos as we go to break. Back from commercial Jimmy is in the ring with Rey. Jimmy chops him in the corner and sends him sternum first into the buckle. Jimmy locks in a chinlock until Rey powers out of it. Jey tags in to prevent the tag and he taunts Dom. Jey calls for the ass bump and hits it and covers for 1..2....no. Jimmy tags in but Rey rallies with right hands. Rey lands a headscissors to send Jimmy into the ring post. Dom gets the hot tag and hits a crossbody on Jimmy. Dom rallies with clotheslines to an interfering Jey. Dominik hits a neckbreaker on Jimmy for 1...2..no. Dom hits a bulldog on Jimmy and dropkicks him into the second rope. Dom goes for the 619 but Jimmy rolls outside. Dom goes for a plancha but both Usos catch him, ramming him into the ring post as we go to break. Back from commercial, Jimmy goes for a top rope samoan drop but Dom counters with a tornado DDT. Rey and Jey get the tag and Rey hits a spinning arm drag on him. He hits a baseball slide on Jimmy outside and hits the West Coast Pop on Jey. Rey runs right into a superkick by Jey and he covers for 1......2.....no. Rey blocks the 1D and dropkicks Jimmy into the second rope. Dom tags in for the double 619 and Dom hits the frog splash off the top rope. He covers for 1......2.....NOOOOO, Jey breaks up the count at the last second. Rey throws Jey out of the ring and he pulls Rey out with him. Jey hits Rey with the superkick but Dom takes Jey out with a suicide dive. Dom goes back to the top rope but Jimmy uppercuts him. Rey blocks the superplex and shoves down Jimmy. Dom flips over Jimmy and hits a dropkick to send him to the second rope. Dom dials up the 619 but Jey tags himself in. Dom runs right into the 1D and Jey covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. Awesome match and the Mysterios looked like they had it a few times. The Uso's incredible reign continues.

Time of match: 15:34

Winners: The Usos by pinfall (Still tag team champions)

Post match Judgment Day attacks the Mysterios and the Uso's just shake their heads and walk away. Rhea Ripley wraps her legs around Dom in the corner with Finn and Priest kicking away at Rey. Here comes Edge to even the odds, clotheslining Priest over the top to the floor. Edge hits Edgecution on Balor and goes for the spear but somehow Rhea pushed Dom in the way. Edge spears Dom out of his shoes and Judgment Day bails. Rey gets in and looks at Edge with an angry look, he must not have seen Rhea push Dom in the way. EMTs and Rey tend to Dom inside the ring as we sign off.

Triple H came out of the gate firing bullets tonight. Bayley's crew are established as a threat, Tommaso Ciampa gets pushed, Montez Ford had a hell of a battle with Seth Rollins and babyface Edge is back. The Usos still are the tag champs and things are looking up. Less comedy, more wrestling, was that so hard? Hopefully Smackdown will pick up where Raw left off and they got the guys to put on great matches too. Judgment Day got one over on Edge and the Mysterios and it looks like Dom might turn soon, he didn't seem to happy Rey praised him earlier and then this happened. The next show after this is tomorrow night's NXT. I'll see you there.