WWE RAW recap & reaction (7/10)

Big Cass kicked off this week’s episode of RAW and made his way down to the ring. The crowd booed as Cass grabbed a microphone. Cass then sarcastically asked the crowd “how you doin?” and proceeded to brag about kicking Enzo Amore’s ass last night at Great Balls of Fire. Cass then showed some photos on the jumbotron of him beating down Enzo last night. Cass then cut a passionate promo and vowed to become the Universal Champion in the future. Cass then shouted at his doubters and stated that he will hold the Universal Champion high and then shove it down his doubters throats. Big Cass claimed that nobody was on his level and that nobody is bigger than Big Cass.

 


 

Big Show then came down to the ring and had a stare down with Big Cass. The crowd chanted “Big Show” as Big Cass got right in his face. Big Show then headbutted Big Cass and the two Superstars then wrestled to the mat. Big Show connected with a series of punches and knees to Big Cass while he was trapped in the corner. Big Show went for the KO Punch but Big Cass rolled out of the ring and retreated.

Reaction: Big Cass cut a decent promo to start off RAW. His new entrance music is as generic as it gets. Cass has been rumored to face Big Show at SummerSlam for some time now. You’ve got to believe that Cass will win that match and WWE will continue to build him up after that.

Elias Samson strummed his guitar in the ring and proceeded to insult the Houston crowd. Samson then performed a song that he wrote for Finn Balor but was quickly interrupted by Balor’s entrance music.

Finn Balor vs Elias Samson

Samson slammed Balor to the mat right when the bell rang. Balor got back to his feet and locked up with Samson. Balor applied a headlock and dragged Samson to the mat. Samson broke the hold and elbowed Balor in the face. Balor connected with a Dropkick and climbed up to the top turnbuckle. Samson rolled out of the ring and RAW went to a commercial break.

When RAW returned, Samson was in control of the match. Balor battled back and connected with another Dropkick. Balor then sent Samson into the corner and connected with a chop. Balor connected with a kick that knocked Samson out of the ring. Finn went for a kick on the ring apron but Samson caught him and slammed Balor’s shoulder on the ring apron.

Back in the ring, Samson locked in an Arm Bar. Balor made his way to the bottom rope and the hold was broken. Balor knocked Samson to the mat and stomped on his chest. Samson trapped Balor in the corner and beat him down with a series of punches. Finn battled out of the corner but Samson went for a roll-up and Balor kicked out at two. Balor connected with a kick to Samson’s jaw and followed it up with a Slingblade. Balor then Dropkicked Samson into the turnbuckle and hit the Coupe de Grace for the victory.

After the match, The Hardy Boyz came out and shook Balor’s hand.

Winner: Finn Balor

Reaction: I thought this was a solid match. The announcer’s pointed out after the match that Samson has a “huge future in WWE”. Time will tell if that is the case. I do enjoy his promos before his matches and he is decent in the ring.

Matt and Jeff Hardy made their way to the ring to cut a promo. Jeff said “hello” to the crowd and then discussed their Iron Man Match last night against Sheamus and Cesaro at Great Balls of Fire. Jeff said that after the loss that “maybe they should just fade away and classify ourselves as obsolete”. Matt then made a proclamation that the Hardy Boyz are not going anywhere.

Gallows and Anderson then interrupted and insulted The Hardy Boyz and called them old. Gallows then called Matt and Jeff nerds and stated that the ring they were standing in belonged to them. Matt said that The Hardys were a little bruised and “broken” but challenged Gallows and Anderson to a match.

The Hardy Boyz vs Gallows & Anderson

Matt and Karl Anderson started out the match. Jeff was then tagged in and teamed up to Suplex Karl Anderson. Jeff then hit Poetry in Motion on Gallows and RAW went to a commercial break. When RAW returned, Gallows leveled Jeff with a Clothesline. Anderson was then tagged in and connected with a Boot of Doom. Anderson went for the pin but Matt ran into the ring and broke it up.

Jeff connected with a Jawbreaker to Anderson and then leaped across the ring to tag in Matt Hardy. Matt bounced Anderson’s head off each turnbuckle as the crowd chanted “delete!”. Matt went for a Bulldog but Anderson blocked it. Matt then connected with the Side Effect to Anderson and then knocked Gallows off the ring apron. Matt connected with an elbow off the second rope but Gallows kicked Hardy in the back off the head on the ring apron. Anderson and Gallows then planted Matt Hardy with the Magic Killer for the victory.

After the match, The Revival came down to the ring and attacked Matt and Jeff. Wilder kneed Matt in the face and then The Revival connected with the Shatter Machine on Jeff Hardy.

Winners: Gallows & Anderson

Reaction: The Hardy Boyz continue to hint that they will become “broken” sooner rather than later. If they continue to lose matches, I think a perfect time to do that will be heading into SummerSlam. It is great to see The Revival back on RAW. The tag divisions on both RAW and SmackDown are woefully short on talent. American Alpha is barely featured on SmackDown and Enzo and Cass have broken up on RAW. The Hype Bros seem to be on the verge of separating on SmackDown as well. I hope WWE makes an effort to build up The Revival because I think they can easily become stars on the main roster.

The Mizzies

The Miz came down to the ring and hosted the first ever Mizzies award show. The Miz gave Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel awards for their roles in the Miztourage. The crowd chanted “you deserve it” as Bo Dallas accepted his award. Curtis Axel also thanked The Miz and said that he feels like a million bucks since joining The Miz. The Miz then gave Maryse a Mizzie for “the most gorgeous, beautiful and sexy leading lady”. Maryse was moved to tears and shared a hug with The Miz.

The final Mizzie award went to The Miz for “greatest man in WWE”. The Miz then bragged about making the Intercontinental Championship the most relevant title in WWE. The Miz then called Tozawa, The Hardy Boyz and Seth Rollins frauds because they failed to do what they said they were going to do at Great Balls of Fire.

The Miz called Ambrose the toughest competitor he has ever been in the ring with and called him the toughest man in WWE. The Miz then boasted about defeating Ambrose last night at Great Balls of Fire. Ambrose came down to the ring and got beaten down by the Miztourage. Seth Rollins came down to the ring for the save and the Miztourage retreated.

Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose had a conversation backstage. Ambrose informed Rollins that there will be no reunion of The Shield and that he doesn’t trust Rollins. Ambrose then told Rollins to stay out of his business and walked away.

Reaction: I will be interested in this if it winds up being Seth Rollins versus The Miz in a feud for the Intercontinental Championship. I just want the Ambrose and Miz feud to come to an end. I haven’t found it entertaining at all.

Bayley & Sasha Banks vs Nia Jax & Alexa Bliss

Sasha Banks beatdown Alexa in the corner and then tagged in Bayley. Bayley connected with a Bulldog for a two count. Alexa then tagged in Nia Jax. Bayley hit a Dropkick Nia’s knee and then climbed to the second rope. Alexa distracted Bayley on the ring apron and Bayley leaped off the turnbuckle and connected with a right hand. Nia then capitalized on Alexa’s distraction and drove Bayley into the turnbuckle.

Nia then tagged in Alexa and Bliss slapped Bayley in the face. Nia was tagged in and she headbutted Bayley. Bayley tried to tag in Sasha but Nia lifted her onto her shoulders and drove her into the opposite turnbuckle. Nia then hit a Splash on Bayley in the corner and Bliss was tagged in. Alexa connected with a right hand and knocked Sasha Banks off the ring apron. Alexa then hit Twisted Bliss on Bayley but Sasha broke up the pinfall. Nia then launched Banks out of the ring. Nia tried to leap onto Sasha outside the ring but missed and crashed into the barricade. Bayley then rolled up Alexa for the victory.

Winners: Bayley & Sasha Banks

Another Goldust vignette was shown. Goldust quoted “Reservoir Dogs” and cut a promo on R-Truth. Goldust stated that he was going to film a sequel to “The Shattered Truth”.

R-Truth rapped his way to the ring with some terrific lyrics. For example:

“La-dee-da-dee
I like to party
Truth be told I be kicking like karate”

Goldust vs R-Truth

Goldust brought back his robe which was great to see. Goldust controlled the match early and connected with a Spinebuster. Goldust connected with a couple of right hands while on the second rope but R-Truth fought out of the corner and planted Goldust with a Powerbomb. Goldust launched R-Truth into the ring post and then slammed him to the mat for the victory.

Winner: Goldust

Reaction: The second hour of this week’s RAW was very boring. This happens far too often on both RAW and SmackDown nowadays. Most of the current feuds are lifeless and as a result the show isn’t as entertaining as it should be.

RAW GM Kurt Angle came down to the ring and the crowd greeted him with “you suck!” chants. Angle stated that Great Balls of Fire was a great success last night and called Universal Champion Brock Lesnar down to the ring. Angle brought up their match 14 years ago at WrestleMania and congratulated Lesnar on continuing to be successful in WWE.

Angle asked if Heyman and Lesnar would be interested in who he thought should face Lesnar for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam. Heyman stated that he wasn’t interested in having a creative meeting live on RAW and poked fun at Angle being new at his job as RAW GM. Heyman also mentioned Angle constantly being on his phone due to personal problems and asked Angle to leave the ring.

Roman Reigns then came down to the ring to a symphony of boos. Angle told Reigns that he had a lot of nerve coming down to the ring after what he did last night Great Balls of Fire. Reigns brought up the Attitude Era and claimed it was ridiculous that Angle thought he took things too far. Reigns insulted Brock Lesnar for never being on the show and stated that Angle should thank him because he didn’t know how to handle Braun Strowman. The crowd started chanting “Roman!”.

Brock Lesnar grabbed the microphone from Paul Heyman and said that Reigns “doesn’t deserve sh**”. Lesnar stated that this was as close as Reigns was going to get to the Universal Championship and Samoa Joe made his way down to the ring. Joe claimed that everyone was living in a fantasy land and he was here to drag them all back to reality. Lesnar told Joe that “the reality is that he kicked his ass last night”. Joe said that Lesnar didn’t beat him last night, he simply escaped. Joe then said that Reigns has never beaten him.

Heyman said that Joe will never get a shot at Lesnar again. Joe then got in Lesnar’s face and said that Paul Heyman was trying to protect him. Joe and Reigns started trading insults. Angle then got between them and made a match for next week. It will be Reigns and Joe next week on RAW to determine the #1 contender.

Reaction: The interaction between Brock Lesnar and Samoa Joe during this promo was awesome. Samoa Joe has become one of the best parts of RAW every week. It seems likely that Roman Reigns will win the match next week and go on to face Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. I’d rather see a rematch between Lesnar and Joe, but as long as they are keeping him in the main-event picture I’m fine with it. It will be interesting to see how Braun Strowman figures into all of this. Technically, he defeated Roman Reigns last night and should be ahead of him in line to get a Universal Championship shot.

I’ve said this before, but I want to see this all lead to a Fatal 4-Way between Lesnar, Strowman, Reigns and Joe. I think that would be an amazing match to see if it happens. Reigns and Lesnar can certainly put on an entertaining match at SummerSlam, I just think that Joe has a ton of momentum right now. I’d hate to see him follow up a loss to Lesnar with a loss to Reigns next week and then fall back to the middle of the card for SummerSlam.

RAW GM Kurt Angle and Corey Graves had a conversation backstage. They both got the same text message and Angle stated that he is going to have to go public with this next week on RAW.

Akira Tozawa & Cedric Alexander vs Neville & Noam Dar

Noam Dar rolled out of the ring and hugged Alicia Fox. Alexander chased him out of the ring and Noam Dar escaped back to the ring. Fox shouted that Alexander had “a booger in his nose” as Cedric got back into the ring. Alexander then scratched his nose before attacking Dar. Tozawa was then tagged in and so was Neville.

Tozawa beatdown Neville for a bit but eventually Neville took control of the match as RAW went to a commercial break. When RAW returned, Neville still was beating down Tozawa in the ring. Tozawa battled back and connected with a kick that knocked Neville to the mat. Alexander was then tagged in and hit Neville with a spinning kick. Alexander climbed up to the top rope but Dar charged at him on the ring apron. Alexander booted Dar in the face but Neville tripped Cedric up and Alexander landed crotch-first on the top turnbuckle.

Alexander then knocked Neville down and he landed crotch-first on the top rope. Tozawa was tagged in and Alexander hit a Suicide Dive onto Dar outside the ring. Neville was still hanging on the top rope and Tozawa kicked the rope. Tozawa then hit the Senton Bomb off the top rope for the victory.

Winners: Akira Tozawa & Cedric Alexander

Seth Rollins was interviewed backstage. Rollins was sporting a black eye as a result of his match last night at Great Balls of Fire. Rollins once again called Wyatt a fraud and that he was going to prove that tonight in their match on RAW.

A pre-taped Bray Wyatt promo was shown. Wyatt said that Rollins will never “deny him again” and that Rollins is going to “burn for his sins”.

Bray Wyatt vs Seth Rollins

Rollins beatdown Wyatt in the corner to start off the match. The referee broke it up and Bray Wyatt took advantage and connected with several punches as Rollins was trapped in the corner. Rollins connected with a kick to Wyatt’s face and then Bray hit Rollins with a shoulder tackle for a one count.

Rollins then focused his attack on Bray Wyatt’s hand and stomped on it in the ring. Rollins then slammed Wyatt’s hand onto the steel steps outside the ring. Back in the ring, Bray slammed Rollins to the mat with a Uranage as RAW went to a commercial break. When RAW returned, Bray Wyatt was still in control of the match and had Rollins in a Chin Lock in the middle of the ring.

Rollins got out of the hold and connected with a Dropkick that sent Wyatt to the mat. Bray battled back and connected with a DDT for a two count. Rollins hit Wyatt with a kick to the side of his head and both Superstars fell to the mat. Rollins was the first to his feet and planted Wyatt with a Slingblade. Bray rolled out of the ring but Rollins connected with a Suicide Dive outside the ring.

Back in the ring, Rollins connected with a springboard Clothesline for a two count. Rollins then planted Wyatt with a Blockbuster for another two count. The crowd chanted “this is awesome” as Rollins climbed to the top rope. Wyatt charged at him and dragged him down. Wyatt went for a Suplex but Rollins countered it into a Falcon Arrow for a two count. Wyatt went for Sister Abigail but Rollins reversed it into a roll-up for a two count. Wyatt then headbutted Rollins in his injured eye and then planted him with a Sister Abigail for the victory.

Winner: Bray Wyatt

After the match, the lights went out and Wyatt disappeared from the ring. The Miztourage then surrounded Seth Rollins on the ring apron. Bo, Curtis and Miz then started beating down Rollins. Dean Ambrose then sprinted to the ring with a chair and beat the hell out of The Miz with it. Axel and Dallas then pulled Miz out of the ring as Ambrose stood tall with the chair.

Kurt Angle was shown having a conversation on the phone backstage. Angle invited someone to RAW next week so they can both tell the world what the secret is. Angle ended the conversation with “I love you” and RAW went off the air.

Reaction: I thought Wyatt and Rollins had a solid match last night at Great Balls of Fire and tonight’s match was good as well. I still have no idea what they are fighting for and this is just another feud that I want to end. Ambrose has been a total bore in my opinion for a long time now, so I’m not opposed to a mini-Shield reunion if that winds up happening with Rollins.

The promo with Lesnar, Joe and Reigns was definitely the highlight of the show. The rest of the show was quite boring. WWE pretty much spent tonight’s episode of RAW setting up next week’s episode. Next week we will find out what Kurt Angle’s secret is and who will be facing Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam for the Universal Championship. If you missed tonight’s show, that is all you really need to know. There will definitely be more things to discuss during next week’s episode of RAW. Tonight’s show was pretty uneventful besides the Lesnar, Joe and Reigns segment.

What did you think of this week’s episode of RAW? Let us know in the comments below.

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