Posted on 7/21/126 by Bob Magee
Live! From Detroit, Michigan.
Corey Graves & Michael Cole were on commentary.
A recap of Saturday Night Main Event from the Garden kicked
off the show.
Je’Von Evans & Dragon Lee v. Bron Breakker & Austin Theory
(w/ Logan Paul & Maxxine Dupri)
The team of Lee and Evans was “born out of respect” after
they fought in the gauntlet match last week. This match is
confirmed as non-title when Cole said Evans and Lee could
earn a title shot with a win here.
Evans actually got the jump on Breakker before the bell even
rang, then took him out with a dive to the floor.
In the ring, Lee took Theory down with a step up rana. Evans
got the tag and came off the top with an axehandle. Breakker
got the blind tag and tossed Eans over his head with suplex.
Dragon Lee got the tag and caught Breakker with a DDT for a
near fall. Lee went to the top, but Logan Paul got on the
apron to distract him. Lee came off the top with a
crossbody, but Breakker caught him and planted him into the
mat with a powerslam.
After a commercial, Breakker missed a spear on Lee in the
corner. Lee sidestepped a charge from Theory and got the tag
to Evans. Evans avoided a clothesline from Theory and sent
him to the floor with a cutter. Evans followed him out with
a dive. Breakker charged at Evans, but Evans sidestepped him
to dump Breakker over the barricade into the timekeeper’s
area. Evans then followed that up with a dive over the
barricade into Breakker.
Back in the ring, Evans hit a springboard clothesline on
Theory for a near fall.
Evans hung Theory up in the turnbuckle, and Lee caught him
with a double stomp. Lee went for a charge, but Maxxine
tripped him up and Breakker hit him with a clothesline.
Breakker took out Evans with a spear. Breakker hit a
supercharged spear on Lee to get the pinfall.
Match Result: Theory & Breakker were victorious when
Breakker pinned Lee (9:44).
After the match, Tozawa and Otis ran in to keep The Vision
from beating on Lee. Otis floored Breakker with a
clothesline, then hit Theory with a clothesline. Tozawa took
out Breakker with a dive on the floor. Maxxine slapped Otis.
Breakker ran into another clothesline from Otis. Otis hit
both Breakker and Theory in the corner with an avalanche.
Otis set up Theory for a powerbomb through the table, but
Breakker cut that off with a spear. Back in the ring, Theory
took out Tozawa. Then Breakker hit Otis with another
supercharged spear while Maxxine looked on from the top
turnbuckle.
If you only started watching Raw two weeks ago, you’d think
that Bron Breakker was nothing more than paid muscle for
Austin Theory.
— The first of many (many… many…) recaps of Fantasics Fest.
This one showed Tom Brady and Logan Paul shooting an angle
for their match, whenever it happens.
— Judgment Day threaten Danhausen and demand he gives them
their money back. Dom is wearing a shirt with a photo from
his WWE debut in 2005 when his dad put him on the line
against Rey Mysterio in a Ladder Match.
— Big Cass returns on 8/3.
Danhausen Returns Judgment Day’s Money
After a recap of the Danhausen/JD McDonagh match from
Saturday Night’s Main Event, Danhausen came to ring carrying
a leather attaché case with the “human monies.” Danhausen
doesn’t want the money anymore, but he also doesn’t want
Judgment Day to have it, so he asks the fans if they’d like
the money. Have you seen the price of gas? Of course they
want the money!
But of course, Judgment Day came out to put a stop to that.
Danhausen tried to curse them, but Mysterio & McDonagh put
the boots to Danhausen while Liv Morgan looked on and
laughed. Despite no one saying his name, Joe Hendry ran out
to make the save, hitting Mysterio with a fallaway slam. But
Liv Morgan grabbed the bag with the money and The Judgment
Day ran off with the cash.
Rollins v. Reigns, Chapter 3. The Cash In.
— Backstage, Adam Pearce was yelling at the Judgment Day
about something when Joe Hendry and Danhausen got involved.
Lots of shouting. McDonagh pulled the money out of the bag
and claimed that it was fake (even though the top bill had
Danhausen’s face on it, the rest looked like actual $100
bills to me). McDonagh threw the bag down and hit Oba Femi
(just go with it). Adam Pearce then made matches pitting Oba
Femi against JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio against Joe
Hendry.
I think Pearce absconded with the money!
Oba Femi v. JD McDonagh
Hendry and Danhausen threw the reluctant members of the
Judgment Day into the ring, where Oba was waiting. Femi
clohteslined Mysterio to the floor and the squash was on.
Femi won with the Fall from Grace.
Match Result: Femi pinned McDonagh (0:53).
— Darius Rucker will be performing the National Anthem at
SummerSlam on the Sunday show.
Solo Sikoa Makes Seth Rollins an Offer
While Michael Cole and Corey Graves were talking about how
much they loved “Fanatics Fest” and how great it was, Solo
Sikoa came out through the crowd to call out Seth Rollins.
Rollins came to the ring and welcomed Sikoa to “Monday Night
Rollins,” then asked if they would be talking or fighting.
The crowd chanted “fight!” But Sikoa was there to talk
(crowd booed). The crowd gave Sioka the “What!” treatment
while Solo laid out a proposition for Rollins. The match at
SummerSlam wasn’t going to be one-on-one; it was going to be
Seth against the whole Bloodline. Four against one, and
Sikoa knows this because he’s been a part of those plans.
But, it doesn’t have to be that way if Rollins accepts Sikoa
offered to watch Rollins’ back at SummerSlam.
Rollins told Sikoa he would think about it and went to
leave, but Sikoa wouldn’t let him. Sikoa said that he could
do for Seth what Seth did for Cody at WrestleMania 40.
Jacob Fatu music hit. Sikoa left through the crowd while
Fatu yelled at him. Fatu then turned into a superkick from
Seth Rollins.
— At the SummerSlam Kickoff Show (which was yesterday at
Fanatics Fest), Penta and Chad Gable exchanged words about
their SummerSlam match for the Intercontinental Title.
Rusev & Ethan Page v. Chad Gable & Penta
Rusev and Page jumped Gable and Penta as the ref called for
the opening bell. Rusev and Page hit a double-team suplex on
Penta for a near fall. Gable flew into the ring with a
clothesline off the top. Rusev went for a destroyer on the
apron, but Rusev countered that with a backdrop.
A minute into the match (after what felt like seven minutes
of entrances), they cut to a break.
Penta caught Rusev with a crossbody, then got the tag to
Gable. Gable suplexed Page like it was job. He tossed Rusev
with an overhead belly to belly. Gable hit an Angle Slam on
Page. Gable went for a moonsault, but Page got out of the
way. Rusev planted Gable down with a uranage and went for
the cover, but Penta made the save.
Page caught Penta with a forearm, but that didn’t stop Penta
from dumping Page to the floor and taking him out with a
tope con hilo.
Back in the ring, Rusev and Gable exchanged “Boo!/Yay!”
punches. Gable went for a suplex, but Rusev countered that
into an Accolade. Gable powered out of the Accolade, So
Rusev put him down with a headbutt.
Penta went to the top, but Rusev whipped Gable into the
corner, crotching Penta. Rusev tried for the Accolade again,
but Penta countered into an ankle lock. Page tried to break
that up, but Penta used Gable as a springboard and took him
out with a Mexican Destroyer. Gable added a leg scissors to
the ankle lock and Rusev had to tap out.
Match Result: Gable & Penta defeated Rusev & Page when Gable
tapped out Rusev (8:38).
Rollins v. Reigns, Chapter 4: The First Meeting. This was
from Money in the Bank 2016, so it took them 4 years to get
from the inital debut to the first match. Rollins won the
title he never lost, but “only for a moment” and no reason
was given as to why he only got it back for a moment. I’m
sure that’s not important.
— Seth Rollins got into Jacob Fatu’s face backstage. Rollins
asked Fatu if Roman’s “bag boy” [Fatu] comes with the title.
Fatu said if there’s anything left of Rollins after
SummerSlam, he would “beat his a$$.”
— Throughout the show they have been playing clips from
Fanatics Fest. I don’t think I’ve been mentioning that
enough. These clips were all of the celebrities doing WWE
entrances. Also, Tom Brady sat up in a coffin.
— Paul Heyman did a pre-taped hype segment for the Hell in
the Cell match at SummerSlam. According to Heyman, Brock has
never lost a Hell in a Cell match, and he called it a
streak. Upon checking, Brock’s streak in the Cell is two
matches. Anyway, Oba Femi’s rookie year comes to a violent
end at SummerSlam.
Rollins v. Reigns, Chapter 5. The Shield got back together,
but it never felt right. Seriously, that was it.
Michael Cole added that Reigns has never beaten Rollins “in
a big time match up,” so TV matches don’t count.
— At Fanatics Fest, they shot another angle between Nick
Aldis and Gunther, and Triple H made that match official for
SummerSlam.
Dominik Mysterio (w/ Liv Morgan) v. Joe Hendry
Mysterio jumped Hendry as the bell rang. But Dom’s edge
didn’t last long. Hendry picked up Mysterio for a delayed
vertical suplex, and Hendry held him up for a long time
before dropping back. Mysterio sent Hendry to the floor and
went for a dive. Hendry caught Mysterio, flipped him onto
his shoulders, then dumped him onto the commentators’ table.
Morgan then sent Hendry into the ringpost. Danhausen came
out to curse Morgan, but Morgan decked him. Danhausen ran to
the back.
After a commercial, Mysterio had Hendry in a chinlock.
Hendry escaped the chinlock by reversing it into a vertical
suplex. Hendry dumped Mysterio with a fallaway slam. Hendry
with a rolling lariat (called “The Hit Single” by Cole,
which I guess means Mike Santana is going to need a new move
when he shows up).
Morgan distracted Hendry, allowing Mysterio to hit Hendry
with a spinning DDT.
Danhausen came back out in his old-timey car with Iyo Sky.
Sky got into a brawl with Morgan, taking the champ out with
an open-hand uppercut. Iyo tossed Liv into the ring for a
springboard dropkick. The ref allowed Liv and Iyo to play
though, then tried to break them up while they were out of
the ring. While the ref was watching Iyo and Liv, Danhausen
snuck into the ring and dropped Mysterio with a Danhausen
Death Drop.
Match Result: Hendry pinned Mysterio after interference from
Danhausen (9:21).
— Yesterday as part of the SummerSlam Kick Off at Fanatics
Fest, CM Punk pie-faced Cody Rhodes and the mini-Hausens
attacked Liv Morgan. Oba Femi and Paul Heyman were there
as well.
— There was another recap from Saturday Night’s Main Event,
this time the big angle between Indiana Pacer Tyrese
Haliburton and New York Knick Jalen Brunson. Oh, Seth
Rollins and Roman Reigns were there, too.
— Danhausen v. Dominik Mysterio has been added to
SummerSlam.
Next Week on Raw from Los Angeles:
Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins face off.
Alpha Academy v. The Vision.
Sol Ruca v. Raquel Rodriguez for the WWF Women’s
Intercontinental Title.
A concernt by Joe Hendry and Danhausen.
Oba Femi and Brock Lesnar Weigh-In.
LA Knight v. Jacob Fatu
Knight cut a promo before the match. He was shocked that
Sikoa offered to help Rollins in the title match at
SummerSlam. Knight pointed out that the fans gave Sikoa the
“What?” treatment during his promo. Talking about the
Rollins and Reigns SummerSlam main event makes Knight sick,
and the crowd chanted “OTC!” in response. Knight told the
fans they’ve been conned into chanting for Roman. Roman
spent years begging for the fans to cheer him but they booed
him out of the building for years, until he “can figure
something out.” Knight doesn’t say what Roman figured out.
Knight, on the other hand, was everything Roman Reigns
wanted to be. Knight walked into the WWE and on his first
day and the fans felt his “undeniable kavorka.” Not only was
Knight everything that Roman Reigns wanted to be, he was
everything everyone in the back wanted Roman Reigns to be.
Sioka is focused on the wrong thing. He doesn’t need to help
some “cross eyed half wit” like Seth Rollins. Knight mused
that if he and his partners take the Bloodline out in the
six-man tag, they won’t be a factor in the main event.
Knight promised to smack Fatu back to “factory settings”
after he came out to his “Mortal Kombat music.”
This is Fatu’s first match on Monday Night Raw.
The match was joined in progress after a commercial break.
Knight hit Fatu with a flying clothesline, which he no-sold.
Knight battered Fatu with rights and lefts in the corner,
and followed up with shoulder blocks. Fatu responded with a
shot to chin that dropped Knight.
Knight avoided a charge in the corner. Knight smashed Fatu’s
legs against the ringpost. In the ring, Knight tried to work
over Fatu’s leg. Fatu kicked Knight out to the floor, then
followed him out with a tope. Knight whipped Fatu into the
ring steps, injuring his leg some more. Knight dove off the
steps onto Fatu, who caught him and Samoan dropped him onto
the ring apron.
Knight came back and came through the ropes with a dropkick.
Fatu charged at Knight, who dodged him and sent him into the
ringpost. Knight rammed Fatu’s head into the ring steps.
Knight came off the apron with a flying clothesline.
The show went to a commercial again, but in (I think) a
first for Raw, they showed the commercials and the match in
a split-screen. In the split-screen, Fatu smashed into
Knight with a hip attack in the corner for a near fall.
Fatu tried to hold Knight down with a nerve pinch, but he
battled out of it. Fatu missed an avalanche in the corner
(smacking his head against the ringpost), and Knight caught
him with a hangman’s neckbreaker for a near fall.
Knight got hung up on the turnbuckle, and Fatu hit a senton
on Knight (prone on the top turnbuckle) for a near fall.
Fatu went to the top, but Knight caught him and followed him
to top. Fatu head butted Knight down, but Knight sprang up
at superplexed Fatu off the top.
With both men down, Jimmy Uso came down to distract Knight.
Solo Sikoa jumped him from behind (Uso was basically feeding
his back to the ring barricade, so no surprise there). Fatu
took out Sikoa with a dive.
Back in the ring, Fatu went for a Samoan drop, but Knight
escaped and hit the BFT. Jimmy Uso distracted the ref. This
drew out Royce Keyes from the crowd, and he dumped Jimmy on
the commentator’s desk.
Jey Uso’s music hit. Keyes must not watch Raw, because he
was looking down the aisleway for Jey, who always comes
through the crowd. Jey came through the crowd and took out
Keyes with a superkick.
Back in the ring, Fatu hit Knight with a pop-up Samoan Drop,
then finished off Knight with the best moonsault ever.
Match Result: Jacob Fatu pinned LA Knight (12:30).
After the pin, Sikoa jumped Fatu, but Jimmy Uso took him out
with a superkick, and Jey followed up with a spear. Keyes
clotheslined the Usos, then took out Fatu with a
spinebuster, and The Usos took out Keyes with the 1D. Jacob
choked out Knight with the Tongan Death Grip, and the Usos
and Fatu hit him with a series of hip attacks. Jey Uso
finished off Knight with a splash off the top, and the
Bloodline left their opponents for SummerSlam laying in the
ring.
This show felt like it was eleven hours long. And it was 11
hours about Fanatics Fest.