Posted on 8/22/126 by Bob Magee
Live! From Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett were on commentary.
Cody Rhodes Called Out Randy Orton
In the back, Sami Zayn is whining at Nick Aldis about
losing the title two months ago, and the “injustice” of
having his #1 contender match turned into a Fatal Four Way
at SummerSlam. And he’s complaining about Randy Orton, who
snuck up behind Sami Zayn. Before Orton could get into it
with Zayn, Cody Rhodes started calling him out from the
arena.
So Nick Aldis ran out to the arena to try and calm Cody
down, but Randy Orton came out. Nick Aldis got between Orton
and Rhodes. To keep them from killing each other, Orton and
Rhodes can’t touch each other before Sunday Night’s Main
Event. If they do, then they will never get another title
shot again.
Orton said he would be “Mr. Professional” and not touch Cody
before Sunday Night’s Main Event. Then he told Cody he
lacked the killer instinct to take him out. Rhodes told
Orton that was a dangerous assumption. Rhodes said “the one
who kills the Legend Killer is QB1. And that is not a
prediction. It’s a spoiler.”
Then they stared each other down while Cody’s music played.
— Tama and Talla Tonga walked around the back throwing out
challenges to anyone who wanted a shot. Haku came out of
nowhere and said they would show people who the
“m*th*rf*ckin Tongan is!”
Damien Priest & R-Truth v. Tama & Talla Tonga (w/ Haku) for
the WWE World Tag Team Championship
The Tongans jumped their opponents before the bell. The War
Raiders (with the AAA Tag Championships over their
shoulders) watched the match from a locker room in the back.
Truth got the tag and hit Tama with a Stinger Splash in the
corner. Priest and Truth clotheslined Tama to the floor, and
R-Truth followed him out with a slingshot plancha.
Back in the ring, Tama dropped Truth with a hot shot, then
hit a sliding lariat.
The Tongans worked over Truth during a split-screen
commercial. Tama missed a charge in the corner, and Truth
hit him with a leg lariat. Priest got the hot tag and went
after Talla, hitting a superkick.
Back to full-screen action, Priest took out Tama with a
modified flatliner and Talla with a modified bulldog. Priest
came off the top with a clothesline for a near fall. Talla
exploded into Priest with a flying clothesline, then stomped
him in the corner.
Priest got the tag to R-Truth, who hit his Ron Cena offense
on Tama. Truth hit the AA for a near fall, but Talla Tonga
made the save. Priest clotheslined Talla Tonga to the floor.
On the floor, Priest hit Talla with an axe handle off the
stairs. Tama blindsided Priest, and Talla chokeslammed him
on the ring apron.
Back in the ring, R-Truth fell victim to the Red Cross —
Talla hit Truth with a boot while Tama clipped his leg.
Match Result: The Tongans retained when Talla pinned Truth.
After the match, Priest helped R-Truth up to his feet.
— Cathy Kelley interviewed CM Punk in the back. Punk (who
has run some variation of the same angle for the last three
years), claimed to have changed while Kevin Owens, who
(according to Punk) is fighting imaginary battles in his
head, has not. Randy Orton came along to let Punk know that
when he beats Cody Rhodes at Sunday Night’s Main Event, he’s
coming for #15.
— Chelsea Green offered to take Tiffany Stratton out for a
steak dinner for costing her the US Title last week. Paige
offered some word of inspiration. Fatal Influence came
along, and Paige challenged Jacy Jayne for the Women’s US
Title. Fatal Influence walked off without accepting the
challenge.
— Blake Monroe can’t find anything to wear for her debut
against Giulia in the dump that is Toronto.
Giulia v. Blake Monroe Never Happened
Monroe jumped Giulia as she made her entrance, then threw
her into the barricades and the ring steps. They went into
the ring, and Monroe leveled Giulia with a headbutt, then a
Gotch-style piledriver (face-first style, so Cesaro’s
Neutralizer).
But the bell never rang, so no match. Why are they afraid of
letting Blake Monroe wrestle?
Blake declared herself World Championship material as she
left.
— Jade Cargill’s crew confronted Charlotte Flair’s crew
which led to Michin challenging Tatum Paxley to a match for
next week.
Trick Williams Called Out Baron Corbin
Trick Williams welcomed Lil’ Yachty back. I honestly didn’t
even know that he left. Williams called out Baron Corbin for
a Trick Shot so Williams could get his US Title back. Baron
Corbin rode out on what I can only assume is a Beautiful
Titan Bicycle (but without the US Championship belt) and
chased Yachty out of the ring.
Williams called Corbin bald and hit all of his catchphrases,
then challenged Corbin for the US Title, “wherever it is.”
Corbin told Williams the belt was getting “a haircut” and
that Corbin’s already beaten Williams twice, so he wasn’t
getting another title shot. But while Corbin was talking to
Williams, Yachty came up from behind and broke a kendo stick
over his head.
Corbin then offered a challenge: Trick can have a title shot
at Sunday Night’s Main Event, but first Corbin gets a match
with Lil’ Yachty. If Yachty can survive 5 minutes with
Corbin, then Williams gets a title shot. But if he doesn’t,
no title shots for Williams ever again. Yachty grabbed the
mic and accepted the challenge.
— Cathy Kelley tried to interview Kevin Owens about his
title match, but Finn Balor and Gunther interrupted. Bálor
wants a title shot when Kevin wins, but Gunther told Kevin
not to worry about Bálor, who is a shell of his former self.
Tiffany Stratton v. Lash Legend (w/ Nia Jax)
Last week, Stratton’s ribs were injured by the Irresistible
Forces when she saved Chelsea Green from an attack. She then
lost the US title to Jacy Jayne. Tonight, her ribs were
taped up for this match.
Stratton tried to start out fast, but it took Legend about
20 seconds to bury a knee into Stratton’s injured ribs to
take control. Lash picked Stratton up in a bearhug and
rammed her into the turnbuckles. Stratton tried a sunset
flip, but Legend blocked it. Stratton sent Legend over the
top rope and went for a dive, but Legend caught her, then
rammed her injured ribs into the ringpost.
After a commercial, Legend suplexed Stratton, then kipped up
for an elbow drop that missed. Stratton avoided a charge in
the corner, then hit a hurricanrana and an Oscutter/Lethal
Injection. Legend avoided a swanton, Stratton avoided a pump
kick, and Stratton got a near fall with a crucifix. Stratton
went for the Prettiest Moonsault Ever, but Legend crotched
her, then hit the Lash Extension for the pinfall.
Match Result: Lash Legend pinned TIffany Stratton (7:21).
After the match, Legend and Jax beat up on Stratton some
more until Chelsea Green chased them off with a kendo stick.
— A recap of Kevin Owens’ injury and return and the recent
history between him and CM Punk. They showed still photos
of Kevin Owens and CM Punk from Ring of Honor.
— Shinsuke Nakamura finally revealed his new partner, Kyoki
(I think I got the spelling right), the former Hiromu
Takahashi. They’re going after the Tongans and their tag
team championships.
Kevin Owens v. CM Punk for the WWE Undisputed Championship
Punk wore a hockey goalie’s mask to the ring and was dressed
in all white. Tessitore tried to play up a mixed reaction
for Punk, but it looked like the fans were singing along and
it sounded like he was getting a mostly babyface reaction.
Owens and Punk got into each other’s faces before the ring
announcer could “officially” introduce them. The referee had
to keep them apart during their ring introductions. Punk
finally did get legit heel heat when he was introduced from
Chicago.
The bell rang and Owens went right to punching Punk in the
face (he’d been waiting 20 years to do it, after all), then
clotheslined him to the floor. Punk caught Owens with a
cheap kick, but Owens suplexed him onto the top rope, then
punched him down to the floor again.
On the floor, Owens chopped Punk and rocked him with another
right hand. Owens started to clear off the announce desk,
which gave Punk the opportunity to cheap shot him from
behind again. Punk then set the announce desk right and went
back to the ring.
Back in the ring, Owens kicked Punk in the thigh (totally
legally and not a low blow at all) and went for a stunner,
but Punk reversed it into a hangman’s neckbreaker. Punk took
control as the show went a split-screen commercial.
Punk got most of the heat during the commercial. He turned
Owens inside-out with a clothesline for a near fall.
There were dueling Kevin Owens/CM Punk chants from the
crowd. Owens fired off a chop on Punk, then leveled him with
a lariat. Owens fired off more right hands, beat Punk down,
and then stomped a mudhole in him. Punk rolled to the floor
to regroup, and Owens followed and floored him with another
clothesline.
Back in the ring, Punk cowered in the corner. Owens gave
Punk a crotch chop, then hit him with a cannonball for a
near fall. Owens kicked Punk’s hockey mask off the stairs
while he climbed to the top rope, and Punk ran away to the
floor again.
Owens followed him out and superkicked Punk onto the
announcer table, then came off the barricade with a frog
splash, crushing Punk and destroying the table.
Back in the ring, Owens hit Punk with a Swanton, but Punk
kicked out at two.
Owens slapped Punk and went for a pop-up powerbomb, but Punk
jumped over him and hit a series of kicks for a near fall.
Punk shouted about how Toronto hasn’t won anything since
1967 before running into Owens with a high knee.
Punk climb to the top, threw his own crotch chop at Owens,
then came off the top with his version of an elbow drop for
a near fall. Punk went to the Anaconda Vice. Owens clawed at
Punk’s face, then turned Punk into a cradle for a near fall.
Punk dropped Owens with another hangman’s neckbreaker. Punk
hit some forearms and smashed down on Owens’ neck, drawing
the ire of the crowd.
Punk picked Owens up for the GTS, but Owens caught Punk’s
knee, swept Punk’s leg and locked Punk in the Sharpshooter!
Punk crawled to the ropes to break the hold.
Punk snapped Owens’ neck against the top rope. Owens went
for the Stunner, but Punk shoved Owens into the referee,
totally on purpose. Punk went for the GTS again, but Owens
slid out of it and shoved Punk. Punk collided with the
referee, sending the ref to the floor. Owens hit Punk with
the Stunner and got the visual pinfall, but there was no
referee to make the count.
Owens went looking for the ref, then turned around into the
GTS from Punk to get his own visual pinfall. The Canadian
fans even counted the pin for Punk — traitors.
Punk dropped to the floor to get the ref back into the ring.
Sami Zayn ran in from the crowd and sent Punk into the ring
post, then threw Punk into the ring. Owens (who didn’t see
Sami’s interference) hit the Stunner on Punk. Sami threw the
ref into the ring, but Punk kicked out at 2.99.
Sami threw the belt into the ring. Owens grabbed the belt to
use on Punk. The ref was still out. Owens then tossed the
belt to Sami, saying he didn’t want to win the title this
way. Sami then smashed Owens in the face with it. Punk then
hit Owens with the GTS and got the pinfall.
Match Result: CM Punk pinned Kevin Owens after Sami Zayn hit
Owens with the title belt (18:52).
Sami Zayn feuding with Kevin Owens again. Who didn’t see
that coming?
After the match while Punk celebrated, Sami Zayn ran in and
smacked Punk with the belt too. Owens recovered and went
after Zayn, so Zayn smashed Owens with the belt again. Zayn
hit Punk again and said justice would be the belt back with
him.
The main event was a great match before the super-
predictable finish. But man, was the rest of the show kind
of a bore to get through before that.