Posted on 8/12/125 by Bob Magee
Show Recap —
There was a long, dramatic recap of last week’s Raw.
Michael Cole informed the live and TV audience that Naomi
was not medically cleared to compete and, therefore, would
not be defending her title tonight.
CM Punk and LA Knight segment
Quebec City is red-hot, and CM Punk entered to a big
ovation.
Punk said the fans made it hard for him to stay angry, but
he was angry because he should be standing there
representing them as champion. He wasn’t, though, because he
had a Seth Rollins problem. Rollins was a visionary who
couldn’t see what was right in front of his face. He was
trying to be CM Punk, but was failing miserably.
Punk climbed to the top of the mountain at SummerSlam and
became the champion for the first time in 12 years “in this
company.” He couldn’t help but feel he let the fans down
because he wasn’t the champion anymore. However, if he was
obsessed about becoming champ before, he was even more
possessed now.
Punk knew to hate the game and not the player. He’s cashed
in Money in the Bank multiple times before, but boy, did he
hate Rollins. Rollins pretended to be Punk and pretended to
be injured so he could cash in when the time was right. Punk
promised to regain the title. Rollins wouldn’t have to
pretend to be injured because Punk would break his legs.
LA Knight interrupted to a big reaction. They shook hands.
Knight said Punk was robbed at SummerSlam and deserved to
have his rematch. (Punk responded, “Yeah!”) However, Knight
had his title match against Rollins last week, and Punk
couldn’t help but get involved and get him disqualified.
Wrong place, wrong time.
Knight said he didn’t have a problem with Punk and would
like to keep it that way. If Punk wanted Rollins, he should
do it on his own time. Punk could get his rematch—after
Knight got his.
Punk said Knight should be thanking him. Knight wasn’t about
to become champion after getting his head stomped in. Punk
called himself the number one contender and told Knight to
get behind him in line.
Knight recalled Punk saying there were levels to this, and
Punk was not on his level. Knight wanted a favour from Punk.
Knight suggested he take the title from Rollins first, then
Punk could be his first successful title defence.
Punk called himself the best in the world. They seemed to be
spinning their wheels at this point and repeating themselves
when Paul Heyman interrupted with Bron Breakker and Bronson
Reed (carrying two pairs of Roman Reigns’ shoes around his
neck).
Heyman spoke a couple of words in French before admitting
that’s all the French he knew. The crowd yelled obscenities
at him in French. Heyman advised Knight not to do any
favours for Punk.
Heyman rambled until Punk cut him off and invited the Bron-
Brons into the ring. Heyman was on board and agreed: Punk
and Knight against Breakker and Reed tonight.
Knight didn’t initially accept (likely because he wanted
Rollins instead), but Punk cut him off and said they
accepted. Knight made it clear Punk didn’t speak for him,
but he accepted. (They argued as the segment ended.)
When it seemed like the segment was done, Breakker made his
way down the aisle but was held back by Reed. Bron told
Punk, “You’re 47! What are you gonna do?” and added, “You’re
both 100 years old combined!” Reed and Heyman convinced
Breakker to back off.
(This segment was ok. Punk and Knight are both good
speakers, but their interaction felt forced. Punk’s initial
promo wasn’t his best, either. After all their talking, the
highlight of the segment was Breakker at the very end.)
********
Dominik entered the Judgment Day clubhouse with El Grande
Americano (Ludwig Kaiser). Raquel Rodriguez didn’t like him
being there. Finn Bálor pulled Dom aside and reiterated that
they didn’t really want him there. Dom said it was cool
because Americano was joining him at Triplemanía. Bálor was
on board because Americano could help Dom bring the AAA Mega
Championship to the Judgment Day.
The announcers plugged Triplemanía during entrances for the
next match.
AJ Styles & Dragon Lee vs. Intercontinental Champion Dominik
Mysterio & El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser)
Dragon Lee wiped out Americano with a dive before the match
began, and they gave the babyfaces the edge until they went
to break, when the heels took over. Lee made a hot tag after
the break, but the heels got the advantage again. This led
to a second break just nine minutes into the match. (Dom
wrestled for a few moments while wearing a mask.)
Americano ripped at Lee’s mask during a break and actually
exposed a decent amount of his face. The match slowed until
it was time to return from break, when Lee hit Americano
with a double foot stomp. Dom yanked Styles off the apron to
prevent a tag, but Styles chased him around ringside and
tackled him over the barricade.
Styles made a hot tag and hit Americano with a fireman’s
carry neckbreaker, but Dom broke up a cover. Lee monkey
flipped Dom into a Styles Clash, which was a cool spot.
However, Americano shoved Lee off the top rope, so Styles
gave him a reverse DDT.
Americano tried placing a steel plate under his mask, but
Styles hit an enziguri. The plate dropped into the hands of
Dom, who put his mask on and placed the plate inside. As
Styles came off the rope, Dom headbutted him, and Americano
caught Styles in a schoolboy for the pinfall win.
Match result: El Grande Americano & Intercontinental
Champion Dominik Mysterio defeated AJ Styles & Dragon Lee
(16:38)
********
Earlier today, Sami Zayn (wearing a Quebec Remparts jersey)
asked Adam Pearce if he had decided on a world title match
at Clash in Paris. Zayn desperately wanted the match. Pearce
said he couldn’t make any promises. He told Zayn to focus on
Rusev, then they could talk about it.
Sheamus entered. Pearce didn’t want him going after Rusev
again. Sheamus wasn’t about to listen to Pearce, but Zayn
asked him sincerely to stay out of it. Sheamus agreed, but
said he would go after Rusev the second their match was
over.
*******
Iyo Sky lamented to Pearce about not getting a title match
(now that Naomi is hurt). Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez showed
up to mock her. Sky said she came to Quebec to fight, so she
challenged Perez. Pearce made it official.
There was a graphic highlighting some wrestlers who came out
of Quebec: Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, The Quebecers, Pat
Patterson, Stan Stasiak, Rick Martel, and more.
********
Sami Zayn vs. Rusev
They took turns posing for the Quebec fans as the match
began, and you can guess the reactions. Zayn hit an Arabian
press to the outside, and the crowd popped, but Rusev cut
him off with a uranage. During a break, the crowd yelled
obscenities at Rusev. He posed again for the crowd and got
way more heat this time, the most he’s received since
returning.
Zayn made a comeback after the break and hit a tornado DDT
as the fans rose to their feet. Zayn went for a Helluva
Kick, but Rusev cut him off with a Machka Kick for two. Zayn
avoided an Accolade and applied a schoolboy for two. Rusev
avoided an exploder and hit Zayn with ten beats of the
Bodhrán (to piss off Sheamus).
Rusev stalled for too long, so Zayn hit an exploder in the
corner. The camera zoomed way in on Zayn as he set up for a
Helluva Kick, so you knew something was happening.
Zayn was pulled out of the ring by Solo Sikoa’s MFTs for the
disqualification. Tala Tonga booted Zayn as officials ran
down to chase them away. The crowd booed this, of course.
— The booing didn’t last long, because Sheamus appeared
through the crowd and hit Rusev with a knee strike. Sheamus
tossed a security guard over the announce desk. Sheamus and
Rusev brawled through the crowd as the segment ended.
During a break, Zayn got to his feet and went to the stage
as the crowd chanted, “Olé.”
(There was a funny, perhaps unplanned moment, where the
security guard that Sheamus assaulted was in visible pain
between Cole and Corey Graves at the announce desk.)
Match result: Sami Zayn defeated Rusev via disqualification
(9:49)
This was good enough while it lasted, thanks mostly to the
crowd. They would’ve exploded if Zayn got a simple win here,
but alas, they went with this finish instead. Cole mentioned
that Zayn might’ve gotten closer to a title match with a
win.
********
After a break, Sikoa and his crew were kicked out of the
arena. Pearce was pissed as he spoke with Nick Aldis on the
phone. A referee interrupted to tell Pearce that they had
separated Sheamus and Rusev. Pearce screamed at him to go
make sure.
The New Day and Grayson Waller approached Pearce next to
complain about Penta. Pearce was steaming and put Xavier
Woods in a match against Penta next week.
*******
There was a video package for Bronson Reed, where he spoke
about Reigns. He planned on adding to his shoe collection
until Reigns acknowledged him as his Tribal Thief.
Asuka and Kairi Sane offered to be at ringside for Sky’s
upcoming match. Sky appreciated it, but she’s beaten Perez
before, so she declined. They all embraced, but Asuka seemed
put off slightly by Sky turning them down.
IYO SKY vs. Roxanne Perez (w/Raquel Rodriguez)
Sky was in complete control and wiped out both Perez and
Rodriguez with a suicide dive. It was weird because Perez
just popped up and attacked Sky from behind to get the heat.
Perhaps Sky was only supposed to hit Rodriguez on the dive,
but she definitely got them both. I guess Perez knew they
were going to break, and it was time to get heat.
Sky made her comeback after the break, hitting strikes, a
dropkick, enziguri, a missile dropkick, and bullet train
(running double knee strike in the corner) for a nearfall.
Perez knocked Sky off the top rope and brought her down with
a hurricanrana. Perez clonked Sky with a knee drop (and you
could hear the impact) for two. The referee was distracted
by Rodriguez, so Perez poked Sky in the eyes and hit a
shining wizard for two. Perez put Sky in a crossface, but
Sky eventually slipped out and hit a backbreaker for two.
Sky hit an Asai moonsault to take out both Perez and
Rodriguez. Sky went for a moonsault in the ring, but Perez
got her knees up. At least that was the plan. Sky didn’t
land in position, so she landed knees-first on Perez anyway.
They both stayed down.
As Rodriguez distracted the ref again, Asuka and Sane ran
down to go after Perez. Perez escaped, and Sky almost hit
her friends by mistake. Perez shoved Sky into Asuka/Sane and
rolled her up while holding the tights for the pinfall win.
Sky was upset as she looked down at her friends at ringside.
Match result: Roxanne Perez defeated IYO SKY (15:39)
This was a very good match until the clunky finish. The
crowd was into Sky.
********
Jackie Redmond interviewed Jey Uso. He said it hurt him to
miss Raw last week and hurt him to see what happened to
Reigns. He missed Raw because he had family business to take
care of. Jey put Rollins and the Brons on notice.
Knight interrupted. He noted people thought Jey was
conspicuous by his absence last week. (He claimed this is
what people thought, but not him.) Knight told him that the
line started behind him regarding the world title. Jey
offered to put Knight at the back of the line. Jey welcomed
him to Raw.
********
Byron Saxton interviewed Penta during a break. He said
Woods’ hat looked better on him, and New Day sucks.
An upset Iyo Sky confronted Asuka in the back as Sane tried
to settle them down. Sky blamed Asuka for the loss. Asuka
shoved Sky and took off. Sky was shocked. Sane was upset,
but she followed Asuka.
********
Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs.
Maxxine Dupri (w/Natalya & Akira Tozawa)
Lynch mocked Dupri and told her to get out of her ring.
Dupri acted like she might, but gave Lynch an arm drag.
Lynch took over anyway and hit multiple suplexes, but Dupri
countered a Man-handle slam into a stunner.
Dupri applied an ankle lock, but Lynch rolled out of it.
That led to Dupri doing an oddly timed cartwheel before
booting Lynch in the corner. Dupri hit a flying crossbody
for two. Dupri hit a spin kick, although it didn’t look
good.
They traded cradles, and Lynch tried stealing a win by
grabbing the bottom rope, but the referee caught her. Lynch
applied a Disarmer moments later, and Dupri quickly tapped
out.
— Lynch booted Natalya as she checked on Dupri after the
match.
Match result: Becky Lynch defeated Maxxine Dupri to retain
the Women’s Intercontinental Championship (5:38)
Dupri has improved, but this was nothing.
*******
Seth Rollins met with his crew backstage. He was in a good
mood because he thought he’d have to deal with Punk and
Knight tonight, but they had to deal with the Brons instead.
(Not sure why they can’t go after Rollins, too. People run
into each other backstage all the time.)
Rollins figured his job was done, so he left for his
personal jet. (He doesn’t hang with the Brons outside of
this show because he said he would see them next week, but
would see Heyman on the jet.)
********
New Day cut a promo with Waller on the stage. Kofi Kingston
claimed Quebec wasn’t really Canada, and Woods (wearing a
tiny hat this week) said he would beat Penta next week.
Bayley segment
There was a video feature on Bayley, who seems to be having
an existential crisis. I thought this was really good until
the very end.
She said she’s been doing this a long time. She wanted more
but felt less. She felt nothing. She was called a role model
before she ever called herself one. She wanted to be that
person people looked up to. But now she was here—by herself.
Everything that led up to now has gotten her nowhere. She
couldn’t remember the last time she felt proud of herself.
It was her own fault.
The camera went out of focus, and she acted like she had a
headache. The screen went black, and you could hear her heel
cackle.
(I think they should have aired this same feature without
the last part. They want to tease a heel turn, but laid on
it on too thick with that bit.)
— Redmond interviewed Lyra Valkyria about the video.
Valkyria hoped Bayley was ok. She had no idea what was going
on with Bayley and said she wouldn’t have known because
Bayley shut her out. Valkyria was struggling with how to
react to this, but she said Bayley was the reason she
couldn’t challenge for the IC title anymore. Valkyria said
this wasn’t her fault, and Bayley was on her own.
********
Stephanie Vaquer approached Sky backstage. She said, “You’re
not the only one who was promised a title match.” She left.
Rhea Ripley approached Sky next. Ripley got a huge pop.
Ripley tried reasoning with Sky and asked if she could trust
Asuka and Sane. Sky didn’t want to hear that and told her to
stay out of it. (Ripley was being sincere and seemed upset
that Sky was upset.)
********
CM Punk & LA Knight vs. Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed (w/Paul
Heyman)
The babyfaces were in control until the Brons used a
distraction to take over during a break. Knight came back
after the break, but Breakker knocked him over the announce
desk with a leaping clothesline off the apron to lead to the
second break nine minutes into the match. (I refer to this
pattern dismissively every week, but the match has been
enjoyable so far with the teams doing simple heel and
babyface stuff to work the crowd.)
Knight began crawling for a hot tag as Breakker stalked
around the ring to go after Punk. Punk saw it coming, so
Breakker backed off, but that meant Knight couldn’t make a
tag. The Brons gave Knight a Steinerizer, but Punk broke up
the cover.
Punk made the hot tag and hit Breakker with a boot,
clothesline, leg lariat, vertical suplex, and lifting knee
strikes. Reed was about to go after Punk, but Knight
intercepted him with a baseball slide.
Punk hit Breakker with a flying (falling) elbow drop as the
crowd got to their feet. Punk called for GTS, but of course,
Rollins attacked him for the DQ.
— The heels attacked until Jey Uso entered to his music. He
attacked Breakker in the aisle with a chair. Rollins bailed
before Reed swatted the chair away from Jey. Jey fought him
off anyway and knocked him out of the ring with the chair.
Jey stood tall with Punk and Knight in the ring.
Pearce entered. He told Rollins he would have to defend the
world title at Clash in Paris against Jey Uso, Knight and
Punk in a fatal four-way. Rollins was not happy.
Punk was so happy he celebrated by shaking the ropes like
Ultimate Warrior. Knight was less enthused and argued with
Punk. Knight shoved Punk, so Punk tackled him. They brawled
until Jey pulled Knight off Punk, so Knight gave Jey a back
elbow. (Jey did not try to retaliate.)
Punk set up Knight for GTS, but was speared by Breakker.
Rollins and his crew beat up the stupid babyfaces. Breakker
ran around the ring and speared Knight. Reed gave Jey a DVD
and Tsunami. Rollins stomped Knight as he re-entered the
ring, and stomped Jey.
The Brons held down Punk as Rollins taunted him. Rollins
stomped Punk and held his title belt up high.
Match result: CM Punk & LA Knight defeated Bron Breakker &
Bronson Reed via disqualification (16:22)
This was the fourth Raw show in a row where the main event
ended in a DQ or no contest. The last Raw show to end with a
decisive winner was July 14th, when Punk won the gauntlet
match.
The babyfaces looked like idiots getting beaten up by
Rollins and friends.