Posted on 8/19/125 by Bob Magee
Show Recap —
Jey Uso and Naomi were shown arriving (separately) after a
recap of last week’s Raw.
The Vision opens Raw
They advertised that The Vision would appear on Raw and, in
fact, the four men who are on Raw most weeks entered to kick
off the show.
Seth Rollins wore a floral-patterned shirt and pants. The
fans sang his song, the heel group was cheered, and people
loudly barked for Bron Breakker.
They also cheered for Paul Heyman, who said he was God in
this city (Philadelphia). The city would build him a statue,
but he was far too humble to accept the credit he deserved
for everything he’s done in front of and behind the camera.
“Bluntly—I am the GOAT.”
Heyman said the ring was filled with GOATs. He put over
Breakker and Bronson Reed in the same manner he always does.
Reed continues to carry Roman Reigns’ shoes with him, so the
crowd chanted, “OTC.” Heyman put over Rollins next and said
he’s beaten Reigns twice. The crowd sang his song again.
Rollins was about to speak, but Jey Uso entered through the
crowd. Jey remained in the crowd to cut his promo. (He
pointed the microphone at a few young fans who all said,
“Yeet.”) Jey was tired of The Vision. He called Breakker a
puppy dog who would have to deal with him tonight.
Rollins egged on Breakker by claiming Jey said things about
Breakker and his family that he never actually did. Rollins
claimed Jey said he was a better and stronger athlete than
Breakker, and claimed Jey thought his family was stupid. I
guess Breakker believed him because he wanted to go after
Jey right now, but Rollins stopped him. (Jey seemed
unbothered by all of this.)
Heyman said that in a bingo hall not so far away, men used
to settle their differences in the ring in a particular type
of match. He was about to proclaim the match in the name of
Sandman, New Jack, Rob Van Dam, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, and The
Dudley Boyz, but Jey cut him off and offered the match
instead: extreme rules.
(When Heyman said Dreamer’s name, he called him the “late,
great Tommy Dreamer.” He went on to say that he knew Dreamer
wasn’t dead but added, “he should be.”)
This was the usual opening segment to build to the main
event, with some ECW references in Philly thrown in to make
it feel different.
********
Asuka apologized to Iyo Sky backstage for shoving her last
week. Kairi Sane and Asuka offered to be at ringside for her
match, but Sky politely turned them down. They were all
happy and on the same page.
IYO SKY vs. Raquel Rodriguez (w/Roxanne Perez)
Sky was about to go for a dive, but was tripped by Perez
from outside the ring (with the ref distracted). Rodriguez
used the distraction to boot Sky. Rodriguez took over the
moment they went to break, and Sky came back the moment they
returned after dodging an elbow drop.
Sky hit a missile dropkick, and the crowd cheered when she
did her pose. Sky went for a bullet train, but Rodriguez
caught her and hit a Samoan drop, followed by a corkscrew
elbow drop for two. Rodriguez avoided a moonsault and turned
Sky inside out with a clothesline for two.
Sky wiped out Perez with a suicide dive and went for one on
Rodriguez, but Rodriguez caught her and rolled through to
her feet. Rodriguez lawn-darted Sky onto the ring apron and
went for a Tejana Bomb in the ring, but Sky countered out of
it and hit the bullet train. Sky followed with a moonsault
for the pinfall win.
— Perez and Rodriguez attacked Sky after the match, but Rhea
Ripley (not Asuka and Sane) ran out to make the save. Sky
quickly joined in, and they worked together to get rid of
Rodriguez.
Match result: IYO SKY defeated Raquel Rodriguez (11:00)
This wound up being pretty good, particularly the portion
following the commercial break.
********
Jackie Redmond interviewed LA Knight. Before he could say
much, CM Punk interrupted. Punk said Redmond could leave,
but Knight told her to stay. Punk thought Knight didn’t like
him, but Knight said it wasn’t personal. Punk kept stepping
into his business.
Punk thought they should stay on the same page against
Rollins’ crew, but Knight wasn’t interested after Punk
attacked him last week. Knight was focused on walking out of
Paris as the world champion.
********
The New Day cut a generic heel promo during a break. Kofi
Kingston said the 76ers were losers, and Xavier Woods said
Penta owed him money for his hat.
They aired highlights of Triplemanía and said it was the
most viewed edition in history, with 4.3 million views in
the first 24 hours. They did not mention that it aired on
YouTube.
Asuka and Sane approached Ripley and Sky backstage. Asuka
didn’t appreciate Ripley stepping in to help Sky instead of
them. Asuka and Ripley got into a shouting match until Sky
yelled at them even louder to stop. Sky kept shouting as she
left and could be heard off-screen as Asuka and Ripley
stared at each other. Asuka left, Ripley was annoyed, and
Sane looked disappointed at this turn of events.
********
Xavier Woods (w/Kofi Kingston & Grayson Waller) vs. Penta
The heel took control 90 seconds into the match, which meant
it was time for a break. During the break, Michael Cole said
Woods tracked down Petey Williams to find out how to counter
Penta’s Canadian Destroyer. (Although, Cole said Woods asked
Williams about his Canadian Destroyer to counter Penta’s
Mexican Destroyer.)
Penta made a comeback and wiped out Woods and Waller with a
dive. Woods responded later with a reverse vertical suplex
for two. The crowd was deathly silent as Penta countered
Woods’ Honor Roll with a Penta Driver.
Penta didn’t immediately go for a cover, and Woods managed
to roll to the ropes. This allowed Kingston to put Woods’
foot on the bottom rope to break up the cover, so Penta
wiped out Kingston and Waller with a flip dive. (I like that
Waller did nothing at ringside besides get laid out by two
dives.)
Woods tried to steal a win with a small package, but Penta
kicked out and hit a Canadian Destroyer for the pinfall win.
Kingston and Waller entered the ring to go after Penta, but
he bailed.
Match result: Penta defeated Xavier Woods (9:48)
Congrats to Penta, who moves to one win above .500 in 2025.
********
They showed Dominik Mysterio getting pinned by El Hijo del
Vikingo at Triplemanía thanks to AJ Styles. (They played
loud music over the crowd’s reaction to Vikingo winning.)
After the show, Dom called Styles an “old bat” for costing
him the title and said he would beat Vikingo at Worlds
Collide on September 12th. (Rey showed up to mock Dom for
losing.)
Non-title match: World Tag Team Champions Finn Bálor & JD
McDonagh (w/Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio) vs.
Dragon Lee & Mr. Iguana
Mr. Iguana got a modest reaction. Dragon Lee was in control
for a couple of minutes before tagging him in. There were
light cheers when he tagged in, but Bálor immediately cut
him off. The crowd sang Dom’s name as Bálor had the heat.
Dragon Lee and Mr. Iguana wiped out Bálor and McDonagh with
dives ahead of a break.
This slowed down during a break. When they returned,
McDonagh hit Dragon Lee with a poisonrana, but Lee quickly
responded with a Liger bomb. Mr. Iguana made a hot tag, and
his offence included using his puppet, “La Yesca,” which
didn’t get much of a reaction. Dragon Lee tagged himself in,
and McDonagh wiped out Mr. Iguana with an Asai moonsault.
Bálor hit Dragon Lee with a slingblade, but Lee came back
with a superkick. McDonagh distracted the referee as Dom
grabbed Lee by the leg. This allowed Bálor to hit Lee with a
dropkick and Coup de Grace for the pinfall win.
— Judgment Day put the boots to the babyfaces post-match.
Dom cleared the announce table but was attacked by Vikingo.
Vikingo attacked McDonagh in the ring, but Dom attacked
Vikingo from behind with his AAA Mega Championship belt.
Judgment Day aided Dom, who hit Vikingo with a frog splash.
Match result: Finn Bálor & JD McDonagh defeated Dragon Lee &
Mr. Iguana (9:52)
Dragon Lee looked good here, but there was only so much he
could do. Mr. Iguana didn’t do much, but they definitely
wanted you to know he has a puppet. Neither Mr. Iguana nor
Vikingo got significant reactions. That doesn’t mean they
shouldn’t be used on WWE programming, but the crowd isn’t
with them yet.
*******
Redmond interviewed Becky Lynch and asked why she attacked
Natalya last week. Lynch claimed we saw the best of Maxxine
Durpi thanks to her, and she was only defending herself when
Natalya shoved her. Lynch said Natalya has been wrestling in
different promotions to prove herself, but Natalya didn’t
belong in the ring with her. Lynch welcomed her back to the
big time.
*******
There was a follow-up to that Bayley interview last week.
She’s talking to herself now. She has a split personality
like Two-Face, and her inner voice was constantly calling
her a loser. Of course, we can hear it too, which doesn’t
make any sense.
This was stupid.
********
Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs.
Natalya (w/Maxxine Dupri & Akira Tozawa)
We got normal WWE Natalya in this match. Lynch posted
Natalya, and they went to break 90 seconds into this title
match. They tried to play it up like Natalya had a shoulder
injury. The ref checked on her, but Lynch went after and
worked over her arm through the break.
Lynch applied an armbar when they returned. Natalya
eventually fought out and hit a powerbomb. Natalya sold her
arm before going for a Sharpshooter. Lynch avoided it, but
Natalya hit a discus clothesline for two.
Dupri checked on Natalya, so Lynch booted Dupri and hit
Tozawa with a baseball slide as he checked on her. This led
to Natalya applying a cradle, which was probably meant to
get a reaction since it came off a distraction, but it
didn’t. Lynch kicked out and applied a Disarmer for the
submission win.
— Lynch decked Natalya and Dupri after the match. She put
Dupri on a Disarmer until Nikki Bella ran out to make the
save. Nikki laid her out with a “Rack Attack 2.0.”
Match result: Becky Lynch defeated Natalya to retain the
Women’s Intercontinental Championship (7:51)
A standard WWE match with a crowd as quiet as you’ll ever
hear.
*******
They announced a “special edition” of Stephanie McMahon’s
podcast with Naomi (who Stephanie called “Trinity”) and
Jimmy Uso. They aired a clip but cut away before Jimmy could
make an announcement.
Naomi is up next.
********
Redmond tried to interview Sheamus, but they were
interrupted by Rusev. The two men were about to brawl, but
officials broke it up. A furious Adam Pearce said they would
settle things in a good old-fashioned donnybrook.
Vic Joseph interviewed Trick Williams during a break, but
they were interrupted by Je’Von Evans. Trick left and said
he’d see him tomorrow. Evans plugged the match on tomorrow’s
NXT.
Punk approached Jey Uso and offered to have his back
tonight. Once again, this did not go the way Punk hoped. Jey
wanted to do this on his own and was focused on Paris. They
shook hands.
********
Naomi’s announcement
Naomi entered with her world championship. She was emotional
and asked the fans to turn to the screen. They aired the
announcement on Stephanie’s podcast. Jimmy announced they
were having a baby, and the crowd popped huge. Stephanie
wanted to hear it from Naomi, so Naomi confirmed she was
pregnant.
Back in the ring, Pearce congratulated Naomi and said they
were all happy for her. The fans cheered.
Naomi looked angry as she turned her attention to Pearce.
She said this wasn’t her first time relinquishing a title.
She handed it back the first time, but this time, “I ain’t
handing you shit.” Her hormones were jumping like a disco,
so she told Pearce to get to steppin’ and get out of her
ring. He left. She encouraged the fans to sing the goodbye
song at him, so they did. She thanked them.
Naomi said the women in the back should be thanking one
person. Some fans chanted for Jimmy Uso, and she smiled
because that’s who she meant. If it wasn’t for Big Jim, she
would’ve walked them all like a dog. But thanks to Big Jim
and Netflix and chill, that wasn’t happening. The fans
chanted, “You deserve it,” and she was happy to hear it.
Naomi exclaimed: “On the bright side, I guess the Bloodline
continues, baby!” (Some fans decided to chant, “OTC.” Some
much smarter fans chanted, “Baby Uso.”)
Naomi placed the belt down in the ring. She told the heffers
in the back they had just over nine months to get ready. She
would do whatever it took to get her title back, even if
that meant doing it while breastfeeding her baby. She
advised them to proceed with caution.
The crowd cheered as she waved goodbye.
(This was great, and of course, turned Naomi into a big
babyface.)
********
Next week on Raw in Birmingham, UK (start time 3 pm ET/12 pm
PT)
Rhea Ripley vs. Roxanne Perez
Kofi Kingston vs. Penta
********
Backstage, Judgment Day weren’t sure where Dom was, but they
bumped into him while he spoke to El Grande Americano
(Ludwig Kaiser). Dom told Bálor he just wanted to ensure
Judgment Day always stayed on top.
Bálor acted like he was fine with this, but was clearly
caught off guard. (Bálor has been the one pulling the
strings for weeks, but this was the first time he seemed
like he wasn’t in control of things.)
********
Extreme Rules match: Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker (w/Paul
Heyman)
Jey wore a bandana like New Jack and carried a shopping cart
full of weapons to ringside. Early in the match, Jey
clotheslined Bron over the top, and Bron landed right on top
of the cart, which didn’t look fun. Bron stayed down for a
while until blocking Jey’s dive attempt by hitting him with
a steel chair. (Before this, Jey tossed chairs into the ring
one at a time as the fans yelled “Yeet.”)
Bron cut off Jey’s comeback attempt and dropped him gut-
first onto the top edge of two steel chairs. Bron did his
usual leaping clothesline off the apron, but used a trash
can this time to send Jey over the announce desk. During a
break, Jey gave Bron a back body drop through the thin piece
of cardboard that covers the announce desk.
Bron hit a Frankensteiner and went for a super spear, but
Jey cut him off with a spear of his own for a nearfall. Jey
hit him repeatedly with a steel chair before hitting another
spear. Jey hit an Uso splash, seemingly for the win, but
Bronson Reed pulled the referee out of the ring.
Reed attacked Jey as Cole said this was all legal. You could
question why Reed wasn’t out there from the beginning, but
to answer that question, Knight ran out to even the odds.
Rollins ran out through the crowd to attack Knight. Rollins
laid out Jey with a pedigree, and Punk entered next.
Rollins slipped in the ring to escape Punk, but wound up
getting attacked by both Knight and Punk. Punk set up
Rollins for a GTS, but Rollins slipped out and shoved Punk
into Knight. Knight fell off the apron and crashed through a
table. Punk shrugged his shoulders and chased Rollins
through the crowd.
Bron set up a table in the corner, but Jey superkicked him
onto the table. Jey went to the top, but Reed shoved him
off. The crowd chanted for Roman Reigns, knowing he was
advertised for the show. Sure enough, as Bron set up for a
super spear, Reigns’ music hit.
Bron hesitated while he watched the stage. Reigns didn’t
show, so Bron went for the spear, but Reigns appeared at
ringside and cut him off with a spear. Reigns also speared
Reed.
Jey superkicked Bron onto the table and hit an Uso splash
for the pinfall win. The crowd was happy.
— As Jey posed for the crowd, Reigns told Reed he would see
him in Paris. Reed was on board.
Match result: Jey Uso defeated Bron Breakker in an Extreme
Rules match (20:26)
This was basically a WWE main event match in a nutshell.
Pretty good action, tons of interference, stars interrupting
to their music. The crowd ate it up, and they were way, way,
way more into this than anything else on the show, aside
from Naomi’s announcement.