Posted on 6/02/126 by Bob Magee
Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee are also set to face Ethan Page
and Rusev in tag team action.
The full lineup for today’s show:
Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker
Will Jacob Fatu acknowledge World Heavyweight Champion Roman
Reigns during Acknowledgement Ceremony?
King of the Ring tournament begins with Penta vs. Oba Femi
vs. Solo Sikoa vs. Carmelo Hayes
Queen of the Ring tournament begins
Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee vs. Ethan Page & Rusev
Our live coverage begins at 2 p.m. Eastern time.
************
– Following the WWE opening signature, we were welcomed live
to the broadcast by Michael Cole, who then tossed to a recap
of last night’s Clash in Italy PLE.
– As the recap ended, we got the arrival of World
Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns, flanked by Jey and Jimmy
Uso.
The Tribal Chief kicks off Raw
The Turin crowd cheered the arrival of the self-styled OTC,
fresh off a Tribal Combat victory last night at this same
venue. Commentary discussed whether or not Jacob Fatu would
adhere to the Tribal Combat rules and acknowledge Reigns as
his Tribal Chief, as well as the M.F.T.s staring down the
World Champion at the conclusion of Clash in Italy.
Once Reigns and the Bloodline arrived to the ring and the
music died down, the Italian crowd serenaded them with many
a chant.
Reigns said he had been waiting for this for a long time,
because there was no day quite like Acknowledgement Day. Jey
Uso demanded that Jacob Fatu show up this instant because he
was late for the ceremony. That cued Fatu himself showing up
and taking his time to get to the ring.
Reigns demanded that Fatu get to the acknowledgment already,
but Fatu approached Jey Uso and stared him down before
Reigns reminded him. Fatu approached Reigns knew what he was
getting into when entering Tribal Combat, both what would
happen if he won and if he had lost. Fatu acknowledged that
he took a loss to Reigns last night and he was a man of his
word.
“Last night, I lost to my Tribal Chief… but I didn’t lose to
your punk ass, Jey,” said Fatu.
Fatu said he was going to keep it 100 by stating that he
acknowedged Roman Reigns. He then kneeled and extended a
hand as Reigns took it. “You don’t understand this right
now, Jacob, but I love you,” said Reigns.
Jimmy Uso said that this was a warning shot to the locker
room that they were the twos, and that the Bloodline were
the ones. Everyone in the ring threw up the Ones to the sky
as the segment ended.
I don’t think you have to look far to get my thoughts on all
of this, namely the fact that WWE going back to the
Bloodline well, no matter how illogical it may seem, is
starting to turn into their version of WCW milking the nWo
cow until it ran dry. This stuff with Roman getting the band
back together, so to speak, and the teases of them facing
off against the M.F.T..s does not interest me at all. The
very confusing heel/face dynamic with Reigns and his family
does not help matters at all, either. The crowd cheers
Reigns as a conquering hero, but very little has changed
with him character-wise, and now he’s back to square one as
the gaslighting, bullying Tribal Chief character, but with
more aura farming.
Just a total mess, is what I’m getting at here. A rough
start for tonight’s show.
************
– We learned that an encore presentation of Original El
Grande Americano vs. El Grande Americano from Noches de los
Grandes on Saturday night would be shown immediately after
Raw on Netflix.
King of the Ring First Round Fatal Four-Way: Penta vs. Oba
Femi vs. Solo Sikoa (w/ Talla Tonga) vs. Carmelo Hayes
As Femi made his entrance, his four opponents went at him
inside the ring, but all got taken down before Femi struck
his pose bathed in the light.
Once the bell rang, Sikoa, Hayes, and Penta all tried to
team up against Femi, to no avail. Running uppercuts to
Hayes and Penta on opposite corners, but Sikoa intercepted
him. The right hand from Femi sent Sikoa out of the ring.
Meanwhile, Penta and Hayes fought inside the ring. Penta
Driver attempt countered by Hayes, who turned it into the
no-look fadeaway legdrop soon after. Near-fall as Penta
kicked out.
Penta’s superkick was met in kind with a Hayes superkick,
but the leaping springboard clothesline was intercepted by a
Penta superkick. Outside the ring, Talla Tonga stared down
Femi, who went back in the ring and hit Hayes and Penta with
a chokeslam. We took a break with Femi in command of this
match.
Back from the ad break as Hayes and Penta exchanged chops in
the ring, while Sikoa stepped inside and hit both men with a
clothesline. During the break, Sikoa disposed of Femi by
throwing him into the steel steps, which allowed him to
briefly gain control. However, Femi stepped inside and hit
Sikoa with a clothesline. A superkick by Sikoa was followed
by a First 48 from Hayes, as Femi missed with a running
shoulder attack. Outside the ring, Sikoa and Talla Tonga
threw Femi into the ringpost, followed by a rough-looking
running big boot that barely sent Femi over the barricade.
Tope con hilo by Penta on Sikoa, but Hayes got him with the
Fosbury Flop. In the ring, it was non-stop action as Sikoa
missed with the Samoan Spike and got hit with Hayes’ Dirty
Diana. Penta with the Penta Driver on Hayes. One, two… Sikoa
broke it up in time.
Inside the ring, Sikoa noticed Oba Femi rising from the
barricade, as the big man took out Talla with a big boot.
Back suplex over the announce table to Talla as he then sent
Sikoa across the ring. Femi then finished it off with Fall
from Grace on Sikoa for the three.
After the match, Femi took the mic and said that Brock
Lesnar questioned him whether he could take an ass-whooping.
Femi said that after taking an ass-kicking and seven F5s, he
took Lesnar’s best shot and was still standing. He promised
to win the King of the Ring as he then noted that it was 1-1
in his series with Lesnar. “I’ll see you, down the line,”
said Femi.
Oba Femi def. Solo Sikoa, Carmelo Hayes, & Penta via pinfall
to advance to the King of the Ring Semifinals
I didn’t like the decision of Femi dropping the rematch with
Lesnar last night at Clash in Italy, but I think WWE did as
well as they could to make sure Femi’s credibility wasn’t
completely shot with this match tonight. He looked very
dominant here and it helped him quickly recover after last
night. Whether or not Femi will win King of the Ring is
honestly up in the air, especially as the allure of a rubber
match between him and Lesnar at SummerSlam in Minneapolis
could be too strong to ignore for Triple H.
************
– We got a recap of Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker’s history
as the two will face off in the Raw main event later
tonight.
– Sol Ruca was seen walking to the ring. Meanwhile, Maxxine
was once again chatting with Austin Theory in the
background. We’d be hearing from Ruca coming up next.
Sol Ruca celebrates her Women’s Intercontinental Title win
The new Women’s Intercontinental Champion was introduced to
a great ovation from the Turin crowd. As Ruca entered the
ring, she took the mic as Cathy Kelley got ready to ask her
the questions.
Ruca was congratulated on her win last night as she was
asked that if she thought if she’d be standing as a champion
just a month after joining the Raw roster.
Ruca said that she believed that she could be a champion,
but most importantly, all the fans believed that she could
do it. From the bottom of her heart, Ruca offered a simple
“grazie” for the support. The Turin crowd erupted in cheers.
Ruca gave props to Becky Lynch, stating that she gave her a
chance to test herself against the very best, and she proved
Lynch wrong. And it wasn’t just her saying it, everyone was
saying it.
Ruca said that we deserved a fighting champion, and that’s
exactly what she would be. Ruca said that people might be
ready to underestimate her, but at the end of it all, anyone
who steps up to her, they’ll hear the same thing that we
heard last night: Sol Ruca is your Women’s Intercontinental
Champion.
Pretty standard promo from Ruca to establish her title
reign. We’ll see if she’s able to turn the recent criticisms
her main roster tenure on Raw has gotten so far around in
due time.
************
– We got after-show footage of Cody Rhodes running into
Roman Reigns from last night, as the two shared a tense
staredown. Elsewhere, Reigns gave Jey Uso orders to win the
King of the Ring and potentially take “the other one” (i.e.
Cody Rhodes’ Undisputed WWE Championship) at SummerSlam. As
Jey left, Reigns pulled Jimmy Uso aside and told him that
Jey needed to do this alone.
Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee vs. “All Ego” Ethan Page & Rusev
Page and Dragon got this match going as the latter ducked
the former’s attempts at grapples. Rusev tagged in and took
a chop from Dragon, which didn’t do much. Rusev fired
himself up and proceeded to stomp away at Dragon in the
corner. This was followed by a foot choke along the bottom
ropes on a defenseless Dragon. Page re-entered the match and
kept punching at Dragon. The powerbomb attempt by Page was
reversed by a hurricanrana into the corner. Over-the-top
wrecking ball dropkick on Page by Dragon, followed by a
running dropkick for the near-fall. Page got sent into the
ropes as Rusev tagged in. The unaware Dragon Lee nearly got
ambushed by Rusev, but he rolled him up for pin attempt.
Rusev had to kick out at two-here as he and Dragon stared
each other down. To a loud ovation, Mysterio wasabout to tag
in, but Page took him down from the apron. Rusev got wind of
this and grabbed Dragon for a spinning slam as we took a
timeout.
Back from the break as Dragon sent Rusev over the top rope
to the outside and Ethan Page had to stop him with a
leglock. The tag to Rusev, who stomped Dragon and slapped
Mysterio in the corner, which allowed the ref to be
distracted as Rusev and Page stomped on Dragon. Rusev threw
Dragon into the corner, but that allowed Dragon to hit Page
with a forearm. Rusev’s attempt to play defense was stopped
as a superkick floored his foe. As both Rusev and Dragon Lee
were down, they headed to their respective corners and made
the tag. Mysterio stormed in with an enzuigiri on page,
followed by the senton and a springboard press. One, two….
Page kicked out.
Big boot by Page stunned Mysterio as Rusev stepped into the
ring and found himself sent out of the ring by a Mysterio
hurricanrana. Page tripped up and placed in position for the
619. Rusev grabbed at Mysterio’s leg to stop it. Page sent
Mysterio into Dragon Lee, as the roll-up was kicked out at
two by the veteran. Mysterio’s hurricanrana was turned into
a Boston Crab, but Dragon broke it up. Dragon sent Rusev
into Page with a hurricanrana as flew into the Bulgarian
with a tope suicida. In the ring, Mysterio connected with
619 and the splash to pick up the win.
Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee def. Rusev & Ethan Page via
pinfall
Fun, relatively low-stakes match. I’m amazed that Mysterio
still moves as fluid as he does even at the age he’s at
right now.
************
– Adam Pearce spoke with Penta, who had a match set up with
him and Rey Mysterio for next week. LA Knight then
confronted Pearce, upset about the recent Bloodline love-in,
and stating that Pearce was playing favorites with Roman
Reigns and his family. Knight took note of Pearce putting up
the ones and stating it made him sick.
– A highlight reel of the Noche de los Grandes Mask vs. Mask
match was shown ahead of the actual match itself being shown
in its entirety tonight after Raw on Netflix. An odd choice.
We then got a recap of what happened afterwards and the
“Original” El Grande Americano unmasking as Chad Gable.
Queen of the Ring First Round Fatal Four-Way: IYO SKY vs.
Roxanne Perez vs. Giulia vs. Lash Legend
Roxy, SKY, and Giulia went after Legend right away as we
kicked off. Giulia was caught by Legend, but a SKY dropkick
took her down. Perez struck SKY from behind and battered her
with punches, but soon found himself hit with strikes. SKY
got sent out of the ring by Perez, as Legend came back in
the ring and took her out. Guillotine by Giulia on Legend,
but she was placed on the top turnbuckle. Legend held SKY
and Perez, but a dropkick fromt he top rope by Giulia took
everyone down. We took a commercial break as Giulia hit a
back suplex on SKY.
Back from the commercial as Giulia and Perez drove Legend
into the steel steps, as the former hit a dropkick on the
stunned Legend. Perez and Giulia apparently had an alliance,
but the former instead sent the latter onto the commentary
table. In the ring, Perez was hit with a shotgun dropkick by
SKY, who began to stir as the pace picked up. Another
dropkick from SKY as Giulia joined the fray. Double missile
dropkick by SKY was followed by her signature taunt. Perez
and Giulia were trapped in the corner as SKY barreled into
the both of them with the Bullet Train. Legend snuck up but
got hit with the double stomp from SKY. Arrivederci Knee to
Legend, but Perez broke up the count. Perez then got Giulia
and SKY with a double DDT.
In the corner, Perez’s Pop Rox attempt was stopped by SKY as
she headed up top looking for the Over the Moonsault. Giulia
interecepted her and had the double underhook. Perez
recovered and joined the fray. This led to Legend recovering
and getting both Giulia and Perez with a double powerbomb.
Lash Extension on both Giulia and Perez, but SKY stomped to
break the count. SKY then picked up the victory with the
Over the Moonsault on Giulia.
IYO SKY def. Giulia, Lash Legend & Roxanne Perez via pinfall
to advance to the Queen of the Ring Semifinals
This was a solid match that I think had the wrong winner. I
think it would’ve been nice for Giulia to pull off the
surprise upset win here.
************
– Maxxine Dupri was a bit upset with Adam Pearce for being
left out of the Queen of the Ring bracket. Pearce said when
an opening came up, Dupri would be informed. After Pearce
left, Otis pointed out that Dupri was talking a lot with
Austin Theory, reminding her that Theory was bad news. Dupri
stated taht she knew what she was doing.
– We got a video about Danhausen and the New York Knicks,
who are playing in the NBA Finals this week against the San
Antonio Spurs, perhaps due to Danhausen uncursing them.
– Cathy Kelley interviewed Bayley & Lyra Valkyria backstage.
The interview was interrupted when Valkyria took notice of
Sol Ruca walking. She pointed out how the stipulation of no
longer being challenged for the Women’s Intercontinental
Title no longer applied as she called her shot against Ruca,
much to the confusion of Bayley.
Next Monday on Raw (Paris, France)
King of the Ring First Round Fatal Four-Way: Seth Rollins
vs. Ricky Saints vs. Je’von Evans VS. Talla Tonga
Queen of the Ring First Round Fatal Four-Way: Liv Morgan vs.
Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Chelsea Green
– Roxanne Peres was upset about her loss earlier as Liv
Morgan talked about her and Dominik Mysterio’s King and
Queen of the Ring chances, apparently not caring about
everyone else in the process.
Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker (w/ Paul Heyman)
As the Turin crowd sang Rollins’ theme, this main event got
underway with a staredown. That was before Rollins was
forced into the corner by Breakker. The former World
Champion responded by punching away at Breakker, but he was
thrown for the German suplex. Rollins responded with a
Slingblade, followed by the clothesline. Rollins kept the
momentum going with a pair of suicide dives. On the third
attempt, Breakker caught him and sent him over the barricade
and into asome people sitting at rinsgide as the feed headed
to commercial.
The Raw main event returned from break as Breakker grabbed
Rollins by the chin and mocked him. He paid for that with
open hand strikes from Rollins that sent him into the
corner. Breakker answered with another German suplex, that
forced Rollins out of the ring. At ringside, Breakker drove
a knee into the gut of Rollins before he threw him in the
ringpost. Breakker then launched himself for a high flying
elbow to the face of Rollins. Breakker then smashed Rollins’
face repeatedly on the face of the Italian commentary table
before he rearranged the furniture. Rollins was sent back in
the ring afterwards, but Breakker caught him and got lifted
in the military press position. Rollins countered it into a
reverse neckbreaker. Rollins hit Breakker with a series of
clotheslines that finally kept Breakker down. The knee to
the jaw by Rollins as he headed to the apron and launched
himself for the springboard swanton. One, two… no!
Rollins went to the top rope with Breakker still trying to
recover. Breakker cut off Rollins and punched him at the top
rope. This led to the Frankensteiner on Rollins, but that
wasn’t enough to put this one away. Breakker had Rollins
dead to rights next to the commentary table, but the dive
was intercepted with a clothesline as we took another
commercial break on the sports-style replay of that previous
spot.
Back from the break as Breakker punched at Rollins in the
corner, but he got lifted in position for a sitout
powerbomb. Another kickout by Breakker. The action spilled
out of the ring yet again as Rollins pulled the steel steps
and put Breakker on the steps. Rollins ascended the steps,
but took too long as it allowed Breakker to push him into
the post. In the ring, Breakker’s ascent to the top rope was
intercepted by Rollins, who hit the superplex and Falcon
Arrow on the rollthrough. Again, Breakker managed to kick
out. Rollins hit Breakker with the superkick. The Curb
Stomp, but Breakker got him with the pop-up Spear. Rollins
rolled out of the ring as Breakker confronted him and placed
him on the announce table. Breakker looked for a Spear from
the Italian announce table, but Rollins reversed it into a
Pedigree through the English commentary table.
Rollins hit another Pedigree on Breakker but that still
wasn’t enough to put Breakker away. Rollins again had
Breakker in position for the Stomp, but Austin Theory tried
to interfere. He got sent over the top rope as Breakker
missed with the Spear. The Stomp from Rollins, no, as Theory
got him with the Tag Team Title belt. Montez Ford ran in and
leapt over the turnbuckle to take out Theory, but a Spear
from Breakker.
In the ring, Breakker got Rollins iwth the Spear, but that
wasn’t enough as Rollins kicked out. Rollins with the Stomp,
but Paul Heyman put the foot of Breakker on the bottom
rope’s. Heyman kept taunting Rollins, which got the Vision’s
former leader’s attention. Rollins got in Heyman’s face as
Breakker looked to hit Rollins with the “Super” Spear.
Rollins got out of the way, which caused him to hit Heyman
with the Spear instead. Meanwhile, Rollins had the World Tag
Titles around his waist, which worked out in his favour as
it acted as a shield when Breakker got him with the Spear,
which would make Bret Hart proud. One final Stomp, and
Rollins got the win here.
Post-match, Rollins took note of Montez Ford at ringside and
seemed to show appreciation for his assistance as he
celebrated the win to end Raw, as commentary tossed to the
Noche de los Grandes Mask vs. Mask match encore.
Seth Rollins def. Bron Breakker via pinfall
************