Posted on 7/01/125 by Bob Magee
Show Recap —
There was a recap of Night of Champions from Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia. It began with them talking about how great the city
and the country are. The recap included ‘headlines’ from
various news/sports outlets, one of which claimed that Sam
Zayn pulled off a “miracle win” over Karrion Kross. That was
from CBS, where someone just repeated what Michael Cole said
in the commentary.
Sami Zayn (impressed by a picture of Sidney Crosby and
Evgeni Malkin hoisting the Stanley Cup), Penta, New Day, and
Sheamus were shown arriving at the arena in Pittsburgh.
Corey Graves is once again on commentary with Cole, in place
of Pat McAfee.
Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY segment
Ripley entered to a big reaction and welcomed us to “Monday
Night Mami.” (Must everyone do this?) Ripley said Judgment
Day was finally behind her, and she wanted to get her
priorities straight ahead of Evolution.
Iyo Sky quickly interrupted. Sky said you could not have
Evolution without her, but Ripley was wrong about one thing.
Ripley was not on top—not without the title. Adam Pearce
told Sky that she could defend her title against the
opponent of her choice at Evolution. Sky wanted to defend
against the best, and that meant defending against Ripley.
Ripley said she had nothing but respect for Sky, but warned
her that she would stop at nothing to get the title back.
Ripley accepted the match at Evolution.
********
Backstage, Dominik Mysterio wished luck to Finn Bálor and JD
McDonagh in their title match. After they left, Dom was
confronted by AJ Styles.
Dom presented a doctor’s note proving he was not medically
cleared. Dom wondered if Styles needed glasses to read the
note. Styles, in fact, put glasses on to read the note—and
the note said Dom was a punk ass. That got a good laugh from
the crowd. Styles warned Dom he would do a lot worse to him
once he got his hands on him.
********
This is only the second time Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods
have wrestled since winning the tag titles at WrestleMania
over two months ago.
World Tag Team Championships: The New Day vs. Finn Bálor &
JD McDonagh
The match started with Kingston offering Bálor a piece of
bread so he could have some carbs, but Bálor pushed it away.
New Day worked over McDonagh throughout a commercial break.
Bálor made a hot tag, which got a nice pop, and he ran wild
on New Day. Bálor hit a slingblade and went for a dropkick,
but Kingston cut him off with a leaping double foot stomp.
They tagged out, and McDonagh hit Woods with an Asai
moonsault, but Woods got his boots up on a moonsault in the
ring. Bálor made a blind tag and went for a Coup de Grâce on
Woods, but Woods moved, and Bálor hit McDonagh by mistake.
Woods rolled up Bálor for a nearfall. New Day hit Bálor with
Midnight Hour next for a close nearfall. Each team took
turns cheating behind the referee’s back, leading to Woods
hitting Bálor with a title belt from behind, but Bálor
kicked out yet again. McDonagh got back in and hit Woods
with an avalanche Spanish Fly, but Kingston broke up the
cover.
Bálor gave Kingston a slingblade outside the ring, McDonagh
hit Woods with a moonsault, and Bálor hit Woods with a Coup
de Grâce for the pinfall win. Judgment Day are the new tag
champs.
Dom joined Bálor and McDonagh in the aisle to celebrate as
fireworks went off.
The notoriously quiet Pittsburgh crowd was really into this,
and they popped huge for Judgment Day winning.
Match result: Finn Bálor & JD McDonagh defeated The New Day
to win the World Tag Team Championships (12:24)
This was really good on all fronts. The match was fun, and
the crowd was into the heel team that happened to be playing
babyfaces tonight.
It may be premature to take the titles off New Day, but
they’ve done next to nothing since turning heel, and even
less since winning the titles. That’s not all their fault,
but that’s where we are.
********
Jackie Redmond interviewed Bayley. Bayley said she should be
the current IC champion, but Lyra Valkyria got in her way.
Bayley’s goal has not changed.
Valkyria interrupted. Valkyria was offended because Bayley
wouldn’t return her messages, but would talk about her
behind her back. They had a heated argument, basically over
who hated Becky Lynch more.
They screamed at each other until Pearce interrupted and
screamed even louder for them to stop. He made a match
between the two tonight, and the winner would face Lynch for
the title.
********
Maxxine Dupri, Natalya, and Akira Tozawa greeted Sheamus as
he warmed up backstage.
There was a Grayson Waller interview during a break. He was
inspired by New Day cutting the dead weight and turning on
Big E, and thought he could learn something. (That was seven
months ago.)
There was a Goldberg video package set to “Dominate” by
Three Days Grace.
********
Chad Gable spoke to American Made backstage. Pearce joined
to say he was sorry to hear about Gable’s injury and wished
him luck. Gable said he made his own luck. Pearce figured we
wouldn’t be seeing El Grande Americano for a while. Gable
said he was a busy man, “but you never know.”
After Pearce left, Gable gave his teammates their marching
orders. Brutus Creed said they would be lost without him.
Gable told them to listen to Ivy Nile. Gable left. (Ludwig
Kaiser was eavesdropping in the background.)
********
Bálor and McDonagh approached Pearce and Nick Aldis
backstage. Bálor said Raquel Rodriguez has worked very hard
to be the tag champ, and it would be mean to strip her of
the titles (because of Liv Morgan’s injury). Bálor suggested
they give her a new partner: Roxanne Perez.
Pearce and Aldis huddled over the idea and agreed to it.
However, they wanted Rodriguez and Perez to prove themselves
as a team, so they would have to defend the belts at
Evolution against a team from Raw, SmackDown and NXT. Bálor
and McDonagh were initially caught off guard by this but
agreed.
********
Rusev entered and waited in the ring for almost ten minutes
before the match began (thanks to a break and the above
segment).
Cole screeched, “It’s fight niiiight, baby!” as Sheamus
entered. He should not do that again.
Rusev vs. Sheamus
They’ve been in multi-man matches since, but this was their
first singles match since 2014.
They clobbered each other until Sheamus brought Rusev off
the apron with a powerslam to the outside. Rusev took over
during a break after Sheamus went shoulder-first into the
ring post.
Sheamus began no-selling Rusev’s kicks and kept inviting him
to do more. Sheamus got to his feet and fired up. He hit a
backbreaker, followed by a diving knee drop, but Rusev
kicked out at one. Rusev came back with a spinning heel kick
for two, and a fallaway slam for two. Rusev hit a superplex
ahead of another break.
Rusev held control during the break, and not much happened
until Sheamus hit a White Noise right on time for them to
return from break. They took turns clobbering each other
some more until Sheamus hit a powerslam. Sheamus hit ten
fifteen beats of the Bodhrán and went for a Brogue, but
Rusev ducked it (sort of). Sheamus fought him off again and
hit consecutive running knee strikes for a nearfall.
Rusev responded with a uranage and a jumping kick. He
applied the Accolade, but Sheamus managed to get to his feet
while hoisting Rusev on his back. They spilled out of the
ring, and Sheamus hit Rusev with a Brogue Kick, and Rusev
just barely avoided a count-out.
They battled on the apron until Rusev thumbed Sheamus in the
eye. He exposed the inanimate metal rod (off the top
turnbuckle) and rammed Sheamus into it. Both of these things
happened right in front of the referee. Rusev followed with
a Machka Kick for the pinfall win.
Match result: Rusev defeated Sheamus (20:22)
This was pretty good until the finish. However, it did drag
at times, particularly during the commercials, and the
finish was stupid. Graves tried to claim that the referee
didn’t see Rusev poke Sheamus in the eye, but you could hear
the ref screaming at him for doing that.
********
Pearce and Aldis announced a battle royal at Evolution, and
the winner would earn a title match at Clash in Paris. (This
was not the most inspiring announcement.)
Redmond interviewed American Made. Nile spoke about the
battle royal until El Grande Americano suddenly appeared. He
nodded at them and left. (It was Ludwig Kaiser.) Redmond
asked them for comment. An excited Brutus was about to say
something, but Nile cut him off. They left.
Redmond was about to interview Sami Zayn nearby, but he was
attacked by Karrion Kross. Kross attacked Zayn with a pipe
until officials broke it up.
********
Byron Saxton interviewed Stephanie Vaquer during a break.
Vaquer was excited for the battle royal. (It sounds like
whoever wins will get to pick which champion they face.) She
didn’t come to Raw to be second place, and if she won the
battle royal. She planned on facing the Raw champion. Vaquer
has traveled the world and would not stop until she was the
world champion.
(Perhaps she’ll win, but a battle royal doesn’t seem to be
the best use of Vaquer on an all-women PPV.)
********
Members of the Pittsburgh Steelers, including Cam Heyward,
were shown at ringside.
Gunther segment (Seth Rollins, CM Punk, LA Knight get
involved)
Gunther spoke about the impressive Goldberg video package.
Goldberg was violent, brutal and destructive. But just like
his matches, all of his highlights were summed up in three
minutes.
Gunther was not afraid of what was left of Goldberg. He was
a 58-year-old man, riding out his career at Gunther’s
expense. That was not going to happen because Goldberg was
not capable of taking the title from him. Gunther knew he
could beat Goldberg in three minutes, but that was not his
goal.
Gunther would take his time, blow him up, and embarrass him
in front of everyone who loved him. Goldberg said he didn’t
like bullies, “but too bad you bumped into the biggest bully
around here.” Gunther planned on bullying him and treating
him like trash, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Goldberg wanted to prove he still had it, but Gunther would
prove he never had it. Once it was over, it would be
Gunther’s turn to ask, “Who’s next?”
Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman entered. Gunther made fun of
Rollins for travelling very far (NOC) to accomplish nothing.
Rollins laughed at the statement. Rollins informed him they
did not go to NOC to cash in on John Cena.
Rollins made it clear that as long as he was alive, CM Punk
would not be a champion in WWE. They flew across the world
to stand on that business. (Fans chanted for Punk.) Rollins
told Gunther that winning MITB meant an all-out assault on
both championships.
Punk’s music hit, and he sprinted to the ring to attack
Rollins. Rollins bailed through the crowd as Punk called him
a coward. (The crowd chanted for Punk again.)
Punk was about to leave until Gunther grabbed him by the
arm. Punk shoved Gunther, and Gunther actually fell to the
mat. (Gunther looked nonplussed about being shoved down by
Punk.) A pissed-off Punk marched to the back.
Rollins was amused as he stood in the stands, but was
attacked from behind by LA Knight. They fought into the
concourse (which was conveniently blocked off from the
fans). Rollins tossed a drink in Knight’s face and ran away.
********
Judgment Day celebrated backstage. Perez happily held her
new tag title belt. Rodriguez was upset that they were
replacing Morgan so quickly and said she’s been rehabbing
hard. Bálor knew from experience how hard it was to come
back from a shoulder injury, and he just wanted to see
Rodriguez stay champion. Rodriguez reluctantly agreed.
Bálor called for a vote to declare Perez an official member
of Judgment Day. They all voted ‘yes’ (Dom and Rodriguez
were reluctant). Bálor was very happy.
********
There was a Kairi Sane video package.
Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria
Bayley targeted Valkyria’s back and applied a Boston Crab
until Valkyria got a rope break. They collided with a
dueling crossbody attempts ahead of a break. Valkyria took
over, but you would’ve missed all her offence because it
happened entirely within a commercial break.
Bayley fought back when they returned and hit a superplex.
They tried dueling cradles, but both kicked out. Valkyria
spilled out of the ring after a Bayley back suplex, and
Bayley followed with a leaping elbow drop off the steps.
Valkyria responded with a swinging neckbreaker, but Bayley
hit a sunset flip powerbomb into the corner for two.
Valkyria hit a gutwrench sit-out powerbomb for two.
They traded cradles, which led to a double pinfall spot with
both women’s shoulders down. The referee called the match a
draw.
You knew we would get a finish like this as soon as the
match was announced. (Or a DQ.) The match itself was pretty
good until the flat finish.
— Bayley grabbed Valkyria, but Valkyria turned around and
hit a clothesline. They wound up brawling into the crowd
until officials broke it up.
Match result: Bayley and Lyra Valkyria wrestled to a draw
(10:19)
********
Seth Rollins will face LA Knight at SNME.
Redmond caught up to Punk backstage. Punk said he had
receipts for Rollins, Heyman, Bron-Bron, Gunther and anyone
else who got in his way.
Punk confronted Knight nearby. He told Knight that Rollins
belonged to him and to get to the back of the line. Knight
said he has Rollins at SNME, so he was the line. Knight
yelled, “Yeah!” in Punk’s face and left.
********
Penta checked with Zayn to see if he still wanted to
wrestle. Zayn, who was tapped up, was ready to go.
********
Heyman was on the phone with Rollins, and Bronson Reed asked
him, “Where’s the Visionary?” (A normal question.) Heyman
said Rollins was already on a jet, perfecting plan B. Reed
wanted to know what that was. Before Heyman could answer,
Bron Breakker interrupted and said the plan was for him to
smash whoever got in their way. Heyman wasn’t sure that was
the plan, but Breakker didn’t care and told some guy to hit
his music. (I liked this bit from Bron.)
Sami Zayn & Penta vs. Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed (w/Paul
Heyman)
Penta and Zayn did Penta’s little walk before wiping out
their opponents with dives. It didn’t matter because Reed
caught Penta out of mid-air during a break and hit a World’s
Strongest Slam.
Penta made a comeback following the break and tagged in
Zayn, who wiped out both guys with an Arabian Press. A
battle in the corner led to Zayn hitting Reed with a sunset
flip powerbomb for two. Reed came right back with a DVD for
two. Bron knocked Zayn over the announce table with a
leaping clothesline ahead of another break. The heels took
over again.
As you know, there’s a timer in the corner letting people
know when the commercial break is over. Well, it’s also
telling you when the babyface will make their comeback. Zayn
fought back the moment they returned from break and made a
hot tag to Penta.
Penta hit Bron with a flying crossbody, kicked his leg out
of his leg, and hit a slingblade. Penta hit a dropkick in
the corner and snapped Bron’s arm. Arm snapping appears to
do nothing, because Bron got him up next in a military
press, but Penta countered into a DDT.
Heyman distracted the ref, which allowed Reed to knock Penta
down on the top rope. Bron followed with a Frankensteiner,
and Reed hit a sit-out powerbomb, but Zayn broke up the
cover.
Penta avoided a Tsunami and tagged in Zayn, who hit Bron
with an exploder in the corner. Zayn went for a Helluva
Kick, but Bron clotheslined him. Bron went for a spear, but
Zayn booted him (Cole completely undersold that spot), and
Reed broke up the cover.
Zayn tried a vertical suplex on Reed but couldn’t get him
up. Penta attacked Reed from the apron, and Zayn managed to
hit Reed with the suplex. The crowd popped, but it didn’t
matter because Reed wasn’t the legal man. Bron speared Zayn
for the pinfall win.
— Penta checked on Zayn after the match, but Bron speared
him. Reed went up for a Tsunami, but Jey Uso entered with a
steel chair. Jey beat up Bron and Bronson with the chair and
stood tall with Zayn and Penta.
Match result: Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed defeated Sami
Zayn & Penta (18:24)