Posted on 7/15/125 by Bob Magee
CM Punk won a gauntlet match to earn a world title match
against Gunther at SummerSlam. Bron Breakker ran the full
gauntlet—beating Penta, LA Knight and Jey Uso—for 42 minutes
before ultimately losing to Punk.
Roman Reigns returned following the main event to take out
Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed, and it appears he may have a
date with Breakker at SummerSlam. It was clear they’ve
decided to start pushing Breakker following Seth Rollins’
apparent injury. (There was no update on Rollins tonight.)
A night after Evolution, women dominated Raw up until the
gauntlet match. Naomi will defend her world title in a
triple-threat match at SummerSlam against Iyo Sky and Rhea
Ripley. Lyra Valkyria beat Bayley in a 2-out-of-3 falls
match and will face Becky Lynch for the Women’s
Intercontinental title at SummerSlam.
**********
Show Recap —
A big video package highlighted Saturday Night’s Main Event
and Evolution. Gunther, Jey Uso, CM Punk (wearing a Bret
Hart hat), Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, and Paul Heyman
arrived at the arena.
Michael Cole and Corey Graves are tonight’s announcers. (Pat
McAfee is at the Home Run Derby, which is on right now.)
Naomi segment
Naomi entered with her new Women’s World Championship belt.
The crowd, of course, chanted, “You deserve it.” Naomi cut
them off because she didn’t want to hear that now. They
weren’t feeling the glow before, but they were feeling her
now. They all thought she would cash in on Tiffany Stratton,
but she warned them that nobody knew her next move, and
that’s why she stood there as the champion. The crowd
cheered.
Naomi was done with the foolishness of SmackDown. She didn’t
betray Bianca Belair—she outgrew her. She said Belair and
Jade Cargill didn’t really want her to succeed. She was
their flunky as long as it was convenient for them. She cut
off some “What” chants and said she had the upper hand now,
bitches.
Cargill got a win at Evolution, but Naomi is the one who
made history. Naomi was new on Raw again, but she advised
the raggedy women in the back to proceed with caution.
Rhea Ripley interrupted to a big reaction. Ripley informed
Naomi that she wasn’t cautious. She was relentless and
pissed. She had two goals at Evolution: to finally beat Iyo
Sky and regain the title, but because of Naomi, she still
had those goals. Now Naomi was on her list.
Iyo Sky interrupted next, also to a good reaction. She told
Ripley, with respect, to get in line because she planned on
taking her title back.
Naomi, making fun of Sky’s English, responded, “I don’t know
what you just said,” and people laughed. Naomi called them
entitled and told them to get to the back of the line.
They began arguing until Adam Pearce interrupted. Pearce
officially welcomed Naomi to Raw and told her she did
deserve to be champion. Pearce understood why Ripley and Sky
were pissed. He said their match was magic.
SummerSlam was soon, and he wanted to blow the roof off
MetLife Stadium. (There is no roof at that stadium.) He
announced a triple-threat match for the title. All three
women were content with this, and the fans cheered.
********
Judgment Day met backstage. Dominik said he couldn’t relax
with AJ Styles stalking him. Finn Bálor said he had nothing
to worry about as long as he had his doctor’s note.
Bálor put over Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez for their
big win last night. Bálor suggested Dom accompany them to
ringside for their match tonight, but Dom wasn’t sure about
that. Bálor said Liv Morgan loved those titles, so they
should do it for her. Everyone left, and Bálor was pleased.
********
They posted some stat claiming that all three events this
past weekend drew 277 million views across all social
platforms. They could have said 500 million, and it would’ve
been just as meaningful.
********
Asuka and Kairi Sane entered ahead of a commercial break.
Since moving to Netflix, they’ll often cut away during break
to a backstage interview or something, but they didn’t do
that here, so the two women just danced to their music for
two straight minutes.
Non-title match: Women’s Tag Team Champions Raquel Rodriguez
& Roxanne Perez (w/Intercontinental Champion Dominik
Mysterio) vs. Asuka & Kairi Sane
Like last night, Asuka and Sane were all over Perez until
Rodriguez came in to get the momentum on their side. Asuka
made a hot tag after a break, but the crowd seemed more
focused on telling Dom that he sucked.
Dom tried to distract the referee, but it made no
difference. Asuka posted Rodriguez and hit Perez with a
missile dropkick, strikes, and a German suplex.
Dom got on the apron again, so Asuka knocked him off with a
back fist. Perez used the distraction to put her in a
schoolboy for the pinfall win (Rodriguez used her boot to
assist Perez).
Match result: Roxanne Perez & Raquel Rodriguez defeated
Asuka & Kairi Sane (10:24)
This was pretty much a nothing match. It felt like they just
wanted to get the champs a cheap win with Dom’s help, and
Asuka and Sane were on the wrong side of it.
********
Jackie Redmond asked Heyman for an update on Seth Rollins.
Heyman didn’t have that information, but reminded her that
Rollins had until next June to cash in his MITB briefcase
(which Heyman held). Heyman said it was Bron Breakker’s
night to go through everyone in the gauntlet, punch his
ticket at SummerSlam, and beat Gunther for the world title.
********
Byron Saxton interviewed LA Knight during a break. Knight
said he came out of SNME with a win. It was unfortunate
Rollins was injured, and Knight wished him a speedy
recovery. Knight wanted Rollins to recover because he wanted
to hurt him. Rollins hurt himself before he had a chance.
Knight wanted Rollins to return so he could hurt him the
right way. Knight admitted he wasn’t 100%, but he planned on
running the gauntlet with a world title shot on the line.
They aired a clip of George Kittle laying out The Miz (Mike
Mizanin, not Jacob Misiorowski) at a celebrity golf event
over the weekend.
********
Redmond interviewed Lyra Valkyria about her 2-out-of-3 falls
match against Bayley tonight (with a title shot on the
line). Valkyria didn’t like the question. She didn’t want to
talk about Bayley. It was all about her and Becky Lynch.
After she won tonight, Redmond could ask her about her title
match against Lynch at SummerSlam.
Bayley interrupted. Bayley told Valkyria she needed this
more than she did and told her to stay out of her way.
2-out-of-3 falls match: Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria
Valkyria got the better of an early exchange and
dismissively patted Bayley on the head. Bayley slapped
Valkyria in the face and rolled her up for the first
pinfall, just 1 minute and 25 seconds into the match. It was
good timing by Bayley because they went to break moments
later.
After the break, Valkyria went hard into the turnbuckle, and
Bayley noticed she might be hurt. Bayley hesitated for a
moment but began targeting her back. Bayley hit a back
suplex onto the apron, followed by a spinning back suplex in
the ring for two. Bayley tried a la magistral cradle, but
Valkyria caught her in a rollup for a pinfall at 9:32. It’s
tied at one.
Bayley responded quickly with a running knee strike ahead of
another break. Valkyria drove Bayley’s leg against the post
and began working over her knee. Bayley fought back after
the break after dropping Valkyria over the middle rope.
Valkyria fought back and went for a diving leg drop, but
Bayley caught her and hit a Bayley-to-belly for a nearfall.
Valkyria suplexed Bayley out of the corner and hit a
gutwrench sit-out powerbomb for a nearfall. (Cole thought it
was Valkyria’s finisher.) Valkyria followed later with a
fisherman’s suplex on the apron. They traded cradles as
Bayley sold her leg.
They found their way to the outside, and Bayley gave
Valkyria a sunset flip powerbomb into the steel steps.
Bayley shoved her in the ring and hit a flying elbow drop
onto Valkyria’s back for a nearfall.
Bayley immediately applied a crossface. Valkyria crawled to
the ropes, but Bayley pushed off. Valkyria used the momentum
to get to her feet while hoisting Bayley on her shoulders,
and she hit Nightwing for the pinfall win.
— Lynch marched out to the ring and held her belt up high as
she faced off with Valkyria.
(Cole made some comment about Bayley’s losing streak
continuing. She has now lost two in a row, but isn’t on some
significant losing streak.)
Match result: Lyra Valkyria defeated Bayley to earn a
Women’s Intercontinental Championship match (19:57)
This was a good match, and the crowd got into it more as it
went. It felt like a big win for Valkyria.
********
Redmond interviewed Stephanie Vaquer backstage. Vaquer said
she came to WWE to be champion, and after Clash in Paris,
she will be. Chelsea Green and the Secret Hervice
interrupted. Green thought she would represent them better
in Paris than Vaquer. Vaquer dared her to take a shot. Green
hid behind her cronies and said she was busy with Nikki
Bella tonight.
There was a pre-taped promo by Karrion Kross and Scarlett.
Kross basically accused Sami Zayn of ducking him and didn’t
think he was injured. Kross told Zayn to stay home until he
was ready to tell the world that Kross told the truth.
********
Nikki Bella vs. Chelsea Green (w/Piper Niven & Alba Fyre)
Bella was all over Green, so Green bailed outside and hid
behind Niven and Fyre. When they returned to the ring, Bella
went to the ropes, but Green kicked her leg out of her leg
and hit a backstabber to take over.
There were duelling chants, and this may have been the most
definitive example of the men chanting for one wrestler
(Green), and the women chanting for the other (Bella).
Nikki came back with clotheslines and a springboard kick for
two. Green followed with a neckbreaker for two. Green went
for an Unprettier, but Nikki hit a “Bella Buster” (X-
factor). Niven distracted the referee while Fyre tried to
attack Bella, but Bella posted her.
This led to the finish, which was a struggle. After a
lengthy attempt, Bella eventually got Green on her shoulders
and hit a “Rack Attack 2.0” (which didn’t look good at all)
for the pinfall win.
— Niven and Fyre attacked Bella after the match, but Vaquer
ran out to make the save. She cleared the ring and posed
with Bella.
Match result: Nikki Bella defeated Chelsea Green (6:23)
This was no good at all.
********
(It should be noted that Raw started with a women’s talking
segment and three consecutive women’s matches, the night
after an all-women’s PPV.)
Backstage, New Day were dressed in all-black, mourning their
tag title loss. They had a gift for Pearce, presented by
Grayon Waller. He offered Pearce a wig on a silver platter.
Kofi Kingston figured this gift was enough to get a title
rematch. Pearce said they don’t just “get” a rematch, but
they would get a chance to earn one next week. He told them
not to flip their wig and flipped the plate over.
Pearce left upon seeing Judgment Day nearby. He didn’t buy
Dom’s injury after seeing him get involved earlier. He said
he spoke to WWE medical, who would reevaluate Dom next week.
If cleared, he would defend the title against AJ Styles at
SummerSlam.
Styles was nearby, literally praying to God that Dom get
cleared. Dom didn’t like this, so he pleaded with God, too.
********
Gunther got in Penta’s face as he walked through the back.
Gunther is up next.
Saxton interviewed American Made backstage. He asked about
El Grande Americano. They said it was clearly Ludwig Kaiser.
Saxton asked about the earlier Chad Gable rumours, but Ivy
Nile ignored him. Nile said everyone was on notice.
********
Redmond asked Rusev what he planned on doing next after
beating Sheamus. Rusev said people called him a God, but
maybe he was a saint fending off Irish snakes. Now the world
knew what he always knew, that he was better than Sheamus.
Sheamus interrupted. He said he spoke to Pearce, who agreed
that Rusev was a dirty, cheating bastard, so he issued a
rematch. (This didn’t get much of a reaction.) Rusev said he
was here to dominate gold, not gingers. He left.
********
Gunther segment
Gunther entered, and he was in a good mood after retiring
Goldberg. Some fans chanted for Goldberg. Gunther said the
fans weren’t very bright because Goldberg obviously wasn’t
there. (The fans chanted, “You tapped out,” instead, and for
some reason, they began censoring it, maybe thinking it was
something else.)
Gunther said he fulfilled every promise. He bullied,
humiliated, blew up, and choked out Goldberg—and ended his
myth. There was only one question to ask: “Who’s next?”
He knew the answer would come soon. He would watch from a
suite as five of the finest competitors would compete for
his amusement—and to identify his SummerSlam challenger. He
didn’t care who it was. Before he could finish his thought,
Breakker and Heyman interrupted.
Heyman shook Gunther’s hand. He began introducing himself as
usual, but Gunther cut him off. Gunther simply wasn’t
interested, so he began leaving the ring—until Breakker cut
him off. Breakker faced off with Gunther as Heyman cut a
promo.
Heyman said Breakker would run the gauntlet and beat Gunther
for the title. Heyman knew that was no easy task. He saw how
Gunther beat Goldberg. But you haven’t been speared until
you’ve been speared by Bron Breakker.
Breakker was “the next big thing” and “the big dog.” This
was his “yard,” and he was a Steiner. He would break through
the glass ceiling and break Gunther’s ass at SummerSlam.
There’s going to be a new World Heavyweight Champion at
SummerSlam, and his name is Bron Breakker.
Bron stepped aside, and Gunther left.
********
World Heavyweight Championship number one contender’s
gauntlet match
– Bron Breakker vs. Penta
Bron had control for a while (and through a break), and the
crowd seemed to be getting restless until Penta made his
comeback. Penta tried a springboard move, but Bron speared
him out of the air for the pinfall win. That got a good
reaction. (This went just under 10 minutes.)
Penta has lost five matches in a row. His last singles win
was against Chad Gable in May.
– Bron Breakker vs. LA Knight
Knight was in complete control early on, but they needed to
go to another break, so Bron dropped him over the announce
table to take over. A double clothesline spot led to a
double-down, so the previously quiet crowd chanted, “This is
awesome.” They did get into it from here.
Knight fought back with jabs, a neckbreaker, DDT and a step-
up flying elbow drop for two. Knight went for a BFT (Cole
thought he was going for a neckbreaker), but Bron pushed him
off. Bron tried a dropkick, but Knight hit a powerbomb.
Knight tried the BFT again, but Bron raked his eyes and hit
a lung blower. Bron followed with a spear for the pinfall
win. (This also went about 10 minutes, and it was more
entertaining than the previous match.)
– Bron Breakker vs. Jey Uso
Jey immediately wiped out Bron with a suicide dive. They
were headed to break, so Jey had them play his music again,
and he Yeeted while Bron sold outside the ring.
Jey was in control after the break and hit a running hip
attack for two. Bron came back later with a Frankensteiner
for two. Jey responded with superkicks and a spear for a
nearfall.
Jey went to the top, but Bronson Reed yanked him off the
top. Cole said there were no DQs in a gauntlet match. I have
no idea why that would be. No DQs meant the match continued,
so Bron followed with a spear for the pinfall win. (This
only went about 7 minutes.)
– Bron Breakker vs. CM Punk
Knowing Bron was exhausted, Punk immediately attacked him
with his jacket still on. Punk sent Bron out of the ring and
removed his jacket during a break. Punk held control through
a break, but Bron caught him off the ropes and hit an
overhead suplex. Bron stood over Punk and mocked his “It’s
clobbering time” catchphrase.
After Bron hit a vertical suplex, it sounded like Punk told
him to take it easy, but I could be wrong. (Bron’s been in
the ring for 35 minutes at this point.)
Bron tried a Frankensteiner, but Punk countered into a
cradle for a nearfall. Punk made his usual comeback and
fended off some potential Reed interference before hitting a
flying elbow drop for two.
Punk applied an Anaconda Vice, so Reed attacked Punk. Again,
no DQs. (That feels like such a cheat.) Jey Uso ran back out
(to his music) to take out Reed.
Bron went for a spear, but Punk booted him and hit GTS for
the pinfall win.
CM Punk will face Gunther at SummerSlam for the title.
(This went about 10 minutes. Bron wrestled the full gauntlet
match for about 42 minutes.)
— Reed attacked Punk as he celebrated. Jey tried to make the
save, but Bron speared him. Bron speared Punk, too. They
stacked up Punk and Jey so Reed could go for a double
Tsunami, but Roman Reigns entered to a monster pop.
Reigns hoisted Reed on his shoulders and hit a big Samoan
drop. He gave Bron a Superman punch, and he speared Reed.
Reigns helped Jey to his feet. Punk put his hands up for
Reigns to help him up, too, likely knowing Reigns would
never actually do that. Punk got to his feet, and they gave
each other a knowing look before Reigns turned his attention
to the heels on the stage.
The crowd loudly chanted “OTC” and sang Roman’s name. Reigns
stared at the heels as Punk embraced Jey, and the show
ended.
Match result: CM Punk won a gauntlet match to become the
number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship
(42:18)
**********