Posted on 7/22/125 by Bob Magee
Roman Reigns addressed Paul Heyman in the main event segment
with a long promo where he did not say much of note. Reigns
wanted everyone to know that it was Heyman who ruined the
Bloodline. The focus shifted to Bron Breakker, who had
enough of Reigns. A brawl ended with Jey Uso saving Reigns,
and the two men standing tall.
**********
Show Recap —
There was a video package of last week’s gauntlet, focusing
on Bron Breakker’s lengthy run, CM Punk’s win, and Roman
Reigns’ return.
Sami Zayn (still being referred to by Michael Cole as the
‘underdog of the underground’), Becky Lynch, and Judgment
Day were shown arriving.
Dominik handed the keys to their SUV to a valet—who happened
to be AJ Styles (in full valet attire). Styles hoped Dom got
cleared today. Dom left, and Styles chucked the car keys
away.
CM Punk and Gunther segment
Punk entered, and the crowd chanted his name as he stood
atop the Slim Jim logo in the ring. Punk told Houston he had
two goals when he returned: main event WrestleMania and
become world champion. He was still working on the latter
because he kept getting sidetracked by people who took
things a little personally.
Punk looked forward to facing Gunther, whom he called one of
the best wrestlers in the world. He couldn’t promise a win,
but with the help of the fans, he could promise that he
would give everything he had.
Gunther was the Intercontinental champion for 666 days and
was now on his second run with the world title. Punk only
had two weeks to train for this “beast.” But Punk remembered
he’s been training for this his whole life. Punk wasn’t just
any challenger—he was the best in the world.
Gunther interrupted. Punk got in his face, but Gunther
stepped back. The crowd chanted, “You tapped out,” and
chanted for Punk. Gunther stalled for a while before
addressing Punk.
Gunther said he did not want to create any drama. He said
they were both there for the same reasons. Not to make
friends, but to make money and win championships.
They each considered themselves the best in the world. They
both had massive egos. But Gunther’s ego was justified,
unlike Punk’s. Punk’s ego was based on what the fans
thought. Gunther’s ego was based on his accolades. The best
was the one who held the world title.
Gunther only focused on what happened in the ring, and when
the bell rang at SummerSlam, he would make Punk regret that
he ever stepped in a wrestling ring.
Gunther would drop him like a wet towel, and Punk would
realize he was right: Punk would never be champion and would
never be best in the world. The only thing Punk would have
was the degenerate fans chanting his name for the rest of
his life.
Gunther’s music played, and he left as Punk watched. (I
guess the production team knew Punk wouldn’t have a response
to this.)
********
Byron Saxton tried interviewing Stephanie Vaquer, but they
were interrupted by Naomi. They had never met, so Naomi
introduced herself as the world champion. Vaquer knew who
she was.
Naomi said they would see each other at Clash in Paris, but
Vaquer said that would only happen if she survived at
SummerSlam. Naomi was offended by the comment and was
confident she would see her in Paris. She did her evil laugh
and left.
********
Sheamus vs. Rusev
Cole yelled, “It’s fight night, baby!” in the most annoying
manner during Sheamus’ entrance, but you were lucky enough
to miss it if you aren’t able to watch the show during
commercials.
A few minutes in, Sheamus went to the top for a dive to the
outside, but he lost his balance and returned to the ring.
Rusev had to pretend he was still hurt and went back to a
knee as Sheamus simply returned to the top. The fans got
behind Sheamus as he hit the flying clothesline to the
outside.
It didn’t matter because Rusev grabbed him seconds later and
hit a fallaway slam over the announce table to take over
during a break.
Sheamus came back as soon as they returned, but when he went
for the Brogue, Rusev caught him and hit a powerbomb for
two. Rusev went for a thrust kick, but Sheamus nailed him
with a great-looking knee strike for a nearfall. Sheamus
came off the top, but Rusev hit him with a thrust kick
(which didn’t look great) for a nearfall.
Rusev applied the Accolade, but Sheamus got a rope break. As
in their previous match, Rusev booted Sheamus while Sheamus
asked for more. Rusev ripped the padding of the metal
turnbuckle rod, but Sheamus bounced Rusev off it instead.
As the referee fixed the padding (which seems low-priority),
Rusev grabbed Sheamus’ shillelagh. Before he was able to use
it, Sheamus nailed him with the Brogue Kick for the pinfall
win.
Match result: Sheamus defeated Rusev (14:50)
I thought for sure Rusev would kick out, because the ref was
still distracted when Sheamus made the cover. Rusev was down
for 3-4 seconds already before the ref ran over to count the
fall.
They’re 1-1 now, and I suppose Rusev can demand a rematch
after Sheamus technically cheated.
********
Saxton interviewed El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser).
Kaiser spoke a few words in Spanish before being interrupted
by Dragon Lee. Dragon Lee called him a fake who didn’t have
the fire. Kaiser pie-faced him, so they brawled until
officials quickly broke it up.
They aired a “sneak peek” of WWE Unreal. It was just a
backstage clip of IShowSpeed being rushed out to replace
Akira Tozawa in the Royal Rumble. The footage provided no
insight whatsoever. It was the same sort of clip they would
have aired on the next Raw show.
Lyra Valkyria confronted Bayley about getting Adam Pearce to
put them in a tag title match. Valkyria was bewildered, but
Bayley said they were finally getting the match they were
supposed to at WrestleMania. Valkyria said she beat Bayley’s
ass last week and was focused on SummerSlam. Valkyria
wondered what game she was playing. Bayley acted like
everything was cool and said she would see her in the ring.
********
Triple threat tag team number one contender’s match: The New
Day vs. Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro (w/Dragon Lee) vs. The
Creed Brothers (w/Ivy Nile)
New Day had control during a break. Wilde made a hot tag
after the break, and the crowd barely reacted, but they got
into his offence. However, Ivy Nile knocked him off the top
rope. Dragon Lee tried to help by going after the Creeds,
but he was attacked by El Grande Americano. The Creeds got
in Kaiser’s face until Del Toro wiped them all out with a
great-looking corkscrew plancha.
Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods set up Wilde for their
finisher, but Wilde chucked Woods out of the ring and caught
Kingston in a schoolboy for the pinfall win.
The crowd popped for the win. LWO are now the number one
contenders for Judgment Day’s tag titles.
Match result: Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro defeated The
New Day and The Creed Brothers (9:19)
********
After a replay aired of the Kabuki Warriors losing last
week, Iyo Sky told them that they would soon be tag champs.
Kairi Sane said Sky would soon be world champion again, and
Asuka wished her luck at SummerSlam.
Vaquer confronted Sky. Sky recalled that she had Vaquer beat
the last time they wrestled (until it was interrupted). Sky
challenged her to a match tonight, and Vaquer accepted. The
crowd popped big for that.
********
Vic Joseph interviewed TNA Champion Trick Williams during a
break. He was booed. This was meant to plug Undertaker’s
appearance on tomorrow’s NXT (also in Houston). Williams
said he didn’t have a problem with Taker, but they could
talk if he wanted. Taker acted like his knees didn’t have an
expiration date, and Williams needed to knock him out and
knock his eyes to the back of his head.
********
Pearce tried convincing Dom to go get checked out by medical
(and said it only takes five minutes). Dom kept making
excuses, but Pearce told him to go get it done. Dom bumped
into Styles, now acting as a custodian. Dom ran off.
New Day were baffled by the sight of Styles working as a
custodian (he was mopping the floors). They complained about
recent events on Raw and said they needed something to
restore things to normal.
Grayon Waller popped in to inform them that Austin Theory
was injured and was finally off his back, because A-Town
Down Under was no more. Waller offered them his services.
New Day were confused by this, but did not dismiss him.
Waller left to get their car.
So after all this time, Theory and Waller are done, and it
happened in a backstage New Day segment without Theory.
********
Becky Lynch and Lyra Valkyria segment
Lynch entered. She wanted the fans to show her some
appreciation. She shouldn’t even be here. She should be on
the red carpet plugging her new movie, Happy Gilmore 2.
Instead, she was in Houston. She did things she didn’t want
to do because that’s what leaders did. She put over her
slick victory at Evolution.
People accused her of keeping others down, but Valkyria was
the one bogarting everyone else’s opportunities. Valkyria
was already getting an IC title shot, and now was getting a
tag title shot. She wondered who would even need two belts.
She said it was different when she was Becky Two Belts,
because Valkyria was just being selfish.
Lynch called out Valkyria, and she entered. Lynch said she
made Valkyria a star, but that free ride ended at
SummerSlam. Lynch said that if Valkyria lost at SummerSlam,
she could never challenge for the belt again.
Valkyria said she learned that whenever she thought she had
dealt with a problem, it came back to haunt her. Maybe she
didn’t take things far enough. She accepted Lynch’s terms
but had terms of her own: no countouts and no
disqualifications.
Lynch accepted. Lynch said this was the most important match
involving this title because it would dictate the future of
the title.
Lynch wanted to be the bigger person and told Valkyria to
shake her hand. Valkyria went to shake her hand, and Lynch
tried a cheap shot, but Valkyria saw it coming and laid her
out with a Man-handle slam.
********
Women’s Tag Team Championships: Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne
Perez (c) (w/Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio) vs.
Lyra Valkyria & Bayley
Valkyria became distracted by Bayley as she urged the crowd
to “woo” (as they do during Valkyria’s entrance). Rodriguez
necked Valkyria over the top rope and distracted the referee
so Perez could hit a cheap shot.
Bayley made a hot tag after a break, and the crowd booed her
offence. Even though they weren’t getting along early,
Bayley and Valkyria started working together. Valkyria hit
Perez with a sit-out powerbomb, but instead of making the
cover, she tagged in Bayley to hit her flying elbow drop on
Perez. She did, but Rodriguez broke up the cover.
Valkyria confronted Dom outside the ring. Rodriguez tried to
boot Valkyria, but she ducked, so Rodriguez booted Dom by
mistake. Rodriguez called for medical to check on Dom. The
medic was Styles, who aggressively gave Dom chest
compressions until Dom managed to escape.
This distraction allowed Lynch to chuck Valkyria into the
ring steps. Perez used that distraction to roll up Bayley,
but Bayley kicked out and applied a cradle for two.
Rodriguez made a blind tag, which Bayley didn’t see.
Bayley hit Perez with a Bayley-to-belly, but Rodriguez
planted Bayley with a Tejana Bomb for the pinfall win.
Rodriguez and Perez will defend the tag titles at SummerSlam
against Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss.
Match result: Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez defeated
Bayley & Lyra Valkyria to retain the Women’s Tag Team
Championships (15:18)
********
Jackie Redmond interviewed Sami Zayn, who she thought was
out indefinitely. Zayn admitted he wasn’t 100% and should
probably take more time off, but he was sick of Karrion
Kross. Kross was the reason he wasn’t on Raw last week, and
if he was on the show, he would’ve won the gauntlet. Zayn
didn’t want to wait any longer to get his hands on Kross.
********
Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh met with Dom. A pissed-off Pearce
told Dom to go to medical now and threatened to take the IC
title. Dom was upset, and he left. Bálor looked concerned,
but asked Dom to get them some lollipops.
Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross (w/Scarlett)
Zayn wrestled with his ribs taped. There were duelling
chants early in the match, and Kross stopped his mounted
punches so he could hear the fans chanting for him.
Zayn hit an Arabian press, but Scarlett kicked Zayn in his
injured ribs as the referee checked on Kross. Kross had
control through a break, and Zayn made his comeback after
the break.
Zayn gave Kross an exploder in the corner. (They were really
close to the ropes, and Kross landed awkwardly. I think his
face hit the rope or buckle, because his nose was bleeding
after this.) Scarlett handed Kross a pipe.
Zayn set up for a Helluva Kick, but Scarlett grabbed his
leg. The ref argued with Scarlett instead of sending her to
the back or calling for a DQ. As she distracted the ref,
Kross hit Zayn in the ribs with the pipe for the pinfall
win.
(After the match, Kross rubbed the blood from his nose over
his face for effect. He then kissed Scarlett, who wound up
with blood on her face, and she used her finger to make a
streak of blood down her cheek. I’m guessing they’ll be told
not to play up blood again like this again.)
Match result: Karrion Kross defeated Sami Zayn (10:04)
This was a very dull match, and the crowd was appropriately
quiet throughout.
********
Pearce and Styles met the medic, who said he needed more
time to finish his paperwork (before he could clear Dom).
Pearce and Styles were eager for the results. Dom suddenly
decked Styles from behind and confidently accepted the match
at SummerSlam.
(This was a weak payoff. Dom avoided accepting the match all
this time just so he could push Styles down from behind?
It’s not like Styles is actually hurt. SummerSlam is less
than two weeks away, so I guess they had to make it
official.)
********
Cole announced a sold-out crowd of over 13,000.
Texas rapper That Mexican OT and Jim “Mattress Mack”
McIngvale were shown in the crowd. Some fans chanted for
Mattress Mack. (He runs a furniture store.)
IYO SKY vs. Stephanie Vaquer
As they did a few weeks ago, they had a very good match
until the finish.
They had an excellent back-and-forth exchange, but Vaquer
got the better of Sky during a break. At one point, the
crowd cheered because they thought she was going for Devil’s
Kiss, but she wasn’t.
Sky applied a crossface, but Vaquer got a rope break. Vaquer
rolled outside, so Sky hit an Asai moonsault, followed by a
missile dropkick and double footstomp. Vaquer responded with
a German suplex, but Sky hit one, too.
Sky tried to kill Vaquer with a sunset flip powerbomb to the
outside, but Vaquer blocked it. Vaquer instead hit a knee
drop across Sky’s chest while on the apron. Vaquer followed
with Devil’s Kiss on the apron and in the ring, to the
delight of the crowd.
Vaquer went for SVB, but Sky countered it into a similar
move (double underhook backbreaker) for two. The crowd
chanted, “This is awesome.” Sky went up for a moonsault, but
Vaquer hit an avalanche reverse vertical suplex (off the
middle rope), which looked awesome.
The Secret Hervice marched out to ruin the match. Vaquer
knocked Piper Niven and Alba Fyre off the apron, but Chelsea
Green decked Vaquer from behind for the DQ.
— The heels beat up Vaquer until Sky wiped out Green with a
missile dropkick. Vaquer and Sky double dropkicked Niven out
of the ring.
Sky and Vaquer stood tall together until Naomi decked Sky
from behind (knocking Vaquer out of the ring). Niven and
Fyre put the boots to Vaquer while Naomi attacked Sky.
Rhea Ripley ran out to an absolutely monster pop. She laid
out Niven, Fyre, and Naomi. Sky and Vaquer attacked Green,
and Ripley laid her out with Rip-tide. The three babyfaces
stood tall.
Match result: IYO SKY defeated Stephanie Vaquer via
disqualification (15:04)
********
The announcers ran down the SummerSlam card.
Roman Reigns segment
Paul Heyman entered first, with Bron Breakker and Bronson
Reed. Heyman had a lot to say, but was quickly interrupted.
Reigns entered to a huge pop and “OTC” chants. (Heyman
stopped speaking, but he probably could have said everything
he needed in the time it took Reigns to get to the ring.)
Heyman told Reigns that Seth Rollins would be out of action
for a long time. That opened up a leadership opportunity.
That meant they could fix this. They could get back together
because Reigns knew they were better together than opposing
each other. Heyman told Reigns, “I love you, my Tribal
Chief,” as the crowd chanted, “You sold out.”
Reigns told H-Town to acknowledge him. They did. (Breakker
was visibly bored by this.) Heyman raised his finger in the
air.
Reigns said Heyman wasn’t a Wise Man anymore, he was just a
dumbass. Breakker was pissed by this comment, and was held
back by Heyman and Reed. Reigns called him “junior” and told
him to settle down.
Reigns advised Breakker to sit under the learning tree and
listen, because Heyman would do the same thing to Breakker
as he did to him. When Breakker was the man on top in a few
years, Heyman would take all the credit.
Reigns has heard a lot of people trying to take credit for
creating the Tribal Chief. He could say firmly it wasn’t
because of Heyman. He was still the Tribal Chief because the
fans still acknowledged him.
Reigns was the greatest champion to step foot in this ring,
and he admitted Heyman had a part in that. But Heyman didn’t
help him keep that title. The Usos did. Solo Sikoa did. (The
crowd Yeeted.) Even Sami Zayn helped out.
Reigns finally lost the title after four years. He didn’t
tuck his tail and go home. He went home and raised the
future Bloodline. Bloodline was family. The dumbass Heyman
thought they were just another faction or wrestling group.
But you couldn’t create the Bloodline—that was God’s work.
(They held back Breakker again, and Reigns again told him to
back down.)
Reigns said Heyman was always a friend and business partner
to the Bloodline, but Reigns was the one who accepted him
in. Heyman threw it all away for his “best friend,” whom he
hadn’t even talked to in ten years. Reigns didn’t ever want
to hear anyone say he ruined the Bloodline. Heyman ruined
the Bloodline.
Breakker stepped in front of Heyman. He told Reigns nobody
wanted him here anymore. Reigns was yesterday’s news. His
prime was five years ago, and now he was taking up Bron’s
time in the ring. Heyman wouldn’t stab him in the back
because he had value, while Reigns was worthless. He was the
top dog now. He told Reigns to leave.
Reigns acted like he didn’t hear Breakker, so he offered him
his microphone instead. As Reigns chucked his mic to
Breakker, Reigns gave him a Superman punch. He attacked
Reed, but turned around and was speared by Breakker.
Breakker held down Reigns as Reed set up for a Tsunami, but
Jey Uso ran out to make the save. Jey speared Breakker while
Reigns simultaneously speared Reed.
Jey helped Reigns to his feet. Jey’s music played as the two
men stood tall.
(The fans love Reigns, so it doesn’t really matter what he
said, but there was a lot of revisionist history here. There
was also a line where he said Heyman killed the Bloodline
because of his best friend, whom he hadn’t spoken to in ten
years. I assume he meant Punk. Heyman did accompany Punk to
the ring at WrestleMania, but he turned on both of them to
join Rollins. Reigns didn’t address Rollins at all. Perhaps
Reigns missed a line because he was too busy telling Bron to
settle down.)