The Big Takeaway —
The Roman Reigns-Rusev feud continues to help both men. Leading up to their PPV match at SummerSlam, the two fought in a non-title bout that Rusev wanted to “fight for Lana’s honor.” Reigns won in a good brawl.
Jon Stewart will be back for SummerSlam this Sunday. Also, Sheamus and Cesaro will engage in a best-of-seven series, just like Magnum T.A. and Nikita Koloff in 1986, just not for the U.S Championship. There was also the debut of Finn Balor’s “Demon King” persona. Aside from all that, the show consisted of mainly squash matches.
Show Recap —
Seth Rollins did a promo from earlier today outside the arena.
He said he was six days away from becoming the first Universal Champion, but first he had business to settle with the Demon King. He called out the Demon King, but he never showed up. Rollins said Balor was too scared to find the man, so tonight the man was going to find the King.
Inside the building, Lana and Rusev were in the ring still upset with Reigns from last week.
Rusev said there would be no Raw until Reigns came out and apologized. Mick Foley showed up and told Rusev and Lana to leave the ring. Rusev ran down Foley, who looked dead serious.
Rusev said Foley was no GM without him, the greatest U.S. champion ever. Rusev demanded respect and said he lied when he said Foley was the greatest GM of all time because Foley sucked. Rusev wanted to know how could Foley give Reigns a shot at the U.S. Championship when he’s done nothing to earn it. Rusev demanded Stephanie McMahon come out.
Stephanie showed up. Rusev said Stephanie knew what it was like to be married to a superstar so she knew what he was talking about. Stephanie said she stands behind Foley 100 percent and Rusev’s conduct was unprofessional. Rusev said maybe he should call Shane McMahon, teasing jumping to SmackDown.
Reigns came out and said he was sorry that Rusev found the website where he discovered his wife. He said Rusev and Lana would make the ugliest sasquatch babies. Rusev started in on all the stupid people that support Reigns. It led to Reigns demanding a fight then and there, but Stephanie said the U.S. Championship match would take place on SummerSlam.
Rusev said this was about more than the U.S. Championship, this was about his wife’s honor. Foley then ordered a non-title match tonight between the two to defend Lana’s honor.
Sami Zayn defeated Sheamus (10:14)
Sheamus faced Sami Zayn. Byron Saxton did an in-ring interview where Sheamus claimed he’s proved to be a better athlete than Cesaro. He ran down Zayn as someone who made snide comments about him on Twitter, but he’s nothing to him and a cheap knockout of the Celtic Warrior. Fans chanted “You look stupid,” but Sheamus responded “You paid to see me, so who looks stupid now?”
Zayn used the Blue Thunder Bomb and went for the Helluva Kick, but Sheamus caught him with the Irish Curse backbreaker. Sheamus went for the Brogue Kick, but Cesaro came down to distract Sheamus. Zayn hit the Helluva Kick for the pin.
Zayn attempted a tornado DDT on the floor, but Sheamus rammed his back into the post. Later on, Zayn hit a somersault tope, but Sheamus was up in no time and caught Zayn with White Noise. Cesaro was on commentary. Michael Cole brought up Daniel Bryan’s comments that there was room on the SmackDown roster for Cesaro, but Cesaro said he was a Raw team player.
Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens did an interview. Owens is facing Big Cass tonight. Jericho said Enzo Amore wasn’t a certified “G” because who certified him? Plus, Cass didn’t know how to spell because the word “soft” doesn’t contain the letters “A” or “W.” Owens and Jericho called the interviewer, Tom Phillips, a variety of names, including “Todd” “James” and “Paul.”
Backstage, Sheamus and Cesaro were screaming at each other. Foley ran in looking intense as hell, saying he was sick of both men interfering in each other’s matches. So he ordered a best-of-seven series between the two of them with the first match coming at SummerSlam.
WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day defeated The Dudley Boyz in a non-title match (1:36)
Kofi Kingston pinned D-Von Dudley with Trouble in Paradise. Bubba Ray Dudley accidentally clotheslined D-Von, which is the second week in a row the Dudleyz have done that.
Big E was absent as he’s still selling having his groin injured after getting rammed into the ringpost by Gallows and Anderson. Before the match started, we had another diagnosis from Dr. Gallows and Dr. Anderson on the Titantron.
They discussed cases of ringpostitis. They claimed to be getting one inch closer to finding a cure. So they stuck an egg in a microwave as the match started. After the match, the egg was broken in the microwave. Gallows claimed this was a ballbuster. They put three jars on top of the microwave, one with Big E’s name on it with an egg inside. The other two were empty with the names of Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods.
Kingston wondered why Gallows and Anderson waited for so long to get to the WWE and now they were blowing up eggs in microwaves. Woods said they would be damned if some patchy haired phalluses would beat them at SummerSlam. Kingston said they had the power of positivity. Woods said they didn’t have the power to lay a hand on their New Day Rocks, because “New Day Rocks.”
Rollins looked for the Demon King backstage. Neville was backstage and said he’s faced Balor before, and Rollins isn’t ready for the Demon King. Rollins screamed how Neville didn’t know what he was talking about.
Nia Jax defeated Rachel Levy (1:02)
Nia Jax sat Rachel Levy, who had blue hair, on the top rope and pushed her to the floor. Jax pinned her with a fireman’s carry into a spinebuster. Levy said she’s watched Team USA in the Olympics and it gave her inspiration, like Simone Biles, to follow her dreams. Saxton hoped she didn’t get vaulted out of the building.
Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman came out.
Lesnar was over as anything. Before Heyman could start his promo, Heath Slater came out. Heyman said he didn’t know who put Slater up to this of if he was listening to the voices in Orton’s head, but give him an explanation. Slater said he was the hottest free agent in sports entertainment today. Slater said he didn’t know what was wrong with the SmackDown Live crew, because they wouldn’t know what a superstar was if it slapped him in the face. That’s why he approached Heyman.
Heyman laughed over the very thought over a Lesnar-Slater match. Slater said he was getting another opportunity for a Raw roster spot and all he needed to do was beat Lesnar one-on-one tonight. Crowd was dying for a slaughter. Heyman said Slater was doing too much partying on the Freebird tour bus and went on with his promo.
Slater screamed like a banshee and told Heyman not to disrespect him. Slater said he had kids to feed, and they rely on him to put food on the table. Slater said he knows Lesnar will whip his ass but he has to do it. Heyman tried to talk him out of it.
Finally, Lesnar grabbed the mic and said he can appreciate that and that Slater has guts. Lesnar said Slater has responsibilities, mouths to feed, and children. Brock said he has kids, too. Lesnar invited Slater in the ring, got in Slater’s face and said “I don’t give a shit about your kids.” Lesnar gave Slater two choices, walk out on his own two feet, or keep standing there and keep pissing Lesnar off. Slater started to back off, then rushed at Lesnar.
Lesnar clotheslined him, delivered two German suplexes and gave him the F-5. Lesnar kicked him out of the ring. Heyman put on Slater’s sunglasses and said at least Slater was willing to go face-to-face with Lesnar, something that Orton didn’t have the guts to do.
Heyman said he was a hype artist and supposed to sell people over the fact that Orton was slick, savvy and smart enough to beat Lesnar. But he said Lesnar doesn’t believe that. He said this was the summer of the Beast. He said Lesnar was the box office this Sunday at SummerSlam because no one in the locker room could stand up to Lesnar, not even a 12-time world champion.
Heyman said if they wanted to promote the WWE Network..this Sunday, people would have the once-ever athlete in action. He said people would have the rare opportunity to see the Serpent Slayer, Brock Lesnar, live.
Enzo and Cass came out. Amore said they would have a SummerSlam Barbeque on Sunday. He said if Jericho and Owens had a beef, they would get all in their grill. Amore reeled off several types of meat. Cass called Jericho and Owens “Bert & Ernie.”
Big Cass defeated Kevin Owens by DQ (6:16)
Owens went for the Cannonball, but Cass blocked it with a Big Boot. Cass went for another Big Boot, but Owens dodged it and Cass took a bump to the floor. Owens tried to power bomb Cass on the floor, but Cass backdropped him over.
Meanwhile, Jericho threw Amore into the steps. Jericho jumped Cass for the DQ. Owens and Jericho threw Cass into the barricade. Cass tried to make a comeback, but Owens gave him a superkick and Jericho delivered a codebreaker.
Backstage, Reigns did an interview with Phillips. Reigns said he was going to represent his bloodline and whip Rusev’s ass. Rusev jumped Reigns from behind. Reigns no sold getting his head rammed into a case, but Rusev threw Reigns into a garage door, then gave him a Beal throw onto a catering table. Fit Finley, Brian James and several referees came in to break it up.
The Shining Stars defeated the Prime Time Players (2:41)
Bob Backlund brought out Darren Young and Titus O’Neal. This was set up during the Raw Pregame show where O’Neal suggested to Backlund that the Prime Time Players reunite for one night only. Backlund agreed to it. Of course, this was designed for two things: 1. Backlund does the Millions of Dollars dance and 2. have O’Neal turn on Young.
Sure enough, Backlund tried to give O’Neal instructions, but Young accidentally ran into O’Neal. Next thing you know, O’Neal gave Young Clash of the Titus, leaving Primo open for the easy pin.
Neville defeated Jinder Mahal (2:57)
Neville did a twisting plancha on Jinder Mahal. Good short match where Neville won with the Red Arrow.
Foley and Stephanie talked backstage. Foley said he got off the phone with Jon Stewart and said he would be the guest at SummerSlam again this year. Rollins walked in and said he couldn’t find the Demon King anywhere. Rollins said if he wasn’t in Stephanie’s office, then the Demon King isn’t in the building because he’s looked everywhere.
Rollins said he wanted the rest of the night off, but Foley suggested Rollins go to the ring and call him out in the ring unless Rollins was scared. Rollins said he wasn’t scared. Foley then pulled out a walkie-talkie and asked the folks at Gorilla to start Rollins’ music. Funny how the attention to detail improves whenever Foley is involved.
Rollins started the third hour in the ring.
He said he had never been so insulted in his entire life. Last week, Balor talked about banshees and warriors and kings, but he couldn’t find the Demon King anywhere. Rollins said he wanted all the major news networks to listen to him. He said there was nothing and no one that could stop him from becoming the first WWE Universal Champion. He said, out of courtesy, he was going to give the Demon King one more chance to come out.
No Demon King, and Rollins chuckled and said Balor was only trying to intimidate him because Balor was scared of him. He said Balor is going to be just like everyone else who has set foot in the ring against him. Rollins said the Demon King was just another chapter in the book of Rollins, and in his story, the Demon King wouldn’t look him right in his eyes because if he did, he would see something more horrifying than anything any author could dream up.
At that point, it appeared a fan somehow got in the ring. All that aired was someone walking up to Rollins for a moment before he disappeared. They didn’t even show him being taken out by security. Rollins looked momentarily stunned and stopped his speech. Cole filled in the brief dead air before Rollins resumed.
Then the lights flickered and went out. A heartbeat sounded over the PA. Then the Demon King rose from the entrance wearing black and white makeup with Balor’s music playing. The Demon King wore tassels on his head as he stomped down to ringside to a good reaction. Smoke rose from the corner as Balor posed with his torso painted.
There was a “This is Awesome” chant. Rollins and Balor began slugging it out, and Balor gave Rollins a dropkick. Balor gave Rollins an overhead kick, then a dropkick. Balor went for the Coup de Grace, but Rollins moved. Balor gave Rollins a somersault tope instead.
Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows defeated the Golden Truth (2:16)
Gallows pinned Goldust after the Magic Killer. Post-match, Kingston and Woods ran down to attack the heels. Kingston knocked out Anderson with a knee to the jaw. Woods tried to slam Francesca the Trombone onto Anderson’s groin, but Gallows pulled his partner to safety.
Dana Brooke walked up to Charlotte and apologized for losing to Banks last week. Charlotte interrupted her, then demanded to know why Brooke let her down when she needed her the most. Charlotte said she was Meryl Streep and Brooke was Anne Hathaway. After she beats Banks at SummerSlam, Charlotte said she might ask Stephanie to replace Brooke with someone who isn’t an epic failure.
Charlotte defeated Alicia Fox (1:27)
Charlotte pinned her with Natural Selection. Banks was on commentary. Post-match, Banks, who was on commentary, came to the ring. Brooke ran in to distract Banks and Charlotte decked Banks from behind. Charlotte put Banks in the Figure Eight. Banks tapped out, but Charlotte held onto the hold until a referee forced her off.
Good heat for Charlotte after this angle. There was no stretcher job for Banks to hammer home the point that she would go into Sunday’s match at less than 100%. She just laid in the ring and didn’t move.
Cole said after Banks beat Brooke last week “she got what she wanted” at SummerSlam. Didn’t Banks ask for a handicap match at SummerSlam and if she lost, she would have ended in the handicap match? The brief bit of Alicia Fox’s Titantron video that aired consisted of her pouring various drinks on herself or fans.
Roman Reigns defeated United States Champion Rusev in a non-title match (20:35)
20:35 doesn’t include the pre-match brawl, which lasted for around 5:00. Reigns sold almost the entire way. Rusev worked over Reigns’ left arm that was injured during the brawl earlier, then choked Reigns with his own singlet for a near submission. Reigns made a comeback after he blocked a superplex and hit a flying clothesline off the top rope.
Reigns got a near fall with a Blue Thunder Driver. Reigns teased the Superman Punch, but Rusev grabbed Reigns’ bad arm and hit a spin kick. Rusev hit four head butts from the second rope, each for separate two counts. He missed a fifth attempt.
After an exchange of punches, Reigns clotheslined Rusev out of the ring. Reigns went for a Superman Punch off the steps, but Rusev kicked him in the ribs. Back in the ring, Rusev charged at Reigns, who hit a Superman punch for a two count. Reigns went for a spear, but Rusev caught him with a knee and a kick for another near fall.
Rusev called for the Accolade, but Reigns escaped out the backdoor. Reigns went for the spear, but Rusev cut his legs out from under him, then put him in the Accolade, but Reigns made the ropes. Rusev ran at Reigns, who knocked Rusev out of the ring. Rusev got back in, bounced off the ropes, but Rusev hit the spear for the pin.
A very good match that resembled a fight. This was the best reception that Reigns has had since January.