Opener
The start of Raw begins with a recap of the shocking things that happened last week. Where Lesnar F5’d Kurt Angle and then tried to murder his advocate. Ominous music flowed throughout it. I liked it.
Jacksonville, Florida is alive tonight it seems! Kurt and Constable Baron Corbin make their collective way to the ring to address the Brock Lesnar issue. He hyped Ronda Rousey’s first ever match on RAW (although she’s on her way to her second title match but leeets not talk about that…) I like Rousey and I am excited for this. Angle announced that Paul Heyman is still employed and then happy chappy Roman Reigns interrupted the GM to further hype Lesnar and Reigns’ feud. He berated Baron Corbin and said he was scared of Lesnar and he bitched out when Lesnar attacked his GM. Corbin tried to play it off as him just being the bigger man and then verbally assaults Kurt Angle and says all he’s good for is making matches. So he makes one.
Roman Reigns vs Baron Corbin
This match was actually excellent. Lots of animosity in the match and Corbin got to look really strong! He took the No. 1 Contender to a bad place physically and he really looked like someone who belongs in the top league. I liked it a lot. Love both of these dudes. They smashed this match. The Deep Six was particularly satisfying. Corbin accidentally knocked out a camera guy too. It was great! 20+ minutes of great back and forth. Corbin looks to bail on the match but Balor comes out to the ramp and gets him back to the ring, spear is hit. 1, 2, 3. Done. Roman let Balor pick the carcass of the Constable after the match. A+ opener to Raw. Loved it!
Backstage
Rollins goes to Kurt and says Drew McIntyre is a problem and they don’t know what to do. So Angle gives Rollins the opportunity to find a partner and he can have his own little tag match with McIntiggler later.
Bobby Roode vs Mojo Rawley
Match was okay. Bobby Roode ended up getting the win. No idea why they had Mojo lose. After all the efforts they’ve put into him lately I’d have thought he’d continue winning. Ah well. They’re for sure Summerslam Pre-Show bound.
Promo
Elias is in the ring and lots of people are walking with Elias in Jacksonville. Elias says he’s going to record his documentary his way. He disses Jacksonville and then Lashley makes his way out to the ring. They have a squabble, Elias calls him a joke.. Lashley retorts with “Well, I think your shoes are a joke!”. Careful, Bobby, mate, you .can’t tak. Elias attacks Bob again and then Lashley gets the documentary crew in to film him Suplexing Elias. End segment. – meh. Was okay. But it’s almost like I have De Ja Vu because this was almost exactly like last week.
Rezar w/ Akam vs Titus O’Neil w/ Titus worldwiiide
We continue with this feud now and sadly I can’t help but not care. It’s such a poor storyline for each team. AOP need to be pushed to the Moon as soon as possible to make them seem like a big threat! Not wuggling and buggling with Titus and his merry man and woman. Likewise, Titus should be locked in a feud with Apollo, Apollo turning heel on Titus and Dana trying to fix it only to turn on Titus in a savage way too and join with Apollo! Boom! You’ve got yourself a new heel to push and play with who is impeccable in the ring and getting better on the Mic every week. Before the match, we cut to the locker room where Roman commits to working yet another double shift and says he’ll team with his mate, Seth Rollins. Not overly happy with that. I feel like someone else could have benefited from teaming with Rollins. Aaaaaanyway… the match was alright. Nothing outstanding. Rezar won with a really nice Chokeslam Spinebuster variant. It would be nice to see how it looks with someone who can sell it well.
Promo
Welcome back to the Kevin Owens Show. KO was set up on the stage this time rather than in the ring. He invites on his own personal Guru, the modern day MaharrrrrrrrrrAJA, Jinder Mahal. He says Jinder healed him after his horrific fall at Extreme Rules. KO waffles on and will not let Jinder talk. I’m liking Jinder more and more each week. KO make a match with Jinder and Braun. But Strowman no shows.. then tips the whole stage over!!!
Braun Strowman vs Jinder Mahal w/Sunil Singh & Kevin Owens
Jinder is hesitant to get in, naturally, but he does. He keeps chanting “shanty” at Strowman to try to calm him down. Which was hilarious. Owens steals the briefcase to try to get Strowman counted out which again, was pretty funny. But WWE’s Mountain accidentally smacked Jinder with the briefcase and got DQ’d.
Promo
Constable Corbin is on the phone with Stephanie McMahon and he hands it to Kurt for Steph to verbally and publicly castrates Angle again and I’m guess she told him something he has to do again.
Promo
Corey Graves has a sit down interview with The Big Dog, they chit-chat about Lesnar and it shows a montage of all the times Reigns has tried and failed to put Lesnar away. He calls Lesnar a “Fool” and says he’s tired of seeing him disrespect the business.
Dolphy Ziggles & Gangrel** vs Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns
** Only applicable if Drew McIntyre is being Gangrel.
Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns are on their way to the ring and are stopped by Constable Corbin who said that Stephanie McMahon said he can’t wrestle twice because it may jeopardise the main event of Summerslam. Now it’s a Handicap! There was a pretty funny moment after this where Reigns asked Corbin if his ribs are okay, Corbin said “what?..” and Roman just wallops Corbin in the ribs. – Hahaha!
Dolpher Ziggs & Drew McIntyre (who isn’t actually Gangrel) vs Seth Rollins w/ nobody.
I don’t normally like to focus on botched moves because although Wrestlers are highly trained, they’re still human. But Drew caught Rollins in a Gutwrench after Rollins dove from the top rope, but just totally tripped and ended up looking like a newborn Giraffe taking its first steps!
Other than that, the match was pretty quick. It was fast moving and Ziggler got the win via a cheeky Superkick that kicked the gum right outta Rollins’ mouth, but he wasn’t actually the legal man! Injustice at its finest. This new incarnation of The Authority pulling the same tricks as their predecessors by stacking the odds against the fan favourites.
The B Team vs The Revival
Now, The B Team had an awesome entrance music. The key word there is had. Their new entrance theme sounds like a rehash of the Spirit Squad’s theme. Absolute rubbish if you ask me. It honest just made them feel like a comedy act.
I just want to take a moment here to give a virtual round of applause to Bo Dallas who sold his 3rd generation ass off in the short moments it was going! The Decapitator he took from Dash Wilder was brutal due to Bo’s BACKFLIP bump! If you’re familiar with that move, just imagine doing that sell. Bravo, Bo. #Bolieve
The lights went out and when they came up, Dallas and Wilder had vanished and instead Matt Hardy was in one corner and Bray Wyatt in the other! Madness! Utter madness! I love it! They attack the guys in the ring and cause a DQ, I believe Bo was attacked first, so B Team won. This is SO going to be a Triple Threat Tag match at Summerslam.
Promo
Paul Heyman is about to have a sit down interview with Renee Young. Heyman looks like he’s been sleeping in a bin somewhere for the last week. Adorned on his tear soaked fave was the 5 o’clock shadow of a broken man. This promo.. goodness gracious Gangrel this promo. This was so, so sincere. Paul Heyman is an absolute gem. He says that he hasn’t talked to Lesnar since last week, Lesnar disconnected his number and ignores any intermediaries that attempt to make contact. He said he has never seen Lesnar like this and gave a very strong indication that Roman Reigns ought to be concerned.
The Riott Squad vs Sasha Banks & Bayley
Snore.
I just feel unfulfilled whenever I see Sasha and Bayley together now. It’s sickly. I just want them to tear each other’s heads off! But me thinks they’re saving the feud for Evolution. Which is a smart choice in terms of booking a new PPV, but I cannot shake the sinking feeling that this feud just straight up deserves Summerslam.
The match though, was really good. Sarah Logan is super impressive. Her new image, gimmick, attitude and offense is just fantastic. It screams future star to me! The match had a real classic feel to it. Bayley struggled to get the tag throughout and then it all came to a head when Ruby Riott returns and assists her Squadron in victory. Welcome back to RAW, Lafayette Punk!
Ronda Rousey vs Alicia Fox w/ Alexa Bliss
I’m so very pleased that this is the Main Event, I’m pleased for Foxy being a part of this after 12 years. Alexa cut a promo of Charlie Carusso on how bad she is at her job, she also runs Ronda Rousey down. Alicia Fox gets asked about how she prepared for this match, she shows her promo skills and they’re frickin’ amazing! Alexa thanks Fox for all she has done to make their division mean something. After that, out came Ronda Rousey.
Rousey looked like an absolute behemoth in this match. She not only looked tough, she hits hard, but the judo hip throws she was nailing Foxy with looked like they really hurt. Alexa told Bliss after that no matter how tightly she holds the title, come Summerslam it’ll be hers.
Conclusion
7/10 🌟
Great episode of RAW this week. I highly enjoyed it. Partly because of my new TV, but also because it was just great show! Despite a few minor hiccups, this was a great episode of RAW.
Match of the Night – Roman Reigns vs Baron Corbin
Performer of the Night – Paul Heyman – that promo.. just wow.
I’m sorry this was a late one. I had some things come up at home. But never fear, CB delivers one piping hot Raw Review Rambling for you. Thank you so much for your continued support of my reviews. It’s been amazing. Don’t forget to Too Sweet the like button, superkick the share button and go find us on Twitter @KayfabeToday and give our ‘Follow’ button a Clothesline From Hell!
Until next week guys and gals! Peace and Love to you all as usual. 💙✌🏻
