Raw
Raw Results
- Viking Raiders def RKBro, New Day, Mace & T-Bar, Lince Dorado, & John Morrison – Tag Battle Royal – **¼
- Jaxson Ryker def Elias via Count Out – *½
- Ricochet vs Humberto Carrillo – Double Count Out – **¾
- Jeff Hardy def Cedric Alexander – **¼
- Nikki Cross & Asuka def Rhea Ripley & Charlotte Flair – **
- Mansoor def Drew Gulak – *½
- Kofi Kingston w/ Xavier Woods def Riddle w/ Randy Orton – **¾
We open the show with our tag team battle royal but before the match starts we get AJ Styles and Omos making their way out to the stage and Styles runs down all of the teams in the battle royal and then some of the teams talk back to him and we get a back and forth for a few minutes. The Miz and John Morrison make their way out and John Morrison is going to enter the battle royal even though The Miz is injured and will be out of action for quite a while. In the ring, Orton hits RKOs on New Day and Lince Dorado which takes us to a commercial break.
When we come back from the commercial the match has already started and after some fun battle royal offense we go to the finish where Kingston looks to hit the Trouble in Paradise on Orton but Riddle runs in which distracts Kingston long enough for Orton to eliminate him but as Orton has his back turned the Raiders eliminate Orton to win the match. Glad to see they didn’t immediately jump to having RKBro go for the tag titles as that needs to happen further down the road and it will be nice to see the Viking Raiders challenge for the titles and see what kind of damage Erik & Ivar can do to Omos.
The finish of the battle royal would lead to a match between Kingston and Riddle for later in the night where Riddle tries to get cute using Orton’s moves and when that doesn’t work he goes for the Bro Derrick but that gets blocked and Kingston picks up the win after hitting the Trouble in Paradise. The team of RKBro is the best thing happening on Raw and at this point is the only thing worth tuning in for each week. RKBro’s odd-couple chemistry is working really well and as corny as it is, the segments where Riddle zips his mouth shut and hands the key to Orton are humorous and I love how Orton’s no-nonsense attitude can only take Riddle for very short amounts of time. I think this feud with New Day has been really fun as all four men work well with each other both in the ring and during promos.
Charlotte and Rhea Ripley approach Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville backstage and they both want a rematch against Nikki Cross but instead, Sonya suggests they team up against Nikki and a partner of her choosing and that is what we will get later tonight. Nikki would reveal later in the night that her partner is Asuka. I thought the match was absolutely terrible mainly for the fact that it did nothing to make me want to see the Rhea vs Charlotte match that is happening at Hell in a Cell as the whole trope where the partners don’t get along so they make aggressive tags and eventually get into a brawl is overdone and no longer has any appeal to it. Nikki ends up rolling up Rhea to pick up the win for her team because for some reason they need to pin Rhea rather than Charlotte. Why are Charlotte and Rhea still more concerned with Nikki rather than each other this close to their match and also picking up these “wins” does nothing for Nikki if they are off distractions or her opponent already being knocked out. This whole thing involving Rhea and Charlotte is a mess and as a result, Rhea’s current reign as champion is feeling like an afterthought and at this point, with as much attention as Nikki is getting they might as well just make the match at Hell in a Cell a triple threat.
We got a match between Elias and Jaxson Ryker which ends with Elias getting himself counted out. They are trying to turn Ryker into a babyface, good luck with that once crowds return as I can guarantee they aren’t going to like him. I also need to point out that Ryker cut his hair so we know that he is now a babyface but that would end up being a mistake as he now has a giant bald spot in the back of his head.
We then get the contract signing between Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre but Lashley doesn’t make his entrance so McIntyre tells us a story about a guy named Robert the Bruce who hid in a cave and watched a spider fail to make a web until one day it finally did and that gave Robert the motivation to come out of hiding and win a battle that freed Scotland. Lashley, MVP, and the ladies eventually come out and Lashley wants this to be McIntyre’s last chance at the title and McIntyre actually agrees to these terms, but he wants something in return and that is he wants the match to take place inside the Hell in a Cell which Lashley and MVP agree to and the match is official. McIntyre has some words for Lashley and then just when it seems like the segment is over McIntyre grabs his giant sword and cuts the table in half. I have to admit I halfway paid attention to this as all contract segments pretty much go the same way and add that to my disinterest in these two facing each other again and I could care less what they had to say to each other I am just glad this is the last time we will see them against each other. We now have our first actual Hell in a Cell match for the PPV, but we usually have at least two so I wonder which SmackDown feud will be getting a Hell in a Cell match.
Sheamus comes out to the ring with a face mask due to his face legitimately getting busted up last week and he is looking rough, but nonetheless, he will be ringside for this US Championship #1 Contender match between Ricochet and Humberto Carrillo. Sheamus gets on the mic to complain about either of them getting a title shot when they messed him up last week and each man acts like he is going to dive out onto Sheamus which causes him to finally shut his mouth. Ricochet and Carrillo have a fun match but after a Spanish fly off the apron both men end up being counted out (second count-out finish of the night) so this match accomplished nothing and we will most likely get a triple threat at Hell in a Cell.
MVP tries to give Kofi Kingston a pep talk as he tells him KofiMania ended because Kingston let it end because he would rather be a nice guy dancing around with his friends and at that point, Kingston cuts him off as he has heard enough and tells MVP he does what he does for the kids just like Lashley does it for the money. MVP corrects him and says Lashley fights for honor, prestige, and the perks of being the champion, and then MVP walks off. I am definitely down for a Lashley vs Kingston feud after Hell in a Cell and perhaps getting a KofiMania II going into SummerSlam.
We got our weekly Eva Marie vignette and this time it showed clips of all her previous vignettes as she says she will finally make her big return next week on Raw. Eva’s return honestly can’t come soon enough because the other two women’s storylines happening on Raw are pretty much crap right now and hopefully she will add some spice to the division.
We got our two random matches of the week that are used to fill time because this is a 3-hour show. In the first match, Jeff Hardy beats Cedric Alexander because that is how you book the guy who is currently getting somewhat of a push by making him lose clean as a sheet to a guy who barely gets on Raw these days as his best days are behind him and his body has broken down. The second match saw Mansoor beat Drew Gulak in a quick match when he reverses a pin while Gulak has the tights into a pin of his own to pick up the win.
Now that I have covered everything else that happened on Raw it’s time to cover this main event segment and whoa boy is it something. Earlier in the night, Alexa Bliss reminds us while Shayna will be in the playground later tonight as she covers Lilly’s nonexistent ears and repeats what Shayna said last week about Lilly just being a stupid doll and says Shayna is wrong and tonight will be a real scream. Later in the night, Nia tries to offer to come with Shayna to Alexa’s playground for backup as she knows Alexa better than anyone, but Shayna refuses her help.
Alexa’s Playground is set up in the ring and Alexa talks to Lilly for a moment until Shayna storms down to the ring. Alexa wants Shayna to apologize to Lilly but Shayna refuses and then calls Alexa delusional before telling her off about costing them the tag titles. Alexa listens as Lilly says something to her and then Alexa tells Shayna she really should apologize to Lilly as it would be in her best interest. Shayna jerks the doll from Alexa’s hands and once again calls Lilly a stupid doll and throws her down to the mat, that is all Alexa wants to hear as she jumps up and tackles Shayna and then starts firing away with forearms before being sent outside the ring. Shayna then steps on Lilly which causes Alexa to freeze as she starts to look sad and then Shayna stomps on the head of Lilly. The lights start to flicker as Shayna leaves the ring and then pyro starts shooting out from the stage as Shayna runs to the back.
The camera follows Shayna in the back and the lights continue to flicker and things start to fall. Shayna tries to find a way out of the building but all the doors are locked. Shayna finds an open room and runs into it and then barricades herself in the room with furniture. Shayna looks in a mirror and sees Lilly is behind her in the room but when she turns around there is nothing there and when she turns back to the mirror Lilly has reappeared and this freaks Shayna out to the point where she breaks the mirror. The lights go out and then Shayna screams as the show comes to a close.
This entire segment was the perfect example of WrestleCrap and I feel sorry that both Alexa and more importantly Shayna had to be a part of it as Vince should be embarrassed that he signed off on something that was as ridiculous as this was. It was bad not necessarily because it was supposed to be a horror movie but because it came off like a D-list straight off of a Tubi horror movie. If they had planned on Lilly being scary then they should’ve made her a doll-like Chucky or Annabelle and not this goofy-looking stuffed doll with googly eyes and messed up teeth. The fact that they cannot see that Shayna belongs at the top of the women’s division along with Charlotte and Rhea is baffling and her being in this story is a complete waste of her talent. If they wanted to do this story then they should’ve done it with Nia as it wouldn’t have been as bad to see her be wasted in this story.
This was another skippable Raw other than the stuff involving RKBro which was the only thing on this 3 hour show that was even mildly entertaining.
NXT
NXT Results
- Oney Lorcan w/ Pete Dunne def Austin Theory w/ Johnny Gargano – **¾
- Isaiah Scott w/ Hit Row def Killian Dain w/ Drake Maverick – **¼
- Mercedes Martinez def Amari MIller – Dud
- Grizzled Young Veterans def August Grey & Ikeman Jiro – **
- Ember Moon def Dakota Kai w/ Raquel Gonzalez via DQ – **¾
The show opens with a match between Austin Theory and Oney Lorcan which came after the two got into a brawl after last week’s triple threat match and we also see footage of them getting into it once again earlier that day in the front office of the PC. Theory controls most of the early portion of the match until he starts getting cocky and loses focus which allows Lorcan to make a comeback and then the match goes to the floor where Lorcan sweeps the leg of Theory causing him to land back first on the apron and that brings out Pete Dunne and after a commercial break Johnny Gargano has come down to cheer on Theory. Both men take turns throwing the other to the outside and Theory sends Lorcan into the barricade before taking the match back into the ring. Theory hits Lorcan with a modified Spanish Fly before they go back to the floor. Dunne and Gargano start brawling on the outside and security comes out to break them up. Lorcan sends Theory into the ring post while he is on the apron and when Theory falls into the ring Lorcan hits him with a half nelson slam to pick up the win.
We get short videos of both LA Knight and Cameron Grimes showing off all of their mansions, fancy cars, etc in order to impress Ted Dibiase. Later on, Dibiase comes out to the ring for a special announcement, Knight and Grimes make their way to the ring each trying to outdo the other. Dibiase reveals that the match between Knight and Grimes this Sunday will be a ladder match and the prize they will be fighting for is the Million Dollar Championship. I am surprised to see they are doing a ladder match on back-to-back Takeover shows but I’m sure they will put on an awesome match and it’s also nice to see the return of the Million Dollar Championship.
To promote the In Your House theme for this Sunday’s Takeover we got Michael Hayes going under his old Dok Hendrix name hyping the matches happening on the show.
We get a confrontation between Legado del Fantasma and Bronson Reed which features Reed repeatedly showing footage of last week when she splashed Escobar into the barricade and fencing at ringside. MSK runs down to help even the odds and this leads to Legado del Fantasma challenging Reed & MSK to a winner takes all tag match at Takeover for both the North American and Tag Team Championship which Reed & MSK happily accept. I like this idea of having a winner take all tag match as it is something unique and different for the Takeover card.
Hit Row makes their way out when everything between Legado del Fantasma, Bronson Reed, & MSK is coming to an end and they stare down everybody and even get in the face of Reed & MSK but nothing happens as the show goes to a commercial. We come back and it’s Isaiah Scott taking on Killian Dain up next. Dain controls the match early, overpowering Swerve but after a couple of distractions from Hit Row Swerve gains control after he hits Dain from behind. As Swerve is in control we see Ashante the Adonis eating popcorn out of a plastic bag as he is being entertained by his HIt Row leader. Swerve loses his control when he slaps Dain and pisses him off as he cuts Swerve in half with a crossbody. Dain goes up top and Hit Row look to distract him and Drake Maverick tries to help but he is no match for Top Dolla who slams Maverick onto the apron, the distraction allows Swerve to knock Dain off the top, and then he hits Dain with a running kick to finish him off to pick up the win.
We get an interview with the ladies of The Way where Candice is not happy about all the attention Poppy is getting. Indi talks about Dexter Lumis putting her headphones on last week and crying and then runs off to go find him leaving Candice perplexed as to why this keeps happening. Later in the night Poppy is with Triple H and William Regal and Triple H wants to know when her new album drops and she says right now and then presses a button on her phone which absolutely amazes Triple H. Dexter Lumis walks up and hands Poppy a drawing he did of her and she gives him a big hug which lingers on long enough to when Indi walks up she sees what is happening and runs off devastated. The best part of this entire segment was just watching Regal’s reactions as it has been a while since we have seen Regal do any kind of comedy so he was on his A-game during this segment with all the classic Regal facial reactions.
Candice LeRae comes to the ring and is still upset about Poppy and now she is pissed about what happened with Indi and finally admits that In-Dex is a thing and now Indi has left the building in tears. Candice then threatens Poppy telling her she can either come out there or she can give her a proper introduction to the NXT parking lot. Poppy comes out and says that she isn’t a wrestler but she knows someone who does and this brings back the returning Io Shirai. Io hits the ring and takes Candice down with a double leg and then hits her with a tiger feint kick which dazes Candice long enough for Io to go up top and hit the missile dropkick which sends Candice bailing to the outside. Io and Poppy celebrate in the ring as the segment comes to an end. It’s good to see Io back although I’m a bit surprised to see her in NXT as I was sure she was headed to one of the main brands, but given how the women are being booked on the main rosters it’s for the best that she is back on the black and gold brand.
Mercedes Martinez was scheduled to have a match but was jumped by Xia Li as she was coming to the ring but Mercedes makes a comeback and throws Xia over the barricade and then gets into the ring to have the match she was scheduled for. The match is a complete squash as Mercedes hits her with an Air Raid Crash and picks up the win.
We get a quick tag match where Grizzled Young Veterans beat 205 Live stars August Grey and Ikeman Jiro. During the match, Ciampa and Thatcher come down to watch the match, and then after the match, the two teams have words as GYV are done with Ciampa and Thatcher and are ready to go for the tag titles, but Ciampa and Thatcher tell them they aren’t going for the titles until they go through them. All of this talk leads to a tornado tag match being booked between the two teams next week.
We go to our final match of the night as Ember Moon looks to take out Dakota Kai days before her big title match against Raquel Gonzalez at Takeover. Dakota takes control early but then decides to slap Ember which pisses her off and gives her the motivation to make a comeback for the next few minutes until a forearm drops Ember and then Dakota spins her body causing her to go face-first into the ring post. Ember looks to be in control after a commercial break but Dakota fights back with several kicks and almost has Ember down for the count but Ember won’t stay down. Ember elbows her way out of a fireman’s carry and then hits Dakota with a powerbomb for a very close 2 count and that is enough for Dakota to roll to the floor for a breather.
Raquel tries to interfere when Ember follows Dakota out to the floor but Ember drops her with a punch and then Ember takes out both Dakota and Raquel with a tope suicida. Ember throws Dakota back in the ring and looks to go for the Eclipse, but before she can start to climb the ropes Raquel interferes and boots Ember in the face to cause a disqualification. After the match, Dakota and Raquel are double-teaming Ember until she counters the one-armed powerbomb with a Stunner and then hits Raquel with the Eclipse. Ember holds up the title and then drops it onto the prone Raquel before leaving the ring. This was a really good match and did a lot to hype up the title match between Ember and Raquel on Sunday.
We finally get to our main event segment where the NXT Champion Karrion Kross wants to face off against all of his challengers ahead of the big title match this Sunday. William Regal tries to stop this from happening as the show has been chaotic enough the past two weeks and this won’t help that at all, but Kross disregards everything he says and states that he isn’t leaving until all four of his challengers come out. Kyle O’Reilly, Johnny Gargano, & Pete Dunne come out from different locations and each cut a promo on Kross and each other. Adam Cole shows up on the video screen and cuts his promo to make it seem like he is not in the arena. O’Reilly replies to what Cole had to say in his promo and then he goes over and slaps Kross and this leads to a brawl between the four men, the challengers team up against the much larger champion but he fights them off. Adam Cole shows up out of nowhere and hits Kross with a superkick to the back of the head and then he stands tall holding up the NXT Championship as the show comes to a close. I really enjoyed this segment and thought it did a good job of hyping up the main event for Takeover this Sunday.
This episode did a really good job of finalizing the Takeover card and getting everyone interested and excited to watch the show this Sunday as it looks like it could be a really fun show.
NXT UK
NXT UK Results
- Jordan Devlin def Saxon Huxley – **¼
- Symbiosis w/ Eddie Dennis def Andy Wild & Dan Moloney – **¼
- Meiko Satomura def Kay Lee Ray © (NXT Women’s Championship) – ****¼
After a quick recap video of how last week ended with Joey Coffey, Rampage Brown, and Ilja Dragunov staring each other down as a triple threat match is most likely down the line to crown a new #1 contender for the NXT UK Championship. The video then hypes up tonight’s big main event match between Meiko Satomura and Kay Lee Ray for the NXT UK Women’s Championship.
We go into the BT Sports Studio where we are graced by the presence of the NXT UK Champion Walter who we haven’t seen since WrestleMania week. Walter talks himself up and how he is the longest-reigning champion in modern WWE history and he is still driven by his desire to keep the mat sacred and restore honor to pro wrestling. It’s always nice to see our NXT UK Champion Walter but I’m ready for him to defend his title once again as his matches always steal the show.
We see Jordan Devlin enter the studio and he goes to his own personalized dressing room as he will be in action later tonight. We also see a vignette from Subculture who will be in mixed tag action next week against Jinny and Joseph Conners.
It’s time for the first match of the night as Jordan Devlin takes on Saxon Huxley, we are told that Devlin will be on Super Nova Sessions next week. Huxley is in control for quite a while as he throws Devlin around the ring and just when it looks like Devlin may make a comeback as he low bridges Huxley out to the floor he is dragged out of the ring and is sent over the barricade. Huxley throws Devlin back in the ring and works him over in the corner, Huxley goes for the two-handed choke but Devlin escapes by raking the eyes and then moments later he hits Huxley with a slingshot cutter for a 2 count. Devlin tries for the Devilinside but Huxley blocks it by grabbing the rope and then Huxley pulls Devlin in for the sit-out chokebomb which gets a 2 count. Devlin escapes a fireman’s carry attempt and headbutts Huxley in the back of the head and then hits him with DeviInside to pick up the win.
I was surprised to see Huxley get so much offense but I wasn’t mad at it as I like Huxley and wish he was used as more than just a jobber, in fact, I would take him over someone like an Eddie Dennis or Joe Coffey any day of the week. Devlin wins his first match back in NXT UK and it will be interesting to see what happens when he is a guest on Super Nova Sessions next week.
Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) are backstage arguing about who is the better singles wrestler as they both want a chance to prove themselves outside of tag matches and Sid Scala says he will see what he can do. Sam Gradwell interrupts them and we find out later that Wolfgang will face Gradwell next week.
Pretty Deadly come out to be on commentary for the next match which sees the returning team of Symbiosis (T-Bone & Primate) along with their manager Eddie Dennis takes on a brand new team of Dan Moloney & Andy Wild. The action is back and forth at the start of the match as both teams get their shots in but Symbiosis finally gains control when T-Bone catches Moloney off a crossbody attempt and hits him with repeated backbreakers and a fallaway slam. Symbiosis focuses on the lower back of Moloney as they work him over in the corner. Moloney finds an opportunity to make a comeback as he hits T-Bone with a dropkick and then makes the tag to Wild. Wild goes on a tear for a minute until Primate hits him with an exploder suplex followed by a spear. T-Bone hits Wild with a powerslam and Primate follows that up with a diving headbutt to pick up the win. This was a fine match that did a good job of showcasing Symbiosis.
We get a Teoman video where he is still fixated on the friendship between Oliver Carter and Ashton Smith and he threatens to put everyone in the hospital. I still can’t get into this guy and whatever his character is supposed to be.
It’s time for our main event where Kay Lee Ray puts her NXT UK Women’s Championship on the line against “The Final Boss” Meiko Satomura in the second match between these two competitors. Meiko comes right out of the gate with kicks and forearms which back KLR into the corner and then both women look to hit their finishers early but neither is successful and KLR rolls to the outside for a breather. Meiko continues the punishment on the outside but KLR catches Meiko with a superkick as she tries to enter the ring, but this would only get a 2 count. Meiko fights back and goes back to what she knows best which is kicking the crap out of someone and then she sweeps the leg of KLR and hits a knee drop but KLR grabs the hair of Meiko and she fires away with chops and lands a kick to the chest of Meiko but that still doesn’t keep Meiko down.
KLR hits Meiko with a front suplex and when Meiko goes to kick out KLR tries to transition into a Koji Clutch, but Meiko won’t let her lock it in as she fights out and locks KLR in an STF only for KLR to reach the ropes to force the break. KLR ties up Meiko on the mat once again but ends up breaking it out of frustration. KLR sends Meiko into the corner and Meiko attempts to springboard off but KLR catches her with a punch in mid-air. KLR tries to set Meiko up for the Gory Bomb but she keeps blocking it and tries for the DVD but KLR reverses that into a roll-up for a 2 count. Meiko plants KLR with a spike DDT and then goes for the cartwheel knee drop but it only gets her a 2 count. We see both competitors hit the finisher of their opponent but neither are able to follow up and make the cover. KLR and Meiko trade strikes until Meiko drops KLR with an uppercut and hits the cartwheel knee drop, but KLR is still able to kick out.
Meiko is looking very confident but KLR drops her with a series of superkicks as Meiko wouldn’t stay down. KLR goes to pick up Meiko but is hit with a Saito suplex out of nowhere and then Meiko connects with the DVD but that still isn’t enough to keep the champion down for the count. Meiko sees the opportunity to hit Scorpio Rising, but as she charges in KLR hits her with a superkick and then follows up with the Gory Bomb, but instead of going for the cover KLR goes up top and hits a Swanton Bomb but Meiko still has some fight in her as she kicks out at 2. KLR has had enough as she grabs her title and is looking to walk out of the match, but Meiko stops her and as KLR goes to hit Meiko with the title she ducks and Meiko hits KLR with the DVD on the floor.
Meiko throws KLR back into the ring but as Meiko goes to enter the ring KLR rolls back out to the floor. Meiko goes to exit the ring but KLR grabs her by the hair and pulls her down to the floor and then she hits Meiko with the Gory Bomb into the apron, KLR goes for the pin but it still isn’t enough to keep down “The Final Boss”. KLR sets Meiko up for perhaps a powerbomb but she gets backdropped. Meiko goes up top but gets cut off by KLR who looks to hit a superplex but Meiko blocks and hits a sunset flip powerbomb off the top which is nearly enough to get the win, but KLR kicks out at the very last second.
Meiko goes to lock in a rear-naked choke but KLR throws her off only for Meiko to go right back to it and this time KLR almost goes out but falls into the ropes at the last second. KLR looks out of it as she gets to her feet and Meiko hits her with an overhead kick, Meiko goes for the cover but KLR kicks out, and as she does she transitions into the Koji clutch once again but Meiko is able to roll KLR up in a pin attempt for a 2 count. Meiko hits KLR with a running basement spinning heel kick and she follows that up with the DVD and as KLR tries to get to her feet Meiko finally hits her with the Scorpio Rising and that would be enough to keep KLR down for the 3 count and we have a new NXT UK Women’s Champion.
WOW! That was one hell of a main event as these two world-class performers put on a classic match and in the end, the historic reign of Kay Lee Ray finally came to an end at the hands of “The Legend” Meiko Satomura. While I am happy to see Meiko as the champion I have to wonder if perhaps they should’ve saved this big win for either a special appearance at an NXT Takeover or at least for when fans return in the UK as both the match and the big win would’ve been a huge hit for a live crowd. I wonder if KLR losing her title means she could be headed to NXT proper as that is what we have seen with both former NXT UK Women’s Champions when they lost their titles, although I don’t know if NXT needs KLR right now as their women’s division is already stacked unless they plan to move a couple of the girls from NXT proper up to Raw and SmackDown. Congratulations to the new NXT UK Women’s Champion Meiko Satomura and now the NXT UK women’s locker room really have their work cut out for them if they want to dethrone “The Final Boss”.
SmackDown
SmackDown Results
- Kevin Owens & Big E def Apollo Crews & Sami Zayn w/ Commander Azeez – **¾
- Liv Morgan def Carmella – **¼
- Montez Ford def Chad Gable via DQ – **½
- King Nakamura w/ Rick Boogs def Baron Corbin – *¼
The show opens with a video recap of what happened last week between Roman Reigns and The Usos and we then pan out to see that Reigns and Jey Uso are watching the video package. Reigns reminds Jey that the one thing he won’t stand for is the family being embarrassed and he wants to know if Jimmy understands that but before Jey can answer Jimmy makes his way to the ring.
Jimmy thinks Reigns got them disqualified on purpose last week because he is jealous and he doesn’t want The Usos representing the family as tag champions just like Reigns does as Universal Champion. Jimmy says he sees right through Reigns and knows that Reigns is trying to split them up but he is his brother’s keeper, Jimmy promises to do something tonight that he won’t regret. We later get a confrontation between Jimmy and Jey in the back where Jimmy says he needed his brother last week but Jey froze up on him and then he talks about how Reigns is disgracing the family. Jey wants to know what Jimmy expected him to do for the entire year he was gone and then says he is loyal to Reigns. Jimmy tells Jey that if Reigns wants to speak with him he can find them in The Usos locker room.
Reigns goes into The Usos locker room later in the night and asks Jimmy if he understands that he is the Universal Champion, but Jimmy doesn’t care about that championship and then talks about how Reigns has treated them like crap since they were kids and now for the last year he has watched Reigns abuse Jey and he doesn’t plan on taking Jey’s place in getting abused. Reigns tries to manipulate Jey by asking him if he sees what Jimmy is trying to do and then Jimmy asks Jey if he sees what Reigns is trying to do and they start arguing until Jey stops them and tells them he has had enough of both of them and then he storms off. Jimmy says he is tired of all this and if Reigns wants to fight then they can do it right now, but instead of fighting, Reigns tries to get into the head of Jimmy as he asks why Jimmy is doing all of this and then points out that Jimmy is the older brother and should be looking out for Jey rather than abandoning him just because he found a way to keep busy while Jimmy was out for the year and then he tells Jimmy he needs to make this right.
Just when I think Reigns and The Usos can’t get any better they always seem to outdo themselves every week and although they are all over the show every week I never get tired of watching them and I always look forward to seeing what they are going to do next. I like how Reigns has started to play his manipulation game on Jimmy even though Jimmy is openly against everything Reigns stands for, but Reigns knows that if he works on Jimmy long enough he will crumble and fall in line just like Jey did.
The opening match saw Big E and Kevin Owens take on Apollo Crews and Sami Zayn in a really good match which saw KO and Big E pick up the win when KO hit Zayn with the Stunner for the 3 count. After the match, Crews gets on the mic and says they didn’t beat him as the only reason he lost was that he was paired with Zayn. Crews then challenges KO and Big E to a rematch next week but this time his partner will be Commander Azeez. Sami Zayn gets on the mic as he is upset at Crews for talking crap about him and as he enters the ring to confront Crews he is taken down with the Nigerian Nail from Commander Azeez.
Our women’s match of the night is a rematch from last week as Carmella takes on Liv Morgan and although the match was really short I enjoyed it for the time it got and I am glad to see Liv finally pick up a win as she desperately needed one now that she is on her own so that she can be established as someone to take seriously in the division, hopefully, this is the beginning of big things for Liv as nobody on the current women’s roster deserves it more than her as she has improved so much in the past few years and the least they could do after firing her best friend is to give her a push toward the women’s championship.
We get a recap of what happened last week between the Street Profits and the Alpha Academy. We go to the back where Chad Gable walks up to the Street Profits and apologizes for last week and to show how sorry he is he got their tag match canceled and also mentions Otis got carried away last week as he is very protective, but the Profits aren’t accepting the apology as they threaten to slap Otis if he ever does what he did to them last week again. We get an argument that leads to Gable saying they talked their way back into a match against him. Gable says he won’t allow Otis at ringside tonight if Dawkins doesn’t come to the ring with Ford and then he lets them know that Otis is still mad from last week as he walks off. We get a fun match later in the night between Gable and Ford, but as the match is going on we see Otis (who is now clean-shaven) attack Dawkins backstage and a few minutes later Otis hits the ring to attack Ford causing the disqualification as he hits him with a front slam and a splash off the middle rope. Dawkins tries to make the save but gets stopped by Gable and as this is happening Otis hits Ford with a Vader Bomb.
Bayley hosts an edition of “Ding Dong, Hello!” and this week her guest is Seth Rollins. Bayley and Rollins have a good laugh about what happened last week between Bayley and Bianca Belair where she took over the screens in the Thunderdome to show a repeated video of her laughing. They then move on to the beating Rollins gave Cesaro a few weeks ago and as they are having a good time laughing about that we hear the doorbell ring and when Rollins goes to answer the door he is attacked by the returning Cesaro who beats him down and stands tall. Bianca Belair then comes out to the stage and when she gets on the mic she starts laughing just like Bayley has been doing to her over the past few weeks and that is how the segment comes to an end.
We currently have a 3-way tie for shitty women’s feuds on both Raw and SmackDown as on Raw we have Rhea Ripley and Charlotte feuding with each other but are yet more concerned with Nikki Cross rather than each other, also on Raw we have a world-class athlete and all-around badass Shayna Baszler being scared of a goofy looking doll, and finally, on SmackDown we have Bianca Belair and Bayley in a feud that revolves solely around laughing hysterically rather than the SmackDown Women’s Championship because feuding over a championship would never draw a dime. On top of all these terrible singles feuds, we have a women’s tag division that now has zero teams left to challenge the champions. This is truly a dire time for the women’s division on Raw and SmackDown, thank God we still have NXT and NXT UK to rely on for sensible booking and competitive matches in the women’s division.
We got our fourth straight match between Shinsuke Nakamura and Baron Corbin and this week Nakamura picks up the win with a rollup out of nowhere. After the match, Corbin attacks Rick Boogs and takes his crown back but Nakamura steals it back, and then Boogs sends Corbin flying across the announce table. Later on, Corbin goes to the office of Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville as he is upset at what just happened and they make yet another Nakamura vs Corbin match for next week, but this time the match is for the crown. I wouldn’t doubt that the match next week for the crown ends in a screwy finish and we get a sixth match between these two at Hell in a Cell.
If Reigns wasn’t having enough trouble on this show with his family he also had Rey Mysterio coming for him after Reigns attacked Dominik last week. Rey says he vowed the day Dominik was born that he would always protect him but last week he failed, but by the end of the night he will be in the ring and he will call out Reigns and will show him what a family is supposed to look like. During the main event segment, Rey calls out Reigns just like he promised and acknowledges him as the rat bastard who put his hands on his son and the man he is going to fight even if he gets his ass kicked and he challenges him to a Hell in a Cell match.
Reigns gets on the mic and acknowledges Rey as a father and before he can say anything else Rey grabs a kendo stick and fires away at Reigns until Reigns grabs the stick and attempts to powerbomb Rey but Rey grabs the stick and beats Reigns with it to escape the powerbomb. Reigns throws Rey out of the ring but Rey slides right back into the ring only to run into a Superman Punch from Reigns. Reigns is in control until Dominik comes in with his own kendo stick and he starts to attack Reigns, but Reigns stops him and lifts Dominik up in a powerbomb, and then he proceeds to send Dominik flying out of the ring courtesy of a powerbomb. Rey comes back into play as he goes back to attacking Reigns with the kendo stick but Reigns drops him and then stands over the prone bodies of the Mysterios as the show comes to a close. I get that Rey wants revenge for what Reigns did to Dominik but a feud that only has 2 weeks build should not be inside the Hell in a Cell, especially when you have a feud like Cesaro vs Seth Rollins that has been going on for months and is a feud that is a lot more heated, Cesaro should want to face Rollins inside Hell in a Cell as payback for Rollins putting him on the shelf for a couple of weeks.
This week’s SmackDown was a lot of repeat of previous weeks but if you want to watch the show I suggest just fast-forwarding to any time Roman Reigns or The Usos are on the screen as they are by far the stars of SmackDown.
In the News
There have been multiple reports that WWE is looking to make this year’s SummerSlam just as big as WrestleMania and are looking into bringing in all of their big guns for the show. The most notable name that has been reported to be on WWE’s radar for SummerSlam is John Cena as WWE are wanting to main event SummerSlam with a Cena vs Reigns match. Other names that could be making a return for SummerSlam are Edge and Sasha Banks.
There have also been rumors of WWE bringing back Brock Lesnar, however, as of now there are no plans for him to be at SummerSlam as those within the company want to wait until Roman Reigns is free to feud with Lesnar which could be a very interesting feud if the babyface and heel roles are switched around from what they were when they previously feuded and who would Paul Heyman align himself with if this feud were to become a reality.
We are not finished with big names that could be making a return to WWE as Dave Meltzer reported that WWE would like to have The Rock make an appearance at Survivor Series in November which is tentatively being scheduled to take place in Brooklyn, NY. A potential match between Roman Reigns and The Rock has been heavily talked about by both parties as they would like to face each other at WrestleMania and The Rock has even been reported as to being open to that match happening as soon as next year, so perhaps this potential appearance at Survivor Series is to set up a match between the two megastars at WrestleMania 38.
In some NXT news it looks like this Sunday’s NXT Takeover: In Your House will have the largest NXT crowd since before the pandemic, furthermore fans who are going to the show no longer need to submit a negative Covid-19 test in order to attend the event. It also seems that the next Takeover after In Your House is being tentatively scheduled to occur the night after SummerSlam on 8/22/21, however, the show will still be taking place at the CWC in Orlando rather than bringing it to Las Vegas which is the site of this year’s SummerSlam.
The future of Tommy End/Aleister Black seems to be up in the air as PWInsider is reporting that there are some within WWE that feel like Black was prematurely released and was a victim of broken promises and bad creative and should be re-signed immediately as he was let go of no fault of his own. While there are many in the company that were fans of Black the one man that matters the most never really understood the style or character of Black which is most likely why he was not pushed on the main roster like he was down in NXT. There are also reports from Dave Meltzer that Black could be headed to AEW although that is far from a done deal as Black has to wait out his 90-day no-compete clause and anything could happen between now and then.
Fightful Select is reporting there is speculation among the talent in WWE that there is interest in bringing back Samoa Joe to NXT as a wrestler and it should also be noted that Joe was spotted at the PC this week although the reason for him being there is unknown.
We could be close to once again being able to look but not touching as The Bella Twins announced on Entertainment Tonight that they are starting to train and prepare for once more run in the WWE as they want their kids to see them wrestle. Whether you like the Bellas or not I think we can all agree that their return cannot happen soon enough as the women’s tag division definitely needs a shot in the arm as it is pretty much on life support right now as the division is pretty much made up of just the champions. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if the Bellas came back and won the titles and then the titles were retired because it is clear that Vince doesn’t care about those titles and would much rather have them not be around so he doesn’t have to worry about them which is a shame as that could’ve been a really fun division.
Coming up this Week
Raw:
- RKBro vs New Day
- Drew McIntyre vs AJ Styles
- The return of Eva Marie
NXT:
- NXT Takeover: In Your House II
Karrion Kross © w/ Scarlett vs Johnny Gargano vs Pete Dunne vs Kyle O’Reilly vs Adam Cole (NXT Championship)
Raquel Gonzalez © w/ Dakota Kai vs Ember Moon (NXT Women’s Championship)
Bronson Reed © & MSK © vs Legado del Fantasma (NXT Tag Team & North American Championship)
Cameron Grimes vs LA Knight (Million Dollar Championship – Ladder Match)
Mercedes Martinez vs Xia Li w/ Tian Sha
- Grizzled Young Veterans vs Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher – Texas Tornado Match
NXT UK
- Jinny & Joseph Conners vs Dani Luna & Flash Morgan Webster
- Sam Gradwell vs Wolfgang
- Supernova Sessions w/ Jordan Devlin
SmackDown:
- Shinsuke Nakamura vs King Corbin – Winner gets the King of the Ring crown.
- Kevin Owens & Big E vs Apollo Crews & Commander Azeez
As always if you have any feedback to give whether it be positive or negative please feel free to contact me on Twitter @MTW3589.
