August 22, 2014
Phoenix, AZ
US Airways Center
The current WWE champs are as follows:
WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Brock Lesnar (8/17/2014)
WWE Intercontinental Champion: Dolph Ziggler (8/17/2014)
WWE U.S. Champion: Sheamus (5/5/2014)
WWE Divas Champion: Paige (8/17/2014)
WWE Tag Team Champions: The Usos (3/3/2014)
Your hosts are Tom Phillips (who Cole announces is taking over as PBP guy on Smackdown), Michael Cole, and JBL.
Randy Orton kicks off the show to discuss Roman Reigns. Since his loss at SummerSlam, he’s become just that much more focused. Orton says when he’s focused, things like the attack on Reigns last month tend to happen. So you were focused in *that* moment, but you still lost the match that stemmed from that moment? I’m confused with your logic, sir. Anyways, Orton promises revenge on Reigns. Tonight though, he will be wrestling Rob Van Dam and plans to send a message to the entire locker room what he is capable of doing. He feels he DESERVES our respect and now that he has his focus back, he plans on simply taking it from us. If there is any word in the American lexicon that is overused as much as the word “deserve”, well I don’t want to know what that word is.
LOVED everything Ambrose vs. Rollins on Raw as we get a lengthy video package.
– Seth Rollins vs. Jack Swagger
Zeb Colter has been missing since SummerSlam. Selling the ribs, Swagger still manages to outwrestle Rollins to start. Rollins can’t have that happen and goes after the ribs with punches and knees. He grabs a body scissors, but Swagger fights out and hits a belly to belly suplex. Over on the apron, Rollins avoids a charge through the ropes and kicks Swagger to the floor to take us into commercial. When we come back, Swagger muscles out of a body scissors with a wheelbarrow suplex! He throws Rollins from corner to corner and hits the Swagger Bomb. Of course, that hurts his ribs and delays the pinfall. Rollins springboards into the Patriot Lock, but shoots Swagger off into the corner. Swagger sidesteps the Curb Stomp and takes Rollins to the floor. Back inside, Rollins tries a baseball slide and gets pulled into another Patriot Lock. Swagger yanks him off the apron and drops him on his face. He looks for a clothesline up against the ringpost, but misses and hits his arm on the STEEL post. Rollins takes advantage by throwing him over the barricade so he can get some relief. When Swagger dives back inside to beat the ten-count, Rollins catches him with the Curb Stomp to cause Swagger to fall back out to the floor and this time gets counted out. (6:45 shown) What a week these two are having. Loved all the ring psychology here. ***
Bo Dallas heads out to passive aggressively encourage Swagger.
Backstage, after the Miz gets done ordering some douchey latte, DOO Kane is standing close by. Miz doesn’t want to chat with him unless he has something to say about a sequel match for his IC title. Miz has an agent so he doesn’t have to talk to freaks like Kane. For that comment, Kane gives Miz a sequel match with Roman Reigns.
– Rusev (w/Lana) vs. Sin Cara
Rusev CRUSH Sin Cara. The Accolade gets the victory in no time. (2:00) Lana expresses that this is what happens when you disrespect Russia. Oh man, here comes Mark Henry. He chases Rusev out of the ring – WHO STILL SELLS THE PATRIOT LOCK FROM SUMMERSLAM. I love it. ½*
Renee Young speaks with Rob Van Dam backstage. Van Dam feels Randy Orton needs to chill out. Well, Orton doesn’t feel the same way and runs RVD over. Orton wants Renee to tell him when he wakes up that he’ll be waiting for him at the ring.
– Randy Orton vs. Rob Van Dam
Van Dam chases Orton out of the ring to start a little stalling. Back inside, Van Dam kicks Orton around and sends him to the floor for a somersault bump. He tries the legdrop off the apron onto Orton, but misses. Here is where the wheels fall off Orton’s sanity. We get some ringside violence as Orton smashes RVD’s face on announce tables and dumps him into the stairs. The match ends in a double countout, but gets much worse for Van Dam. (3:00) First, Orton delivers the draping DDT off the barricade, and then sets up a chair in the ring and gives RVD an RKO onto the chair. Well, that’ll do. Orton heads over to the announce table and wants them to tell Roman Reigns he’ll be back later. *
Renee Young checks in with Roman Reigns. Someone needs to kill the legend of Randy Orton, and that someone is him. Believe dat.
– Non-title match: WWE Divas Champion Paige vs. Natalya
Natalya beat Paige in a non-title match this past week on Raw, so now she gets ANOTHER non-title match. Paige bum rushes the show to start, but Natalya makes her pay with a slap and gives her a butterfly suplex. To the floor, Paige catches Natalya coming around the corner with a superkick. Like a crazy person, she screams at her. Back inside, Paige gets a little sexfully crawling around the ring and then applies a body scissors. Out comes AJ Lee to skip around the ring and steal the Divas championship. She then skips up to the ramp and lays the championship down for Paige to come and get it. Well, Paige does just that and runs back down to the ring to beat the ten-count. However, she’s caught in the Sharpshooter and has no choice but to tap out. (4:00) So I’m assuming this will lead to a title match for Natalya at some point, correct? *
– Luke Harper & Erick Rowan vs. The Dust Brothers
After their non-title loss to the Dust Brothers this past week on Raw, they cut a promo on the split-screen. These guys just ain’t funny. Stardust slips away from Harper and Rowan to start, but then he tags in the big brother. Rowan gives him the POOOOOUNCE, period. That takes Goldust out of the ring as we go to commercial. When we come back, Goldust has the paint beaten off his face. Harper delivers the Gator Roll, but then gets blasted with a headscissors. It’s not enough though as he catches Goldust with a superkick. Sitout powerbomb to Goldust gets two. As Stardust breaks up the pin, the match breaks down. Rowan goes flying over the top rope thanks to Stardust, but then Harper boots him down when he tries a springboard. Meanwhile, Goldust schoolboys Harper for the 1-2-3. (6:00 shown) Fun little tag match there. Afterwards, Harper and Rowan decimate the Dust brothers as Michael Cole’s chair gets tossed into Stardust. In the ring, Goldust gets the Discus Lariat by Harper and a splash from Rowan. **½
From this past week on Main Event, COOHHH announces that John Cena has been granted a rematch for the WWE world heavyweight championship. Therefore, we get Cena-Lesnar III at Night of Champions on September 21. So to everyone who scoffed that Lesnar wouldn’t appear at a non-Big Four PPV, you were wrong.
They take us back to Raw from this past week as Brock Lesnar is presented with the new WWE world heavyweight championship that is just the WWE title with the updated logo. From there, Paul Heyman cuts a long promo hyping Brock. For all the details and much more, check out McGinn’s Raw Recap.
– Roman Reigns vs. The Miz
To not make a liar out of himself, Orton comes out to get a closer look. Reigns stops Miz’s feeble attempts to punch and kick him with a Samoan Drop. Orton slithers into the ring to distract Reigns, which allows Miz to nail him from behind. He seriously tries the Skull Crushing Finale, but Reigns elbows him back and drills him with the Spear for the pinfall. (2:00) Afterwards, we get a big brawl from Reigns and Orton that spills over to the announce table. Orton abuses Reigns with a chair and heads back into the ring for another ChairKO. Roman knows it’s coming and grabs the chair to destroy Orton. Superman Punch! That’s all Orton can take today as he heads up the aisle. Roman Reigns stands tall as we close out the show. ½*
Until next week, so long for now!