With Summerslam only 6 days away, Monday Night RAW and Tuesday’s Smackdown Live are the final two shows to get fans ready for the “hottest show of the summer”. Whether this show will actually have any effect on Sunday’s show will be seen as we go through the show. Let’s see the Monday Night RAW from this week.
This week’s episode of Monday Night RAW started with a welcome from Michael Cole to Greensboro, North Carolina. Ronda Rousey’s music hits and she walks out to the ring. Michael Cole welcomes Renee Young, who is making her commentary debut for RAW. Rousey addresses that Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart passed away today. She talks about how important fathers are to everyone. She tells Natalya to stay strong. A “Nattie” chant breaks out. She then ties what she is saying into how she will beat Alexa Bliss on Sunday. She then brings out Ember Moon, who is facing Bliss next.
Ember Moon vs. Alexa Bliss
Alexa Bliss makes her entrance accompanied by Alicia Fox. Bliss has a microphone, saying that Ronda is a spoiled, overrated rookie. Bliss said that she spoke to Constable Corbin, has because of that been granted security. Four security members walk onstage. Ronda took down all security guards and Alicia Fox. Back from the break, the previously mentioned match actually begins. Ember Moon was closing in on a victory hitting an Eclipse, and going for a pin. The pin was broken up by Alicia Fox, ending the match via DQ. It seems so odd that they are making Ember Moon look like shes better than Alexa Bliss. To me, this did not make sense. But implications aside, the match was pretty entertaining.
Baron Corbin vs. Tyler Breeze
Backstage we see Baron Corbin arguing with Kurt Angle. Apparently Corbin booked a match without getting anyone’s approval. Corbin chose Tyler Breeze as his opponent. Michael Cole tells the broadcast that Corbin has also arranged a match for Finn Balor later on tonight. Something that looks very uncomfortable is the fact that Corbin is fighting in his formal attire that he usually wears. Corbin hit a Deep 6 to get the victory. Corbin brings out Balor’s opponent for tonight. His opponents are Jinder Mahal and Kevin Owens. This is seriously all so boring. Nothing interesting is going on here, except a script that was made to burn through the show as much as possible. Just after Balor made his entrance, Kurt Angle came out and added to the match, making it a tag match. Balor’s partner was Braun Stroman. Since when did Kurt like Stroman so much? Anyways…
Jinder Mahal & Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor & Braun Stroman
When Stroman eventually got a hot tag the crowd cheered. There was a good double team spot later on where Stroman slammed Balor onto Mahal. He was not expecting this slam to happen. Finn did a dive to outside the ring onto both Owens and Mahal as we went to commercials. After the break Stroman was on fire. He used Sunil Singh as a weapon when taking Owens down. He hit a Powerslam to end the match. This match had a mind numbingly boring buildup, but at the end of the day it’s always fun to watch Stroman fight. The match was fun but maybe went on a little too long. But really, everything does on an episode like this. After the match Corbin beat up Balor after Stroman chased Owens away from the scene.
Ricky Roberts is announced in the ring. It’s some guy whos dressed as a country singer, who claims that he is a big fan of Elias. Elias comes out and says something, I don’t know. I forgot it basically right after he said it. Bobby Lashley comes out and beats up Ricky Roberts after Ricky smashes a guitar on his back. Alright, I guess. Man, this was bad. Like, what purpose did this have? If any?
Bray Wyatt & Matt Hardy vs. The Revival vs. The B-Team (WWE RAW Tag Team Championship Match)
The undefeated B-Team faced their biggest challenge this week when it came to defending their undefeated streak, and their tag titles. The odds are against them, facing not one but two teams. Mid-way through the match there was a deadly spot, with Dash Wilder and Matt Hardy doing a Suplex off the top rope to the outside onto everyone else. The Revival hit Wyatt with a Shatter Machine, but Curtis Axel capitalized off of it by throwing everyone out of the ring and pinning Wyatt. This was a predictable way to book the match, but still good. B-Team are an entertaining gimmick, for now at least.
Roman Reigns In The Ring
Roman Reigns cuts a promo on Brock Lesnar. He says he will send Brock back to the UFC, name dropping Dana White. Paul Heyman comes out to confront Roman. Heyman tries to offer his business to Roman, doing a whole pitch. Out of nowhere he starts to mace Roman Reigns. After Roman was recovering from this attack, Brock Lesnar came down for an attack of his own. This was a well played out segment, if it was maybe 10 minutes shorter. I did not expect Brock to attack at the end.
Bobby Roode, Apollo Crews & Titus O’Neil vs. Mojo Rawley & The Authors Of Pain
Okay so this match did not even get entrances, but I guess it’s happening. No real reason for any of these guys to be fighting, but whatever. Bobby Roode got the win for his team with a Glorious DDT. That’s the segment? Seriously? That was the definition of pointless.
After the commercial break a very nice tribute to Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart was played. He passed away the morning of the show.
Sasha Banks w/ Bayley vs. Ruby Riott w/ Sarah Logan & Liv Morgan
Sasha Banks fought Ruby Riott with their respective supporters at ringside. A lot of this match was during commercials, but one spot that caught my eye was Sasha doing a Suicide Dive to Sarah Logan to the outside, absolutely crashing and burning. Riott did a roll-up for the win, which made the match a little lame. Crowd is dead silent at this point.
Intercontinental Championship Match Contract Signing
Kurt Angle is in the ring for a contract signing. Angle first addresses the attack on Roman Reigns earlier. He says he isn’t going to suspend Brock because he wants Roman to beat him up (sounds like a horrible GM to me). Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre’s music cut him off. Seth Rollins, who wasn’t present at the show so far in the night due to travel issues, showed up unexpectedly for this segment. Seth says that his travel issues weren’t his. He brings out Dean Ambrose, who will be in his corner for his fight at Summerslam. A brawl breaks out, with Dean hitting Dirty Deeds on to McIntyre. RAW comes to a conclusion as Seth is signing his contract.
This episode, despite having a fun ending to it, was overall a bad viewing. Too much filler, and segments that dragged for way too long. If I was a viewer who was on the fence for watching Summerslam, this would take all interest away for me.
JackWannan.com 