This week’s episode of Monday Night Raw kicked off with Seth Rollins laying a verbal beatdown on Roman Reigns. Rollins showed Reigns’ tweet in which he apologized for being suspended.
Rollins poked fun at Reigns saying that he “owns” it after the fact. Rollins then claimed that he owns Roman Reigns and that Reigns doesn’t deserve to be in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at WWE Battleground. Dean Ambrose then decided to interrupt Rollins’ rant and began to question Rollins’ intentions. Ambrose claimed that all Reigns did was make a mistake and everyone makes mistake. Ambrose stated that he made a mistake when he considered Rollins to be his friend. AJ Styles then randomly interrupted and suggested that he take Reigns’ place in the title match. John Cena then interrupted the group discussion and also wanted to be added to the main event at Battleground. Stephanie McMahon then came out and said that having Dean Ambrose as WWE Champion is more embarrassing than what happened to Roman Reigns. Stephanie makes two matches for tonight, Cena vs Rollins and Styles vs Ambrose. If Cena and Styles win their matches tonight, they will be added to the title match at Battleground.
Reaction: There were some big time shots taken at Roman Reigns in this segment which surprised me. As far as I know, Reigns is still in the main event at Battleground and Styles or Cena may just be added to the match depending on whether they win or lose tonight. That makes sense to me, I just found it shocking how many shots the WWE took at Reigns during this segment.
Sasha Banks & Paige vs Dana Brooke & Charlotte
Charlotte and Dana Brooke were picking apart Paige during the beginning of this match. Paige just couldn’t get to the corner to tag in Sasha Banks for the longest time. Every single time she got close Charlotte or Dana Brooke would pull her back and beat her down again. Finally, Paige was able to escape and tag in Banks. Sasha took out both Dana Brooke and Charlotte, which allowed enough time to recover. Paige hit a massive kick on Charlotte outside the ring. Banks then locked in the Bank Statement on Dana Brooke in the middle of the ring for the submission victory.
Reaction: This was a good match that was actually given more than a couple of minutes. It seems like a no-brainer that Sasha Banks will be facing Charlotte at Battleground for her WWE Women’s Championship.
Rusev vs Titus O’Neil
Before the bell rang, O’Neil attacked Rusev. For the next minute or so, Titus had control of the match. However, Rusev hit a Clothesline and captured momentum in the match. Rusev then proceeded to hit O’Neil with knees and punches for the next couple of minutes. The crowd broke out into a “Let’s Go Titus!” chant for a brief period of time. As soon as O’Neil regained momentum, Rusev rolled out of the ring and want no part of the match. Rusev and O’Neil were brawling outside the ring when Titus threw Rusev into the timekeeper’s area. Titus then rolled back into the ring and won the match via count out.
Reaction: There were about 25 Clotheslines in this match, along with some punches and one Powerslam. It is looking like Titus O’Neil will get another shot at the U.S. Championship soon. Hopefully that match will be a lot more interesting than this one was.
https://twitter.com/CMPuLs3/status/747591913050615809
Kane and Stephanie McMahon are shown chatting backstage. Kane is begging for Stephanie to give him the opportunity to be the GM of Smackdown. The Miz returns from his month hiatus due to filming The Marine 5. Kane suggests that the Miz defend his Intercontinental Championship tonight, given the fact that he hasn’t in the past 30 days. Stephanie agrees and the Miz will be defending his title against a mystery opponent later in the evening.
John Cena vs Seth Rollins
The crowd was electric during this match. This was a back and forth match throughout, with a bunch of false-finishes. It looked like it was over when Cena caught Rollins and hit him with the AA, but Rollins was able to get his leg on the rope. The Club then showed up and surrounded the ring. This caused John Cena to be distracted and allowed Rollins to hit the Pedigree on Cena for the victory. John Cena will not be added to the WWE Championship match at Battleground.
Reaction: AJ Styles continues to outsmart John Cena. There is no doubt that Cena will play some kind of role in Styles’ match later tonight against Dean Ambrose. The match itself was excellent and the never-ending trend of hearing Cena call out every move before it happens continues.
https://twitter.com/spaceflyingGB/status/747599624425308160
https://twitter.com/LanceStorm/status/747585619732238336
Enzo and Cass defeated a couple of local wrestlers in about 5 seconds. After the match, the Social Outcasts made their return (minus Adam Rose) and confronted Enzo and Cass. Bo Dallas claimed that the Social Outcasts aren’t soft, they are hard. Naturally, this led to Enzo cutting some jokes on the Social Outcasts. Heath Slater hopped into the ring and was promptly hit with a kick in the face by Big Cass, The Social Outcasts then retreated as Enzo and Cass stood tall in the ring.
Summer Rae vs Becky Lynch
Natalya joined the announcer’s table during this match. Natalya claimed that she attacked Becky Lynch because she was tired of being a nice person. Becky Lynch attacked Natalya before the match even started. The match between Becky Lynch and Summer Rae never happened.
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were guests on Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel. Sami Zayn wants to put their rivalry to an end at Battleground because he believes it costing both Zayn and Owens their careers. Kevin Owens agrees to the match, but claims that their rivalry is all Sami Zayn’s fault. Jericho begins to insult both Owens and Zayn. He then proceeds to pose in the middle of the ring, which leads to Zayn and Owens both kicking Jericho in the face at the same time.
Reaction: Owens and Zayn have had so many classic matches over the years, so I’m not going to complain about another one. However, I do hope that this is the last one for awhile so that both Superstars can move onto bigger and better things.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: The Miz (c) vs Kane
The crowd was extremely quiet during this match. Kane dominated the Miz throughout the beginning of the match, Maryse appeared to hurt her leg during the match and the Miz left the ring to help her. The Miz then carried her out of the arena and Kane won via count out. However, the Miz is still Intercontinental Champion.
Reaction: This was brutal. Maryse clearly faked the injury so that the Miz could get out of defending his title. The Miz and Maryse were shown celebrating her acting performance after the match. I thought this would have been a perfect spot for Darren Young to make his return, instead it was Demon Kane. Given the fact that the Miz weaseled his way out of the match, I’m guessing he will have to face Kane again for the title.
Sheamus & Alberto Del Rio vs Apollo Crews & Cesaro
Once again, the crowd was absolutely silent in Tampa. Sheamus and Del Rio weren’t getting along during the match, but were still able to dominate Cesaro. Del Rio abandoned Sheamus, making it a 2 on 1 match. Apollo Crews got the pinfall victory over Sheamus. After the match, Cesaro and Crews celebrated in the ring.
The New Day came out dressed like the Wyatt Family. Once they got to the ring, they started cracking jokes on the Wyatts. Xavier Woods wanted them to wrap it up, but Kofi and Big E wanted to continue. The Wyatt Family interrupted the New Day and Xavier Woods once again looked rattled. Bray Wyatt told Woods that he can trust him. The promo ended with Bray Wyatt starting a “New Day falls” chant.
Dean Ambrose vs AJ Styles
Seth Rollins joined the announcer’s table for this match. AJ Styles controlled most of the match, but Dean Ambrose kept fighting back. Rollins was forced to root for Ambrose in this match because if Styles won, he would be added to the main event at Battleground. Styles was able to lock in the Calf Crusher but Ambrose fought his way to the ropes. Gallows and Anderson came down to ring which caused Cena to come down to the ring as well. AJ Styles was distracted by Cena and Ambrose hit the Dirty Deeds on Styles for the victory. Styles will not be added to the WWE Championship at Battleground.
After the match, Seth Rollins attacked Rollins from behind and hit him with the Pedigree. Gallows and Anderson hit the Magic Killer on Cena at the top of the entrance ramp. After seeing this, Rollins decided to hit another Pedigree on Dean Ambrose. Rollins then put his foot on Ambrose’s face and raised the WWE Championship over his head. The Club also celebrated over dismantling John Cena.
Reaction: This was a great main event that resulted in nothing changing. The WWE Championship match at Battleground is still a triple threat between Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns. AJ Styles and John Cena will most likely have their rematch at Battleground as well.
What did you think of this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw? Let us know in the comments below.