This week’s live episode of WWE RAW aired from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
– Battle Royal to determine the #1 contender for the IC Title: The winner of this will face The Miz at Battleground. Before the match, The Miz cuts a promo ontop of the announce table about being awesome. Only Apollo Crews entrance was televised. Other competitors include The Dudleys, The Vaudevillains, The Golden Truth, The Usos, Alberto Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler, The Social Outcasts, Darren Young and Baron Corbin. Bob Backlund is at ringside for Darren Young. The final four are Crews, Corbin, Young and Ziggler. Corbin eliminates Ziggler when he throws him to the floor by his neck. Crews goes to clothesline Corbin to the outside and they eliminate each other, leaving Darren Young as the last man in the ring and the winner. Winner: Darren Young
– We get a sneak peek at The New Day arriving on the Wyatt Family “compound.” We’ll see their battle later tonight.
– Stephanie and Shane are in the back speculating why their father Vince is coming back tonight. Seth Rollins interrupts and says Vince is coming tonight to talk to him. Seth says he has exclusive footage relating to Roman Reigns that he thinks everyone needs to see tonight. They tell him he can air it later and he promises they will enjoy it.
– Zack Ryder confronts Rusev in the back to challenge him for the U.S. Title when he gets jumped from behind by Sheamus. Sheamus says he has the next shot at Ryder, and that’s up next.
– Sheamus def. Zack Ryder: The action goes to the outside early on and Ryder gets the upper hand after hitting a dropkick off the apron. Ryder misses a splash in the corner and Sheamus comes back with a running powerslam for the win. After the match, Rusev comes out and beats down Ryder and says he accepts the challenge.
Tyler Breeze & Fandango def. The Lucha Dragons: After some back and forth action in the opening minutes, Fandago slows the action down and works on Sin Cara in his team’s corner. Kalisto and Breeze get the tags. Kalisto goes for a springboard moonsault but slips off the ropes. He goes for it again and is successful this time. Sin Cara hits a splash off the top rope onto Fandango on the floor at ringside. Back in the win, Tyler Breeze hits Kalisto with a superkick then rolls him up for the win.
– Seth Rollins comes out to show his video about Roman Reigns. Rollins says he’s going to show a video of him interviewing Roman Reigns one-on-one. Rollins shows video of him asking questions with clips from old Reigns interviews edited in to make Reigns look bad. After the “interview,” Seth says Roman needs to be pulled from the triple threat match at Battleground. This brings out Dean Ambrose, who Rollins calls a coward. Ambrose says he’s the backbone of the WWE and now that he has the World Title everyone knows it.
– Sami Zayn is out to do commentary for Kevin Owens’ upcoming match, but Owens says he won’t come out to the ring until Zayn is removed. Referees are walking Zayn to the back while Owens is coming out, and the two brawl on the ramp.
– Vince McMahon pulls up backstage in a limo and says he’s going to decide on the commissioner for SmackDown live tonight.
– Kevin Owens def. Cesaro: Cesaro hits a gut-wrench suplex early on for a 2 count. Cesaro hits a dropkick and goes for the swing, but Owens gets out. Owens hits a Senton bomb but Cesaro comes back with a vertical suplex and a series of uppercuts in the corners. Owens throws Cesaro to the outside floor and gets the upper hand. Back in the ring, Owens hits a neckbreaker for a near-fall. Owens hits a thumb to the eye, but Cesaro is still able to hit a corkscrew springboard uppercut for another 2, then a splash off the top rope for another near-fall. Cesaro goes for a superplex off the top, but Owens escapes, puts Cesaro up on his shoulders and hits a swinging neckbreaker for the win. Semi Zayn beats Owens down all over ringside after the match. Owens rolls back in the ring to escape and gets swung around by Cesaro.
– The Club is in the back cutting a promo on John Cena, Enzo Amore and Big Cass. AJ makes fun of Cena for being in L.A. to practice for the Espy’s, and they reference Allen Iverson’s “we’re talkin’ about practice” speech. They say when Cena’s back they’ll beat up John Cena once again.
– Titus O’Neil def. Heath Slater: The other Social Outcasts members are at ringside for this one. Titus starts off with some stiff chops to the chest. Slater comes back with a kick and a DDT for a 2 count. Titus hits a series of clotheslines and shoulder tackles before executing a series of backbreakers. Titus hits a splash in the corner then the Clash Of The Titus for the win.
– Sasha Banks is in the back cutting a promo on Dana Brooke to promote their match tonight.
– We get a recap of the feud between The New Day and the Wyatt Family, then we’re off to the Wyatt compound. We see the Wyatts and The New Day brawling in a field around a bunch of cars. Bray seems to abduct Xavier while Kofi and Big E are fighting the rest in a mud puddle. The Wyatts get the upper hand and beat down Big E and Kofi until Xavier comes back for the save. A bunch of masked people appear behind Bray and The New Day seems to retreat into the darkness.
– Enzo & Amore def. Gallows & Anderson via DQ: AJ Styles is at ringside for this one. Enzo & Amore cut a promo on The Club before the match saying they’re spineless for needing to gang up on Cena. Anderson and Enzo start things off with back and forth action. Big Cass gets the tag and bodyslams Enzo into Anderson then follows up with some chops in the corner. Enzo tags in and they hit another double team move on Anderson. Gallows gets the tag and lays out Enzo with a big boot. Gallows continues with the offense until Enzo hits a tornado DDT and gets the hot tag to Cass. Anderson gets the tag and Cass lays him out with a powerslam and the Empire Elbow. Cass hits a fallaway slam and a splash in the corner, followed up by a Big Boot. He tags in Enzo and they hit the Bada Boom but Gallows breaks up the pin. AJ beats down Cass at ringside and the referee calls for the bell. The Club circles Enzo after the match, but John Cena’s music hits and he comes out for the save. Cena, Enzo and Cass all beat down The Club and clear the ring.
– Sasha Banks def. Dana Brooke: Dana rolls to the outside multiple times in the opening moments to avoid offense from Sasha. Dana kicks Sasha to the floor at ringside where Charlotte gets in her face. Sasha comes back with a series of kicks and clotheslines, then hits a cross body splash off the top for a near-fall. Sasha gets out of a Death Valley Driver and gets Dana in the Banks Statement for the win. After the match, Charlotte tells Sasha she needs to have a rematch against Dana on SmackDown to get a shot at her Women’s Title.
– Shane & Stephanie McMahon come out first for the final segment of the show. They are quickly met by Vince McMahon who struts out to a good pop from the crowd. Vince says his children have been doing a pretty fair job on RAW, but that he’s personally a little disappointed in both of them, as if neither of them came from his loins. Vince says Stephanie is putting on a fake act, and that Shane doesn’t have enough ruthless aggression. Vince’s children both plead their cases to the Chairman for who should run SmackDown, and Vince decides it’ll be Shane. Vince also relieves Shane of his responsibilities on RAW, and Stephanie will be the commissioner on Mondays. Vince tells them he wants them to compete for real, in ratings, ticket sales, and merchandise sales. Vince says next week they both need to pick General Managers for their shows, and if they don’t pick one, Vince will pick one for them. Vince tells them “let the games begin” and shakes their hands. Stephanie tells Shane she’s going to make him wish he was never born. Shane tells her “game on,” and Stephanie slaps Shane across the face to close out the show.