Drew McIntyre (w/ Ric Flair) defeated Ricochet
6.5/10
- Ric Flair is loud and obnoxious tonight, but he's playing a heel.
- He brings out Drew McIntyre for his team.
- It's impressive that Drew McIntyre had the time to physically kiss every girl in the city before Raw.
- Ricochet is the right person to have in there with a returning Drew McIntyre.
- Drew is able to throw Ricochet around and looks like a million bucks.
- Ric Flair cuts a hilarious ringside promo challenging Hulk Hogan to show up Friday. I kind of liked that. It seemed very 90s.
- Ricochet connected on a great dive before a commercial, and catches Drew off the top with a dropkick.
- Ricochet is all over the place. He looks great.
- Drew McIntyre hits a crucifix Buckle Bomb and a sitdown powerbomb
- Drew McIntyre and Ricochet out here HAVING ONE.
- Ricochet lands a nice Death Valley Driver and shooting star press. The crowd goes crazy.
- Ricochet gets posted and it sets up a Claymore.
- Should be said again -- WWE crowds have been really loud lately. It helps a lot.
- After the match, Drew BammaSlamma's Ricochet face first onto the steel stairs.
- A great return showing for Drew McIntyre.
Aleister Black beats Jobber
SQUASH
- We get a MOODY ALEISTER BLACK PROMO.
- Aleister Black is beating up a jobber. He should not me selling for this dweeb at all. AT ALL.
- Black destroys homeboys face with a Black Mass.
Backstage Crappenings
- AOP cut another promo. I'm ready for them to wrestle now. It's time, but I'll assume WWE doesn't want to put them in tag team turmoil next week.
WWE 24/7 Championship
The Bollywood Boyz defeated R-Truth (c) to become the champion
- Truth is sneaking around and is distracted by Samir Singh. Sunil rolls him up.
- R-Truth tries to win it back, but he pins the wrong guy.
CUCKLEFUCK
- Jerry Lawler brings out Rusev.
- Rusev says Lashley has poisoned Lana and now he'll crush Lashley.
- All these horrible backstage settings that they're pretending are bedrooms, massage parlors and restaurants are amazing.
- Lana says she always asked Rusev to take her to this restaurant and he wouldn't.
- A manager asks Lashley and Lana to leave because Rusev is coming.
- Rusev shows up and tries to brawl.
Andrade (w/ Zelina) defeated Sin Cara
6.25/10
- Sin Cara finally having a brief feud paid off. Well kind of. Andrade already beat him over a year ago. That was Sin Cara's last television match besides Super Showdown.
- Zelina helps Andrade cheat.
- Sin Cara hits an amazing moonsault to the outside.
- Sin Cara did a short Olympic Slam-style Death Valley Driver that looked good. He's getting a lot of offense here.
- Andrade almost wins with a great tilt-a-whirl inverted powerbomb.
- Sin Cara gets a nearfall after a smooth sunset flip powerbomb.
- Andrade knocks Cara off the top rope, connects with double knees.
- Sin Cara with a slingshot flying headscissors over the top rope! But Zelina does a goddamn dragonrana to the floor.
- This match got way more time than I expected. I guess if they're tossing out fresh starts, that's fine. This went about 12 minutes.
- For some reason they made Humberto Carrillo cut a really generic, scripted promo.
Viking Raiders defeated Hawkins & Ryder
SQUASH
- That Hawkins and Ryder promo has me in stitches. They need to cut buddy cop promos all the time
- Hawkins and Ryder get thrown into one another, but manage a double STO.
- Raiders take over and hit their finish for the win.
Cain
- Rey Mysterio says he's been helping Cain Velasquez get ready for Crown Jewel.
- He cuts a mega babyface promo.
- Paul Heyman shows up on the Titantron. He says Brock Lesnar is on Smackdown, but he's here as an advocate.
- Heyman says Brock Lesnar has obsessed over the scar Cain gave him.
- Rey goes off, and is interrupted by Shelton Benjamin.
- Benjamin says Rey gets beat up and Cain gets a title shot, so maybe he should push around Rey, as Brock's buddy.
- Cain Velasquez comes out and stuffs a Benjamin takedown, and does a few takedowns of his own before making Shelton tap out to a rear naked choke.
Seth Rollins defeated Humberto Carrillo
5.75/10
- Carrillo is confronted by Seth Rollins, who wants a match with him right now after saying he wanted to be champion. They're facing each other now.
- I love the Rollins vs. Humberto matchup. I'd love to see more like this on WWE TV. Guys like Rollins can get over more on in-ring actions and mannerisms
- Humberto hits a good springboard arm drag.
- Rollins takes us to a commercial after a suplex to the floor.
- There's a handspring arm drag that doesn't make a bit of sense, but his dive did.
- I LOVE THE FALCON ARROW, MAN.
- Buckle Bomb and Superkick can't pin Humberto.
- Carrillo gets a beautiful moonsault, but ends up getting Stomped and pinned.
- Rollins shakes Carrillo's hand.
- I would not be surprised to see Rollins going heel soon, then they run back Rollins-Carrillo on Raw with a much different dynamic
Street Profits defeated The OC (w AJ Styles)
5.75/10
- The OC isn't happy about the Street Profits, and they let you know that THE SMOKE is illegal in Cleveland.
- They still have Street Profits doing the unofficial hosting stuff. They at least rolled their own promo into it a bit.
- The match starts with no mystery partner.
- That crowd that WAS great for the opener now sucks.
- Street Profits are main eventing in their first WWE Raw match
- Dio Maddin just keeps getting better.
- This is pretty standard tag stuff, and that's good considering it's these two teams. Some good, simple spots until Angelo's hot tag.
- AJ pushes Montez into a spinebuster.
- AJ Styles gets ejected from a match he was supposed to be in.
- Kevin Owens makes the save and stuns AJ. ALL THAT MYSTERY PARTNER SHIT FOR NO MYSTERY PARTNER
- Street Profits win. That's a fantastic debut for the Street Profits. They didn't need the mystery partner smoke and mirrors horse shit.
Rating guide
10- Perfect, 9- MOTY Territory, 8- Excellent, 7- Great, 6- Good, 5- Average to above average, 4- Slightly below average, 3 or below: Poor
Each match starts at a 5 and slides up and down based on entertainment, execution, time, environment, reaction and stakes. The ratings are in no way an indication of a "star rating," which is a completely different system. A standard, non-offensive "TV match" lands at a 5. The gap between 5.75-6 is generally the largest, with anything reaching 6 being recommended viewing.
These are opinions, and incredibly inconsistent ones that may change upon a second viewing, or sitting on the match for a period of time. Don't take them too seriously, and have (and share) your own!For additional premium podcasts, the Fightful Weekender podcast, members only podcasts, outtake and behind the scenes footage, retro shows, Q&A shows, dark match commentary, early access to interviews and segments, subscribe to Fightful Select! FightfulSelect.com