Lesnar and Heyman
- Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are in the ring during a video rundown of last night's show.
- Heyman says that he made good on his promises again.
- Heyman runs down tonight's battle royal that will determine Brock Lesnar's challenger at Summerslam.
- Heyman says that in the ring, everyone is Brock Lesnar's bitch.
- Ricochet's music kicks off as Brock Lesnar is leaving the ring. This is pretty interesting. Brock is just standing there looking at thim. That could be a rather interesting match.
- Nothing ends up happening, Brock leaves after Ricochet just kind of scoots on by him.
Ricochet & The Usos defeated Roode & Revival
5.75/10
- 2 out of 3 falls. Okay then.
- Ricochet pins Scott Dawson after a Recoil and standing star press.
- If the first fall happens that goddamn fast, what's the point of a two out of three falls match? Just schedule the commercial after the match, Jesus.
- The second fall goes to Scott Dawson, who pins an Uso with a FLAPJACK. Hey, I mean why not, right?
- Ricochet mounts a really awesome comeback and ends up getting the win with a 630.
- The Club come out and get superkicked to death. Then Roode & Revival take over, only to get beaten up by Ricochet, only to get beaten up by the Club again.
- So The Club beat Ricochet down on Raw, AJ won at Extreme Rules and The Club beat them down again on Raw.
- This was a good match, but the stipulation is so stupid.
The Viking Raiders defeated Jobbers
SQUASH
- C'mon. You know what's up. These guys get their asses kicked.
- Do we need to do the fake pinfall just to pull up the opponent deal every week?
- The Viking Experience gets the win.
- Just heard that one of the guys that got squashed by the Viking Raiders sustained a shoulder injury.
Cedric Alexander defeated Drew McIntyre
5.75/10
- Drew McIntyre finds Cedric Alexander backstage and cuts a great promo on him for getting involved last week.
- Cedric starts off aggressive with a big dive, surprising Drew.
- Drew heaves Cedric across the ring and really gets his ass kicked.
- Cedric connects with a midair dropkick and does a victory roll for the win!
- I hope WWE knows if Drew just beats Cedric's ass and pins him repeatedly after this, it negates everything.
Samoa Joe defeated Finn Balor
SQUASH
- Not Raw superstar Finn Balor says he wants his title back. Joe cuts a promo in response, and it's a little more aggressive. Like....why is Balor vs. Joe booked for Raw? Rules matter. Continuity matters. Mattering matters. Otherwise almost nothing matters.
- Balor does a great run-up headlock takeover and gets pinned really quickly.
- After the match, Joe beats Balor's ass and backfires. Balor beats him up and does his finish.
- Why is Balor's music being played? Why is he celebrating? He just got pinned in like 40 seconds.
BRAY
- Fortunately, Bray Wyatt shows up in a pretty cool re-debut and Sister Abigails Balor. But I dunno why anyone would wanna see that match now.
- Bray has a neat look and a cool mask. I hope it works out for him.
- Wyatt had been listed internally as on the Smackdown brand, not like that matters.
24/7 Championship
R-Truth defeated Drake Maverick
- Drake and Michelle check into their hotel. R-Truth tries to pay off the clerk with a dollar.
- The Street Profits watch on, and can't believe Drake hasn't gotten laid yet. They're making these guys very annoying.
- Drake is wearing nothing but the 24/7 Title and underwear. R-Truth beats him and Maverick gives chase.
- Drake Maverick gets pinned by R-Truth while naked, and Corey Graves says he utilized the "small package"
Zack Ryder defeated Mike Kanellis
SQUASH
- Zack Ryder is in the ring and gets a good pop.
- Maria Kanellis says she's taking this match instead. I don't know what that means. She argues with the ref.
- Rough Ryder. That's it.
- We've seen like five squash matches the last two nights.
- I know a lot of people think Mike Kanellis is being buried here, but I'm of the belief there's at least a plan or a story at play. I probably shouldn't be of that belief considering recent history.
The Club defeated Lucha House Party
5.75/10
- I like this use of Lucha House Party. They're not over to the point of doing anything else with them on Raw, and The Club need a win.
- Lucha House Party get some shine here. Ricochet interferes and attacks AJ Styles. Officials have to pull Ricochet off.
- IT'S ALL TO RESTART THE MATCH, WOW.
- Dorado does a springboard stunner to Anderson. I'd probably take that out of the arsenal with Kevin Owens looking to make that his regular finish.
- Kalisto is going 100 MPH and doing it well. Anderson staying right there with him.
- Anderson doesn't pin after a spinebuster, which is confusing. Styles holds on to the Calf Crusher after the win.
- This would have hit recommended viewing, but the stupid restart ruins it for me.
Top Contender Match
Elimination Match
Natalya defeated Alexa Bliss (w/ Nikki Cross), Naomi and Carmella
4.5/10
- Commentary giving everyone the hard sell on Naomi. Becky Lynch shows up, too.
- We get a commercial before the match, so I imagine we will again after an elimination.
- Carmella repeatedly tries to pin everyone. She does a Stratusphere, but the crowd is silent for this one.
- Carmella is dominating this match, and then Alexa Bliss rolls her up and pins her.
- COMMERCIAL MID MATCH AFTER A LAME ALEXA AND NAOMI EXCHANGE.
- We come back to see the contenders all squaring off.
- Naomi has some good offense with a Blockbuster to the floor, and a bulldog into the corner.
- Natalya does a spinning powerbomb, but Naomi kicks out of both opponents pinning her.
- This match is just dragging along. This gets "this is awful" chants about 17 minutes in. That should tell you about how well WWE has developed female characters.
- I think maybe the crowd didn't want a 20+ minute match with four people who haven't been winning matches or on TV.
- Natalya pins Naomi.
- Another break and we're 22 minutes in, when Nikki gets the crowd into it by telling the crowd to "shut up and cheer for her friend Alexa Bliss."
- Natalya clotheslines Nikki on accident and applies a Sharpshooter to Alexa and wins.
- Why did they need a Smackdown wrestler in that top contender match? Why not Sarah Logan? Dana Brooke? Nikki?
- Natalya cuts a nice promo, but then Becky Lynch gets in her face and says Natalya's career needs her.
- I would have rather they referred to Natalya being Ronda Rousey's friend and used that as material over what they did. There's a lot to pull from that.
Miz TV
- Miz brings out Dolph Ziggler -- another damn Smackdown wrestler. Jeez. Nine wrestlers from Smackdown on this show. Why, man?
- Ziggler really targets Miz. They go back and forth about their careers.
- Ziggler says Miz is everything that he doesn't wanna be now.
- Ziggler brings up Miz's wife and gets attacked.
- This segment was lame, but I wouldn't mind seeing them team together.
Top Contender Match
Battle Royal
Seth Rollins wins
5.75/10
- These entrances and comments seem like they take forever to get through.
- I'm really confused -- Cesaro got beat by Aleister Black, but Black isn't in the match.
- We see Baron Corbin and Seth Rollins go right at each other.
- Cesaro gets some shine, but Lashley press slams him outside. This was very impressive.
- Strowman has now beaten Lashley in a battle royal, tug of war, arm wrestling, singles matches and Last Man Standing Matches.
- Big E vs. Braun is a hell of a face off. Big E does the Big Ending on Braun -- INSANE.
- Big E is eliminated by Zayn after an RKO. Then Sami gets tossed after an RKO and a 619.
- Reigns is welcomed with an RKO as well.
- Baron tosses out Rey Mysterio. It's down to Braun, Baron, Rollins, Orton and Reigns.
- Brock Lesnar has faced all of the remaining entrants, as Baron Corbin is eliminated after getting jumped pretty well.
- Strowman side-steps and causes Reigns to spear Rollins. However, Rollins dumps both out.
- Orton reappears. They go back and forth, but Rollins is able to Stomp and eliminate Orton. Rollins gets his re-match, and we'll technically see it for the third time since WrestleMania.
- Lesnar is there, and Heyman takes a shot at Rollins.
- Rollins uses the worn out "FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, SHUT THE HELL UP," but cuts a pretty passionate and fiery promo after.
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. Don't take them too seriously, and have (and share) your own!
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