Contract Signing
- Braun Strowman and Seth Rollins are brought out by Michael Cole.
- Rollins and Strowman says they'll win their tag title match and things are gonna get awkward.
- Seth says he's defended two titles before, and has slayed the beast before. Now he's going to SLAY THE MONSTER.
- AJ Styles and the OC come out. I like Michael Cole trying to prevent this.
- Styles says the U.S. Champion used to be next in line for the title, and Strowman just got his title shot by looking at it. He tells OC not to look at his title.
- Styles tears up the contract, but Strowman throws the table on him.
- This is turned into a TAG TEAM MATCH, PLAYA.
Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman defeated The OC (w/ AJ Styles)
5/10
- Strowman mows down Gallows with a boot.
- We go through a commercial and see Rollins worked over in pretty basic stuff.
- Strowman gets a hot tag and OC aren't on the same page, but Strowman runs over both anyway.
- Styles had got involved in this, naturally.
- Rollins hits a flying knee from the top rope and rolls up Anderson.
- Styles attacks after the match, but Rollins and Strowman take over.
- Strowman is running over everyone and accidentally runs over Rollins.
- This brings out Roode and Ziggler, who attack him with the OC.
- Strowman is taken out with stairs.
- Rollins is next. A glorious DDT and a good ol' stompin'
- Four person Magic Killer on Strowman, followed by a Phenomenal Forearm.
- I thought this was a pretty good beatdown.
- Cedric Alexander is backstage cutting a promo and the OC attack him, too.
- Later, Braun isn't happy about Steve Austin managing their contract signing after Austin put over Rollins on a SKYPE CALL.
Bobby Roode & Dolph Ziggler defeated Hawkins & Ryder
5/10
- No heat for this match. Why would there be? Four talented guys, though.
- Roode avoids the Rough Ryder, but eats a G9.
- Glorious DDT after a Superkick wins it.
- This was too short to do anything, but another win for Roode & Ziggler.
Lacey Evans defeated Natalya
5.5/10
- Natalya and Lacey Evans go at each other pretty hard.
- They're knocking the shit out of each other and doing spots on the floor.
- The crowd isn't as dead for this as the last match, but this match doesn't really matter. Natalya has lost to Becky and Sasha and gotten her ass kicked all along the way. Lacey got a title shot way too early and lost a bunch, went off TV for a month and lost again.
- Natalya called Lacey a nasty bitch!
- A distraction leads to a Women's Right.
- We needed a renewed Lacey push.
- That was sarcasm.
Becky and the Boss
- Becky Lynch comes out and says Sasha was the centerpiece of NXT and she was barely on TV, and Sasha treated her bad.
- Becky Lynch says Sasha Banks should be her, but she left.
- Becky going to the "weirdo, freak, your hair is blue," stuff is really redundant.
- Sasha says Nia Jax breaking her face was the only reason Becky got anything.
- A lot of "YOU SEE" and "these people" lines.
- Sasha says she isn't doing this for free, and she'll fight Becky for the title at COC. Becky agrees.
- Sasha says the Man will be the Boss' Bitch.
- This was mediocre at best. A lot of tropes that if eliminated would have made a good promo.
King Of The Ring Quarterfinal
Baron Corbin defeated Cedric Alexander
6.5/10
- Cedric got his ass kicked earlier, but manages a suicide dive.
- Cedric is hung up and Corbin SLAMS HIS HEAD INTO THE POST. Nice.
- Baron Corbin has one of the most consistently innovative offensive arsenals on the WWE roster.
- After a commercial, Corbin turns a tornado DDT into a Deep Six.
- Cedric beats the tar out of Baron's shoulder. Posted and kicked, then a tope con hilo to the shoulder. Awesome.
- The crowd is stoked about this match. They are COOKIN'.
- Cedric escapes End of Days with a roll-up then a rough Michinoku Driver.
- Cedric is knocked off the top rope and eats End of Days. Corbin wins clean.
- Baron Corbin needed this tournament and these showings bad.
The Viking Raiders defeated The Pittsburgh Steelers
SQUASH
- There's a heelish promo by the jobbers, saying they're from Pittsburgh.
- They get the shit kicked out of them. One gets powerbomb launched into the other.
- The Viking Experience ends it.
King of the Ring Quarterfinal
Samoa Joe vs. Ricochet
6.25/10
- This is mainly a striking battle until Joe walks into a barricade moonsault.
- Corey Graves does a good job explaining Joe widening his base to catch Ricochet.
- Joe does an innovative gutbuster that production completely misses.
- There's also a stiff uranage and suplex into the barricade before the commercial.
- One of Joe's better powerslams hits after he avoids a corkscrew senton
- A Space Flying Tiger Drop connects HARD for Ricochet.
- A double side Russian Leg Sweep pins both.
- I hate the King of the Ring bye. Always have.
- Oh, it's NFL season, so John Cone is checking with the replay crew. Of course.
- Cone says they'll make a ruling soon and leaves.
- They continue fighting.
- This will be a triple threat. Yay
Firefly Funhouse
- Bray apologizes to Finn Balor for being rude.
- The Vince puppet is mad about Bray challenging for a title at Hell in a Cell, but Bray feeds him money.
Backstage Crappenings
- Rey Mysterio says he isn't retiring and is doing it for his son.
The Miz defeated Cesaro
5.25/10
- They had Cesaro fly back for Raw? They couldn't give him Monday off?
- Cesaro superplex, Miz DDT. They're playing the hits early.
- CM punk watching this like I KNEW THEY DIDN'T GET TIME OFF. I hope they're at least filming all of Cesaro's week for some 20 minute WWE Network feature.
- Cesaro holds the ropes on a pin and gets caught.
- Skull Crushing Finale wins it.
- Okay. Cesaro needed to be back for that.
Championship Showcase
Becky Lynch & Bayley defeated Nikki Cross & Alexa Bliss via DQ
5/10
Angle 7/10
- Bayley doesn't have anything to say about Sasha, or what she said about the tag team titles.
- "She took her ball and she went home." Yeesh.
- These promos are too scripted to matter.
- Sasha's best promo comes when she yells at Sarah.
- Sasha Banks interrupts early.
- Nikki Cross in the main event is nice.
- Bayley gets worked over hard. She fights back and tags Becky, who has worked on her strikes it seems.
- Sasha runs in and attacks Becky Lynch.
- DQ.
- Sasha wears out Becky Lynch with a chair, but Bayley takes it from her.
- BAYLEY SMILES AT SASHA AND ATTACKS BECKY.
- I got chills from that evil smile Bayley gave Sasha Banks.
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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