The entire roster, staff, officials, and everyone in attendance stands in silence in support and solidarity following the tragedy in Las Vegas. Very touching, and kudos to WWE. Additionally, WWE bumps promos for Breast Cancer Awareness month, adding pink deco to the ring and in-ring gear tonight.
The show must go on, and we kick off with Seth Rollins taking a loss to Braun Strowman. Really good match. Rollins hit some of his spots, while other just crash and burned when Strowman would swat him out of the air. In the end, Strowman turned Rollins inside out with a massive lariat, followed by the running powerslam. A second one keeps Rollins down, until a “one more time” chant entices Strowman to head back to the ring, until Dean Ambrose runs down for a save, and winds up clobbered.
But wait! There’s more! A mouth-guard wearing Cesaro and Sheamus hit the ring, hit their finishers for insults added to the injuries.
So, for two weeks, Rollins and Ambrose challenge each other to challenge Strowman, with disasterous results. The Bar is back and they lay the blamo onto the tag champs. This makes for some interesting angles. I would have thought Strowman would be backstage telling Kurt Angle he wants a match against the tag team champions, for the championships! But that’s just my whacky booking.
Taped Promo: Bray Wyatt appears to be unraveling. A lot of stuttering and nonsense. Is he cracking after a loss to Finn Balor?
Backstage: Mickie James is greeted by a giggling Alicia Fox and Emma, who direct her to her locker room where a walker and a box of Depends await. She flips out, hunts down Alexa Bliss, only to find Nia Jax serving as bodyguard, and accepting a match for later.
Back in the ring, Elias earns a win over Titus O’Neal. Short match, Elias wins, crowd happy.
Mickie James defeats Nia Jax by Disqualification: Not a bad match, but boy, did that top rope Tornado DDT look horrible. Not sure who botched it, but man, I thought someone got hurt. Bliss at ringside is always nice, crowd seemed to pop more for her than the match. Match ends when Bliss interferes, but James has the last laugh.
Recap from the incredible beatdown of Enzo Amore. Backstage, Renee Young attempts to interview him, but he looks like he is about to cry.
When Neville joined the cruiserweights, he changed his persona, became heel, and became awesome. Going to 205Live improved Neville’s career. Does 205Live boost Enzo, or does Enzo boost 205Live?
Matt Hardy teams with Jason Jordan who is wearing the greenest ring trunks I have ever seen since Koko B. Ware. Decent match, which sees Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows earn a win. Hardy looked like he was getting into “Broken/Woken Matt” mode.
Really nice segment with Dana Warrior presenting replica Women’s Championships to three survivors of Breast Cancer, and celebrate with the RAW Women’s Division. Really nice segment.
Intercontinental Championship Match: Roman Reigns vs. The Miz
Before the bell rings, Roman Reigns goes to town on Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel, beating the hell out of them with chairs and throwing them all over the arena. Match between Miz and Reigns is pretty damn good. Miz put on one hell of a show, and I’ll give credit to Reigns for playing a strong supporting role. Miz counters the superman punch into the Skull Crushing Finale for a two-count. Miz sold a second-connecting superman punch like a million bucks. In a twist of tragedy, the match is cut short when Cesaro and Sheamus return and beat up Reigns, which likely means a Shield Reunion is inevitable. Miz takes his DQ loss, while Cesaro and Sheamus decimate Reigns. Well, let’s see, Cesaro and Sheamus beat up Rollins and Ambrose earlier in the show, and now they beat up Reigns. It’s pretty obvious where this will lead. The heels then mock the Shield by surrounding the ring, at this point the crowd is chanting for The Shield, and Reigns eats a Triple Powerbomb from Miz, Cesaro, and Sheamus, as the segment closes with the triple fist bump.
The creepiness meter just broke: As Finn Balor comes out to address Bray Wyatt’s latest weirdness, Wyatt is on the Titantron and starts rambling about Sister Abigail… who apparently is ALIVE and WANTS TO MEET YOU. Suddenly, a bizarre transformation occurs, with Bray suddenly appearing like a decaying corpse and the laughter changes from male to female…
Lots of promos hyping up Asuka. So, will she come on Raw/SmackDown and immediately win a title never to lose it ever? Or perhaps get a few feuds first?
Bayley and Sasha Banks defeat Alicia Fox and Emma. Good match, until Emma ditches Fox and leaves her to take a Bayley-to-Belly Suplex. Emma going on a streak of pissing everyone off again.
Two RAW shows in a row, the 205 Live Cruiserweight Division caps off a three-hour broadcast. That’s awesome. After the events of last week, I think everyone will tune in to see what destruction awaits.
Well, he comes to the ring and performs his usual shtick to a mixed reaction, guess the emotional moment he had backstage wore off. Way to be consistent. Crowd gets into a “How You Doin’?” chant. He starts by telling the entire division to “go to hell” and then tells the crowd to do the same. He points out 205Live takes the main event spot of RAW two weeks in a row, and how in the past the crowd dozes off during their matches on RAW. I think the crowd is easily manipulated or easily confused, they cheer one moment, boo the next, and then cheer him again. He talks about a clause where if anyone lays their hands on him, they forfeit a title opportunity. Crowd cheers at a joke where Enzo hurt his back carrying the cruiserweight division. Neville and the Cruiserweights march out and surround him.
Enzo cuts one of the funniest promos on every member of the division at ringside. Schmucks, Deloreans, and Gulak needing to take a seat next to Corey Graves is pretty funny, as well as TJ Perkins needing an ID as Enzo doesn’t want to hurt a minor.
However, Kurt Angle introduces the newest member of the Cruiserweight division, and eligible to fight Enzo… and the crowd isn’t sure whether to cheer as Kalisto comes out to fight Enzo. Crowd is sorta into it.
I’m not. As once again, the actual members of the cruiserweight division take a back seat.
But wait! There’s more! Roman Reigns is seen backstage hurting, as Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins approach him, where no one speaks, just nod their heads and the show goes off the air.
Well, that was interesting.
