Written by Brian Thomas McNamara
We’re starting hot with last night’s surprise Money in the Bank winner, Brock Lesnar. He and Paul Heyman come out to some brief cheers that sort of taper off. Brock is showing more character in the few seconds pretending the briefcase is a boom box and bopping to his theme song then he has in the past decade. Although, the briefcase itself seems more toy-like than previous versions. Heyman’s window pane suit is a delightful sartorial choice. Heyman leans into the “Beast in the Bank” moniker as he extols the virtues of Lesnar. We get another of Heyman’s usual fourth wall-bending promos, this time calling out fan conspiracy theories. Honestly, for such a polished promo giver, this one’s kind of boring and repetitive. We’ve seen and heard all this before and it’s just… not engaging.< Seth Rollins interrupts as Heyman calls him out. They trade barbs before Seth mentions that he beat Brock at ‘Mania, and he could beat him here. Heyman pauses and lightly restrains Brock from cashing in then and there - and drops two Rocky Horror Picture Show references in a row. On the subject of ‘Mania, Heyman drags up some drama by mentioning Seth having to wait around to watch his girlfriend main event the Showcase of the Immortals, something Rollins has wanted to do. Paul reins this back in by saying Seth isn’t worthy of Brock and that the Beast may turn his attention elsewhere – to Kofi Kingston. Just as he does, Kofi’s music his and he comes out yelling “Wildcard!” Kofi says he’s here to cement his legacy and the way to do that is through Brock. Heyman mentions that the biggest title holders in the company are out here auditioning to be the one that Brock chooses. A few more barbs are exchanged before Heyman and Lesnar leave the ring, with Heyman lobbing the vague threat of Lesnar hanging around to see what happens after Kofi and Seth have their match tonight.
Mick Foley shows up in a limo with the new title backstage and is met by an odd assortment of superstars. Sami Zayn begs Bobby Lashley to help soften up Braun Strowman before their rematch. Sami walks down to the ring holding his chest from last night’s pre-match beatdown as he gets ready for his match.< Kofi and Seth run into HHH backstage who tells them they have a tag team match against Lashley and Corbin later tonight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVV9STdVrws Sami Zayn vs. Braun Strowman
Before the bell can ring, Sami gets out of the ring and runs through ringside and into the backstage area. Braun pursues. Braun and Lashley briefly lock eyes in the backstage area, which allows Sami to get in a strong right but Braun manhandles him. Bobby and Strowman lock eyes again but Braun promises to deal with him later and then goes back to shoving and punching Sami back to the ring. Sami escapes a fireman carry and is able to push Braun into the ring posts a few times, confusing the beat among men. The bell finally rings and Sami’s brief advantage is lost. Some more manhandling and a running bodyslam end the match in Braun’s favor. I guess this finishes their feud?
Winner: Braun Strowman
In the ring, Charly Caruso holds an “exclusive” interview with Lars Sullivan, which turns out to be a hype package/clip show. Just as Lars is about to speak, he’s interrupted by the Lucha House Party out for revenge. Their high-flying teamwork gets them the upper hand as they trade dropkicks, double dropkicks and then a triple dropkick to Sullivan. However, Lars recovers and quickly puts the team through their paces. Dorado gets some final offense in before Lars captures him in the corner. Gran Metallik and Kaliso make the save and retreat. What a strange way to blow off this feud.
Ricochet vs. Cesaro
We see a brief snippet of the background to this match, which is Cesaro berating Ricochet for his back injury at last night’s PPV. Ricochet has a significantly taped back and as the bell ring, Cesaro plants him right on the turnbuckle. Cesaro hits an amazing backtoss where Ricochet nearly does a 450 and lands right on his back. He rolls to the outside, nearly sobbing in pain. He briefly recovers and attempts a dive to to the outside ontop of Cesaro, but the Swiss Superman catch him and slams him right into the ringside.
We come back from break with Cesaro working Richochet’s lower back in some submission holds. Ricochet scores some quick rights to the face, but is caught up in another backtoss attempt. But he reverses that by landing his feet on Cesaro’s chest and backflipping off. He follows this up with a twisty headscissors takedown and then an amazing over the top rope dive. The dive cost him and Cesaro is able to work the back a few more times before sealing the deal with the Neutralizer. A really good, solid match between the two. Would like to see this go somewhere, I think flight vs. ground strength could go a long way for both of them
Winner: Cesaro
Backstage, AJ Styles and Baron Corbin squabble before AJ slaps the taste out of Corbin’s mouth.
Roman comes down to the ring followed by a very cocky Shane McMahon. Shane just sort of randomly states that he’s done with the Miz and that he’s now focusing his efforts on Roman, as payback for the punch Roman laid on Vince a few weeks back.
“I hate spoiled rich kids,” says Roman to a pretty solid reaction. Roman says he’s done with Elias and is ready for Shane, but Shane says he’s not done with Elias. Roman points out that Elias isn’t here so he can finish Shane off right here tonight. Shane plays into it, doffs his jacket, but then backs off. Ahh, okay, Shane brings out Drew McIntyre but then setups Shane vs. Roman for Super Showdown. Confusing and slipshod building. Feels like Roman and Shane have too many plates in the air but they need to bring it together for Super Showdown.
There’s a weird follow up segment with Drew and Shane backstage because it wasn’t clear why Drew was there before. Charly literally says “there’s an insinuation you’re not coming alone to Super Showdown.” Miz comes up to them and Drew tries to scare him away but Miz stands his ground.
The Usos vs. The Revival
Dash Wilder gets things going early by charging Jey and knocking Jimmy off the arpon. The bell doesn’t ring, but the ref counted a pin, so I guess it’s official? Who knows? The Revival take out their weeks of punishment from the Usos with some outside action. The Usos get their wind back and taken control of the match with some forearms and clotheslines.
We come back from break with the Revival back in control, but they close it back to the Usos in time for Jey and Dash to be the fresh men in the ring. The match slows down a bit as Jey and Dash go to the top turnbuckle. Dawson sneaks a tag and they manage a low energy electric chair/elbow drop. Dawson goes for a backslide near the ropes, but Jimmy kicks off of Dash to escape it. They go back and forth a bit more before Dawson picks up a quick pin. The match started well but increasingly felt a little ho-hum for both these teams. The finish was exciting but somewhat sloppy, could be much stronger all around.
Winner: The Revival
Alexa and Nikki have a brief segment talking about Nikki’s loss at the Money in the Back match last night before being interrupted by an overzealous Revival who ask to be feature on A Moment of Bliss.
Firefly Funhouse
We get a very brief Firefly Funhouse with the new Greg Capullo Joker mask and kids with “Let Him In” written on their faces.
A Moment of Bliss
Alexa and Nikki sit down to begin their interview with Becky Lynch. Nikki does some great schtick with standing too close to Alexa. Alexa asks a pretty good question, but before Becky can answer she’s cutoff by the amazing high-pitched yaps of the IIconics. They poke fun of The Man before she retorts about them not defending their titles and how she’ll take their tag belts and become “Becky T’ree Belts.” This is cutoff yet again by the possessor of the worst theme song, Lacey Evans. Becky keeps challenging everyone on stage until Lacey points out there’s three of them and only one Becky. Nikki quietly takes the mic from Nikki and says she’ll be Becky’s partner. To even the score, Becky recruits Alexa, who refused until Becky says she just has to stand there. Alexa grudgingly agrees, taking her cup of coffee with her to the ring.
Becky Lynch, Nikki Cross & Alexa Bliss vs. The IIconics & Lacey Evans
Becky and Billie Kay start things off before tagging in Peyton. Becky gets in some light offense before tagging in Nikki. Alexa stands at ringside drinking coffee and acting exasperated about all of Nikki’s behavior. Lacey tags herself in and briefly taunts Becky before Peyton tags back in. Peyton puts Nikki through her paces, before Nikki gets the hot tag. Becky and Billie Kay go at it for a while before a frustrated Lacey Evans just up and leaves. Becky scores the win over Billie Kay before briefly exiting the ring, leaving Nikki to celebrate alone with an Alexa who is all to happy to take some credit. A pretty good match that could have used some time to breathe and given Nikki some more to do.
Winners: Becky, Nikki & Alexa
Mick Foley’s here to unveil the new championship. Mick gives a small speech about how RAW needs to become more raw. Throughout the segment the title is peeking out through the bag. It’s a sort of lurid emerald green and gold belt. Despite the buildup, the title isn’t a new Hardcore championship, it’s a toned down version called the 24/7 Championship. It harkens back to the days of the hardcore championship’s 24/7 rule. Seems like a strange half-measure. The crowd had nearly no reaction to the belt’s announcement or appearance, which is not an auspicious start. Feels a little bit like DDT’s Iron Heavyweight belt.
Mick announces a scramble match to become the first ever 24/7 champion. It’s a sloppy affair and the Good Brothers seem poised to fight over it, but are pulled away from the belt only for it to end up in the hands of Titus O’Neil, the first-ever 24/7 Champ, who immediately loses it to Robert Roode. The scramble was neither fun enough or wild enough to live up the hype and there needed to either be a definitive champion for a few days OR a huge series of wins in short order. I look forward to how WWE make use of social media for this belt but I’m worried about this gimmick burning out quickly.
We do get the comedy bit of Robert Roode running around the backstage area hiding form the other wrestlers.
The Miz vs. Drew McIntyre
Drew and Miz lock up areal and the Scottish giant gets in some early licks. Shane looks on from ringside as Miz starts a build a comeback by targeting McIntyre’s legs. It’s a pretty even contest before Drew pulls out some power moves – a belly-to-belly suplex and standard suplex that pack quite a punch. Miz goes for a sunset flip powerbomb to the outside but McIntyre works his way out of it.
As we come back from break, Miz escapes from a backdrop off the top rope which he reverses into a spike powerbomb on McIntyre. Miz hits the Miz Kicks and the high knees. Again the tempo is even back-and-forth, leading to some solid match work between the two. Miz goes for a figure 4 leglock, but McIntyre kicks out of it and kicks Miz into Shane’s fist. But it doesn’t keep the Miz down. He’s able to put McIntyre in another figure 4, but Drew battles out without interference. Shane runs into the crowd to distract Miz, but then runs back out to hit Miz with a cheap shot. Drew uses the Claymore against him and then it’s an easy 1-2-3 affair.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
Shane says he has one last gift for the Miz and he goes to deliver a Coast-to-Coast to the Miz before Roman reigns comes out to render aid to the Miz.
We get another cutaway to Robert Roode running with the 24/7 belt and then a brief interview with Seth and Kofi before their match in the main event.
We get a recap of last night’s U.S. Title match and a video from Samoa Joe asking for his title back. We also get another stinger of Robert Roode, this time hiding in R-Truth’s trunk. He hides from his pursuers only to find out R-Truth has a ref in the car and he wins the title before driving off.
No DQ Tag Team Match: Kofi Kingston & Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin & Bobby Lashely
The No DQ stipulation is a last minute surprise to commentary and seemingly Kofi. As Rollins makes his way down the ramp, he’s attacked by Corbin at the top of the ramp. Kofi runs up try and make the save, by Lashley drills him into the digital screens. The bad guys carry their quarry down to ring and the match officially starts. Corbin and Lashley hold the upper hand out of the gate, until Rollins whips out an enziguri and tags in Kofi who faces a fresh Lashley. They battle the champions out of the ring and easily dispatch them by running into the ring barriers.
We come back from break with Corbin and Lashley destroying the champs. Baron buries Rollins in a Chair pile as Bobby smashes Kofi into the turnbuckles around the ring. Rollins makes it back into the ring just in time to smash everyone with a chair start to change the momentum for his team. Kofi and Rollins both regain their wind in time for some high risk moves to clear the ring. Corbin and Kofi trade some blow before Kofi hits Trouble in Paradise to end the match.
Winners: Kofi & Seth
But victory is short-lived as Lashley spears Kofi and Rollins in turn. They fight back and get Lashley out as Lesnar’s music hits. He and Heyman circle the ring, stalking their prey before Lesnar plays mind games. He doesn’t cash in, but pretends to as Heyman says next week they’ll come back and tell them who Lesnar will be using his shot against.
Overall:
he episode was pretty uneven and felt to be lacking wrestling. A lot of segments, and a lot of rushed worked to set up Super Showdown. There were a lot of stilted ads for that show with some weird copy. The show leaned hard into MITB but it almost feels like there weren’t as many consequences to the show as there should have been. This could we any RAW, any week.
