WWE Monday Night Raw came to us tonight from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. How will the WWE follow up last week’s blockbuster episode this week? Will the New Era continue to ride on the Brand Split?
Here are the complete WWE Raw Results for 8th August 2016:
Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs. Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens
Enzo and Cass started the proceedings at Raw with the audience going crazy. Enzo starts his promo recalling last week, when he shared a great chemistry with WWE Women’s champion Sasha Banks, before Jericho interrupted them and hit him with a code-breaker. A Certified G and A Bona-Fide Stud was then seen dropping some rock’n’roll references before Chris Jericho made his way to the ring.
The Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla retorts with his own insults, before calling out Kevin Owens to the stage. The quartet are then part of a great promo, with some excellent mic work. Owens taunts the 7 foot tall Cass by suggesting he is carrying ‘dead weight’ in Enzo. Jericho then sizes up Cass, before luring Enzo into a one-on-one match with Owens and Cass by the ringside.
Jericho takes the initiative at the start before landing a powerful clothesline on his much younger opponent. He is then seen showboating, highlighting his over-confidence during the game. Enzo makes his mark on the match by forcing Jericho out of the ring before greeting him with a baseball slide.
Jericho then takes the advantage in the fight by landing a few chops, before Enzo lands a DDT from the turnbuckle and tries to pin the superstar. The Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla then fights back before locking Enzo in the Walls of Jericho. Y2J then distracts the referee allowing Owens to hold onto Enzo’s leg, which allows Jericho to land the code-breaker on his opponent, which prompts Cass to take matters into his own hands and he lands a big boot on Jericho, helping the latter win the match by disqualification.
Cass along with Enzo then challenge Jericho and Owens to a tag team match at SummerSlam, much to the dismay of the audience.
Chris Jericho defeats Enzo Amore by disqualification
Segment Rating: 5.5/10
Sasha Banks makes a request to Mick Foley
Sasha Banks is then seen making her way to General Manager Mick Foley, who is seen talking with Stephanie McMahon over the phone discussing the ongoing feud between Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar – with SmackDown Live! manager Daniel Bryan making his way to the Red Brand to hype up the things.
The Boss is then seen requesting Foley to set up a handicap match against Charlotte and Dana Brooke – arguing that the ‘female Roman Reigns’ is always interfering in Charlotte’s matches. However, Foley denied this request and instead set up a match between Banks and Brooke for later tonight, albeit with certain conditions. Should Banks beat Brooke tonight, then the latter would not be allowed to be at ringside during the SummerSlam match for the Women’s title, but if Banks loses tonight’s clash then she will have to take on the duo in the handicap match at the pay-per-view.
Braun Strowman then makes his way to the ring for his weekly demolition of an upcoming wrestler, with Jorel Nelson the unfortunate rookie this week.
Braun Strowman beats Jorel Nelson by pinfall
Segment Rating: 3/10
Titus O’Neil vs. Darren Young
After O’Neil was seen insulting Bob Backlund on last week’s episode of Raw, Young attacked the Real Deal before the two contested a match which Titus won after pinfall while also grabbing his opponent’s tights.
The duo then take the stage for a rematch. Titus has the momentum early on in the match as he is seen dominating Young, before out-of-nowhere Young rolled up Titus for the three count – returning the favour from last week.
Darren Young beats Titus O’Neil by pinfall
Meanwhile, during the commercial SmackDown Live! superstar AJ Styles made his way to the ring, but his promo was cut as John Cena interrupted and delivered an Attitude Adjustment on his SummerSlam opponent.
Segment Rating: 6/10 (Just because of John Cena and AJ Styles)
Seth Rollins cuts a promo
Seth Rollins, who is scheduled to face Finn Balor at SummerSlam for the WWE Universal Championship, is seen hyping up his clash with the NXT product. Last week the duo were seen cutting a promo with Balor insulting Rollins before knocking his much more experienced opponent out of the ring.
Rollins is then seen making fun of Demon Kane before labelling Balor a cheap knockoff. He upped the ante when he called Balor the ‘Jared Leto to my(his) Heath Ledger’. Some legendary references there with both the actors having portrayed ‘The Joker’ in Suicide Squad and The Dark Knight respectively.
Rollins further talks up the Championship clash, which is less than two weeks away, however, Balor didn’t make an appearance as The Architect’s music hits and the segment draws to a close.
Segment Rating: 5/10
Sheamus vs. Cesaro
Cesaro hit Sheamus with a Neutralizer to win last week’s clash between the two beasts before the two were involved in brawl by the ringside. Ahead of Raw tonight, Foley announced a rematch between the two to determine who is the more physically dominant wrestler.
The Celtic Warrior took the initiative at the start, before Cesaro landed a dropkick and followed it up with a suicide dive. The King of Swing then lands a vertical suplex on Sheamus before following it up with a few uppercuts. Cesaro's next move is ably countered by his opponent.
The two are then seen exchanging a couple of meaty blows as the momentum keeps shifting from one to the other. The Sultan of Swing attempts the Cesaro Swing, but the Celtic Warrior hits his opponent with an Irish Curse Backbreaker, before hitting the White Noise.
During the clash, the referee takes a hit and failed to count when Sheamus had Cesaro pinned. However, the Sultan of Swing rolls up his opponent to claim the win for the second game running.
Cesaro beats Sheamus by pinfall
Segment Rating: 5/10
Dudley Boyz vs. Neville and Sin Cara
Sin Cara appears as the mystery partner for Neville with Bubba Ray stamping his authority on the pint-sized wrestler. After Sin Cara somehow tapped in his partner, Neville ducked out of the way of D-Von’s clothesline which lands on Bubba Ray. Neville then delivers the Red Arrow on D-Von before pinning him to secure the win.
Neville and Sin Cara beat Dudley Boyz by pinfall
Rusev then makes his way to the ring with his new bride Lana, with the newlyweds celebrating their marriage with the fans with huge cakes and custom-made dresses.
Roman Reigns interrupts the celebrations and insists that he is not there to ruin their thing. He then challenges the Bulgarian for match at SummerSlam for the United States Championship, before the two get into a fight after some provocation from The Big Dog, which ends with Lana’s face smeared in cake.
Rusev then makes his way to Foley, where he urges the General Manager to do something about his predicament. To his disappointment, Foley confirms the match between him and Reigns for SummerSlam.
Segment Rating: 3/10
Sasha Banks vs. Dana Brooke
Charlotte accompanies her protege to the ring with a lot riding on the match for both Banks and the former Women’s Champion. Brooke has the upper hand in the fight as Banks is distracted by Charlotte. However, The Boss fights back and lands a couple of clotheslines to get the momentum in her favour.
Charlotte, who was interfering from ringside, mistakenly slaps Brooke instead of Banks, which helps the reigning Women’s Champion to deliver the double knees on Brooke before pinning her for the win.
The win helps Banks face Charlotte one-on-one at SummerSlam without Dana Brooke on the ringside. Had The Boss lost the match, she would have to take on both Charlotte and Brooke at the pay-per-view in a handicap match.
Sasha Banks beats Dana Brooke by pinfall
Segment Rating: 3/10
Kofi Kingston vs. Luke Gallows
After obliterating Big E last week, The Club had planned a similar treatment for Kofi – something which they labelled as #Ringpostitis. Gallows takes control of proceedings before delivering a Reverse Pancake Faceplant on Kofi, who is then pinned cleanly.
The Club aim to follow up on their last week’s act – which led to bruisings to his private part. However, as they were about to impart the same treatment to Kofi, Xavier Woods came to the rescue of his mate.
Luke Gallows defeats Kofi Kingston by pinfall
Segment Rating: 3/10
Daniel Bryan appears on Raw
The YES! Man is introduced to the Raw audience by Mick Foley, before the two go on a rant about how things have been rosy for the two shows following the Brand-Split. The Hardcore Legend is seen complaining to Bryan about his comments on the ‘Universal Championship’ last week on ‘Talking Smack’.
However, as the conversation was reaching fever pitch, Rusev made his way to the ring and started praising Foley in an attempt to talk himself out of the match against Reigns at SummerSlam. But the WWE creative team had something else on their mind as Cesaro also joined the conversation and reminded Foley that he had promised the Sultan of Swing a shot at the title if he continued to do well.
Cesaro then, with support from Bryan, forced Foley to give him a title shot against Rusev for the United States Championship up next.
Segment Rating: 5/10
Cesaro vs. Rusev
The Sultan of Swing, who had earlier beaten Sheamus earlier in the night, started to dominate the proceedings by landing a few uppercuts before delivering a bowling ball from the apron.
Rusev then clawed his way back into the clash and started working on the surgically-repaired left shoulder of Cesaro, before ramming it against the ring post. After some tussle between the two, Cesaro is finally able to nail the Cesaro Swing and locks the Bulgarian in the sharpshooter. However, Sheamus interrupts to avoid Rusev from tapping out.
The Bulgarian lands a Super Kick amidst all confusion, while Sheamus follows it with a Brogue kick, which helps Rusev close the game with a kick to the neck. The Bulgarian pins Cesaro to retain the WWE United States Championship.
In the aftermath of the clash, Reigns attacked Rusev with a spear to send a message to the reigning US Champion.
With this curtains draw on this week’s Raw and here’s hoping that tomorrow’s SmackDown Live! is better than tonight’s snoozefest.
Rusev beats Cesaro by pinfall to retain the WWE United States Championship
Segment Rating: 4/10
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
