Monday Night Raw comes to us straight from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. It’s one of the biggest episodes of Raw since Wrestlemania with the cruiserweight division debuting tonight. Also, how will Roman Reigns react to Rusev’s attack last night? What’s in store for the Universal Champion Kevin Owens tonight?
Seth Rollins vs Rusev is also set for tonight in a huge match. A lot of matches will also be set up for the upcoming Clash of Champions PPV. Another important question is what will happen with Mick Foley? The Raw GM looked all hot and bothered last week.
Opening Segment
Roman comes out first and he has a message for Rusev but he got interrupted by Stephanie McMahon almost immediately. Steph knows that Roman wants to leave a trail of destruction behind him but she has a show to run.
At this point, Stephanie gets interrupted by Mick Foley who looks a tiny bit more unhinged than last week. Foley said that he had a solution to last week’s debacle. He had been clear last week that he didn’t want any interference in the main event and the perpetrators would be punished. He put Rollins in a match with Rusev before announcing a rematch between Owens and Reigns.
An indignant Owens came out and asks Foley if he’s ou of his mind. Foley responded by making his match with Roman a steel cage match. Mick bids the crowd adieu and wishes them to have a nice day as Seth Rollins came out in his ring-gear to get the action started.
Seth Rollins vs Rusev
Seth Rollins began the match with the fire that only a recent babyface turn could bring. He took the upper hand in the beginning stages and delivered a sweet middle-rope neckbreaker followed by a running dropkick that sent Rusev rolling out of the ring. Rollins then went to the apron and flew at Rusev to continue the attack before Rusev finally got a foot into the match.
Rusev hit back with some impressive offence of his own including a flying headbutt off an Irish Whip. Rusev follows it up with a submission move and had Rollins grounded. Just as Rollins looked down he hit back with an Enzeguiri followed by a Slingblade. Rollins looks as good as he has ever looked.
Rollins went for the Falcon Arrow which Rusev almost countered at first but Rollins managed to hit the move anyway. Rollins then went for his trademark superkick which Rusev countered into one of his patented kicks, which Rollins again countered. Rusev did manage to knee Rollins in the gut following this and ground him for a little while till Rollins managed to catch him with the flying knees which sent Rusev reeling to the outside.
Rollins followed up with not one, but two suicide dives on Rusev who tried to walk away from the ring as the referee counts. Rusev and Rollins brawl on the ramp as they both get counted out. Rusev tries to Powerbomb Rollins off the ramp but Rollins countered and pushed Rusev off before hitting him with a flying dive from the commentary desk.
Draw - Match ended by countout
Dana Brooke and Charlotte are backstage with Mick Foley. The two of them are showing Foley a replay and telling him that during last week’s triple threat, both Sasha and Bayley’s shoulders were down so there is no #1 contender.
Dana suggests to Foley that Sasha should face Bayley tonight to see who faces Charlotte at Clash of Champions by Foley disagrees and makes the match at Clash of Champions a triple threat match.
Frustrated and angry, Charlotte pushes Dana to the ground before storming off.
The greatest friends of all time – Jericho and Owens – are backstage after the commercial break and Jericho tells KO that what Foley has been doing is totally wrong. He promises to show Mick Foley what happens when anyone messes with his best friend.
Braun Strowman vs Sin Cara
Did anyone want to see this rematch? In one word – NO. Strowman looks as monstrous as ever as the two face off.
Sin Cara tried to get out some offence at the beginning of the match but it has to effect on Strowman who just pummeled Sin Cara with clubbing shots to the chest before throwing Sin Cara out of the ring like garbage.
Sin Cara hit Strowman with a suicide dive but Strowman followed him back into the ring and caught him off a springboard moonsault and hit him with a devastating Gorilla Press slam. 1 – 2 – 3.
Braun Strowman def. Sin Cara
Can anyone beat the babyfaced behemoth?
Sasha Banks and Bayley vs Charlotte and Dana Brooke
The question before this match began was how either team would co-exist. Bayley and Sasha will be opponents at Clash of Champions while Charlotte and Dana Brooke have had a rocky relationship over the last few weeks.
Sasha and Dana started us off and Sasha immediately put Dana in a headlock and tagged Bayley in. Bayley got overpowered and she tagged Charlotte in. Bayley sent Charlotte face-first into the turnbuckles as Dana stood on the ropes to try and distract Bayley. Bayley responded by grabbing Charlotte by the head and pushed her into Dana.
We came back from the commercial break to see Charlotte in control. She corners Bayley and tags in Dana Brooke. Dana hit an elbow before tagging her mentor back in. Charlotte briefly had Bayley in a submission hold before Bayley countered and went for the tag. Charlotte caught her, however, and no tag was made. She followed it up by an Irish Whip into the corner followed by an attempted chop. Bayley countered and hit an armdrag from the middle rope off the turnbuckles.
Bayley tagged Sasha in who hit her patented turnbuckle armdrag before Irish Whipping her into the corner. She tried to follow it up with a splash but Charlotte countered and kicked her in the gut to ground her. Dana got tagged back in after this and she just started pounding Sasha with forearms before tagging the champ back in. Charlotte used the turnbuckle as leverage from outside of the ring and almost broke Sasha in half with a brief modified hold.
Sasha tries to crawl to Bayley as Charlotte made her way back into the ring but Charlotte catches her and puts her in a bow and arrow lock. Sasha powered out and went for the pin but Sasha countered and made the tag. A fired up Bayley comes in and clears house. She hits Charlotte with corner splash followed by her spinning forearm from the top rope.
Bayley looked like she had this one in the bag and went for a Bayley-To-Bayley but Dana held onto Charlotte’s foot from the outside. Sasha attacks Dana on the outside as Bayley is distracted for a moment by the action outside. Charlotte capitalizes on the distraction and hits the big boot as soon as Bayley turns around.
1 – 2 – 3. Pinfall.
Charlotte and Dana Brooke def. Sasha Banks and Bayley
Seth Rollins is backstage with Stephanie following the break. Seth wants to know why Triple H turned on him and attacked him and Stephanie says that she has no idea why. However, she goes on to say that if she had to fathom a guess, she assumes that it was because Owens was right – Rollins has failed repeatedly and maybe Triple H wanted to cut his losses.
Rollins promised to make her regret her words at Clash of Champions and Stephanie tells Rollins that she doesn’t respond well to threats, She goes on to say that she thinks Owens has taken Rollins’ place as the man and he’s the right man to be Universal Champion.
Rollins responds by saying that Stephanie used to be a shrewd businesswoman but all that changed when Shane McMahon returned.
Bo Dallas vs Gary Graham
Gary Graham is incidentally the son of the legendary Michael Hayes.
Bo starts off with a high elbow followed by a vicious flurry of strikes followed by a kick to the head. Graham tried to get a roll-up as the crowd chanted “let’s go jobber”. Bo shouted “Believe in Bo” before hitting his new finisher – a version of the Queen’s Crossbow – for the win.
Bo Dallas def. Gary Graham
Cesaro vs Sheamus (6th match of Best of 7 Series)
Cesaro and Sheamus met again in the sixth match of their best of 7 series. Sheamus led 3-2 going into the match and a win for Sheamus would signal the end of the series. A win by Cesaro would take the series into a 7th match.
Sheamus wasted little time before attacking Cesaro’s back. The Celtic Warrior pounds Cesaro’s back and looks like he’s a man with a plan. Cesaro countered an Irish Curse Backbreaker and tried to go for a Neutralizer but Sheamus managed to escape. Without blinking an eye, Cesaro immediately hit a running uppercut to ground Sheamus. Just as Cesaro looked to have the upper hand, Sheamus launched him out of the ring as Cesaro ran towards him.
Sheamus dropkicked Cesaro off the top turnbuckle as we came back from the commercial, He then hit Sheamus with a patented running uppercut before bouncing his head off the ring post. He then rolled Sheamus back in the ring and hit Sheamus with a spinning springboard forearm. The Swiss Superman then went for a deadlift German Suplex from the apron but Sheamus overpowered Cesaro and his bad back with a White Noise on the apron for the nearfall. Sheamus stayed right on top and went for the Brogue Kick but missed. However, he caught Cesaro and hit him with multiple Irish Curse backbreakers followed by a Sharpshooter. Cesaro powered out and went for a Neutralizer but failed again because of his back.
With Cesaro reeling against the ropes, Sheamus went for another Brogue Kick to finish Cesaro off but Cesaro ducked out of the way and Sheamus went over the top rope but managed to stop himself on the apron. As Sheamus bewilderingly went to launch himself back in the ring, Cesaro caught him and finally hit the Neutralizer for the pinfall.
Cesaro def. Sheamus
Mick Foley and Jericho were backstage and Jericho told Foley that he was tired of the way Foley is running things and treating his best friend Kevin Owens. Jericho told Foley that he was making a list of all the problems that he had with the latter and that he was calling it “the list of Jericho”. Jericho says that number 5 on his list is Foley’s terrible fashion sense but Foley retorted that a grown man in a scarf was in no place to give out fashion advice.
An indignant Jericho said that his scarf was the latest trend in Luxemburg. Foley, however, pointed out that Jericho looked stupid because he wasn’t in Luxembourg.
Jericho is in the ring with “the list of Jericho”. He’s reading out a list of his complaints which include Foley trying to drive a wedge between and his best friend KO and favouring Sami Zayn. Jericho showed what a seasoned professional he was when he reacted on the spot and added a guy from the crowd who’d been giving him lip service to the list before threatening to add everyone in the crowd to the list. This segment is homage to Jericho’s list segment in WCW when he called out all the moves he knew during his feud with Dean Malenko.
Jericho then got interrupted by Enzo and Cass who came to the ring doing their usual schtick.
Enzo came out and said that KO couldn’t be Jericho’s best friend because a true best friend wouldn’t have let him come out to the ring in that scarf. Cass follows up with a list of true best friends that include Bart and Milhouse, Bert and Ernie, and Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson. Jericho replies and says that half those people didn’t exist and this wasn;t 1998.
The Shining Stars’ music hits and they come out and say that Enzo looked stressed and could use a time-share in Puerto Rico. Thankfully, The New Day interrupted immediately and said that they had come out because they had nothing better to do. The Club then interrupted and said that they had no time for the New Day and their Booty-O’s or the Shining Stars and their real estate scams.
At this point, Jericho is well and truly fed up and he says that his list was originally about Foley but now everyone who interfered during his segment would be on the list. Then Sami Zayn’s music hit and he was out for revenge. He met Jericho on the entrance ramp and pounded him back into the ring, at which point an all out brawl broke out as we headed into the commercial break.
Sami Zayn, New Day and Enzo & Cass vs Chris Jericho, The Club, and the Shining Stars
The match began with the usual quick action of the 10-man tag. Jericho and Kofi started the match and the faces got the early advantage as Kofi and Big E rotated well and beat down Epico. Gallows levelled Kofi from the outside to finally get Kofi down before getting tagged in himself, Gallows beat down Kofi before tagging Anderson in. Anderson pounded Kingston before hitting a trademark spinebuster.
Kofi finally tagged in Big Cass who cleared house as the situation broke into an uncontrollable brawl. Cass hit the empire elbow on Epico for the near fall and the hit the big boot to send him flying out of the ring. Gallows then came in and cleared Cass out of the ring before Big E came in and got rid of Gallows, Big E then launched Kofi into the heels outside the ring before Jericho sneaked up on him and threw him outside,
Jericho should have watched his back because Zayn came up from behind and hit his trademark tornado DDT. The then went for the Helluva Kick on Jericho but hit Primo instead. Zayn then chased Jericho off and Enzo and Cass finished Primo off with Air Enzo.
Sami Zayn, New Day and Enzo & Cass def. Chris Jericho, The Club, and the Shining Stars
Mick Foley is out following Eddie Guerrero’s tribute and says that it’s not about the size of the dog in the fight but its about the size of the fight in the dog. Foley then goes onto to introduce the four cruiserweights from tonight’s episode. The first competitor out is Baltimore’s Rich Swann. He’s followed up by the “King of the Ropes” – Gran Metalik. Foley then introduces Cedric Alexander, the man who dropped 22 pounds to make weight for the Cruiserweight Classic and got the crowd to chant “Please sign Cedric” following his match against Kota Ibushi. Last out, but not least, is the returning Brian Kendrick.
Rich Swann vs Gran Metalik vs Cedric Alexander vs Brian Kendrick (for the #1 contendership to the WWE Cruiserweight Championship)
Brian Kendrick, the wily veteran starts off by rolling out. Metalik hit Alexander with the immediate superkick and sends him spinning out. Incredible athleticism from Metalik and Swann following this as he takes Metalik out. Kendrick sneaks up from behind and hits Swann with a superkick. Cedric Alexander and Brian Kendrick then went toe to toe for a while before Kendrick got sent flying.
Gran Metalik came back into the ring and his sequences with Alexander set the crowd on fire. Alexander came off on top and sent Metalik spinning out as RichSwann came in and Alexander and Swann hit each other with stiff blows. They then got into a chopping contest and then Swann hit Alexander with a hurracanrana which Alexander countered out of with a headstand.
Alexander and Swann got the crowd on their feet as Alexander got the better of Rich Seann before hitting Brian Kendrick with an over-the-top-rope tope suicide dive. Before Alexander could get his bearings, Metalik his all three of his opponents with an over-the-top-rope tope conjelo.
Kendrick’s mean streak was on the show after this as he took out Metalik and drove Rich Swann’s knee into the steel stairs.
We came back from the commercial to see Gran Metalik walking on the ropes before hitting Kendrick with a flying elbow. Metalik took to the ropes again after this as he hit Swann with a dropkick. He followed it up by a moonsault but Swann got the knees up. Swann then hit Metalik with a powerbomb and went for a cover as Alexander broke up the count with a double stomp.
Kendrick then came back into the ring and went for a Sliced Bread #2on Seann but he got caught by Metalik which he converted into a tornado DDT. Swann then hit Cedric Alexander with a standing 450 splash before Kendrick interrupted the count out and dragged Swann out. Kendrick went for the submission with the Captain’s hook but Metalik came in for the save before Metalik himself got driven out of the ring after Cedric Alexander destroyed him with a double knee’s powerbomb. Kendrick then locked Alexander back into the Captain’s Hook and Alexander eventually tapped.
Brian Kendrick is continuing his career renaissance on Raw.
Brian Kendrick def. Cedric Alexander, Gran Metalik and Rich Swann
Kevin Owens vs Roman Reigns (non-title Steel Cage Match)
Roman came out first and was greeted by the usual smattering of boos from the crowd who sounded a little dead as Roman came out. Owens, on the other hand, got a mixed but much louder reaction.
Owens and Reigns began the match by pacing around before Owens sneakily tried to escape through the door. As Roman told the referee to close the door, Owens tried to climb out of the cage but was thwarted once again as The Big Dog took the upper hand after knocking Owens around and delivering a few clothesline.
As Reigns charged towards Owens, the champion sent Reigns face first into the steel cage in a brilliant counter and followed it up by a Superkick for the nearfall.
We came back from the commercial break to see Owens and reigns on the ropes, both trying to climb out. Owens managed to got Reigns off but Reigns then made him lose his footing and he was caught on the ropes. As Owens finally untangled himself, Roman hit him clotheslines against the cage. Roman then went for a Superman Punch but Owens countered with a German Suplex and a Canonball. Owens was then thwarted while trying t exit through the cage door so he went for a senton on Roman who got his knees up.
The duo then traded blows and Owens hit Reigns with a Superkick. As Owens tried to follow up with a Pop-up Powerbomb, Roman countered with a Superman Punch for the nearfall. Reigns then called for the spear and went for it but Owens drove his knee into Roman’s face and finally hit the Pop-up Powerbomb for another nearfall.
Owens then tried to climb out of the cage but Roman pulled him back in once more and followed him up the ropes. Owens then repeatedly smashed Reigns face into the steel cage but Roman managed to hit Owens with a Superman Punch before he went down.
The ending sequence had Roman climbing out of the cage and Owens crawling out of the door, Roman managed to leave a few seconds earlier and picked up the win.
Roman Reigns def. Kevin Owens
Rusev assaulted Roman outside the ring and took him out from behind. He then rolled Roman back into the ring and took the chain and locked the cage as he and Owens assaulted Reigns, As Rusev had Roman locked in the Accolade, Rollins came out for the save. He climbed on top of the cage and dove off it into Rusev and Owens as Raw went off air.
