Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen and welcome to another action packed episode of Raw, brought to you by bodyslam.net and covered by yours truly.
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We open the night with The WWE Champion addressing the actions of his Summerslam challenger and vowing to hurt Randy Orton. But as Drew verbally eviscerated The Viper, technical difficulties began again. Now Retribution has hijacked the TV truck and we cut to commercial unknowing if the product will continue or if Retribution will be dealt with…
We rejoin the Red brand as Drew McIntyre attempts to rally the locker room to stand united against Retribution. But The Monday Night Messiah had words of his own as he clearly felt threatened by the The Scottish Psychopath’s rally cries.
And as we returned to ringside, it was MVP and Hurt Business approaching the ring.
And as MVP continued his grievances against Apollo Crews and the actions of Retribution, The United States Champ finally heard enough as he made his way to the ring and issued a stipulation for tonight’s match.
Apollo Crews v. Shelton Benjamin
As the match began, it was Shelton Benjamin putting boots to asses as he appeared to be getting the better of Crews. Until the sudden interruption of R-Truth and Towzawa running across the ring gave The US Champion just the moment needed to hit a quick roll up for the pin and the opportunity to face MVP at Summerslam while Lashley and Benjamin are banned from ringside!
But it would be R-Truth who would suffer the most as he attempted to evade Tozawa but was met by Shelton Benjamin who dropped Truth and reclaimed the 24/7 Championship
Ivar v. Angel Garza
In a back and forth contest, it was an impressive showing by Ivar who threw both his and Garza’s weight around with ease, but the ever opportunistic Garza caught Ivar for the win. In his moment of victory, it would be Angelo Dawkins who would sour the moment as he eluded to a revealing a very interesting piece of footage.
And after seeing the obvious footage of Zelina Vega poisoning Montez Ford’s drink, we are once again joined by Ford as he wants all the smoke!
Natalya v. Mickie James
In what should have been Mickie James’ triumphant “Welcome Back” to Raw, turned into an absolute cluster as Seth Rollins and Murphy stormed the Raw Commentary Table and demanded the source of Samoa Joe’s claim that Rey Mysterio would be in the arena. After a back and forth exchange that quite literally ruined the match in the ring, it was Natalya picking up the count out victory and Joe winning the war of words. But it would be Rollins who showed his true colors as he made a very clear declaration against the Mysterio’s.
Golden Role Models v. Asuka & Shayna Baszler
Before the match, some much needed answers were discovered as we now know that Bayley will take on Asuka first at Summerslam followed by Sasha Banks. But the match was unable to get rolling as the suspended Nia Jax crashed the party on Shayna Baszler and sent Plexiglas crashing down on The Queen of Spades. Despite the best efforts officials, there would be no separating of the two Alpha females.
We return from commercial with Bayley and Sasha dominating over the now partner-less Asuka. As The Empress of Tomorrow held on for dear life, The Golden Role Models would use this opportunity to soften up Asuka heading into Summerslam. Just as the skies grew dark, it would be the most surprising of saviors coming to the rescue.
And despite their best efforts, there would be no momentum obtained as it would be The Queen of Spades, picking up the win and submitting the Smackdown Women’s Champion.
We return from the break and are reminded of the carnage and chaos caused by The Monday Night Messiah last week; as he and his disciple, Murphy, destroyed Dominik Mysterio as a “Welcome to the WWE”.
And we are finally reunited with HBK as he takes a minute to re-focus Drew McIntyre ahead of his Summerslam Match with a laser-focused Randy Orton.
And who is that chatting with Shayana Baszler?
Peyton Royce v. Ruby Riott
The match opened up fast and furious as both women clawed for positioning. It would appear to be Ruby Riott’s evening until some Iconic trickery caused Ruby to crash into Liv before being thrown back into the ring snd hit with the Deja Vu for the 1, 2, 3.
And we are about to enter the underground scene…It’s Raw Underground and it is next!
We return to Raw Underground once again where Erik is wrapping up a brutal beating of another contestant before calling out Dolph Ziggler after Ziggler had some choice word on the performance of the Viking Raider. The two would have a showing as both men gave it their all but it would be Ziggler picking up the win tonight. Ivar, unfortunately, wasn’t too impressed and unceremoniously bounced Ziggler from the mat.
After The Mysterio Family entered the ring and words of love and support were exchanged, Rollins and Murphy would appear on the scene to finish what they started but would be interrupted by the quick wit and planning of the Mysterio Men. And of course, a little revenge.
And as we head into the break…
We make our way back to Raw Underground where it’s Riddick Moss and Arturo Ruas putting on a show!
And as we return to ringside…
It took little time for Lashley to impose his will on the tandem of Ricochet and Ali, leaving The United States Champion in a 3-on-1 situation. Crews would play fast and loose though, hitting the stalling. toss powerbomb on Benjamin for pin and elimination. But insult would soon turn to injury as Cedric Alexander would swoop in for a second roll-up on Benjamin; capturing the 24/7 Championship!
It’s now down to Crews v. MVP & Lashley with MVP putting in a little early work before their matchup at Summerslam. A tag to Lashley would invite The Almighty to again use his brute power on the vulnerable US Champion but MVP’s need to be the focus was his downfall as a tag back into the match would open up an opportunity for Crews to hit another stalling, toss powerbomb and eliminate the CEO of the Hurt Business. But it would all be for naught as Lashley would continue to be the standard and dispose of the US Champion.
And who is this about to make a debut?
Cedric Alexander v. Akira Towzawa: 24/7 Championship Match
It wouldn’t be Raw without some Ninja power as Towzawa attempted to reclaim the 24/7 title but was quickly dispatched by a fired-up Alexander. After securing the victory; however, it would be Shelton Benjamin getting the last laugh as he secured a quick win and his second 24/7 Title of the evening.
And in the final segment of Raw Underground, we were treated to the debut of another bruiser in the Women’s Division, Marina Shafir.
And then we were nearly treated to the much deserved beating that Nia Jax deserves; however, similar to many of the other moments Jax is involved in, we were disappointed.
Montez Ford v. Andrade Cien Almas
It’s revenge time as Ford returns to action after a two-week layover due to poisoning by Zelina Vega. Ford was supercharged and ready to battle as he maintained control for the majority of this contest. Even Vega could not save her client as she was interrupted by Bianca Belair.
And after the win by Ford… it is now time for The Icon to grace us with his presence.
But The Heartbreak Kid wasn’t smiling as he recapped the atrocity committed last week by The Legend Killer, Randy Orton. After vowing that at Summerslam, Randy would, “Definitely see it coming”, The Viper would be the one to strike first and drop HBK with an RKO followed by an immediate Punt Kick.
The WWE Champ would come to save the day but again The Viper would be the one standing tall as he planted an RKO on McIntyre to end the episode and cement the momentum of the Red Brand heading into The Summer’s Hottest Event.
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