Controversy surrounds “Crown Jewel”, but that doesn’t stop the RAW brand from bringing quality matches to a raucous crowd.
The Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA hosts tonight’s show on 10/15/18 and we get started with the “Dogs Of War” informing us that tonight, two more spots will be filled for the “World Cup” tournament that will take place at the Saudi Arabian show. Seth Rollins will compete in singles action against Drew McIntyre to start the broadcast, and Dean Ambrose will compete against Dolph Ziggler later in the evening.
They question Dean Ambrose’s loyalty with what transpired at the end of last week’s show where the dejected Shield member left his buddies high and dry after taking the loss for his team. Strowman says he’ll win the Universal title in the triple threat match and the Shield interrupts. Rollins and McIntyre is next!
Seth Rollins defeats Drew McIntyre via countout to qualify for the World Cup tournament.
This was everything you’d expect from these two and the spotty finish came about after interference from members of the Shield and the Dogs Of War. Ambrose had laid out Ziggler on the floor and when McIntyre went to check on his stablemate, it allowed Rollins to beat the count to get back in the ring. Could we potentially see Rollins vs. Ambrose during the tournament?
We see the Bella Twins backstage and then we see Trish Stratus and Lita in the house when they are approached by Bayley who hugs the legends.
Ember Moon heads to the ring, where she’ll team up with Nia Jax to take on Dana Brooke and a returning Tamina in a tag team affair next.
Ember Moon and Nia Jax defeat Dana Brooke and Tamina after an Eclipse from Moon on Brooke.
During the match, we hear about a battle royale that will take place at Evolution where the winner will get a title opportunity on their respective brand. Asuka is in it, Torrie Wilson, Nia Jax, Ember Moon and a bunch of other talent. That seems tailor made for Moon or Asuka, and we’ll find out in a few weeks.
Everybody held their own in the match and Tamina wasn’t in the ring much, and that probably was for the best, but she got in some of her signature spots. She hit a beautiful Samoan drop on Nia Jax in a sentillating spot and kudos to both the ladies for pulling that off.
Ember Moon eventually gets the tag and within seconds, she nails the Eclipse on Dana Brooke and that’s all she wrote. Tamina superkicks Nia Jax after the match and that allows for a story to be told during the battle royale. Moon and Tamina dump Nia Jax over the top rope and then Moon tries to dump Tamina, but Dana Brooke dumps them both. Well, it’s hype I suppose.
They recap the Bella turn last week where they assaulted Women’s champion, Ronda Rousey, which leads to “Evolution” and Rousey vs. Nikki Bella.
We see highlights of a TMZ story where Rousey called the Bellas “Do Nothing” synonyms for a female dog. That was pretty funny.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tuv7-uVgdJ0&w=560&h=315]
The women’s champ heads to the ring, ready for a confrontation. Rousey calls the Bellas out and Nikki says that no explanation is needed as to why they betrayed her. Brie says it’s show business, no show friends.
Brie says Rousey disregarded everything they’ve done for the business. Nikki says they came back to compete and to take Rousey out, because she’s a loser who doesn’t deserve any of her success. They say they made “diva” mean something. They plug their reality show and how it’s put women and girls in the crowd. The crowd is ferociously booing them by the way. They said Rousey walked into a revolution that they started.
The crowd chants for Rousey to break their arms. Rousey says she tried to be respectful and play by the rules and not to be disrespectful. She says the divas era made her sick to her stomach. That was a great line. Rousey found it weird that the Bellas tried to pal around with her after she won the belt. She says they are the embodiment of a stereotype. She calls them desperate for attention and it’s great. This was a terrific promo. She says they got to the top with minimum amounts of talent and they leeched off the names of their men. She says they stole their men’s moves and they are callous and need to be eviscerated like smallpox. Damn. This was truly terrific.
“The only door you knocked down was the door to John Cena’s bedroom.”
Damn. This was better than the AJ Lee promo a few years back. Rousey says Cena eventually threw her out of the same door. The Bellas have brought their own security and Rousey tears through them. The Bellas have taken their leave and Rousey gets a massive reaction. Goodness gracious folks, terrific.
Bobby Roode and Chad Gable are backstage with Kurt Angle, who is decked out in a Hawaiian shirt and hat. They are headed to the ring for tag team action later as Angle dances with No Way Jose and some enhancement talent. Acting GM, Baron Corbin, confronts him and asks if he’s pleased with what he’s done. Angle is booked in a singles match by Corbin for later tonight, it’s a handicap match against AoP.
Dean Ambrose heads to the ring for his World Cup qualifier against Dolph Ziggler, and it’s next.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpXmAS-fmDY&w=560&h=315]
Dolph Ziggler defeats Dean Ambrose via pin fall with a superkick.
A shorter match then you would expect from these two, but a quality effort nevertheless. Outside influence spilled into the contest yet again. More tension was teased between the Shield as Ambrose accidentally pushes down Seth Rollins, thinking it was the Dogs of War. He re-entered the ring and ate the superkick and that was that. Rollins and Ambrose had words after the match until Roman Reigns intervened and cooler heads prevailed, for now.
Bayley comes out to the ring with Finn Balor, and we see both Samir and Sunil Singh with Jinder Mahal, along with Alicia Fox. Great to see Samir back after his injury last year.
Finn Balor defeats Jinder Mahal via pin fall with the Coup De Grace.
Despite the return of Samir Singh, the interference and distractions were non-existent. Balor made short work of Mahal, putting him away with the Coup De Grace rather quickly.
The annoying laugh of one Lio Rush ushers out Bobby Lashley, fresh off his heel turn last week. Kevin Owens is shelved with a knee injury, but for storyline purposes, Lashley did it. He locks eyes with Finn Balor, a program with the two seems inevitable, but it’s Tyler Breeze for Lashley tonight.
Bobby Lashley w/ Lio Rush defeats Tyler Breeze via pin fall with the Dominator.
Breeze was thrashed in this one. Lashley dominated Prince Pretty as Lio Rush provided commentary during the match. This was a platform for Lashley to display his new heel persona and it was short and sweet, unless you’re Tyler Breeze.
We have a back and forth between Trish Stratus, Lita, Alexa Bliss and Mickie James, where the heels mocked the two legends and they hyped their tag team bout at Evolution.
Bayley is harassed by the Riott Squad backstage, and they actually defaced Natalya’s dressing room as well. Natayla and Ruby Riott will see action later.
The “Conquistador” is in the ring, and presumable, we’re to believe that it’s Kurt Angle.
AoP w/ Drake Maverick defeat The Conquistador via pin fall with the Neckbreaker/Powerbomb combo.
This was over, quick, fast and in a hurry. The Conquistador is unmasked and it’s some jabronie that Kurt Angle apparently paid to take the whoopin’ on his behalf. Acting RAW GM, Baron Corbin, was watching the action and after the unveiling, he rose to his feet and ate an Angle Slam on the entryway ramp. The joke was on him tonight.
Natalya defeats Ruby Riott via DQ after outside interference.
The match result wasn’t truly important in this one. Natalya was accompanied to the ring by Bayley and a returning Sasha Banks! “The Boss” has been out of action for a while now for undisclosed reasons, but she was back tonight in Wonder Woman gear. Natalya fought hard against Ruby Riott until Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan broke up the pin fall.
The ref called for the bell and the heels attacked before being ran off by the faces. Perhaps we’ll see a six women tag at Evolution? We’ll see.
We “Walk With Elias” until the usual interruption, which starred Apollo Crews this evening. Crews is sporting a beard and cut a promo about being held down after Elias ran down Carson Wentz and Flyers hockey.
Crews spoke with confidence, and perhaps this might be the start of a singles push for him. He sent Elias packing after hitting an inzaguri and the crowd provided a good response for his effort. The main event is up next.
The Shield defeats the Dogs Of War via pin fall after a triple powerbomb on Ziggler.
This wasn’t up to the quality of prior weeks bouts between these six men, but it was fine for the allotted time. Strowman warned Ziggler earlier, that if he lost against this week, he’d get these hands.
That’s exactly what happened, the brothers were back together as the Shield took their liberties with Ziggler at the end of the match after Drew McIntyre accidentally kicked Braun Strowman and the monster spilled out of the ring. Reigns hit the spear and the powerbomb was the end for Ziggler.
After the match, Strowman held true to his word, nailing the running powerslam on Ziggler. McIntyre was insensed and he nailed the Claymore on Strowman, leaving the ring and the carnage in the ring. Very interesting finish to a solid broadcast.
