Coming off the heels of a heavily maligned Super Showdown, can Raw rebound on it’s way to Stomping Grounds?
The longest running weekly episodic TV show is live from San Jose, CA at the Sap Center on 6/10/19 this week and it begins with the Universal Champion.
Fresh off a victory over Baron Corbin and successfully fending off “The Beast” Brock Lesnar, Rollins is still holding onto the gold.
Rollins, as do we, see the footage of his title defense, and he says the Raw locker room is on notice. He says there isn’t a person on the planet who can lace his boots, and if they wanna step up, they can try things the hard way. He holds old a dented steel chair from Friday as proof.
Before he can continue, the man he defeat at Super Showdown and faces at Stomping Grounds, Baron Corbin, comes out to a resounding chorus of boos. They are quickly turning on the heel, but he’ll wait he tells us. He waits for a smattering of time and asks if they’re done and they continue.
He eventually says his piece, saying he was cheated by referee John Cone and unlike what happened at Stomping Grounds, there will be a guest referee and he’ll get to handpick the official. Rollins runs him down and Sami Zayn makes his way out, the “Critic of the Critics”, is here and he too is booed.
Zayn is on team Corbin on this one, he’s known Rollins a long time and he says he’s caught up in this repetitive cycle with Brock Lesnar and it’s a swirl of toxic masculinity. Zayn says he “means well” and it would be better if Baron Corbin was the Universal Champion.
Rollins asks what Zayn gets out of it and Zayn says Corbin would help him out the same way. Rollins asks who’s gonna have Zayn’s back when he slaps the taste out of his mouth?
Cue KO’s music and here comes Kevin Owens with the wild card rule. Please give us this main event after the turd we had this weekend. Owens believes Corbin would be a better Universal Champion as well and he doesn’t like how Rollins is talking to his best friend Sami Zayn. Rollins invites him down to the ring and Owens says since he’s here as a “wild card”, whatever that means, the main event is going to be Rollins and Owens.
Mocking the wild card rule was terrific by the way. Rollins takes his leave and we find out that the Raw tag team title will be defended by Hawkins and Ryder and they’ll defend against the Usos and the Revival.
Samoa Joe is going to be on MizTV tonight and Michael Cole hosts an in-ring segment with Becky Lynch, the Raw Women’s champion, and Lacey Evans, her opponent at Stomping Grounds.
Lars Sullivan will open the competitive portion of the show in a rematch against Lucha House Party in a 3 on 1 handicap elimination match after the break.
Lars Sullivan defeats Lucha House Party via pin fall in a 3 on 1 handicap match.
Kalisto got the Freak Accident, Dorado got a tigerbomb and Gran Metallik ate a top rope headbutt. Sullivan punished the three men and hit a very cool spot where he pressed Kalisto up and tossed him onto the ring steps back first.
This was how they should have booked things at first if he’s going to a dominant big man, but what happens next?
R-Truth and Carmella are running through the backstage area with the 24/7 title and a multitude of talent gives chase. Truth and Carmella get onto the elevator with Drake Maverick and Cedric Alexander among others. Ec3 is there as is Heath Slater and the elevator gets stuck.
Truth says they shouldn’t have been chasing him, Lacey Evans is backstage getting ready as is Becky Lynch, who is flanked by Seth Rollins, their real life romance referenced again. The interview is up next.
Evans and Lynch go at it in a back and forth segment. It’s the usual trash talk and Lynch holds court with the young talent.
Bayley and Becky Lynch will take on Alexa Bliss and Lacey Evans in a tag team match later tonight.
Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross are backstage talking about their budding friendship. Apparently Bliss is back to being a heel and she tells Cross that Bayley is a master manipulator and used to be awful to her. She’s wrapping Cross around her finger, it might work, we’ll see. She tells Cross that you can only be treated this way so long before people see you for who you are. Cross says she’s got her back.
MizTV is up next and his guest will be United States Champion, Samoa Joe. Perhaps we’ll develop a new feud here. It takes place after another break.
Miz is prepared to introduce the California native, but Joe is quick to cut him off, saying he’s not the new champion. He simply took back what was his, after he was unfairly cheated by a blind ref.
Miz rolls the clip of Joe taking his title back and then where Joe choked him out. Miz asks if it was fair that he slapped the Clutch on him.
Joe says, “Yeah, so.”. Miz thanks him for the long winded answer and then he asks why Joe threatened Dominic. Joe says that line is for guys like Miz, Joe says, he crosses the line all the time and he doesn’t need a new challenger, he can certainly talks about the Miz and his family.
Braun Strowman is out before the two men can come to blows and Joe turns his attention to the “Monster Among Men”. Strowman says Joe can get these hands and he’s ready for a fight.
Bobby Lashley comes out and after taking a loss to Strowman, he’s out for more as well. Lashley tells Joe they’ve got history together, and if anybody deserves a shot at the US Title it should be him.
The One and Only is out next to lay claim to a shot at the title and Ricochet talks about besting Cesaro, and he wants to step up to challenge Joe. Cesaro is out to do the same, but he instead sucker punches Ricochet and the action ensues in the ring. It’s Chaos on Raw and Strowman, Miz and Ricochet stand tall. We’ll probably have a six man tag after the break.
Ricochet/Braun Strowman/The Miz defeat Samoa Joe/Cesaro/Bobby Lashley via pin fall after a 630 by Ricochet on Cesaro.
This was fun, a lot of fun. Every man involved in this strange bedfellows ordeal got their signature spots in.
The Miz mixed it up with each and every competitor and the end came when Ricochet was launched over Strowman to the outside, barely connecting with an out of position Lashley.
The incredible young talent recovered and took to the skies on Cesaro who had just nailed the Miz with darn near twenty rotations of the big swing. Ricochet hit the 630 for the pin fall and we have plenty of talent now involved in the US Title picture.
Baron Corbin shoos off an interviewer backstage when Sami Zayn approaches. They dog the interviewer and then he says he has something interesting to talk to him about.
Lacey Evans/Alexa Bliss defeat Becky Lynch/Bayley via pin fall in a tag team match after a Woman’s Right from Evans on Bayley.
After the bowling shoe ugly match between Evans and Charlotte on Smackdown, the young talent recovers here after a fine outing.
Corey Graves referred to Renee Young as a “nasty” twice, which was hilarious, and Lynch and Bayley controlled a great deal of the match until Bliss made the tag and got hot. Lynch gave chase to Evans on the outside and she almost bumped into Nikki Cross.
The unintentional distraction allows Evans to nail a right hand and then as Bliss went up top for the Twisted Bliss and Bayley got the knees up, Evans had tagged in.
Bayley was set to hit the Bayley-To-Belly, but Evans nailed the strong right hand and that was all she wrote. Bliss and Cross celebrated and Evans kept it classy after a solid win for the heels.
The good thing tonight? Actual in-ring competition and what should be a solid main event for sure.
Sami Zayn approaches Shane McMahon backstage in his dressing room and the segment ends with Zayn being named the outside referee for the main event tonight. It’s an audition of sorts for him as he looks to be the guest ref in the Universal Title match at Stomping Grounds.
“The Advocate” Paul Heyman heads to the ring and cuts an outstanding promo, something synonymous with the legendary Paul E. and he says that no matter what happened on Friday, Rollins will always have to have eyes in the back of his head until Lesnar cashes in. He even teases Lesnar potentially being the guest referee for the Universal Title match as well.
The Iiconics are out for tag team action, something they haven’t had in forever and a day. They insult the crowd and the Sharks before setting up against two local workers.
The Iiconics defeat two local talents via pin fall after a knee strike from Peyton Royce.
This was another case of the champs being made to look good in a squash. Kay and Royce are tremendously entertaining, but it seems a very short matter of time before Kairi Sane and Asuka take the titles off of them. We need the belts defended regularly and we need that in a hurry.
R-Truth, Carmella and the others are still trapped in an elevator. We find out Drake Maverick is getting married, Ec3 is the best man, and potentially a cannibal and R-Truth fears Hornswaggle. This was brilliant. Who knows what happens when they finally get off the elevator, but friendships are developing in the meantime.
“The Best In The World” Shane McMahon and the “Scottish Psychopath’ Drew McIntyre are dressed up and ready to celebrate. Despite a “boring” chant from the San Jose crowd, this was pretty fun. They cut an interview on Roman Reigns’ illustrious career and we see footage of the loss at Super Showdown.
They have a champagne toast and Shane drinks from the cup he won last year while McIntyre chugs from a bottle of the bubbly in a non-PG segment. McIntyre says he is the most dangerous man in the world and he’s going to maim Reigns and then pin him.
They invite the Revival out to the ring and before the potential champs can sip the bubbly, Shane says they can join the party if and only if they take home the gold tonight. They are ready for their title opportunity.
Hawkins and Ryder are interviewed backstage after the Usos made their entrance and they same the dream will continue tonight. They are still here and they are always ready, and it’s not midnight yet for their Cinderella story. The triple threat tag title match is up next.
The Revival defeat Hawkins/Ryder and the Usos via pin fall after Dawson pinned Hawkins following Uso offense.
This was given a fair amount of time, but the story of the match was the Usos doing the majority of the work in the match until Dawson stole the victory and the straps.
Zack Ryder hit the Rough Ryder on Jimmy Usos, but was cleared from the ring by Jey. Hawkins hit the top rope and ate a superkick before Jey Uso was cleared from the ring.
Scott Dawson had tagged himself in and he stole the pin fall and the tag team titles to start their second reign and more importantly, to share an opportunity to party with McIntyre and Shane O’Mac.
A tough break for Hawkins and Ryder, but that was always a feel good story if anything. Perhaps now we’ll see the Revival against The Viking Raiders, the Usos and we’ll see title defenses on the regular.
Back in the elevator, Maverick is pouring his heart out and even references when they had him pee his pants. Ec3 says true love is real and he’s been married like five times now. R-Truth references Booker T. Heath Slater and Cedric Alexander are from Charlotte and R-Truth calls Drake Maverick Hornswaggle again.
They fix the elevator and the hijinx begin again. Everyone attacks truth including some waiting outside the elevator and Carmella drags Truth back onto the elevator and they escape again. This is so terrible, it’s brilliant. Bray Wyatt even invited Truth to the FFH to be safe.
Speaking of which, Firefly Fun House is up next!
Konichiwa, Bray says! H is nailing up a sign that says all who exit their should abandon all hope.
Mercy had tried to eat Ramblin’ Rabbit again, and Bray asks if they need to get the Fiend? The animals are shaking and Bray says fate gets to decide.
Ramblin’ Rabbit gets the floor and he is weaving his bohemian tales before he says he’s going to expose the Funhouse. Bray asks why he’d go and do something like that and he literally proceeds to smash Rabbit to bits with a giant mallet.
Rabbit is spread all over the floor and Bray asks if he’s okay before picking up the dismembered puppet and he tastes his “blood”. He says it’s delicious and then says this week’s episode is brought to us by “Ramblin’ Rabbit’s Bohemian Breakfast Spread”.
Holy crap, these get creepier and better each week. He invites us to let him in and then we hear the music of the Universal Champion when the segment ends. The main event is up next.
Before the competitors lock up, Zayn makes sure to give Rollins a thorough pat-down, making sure he isn’t concealing any “knives”. Don’t ever change Sami.
Kevin Owens defeats Seth Rollins via DQ after Rollins lays hands on Sami Zayn.
The action is fast and furious and the two exchange holds as well as rights and lefts before Rollins rolls up Owens, but Zayn distracts John Cone, the referee inside the ring, who distracted Corbin at Super Showdown.
Rollins is working Owens over and Zayn puts his hands on Rollins to warn of the closed fists.
Zayn tells Rollins he has to to check on KO outside and that allows Owens to nail a DDT heading into a commercial break.
Owens is putting some work on Rollins after the break, heeling to the max. Rollins counters with a sling blade, but KO rebounds and takes to the top rope.
He attempts the bullfrog splash, but Rollins gets the knees up. He hits the ropes and looks for the topei suicida, but Owens jams him in the face. He attempts a popup powerbomb, but Rollins escapes and hits a superkick.
KO hits the mat and Rollins climbs the ropes himself. Zayn climbs into the ring and he tends to Owens to massive boos. Rollins steps down and KO rolls him up for two. He charges and Rollins pulls the ropes down. He nails the topei suicida this time and he takes out Zayn as well.
He quickly hits the Blackout Stomp, but before Cone can count to three, Zayn pulls him out of the ring. Zayn says he was struck by Rollins, and he orders Cone outside the ring and he takes over inside the ring.
Rollins stares a hole through him and they have words before Rollins grabs him and Zayn calls for the DQ. Rollins is bleeding from the eyebrow as the call is made and Rollins has had enough. He lays into Zayn, but that brings out Baron Corbin, who attacks the champ.
The mugging continues as the heel challenger goes outside for a steel chair, but before he can strike, Rollins kicks him and Corbin drops the chair and retreats. Zayn isn’t so lucky as Rollins gives Zayn his medicine with lethal doses of steel chair shots.
Zayn gets the Lesnar treatment as Corbin looks on. Seth yells to Corbin and he unloads on Zayn, who finally rolls outside the ring as Rollins stands tall. Zayn comes back in only to eat the Blackout Stomp to end the show. The paranoia is ever-present as it relates to the Universal Champion.
