The Prudential Center in Newark, NJ hosts this week’s episode of the longest running weekly episodic program in the history of the USA network, on 7/8/19.
For the second week in a row, Raw begins with action, good, old fashioned in-ring action. The Heyman Era is underway and the crowd gets hot quickly with the arrival of “The Man” Becky Lynch and “The Beast Slayer” Seth Rollins.
We find out that Rey Mysterio returns to action this evening and he’ll issue an open challenge. Great to see Mysterio back.
The Universal and Women’s champion await the arrival of “El Idolo” Andrade and Zelina Vega as the two compete against the champs in a mixed tag team match to open the broadcast.
Seth Rollins/Becky Lynch defeat Andrade/Zelina Vega via pin fall in an elimination style mixed tag match.
Lynch and Vega begin things this evening and Lynch holds court early on, but Zega is up to the task, scoring a two count to the surprise of the Women’s champion.
Zega hits a bicycle kick and Corey Graves asks whether or not Lynch underestimated Vega, as she continues the onslaught. Lynch fights back, hitting a suplex as Vega escapes to her corner, tagging in Andrade.
A staredown ensues before Andrade and Rollins mix it up, the crowd is loving this pairing, mind you. Rollins gets the upper hand after a back and forth and after two suicide dives, Andrade is down and out.
Lynch tagged in before the second dive and she quickly gets Vega to tap after applying the Disarmher. Vega is out and the action will continue with Rollins and Andrade in the elimination style match.
After the elimination of Vega, Lynch mixes it up on the outside with Lacey Evans, who has taken a seat at ringside to watch the action.
They return from the opening break and the action continues as we see Andrade with a beautiful double stomp off the top rope and Rollins returns fire later in the contest with a Falcon Arrow and a leaping knee strike.
Andrade pushes Rollins off the top rope, and Vega hits the hurricanrana on Rollins before Lynch tears her apart. Andrade is about to put hands on Lynch, but Rollins pulls him off.
Andrade attempts to strike Rollins, but levels Lynch in the process. A distracted Rollins falls victim to a near fall after such, but he manages to escape.
Vega tries a rana again, but Lynch is back with a dropkick and this allows Rollins to set Andrade up for and score with the Blackout. The faces win the opening contest.
As the champs celebrate, they are attacked from behind by Baron Corbin and Lacey Evans, who has since recovered from the earlier attack. The heels hold the upper hand heading into Extreme Rules and the crowd then goes bananas as Paul Heyman makes his way out to the ring.
Evans and Corbin are celebrating their attack backstage, saying that love has made those two “nasties” blind.
Paul Heyman has a live mic and introduces himself in the standard fashion, referencing Brock Lesnar and the Money In The Bank. He’s shooting from the hip and there is a PPV this Sunday called “Extreme Rules” and it’s live from Philadelphia.
He happens to know a lot about Extreme in Philadelphia. This Sunday, his client will cash in against either Seth Rollins or Kofi Kingston. That’s not a prediction, that’s a spoiler.
He says he’s either given a heads up on a historic event this Sunday or he’s lying and screwing with the heads of both champions. Only one other person knows the answer and that’s Brock Lesnar. He tosses the mic down and makes his exit.
They recap the sensational ordeal from last week’s broadcast that saw Braun Strowman tackle Bobby Lashley through the video wall. That was truly something to behold. Both men are slated to be at Extreme Rules according to Michael Cole.
It is then announced there will be a Last Man Standing match scheduled to take place between the two behemoths.
“The Miz” heads to the ring for a two out of three falls six man tag team match. He’ll team up with The Usos and they’ll compete against Elias and the Raw tag team champions, The Revival, and that’s up next.
Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre are talking to “Tony”, a garbage man. They say he’s the best at his job and they contemplate him as a candidate to team up with Roman Reigns for their tag team match later this evening.
The Usos make their way to the ring after the Revival and the match is underway.
The Miz/Usos defeat Elias/The Revival via pin fall in a two out of three falls match.
I appreciate not missing the action during the breaks, but these multi-fall matches are getting out of hand.
The heels took the first fall and Elias took his leave.
The Miz took the second fall with a Skull Crushing finale and they immediately cleared the ring and The Usos took to the skies after super kicks for a combo splash and a three count.
Drake Maverick pops out of a crate with his lovely wife seated on a crate next to him. We see clips of their “honeymoon” in Orlando, Florida, where they live, and he is posing everywhere at Universal Studios and Disney with the 24/7 title.
He then tells the wife he’s going to take her to Newark, obviously the site for tonight’s Raw. He tells her that if she looks out for him, they’ll go on a real honeymoon. She says if he keeps his promise, they’ll even consummate their marriage.
He gets excited and alerts the usual suspects to his whereabouts and they give chase as Maverick leaves his wife and goes on the run.
McMahon and McIntyre are now talking to a beer vendor about teaming up with Reigns.
Rey Mysterio comes to the ring and he talks about coming back from his injury in record time. He is excited to get back to action and he issues an open challenge. His opponent? Bobby Lashley.
Bobby Lashley defeats Rey Mysterio via pin fall with a spear.
I wish this was anyone save Mysterio, but this is exactly how you book Lashley.
He isn’t 100% and Mysterio takes charge with early offense, going so far as to hit the 619. He can’t capitalize as Lashley hits a powerslam and then the spear for the victory.
After the match, he teases tossing Rey through the video wall as Strowman did with him last week with a spear. Lashley is blocked by several officials, so he instead tosses Mysterio into the referees before taking his leave.
The Club is backstage and they are asked about the attack on Ricochet last week. Styles says he doesn’t owe anyone an explanation for what happened last week.
Cesaro defeats No Way Jose via submission with the Sharpshooter.
This was a way to get Cesaro back in the minds of fans and hopefully to showcase him as a top talent. He’s due for a title opportunity, and they should do it soon, he deserves it.
Cesaro chases off the Conga Line and No Way Jose botches an attempted dive through the ropes. Cesaro takes him into the ring and rains down uppercuts on Jose before hitting a gut-wrench slam.
He executes the big swing very briefly and then applies the Sharpshooter. It’s over.
The Street Profits are backstage and they hype the PPV this weekend and the Taker/Reigns against McMahon/McIntyre match before being awesome as always. The fans are in for a treat when these two ultra-talented athletes get into a Raw ring.
Mike Kanellis is backstage and he offers Maria flowers and an apology for the loss last weeks and the events that follow. He is excited for a second opportunity tonight. She sends him off for a snack since she’s pregnant and then heckles him for calling her “fat”, he didn’t, for the record.
He takes his leave and she questions what kind of “man” taps out to a “woman”. We’ll see what happens, this is savage.
There is a backstage interview where Bayley and Nikki Coss are interviewed by Michael Cole about their match later. They find out their opponents in Sarah Logan and Dana Brooke and Bayley continues to pressure Cross about letting Alexa Bliss use her. She isn’t at the building tonight. Cross defends her and says she’ll win and pick the stipulation.
We see the Viking Raiders backstage underneath a cool light, and they’ll be in action next.
The Viking Experience defeat The Jason Brothers via pin fall with the Viking Experience.
It’s a squash match again for Erik and Ivar and they make short work of the enhancement talent.
The commentary team at least put them over as legitimate contenders for the titles.
After the victory, Drake Maverick runs through the ropes and escapes with the 24/7 title behind them. Others give chase and they get level by the Raiders and R-Truth enters the ring, but thinks better of his decision.
He takes Carmella on his shoulders and they leave to give chase without getting injured in the process.
Roman Reigns is asked about his partner and he says that it doesn’t matter and he doesn’t have a sound bite. He has the element of surprise tonight no matter what happens.
Ricochet defeats Luke Gallows via pin fall after a roll-up.
We watched a video package before the match which detailed the reformation of the Club and the savage attack that followed. We saw the second rope Styles Clash and Ricochet said he expected to have to deal with all three members of the Club.
The powerful Gallows went after the US Champ early with a choke-slam and he was toying with him throughout the contest.
Gallows got a little too cocky and it allowed Ricochet to strike with a roll-up for the pin fall.
After the contest ended, AJ Styles said the beating can ensue or Ricochet can put his money where his mouth is, and that leads to him competing against Karl Anderson after the break.
Ricochet defeats Karl Anderson via pin fall with the 630 splash.
Anderson puts in an honest day’s work against the US Champ in the second bout and he employs his power offense as Ricochet starts to wear from having two matches back to back.
Ricochet hits a back flip bicycle kick as a distraction outside leads to an uppercut from Anderson.
The champ has seen enough and he back flips over the ropes and takes out Anderson. He then takes out Styles before getting back into the ring and he sidesteps Anderson before hitting a dropkick.
He takes to the top rope, hitting the 630 for the pin fall.
Styles immediately feeds on the champ, laying him out with vicious right hands as the crowd boos. He pulls the champ up, hitting a high and tight brainbuster suplex. Anderson and Gallows look on before they scoop up the champ for a Magic Killer.
Ricochet wins the battle tonight, but loses the war as the Club stands tall. Styles takes the mic and says he isn’t a “bad guy”, but he then shows that he is by hitting the Phenomenol Forearm, taking the upper hand heading into this weekend’s PPV.
We get a clip for the 10th Anniversary Celebration of Evolve and the special that will take place this Saturday Night on the network. Can’t wait for that one. There is some great talent in the promotion, many of which are in NXT and WWE at this moment.
Maverick finally ends up beside his wife, celebrating his escape, but R-Truth pops up out of a crate with a referee. Carmella tells Truth to get him, but instead of putting Carmella on his back, he takes a ref with him and continues to give chase.
Bayley looks on, but she heads to the ring for her beat the clock challenge against Nikki Cross.
McMahon and McIntyre approach and elderly gentleman with a mop bucket, cleaning the floors. They say “that’s our guy” before the commercial break.
McMahon and McIntyre offer “Gary” $5000 bucks to team up with Roman Reigns to stand across from Roman Reigns. He just has to stand there and wear a mask. They’ll take care of the rest.
Bayley hits the ring and the Smackdown Women’s champion is set to take on Sarah Logan in the opening beat the clock challenge match-up.
Bayley defeats Sarah Logan via pin fall with a sunset bomb at 4:32 in a beat the clock challenge.
Bayley and Logan have a quality match as the clock drags on. This is a great showcase for the under-utilized Logan as the crowd gets behind Bayley.
Logan applies a standing leglock submission as the clock drags past three minutes. Bayley gets the ropes for a break as the crowd quickly gets restless with a “CM Punk” chant.
They sure turned quickly to say the least. That’s a real shame because this is an opportunity to feature a new star. Logan flattens Bayley with a forearm for a two count as Bayley recovers and, hitting the sunset bomb into the corner and she finally gets the pin fall at 4:32.
Nikki Cross hits the ring and Dana Brooke follows after the break as they ready for their match.
Nikki Cross defeats Dana Brooke via pin fall with a neckbreaker to win the beat the clock challenge.
Brooke toys with Cross early on, moving in and out of the ring. Brooke finally gets in and they tie it up, but Cross ultimately took charge, hitting her finish on Brooke to beat her with just under two minutes to spare.
Cross calls Bayley into the ring after the match. She says that Bayley doesn’t understand what a real friendship is. She tells Bayley that she’ll understand it firsthand when she and Alexa Bliss challenge Bayley in a 2-on-1 handicap match this weekend.
She tells Bayley to go and find herself a friend that is as loyal as Bliss to slap some sense into her. Bayley slaps Cross and as Nikki tries to come back, she gets the Bayley-To-Belly suplex for her troubles. She follows it up with the sky elbow as well.
This is going to be a very interesting match to say the least now.
Mike Kanellis brings Maria her ice cream and pickles as she asked and she says she can’t eat that. She asks if she wasn’t pregnant, would he impregnate her right now? She’s not even sure that he’s done it this time.
He asks what they are doing and he then walks away as she yells at him.
Corey Graves interviews Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch backstage and after “The Man” calls him “emo head”, they say once they best the heels, they don’t get anymore shots at the belts.
The Street Profits continue to hype the PPV and it’s perfection. They should do this everytime and when they carry their fire and passion into the ring, the fans will eat it up. Ford and Dawkins are fantastic.
McMahon and McIntyre hit the ring and the main event is up next.
After a lengthy diatribe, we are introduced to Gary “The Goat” Garbut. He hobbles to the ring as they take the final break with only a few minutes for the main event. We’ll see what happens when we get back.
Shane McMahon/Drew McIntyre defeat Roman Reigns/Cedric Alexander via pin fall after a Claymore from McIntyre on Alexander.
Cedric sold the heck of this Gary gimmick. He was outside the ring until Reigns got ousted and then he was dragged in.
He then hit an inzaguri on Shane and began to utilize his high flying offense to the delight of the crowd.
He took Shane out, but McIntyre eventually scored with the Claymore for the victory. In the end, he was unmasked, and despite the loss, it was good to see Cedric Alexander in a main event.
Reigns and Taker take on the heels this weekend, perhaps they’ll fare better as this ended the show.
