The baddest woman on the planet makes her Raw debut in front of a hot Jacksonville, Florida crowd. Does she find her way to victory’s doorstep?
Before we answer that question, Raw GM, Kurt Angle, comes out to address the savage attack that occurred last week at the hands of the Universal Champion, “The Beast” Brock Lesnar. He stands in front of the live crowd on 8/6/2018 at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena ready to begin the broadcast.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1df6leq04xE&w=560&h=315]
Later on in the evening, we’ll hear from “The Advocate” for the beast, Paul Heyman, but flanked by “Constable” Baron Corbin, Kurt hypes up Rousey’s debut and besmirches the name of the champ. Corbin calls him out for doing so, and they are interrupted by the man who will challenge Lesnar in two weeks time at Summerslam, Roman Reigns.
Reigns says Angle was foolish to have him removed from his yard last week, and that’s why he was attacked. Words are exchange and it leads us a fine twenty minute opener.
Roman Reigns defeats “Constable” Corbin via pin fall with a spear after a distraction from Finn Balor.
Balor and Corbin have had issues over the last few months and after a great back and forth contest, Corbin tries to make his escape but he finds his attempt thwarted by Balor. Reigns catches Corbin with a superman punch before rolling him back into the ring for the spear and the three count.
Reigns shouts out Balor and heads to the back, carrying needed momentum into his title match in short order.
We see “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey backstage with former Women’s champion and her good friend, Natalya, getting hyped up for her match against Alicia Fox later in the evening.
We recap the recent issues that will lead us to our next match after a commercial break, where we’ll see “Glorious” Bobby Roode taking on Mojo Rawley.
Bobby Roode defeats Mojo Rawley via pinfall after the Glorious DDT.
Rawley has been carrying a great deal of momentum in recent weeks, but that grinds to a sudden halt after Roode counters a powerslam attempt into his signature maneuver for the three count. A great win for Roode that will perhaps lead us to a rematch at Summerslam on the pre-show where these two will continue their business.
Roode seems ripe for a heel turn when they decide to pull the plug on his face run.
Elias is backstage getting filmed by a camera crew as a follow-up to his documentary and it leads him to the ring after a commercial break.
We come back with the usual Elias setup and he walks us into an encounter with Bobby Lashley once again. Lashley tells Elias to keep his name out of his mouth and Elias takes exception, attacking Lashley again this week. We see the same results from last week where Lashley gets the upper hand and he ultimately directs the camera crew to film him holding Elias in the air, suspending him for several seconds before dropping him with a suplex.
Seth Rollins will team with a mystery partner later this evening in a tag team affair against the Intercontinental champion, Dolph Ziggler, and Drew McIntyre.
As I predicted in last week’s RAWtrospective, Rezar of the Authors of Pain is taking on Titus O’Neil in singles action after the break.
Before the singles action, Tyler Breeze confronts Rollins backstage and tosses out the idea of “Crossfit Breezus” for their tag team engagement tonight. Breeze shoots in down and Roman Reigns walks into the segment.
Breeze is tossed aside and Roman Reigns will compete for the second time this evening in the tag team affair later. Hate the man all you want, but this dude can and will work for the Universe. That should be a good one later.
Rezar defeats Titus O’Neil via pinfall with a spinebuster.
Wins are exchanged and this feud between the two teams continues as Rezar dominates O’Neil throughout the brief contest, securing the victory with a massive spinebuster.
Kevin Owens is backstage with Jinder Mahal and Sunil Singh, Mahal will be the guest after the break on the return of the Kevin Owens show! It’s up next!
The return of the Kevin Owens show went as expected. Mahal and Owens trash talked Braun Strowman, “Mr. Monster In The Bank”, and Strowman eventually made his way out to the ring, dumping the entire set over. It would lead to him and Mahal having a rematch after the break.
Jinder Mahal defeats Braun Strowman via DQ after Strowman struck Mahal with the briefcase.
A repeat of last week with a different twist continues to add intrigue to the possibilities for Summerslam. Owens grabbed the money in the bank briefcase once again, but instead of getting counted out again, Strowman retrieved the briefcase, but as Owens distracted him further, Strowman unintentionally hit Mahal with the briefcase.
Strowman was visibly frustrated and it will probably lead to him decimating Mahal next week before heading into his contest against Kevin Owens at Summerslam.
“Constable” Corbin is on the phone with Raw GM, Stephanie McMahon, and he hands the phone to Kurt Angle, who is given orders once again, not looking very pleased in the process.
We get a really nice video package highlighting the history between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. Corey Graves asked Reigns what happens if we succeeds against Lesnar, winning the title. Reigns says he’ll do what Lesnar doesn’t, he’ll show up every night, defending the title, setting a true standard.
Reigns says he’s been knocked down repeatedly, but as he’s done in the past, he’ll keep getting up, because this time, he has too.
As Dolph Ziggler and Drew Mcintyre head to the ring for their tag team contest, “Constable” Corbin informes Roman Reigns that to protect him and the main event at Summerslam, he is barred from competing for second time this evening.
Seth Rollins says he’ll figure it out, but he’s headed to the ring for a potential handicapped match. Reigns asks Corbin if his ribs are okay and he says yes. Reigns nails him and has the last laugh.
Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre defeat Seth Rollins via pin fall after a superkick from Ziggler.
Rollins begins things by going it alone, as the crowd chants “We Want Ambrose”, which would be nice, but I believe he’s a few weeks away from being cleared.
Finn Balor and “Constable” Corbin are booked for Summerslam and it looks as if it might be Finn.
While we wait, the heels take advantage of the contest early, getting the upper hand as we wait for the white knight to ride in to help Rollins.
He never comes however as Rollins fights valiantly against the heel duo, looking at times like he might pull it off but it was to no avail.
Rollins eliminated McIntyre from the equation, but Ziggler struck with a superkick that would make Shawn Michaels proud, getting the pinfall, although he wasn’t the legal man. The heels leave with the victory and momentum heading into Summerslam.
Clips of Alicia Fox’s matches are shown with Rousey training backstage with Natalya.
The B-Team and The Revival is ruled a no contest after interference from the Deleters of Worlds.
What was expected to happen at Summerslam will happen next week as we’ll have a Triple Threat match for the straps. This contest was thrown out as Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt, the former champs, appeared out of nowhere and cleared the ring. Perhaps next week’s affair will end in the same fashion as a triple threat match at Summerslam will be sure to please.
Might the “top guys” finally leave with gold? At the very least, we’ll find out next week.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExE7e6bqRXg&w=560&h=315]
Paul Heyman sits down with Renee Young and cuts a majical promo at he’s apt to do. With tears in his eyes, and eventually, streaming down his face, Heyman speaks about his children playing with Brock’s kids. He talks about it being a friendship that’s spanned over a decade. He says he’s never seen Lesnar more violent and he feels sorry for Roman Reigns.
He is asked if he’s scouting new clients, if Brock leaves and he’s all alone. Heyman doesn’t even entertain the idea, but what if he see that Reigns heel turn with Heyamn as his mouthpiece? That is money right there. What a fantastic interview this was.
Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan defeat Bayley and Sasha Banks via pin fall after a rollup by Morgan on Banks.
A great back and forth contest. We are seeing Morgan and Logan getting better each week, having the opportunity to share the squared circle with veterans such as Bayley and Banks. A masked figure appeared, pulling Morgan out of harm’s way as Bayley came up empty on a high risk attempt.
Ruby Riott has returned and the crowd showers her with a positive reaction, even as a heel! The distraction allows Logan to rollup Banks and keep this feud going. We didn’t see Ember Moon again this week, but perhaps she’ll be brought into the fold.
Alicia Fox and the Raw Women’s champion, Alexa Bliss, make their way to the ring for a pre-match promo. Bliss puts over Fox and her tenure with the company and Fox is delightful as always, chastisting Rousey and talking about how she’ll best her tonight in her Raw debut.
The crowd goes bananas as Rousey makes her way out to the ring, flanked by Natalya and we have our main event.
Ronda Rousey defeats Alicia Fox via submission with the armbar.
The man of 1004 holds, Chris Jericho, would be pleased, as his signature move was employed by Rousey as she attained the victory in spectacular fashion.
Despite multiple attempts to interfere by Bliss, including a time where she posted Natalya and then distracted Rousey, the baddest woman on the planet employed rapid-fire strikes, multiple arm drags and judo throws to quickly despite of the veteran Fox.
Rousey celebrated after the contest and Bliss tried to attack her from behind, ultimately being thrown herself and dispatched quickly, as they’ll look to meet for the strap in two weeks time. A fine show tonight, and a great Raw debut for Rousey.
