The Universal Champion returns to Raw, appearing on a weekly basis to compete and defend the title. Who will the new champ defend it against tonight?
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Roman Reigns finally made good on his promise of besting the beast last night at Summerslam. Tonight, in front of a hot Brooklyn crowd at the Barclays Center on 8/20/18, he would immediately come out to lay down a challenge to a man who never got his rematch for the strap, Finn Balor!
“Constable” Baron Corbin takes issue with it and says Balor bringing “The Demon” to Summerslam for singles action is a breach of contract.
Before he can ruin this tremendous contest, Raw GM, Kurt Angle, puts him in his place and instead, keeps the title match as the main event and Corbin will see singles action after the break, against Bobby Lashley!
Bobby Lashley defeats “Constable” Corbin via pinfall with a spinebuster.
Corbin continues to turn it on in the ring. He seems to get better each week. There was a great spot where he literally pushed Lashley through the ropes and it looked like he killed him.
It was a great sell job by the veteran Lashley and after a wicked clothesline, the action spilled back inside where Lashley eventually got the upperhand and sealed the deal with a beautiful spinebuster for the three count.
Paul Heyman is backstage after a commercial break and he informs Kurt Angle that the former Universal champion, Brock Lesnar, is guaranteed his contractually obligated rematch. Angle says he’ll take his sweet time deciding when that will be, a dig at Brock. Heyman states that it should probably take place at Hell In The Cell. Angle says that’ll be a “cold day in hell” and he should forget about it.
“Constable” Corbin is irate at his own treatment and he complains about taking a loss to “The Demon” last night and being forced into action against Bobby Lashley tonight. He says that Stephanie McMahon is here tonight and he’ll have words with her later.
The Riott Squad defeats Sasha Banks/Bayley/Ember Moon via pin fall after Riott hit Banks with the Riott Kick.
A competitive match that was carried by Riott, Banks, Bayley and Moon. Logan and Morgan were protected, but they had their opportunity to shine, getting their own spots in.
The well-oiled machine that is the Riott Squad used their time together to excel, alienating each of their opponents which ultimately led Banks to walk into a Riott Kick from Ruby that was soundly timed. A great win for the heel trio and perhaps something that could see Ruby Riott involved in the title picture down the line with the new champion, Ronda Rousey.
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The legendary Triple H is out next and he cuts a magnificent promo as only he can where he talks at length about “The End Of An Era”. That is a match that if you’ve never seen, you should stop everything and go check that out on the WWE Network. Triple H says he had no intention of competing against The Undertaker ever again, but after watching Takeover 4 and Summerslam, he got that “itch” once again.
He says that on October 6th, in Melbourne, Australia at the Super Show-down, he’ll see singles action against Taker. He’ll take off the suit, he’ll lace up the boots and tape up the fists one more time. What a great match between two legends that should be!
The new Intercontinental Champion, Seth Rollins, is out to a rousing ovation and he steps aside, letting his friend, “The Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose, have his moment in the sun. Ambrose will do business with Dolph Ziggler, flanked by his own partner in crime, Drew McIntyre, after the break!
Dean Ambrose defeats Dolph Ziggler via pin fall with Dirty Deeds.
Ambrose has really turned the corner on his in-ring style. This was a very good match. Ambrose is often criticized for working a very repetitive match against any number of opponents. During his time off, he seemed to turn the page on that.
Rollins and McIntyre were both factors in the contest at various points, taking the opposition away from influencing the result. Ziggler looked to put the match away with a superkick, but Ambrose countered into a toss that he immediately transitioned into Dirty Deeds.
Ambrose secures the win and celebrates with his friend Rollins. We have to wonder, how long until he turns heel? Seems like it’ll be sooner, rather than later.
Finn Balor is backstage, readying himself for the main event. Braun Strowman, Mr. “Monster In The Bank” approaches him and reiterates what he said last night. He won’t cash in without informing his would be opponent of his intentions to do so first. Balor nods his head and that’s that.
We “Walk With Elias” for a smattering of time before we’re interrupted by Curt Hawkins. He’s hoping to make Elias “face the facts” in his home state.
Elias defeats Curt Hawkins via pin fall with Drift Away.
Rare momentum from Hawkins in the early stages of the contest. That is quickly thwarted however as Elias executes a crisp knee before keeping the Hawkins losing streak going. Elias needs a quality opponent, and soon.
Titus O’Neil runs into Apollo Crews and Dana Brooke backstage. They say they have the recipe to defeat the Authors of Pain. That match is next.
Authors Of Pain defeat Titus World Wide via pin fall with the Last Chapter.
A quality win for AoP and a sorely needed one. AoP looks to factor into the tag title scene, and soon, and a win over Titus World Wide will hopefully blow this feud off and present them as a heel opponent for the B-Team if they can get past the Revival.
Stephanie McMahon, the RAW Commissioner, is out next. She takes credit for Ronda Rousey’s rapid ascension to the Women’s championship. She speaks at length about Evolution in October as all the Raw women surround the ring.
Rousey makes her way to the ring with the Women’s championship and she says that none of the ladies need to be standing on the arena floor and they should all climb into the ring. Along with the active roster, we also have the Bella Twins, as it’s rumored that Rousey will be defending the belt against Nikki Bella at Evolution.
Stephanie McMahon states that even as Rousey pretends to care about all the talent, look what she did to poor Alexa Bliss! The now former women’s champion is on the apron with a pink sling and sad look set upon her face.
Rousey says she only breaks the arms of those who deserve it and before McMahon can react, Rousey executes a judo throw and she slaps the arm bar on the Raw Commissioner! McMahon is quick to tap out and she is helped to the back by the heels as Rousey celebrates with Bayley, Sasha, Natalya, who she termed a “cornerstone” of the Raw division in a statement that would make Benjamin Clementine happy.
We already have Bliss vs. Trish Stratus booked for the show and it’s rumored that we’ll see Asuka and Lita as well. That should be special. After the break, we’ll see The B-Team against the Revival in individual matches.
Scott Dawson defeats Bo Dallas via pin fall in singles action.
A way to continue the feud as the two individual members of each team will see each other in singles competition. It wasn’t anything overly special, but Dawson defeats Bo Dallas in the first of the two matches, apparently meant to fill time before the main event.
Dash Wilder defeats Curtis Axel via pin fall with a Gory Bomb.
In the second of the two contests, Wilder takes Axel to task with a variation of the Gory Bomb. It looks like the Revival will be headed to another opportunity at the Raw tag team champions very shortly. Dallas takes the mic after the match and he states that they are still tag team champions and it falls on deaf ears. The crowd doesn’t react very well considering both men just lost.
Universal Champion, Roman Reigns, is backstage and he is asked by Renee Young if he has reservations about offering Finn Balor a championship opportunity tonight. He says Finn deserves the match and when he loses, he’s headed to the back of the line.
He states that it’s his yard and he’ll defend the belt. He says that is Strowman tries to cash in, he’ll handle that too. The main event is next!
Before we see the main event, Stephanie McMahon is backstage with ice on the arm, she’s being tended too by Alexa Bliss. “Constable” Corbin says that he’s being booked in casual matches and Corbin is put in charge as the acting General Manager of Monday Night Raw as Kurt Angle is instructed to take a mandatory vacation. The crowd destroys this decision.
Personally, I think a heel in charge gets way too repetitive. Angle has been doing a great job, but this will surely be a way to stack the odds against the Roman Reigns and Finn Balor’s of the world. We’ll see what happens and who Corbins lines up to face the faces of Raw. I’ll give it a chance. Kurt Angle has been terrific, so hopefully, it’s just a short break and an actual vacation for the Raw GM.
Roman Reigns defeats Finn Balor via pin fall with the spear to retain the Universal Title.
It feels great to actually see a championship match on a Monday night, because it has been so long. Balor and Reigns put on a show for the fans, and funnily enough, at one point in the match, after three days of non-stop action, they started to lose the crowd.
Bad call when Balor is involved, because he brought them back with a flurry of stomps and they were right back in the action. People can hate on Reigns all they want, but I’ve never once thought, “wow, that Roman Reigns match sucked”. I’m sure there’s been some under that haven’t measured up to the Meltzer scale of all things abroad, but this was another quality effort from two established talents.
As the matches neared its crescendo, the music of one Braun Strowman hit and he made his presence known. Balor took the opportunity to execute a sling blade, a corner dropkick and as he went up for the Coup De Grace, Reigns moved, spear, three count.
A great defense by Reigns, but then Strowman climbed into the ring, booted Reigns and cashed in. The monster was licking his chops and then the unthinkable happened!
Sierra. Hotel. India. Echo. Lima. Delta. Shield!
Dean Ambrose and the IC Champ, Seth Rollins, came out sporting the old tactical gear and they surrounded the ring like vultures. They laid into Strowman and the monster tried valiantly to fight them off. They setup the Cerberus on the outside, but Strowman fought out again. A well-placed spear from Reigns took down the monster and he was then powerbombed through the table to end the show.
Ladies and Gentlemen, that was a quality way to end a show.
