Stomping Grounds is set to take place this Sunday, but this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw begins in Los Angeles, CA at The Staples Center on 6/17/19.
We walk with Elias thanks to the wild card rule and he immediately trashes the toxic people and roasts Anthony Davis for joining up with Lebron James in this cesspool. He was invited to Raw tonight by Baron Corbin and he reveals himself as the guest referee for the championship match between he and Corbin.
The segment lasts about as long as a cup of coffee as the Universal Champion, Seth Rollins, unloads on Elias with a steel chair, waylaying him as soon as he makes the announcement. After “burning it down”, Rollins says after everything he’s been through with Brock Lesnar, he is done playing games.
He says what happened to Elias is both the first and last warning for anybody who takes the guest referee spot for this Sunday’s PPV. After the emphatic statement, he makes his exit, although later, he’ll be competing against “The Planet’s Champion”, Daniel Bryan, in what should be one heck of a singles contest.
“Awesome”, Here comes the Miz and this week’s edition of Raw will begin with the fatal five-way match which pits Miz, Bobby Lashley, Cesaro, Braun Strowman and Ricochet against one another with the winner getting the chance to face Samoa Joe this Sunday for the United States Championship.
Elias has recovered at this point, and he eats a Skull Crushing Finale. Thanks for coming “Drifter”.
Nope, not done yet. Lashley spears him as he gets up again. You see where this is probably going. Cesaro then lets Elias take the Big Swing, free of charge. Ricochet hits the double knees to the face and he is finally sent out to pasture as Braun Strowman issues a powerslam.
Hopefully, Elias got a solid payday for this beating.
Ricochet defeats Braun Strowman/Bobby Lashley/Cesaro and The Miz via pin fall in a fatal five-way elimination match to receive a US Title shot this Sunday.
This was a display by all five men. We find out this is eliminating style and after an impressive display from Cesaro, he is eliminated by Strowman after a powerslam.
Strowman is a house of fire before an STO from Lashley puts him down. Lashley takes the Miz off the apron and he does the same to Ricochet. Lashley turns and eats a powerslam from Strowman and just like that, Lashley is out of the match as well.
Samoa Joe has come to ringside and is watching from the sidelines. Strowman takes to the outside and does the charge, knocking Ricochet and Miz inside out. Miz gets nailed again as the crowd rallies behind the “Monster Among Men”.
Miz is pulled into the ring and charged twice before Strowman scoops him up, but he is nailed by a spear and a Gotch Neutralizer from the eliminated Lashley and Cesaro. Ricochet nails the 630 off the top and with the assist of the heels, Strowman is eliminated.
The crowd loves Ricochet, but they did not like that. Either Ricochet or The Miz will be headed to Stomping Grounds, but Strowman is livid and he tosses Ricochet over the top rope and into the heels. Strowman flattens Lashley and chases Cesaro, bulldozing him into the video wall as they take a break with the final two men remaining.
Miz and Ricochet give it their all and go after it. Miz escapes a 630 attempt and Ricochet valiantly fights through a figure four after dodging a Skull Crushing Finale attempt by rolling through it for a near fall. Miz fights back, but a misstep eventually leaves him in harm’s way, a 630 from the top, and the One and Only has a title shot on Sunday. What a great opening match!
Ricochet barely celebrates his victory before turning his back to the champ sees him attacked, but as Joe hits the ropes, Ricochet dumps him and hits a moonsault with rope aide onto Joe, standing tall!
Roman Reigns will be here later this evening ans heading into another break, we see the arrival of the Smackdown tag team champions, Daniel Bryan and Rowan, as Bryan readies for his singles match with Rollins later.
We see the Raw Women’s Champion, Becky Lynch, headed to the ring, to continue her story with Lacey Evans, as the two ready for battle this weekend.
Lynch roasts Evans on the live mic and she says she agrees with Evans and she’ll give her exactly what she deserves. She mocks her “currying” favor backstage and says she’ll curry favor with the LA crowd by kicking Evans tail. The “Sassy Southern Belle” comes out and says would you look at that, nobody cares what Lynch has to say.
Evans says she makes Lynch mad because she doesn’t understand her. Evans says Lynch sees a classy hat and a tall drink of water, but underneath the flawless image, she’s been through things “The Man” wouldn’t even imagine. They continue on and Evans says they should make a movie about her life and unlike Becky, she’s actually a real United States Marine.
Ha! A shot at that “nasty” film if you will. They continue on, but Lynch cuts Evans off by catching her with a Becksploder as Evans is gracefully getting into the ring. Evans recovers and Lynch grins while she backs her way up the ramp, holding the title high.
They pan backstage as we see the arrival of the new Raw tag team champions, “Top Guys”, The Revival. They enter a private lounge with Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre for a champagne toast and a buffet of fine foods.
We then get Baron Corbin backstage and find out Elias has opted out of being the guest referee this Sunday. Corbin says he’ll reveal his guest referee tonight on a special edition of the Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn show.
A chairshot leaves Corbin laying and Seth Rollins says he’d offer him a seat, but he’s got more work to do.
We see Ivar and Erik, the Viking Raiders, readying for competition and they’ll be in action next. Wow, did they finally remember the talent and how to tell stories tonight?
Daniel Bryan and Rowan are out to tell us they understand why they are on Raw tonight because “this place sucks”. By that, he means both Los Angeles and Monday Night Raw. Boom! Fear not, he has come to the smog capital of the world to excite us all by destroying the Universal Champion, and he’ll prove that one half of the world tag team champions that is better than anyone on the Raw roster.
Prepare to be excited! They make their exit as the Viking Raiders make their entrance, locking eyes with Rowan and Bryan. I’d pay to see that match.
The Viking Raiders defeat Russ and Randy Taylor via pin fall with the Viking Experience.
This is a needed squash. These two goofs in the ring are made examples of with two very fast paced offensive maneuvers before the Viking Experience finish dooms them quick, fast and in a hurry.
They pan the crowd and we see R-Truth, who apparently arrived successful during his crate travels, and Carmella, hiding in a disguise in the sea of people watching the show. The usual suspects give chase, and he slides under the ring, as does Carmella.
The cavalcade of talent fishes out a talent, but it’s Titus O’ Neil?! Truth and Carmella make their escape as everyone gives chase.
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn make their way down the entryway ramp, and tonight’s pacing is damn near brilliant. I won’t lie. This has been a well booked show so far. After a break, we’ll find out Corbin’s guest referee.
Shane O’Mac’s celebration continues and they continue eating as Heath Slater enters the room and asks for a raise. He’s been working hard and Shane says that took a lot of brass. He is denied and makes his exit as Drew McIntyre leaves and approaches and because of their history, Drew wants to help him out.
McIntyre pulls out a couple hundred bucks, but he drops it and Slater refuses the money at first, but he bends down and tries to help his own buddy out and gets his butt kicked by McIntyre. Wow. That’s a quality heel. Shane and The Revival pull Drew off and then Dash and Dawson take the cash. Classic!
The KO and Sami show begins with the ballad of Baron Corbin, with a long and drawn out introduction of LA’s favorite son, Baron Corbin. I must admit, those intros are always great. They recap what happened at Super Showdown as Corbin makes his way into the ring for the segment.
They ask about the referee this weekend as Zayn recaps the attack on him last Monday and he bows out of Sunday himself because of what happened last Monday. Owens withdraws his name from consideration as well as a show of solidarity for Zayn.
Zayn wants Corbin to have this massive platform to announce his ref. Corbin introduces his guest referee, Ec3! Carter III is out in a shocking moment, but Rollins, true to his promise, destroys Ec3. That also lasted as long as a cup of coffee.
Corbin berates Rollins for taking away an opportunity from an up and comer.
Ohhhhhh LA! We hear the music of The New Day and the voice of Big E. The World Heavyweight Champion, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E. are on Raw.
Zayn is frustrated because he checked the lineup and The New Day aren’t even wild cards tonight, why are they here? Kofi says he’s the WWE Champ and he goes where he wants and when he wants. He’s bringing his boys with them.
KO says that Kofi should be worried about Dolph Ziggler and if Ziggler doesn’t get him, Owens will. Kofi says after he beats Dolph in a steel cage, he’ll have his hand raised.
Corbin says he’s heard enough and the three of them should handle the three of them. The New Day will compete, but only if they have a referee out here to sanction the match.
They pick up Ec3 and force him to nod his head as he gets a massive reaction and Big E. mouths him sanctioning the six man tag for right now. He sounded like Judge Doom from Roger Rabbit, it was awesome. That match is up next.
Holy crap! Not only do we see AJ Styles backstage, and he tells us he’s back in the ring in no time. He is flanked by the Good Brothers, and AJ calls them out for not making a mark ever since their amazing debut. He references their time in Japan and then he says they are arguably the best tag team on the planet. He says they got comfortable, made a lot of money, and mocks them for not staying hungry like the Usos.
When’s the last time they had a match? When’s the last time they were on TV? He misses the old Gallows and Anderson. Tonight, they have a match with the Usos. Anderson says they’ll beat the Usos, AJ will be watching.
Not only do we have this six man tag tonight, but Big E. and Xavier Woods will be competing in a tag team affair at Stomping Grounds against Zayn and Owens. Okay, gimme that.
The New Day defeats Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn/Baron Corbin via pin fall after Trouble In Paradise from Kingston on Corbin.
The six man tag is announced as a two out of three falls match as it gets underway.
The first fall is quite quick and shocking, as Xavier Woods rolls Sami Zayn up out of nowhere for a quick three as Corbin and Owens look on with surprise.
The action continues as Corbin gets some offense in before the hot tag to Kofi electrifies the crowd. Kofi hits a high cross body, but the rally is quelled with a Deep Six for a two count broken up by Woods. The ring is cleared as Corbin does the outside slide move, but Kofi ducks and Corbin hits Zayn.
KO takes exception and hits a superkick on Corbin as Kofi waits with baited breath and he nails Trouble In Paradise to win two falls to none. Wow. Corbin’s night has gone from bad to worse.
Nikki Cross is backstage when she is presented with a present from Alexa Bliss. It’s a new coffee mug and an invitation from Bliss to join her in the ring tonight for a tag team title match against the Iiconics tonight.
Bliss says after she beats Bayley this Sunday for the Smackdown Women’s title, the fans will have someone they can rally behind.
We see “The Advocate” Paul Heyman fitting his tie and he’ll be up next to talk about the Beast In The Bank, Brock Lesnar.
Heyman is out and he’s not comfortable being out here tonight, what with Rollins nailing everyone with steel chairs here tonight. Heyman is not going to be the guest referee at Stomping Grounds and he’s no physical threat.
He then asks what the Lakers and Seth Rollins have in common? They both traded away their balls! Oh, that’s good. Lonzo got traded to the Pelicans, Seth traded away his balls for a steel chair, because that’s the only way he’s man enough to fight his client.
His client knows how to swing a steel chair pretty damn well himself. If Rollins is here tonight, and he is, and he has a formidable opponent, and he does, just maybe, Brock Lesnar is here tonight too.
Then again, maybe not. Lesnar should be the guest ref this weekend in my opinion, it makes the most sense. Heyman says nobody knows, most importantly, Rollins doesn’t know. Soon enough, he’ll be the former Universal Champion.
Baron Corbin is backstage trying to enlist Eric Young backstage. He says it’ll strap a rocket to his career. Young is walking backstage and he’s approached by Seth Rollins and he says he’s turned down the offer.
Rollins says they go back a long way and he tells him to take it easy. Chairshot. Eric Young gets hammered multiple times with that chair. “Good God”, Renee Young says. I agree with that.
The Usos are backstage and they say it feels like the Good Brothers are trying to step up tonight. It’s lock-down time, and welcome to the Uso Penitentiary. That tag team affair is up next.
The Usos defeat The Good Brothers via pin fall after a double superkick on Karl Anderson.
The Good Brothers come out hot as they hit Jimmy Uso with the boot of doom as AJ watches on.
Cole actually references their success with the IWGP tag team titles and they build them up as the credible team they are. What is happening tonight? The pacing is great and they are doing solid commentary and it’s almost like a reboot without being so.
Anderson is getting a great reaction from the crowd, but he’s wasting valuable time instead of going for the win. Gallows tags in and they set up for the Magic Killer, but a superkick meets its mark. Anderson eats the pin fall as a frustrated AJ Styles looks on backstage.
To quote my Scrum brother David, could this loss create a needed “Club” reunion? Let’s hope so.
The party continues backstage with Shane McMahon and friends, but we see the “Big Dog” Roman Reigns headed to the ring to talk about Sunday’s match with Drew McIntyre.
We see a segment with “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan wishing the US Woman’s World Cup team the best of luck as they run wild on their competition. They bested Chile and head on to Sweden next.
Reigns is out and he’s got words for Drew McIntyre and this Sunday’s match. He says that Super Showdown wasn’t a good night for him and he begins by calling out Shane McMahon.
“The Best In The World”, perspiring heavily by the way, responds and says Roman shouldn’t be ashamed of losing to the best. Dash and Dawson reference the incredible heat in Jeddah and Shane references the great Queen song, “Don’t Stop Me Now”. Shane throws it to Drew, but McIntyre says the reason he’s not out there is because Shane told him not to go out there.
Sunday, Drew is going to physically assault him until it becomes very, very uncomfortable. He might pin him, but it gets worse for Roman. He will disfigure him and send him home to his children, to the point that they cry. Reigns has left the ring and he’s heading towards the VIP room.
The Revival try to head off the “Big Dog”, but he handles them quite quickly. A Superman punch by Roman hits Drew before he can get his jacket off. Roman hits Shane, and he puts Drew through the catering table. Shane runs towards the ring with Roman in pursuit. Reigns takes flight and comes over the barricade onto him.
This is a good old fashioned brawl to settle the score with Shane O’Mac. Drew is nowhere to be found. Reigns hits the Superman Punch and Shane gets up only to be leveled with a spear.
The crowd is chanting Roman’s name as Shane pleads for Roman to cease the assault. Roman tells Shane to crawl to the back and tell Drew he’s got something for him Sunday as well. Good stuff there.
Bayley is backstage with Natalya and Naomi and she is asked about not taking a picture with a fan wearing a Nikki Cross shirt. Natalya asks after Bayley says she’s going to handle it if it’s true.
The Iiconics are out and they’ve made it to the home of stars and A-listers. They are excited to defend against Alexa and Nikki. Seriously, were there no other tag teams available? Careful, Kairi and Asuka are ready and willing. They make a Lakers joke about Lebron being a champion until he came to the Lakers.
They are annoying and brilliant. They enter the ring and Bliss and Cross follow. Bayley heads out to watch the action after the entrances are made. Time for a tag title match.
The Iiconics defeat Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross via pin fall after Kay rolled up Cross to retain the Women’s Tag Team Titles.
Royce and Bliss work the early part of the contest until Cross tags in and gets frantic. She misses a top rope cross body and gets double teamed by the champs.
Peyton Royce continue to work cross and she hits several boots in the corner as Kay tags back in and berates her. Cross fights out of the corner and she comes back only to be leveled by Kay.
Bliss is knocked off the apron and frustrated, she pushes Bayley and they get into it only after Cross gets rolled up in the ring by Billie Kay as the champs retain.
Firefly Fun House is up next and then the main event. I again commend the incredible pacing of tonight’s show.
Nikki Cross agrees with Alexa Bliss backstage. She says Bayley is to blame and she’ll be in Alexa’s corner at Stomping Grounds.
Bray is watering some plants, doing a little gardening. Our minds are like gardening. A little water and sunlight makes them grow. Ideas can grow too. They get infected by worms.
We’ve been lied too. The world isn’t round and dinosaurs still roam the earth. Bray says it’s time to join him and we get a focus on each individual character from Mercy to Abby to Huskus to Rabbit and of course, “The Fiend”. We see a mash-up that says “Let Him In” with clips from the series and then it cuts backstage to Bryan and Rowan.
Daniel Bryan says Seth Rollins has never beaten him and will be no different tonight. Rollins, chair in hand, heads to the ring and he passes by Becky Lynch, his real life girlfriend and they lock eyes and smile. The main event is up next.
Seth Rollins defeats Daniel Bryan via pin fall with a Blackout Stomp.
What can you say?
Rollins and Bryan are masters of their craft and Rollins was in control early. A suicide dive onto Bryan had Rollins in control, but a second one saw the DQ issued as Rowan caught Rollins with a claw and a chokeslam.
A multitude of talent comes raining out of the back as the locker rooms empty. Tag teams, singles stars and wild cards are running wild as Bryan and Rollins are still in the ring.
A ton of zebras come out of the back to try to restore order and it’s announced that the match will continue after the break, one on one, with nobody allowed at ringside.
After the break, they maximize the ten minutes they have left, throwing the competitive kitchen sink at one another.
Bryan hits a brilliant knee strike off the apron that drives Rollins hard to the floor. He then takes to the top rope only to get crotched. Rollins is fought off, but he hits a top rope superplex.
He tries for the Falcon Arrow, but is countered into the Labell Lock as Bryan stretches him out. Rollins gets the ropes, but the damage has been done. He sets up for the Buisaku Knee Kick, but Rollins catches him with a Buckle Bomb and then a superkick. He gets a two count with three minutes left in the show.
Rollins heads up top and he tries for a frog splash, but he is thrust back into the Labell Lock. Rollins counters into a two count and then a step up inzaguri. He hits the Blackout Stomp, cover, three count. What a match.
A steel chair strikes Rollins from behind as he celebrates atop the ramp as Baron Corbin has his retribution heading into this Sunday’s Stomping Grounds. He hits the End Of Days and he takes the Universal Title and holds in high, hyping their main event as a very good show goes off the air.
