Raw was LIVE from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, MI on 7/11/2016!
Darren Young starts things off by outlasting many other superstars in a battle royale to become the number one contender for the IC Tile held by the Miz. Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin spilled over the top to finish things off and leave Young with the victory. Crowd had a good reaction for the newly packaged Young and he got a great “Darren Young” chant. Good to see. Guy is a heck of a good hand with a great finish and Bob Backlund is with him!
Backstage segment after a commercial break where Stephanie and Shane McMahon banter about why Vince McMahon is scheduled to be on Raw tonight. Seth Rollins walks into the scene and agrees to interject himself into the McMahon segment. Seth says he has footage that MUST be seen on “The Rollins Report”. The footage apparently involved Roman Reigns trashing the WWE universe.
Back to the ringside area and they show clips of the UFC 200 fight from this past weekend where Brock Lesnar defeated Mark Hunt by unanimous decision to setup a singles contest against the returning viper, Randy Orton, at Summerslam! At Battleground, there will be a special highlight Reel where Chris Jericho will speak to the Viper himself.
The US Champ, Rusev, is shown backstage walking alongside Lana, as Zack Ryder comes up to him and challenges him for the title man to man. Sheamus interrupts the segment by putting Ryder down with a vicious assault and says the two will do battle after the break.
Singles Match:
Sheamus vs. Zack Ryder
Sheamus is in the ring after the break and Zack Ryder is out to a remix of his “Radio” theme song which is always a good sign for story line progression. The bell sounds and Ryder nails a take down on Sheamus and he works him over with right hands. Sheamus takes charge as the action spills to the outside and when back inside the ring, Ryder nails a dropkick sending Sheamus off the apron onto the floor. Ryder stays in charge before eating a vicious clothesline from Sheamus. Ryder dodges a corner charge and tries for the offensive comeback, but he eventually eats a Brogue Kick from Sheamus who takes the victory. The US Champion’s music plays and he heads down to the ring and locks Ryder in the Accolade after Ryder took the loss. He tells Ryder that he accepts his challenge for the US Title. So much for the new music!
Winner: Sheamus
Tag Team Match:
Breezango vs. The Lucha Dragons
After the break and a preview for the second season of Mr. Robot, which is a fantastic show, if you haven’t enjoyed it yet, they show footage from an event earlier. Breezango made fun of the Lucha masks and Kalisto spilled a drink on Tyler Breeze’s “Mongolian Chinchilla”. The Lucha Dragons make their entrance after the heels and the action is underway. Great back and forth match early on which really shows the athleticism of Kalisto and Breeze. Fandango eventually finds his way in after a step up inzaguri by Breeze on Sin Cara. Fandango posts Sin Cara and the heels stomp Sin Cara in the corner following frequent tags. An eventual escape sees Kalisto tagged back in and he botches a springboard which the crowd calls out, but he makes things right following a beautiful springboard press. Sin Cara takes out Fandango on the outside after a flying cross body to the outside and just as Kalisto looks for Salida Del Sol, Breeze crotches him and hits an absolutely beautiful variation of the superkick that you just have to see to believe. It leads to a three count and a big victory!
Winners: Breezango
Following a commercial for next Tuesday’s LIVE Smackdown Draft we’ll see the first ever “Rollins Report” with this shocking reveal about Roman Reigns. After the break, Rollins makes his way down to and into the ring for the segment. There is a brief spot for John Cena hosting the ESPY’s and I think he’ll do a fine job as long as folks don’t forget it’s an opportunity to #beatupjohncena. Rollins has a mic and he’s got the scoop for us. He tells Anderson Cooper, Jon Stewart and Bill O’Reilly to go their respective ways or stay retired because there’s a new reporter in town and it’s Seth Rollins. The crowd is going crazy for the heel, and they mercilessly boo Reigns as he preps Detroit for the reveal. Seems like an edited segment, but the best part is that below Reigns name it says “recently suspended”. He’s still holding the WWE title in the segment and Seth has edited the segment to show that Romans has admitted to the wellness policy violation. It’s quite the segment and really shows the absurdity of the fabricated promos they used to feed to multi-talented former world champion and “the guy”.
“You really are a monster, aren’t you?” -Seth Rollins
I almost spit coffee out at that line. The final line has Reigns trashing Ambrose. Great stuff. Back to Rollins in the ring and he clamors for the higher ups to remove Reigns from the Battleground title match. The world champion takes exception to the segment and he hits the ring. Dean Ambrose says he’s glad that Rollins finally took the stick out of his rear end and allowed himself to have some fun. Rollins says Ambrose is a joke like his title reign. He calls him a coward. Rollins says Ambrose failed to beat him in singles action on multiple occasions. Ambrose fires back with comments about being the backbone of the industry. He says he likes to have fun but he didn’t leave to chase fantasies or get suspended. He says Rollins has known him a long time, he knows how many buckets of blood he’s spilled and how much crap he’s crawled through. He says if he was willing to go through all that to get the title, how far will he be willing to go to keep it? Ambrose and Rollins tease a singles contest, but Rollins dips out and they’ve got a potential title match set for next week if the higher ups agree. Man, that was a great segment from both men.
After the break, we fight out that the world title has been booked for next week and Sami Zayn is headed to the ring to do commentary during the next match. It’ll be Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro. Well color me happy. I could watch these two wrestle each other for two days straight. Well, before we get the opportunity, a smattering of zebra stripes head out and escort Sami from the ringside area per the word of Stephanie McMahon who overturned what Shane McMahon had apparently allowed earlier. That was different. The two come to blows as Owens heads down to the ring before a “Let Zayn Stay” crowd takes hold of the crowd. Well, we aren’t going to get this contest as it’s thrown out before it even begins. Cesaro never even made his way out to the ring.
Backstage and Vince McMahon pulls up in his limo and he tells Renee Young that he’s in Detroit for the fresh air. He says he’s there to announce the new commissioner for Smackdown live and he hasn’t even told Stephanie or Shane McMahon yet.
Singles Match:
Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro
Colored happy again as we are getting the match after all! Owens in the ring and Cesaro out with his cool entrance as the bell sounds and we’re underway. Cesaro in control early with a delayed gutwrench suplex and per the norm, what a brilliant display of strength. Owens with a shoulderblock, but he eats a hurricanrana from Cesaro and he’s about to succumb to the big swing, but Owens escapes through the ropes. Cesaro with the bowling pin somersault splash on the outside before he misses a charge after Owens moves. Owens on the offense now as he hits a running senton for a two count. Owens mocks the Cesaro taunt as he puts the boots to him. Cesaro back in charge shortly after the offense following a vertical suplex. Cesaro helps Owens board the uppercut train before KO turns the tables with a forearm smash that sends Cesaro off the apron to the outside. After a commercial break, KO still in control and he nails a ridiculous neckbreaker on the knee that gets him a new count. Michael Cole was right. That was REALLY impressive. Cesaro dodges a cannonball splash in the corner. Cesaro fires off the comeback with rapid fire european uppercuts. KO with a thumb to the eye and he shoots Cesaro in for a popup powerbomb. Cesaro with an escape and a springboard european uppercut for a two count. Cesaro leaves the ring and he grabs JBL’s hat before running the floor and nailing another strike. After a crossbody and another two count, Cesaro gets the big swing ready, but KO tries for a tornado DDT, but Cesaro uses the strength to put him on the top rope and he nails a dropkick. Cesaro tries to capitalize, but he falls short and KO hits a shootout neckbreaker for a three count and a victory after a great contest.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Owens puts on a headset after the match and talks some trash, but Sami Zayn leaps over the guardrail with a fiery assault and the crowd is behind him! This feud is one I’m going to be sad to see end! Owens finds himself the victim of a big swing inside the ring compliments of Cesaro as the faces leave the fans happy before another commercial break.
Singles Match:
Heath Slater vs. Titus O’Neil
The Social Outcasts make their way to the ring and we get a classic 80’s style promo while they hit the ring where Heath talks a little trash. Titus makes his way to the ring to get back on the winning track after losing several tough matches to Rusev. The former “Slater Gator” go at it as Slater is quickly subdued after a palm slap. Titus returns the favor and tosses Slater six ways to Sunday. Slater with a great counter as Titus charges and he gets the boots up. A Bo-train on the outside leaves the station after Heath gets some good offense on Titus. Slater tries to drag Titus across the ring, but Titus tosses him across the ring with just one arm. O’Neil with a shoulder tackle and then a clothesline. Slater is caught coming off the top rope with several back-breakers and he charges Slater in the corner before nailing a Clash Of The Titus for the three count and a crucial victory.
Winner: Titus O’Neil
Renee Young is backstage with “The Boss” Sasha Banks who talks about her match with Dana Brooke tonight. Sasha says she thought about beating Dana while at the gym and while getting her hair done. She plugs her cousin Big Snoop on Family Feud. What do we gotta do to get a Blu-ray copy of Doggy Fizzle Televizzle though? Sasha leaves the segment and up next we’re gonna get a look at a fight that went down at the Wyatt compound. The Wyatts and The New Day apparently got after it.
Back and we see that Darren Young and Bob Backlund will be on MizTV this Thursday on Smackdown following Young’s earlier victory in the battle royale. We then get a clip from last week of Xavier Woods showing fear in reference to the Wyatt feud. They head to a jump cut/low lighting segment that shows the fight. That was pretty legit actually. At one point, Braun Strowman misses Kofi Kingston with a charge and he puts a shoulder through a windshield. That was nuts. Wyatt locks Woods inside a car and destroys the windows with a pick axe. All these other cars show up with some creepy music in the background and it appears to be other members of the Wyatt family in sheep masks. They head back to ringside. That was legit. They took their time filming that and with respect, Braun Strowman looked downright scary in that. Very awesome. Speaking of awesome, the music of AJ Styles hits and the Club are out on the ramp and we’ll be enjoying Gallows and Anderson against Enzo Amore and Big Cass!
Tag Team Match:
The Club (Gallows and Anderson) vs. Enzo Amore and Big Cass
Before the match, Enzo and Cass say a few words. Cass says everyone wants Cena’s spot. Heck, he and Enzo want the spot, but they’re gonna earn it. Cass mocks the #beatupjohncena line and Enzo says they got no backbone, chicken tenders. AJ Styles said that’s a real cut story, but he’s not here tonight. You know why? He doesn’t care about you. AJ tells them to turn and walk away. He says his boys are gonna drop them where they stand. Back after a break and things are underway. Enzo with a snapmare and a hammerlock. Enzo stays in charge as he grounds Anderson with a headlock. Anderson backs Enzo into his corner and Gallows is tagged in and he’s a house of fire. Huge “AJ Styles/AJ Sucks” dueling chant. Wow, that is polarizing in so many ways. Good to see that reaction though. Anderson is back in with a grounded headlock of his own. The Club continue the assault as they head into another break. When they return, Gallows is working over Enzo and Enzo tries for the tag but he is driven into the corner. Enzo with a great counter on Gallows and he manages to make the hot tag and Big Cass is in and he’s on fire! Shoulder tackle, scoop slam and the empire elbow on Anderson. Fallaway slam and a huge splash and then the massive boot and Cass tags Enzo for the Bada Boom Shaka Laka. Cass hits the ropes, but AJ pulls down the ropes and then he destroys Cass by throwing him into the fans. The Club surround Enzo and the vultures circle. DOO DOO DOO DOO! Cena’s music hits and despite rumors that he wouldn’t be there, Cena makes a B-line for the ring and the faces even the odds and put the Club in a bad way. The crowd loves it and the heels retreat. This feud is electric and the crowd is into it. HUGE “Cena” chant. Very cool to see the reaction for the oft-maligned 15 time world champion. The six man tag should be somthing fantastic.
Winners: Enzo Amore and Big Cass (Via Disqualification)
They plug the sure-to-be breathtaking Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Finn Balor match slated for Wednesday Night’s NXT and the debut of the CWC to follow. I for one, cannot wait for both of those affairs. Mr. McMahon’s announcement plugged again, but up next it’ll be Sasha Banks vs. Dana Brooke
Singles Match:
Sasha Banks vs. Dana Brooke (w/ Charlotte)
Entrances are made after the break and “The Boss” gets a great reaction. The women’s champion flanks her protege as Dana and Sasha wait for the bell to sound and they quickly get after it. The early going is all Sasha including a brilliant slap to the face of Dana Brooke. Sasha maintains control in the ring before Dana counters with a knee strike. Sasha runs the ropes and hits an armdrag takedown. Dana ties Sasha up in the ropes and hits some strong style strikes and boots leading into a commercial. After the break, Dana still in control and she nails a sidewalk slam on a counter attempt from Sasha. “Let’s Go Sasha” chant as Dana continues her offense with shoulders driven hard into Sasha in the corner. Sasha finally with the comeback exploding out of the corner with forearm strikes. Double knees to the midsection on Dana and a two count. Sasha tries for the up and over, but Dana kicks her in the gut. Dana looks for a superplex, but Sasha with a push off and the crossbody for another two count. Dana blocks the attempted backstabber and she mows Sasha down with a clothesline. Dana tries for her Michinoku driver, but Dana eats the backstabber and the Banks statement and Sasha gets the submission victory!
Winner: Sasha Banks (Via Submission)
After the match, Charlotte takes a mic and congratulates Sasha before mocking her pink hair. Charlotte says that if Sasha is truly worthy she’ll face Dana again on Smackdown this Thursday and she talks a little more trash before they show Mr. McMahon backstage. He’ll close the show with the announcement of the Smackdown commissioner. After the break, Shane O’Mac heads to the ring and then Stephanie follows and ultimately, the boss himself, Mr. McMahon, the genetic jackhammer makes his way out to the ring for this pivotal announcement in regards to the head of Smackdown. Stephanie is awesome by the way. A “Shane O’Mac” chant broke out and she kept saying “sucks” after every chant. That is savage and I approve 100%. Vince says the kids have been doing a pretty fair job. He says he is a little disappointed in both of the kids. He said he feels like neither kid has come from his loins. He trashes Steph for getting along with her brother. Vince asks Shane about his ruthless aggression. He says Shane is only there for his hell dive. He was expecting throats to be slashed and he was expecting competition. “Shane O’ Mac” chant. Vince says one of the kids should convince him that they should be the commissioner. Stephanie talks about why Shane left and how Shane knew more about the fed then his own father. Stephanie says Shane runs Vince down behind his back. “Boring” chant. Yeah, Vince needs to get things figured out. Pretty absurd that a highly regarded segment is already falling flat. Shane has his say and talks about how he should run things because he’d break through the glass ceiling and fix what was broken. Shane says he’ll always speak his mind and tell it like it is in a respectful way without kissing rear end. He says change is sorely needed. He says if Vince still has the grapefruits, don’t take his word for it, take ours. He has the crowd play to his favor. Vince says he doesn’t care what the people think and judging by his choice of tie tonight, that’s quite apparent. He gets a drum roll for the decision and decides on Shane O’Mac in the most obvious reveal in the history of the fed. Vince says he needs to curtail the situation and he says the commissioner of Raw is Stephanie McMahon. So we know that Raw will be the entertainment show and that Smackdown will be the wrestling show. Vince wants them to compete. He doesn’t care if they break the law, as long as they don’t get caught. One of them will inherit the keys to the kingdom. He says that next week on Raw, both Shane and Steph will name a general manager for their respective shows. Well, maybe they’ve salvaged things if the right folks are chosen. Kurt Angle perhaps? How about People Power? The Mack Militant? Either way, Shane and Steph have a few more words and that ends Raw in Detroit.
