WWE: Monday Night RAW was LIVE from The Honda Center in Anaheim, CA on 8/8/2016!
Raw starts off right as Enzo Amore and Big Cass head out to the ring with their introductory shtick as they prepare to open the program with a tag team match. The two amazing talents use a Sublime reference, and they talk about Sasha Banks, the WWE Women’s champion, being smitten with Enzo. Enzo says he was swinging for the fence. Enzo says just as he was about to lock things down, Jon Bon Jericho came down and ruined his efforts. Enzo says after he ate a codebreaker, the only code Jericho broke was the man code. He mocks the scarf and then references classic rock acts mocking Jericho’s “Ayatollah Of Rock N’Rolla” title. Jericho is out, having heard enough, wearing the scarf by the way. Jericho says the only reason Enzo “annoying” is still in the fed, is because every time his mouth gets him into trouble, Cass is there to save him. Jericho says he’s got someone watching his back now too. Cue the music of one Kevin Owens, who is out at Jericho’s side to a respectable reaction for the treasured villain. Jericho and KO enter the ring and Jericho says they are closer than brothers. Owens is standing there, arms folded, listening. Jericho asks if KO has his back to make sure. Cass mocks the two men with a Bert and Ernie reference. Jericho says only a “stupid idiot” would think that was funny. KO says he used to like Cass, because just like him, he had to carry dead weight like KO did with Sami Zayn, but unlike KO, Cass didn’t shed the Enzo problem. Cass steps up to KO and KO says if he doesn’t hurt Cass, then Jericho will. Jericho challenges the “hip hop hobbit” aka Enzo, to a match. It’ll take place after the first break.
Chris Jericho defeats Enzo Amore by DQ after Kevin Owens interfered on the outside and Big Cass entered the ring, nailing Jericho with a big boot to cause the disqualification.
After the match, Cass gets the stick and challenges both KO and Jericho for Summerslam. Cole says the GM, Mick Foley, and Stephanie McMahon, will have to make it official.
A graphic is shown for a post wedding celebration that will be shared with the WWE Universe tonight on Raw. We then pan backstage, where Mick Foley is shown, and he’s chatting with Steph, who isn’t there tonight. Mick tells Steph the “boss has arrived” and then he quells a comment where Steph believes that it’s Vinnie Mac. Sasha Banks wants the Summerslam rematch to be a handicapped match so she can deal with both Charlotte and Dana Brooke. Foley books Sasha and Dana for tonight, and if Sasha loses, it’s a handicapped match. If Sasha wins, Dana is banned from ringside at Summerslam.
Braun Strowman defeats Jorel Nelson with the reverse chokeslam.
Braun, with his amazing theme music, comes out to destroy another enhancement talent in record time.
Backstage segment with Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs, Mick Foley and The New Day. Some hilarity ensues and Diddy asks about Big E.s lower anatomy after the Club attack. We head to another break.
Darren Young (w/ Bob Backlund) defeats Titus O’Neil with a handful of tights. Young repays O’Neil for last week and gets some payback after O’Neil threatened Backlund last week after their match.
A promo segment follows with Seth Rollins mocking Finn Balor’s name saying that a bad stage name and that it’s not even his real name. He hypes the Summerslam main event, talking about being the man and how he’ll walk out the first Universal Champion.
Cesaro defeats Sheamus with a rollup. This was a quality match between two very capable hands. These two seem hellbent on inserting themselves into the United States title picture and this one showed how relevant Rusev had made the belt again. The rollup spot took place after a ref bump, and it allowed Cesaro to capitalize as a result of such. Most of the signature spots were showcased including the uppercut train and the irish curse backbreaker. Very enjoyable contest.
A video package follows talking about the rich history shared between Randy Orton and “The Real” Brock Lesnar. They showcased their OVW days and some of their early federation work. Shelton Benjamin was shown in one of the clips. Very sad actually because he won’t be competing for the WWE after all due a major shoulder injury which will need to be repaired before they put ink to paper. Orton and Lesnar is definitely getting some steam behind it.
Neville and Sin Cara defeat The Dudley Boyz via a Red Arrow by Neville on D-von for the victory. This match came about as a result of an interaction on the Raw pre-show. The Dudley Boyz mocked the New Era star and threatened to revisit his ankle injury and they told him to find a partner for Raw. Neville was able to recruit the former Lucha Dragon and the two grabbed the victory after the breathtaking and awe-inspiring finish of the man that gravity forgot.
A very long promo segment between Rusev and Lana followed as they spoke at length about their love and their marriage. Not surprisingly, a “boring” chant followed from the crowd. As all WWE segments tend to do when it relates to love angles, the wheels eventually came off as Roman Reigns came off and offered to be Rusev’s best man. The US Champ declined, and then he declined a US Title match against Reigns at Summerslam. Seriously? Cesaro and Sheamus are duking it out just for a chance at the belt and we’re just gifting shots to Reigns? I am digging Rusev, and as I’ve said before, I am not someone that dislikes Roman at all. I actually enjoy some of his in-ring work quite a bit, but dropping the ball on simple matters of current story-line progression make some of the writers look like they need to be engaged in lengthy sit-down conversations. Having said that, Reigns calls Lana a “mail-order bride” and the slugfest ensues. The end result is Lana falling into a cake, screaming and that’s all she wrote as it relates to the segment before a commercial break.
Sasha Banks defeats Dana Brooke with a top rope double stomp. I wanna call it the Coup De Gras, but that’s Finn’s. Dana Brooke will be banned from ringside at Summerslam as a result of the Sasha victory and we’ll see the women’s title defended in a singles contest. Charlotte inadvertently struck Dana and that caused Dana’s downfall.
We follow with a promo segment with Finn Balor in a black, foggy room talking about inspirational figures of mythic origins. He hypes the Summerslam match with Seth Rollins and this one was intriguing for the allotted time. It starts to familiarize the casual fan with the NXT mainstay and perhaps we’ll be treated to the demon or some form of a mythological creature with the paint at Summerslam.
We get a “Mr. Hiney” segment for the modern age as we have The Club dressed up as doctors mocking Big E’s testicular troubles. The clip is shown from last week where it happened and they say that things are a “little testy” as two hard boiled eggs are shown.
Luke Gallows defeats Kofi Kingston after capitalizing on an outside distraction. Karl Anderson had laid out Xavier Woods at ringside which led to Luke getting to the pay window. The Club setup Kofi for injury the same way they did with Big E, but Xavier runs the heels off with the aide of a steel chair. This tag team feud is really getting some legs under it and I for one cannot wait to see this matchup for the straps at Summerslam.
Daniel Bryan, the Smackdown LIVE GM, came out after the break as the invited guest of Raw GM, Mick Foley. They spoke about a variety of things, eventually cutting the formalities short after a back and forth about who was responsible for the Randy Orton/Brock Lesnar interactions. This all ultimately led to Cesaro’s name being brought up as an underutilized talent and we get a United Stated Title match for the main event! It takes place after the break!
Rusev (c) defends the US Title against Cesaro following a Brogue Kick thanks to the interference of Sheamus. No surprise here. These two put on a great match and we saw another ref bump. There were several tonight. Cesaro tries to wake the ref, but Rusev hits a thumb to the eye and then we get a Brogue Kick from his former fellow Legaue of Nations brother which leads to the three count. Rusev is celebrating on the entryway ramp and he falls victim to a brutal spear from former world champion Roman Reigns. Reigns stands tall to end the show as they setup for the WWE world heavyweight champion, Dean Ambrose, and his appearance on the Austin podcast. That’s all she wrote for Raw tonight!
