Monday Night RAW was LIVE tonight 5/9/2016 from The Century Link Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
The show starts off with “The Highlight Reel” where Chris Jericho runs down Dean Ambrose and talks about his attack last week. Eventually Big Cass comes out and the two have words. Jericho opts to back away instead of fighting Cass and Cass hits him with the “SAWFT” line. Jericho eats a big boot and eventually a confrontation with Stephanie McMahon backstage ends up with Jericho and Big Cass booked for later in the show.
A Pre-Match promo from Baron Corbin about not being part of the “New Era” is shown. He says it’s the “Corbin Era”.
Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin is underway shortly thereafter and there’s some exchanges outside the ring. Ziggler puts Corbin over the barricade and climbs back into the ring before a commercial break. Back and Corbin with a rest hold on Ziggler. Fiery comeback from Ziggler and a crisp neckbreaker. Continued pacing and eventually Corbin drops Ziggler into the turnbuckle, End of Days and a three count for the victory.
After a commercial, highlights of the Charlotte and Natalya feud and the hype for the submission match at Extreme Rules where “Nature Boy” Ric Flair is banned from ringside.
We head backstage with Shane McMahon, Charlotte and Ric Flair. The heels suck up to Shane and tell him to put Steph in her place. Shane says that’s not happening and Ric is banned from ringside tonight as well. They aren’t happy.
Another backstage segment with Jojo, AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. AJ is not happy about being powerbombed through a table by Roman Reigns last week on RAW. There is a six man elimination match tonight where Roman and the Usos, collectively known as “The Family, will take on the “club”, which AJ says is back together for the night. That’s definitely too sweeeeet!
After another commercial, Fandango’s music is playing and he’s in the ring. He’ll see singles action against R-Truth. The bell rings and they’re after it. There’s a “We Want Sandow” chant. Heck of a hand, sorry to see him get future endeavored last week. Hijinx ensue in the match and R-Truth accidentally knocks Tyler Breeze off the apron, as he and Goldust are out there furthering the story as well. Despite that, R-Truth hits his finisher on Fandango and gets the victory after a short match.
Backstage, Stephanie McMahon announces a triple threat match for the IC title for Extreme Rules where The Miz will defend against Kevin Owens and Cesaro. Sami Zayn shows up and vyes for an opportunity as the other competitors are all present. Tonight Zayn will compete aginst the Miz and if Sami wins, it’s a fatal fourway instead. Shane and Steph are pleased with their efforts and are actually getting along. Another commercial.
We’re Back and Natalya is at ringside for Charlotte competing against Paige.
“You really wanna impune a legendary referee like Charles Robinson? Even I heard you say you quit!” -JBL
Tremendous line! The match is underway and the crowd is hot for Paige. “This Is My House”! from Charlotte. Paige doesn’t take too kindly to being mocked and she issues Charlotte a kick to the face and does the Flair strut. Back and forth and Paige hits a couple high knee strikes. Absolutely picture perfect. Shinsuke Nakamura would be proud of those! Paige hits a superplex on Charlotte later in the match and the crowd goes nuts. What a match! Ric Flair heads down to ringside and Shane McMahon follows and a herd of officials escort Ric from ringside. A rollup and a three count later and Paige sneaks away with a non-title victory. What a sensational piece of action! Very proud of that one.
A commercial and a return sees a loud reaction for Sami Zayn as he and the Miz, accompanied by the lovely Maryse, head to the ring for singles action. A red carpet is literally rolled out for the “A-lister” for the entrance, which is awesome. JBL says Miz is like Gary Cooper. Cole says who? This is the New Era. JBL says that Miz and Maryse are like Jay-Z and BEYONS. Yes he literally says BEYONS instead of Beyonce. Amazing. The “Ole” chants are underway as is the action. A great matchup between the two sees high spots including a yakuza kick to Zayn’s mush by the Miz and a well-executed Michinoku Driver from Zayn. Wow, the Miz executes a figure four and locks his hands behind him. That’s actually very cool to see that to focus the pressure. Zayn gets the ropes and breaks it nonetheless. Miz argues with the ref after a cheap pinfall attempt and it’s enough for Zayn to hit the exploder suplex and the Helluva kick for the victory and entry into what is now a fatal four way match for the IC title at Extreme rules.
Renee Young is backstage with Becky Lynch and they show highlights of her match with Emma last week on RAW where Emma snagged a victory with a shot to the eye. Young says Emma claimed the eye poke was an accident. Becky says Emma is in for an irish “lass kicking” and Emma shows up and sets up the RAW debut of her old NXT partner, Dana Brooke, as the two issue a beating to Becky Lynch as we head to commercial. Great to see Emma and Dana back together. They were a great deal of fun in NXT together.
After a commercial, Darren Young has hall of famer Bob Backlund accept an offer to be his “life coach” to “Make Darren Young Great Again”. That could be a zany pairing. Young is mega-talented and Bob Backlund once took Jonathan Taylor Thomas to task with some history questions at ‘Mania way back when. There’s a pizza hut commercial using Xavier Woods “Up, Up, Down, Down” show after the skit with Young. Very cool.
Backstage we see Zack Ryder pleading his case to be in the IC Title at Extreme Rules to Shane McMahon with a “Woo, Woo, Woo” chant in the background. Kevin Owens walks up and Zack say he’s like a fungus. Owens says Shane’s “New Era” is about handing the undeserving title matches. Owens tells Shane that Zayn shouldn’t be in the match at Extreme Rules, Ryder pleads his case and eventually it leads to Shane booking Ryder vs. Owens for singles action tonight and if Ryder wins, he’ll take Owens spot in the IC title match.
Roman Reigns is shown backstage with the Usos and is booed heavily as NXT’s Tom Phillips interviews he and the Usos briefly, as they say they’ll eliminate “The Club” before Reigns eliminated AJ himself.
Ringside, we’ve got Sin Cara, accompanied by the US Champion, Kalisto, in singles action against “The Bulgarian Brute” Rusev. The action begins after a commercial and words from Lana, who asks America to welcome the next US Champion. I am glad to see Rusev getting a title opportunity again. He can work and is a great villain when allowed to be one. Rusev heads to ringside as there’s a clip from Facebook where Kalisto talks about besting the odds in a sitdown interview with Tom Phillips. Rusev starts things off early with repeated knee strikes to Sin Cara followed by an overhead suplex. There’s a “We Want Lana” chant which is odd because she’s at ringside. Whatever works I suppose. Rusev has a bearhug applied to Sin Cara and he says that’s what’s awaiting Kalisto as he taunts the champ at ringside. A tornado DDT counter and a second rope springboard see Sin Cara with the upperhand and he comes through the ropes with a suicide dive. Rusev back in control following a big kick and he looks for the victory, but Rusev is struck by a Kalisto kick while the champ is on the apron as Sin Cara pulls off the upset after a rollup. Wow, I didn’t expect that. Rusev is frantic and we see him toss the ring steps as JBL says no matter what happened tonight, Rusev will be ready.
A graphic shows the matchup that will occur after the commercial and it’s “The Family”, which is Reigns and the Usos, against “The Club” which as mentioned earlier, is AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.
A video clip shows us “Greetings From Puerto Rico” and next week, we’ll have the re-debut of the Colons. Cool, I’m down with that.
Gallows and Anderson make their way onto the entryway ramp as AJ Styles shortly follows, and they head to the ring for the 6-man elimination tag. The world champion, Roman Reigns, and the Usos make their way out next to a chorus of boos. Brutal. “The Family” head to the ring. A “2Sweet” from “The Club” as Anderson starts off with Jey Uso. Reigns is eventually tagged in and they do a cool battering ram spot as Gallows makes his way in shortly thereafter. Styles follows and the action persists. Jey Uso is the first man eliminated as Gallows jams him with a hard right hand that sees a rollup from Anderson. Gallows enters next to take on Reigns. A great slugfest ensues. Jimmy Usos tags himself in with a crossbody and a superkick. Gallows back in charge after a massive boot to the mug. Karl Anderson is in and eliminated quickly as Jimmy Uso surprises him with an inside cradle. They head to a commercial break. Back from a commercial and we’ve missed an elimination. A Phenomenal Forearm from AJ sent Jimmy to the showers. They gotta show that stuff. Be smarter with your commercial pacing. Jimmy is a fine athlete and that’s a disservice to him. Roman working over Gallows and a superman punch sees the elimination of Luke Gallows. AJ is in and he’s working over Reigns with right hands. Wow, a “Roman” chant from the crowd. Didn’t expect that. Styles hits a Pele Kick. Styles springs over the top and connects with a forearm on Roman on the floor. Styles clears the announce table. AJ with dubious intentions, but Reigns launches Styles over the table. Roman throws a chair and prepares to powerbomb AJ through the table again. Karl Anderson hits Reigns with a steel chair and there’s the DQ. The Usos hit the ringside area to even the odds and Reigns takes out Gallows and Anderson with spears as Styles nails a forearm. Styles Clash on a steel chair narrowly avoided by Roman as he dumps AJ over the top rope. They have a great back and forth situation as AJ begs Reigns to pick up the chair in the ring, Reigns kicks it towards AJ and AJ tells him to pick it up. Springboard attempt and he is up and over Roman and through the ropes, saying he doesn’t need the chair to beat Reigns. The crowd is torn and this is turning into a very good situation between the two. Excited for their second match at Extreme Rules!
After another commercial, Zack Ryder hits the ring for his match against Kevin Owens. A great match between the two takes place with the time alloted and we see Owens still headed to Extreme Rules following a pop up powerbomb and a decisive victory. A graphic is shown for the fatal four way match and Extreme Rules is stacking up a great card. The commentators hype the main event featuring Jericho and Big Cass as they show Enzo Amore’s horrible concussion bump from Payback one more time, for those who hadn’t seen it.
Renee Young is backstage with Big Cass and Cass dedicates his match tonight to Enzo. Cass says in honor of Enzo, “Bada Boom, I’ll be the only one left standing in the room”. He pauses and leans down to Renee. “How ya doin'”? They head to commercial.
Freddie Prinze Jr. hypes his new show on USA and then says “New Day Rocks” and the world tag team champions head to the ring as the Omaha crowd goes bananas. Comments from the Vaudevillains recorded earlier say they will “unfetter” the tag titles from the champs. Incredibly entertaining mic work from Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E. Oh my gracious, Xavier Woods actually delivers some words using “A Whole New World” from Aladdin. That happened, and it was amazing. If you haven’t enjoyed New Day live, do it. The Dudley Boyz music hits and they’re out for a tag team engagement with the champs in a non-title affair. It’s a great tag team match which eventually sees a non-title victory by the Dudleyz following a massive clothesline from Devon on Kofi. The Vaudevillains interfered earlier and they dropped Woods as he played Francesca 2. A Whirlish Dervish is issued in the ring and the Vaudevillains look strong heading towards Extreme Rules.
After a commercial, they hype Roman Reigns vs. Luke Gallows and Kevin Owens/The Miz vs. Sami Zayn/Cesaro for this week’s Smackdown. Big Cass hits the ring for the main event followed by Chris Jericho. The lights are out and Jericho has the Y2J pose with the jacket on and he’s attacked and his jacket is taken and worn by a man who backs his way towards the ring. It’s Dean Ambrose! That was pretty legit to be honest. Ambrose destroys Jericho’s litebrite jacket which he says costs $15,000. Jericho sprints to the ring and Dean Ambrose meets him with a Lou Thesz press and right hands. The brawl continues and Jericho grabs his torn jacket and looks to escape but Big Cass cuts him off. Jericho slaps Cass and Cass manhandles him asking if he’s out of his mind. Big Cass tosses Jericho into the ring where he gets a Dirty Deeds for his troubles. Ambrose produces a pair of sheers and he cuts Jericho’s jacket to shreds. Jericho grabs the tattered remnants of his jacket and there’s a quick backstage segment where Shane and Stephanie are shown praising each other’s efforts and that’s it for RAW.
