WWE: Monday Night RAW was LIVE from the Cajundome in Lafayette, LA on 6/12/17!
We begin with highlights of last week’s incredible segment where the number one contender to the Universal Title, Samoa Joe, cut a scathing promo against Brock Lesnar and then proceeded to tell his “Advocate” about the pain he was about endure. He then choked out Paul Heyman and earlier this week, we learned that Brock Lesnar would start off tonight’s show!
Here comes the pain! “The Beast Incarnate” has arrived! Heyman is out with him, frothing at the mouth, venomous, after last week’s attack at the hands of “The Destroyer”. He calls Joe a shark, allowing the chum into its presence before setting upon it. He then says that Joe not only knocked on the door, he kicked down the door housing the Beast. He references the Samoan dynasty, housing the lineage of Roman Reigns, The Rock, Yokozuna and Rikishi among others and he says Joe is the outcast of the Samoan lineage, the pariah, unrelated to the others. Heyman says Joe isn’t a liar, as he did in fact see stars and pass out last week. He says when he came too his first thought was imaging the move slapped on the beast. What happens to his client? Heyman says Joe will never get the Coquina Clutch on Lesnar because he isn’t man enough too.
Cue the Destroyer. Joe is out and he headbutts Lesnar. They then proceed to have one HELL of a brawl. It is nice and snug and Lesnar backs Joe into the corner with several shoulders. Officials are out at the behest of the Raw GM, Kurt Angle. Brock and Joe destroy them and then a head of Raw superstars are out and they try to keep both men at bay. Joe hits Brock with a superkick in the midst of it and Brock then returns fire with clubbing blows on the outside. They are finally seperated and it’s fantastic. The crowd approves!
We find out that we’ll enjoy a two out of three falls rematch for the world tag team titles later this evening as The Hardyz take on the champions, Cesaro and Sheamus in front of Lafayette fans. I’m cool with that!
Elias Samson defeats Dean Ambrose via pinfall with a roll of the dice. Elias Samson “entertains” the fans with a song to begin the segment. He and Ambrose immediately go to work to further their story. Ambrose is solid and Samson shows signs of improvement. Booker T. says he has star quality and Corey Graves disagrees. Samson has a great look and if he can put it together in a ring without a foolish gimmick, there is indeed a chance for something down the road. Batista started as a Deacon in case we’ve all forgotten. The fans show their disdain for “The Drifter” with chants of “You Can’t Wrestle” and “You Can’t Sing”. Cold as ice, but Samson continues to work on Ambrose, keeping him grounded. The Miz, along with lovely Maryse, make their presence known as he tries to distract Ambrose. Ambrose is hip to it and he counters Samson before giving chase. He drops Miz on the outside and evades a count-out only to get a double knee strike from Samson before he ends it with his finisher. That’s a huge and very surprising win over the former IC champ for the newcomer. Perhaps they do see the star quality in Samson?
Another star turn from Goldust as he presents another classic segment.
Kurt Angle confronts The IC Champ backstage and reams him for entering the Ambrose/Samson fray. Miz says Maryse is still mad at him for destroying the Grandfather clock last week and she refuses a kiss. Miz says if Kurt wasn’t preoccupied with his personal business, he would have lambasted Ambrose for last week. Angle says Miz will never talk to him like that again. He won’t punish Ambrose and he says if Miz has a problem with Ambrose, he can deal with it himself. The crowd likes that.
Cruiserweight action up next and we get a promo for the returning Cedric Alexander! Yes! Alexander confronts Noam Dar backstage and he tells him that he’s done with their feud and his “ratchet” ex, Alicia Fox. Foxxy says the only thing that’ll make her feel better is watching Dar kick in Cedric’s face tonight. I do want this over as well, Cedric needs a meaningful program as he elevates towards the top and a shot at the champ, Neville.
Cedric Alexander defeats Noam Dar via pinfall with a Lumbar Check. Noam spends more time on Facetime with Foxxy then he does actually competing. He sets the phone down, turns around and gets nailed with the finish, losing in record time. Hopefully this leads to Alexander moving on and Dar moving into new programs himself. A quick way to reintroduce Alexander to fans and an even quicker match.
Up next, a segment featuring “The Eater Of Worlds” Bray Wyatt.
We see a video package for Roman Reigns, who apparently isn’t present at the show this evening. Next week, we’ll hear his plans for Summerslam. Interesting.
The jump cut gives us Bray Wyatt and he cuts a quick promo, ending it by letting us know that “he’s here”. He heads to the ring, and issues stern warnings for several parties. The ominous words are quickly interrupted by “The Architect” Seth Rollins, who comes out to a rousing reaction from arena fans. Rollins mocks Wyatt for interfering in his match because he was upset at mere words. Seth says when he called Bray a charlatan and a false prophet, he was telling the truth. He says that Bray hides in the shadows when he has a problem, he never handled his business man to man. He calls him a coward and calls it truth. He dares Bray to prove him wrong. Bray says Seth’s pride will betray him. Bray says Seth sees himself as “the man”, Bray says he sees him as a man who’s beneath him. That’s a great line. He says Seth summoned the will to slay a king. He then disappears and reappears on the video wall. He says Seth might have slain a king, but can he can something almighty? Deifying himself once again. They cut backstage.
The Hardyz are interviewed backstage about the daunting task confronting them. Can they beat Cesaro and Sheamus tonight? They don’t avoid daunting tasks, they confront them and Jeff says they even go so far as to jump off of them. Matt says that if Cesaro and Sheamus are “the bar”, they’re about to break that bar.
We then see a clip of John Cena, saying that this “free agent” is set to return to Smackdown on July 4th. Interesting. Rumors of a title program with Jinder Mahal run rampant, but might a feud with Roman Reigns at Summerslam be just the right prescription for the hardcore fans of both polarizing talents? I could support that.
Apollo Crews defeats Kalisto via pinfall with the Spinout Powerbomb. Akira Tozawa is at ringside as a guest of the “Titus Brand” tonight. A beautiful spot is seen during the match as Kalisto does a handstand walk to escape a move and Crews hits a low dropkick on him, very impressive. Titus serves as a proper distraction and Crews gets to the pay window. Tozawa joins the celebration, but hilariously looks frightened as Titus squeezes both he and Crews with a bear hug. This could be fun. I’m enjoying it so far.
Rhyno and Heath Slater are eating a plate of crackers and spray cheese backstage when The Miz confronts him and says that he can make Slater relevant again. He invites Slater to join his entourage. Rhyno says he already has a partner and Miz says he wasn’t talking to him. Slater declines the offer and says that he wants to be IC Champ. Miz says that in time, he’ll give him a shot. Slater declines an option for caviar and champagne and it leads to Rhyno saying he’s gonna get a tag team match booked where Miz and a partner will face them. Interesting.
Alexa Bliss, the women’s champion, is out and she speaks about outsmarting Nia Jax last week and she doesn’t plan on defending her title here tonight. Bliss begins to speak on the Smackdown’s women’s title match when Nia Jax interrupts her and confronts her about her choice of words. Nia recalls the promise Alexa made to give her a title shot. Alexa says she wants a classic match with Nia and I’m reminded of when Steve Austin mocked a competitor’s choice of a Melina vs. Alicia Fox match from a Raw episode. Nia has a long way to go still. Nia mocks Dana Brooke and Mickie James, who show up at ringside and there’s a whole to do. Thankfully, the whole thing is saved by a returning Emma, who shows up and makes the segment better. She demands a title shot. Here comes “The Boss”! Sasha Banks introduces herself into the equation as well. Sasha gets a HUGE reaction and she thanks the fans. She tells Bliss that she’ll show her how to throw a party and a brawl ensues between all the women involved in the segment.
Sasha Banks/Dana Brooke/Mickie James defeat Nia Jax/Alexa Bliss/Emma via submission after a Banks Statement on Emma. The match was well paced and controlled by the talent, carrying the younger stars along for the ride. Alexa abandons her partners and it leads to Emma finding herself on the wrong side of the Banks Statement. Sasha rises to her feet and locks eyes with Alexa. Is that our next program? We’ll see.
We are then presented a nice video package spotlighting Finn Balor. Immediately after that, we hear from Bayley in a sitdown interview about staying true to who she is. She talks about the brutal match with Alexa and how she’ll handle moving forward. She wants to be the best and that hasn’t changed. She hugs Corey to end the segment. Yikes.
Heath Slayer and Rhyno defeat The Miz and the “Dancing Bear” via pinfall after Slater pins Miz. This is why I tend to hate Raw at times. A “dancing bear” is the partner of the Miz and it’s a wasted segment. Slater and Rhyno hold court with the IC Champ as he tries his level best to deal with the situation. Whomever the bear is has decent height to them. Miz eventually attacks the bear and it turns out to be some independent jabronie. This segment stinks of Vinnie Mac and Bucky Beaver. Absolutely horrible stuff and the crowd turns on it. Another bear ends up in the ring and it’s Dean Ambrose. He hits the Dirty Deeds on Slater and tries to scare off the Miz, but the Miz unintentionally knocks Maryse off the apron and she hurts herself. Dean stings Miz with his finish and Slater pins him. Maryse is helped away from the ring and Ambrose strikes again. Oh boy. That was as bad as the Bliss/Bayley “This Is Your Life” tragedy. Change these writers up. Cole, Booker and Graves all trashed the segment. They keep laughing after it ends, even Cole.
Highlights of the Hardyz return to the fed puts a better taste in my mouth after the bitter one left by that tragic last segment. The Hardyz look to regain their tag titles tonight in a two out of three falls match.
Neville assaults Swann before the bell even rings allowing them to have a match. Booker T. blames Swann’s dancing for the early assault. The King of the Cruiserweights goes to work on “The Outlandish” former champ. Neville is ridiculously good and he has arguably been one of the top three talents on Raw for months now. Swann is always impressive, but this match doesn’t even officially begin as Swann is attacked by Neville. After the match, Neville runs down the entire division ad he speaks on Tozawa. Neville says that Tozawa, just like all the rest, will be made to bend the knee. Neville tosses the mic and leaves.
Sheamus and Cesaro speak on the title match later tonight, backstage with Charlie Caruso. They talk about studying the Hardyz and they pull out a book written by the brothers some years back. They say they’ll be the ones to inspire modern fans, and they’ll force them to pen a sequel about retiring. They say they are the bar once again. Gallows and Anderson will do business with Enzo Amore and Big Cass up next.
Gallows and Anderson defeat Enzo and Cass via pinfall with the Magic Killer. We see the Good Brothers in the ring and as Enzo and Cass are set to enter the ring, that NERD Cass got a bump-ski on his head backstage as he’s laid out backstage again. We see Dash and Dawson of the Revival in the background and it looks like they are going the classic route with “Top Guys” being the culprit and potentially solving what was becoming a cool mystery. Enzo and Cass make their way down to the ring despite the assault and they’re ready to take on the good brothers. Cass tries to start things off, but he can barely stand. Enzo tries to go it by his lonesome, but the brothers dispose of him and after a Gallows super-kick, he eats a Magic Killer.
The Big Show heads down to the ring to stop a potential assault on Enzo and he helps Enzo up. Cass climbs up onto the apron and eyes the situation. He seems to believe that Show might be the party responsible for the assaults on him in successive weeks. We did see Dash and Dawson backstage though, this has to reveal itself soon enough.
Before the title match, we get another R-Truth segment, rivaling that of Goldust. These are quite enjoyable and hopefully it leads to the clash sooner, rather than later. Enzo thanks Show for saving him earlier, but he questions Cass getting laid out with one shot. Show gets upset and he calls Cass SAWFT.
Show leaves the scene and we then get words from Samoa Joe on what happened earlier with Brock Lesnar. He says once again that he’s not afraid of Brock and he let him know and he let him feel the man he’s gonna do battle with in four weeks time. He says he’ll put Brock to sleep and he’ll leave the new Universal Champion. Time for the main event.
Sheamus and Cesaro and The Hardy Boyz is ruled a draw. The champs take the first fall before the commercial break and they are in the driver’s seat. During a poorly timed final commercial, Sheamus hit a Brogue Kick on Jeff Hardy as he tried to push his way out of the corner. Matt does a cool spot where he runs Cesaro’s head into each turnbuckle several times to frantic “delete” chants from the crowd. He nails a side effect on Sheamus on the apron and then he hits a Twist of Fate on Cesaro to take the second fall. It’s all tied up and we head into sudden death mode. It’s back and forth as Cesaro traps Matt in a sharpshooter, looking for the submission victory, but the crowd wills Matt to tag in his brother. The action continues and so does the feud as the third and final decision is the dread double count-out which leads to a chorus of boos from Lafayette fans. The two teams continue to attack one another as the decision is a draw and that ends Raw as the champs retain.
