WWE: Monday Night RAW was LIVE from the Toyota Center in Houston, TX on 7/10/17!
The havoc wreaked post-ambulance match starts the show off with a recap of the destruction done to “The Monster Among Men” Braun Strowman at the hands of “The Big Dog” Roman Reigns. That was quite the scene and very reminiscent of the attitude era.
Big Cass is out gloating and he’s proud of what he did to his former partner, Enzo Amore, at the PPV. He tells the Texas fans not to hop on his bandwagon and that he’s headed to the top. He says there is nobody more dominant and a larger athlete then he is. Cue the Big Show. The seven footer is out and he takes issue with what Cass did to Enzo, as well as his comments. A headbutt follows and Cass is sent into retreat mode, starting a program that will either end up on the Summerslam pre-show or end on a future Raw.
Finn Balor defeats Elias Samson via pinfall with the Coup De Grace.
We saw a fine performance from Balor, a man who rightfully should have been on the card last night, certainly over Hawkins and Slater. Balor tore through Samson, putting the young talent away with his signature move as he looks to develop new rivalries heading into the second biggest PPV of the year in Summerslam.
The Hardy Boyz are out to congratulate Balor after his victory and Matt looks the worst for wear after getting multiple stitches after a tough collision with Sheamus last night. The Hardyz speak to the crowd about what happens next. They are VERY heavily teasing transitioning to the “Broken” gimmick as Jeff even went so far as to ask the fans if he should fade away and define himself as obsolete. Everybody marked out for that.
The Club didn’t however and Gallows and Anderson are out to send these “nerds” to the competitive glue factory where they belong. It leads to an impromptu tag match.
Gallows and Anderson defeat The Hardy Boyz via pinfall after a Magic Killer on Matt Hardy.
Good to see the Club headed to the pay window as they get a sorely needed victory over the former champs. Jeff was a second too late on the save, just as he was with the pinfall last night to even up the Ironman match. As expected, this was a fine match and the heels came out on top. A losing streak for the Hardyz might be best served to see that transition into the “Broken” characters and I think the crowd will be pleased with the end result.
The Revival are back and “Top Guys” have also taken issue with the former champs as they take an opportunity to introduce a “Shatter Machine” into the equation, adding another heel team to the Raw tag division. Faces are needed and I’m stoked to see Dash and Dawson back and a potential match with the Hardyz in short order, but let’s see the Balor Club with Gallows and Anderson sooner rather than later. They definitely need face teams.
The Miz and Maryse are out for the “Mizzies” and Miz presents awards to the members of the Miztourage and his wife, before giving one to himself. Dean Ambrose takes offense and interrupts the proceeding where he is quickly subdued and handled. Seth Rollins of all people is out to aide his former Shield brother and take issue with the IC Champ. They need to move away from Miz and Ambrose. It’s been a fine program, but it’s needed to die a thousand deaths for months now. Rollins can move into the title picture and give us fresh stories or perhaps we’ll see a heel turn from Ambrose? Who knows? Ambrose tells Rollins to stay out of his business after the match and a Shield reunion won’t be happening anytime soon.
Bayley and Sasha Banks defeat Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss via pinfall after a Bayley rollup on Bliss.
The champ loses again. Bliss is sensational, but I think we’re long overdue for a Banks/Bayley program and the second biggest PPV of the year might be an ideal time to get that moving. Bayley got the pinfall, so if it leads to her and Bliss at Summerslam with a heel Banks eventually taking care of her former friend, then I’m all for it. This match was what it was. It didn’t plod along and all four women got to show off what they could do with the time given.
“Shattered Dreams” presents a recap of what Goldust and R-Truth have been up too and hell has frozen over. We have singles action up next.
Goldust defeats R-Truth via pinfall with the Curtain Call.
The grizzly veteran gets a crucial win over his former friend. Both of these guys seem to defy the laws of age as they can both work a sound match. Goldust is always impressive and they’ll either continue this feud or we’ll see Goldust move on to a new program because this spent way too long developing when they could have given us a payoff at the PPV last night. Sometimes I just shrug my shoulders at the booking team, and sadly, there’s been a great deal of shrugging recently.
The Raw GM, Kurt Angle, presents the Universal Champion, Brock Lesnar and his advocate, Paul Heyman. This develops into a segment where Roman Reigns comes out and jaws with Lesnar, trading barbs and demands a title shot at Summerslam. I suppose losing your way into a title match makes sense in the eyes of the dopes that write this stuff at times, but Samoa Joe is out to take issue with that. He jaws his Lesnar and chastises Reigns for what happened last night and says Brock didn’t beat him, he escaped. Kurt books a number one contender match for next week and the winner goes on to Summerslam to challenge for the title.
I suspect Strowman returns and we get a fatal four way match which I’m all for. If Joe or Strowman leaves Summerslam with the belt, that’ll be huge for the company. I dig Lesnar as much as the next man, but he’s gotta be a featured talent as the champion. A special attraction works just fine when you’re not. We’ll see what happens.
After the break, Corey Graves gets an urgent text and he heads backstage to a frantic Kurt Angle. The mystery continues to build and Kurt is worried that whatever comes out will ruin him, breakup his family and get him canned. Graves says he’s respected and he shouldn’t worry. Angle gets a call from someone and they’ll be at Raw next week. He tells them he loves them! Color me intrigued now. Who is it? Stephanie McMahon, Dixie Carter? Perhaps Hornswaggle McMahon is his bastard son? Now I’m very much looking forward to next week’s big reveal.
Seth Rollins says that earlier his goal wasn’t to save Ambrose, it was to quiet the Miz. He and Bray Wyatt have a rematch from Great Balls of Fire and it’s our main event.
Bray Wyatt defeats Seth Rollins via pinfall with Sister Abigail.
Two wins in two nights for the “Eater Of Worlds”. This match, in my opinion, was actually better than last night’s contest and they had many back and forths and nearfalls. Bray came away with the victory after countering a superkick from Rollins, and he nailed the finish. He quickly disappeared after the match. The Miztourage and the IC Champ circle the ring like vultures and they take their liberties with Rollins before Ambrose clears the ring with a steel chair to end the show. New stories and added intrigue with the Angle end a decent Raw tonight.
