WWE: Monday Night RAW was LIVE from the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, AZ on 7/3/17!
A house divided brings us into this week’s go home show before the PPV as RAW recaps the events of the past few weeks involving Enzo Amore and Big Cass. We see the brief reunion before the stinging betrayal, thanks to the big man. Enzo’s got a new theme song and video intro and we’re told that we’ll see he and Big Cass in singles action against one another at Great Balls Of Fire this weekend.
Enzo says that Cass never had his back and for the past five years, he’s not been watching his back, he’s been looking through it, and past him. That was a great line. He is confident in his ability and who he is, and he’ll never flip to the dark side. He’s headed to the top and he’s climbed out of holes way taller than seven feet. He then proceeds to call Cass a catchphrase that he wrote. Ouch.
He says they were ride or die, and that died with a solitary tear that ran down his face and with the boot that followed. Incredible work by Enzo to start the show. He’s got the gift of gab, that’s for sure.
Cass is interviewed backstage after the in-ring promo and he promises that Enzo won’t be walking after the weekend. Enzo strikes! Enzo drops Cass like a sack of dimes and a herd of personnel seperate them. That actually made Enzo look very good. Sasha Banks, “The Boss” and the number one contendor for the women’s title, is headed to the ring.
Sasha Banks and Bayley defeat Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss via submission with a Banks Statement on Bliss.
A well paced tag team matchup to begin the evening’s in-ring affairs. Nia was the focal point of the match after her imprresive showing in the gauntlet match last week, keeping her relevant in the title picture. Interactions between Sasha and Alexa did their job, building fan interest for Sunday’s title match. Bayley always has the heart of the crowd too. She was ousted from the match early after being attacked with a cheapshot by Nia.
With Bayley being tended too in the back, Nia and Alexa took their liberties with Sasha, working over the former champion with savagery. Sasha fought back and showed heart, turning the tides with a Banks Statement on Bliss and forcing her to tap out, even having to go it alone!
General Manager Kurt Angle is on the phone, still frantic about whatever mystery he’s involved in. Braun Strowman approaches him and asks about the status of Roman Reigns. Angle says that he’ll be there.
Does The Destroyer, Samoa Joe, have the number of the Beast, Brock Lesnar? A video package shows us the dominance of Joe over the Universal Champion. We do get words from Lesnar, boasting his excitement for the forthcoming battle, one that’s sure to be something fantastic. Joe retorts with words of his own, informing us once again that he doesn’t fear the beast.
Cedric Alexander defeats Noam Dar (w/ Alicia Fox) via pinfall with a Lumbar Check.
Hopefully this will be all she wrote for this story as it has dragged on seemingly forever. I like everyone involved, but Cedric needs to be a forthcoming threat for Neville’s Cruiserweight title, as fans will certainly be invested in Alexander. This matchup wasn’t anything special, it was decent, but it ended after Alexander countered Dar after a distraction from Fox.
The Miztourage is present for this week’s MizTV after the events of last week featuring members of the Ball family and unintentionally aired racial commentary from LeMelo. The Miz says Lonzo will be a bust and he’ll let down more fans than Steve Nash. Yikes. He then says Dean Ambrose represents wasted potential. He says he was to be the next Roddy Piper, instead we got “wacky” Dean Ambrose and a man who can’t handle success.
Ambrose comes out and says after the train wreck last week, he hoped we’d have seen the last of MizTV. Ambrose says he’s never cared what people think about him and he’ll fight anyone at anytime. He says he’s got a rematch and he wants it right here and right now. Heath Slayer and Rhyno interrupt Ambrose and Slater says he was the last man to pin Miz in the center of the ring. He’d never had an opportunity at a singles title. Ambrose cracks a joke and tells Slater to get to the back of the line.
Kurt Angle has other plans and before he can talk about what’s gonna happen, Miz mocks him and it only angers Kurt. He books the rematch with Ambrose at Great Balls Of Fire and he books Miz and Slater for the IC Title after the break!
The Miz (w/ Maryse) defeats Heath Slater via pinfall with the Skull Crushing Finale to retain the IC Title.
Slater gave it a valiant effort, but the Miztourage were the difference makers. Well-timed distractions led to the undoing of the man with kids. Slater had the crowd behind him, but he was fodder for a PPV bound Miz, who is now officially booked to face Ambrose once again this Sunday.
Titus O’Neil breaks some extremely bad news to Apollo Crews. Crews is booked against Braun Strowman later tonight. Titus says it’ll put the brand on the map and it’ll help Crews feed his newborn daughter. Titus says one day Apollo will tell his daughter the story of slaying the giant. Crews can’t lose.
Goldust, the savvy veteran, brings us the worldwide premiere of “The Shattered Truth”. He quotes “Saw” and says he’ll make R-Truth a star. The only thing that shines brighter than a star is gold. They roll the clip and it’s an Oscar worthy performance. It’s footage of last week’s attack with Hollywood awards show style music all over it. It’s great. After the clip, Goldust is celebrating but a popcorn eating R-Truth is standing behind him. He beats the holy heck out of Goldy and sends him into retreat mode.
Kurt Angle is back to mystery text mode, but he invites the world tag team champions into the room. He books a thirty minute iron man match against the Hardyz for Great Balls Of Fire. The champs like it. They want competition tonight and it leads to Kurt booking singles action against Finn Balor and Cesaro later tonight. Good stuff.
Seth Rollins defeats Curt Hawkins via pinfall with the Short-Arm Knee Strike.
After Curt runs his mouth, the “Kingslayer” makes short work of the enhancement talent, facing the facts in the process. Booker T. even goes so far as to mock the fact that Hawkins has never won a match on Raw. Rollins ended this quicker than a hiccup. Rollins says he’s going to silence Bray Wyatt at the PPV and he gives him a stern warning after his warm up match.
Samoa Joe and Brock Lesnar have a very passionate and heated exchange backstage. Paul Heyman and Lesnar are very smug and Joe gets frantic and drops his headset, looking for Brock in the arena. Joe doesn’t wanna wait for the PPV and a herd of officials try to keep him at bay as he searches for Suplex City. He finds Brock’s studio area and before he can make a move, he is pulled away. Lesnar is grinning the entire time. This was fantastic. I cannot wait for this match because it’s going to be a battle. I hope both guys look strong and look convincing for fans of the product. I’m sure neither will disappoint.
Neville defeats Mustafa Ali via submission with the Rings of Saturn.
Neville continues to be dominant and Ali continues to be a very under-utilized talent. Ali has all the tools to get over with fans and these two gave the crowd something to feast their eyes on. They went to signature spots and ultimately it was the “King Of The Cruiserweights” coming out ahead with his submission as he looks to Akira Tozawa and a title defense this Sunday.
“The Eater Of Worlds” Bray Wyatt was traipsing through the deserts of Phoenix and he ultimately ended up in the ring, giving fair warning to Seth Rollins for this coming Sunday about his future. He tells Rollins that he won’t be able to defeat his deified form.
Alexa Bliss tells us backstage that she let Sasha Banks win earlier this evening. The statement is questioned and Bliss tells the interviewer that it’s why they’re holding the mic and she’s defending the title this Sunday. Mic drop.
Finn Balor defeats Cesaro via pinfall with the Coup De Grace.
Balor isn’t booked for Sunday’s show, although we might see him in singles action against Elias Samson. Samson has a great look and some solid charisma, if he can shed the foolish gimmick and put it all together, he could be a major player on Mondays. Cesaro is that guy however and these two trusted athletes put on a clinic. The Hardy Boyz were on commentary and we are seeing a slow build for “broken brilliance” as it’s rumored that Hardy is soon to be the victor in the case against Anthem for his “broken” gimmick.
Everyone was involved in this, causing distractions and ultimately it was a well-placed clothesline on the outside by Jeff Hardy that allowed Balor to bring Cesaro back into the ring and put him away with the finish. This was a fine matchup and one that I’d pay good money to see again. Bravo gents.
Braun Strowman defeats Apollo Crews via pinfall with the running powerslam.
There was a counter in this match that has to be seen to be believed. Crews, with the aide of Titus O’Neil and his motivational ways, was able to chop the big man down. He got cocky and went for the standing moonsault and with a single boot, Strowman pushed him away mid-moonsault. It was absolutely incredible and kudos to both men for the trust they put in each other.
Strowman toyed with Crews, refusing to cover on more than one occasion, but ultimately he did so. He then handled O’Neil and tossed Crews into the back of an ambulance, slapping the back and signaling for the driver to take off.
The driver was Roman Reigns and he wasn’t going to heed those instructions. Instead, he sent Raw off the air with a tremendous visual. He and Strowman traded right hands and Roman hit a superman punch and then he speared Strowman off the stage through a table. The crowd loved it and we have all eyes on another match that’s sure to be something to watch this Sunday. Overall, a much better Raw this week then last week’s.
