WWE: Monday Night RAW was LIVE from the TD Garden in Boston, MA on 8/14/17!
Recaps of the rebuilding of the Shield introduce us to this week’s broadcast. Things look to be culminating tonight with a reunion of the Shield brethren as they look to stake their claim on the world tag team titles held by Sheamus and Cesaro at Summerslam. Will it happen?
Ambrose and Rollins are out first and Ambrose, as we all want to know, what are you doing Seth? “The Architect” responds by saying that even as Ambrose says he can’t trust him, he knows that deep down, he cares. If they teamed up again, they could run this place. Seth says if Dean is willing to let bigones be bigones, he’s done playing games.
The crowd thoroughly approves of the reunion, emphatically cheering on both men, awaiting Dean’s answer. The crowd is left waiting as they bicker some more and Rollins questions whether or not it will ever work. Seth then says, if they are together, nobody can touch them. Seth goes to leave and Dean offers the fist bump up again. Rollins refuses it and it leads to a scuffle. They trade right hands and spill through the ropes, venting their frustrations with one another.
Cue the tag champs. They pick the bones of the two former friends, dumping Dean into the crowd and working Rollins over at ringside. Ambrose is back in to save Seth, and then Seth returns the favor. Tandem offense clears the ring of the champions and the crowd is frenzied. It ends with a fist bump and Raw GM Kurt Angle booking the match we’ve been waiting for! We’re going to get one heck of a title match at Summerslam. This was a great way to start the show, getting the crowd worked up early.
All four men involved in the Universal Title match will be in the ring at the same time later tonight, but up next? We’re getting Nia Jax and Sasha Banks, winner goes on to face Alexa Bliss at Summerslam for the women’s title.
Sasha Banks defeats Nia Jax via submission with the Banks Statement to become the number one contender to the women’s title.
Alexa Bliss watched from ringside on a lifeguard’s chair as Nia employed her power offense and Banks relied on her cunning. She rolled to the outside after a Samoan drop well into the match and was able to evade Nia’s power moves to keep her in the match.
Sasha applied the Banks Statement later in the match. Nia looked for the escape, but Banks countered with a DDT and locked it on in the center of the ring. Nia tapped and we’ve got our title match.
Kurt Angle is backstage with The Miztourage and it ends up with the potential of a Miz/Jason Jordan match for later this evening. Kurt rushes off to deal with a scuffle between Finn Balor and Bray Wyatt that we’ll apparently see after a break.
Apparently the two men have been fighting for four minutes and it gets broken up. They don’t want to wait for Summerslam and Kurt Angle books the match for tonight? That’s interesting, because quite frankly, that’s a match I did want to see at the big show, we probably still will.
In the meantime, we get a song from Elias Samson. R-Truth interrupts him and we see Drift Away quicker than a hiccup. Our walk with Elias was a quick one this evening at the expense of the veteran presence.
A shark cage lowers from the ceiling and after the break, we get Big Cass. “Casshole” chants drown him out several times before he makes his plans for Summerslam known. He is getting major heel heat, good for him. He makes light of it. He talks about handling Enzo Amore and Big Show at the PPV. He says Enzo is nothing without someone getting his back. He even references his backstage heat, that was surprising. Cass says Show needs Enzo to stay relevant and that’s why he needs his little “jester”.
Cass says Enzo will have a bird’s eye view as Cass dismantles his new buddy, and he’ll prove to everyone that he’s the best big man in the game today. Enzo is out to a massive pop. He mocks Cass trying to talk over the boos earlier and he says it’s because he’s been knocked out two weeks in a row.
Show is out and Cass knocks Enzo off the apron, but Show is quick to attack. Gallows and Anderson hit the ring and they attack Show along with Cass. That’s interesting. The Club tie up Show’s wrist in the door and Cass closes the shark cage on it. It looks like Show will go at Cass one handed this coming Sunday.
Akira Tozawa defeats Neville via pinfall with a Top Rope Senton to become the new Cruiserweight Champion!
Apparently, we are getting this match early and the two men involved deliver. Tozawa fires on all cylinders early and the “King of The Cruiserweights” does what he does best. Great to see some Titus brand signs in the crowd. It is working and hopefully it can get Crews over as well.
Tozawa goes to work with some strong knife-edge chops and Neville quickly drops Akira with a single kick. Tozawa knocks Neville off the apron and as the champ gets back in, he nails a roaring elbow before a commercial.
After the return, Tozawa is really getting the crowd behind him as Titus wills him on. Tozawa hits a big kick and a standing senton. Tozawa to the top rope, but Neville halts his efforts, and he delivers a brilliant superplex off the top. That was absolutely stunning. Do yourself a favor and go and watch that one. It was perfectly executed.
Tozawa counters with a leaping hurricanrana and an inzaguri as Tozawa heads back up top. Neville fakes an eye injury and he tries for the Rings of Saturn. Tozawa counters with a near fall. Neville misses a Red Arrow! Tozawa to the top again. He hits the Senton! Three count and a new champion. Wow! That’s awesome. Tozawa has worked his butt off and this is huge for Titus Worldwide and helping to elevate Tozawa and the other members of the stable. Apollo Crews and Titus O’Neil are out to celebrate with the new champ!
Neville has been a sensational champion and deserves all the praise in the world. He’ll surely be right back in the mix as he’s been the cornerstone of the division and kudos to him for all his hard work. Balor and Wyatt, always initially slated for Summerslam is up next. Intriguing to me that Randy Orton and Rusev, which was just thrown together at the last minute, will take a PPV spot away from this one?
Big Show’s hand is broken. He says he’s fought bigger and been hurt worse. He’ll be at the PPV. He tells Enzo that he’s going to handle things. That was a pretty solid promo by Show with just a little bit of time.
Emma and Mickie James are backstage talking about Sasha Banks winning the match and heading to Summerslam. Emma is ranting and Mickie tells her that last week she didn’t get screwed, she tapped out. Mickie talks about all the women involved in the product and she tells Emma to put her phone down and step into the ring with her tonight. Jump cut and now it’s Finn and Bray.
Bray Wyatt defeats Finn Balor via pinfall with Sister Abigail.
This isn’t one of those matches that isn’t. They actually give the Boston fans another watchable match that seems to no longer be a part of this Sunday’s action. Bray and Finn work each other over early as Wyatt eventually takes charge with a strength advantage.
Wyatt nails Finn with a savage clothesline and he follows that up for a two count. They reference Balor winning the Universal Title last year with a torn labrum to put over his heart and tenacity. Balor nails a Pele kick to counter a forearm from Bray as both men fight to get back to their feet.
Bray gets knocked off the second rope after an inzaguri from Finn and Bray comes back with a running body strike for a two count. Finn escapes a Uranage attempt and he follows up with a Sling Blade. Bray dodges a delayed dropkick and he hits a senton bomb before attempting Sister Abigail. He counters and nails a stomp as Wyatt rolls outside the ring. Balor attacks and brings him back inside the ring.
Balor is knocked off the top rope and Bray nails Sister Abigail. Three count and that’s it. Wow. That had adequate time, but they had a ton of potential with the buildup for this and blew it off with a single Raw match. This feud needs to continue. The characters have incredible potential.
Balor eats another Sister Abigail for his efforts and the jump cut leads to Balor being propped up in a seated position in the corner. Wyatt dumps a bucket of blood on Balor. Balor is freaking out as he rolls around in the ring, covered in the blood. They head to commercial. Are we getting a match at Summerslam after all? Does this feud continue and culminate with a meaningful PPV match and without being the victim of poor booking and an indept knowledge of timing out a four hour broadcast? Let’s hope so. Both men are incredibly unique talents.
Mickie James defeats Emma via pinfall with a Mick Kick.
The commentary team is almost indirectly mocking Emma’s social media crusade. She certainly isn’t being made fun of for her in-ring work. She and James put in work and Emma flattens Mickie with several big moves, stepping on her hair at one point.
Emma keeps on the attack, but out of nowhere, Mickie scores with the Mick Kick for the three count. Wow, are they just gonna bury Emma at this point? Hey, here’s an idea, let’s saddle up a multi-talented woman with a crap gimmick and then when she goes back to her incredibly over heel gimmick, we’ll bury her for mocking a lack of opportunity! Get over yourself folks, let her perform and entertain fans.
Well, one wrong gets made right. A blood-soaked Balor comes out of Kurt Angle’s office and tells Charly Caruso that he’s got his rematch with Bray at Summerslam. Bray’s got his “demons” and so does he. Good! All is made right with the world now. The Miztourage heads to the ring.
Jason Jordan defeats the Miz via DQ after interference from the Miztourage.
Thought they’d book this one for Summerslam as well, but we get a non-title confrontation between the IC Champ and Kurt Angle’s son. Jordan is up to the task and he shows off his amateur background, grounding Miz early on. After a rope break, Miz hits a back elow, but he’s sent to the outside with a dropkick from Jordan.
Jordan picks Miz up and spears him into the corner. He then prepares to hit the back suplex into a neckbreaker, but Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas attack! After the DQ finish, here come the Hardy Boyz! Matt and Jeff help clear the ring and it looks like we might have the makings of a six man tag perhaps? After the devastating injury to Dawson of the Revival, this is a prime example of smart booking on the fly. I’ll give them this one for sure. It’ll apparently happen after the break.
Jason Jordan and The Hardy Boyz defeat The Miztourage via pinfall after a Swanton by Jeff on Dallas.
We’re back and a six man is exactly what we’ve got. All six men get the chance to shine, we get a strong focus on the development of Jordan. The crowd is getting behind him, and pairing him with the Hardy Boyz won’t hurt his stock, that’s for sure!
We are getting a ton of references to their “broken” characters, using much of their terminology during the match. Bo Dallas gets to experience much of the tag team offense that has kept the Hardy Boyz on top for so many years.
Jordan grounds Dallas and you can hear a smattering of fans that have turned on him after all. He’ll be a solid heel sooner, rather than later. For now, he’s utilizing his great amateur background to entertain the Boston crowd. Miz tags in and begins to go to work on Jordan before a break.
We return with the IC Champ firmly in control of Jordan. The action continues and eventually, Jeff Hardy gets tagged in and goes wild. He knocks Axel off the apron and hits Whisper in the Wind on Dallas. Miz breaks up a pinfall, but Jordan hits an overhead release suplex right into Axel. Jordan continues to clean house, finally hitting his finish on Miz. Matt Hardy hits a Twist of Fate and Jeff nails the Swanton and this one is over. That was a lot of action to put into a few short sentences! Great match!
Kurt Angle closes the show out by introducing all four men for the face to face between the Universal Title Match competitors. The ring is surrounded by officials, hoping to “keep the peace”. Yeah, good luck with that. Lesnar and Heyman are out first, and Heyman says in one last desperate attempt to grab ratings, they have a face to face before the PPV. He calls it a prison brawl.
Paul says his father once told him “just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean the whole world isn’t against you”. That’s a great line. He says the fed is against Brock because he’s willing to entertain other offers from outside the product. Rumor is Jon Jones may be ringside at Summerslam and I wouldn’t be surprised if Lesnar retained and took the belt into the Octagon against him. It would be a unique look. I guess we’ll see.
Heyman continues on, and he’s awesome as always. He sells more network subscriptions and he puts over his client as what he’s always been, a “beast”.
Samoa Joe is out next and he isn’t afraid to get is Lesnar’s face and stake his claim on the title. Braun Strowman is out next and he stares holes through both men. He calls himself the Last Man Standing and he says to ask Roman Reigns about it. Joe sets him straight on how things ended last week, with Joe slapping the Coquina Clutch on him.
Roman Reigns is out last and he’s walking with purpose. He goes right after Joe, but Strowman intercedes as Lesnar looks on. Joe and Reigns are out of the equation as Lesnar and Strowman have a stare down. The security tries to keep both men at bay, but Lesnar tries to get at Strowman. Lesnar and Strowman dispose of the security and they lock eyes and horns, but they are quickly seperated as members of the roster spill out of the back. The show ends with the two finally going at it as they head off the air. Summerslam is Sunday!
