May 2, 2016
Episode 1197
(aired live)
City: St. Louis, MO
Venue: Scottrade Center
Commentary: Michael Cole, JBL, Byron Saxton
Ring Announcer: Eden Stiles
Video
Last night at Payback, Vince chose not to choose. Also, Shane and Steph manipulated the main event. How will they coexist?
** I’m not terribly thrilled that they have another story that is pretty much solely about McMahons. **
Intro Video
“The Night Remix” by CFO$/KromestatiK
Ring Area
Stephanie enters the ring and Shane’s music immediately interrupts her. Shane also enters the ring. Steph gives Shane a present as a peace offering. It’s a framed picture of Vince and Shane when Shane was little. Steph then asks Shane for his ideas for tonight’s show. Shane is moved, so he asks her for her ideas. Steph goes to the crowd to see who they would rather hear. Shane wins.
As Shane is about to start, Kevin Owens interrupts. He has an idea: a rematch for the IC title. He points out that he is contractually owed his rematch. Cesaro then interrupts.
Cesaro says that he had Miz beat until Owens and Zayn interrupted his match. Shane decides to make a match between Cesaro and Owens to see who gets the next shot at the IC title.
** Logically, Owens really should get his rematch. Shane made a bad decision, but a good match. It feels like Stephanie is letting Shane hang himself, much like what Vince was attempting to do by giving Shane the opportunity to control RAW in the first place. **
Match 1
Intercontinental Title Number One Contender Match
Kevin Owens vs Cesaro
(referee: Dan Engler; guest commentary: The Miz, Maryse)
Result: Cesaro wins via DQ after The Miz enters the ring and attacks him
Time: 6:57 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Quite a good match. Both guys were solid and hard-hitting as usual. Cesaro had the upper-hand for a good part of the match until Owens shifted the momentum with a bullfrog splash from the apron to the floor. After that the match seemed more even, though Owens still seemed to be playing catchup for most of the match. The ending was expected, but not in a bad way.
Ring Area
Miz and Owens gang up on Cesaro after the match. Sami Zayn runs out and fights off both Miz and Owens. Sami holds up the IC title belt and the crowd approves.
Backstage
Dean Ambrose doesn’t buy Stephanie’s new happy, smiley persona. Steph offers to be a guest on the Ambrose Asylum. Ambrose likes the idea. Sort of.
Backstage
R-Truth tries to teach Tyler Breeze how to rap. Goldust comes up and causes problems and points at Breeze. Fandango joins the group. He and Goldust swivel.
Backstage
Anderson and Gallows tell Styles that he was phenomenal at Payback. They tell him that at Extreme Rules, there’s no way Reigns leaves as champ. Reigns shows up and tells Styles that he has respect for him, but not for Anderson and Gallows. He then challenges the three of them to a tag match along with The Usos. Styles accepts the challenge.
Match 2
Goldust w/ Fandango vs Tyler Breeze w/ R-Truth
(referee: John Cone)
Result: Tyler Breeze wins via pinfall with a schoolboy
Time: 1:49
Match Thoughts
This was a fun match. Goldust was completely preoccupied with impressing R-Truth. He would look over to him after nearly every move and dance. Fun stuff. I was afraid that the Golden Truth story would fade away with Wrestlemania, but I’m very happy it’s continuing. It’s really fun and is getting other guys on TV that otherwise don’t have anything to do.
Backstage
As New Day makes their way towards the ring area they come across Rob Shamberger painting a sign.
Ring Area
As New Day heads to the ring it’s revealed that the Vaudevillains will get the tag title shot at Extreme Rules due to Enzo Amore’s injury at Payback. Big E stumbles over his words, but the fans are very forgiving. Xavier Woods then lies about Beyonce sliding up into his DMs last night, but New Day does show a tweet of Enzo being released from the hospital. They’ll be waiting for him, but tonight the show must go on. The Vaudevillains then interrupt.
Aiden says that a real man would’ve gotten back up. Real men like The Vaudevillains. They made Enzo the realest guy in the emergency room. Simon Gotch attempts to continue, but is interrupted by The Dudley Boyz.
Bubba says that The Vaudevillains didn’t beat anyone at Payback and say the tournament should be started over. D-Von says they deserve the title shot. He is interrupted by Colin Cassady. He calls the Dudleys and Vaudevillains sawft. He then starts a brawl in the ring.
** Cassady actually had some good jokes. I was impressed. I also like that they’re keeping things interesting with the unfortunate end to the title shot tourney. **
Match 3
New Day (Tag Champs) & Colin Cassady vs The Dudley Boyz & The Vaudevillains
(referee: Rod Zapata)
Result: Cassady pins D-Von after an East River Crossing
Time: 12:49 (1 break, started in progress)
Match Thoughts
Good match. Except for the very beginning, the heel team dominated most of the match. Woods was in distress, then Kofi was, then Cass got tagged in and things started to break down. There were some nice hard-hitting moves like Cass booting Gotch to the floor, right in to a belly-to-booty from Big E. Bubba was also very entertaining, screaming at everyone and telling The Vaudevillains exactly what they should be doing nearly the entire time. Good stuff.
Ring Area
The commentators talk about Natalya losing at Payback due to Charles Robinson and show images of him a “Little Nature Boy” from WCW.
Match 4
Becky Lynch vs Emma
(referee: Jason Ayers)
Result: Emma wins via pinfall with a Michinoku Driver
Time: 5:44
Match Thoughts
Solid match. Emma wrestled dirty and aggressive, Becky had bursts of offense. Both of them looked good and this match helped them both.
Video
Primo and Epico eat in Puerto Rico.
Ring Area
Dean Ambrose welcomes Stephanie McMahon to the “Ambrose Asylum.” He asks her if she’s a “boiling pot of woman rage” underneath her happy face. Steph says she’s just happy. He then shows an image of her getting speared by Reigns at Wrestlemania. She says Reigns taught her a valuable lesson.
Ambrose then says that Shane has been running RAW better than The Authority and is loved by the fans. Steph appreciates the WWE Universe’s loyalty. Ambrose commends Steph’s loyalty to the WWE, but wonders if Shane has made the same amount of sacrifices as her. For him to be running RAW, that must make her upset, right? Steph says she understands that sometimes things just need to change. Like the “Ambrose Asylum.” She cancels it. Ambrose takes his potted plant and leaves the ring.
She then fills the void in the show with the return of “The Highlight Reel.” Jericho and Ambrose have brief staring contest before a brawl breaks out. Jericho delivers a Code Breaker, then smashes Mitch (the potted plant) on Ambrose’s back.
** I liked Steph in this segment, and I’m not really sorry to see the “Ambrose Asylum” go away. All in all a pretty good segment. **
Video
Dolph Ziggler on Titus O’Neil. Titus gets up on stage and finishes Dolph’s stand-up routine.
Match 5
US Title Number One Contender Battle Royal
Rusev vs Sin Cara vs Darren Young vs Apollo Crews vs Dolph Ziggler vs Zack Ryder vs Viktor vs Damien Sandow vs Stardust vs Curtis Axel vs Alberto Del Rio vs Bo Dallas vs Titus O’Neil vs Sheamus vs Baron Corbin
(guest commentary: Kalisto; referee: Darrick Moore, Jason Ayers, Rod Zapata, Chad Patton)
| Elimination Order | Eliminated | Eliminated By |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Viktor | Titus O'Neil |
| 2 | Damien Sandow | Titus O'Neil |
| 3 | Stardust | Apollo Crews |
| 4 | Darren Young | Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel |
| 5 | Apollo Crews | Sheamus |
| 6 | Baron Corbin | Dolph Ziggler |
| 7 | Dolph Ziggler | Rusev |
| 8 | Titus O'Neil | Sheamus |
| 9 | Curtis Axel | Alberto Del Rio |
| 10 | Bo Dallas | Sin Cara |
| 11 | Sin Cara | Alberto Del Rio |
| 12 | Sheamus | Alberto Del Rio |
| 13 | Alberto Del Rio | Zack Ryder |
| 14 | Zack Ryder | Rusev |
Result: Rusev wins by eliminating Zack Ryder to become the number one contender for the US Title
Time: 10:08 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
I almost always enjoy a battle royal, and this was a pretty good one. The breakup of the League of Nations played a big part in this match and provided a nice ending.
Video
A sneak preview clip of Captain America: Civil War is shown with Black Panther versus Winter Soldier.
Ring Area
Charlotte and Flair say there was no controversy at Payback. Harts always quit. They call Charles Robinson to the ring who says that Natalya didn’t physically tap out, but that she verbally quit. He also says that his relationship with the Flairs had no bearing on his call.
Natalya comes out and says this isn’t about Charlotte or Robinson, it’s about Flair. Charlotte goes to attack but gets blocked. Flair then takes off his jacket and watch. He promptly gets put in a sharpshooter by Natalya. Charlotte pulls Flair away and the exit the ring area.
** Natalya had it right, which is my main complaint about this feud: it’s all about Flair. **
Backstage
Stephanie asks Flair and Charlotte if they are alright. She tells Charlotte she has to prove that the Figure Eight is better than the Sharpshooter. She’ll have the chance at Extreme Rules in a submission match for the Women’s Title. She also bans Flair from ringside, saying that people are saying he’s just a distraction. She then asks for a “woo,” but she doesn’t get one.
Match 6
AJ Styles & Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows vs Roman Reigns (World Heavyweight Champ) & The Usos
(referee: Dan Engler)
Result: AJ Styles pins Jimmy Uso after a Phenomenal Forearm
Time: 8:01 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Good match. Despite Styles disapproving of some of Anderson and Gallows’ tactics, they worked very well together and dominated a lot of the match (whenever The Usos were involved).
Ring Area
Anderson and Gallows set Reigns up for a chair shot after the match, but Styles doesn’t know if it’s a good idea. Anderson pressures Styles to use the chair himself. He looks like he might do it, but ends up dropping the chair. Anderson and Gallows attack Reigns while The Usos attack Styles with a chair. Styles ends up using the chair on The Usos, which Reigns sees. He’s not pleased. He powerbombs Styles through the announce table.
** Reigns’ continued disbelief of Styles and convenient timing is likely to push Styles to fight dirty despite wanting to do the right thing. It’s an interesting angle to play. I like it. **
Show Impressions
I liked this show quite a bit. There were a number of interesting things happening and developing, some fun segments, a wide variety of match types, no dud matches, and a lot of things to look forward to. You can’t ask for much more than that.
Match of the Night
New Day & Colin Cassady vs The Dudley Boyz & The Vaudevillains
This was a tough decision. With the great variety of matches, and all of them good for different reasons, it was difficult to choose. I think this tag match was the most fun and had an interesting mix of competitors that we won’t likely see again. I think those reasons pushed it over the top for me.