June 27, 2016
Episode 1205
(aired live)
#RAW
City: Tampa, FL
Venue: Amalie Arena
Commentary: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, JBL
Spanish Commentary: Carlos Cabrera, Marcelo Rodriguez
Ring Announcer: Lilian Garcia
Ring Area
#WWEBattleground
Seth Rollins heads to the ring and talks about Roman Reigns and his violation of the WWE Wellness Policy. He argues that Reigns should be removed from the title match at Battleground. Dean Ambrose then heads to the ring and says that the triple threat is still on as far as he’s concerned. AJ Styles then heads to the ring.
AJ wants in the match. Dean says Roman is still in it. AJ suggests a Fatal Four Way. John Cena then heads to the ring. He wants a Fatal Five Way. Stephanie McMahon comes out and calls Dean Ambrose a bigger embarrassment than Reigns. She likes the idea of a Fatal Five Way and makes matches for Cena and Styles to decide if they’ll join the title match.
Match 1
Paige & Sasha Banks vs Dana Brooke & Charlotte (Women’s Champ)
(referee: Dan Engler)
Result: Sasha Banks makes Dana Brooke submit to the Bank Statement
Time: 5:10 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Good match. Pretty standard tag match, but Paige and Sasha both looked good.
Match 2
Rusev (US Champ) w/ Lana vs Titus O’Neil
(referee: Jason Ayers)
Result: Titus O’Neil wins via countout
Time: 4:08
Match Thoughts
Pretty good match. This is a good series between two guys that hit each other really hard, and that’s what this match was. Not a very decisive match, but it was a way for Titus to probably get another title match without pinning Rusev.
Backstage
Stephanie runs into Kane in the back. He still wants to run Smackdown. Miz and Maryse show up and are upset that there’s no red carpet. Kane mentions that he’s also in movies, and he then tells Miz that a reigning champ has to defend his title every 30 days. He’d book an IC title match tonight. Steph agrees.
Match 3
Seth Rollins vs John Cena
(referee: Charles Robinson)
#CenavsRollins
Result: Seth Rollins wins via pinfall after a Pedigree
Time: 12:38 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Great match. This one felt important, and Rollins and Cena both seemed to treat it that way. They were both pulling out some great moves and kept the pace high.
Match 4
Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs Carlos Tocci (Hershey/Ernest Randall Alexander) & Mitch Walding (Walden/Nick Nero)
(referee: Rod Zapata)
Result: Enzo Amore pins Tocci after a rocket launcher
Time: 0:34
Match Thoughts
Squash. I just hope Enzo’s call for the crowd to start a wave during the match doesn’t start a trend that I’ll despise.
Ring Area
After the (sort of) match, Big Cass tries to get in his catchphrase. But instead, the Social Outcasts interrupt and spell the word H-A-R-D. They keep repeating the fact that they’re hard. They go to get in the ring and Heath Slater takes a boot to the face. Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas have second thoughts about attacking Enzo and Cass.
** I like it. I hope this means the Social Outcasts can get some wins and look like an actual, viable team, but maybe my hopes are too high. **
Life Lessons with Coach Backlund
Darren Young and Bob Backlund review Young’s goals.
** This one was more serious, so it feels like the last one before Young actually starts wrestling again. **
Video
WWE Superstars train with Special Olympics athletes.
Ring Area
Renee Young and Big Show stand on the ramp with people from the Special Olympics and announce the WWE’s involvement in the Play Unified campaign.
Ring Area
Summer Rae, Lilian Garcia, and Darrick Moore are in the ring and Natalya is at the commentary table, all of them awaiting Becky Lynch for a match. Natalya answers Cole’s questions about why she attacked Becky by quoting her uncle Owen Hart, “enough is enough and it’s time for a change.” When Becky makes it out to the ring she immediately runs over and attacks Natalya. Natalya backs off and the match between Summer and Becky never happens.
Ring Area
Jameis Winston is in the crowd tonight.
Ring Area
Chris Jericho heads to the ring and demands quiet, quiet, quiet for The Highlight Reel. He introduces Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn as his guests. Zayn tells Owens that they need to put an end to their feud so they can both get on with their lives. He calls Owens a coward and says that Owens resents him.
Owens says that he did what he did because it was the right move for his career. He says that Zayn should have been happy when Owens won the NXT title. He says he was a better friend than Zayn ever was. He also agrees to a match at Battleground.
Jericho then butts in and agrees that Zayn is a terrible friend. He wants to slap Zayn’s stupid idiot face, but he doesn’t. He then gives everyone the gift of Jericho. Zayn and Owens both superkick Jericho in tandem.
Match 5
Intercontinental Title Match
The Miz (IC Champ) w/ Maryse vs Kane
(referee: Dan Engler)
Result: Kane wins via countout
Time: 3:28
Match Thoughts
Uh, not a great match. The best part of the match was the (relative) surprise of seeing Kane as the challenger. After a couple of minutes of slow domination by Kane, Maryse gets on the apron of the ring, then sort of falls/rolls to the floor. It was hard to tell if she was acting hurt or trying to be sexy. It was weird.
Backstage
Miz is still helping Maryse. She laughs and reveals that she was faking her injury.
** Ugh. Obvious and terrible. Can we get the title off of Miz (and Maryse off of TV)? **
Match 6
Cesaro & Apollo Crews vs Sheamus & Alberto Del Rio
(referee: Jason Ayers)
Result: Apollo Crews pins Sheamus after a spinning sitout powerbomb
Time: 4:59
Match Thoughts
Not a bad match. The story of Sheamus and Del Rio not getting along kind of dominated, but it at least made for a pretty fun match. It turned into everyone hates Sheamus, but that’s fine.
Backstage
Jojo welcomes Dean Ambrose. He talks about what it feels like to be champ when Stephanie walks up and interrupts. She calls Ambrose’s title reign “appalling.”
Ring Area
New Day heads to the ring dressed up as The Wyatt Family. They make fun of the Wyatt’s hygiene and outfits. Woods wants to wrap it up though. He doesn’t seem too into it. Then the actual Wyatts come out.
Bray Wyatt proceeds to tell New Day what they need to hear, that the power of positivity is a lie. Kofi and Big E disagree. Woods seems unsure, and Bray can see it.
Backstage
Renee Young asks New Day if it was a good idea to imitate the Wyatt Family. Kofi and Big E think it was.
Match 7
Dean Ambrose (WWE Champ) vs AJ Styles
(referee: Charles Robinson; guest commentary: Seth Rollins)
#AmbrosevsStyles
Result: Dean Ambrose wins via pinfall after Dirty Deeds
Time: 12:21 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Good match. There was a lot of stuff going on towards the end, but it was a fine main event.
Show Impressions
A pretty good show. I liked the main story about the possible Fatal Five Way, even though I didn’t believe that Cena and Styles had a chance of being added to the match. I think it’s kind of crappy that Reigns is still going to participate in the triple threat. I mean, I understand that a Shield triple threat for the title is a pretty cool culmination to all of their stories, but for Reigns to basically get a 30 day vacation and not miss a beat after violating the wellness policy seems a bit odd. And this just continues Reigns’ streak of not being able to carry a story by himself. They have to keep adding lots of people and crazy shenanigans because he can’t carry a feud on his own (whether through lack of skills or because he screwed up).
The wrestling on the show was very mixed. There were two really good matches, though they both ended in pretty expected ways, and there were two matches that ended with a countout. I think that rates as a giant “meh.”
Match of the Night
Seth Rollins vs John Cena
I liked the main event too, but this match was better. Rollins and Cena really went all-out, but I think Styles and Ambrose could have an even better match than the one they had here.