May 29, 2017
Episode 1253
(aired live)
#RAW
City: Greenville, SC
Venue: Bon Secours Wellness Arena
Commentary: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Booker T
Ring Announcer: Jojo
Video
John Cena narrates a video about Memorial Day.
Intro Video
“Enemies” by Shinedown
Ring Area
The Miz and Maryse head to the ring for “Miz TV.” The Miz is feeling good because he finally gets his hands on Dean Ambrose in six days. He talks about the stipulation in their upcoming match where if Dean Ambrose loses by DQ then the IC title will still change hands. He then introduces his guests, Cesaro and Sheamus.
The Miz says that, besides himself, no two people are more deserving of becoming champs than Cesaro and Sheamus. Cesaro & Sheamus agree. Miz then goes off talking about his future title reign when Dean Ambrose interrupts and heads to the ring.
Ambrose thinks someone should shut The Miz’s mouth, but Miz points out that it’s three on one. Ambrose brings out the Hardy Boyz, and the three of them rush into the ring. The Miz escapes the brawl, but Sheamus and Cesaro get forced out of the ring.
Match 1
The Miz w/ Maryse & Cesaro & Sheamus vs Dean Ambrose (IC Champ) & The Hardy Boyz (RAW Tag Champs)
(referee: Chad Patton)
Result: Jeff Hardy pins The Miz after a Swanton Bomb
Time: 9:14 (joined in progress, 1 break)
Match Thoughts
Pretty good match. This one was pretty frantic and all over the place. It settled down for a little while, but there was never much of a rhythm. It really did feel like just a bunch of stuff happening, which can be pretty entertaining.
Ring Area
Michael Cole and Booker T talk about the match, but Corey Graves is looking at his phone. Cole tries to pass it over to Graves, but he just looks up, says “sorry,” and walks away from the announce table.
Backstage
Kurt Angle stares at Corey Graves’ phone. Graves tells Angle that he’s received information that has the potential to ruin Angle’s career.
Ring Area
Elias Samson is in the ring. He plays his guitar and sings a song about finding a home. And other stuff.
Match 2
Elias Samson vs Zac Evans
(referee: John Cone)
Result: Elias Samson wins via pinfall after a snap swinging neckbreaker
Time: 2:42
Match Thoughts
Squash. Samson was very aggressive, throwing around the much smaller Zac Evans.
Backstage
Charly Caruso asks Samoa Joe how he’s preparing for tonight. Joe says it’s simple, you have to make things predictable. He’s been watching Balor and knows him very well. Bray Wyatt cuts into the feed and says he’s the devil Joe doesn’t know. He says Joe is like all the rest, he’s blind. But Bray sees the future, and The Beast is in his future.
Match 3
Triple Threat Match
Finn Balor vs Samoa Joe vs Bray Wyatt
(referee: Chad Patton)
Result: Samoa Joe wins via pinfall on Bray Wyatt after Finn Balor hits the Coup de Grace on Wyatt
Time: 13:25 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Very good match. After the first part of the match where Wyatt left the ring and let Balor and Joe fight each other, Wyatt and Joe spent a large portion of the match working together to beat up Balor. Eventually their alliance fell apart and everyone started fighting everyone. The action was good in this one with a lot of strong moves.
Backstage
Mike Rome welcomes Seth Rollins. Rollins says he’s more familiar with Reigns than anyone else on RAW, but they have a complicated history. Rollins owns Reigns though. Tonight, Rollins is going to send a message by beating Reigns again.
Match 4
Noam Dar w/ Alicia Fox vs Rich Swann w/ Sasha Banks
(referee: Darrick Moore)
Result: Rich Swann wins via pinfall after a Phoenix splash
Time: 2:52
Match Thoughts
Pretty good match. It was short and fairly one sided, but it was fun. I find it funny that this whole feud is based on Swann getting revenge for Dar “breaking up” Fox and Cedric Alexander, but Alexander is now back and we haven’t heard anything from him about it. I think Swann is the heel in this feud.
Backstage
Charly Caruso welcomes The Revival. Wilder is still healing from his injury, but The Revival will be back in action soon. Charly points out that The Revival was at RAW last week when Enzo Amore was mysteriously attacked. Dawson says The Revival wouldn’t waste their time with Amore.
Ring Area
Big Cass confronts Corey Graves about his insinuation about Cass possibly attacking Amore. Graves apologizes, sort of, and the two shake hands.
Match 5
Kalisto vs Titus O’Neil w/ Apollo Crews
(referee: John Cone)
Result: Titus O’Neil wins via pinfall after countering a rollup by Kalisto (and holding the tights)
Time: 0:51
Match Thoughts
This wasn’t very good, but it got the point across. It was too short and Titus didn’t seem to be able to keep up very well with Kailsto.
Ring Area
Alexa Bliss heads to the ring for “Bayley This is Your Life.” Alexa shows a bunch of toys and trophies and pictures and stuff. She also has some guests including Bayley’s 4th grade teacher Mrs. Flapper, her former best friend Tracy Havalina, and her ex-boyfriend Phil Johnson.
Mercifully, Bayley ends the segment by heading to the ring and attacking Alexa. Alexa gets the advantage and hits Bayley in the back with a kendo stick.
** This was pretty tough to sit through. Too long, pointless, and boring. I don’t think this was a good final segment before their PPV match either. It didn’t add anything to the feud. **
Backstage
Enzo has been attacked again. Cass is furious and tells Angle that The Revival did it. Angle wants to wait for all the facts before he draws any conclusions.
Match 6
Austin Aries & Gentleman Jack Gallagher vs TJP & Neville (Cruiserweight Champ)
(referee: Darrick Moore)
Result: Austin Aries wins via submission with the Last Chancery
Time: 9:59 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
A good match. It wasn’t as fast paced as I expected, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I think this was a decent final match before the PPV. It sets up Neville as having a definite weakness.
Backstage
Mike Rome begins to ask Reigns about Rollins, but Reigns interrupts and says the only thing he cares about is showing the world that this is his yard.
Backstage
Charly Caruso asks Neville about losing by submission for the first time since being champ. Neville is angry and says nothing before storming away.
Backstage
Goldust quotes Psycho and talks about being back in the director’s chair. Soon, the motion picture known as The Golden Truth will reach its final crescendo. The golden age is back.
Backstage
R-Truth mocks Goldust by talking about and quoting some of his own favorite movies. Goldust is “gonna’ get got.”
Match 7
Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns
(referee: Chad Patton)
Result: Roman Reigns wins via pinfall after a spear
Time: 14:42 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Good match. There were a lot of nice sequences and counters in this one. You could tell that they were playing up the fact that they know each other well. They were both doing slight variations on moves they normally do seemingly as a way to be one step ahead of the other.
Show Impressions
This was a pretty decent show. I didn’t like the Blizz/Bayley segment or the O’Neil/Kalisto match, but everything else was good. I like the building feud between Goldust and R-Truth, and I think their back to back promos were good. I’m still liking the Fox/Banks feud and I welcome the addition of Swann and Dar to the mix. And the title-related segments were all good, about on par with everything they’ve done so far.
I really like how it looks like they might start getting Corey Graves involved with some of the ongoing stories. Having things happen during the announcer segments makes the show feel more unpredictable and interesting. You never know when something might happen when they start weaving the stories into parts of the show that are normally just transitions and fillers.
Match of the Night
Finn Balor vs Samoa Joe vs Bray Wyatt
I think the main event was good too, but I felt the triple threat was more interesting and featured better action. They were pretty close for me though.