Original Air Date: July 10, 2017
Event Date: July 10, 2017 (aired live)
City: Houston, TX
Venue: Toyota Center
Commentary: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Booker T
Ring Announcer: Jojo
Video
Last night, Roman Reigns tried to murder Braun Strowman by running the ambulance from their match into a trailer.
Intro Video
“Enemies” by Shinedown
Ring Area
Big Cass heads to the ring. Cass asks everyone how they’re doing, because he is feeling spectacular today. He’s proud of what he did last night at Great Balls of Fire and shows some images of himself beating up Enzo Amore. He also shows “the best part,” footage of Amore being carried through the backstage area by referees.
Cass says his beating of Amore is a message for the entire locker room, from the bottom of the totem pole to the top of the totem pole. Cass says he will reach the top of the totem pole and become Universal Champ. And when he does that, he will shove his title down everyone’s throats.
Getting fired up, Cass begins to talk about how big he is and that no one can look him in the eye. With that, Big Show’s music interrupts and the man heads to the ring. Big Show enters the ring and the two men stare at each other. Cass steps towards show and starts talking. Show hits Cass with a headbutt, starting a brawl. Eventually Cass exits the ring and backs away up the ramp.
** This makes a lot of sense and I think it will be very good for Cass. I enjoyed Cass’ singles run when Amore got injured right after they debuted on the main roster, so I expect I’ll like this run for him as well. Starting out with some good showings against Big Show will give him a lot of much-needed credibility.
Also, I’m glad Big Show didn’t bail on RAW like he insinuated a few weeks ago after getting upset with Kurt Angle. Big Show still has a lot of offer in his role in WWE. **
Ring Area
In the ring, Elias Samson plays a song he wrote for Finn Balor. He tries to rhyme “man” with “understand” before Finn Balor’s music interrupts him.
Match 1
Elias Samson vs Finn Balor
(referee: Darrick Moore)
Result: Finn Balor wins via pinfall after Coup De Grace
Time: 6:37 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
A pretty good match. I’m not much of a fan of Samson, but he did fine. I liked how he focused on Balor’s arm. It made sense and helped give the match some interest since I don’t think many people expected Smason to have a chance against Balor. Hopefully Balor will move on to something that actually gets him on the next PPV now.
Ring Area
As Finn Balor is leaving the ring, the Hardy Boyz meet him on the stage. They congratulate Balor and shake his hand. Balor then gives Matt the “delete” hand gesture and the Hardy brothers head to the ring.
Jeff talks about the tough match they had and how close they came to reclaiming the RAW tag titles. He says they will not “fade away and classify themselves as obsolete.” Matt says they aren’t finished making magic in the ring and begins to make a proclamation when Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows interrupt.
Gallows and Anderson come out to the stage and say they aren’t the Hardy Boyz of old, they’re just the old Hardy Boyz. Anderson and Gallows are “magic killers,” and the ring belongs to them. Matt says he and Jeff might be a little bit “broken” after their match last night, but they’re ready for a fight regardless.
Match 2
The Hardy Boyz vs Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows
(referee: Chad Patton)
Result: Luke Gallows pins Matt Hardy after a Magic Killer
Time: 3:36 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
This match was surprisingly short, and even with the extremely tough match they had last night, Anderson and Gallows handled the Hardys in a surprising fashion. This was certainly good for Anderson and Gallows, and it’s interesting for the Hardy Boyz’ continuing story. For that, and for the surprise factor, I actually like this match.
Ring Area
As Anderson and Gallows are heading up the ramp after the match, The Revival comes out and walks past them. They run into the ring and attack Matt and Jeff Hardy. They beat up the Hardys with zero resistance.
** This was a good statement for The Revival, but it’s not like they did anything special. Matt and Jeff were helpless. Hopefully this leads to a three-way feud with the Hardys, The Revival, and The Club. I really don’t want The Club to be left out of this, and I think it could become very interesting if they add Finn Balor to the mix. Matt and Jeff could go to him for some assistance since they seem to have a good relationship right now, but that could add a lot of tension with Anderson and Gallows, maybe eventually seeing Balor turning heel. That might be good for him.
And if WWE has figured out a way to let the Hardys actually do the “broken” gimmick, then this could all be leading to that. Have them just get completely and repeatedly destroyed over the next month leading to the reveal of Broken Matt Hardy at Summer Slam. **
Ring Area
Miz, Maryse, and The Miz-tourage are in the ring for “Miz TV” and the presentation of “The Mizzies.” Miz presents the first Mizzie for “best supporting actor” to both Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel. Dallas and Axel both thank The Miz for everything he’s done for them.
The second award for “The most beautiful, gorgeous, sexy leading lady in WWE” goes to Maryse. Maryse thanks Miz.
The final Mizzie for “greatest man in WWE” goes to The Miz. Miz talks about himself and the truth he speaks. He says Ambrose might be the toughest man in WWE, but he beat Ambrose.
Dean Ambrose heads to the ring and immediately attacks The Miz. Dallas and Axel help Miz beat Ambrose until Seth Rollins makes his way to the ring to help even the odds. Ambrose and Rollins force Miz and The Miz-tourage to retreat.
Backstage
Ambrose questions Rollins for his actions. Rollins says he didn’t like the way Miz talked about him. Ambrose tells Rollins that he doesn’t trust him and there will be no Shield reunion. He tells Rollins to fight his own battles and do interfere in Ambrose’s.
Match 3
Sasha Banks & Bayley vs Nia Jax & Alexa Bliss (RAW Women’s Champ)
(referee: Rod Zapata)
Result: Bayley pins Alexa Bliss with a schoolboy
Time: 6:25 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
A pretty good match. I liked some of the small things Alexa did in the match, and I think the finish is interesting. It keeps all four of these women relevant in the Women’s Title picture.
Backstage
Goldust says his fans deserve an encore performance of “The Shattered Truth.” He will soon premiere the sequel.
** I like the idea of this feud, but I think they might be dragging it out too much and too long. I’ve kind of forgotten what happens week to week because almost nothing has been happening. And I think for this to really work, Goldust has to come out on top. He needs to be the one handing out more of the beatings. Otherwise his whole shtick won’t feel threatening.
Or here’s another idea. Have R-Truth come out on top. Have him humiliate Goldust whenever they finally decide to bring this feud to a climax. That would allow R-Truth to get a nice push. After the feud, have Goldust disappear for a while. While he’s gone, videos will start popping up from time to time on social media of superstars in embarrassing or otherwise compromising situations. Eventually these videos will get more menacing and stalker-like in tone. After a few months of this, it will be revealed that Goldust has been behind them the whole time. It’s the return of GTV! Goldust’s modified gimmick can be that the loss to R-Truth has caused him to modernize his approach to film-making. He won’t be stuck in the golden age of cinema, he’ll be making movies on cell phones and being a movie star in the age of TMZ. That would make him an immensely unlikable character for sure. It would also make him feel dangerous since you never know whom he’ll be targeting for his next movie or when. **
Video
A package video of the ambulance match between Reigns and Strowman and of Reigns trying to kill Strowman.
Video
The second commercial for WWE 2K18 reveals Kurt Angle as a pre-order exclusive.
Match 4
R-Truth vs Goldust
(referee: Eddie Orengo)
Result: Goldust wins via pinfall after a Final Cut
Time: 5:40
Match Thoughts
A pretty good match. The crowd didn’t seem too into it, but I liked it. Goldust kicked out of some of R-Truth’s bigger moves and looked pretty good. It doesn’t really seem like a feud-ending match, but I guess we’ll find out in the next few weeks.
Ring Area
Kurt Angle heads to the ring. He says Great Balls of Fire was very successful, but things got out of hand between Reigns and Strowman. No one has heard from Strowman and it’s unclear when he’ll return. Angle moves on by introducing the Universal Champ, so Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman head to the ring.
Angle congratulates Lesnar and shakes his hand. Heyman asks if there’s anything else. Angle says he though Heyman and Lesnar might want to hear his ideas for Lesnar’s next contender, but Heyman doesn’t waste time on public brainstorming sessions. As Heyman and Lesnar are about to leave, Roman Reigns heads to the ring.
Angle says Reigns has a lot of nerve coming to the ring after what he did last night. Reigns talks about The Attitude Era when everyone blew everything up, but Angle says this is a different time. Reigns says he did Angle a favor since Angle didn’t know how to handle Lesnar and Lesnar is never around to do anything about him. Reigns says he deserves to face Lesnar more than anyone. Heyman seems to like the idea, but Lesnar says Reigns doesn’t deserve anything. As Lesnar talks, Samoa Joe heads to the ring.
Joe says everyone is living in a fantasy land. Joe is going to bring some reality to the situation. Joe gets into Lesnar’s face, drawing some genuine-looking reactions with his words. The words exchanged in the ring get very intense and heated before Angle made a decision to put Reigns and Samoa Joe in a number one contender match next week, saying that if a fight breaks out tonight then the match is canceled. Everyone seems okay with this decision. Joe leaves the ring first.
** This was a very good segment. The intensity that Samoa Joe drew when he started talking was explosive. It brought out great reactions from Heyman and Lesnar which just made the whole scene even more compelling. Angle kept getting in-between the guys when they were arguing, and it felt like he was genuinely concerned that things were about to break loose. This segment had a feeling of reality to it that is kind of rare. I think a ton of the credit for that goes to Joe. **
Ring Area
Cole and Booker T are talking about what we just saw when Corey Graves gets a text message and leaves the announce table.
Backstage
Angle and Graves worry about the text message they both received. Angle says his career might be destroyed, but he has to go public with whatever it is. Graves says everything will be fine because people love him.
** This kind of stuff seems silly when you think about a TV camera being in their faces while they’re discussing these private matters. **
Match 5
Akira Tozawa w/ Titus O’Neil & Cedric Alexander vs Noam Dar w/ Alicia Fox & Neville (Cruiserweight Champ)
(referee: Darrick Moore)
Result: Akira Tozawa pins Neville after a diving senton
Time: 6:03 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
A good match. Alexander was impressive and I liked the revisit of last night’s title match between Tozawa and Neville.
Backstage
Charly Caruso welcomes Seth Rollins. Rollins says he didn’t aid Ambrose earlier tonight, he went out to shut The Miz up. He also says that even though his eye is hurting after his match with Wyatt last night, he’s going to continue to try to expose Wyatt for what he is.
Backstage
Bray Wyatt is not happy with Rollins for defying him. Rollins will not be forgiven for his sins.
Match 6
Bray Wyatt vs Seth Rollins
(referee: Chad Patton)
Result: Bray Wyatt wins via pinfall after Sister Abigail
Time: 13:28 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Very good match. I’m glad they had this rematch. They had a good match at Great Balls of Fire as well, but it got somewhat overshadowed by all the other big matches of the night.
Ring Area
Bray Wyatt disappears from the ring after the match, but as Seth Rollins tries to get to his feet, The Miz and The Miz-tourage head to the ring through the crowd. Rollins tries to fight them off but gets overwhelmed. Dead Ambrose runs to the ring with a chair. He uses the chair on The Miz before Dallas and Axel can pull him from the ring.
Backstage
Kurt Angle talks on the phone and invites someone to come to RAW next week. He wants to reveal something to the world, and whatever it is involves this person. Before hanging up the phone, Angle says “I love you.”
Show Impressions
I liked this show. It felt a little light on the wrestling, but I liked a lot of the story segments. This show felt like it was setting things up for a lot of new directions which I like. This was probably the first step towards Summer Slam, so I think a lot of what we saw tonight is going to pay off there.
Match of the Night
Bray Wyatt vs Seth Rollins
This was really the only match that was given a decent amount of time and felt like an important part of a feud rather than a smaller part of a longer program. But besides that, it had great action and played off of some of their previous interactions in an interesting way.