Original Air Date: July 17, 2017
Event Date: July 17, 2017 (aired live)
City: Nashville, TN
Venue: Bridgestone Arena
Commentary: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Booker T
Ring Announcer: Jojo
Video
Tonight, Kurt Angle reveals the secret he’s been dealing with behind the scenes for the last few weeks.
Ring Area
Dean Ambrose heads to the ring with a chair in his hand. Ambrose introduces his chair, Steely Dan, to the Nashville crowd. Ambrose says he has a very bad idea. His idea is to invite The Miz and The Miz-tourage to the ring so they can continue their fight. After a bit of a wait, Seth Rollins is the one who comes out and heads to the ring.
Rollins wonders why Ambrose is picking a fight he can’t win on his own. He points out that Ambrose wanted Rollins to stay out of his fight, but Ambrose got involved in Rollins’ fight at the end of RAW last week. Ambrose needs a plan. Ambrose says he doesn’t make plans, he just fights. Ambrose tells Rollins this isn’t about him, so he should scram. Rollins says he’s going to fight Miz regardless of Ambrose, so he asks if Ambrose will be in his way or by his side.
Ambrose gets upset when Rollins calls him “brother.” His brothers were in The Shield, and he trusted his brothers. Rollins gets emotional and tells Ambrose he’s sorry for what he did by breaking up The Shield, but that’s in the past. Rollins has moved on. What will it take for Ambrose to move on? Rollins tells Ambrose to hit him with the chair if that’s what it will take for him to trust him again. Ambrose thinks about it but doesn’t do it. Ambrose and Rollins start to talk to each other when The Miz and The Miz-tourage come out to he stage.
The Miz says everything happening in the ring is a waste of time. Ambrose will never trust Rollins again. Ambrose also doesn’t have the skill to defeat The Miz. Miz has prepared a welcoming party tonight for Ambrose involving chairs, but Rollins is a nice addition. Miz, Dallas, and Axel attack, making quick work of Ambrose and Rollins. Miz hits Rollins with a Skull Crushing Finale on a chair before leaving the ring.
Backstage
Charly Caruso wants a word with The Miz won’t give her one. He, along with Maryse, Bo Dallas, and Curtis Axel, appear to leave the arena.
Match 1
Bayley vs Alexa Bliss (RAW Women’s Champ)
(referee: Shawn Bennett)
Result: Bayley wins via pinfall after a Bayley to Belly
Time: 4:45 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
A pretty good match. It had barely gotten started before Nia Jax came out to ringside. After a commercial break and a little back and forth, Jax made her presence known. Sasha Banks quickly came out to take care of Jax, and the distraction from the brawl at ringside led directly to the finish. I liked the match alright. I think it keeps the title situation interesting by having multiple people involved, and hopefully this is a good reset for Bayley. Her previous feud with Bliss did not go well at all. Hopefully a new approach will work better.
Ring Area
Corey Graves once again excuses himself from the announce table as Michael Cole introduces the next segment of the show.
Video
The Miz, Maryse, John Cena, and Nikki Bella were at the ESPYS. Also, Stephanie McMahon won an award at the Sports Humanitarian Awards.
Video
A package promo for Roman Reigns showing him beating people up.
Backstage
Kurt Angle is having second thoughts about his announcement tonight. Corey Graves says that his secret is going to get out regardless, so Angle should be the one to tell everyone. Angle agrees and thanks Graves for his help and friendship.
Backstage
Titus O’Neil gives Apollo Crews and Akira Tozawa a pep talk, but Ariya Daivari does not approve. Daivari questions Tozawa’a honor and challenges him to a match so they can finish what they started on 205 Live.
Match 2
The Brian Kendrick & Drew Gulak vs Mustafa Ali & Gentleman Jack Gallagher
(referee: Darrick Moore)
Result: Mustafa Ali pins Brian Kendrick after an inverted 450 Splash
Time: 2:19
Match Thoughts
This was okay, but it was extremely short. There were barely any moves at all and it didn’t really further any of the feuds involved. It felt more like time filler, though it did give the announcers the chance to plug 205 Live and the 2 out of 3 falls match between Gulak and Ali tomorrow.
Ring Area
Enzo Amore heads to the ring. Amore celebrates his own skill on the mic and says that he accepts the repercussions for what he says. Amore might lose a lot, but he fights for what he believes in and that’s what matters most. Big Cass used to be the same way.
He talks about how Big Cass used to throw Enzo at their opponents, but Cass said he threw him out of his life last week. Enzo isn’t going anywhere though. After Cass threw him in their match, Enzo got back in the ring and made Cass finish the fight. Enzo then shows footage of Big Show chasing Big Cass out of the ring last week on RAW. Even though Cass could look Show in the eyes, Cass ran away. Enzo would have stayed and fought.
Big Cass comes out to the stage. Cass starts by telling Corey Graves that this is all his fault, then he focuses on Enzo. He tells Enzo that he’s going to enter the ring and beat some sense into him. Enzo heads out into the crowd and takes a seat. He wants to watch what happens next, and what happens next is that Big Show heads to the ring.
Cass tries to attack Show before he can enter the ring, but Show quickly takes control of the brawl. After a few big shots, Cass fights back until Show throws him into the side of the ring and slams him on the floor. Cass is able to use the ring to his advantage and starts to dominate Show. Enzo Amore enters the ring at that point, but Cass easily downs him with a big boot.
Backstage
Charly Caruso reminds Roman Reigns that Samoa Joe has beaten him twice. Reigns says that’s in the past. Tonight is about tonight. And Summer Slam. Because Reigns is a dog in a big yard (or something).
Backstage
Ambrose and Rollins argue while they both try to recover from the beating they took earlier tonight. Kurt Angle walks up and informs them that next week they will team up against their choice of any two of the Miz-tourage. Ambrose wants all three. Rollins agrees, so Angle makes it a three on two handicap match.
Match 3
Elias Samson vs Finn Balor
(referee: Darrick Moore)
Result: Finn Balor wins via DQ when Elias Samson hits him with a guitar
Time: 5:04
Match Thoughts
This was a surprisingly good match. Balor looked good as usual, but Samson surprised me with some nice, powerful moves. The finish was also good. It sets this feud up to be a real grudge match. It adds interest to the feud, something that it very much needed. I now want to see Balor beat Samson rather than simply wanting Balor to move on to something (and someone) else.
Backstage
Bray Wyatt appears on the tron. He feels the need to punish Balor. To put him in agony. Wyatt says that Balor might base his name in Irish mythology, but Bray Wyatt is not a myth.
** This works too. I’m glad they’re finally getting back to a Wyatt/Balor feud. **
Video
A promo package for Samoa Joe showing him hurting people.
Backstage
Bayley and Sasha Banks go to Kurt Angle to settle their argument about who should face Alexa Bliss at Summer Slam. Angle says they both deserve a shot, but they are going to have to face each other in a match next week to decide who gets a title match.
Backstage
Charly Caruso asks The Revival why they attacked the Hardy Boyz last week. They attacked the Hardy Boyz because they are the Hardy Boyz. Why wouldn’t they attack them?
Match 4
Akira Tozawa w/ Titus O’Neil vs Ariya Daivari
(referee: Rod Zapata)
Result: Ariya Daivari wins via Match Stoppage when Titus O’Neil calls for the bell
Time: 2:56
Match Thoughts
This was an interesting match. Tozawa was selling his let shoulder as being hurt from Neville’s attack last week, and Daivari focused almost all of his attacks on it. Tozawa was increasingly having problems even moving around the ring, so Titus O’Neil called for the ref to stop the match.
I think this makes for an interesting wrinkle in Tozawa’s story and for the Cruiserweight Title picture. Tozawa was obviously angry, but will he stay with Titus? I hope so, I like what they’re doing with Titus Worldwide right now and want to see it expand. This, along with Titus putting Apollo Crews in a match with Braun Strowman, make for some interesting story lines. Does Titus really care about his clients? I would argue that yes, he does. He cares about them enough to know when they need to be protected, which he did here tonight and when he stepped into the ring to go face to face with Strowman.
Ring Area
Kurt Angle heads to the ring. First, Angle apologizes for being a distraction lately. He begins to talk about his secret, saying that he realizes that actions have consequences. One of his past actions has recently come to his attention and has changed his life. His family and the WWE support him though, so Angle is ready to tell the world.
Again tells a brief story about dating a woman in college who, unknown to him, gave birth nine months after they separated. He talks about the son he recently found out that he has, talking about how he excelled in multiple sports including wrestling. He is a current WWE superstar and is the newest member of RAW: Jason Jordan.
Angle cries as Jordan heads to the ring. The two men hug as the segment ends.
** I think this is too much of a contrivance to be good writing, but if it helps propel Jason Jordan to singles success, then I’m all for it. I feel like it sort of puts a lot of weight and expectations on Jordan, but people know this is just a story line, so it’s not like he’ll be looked at in the same way as a real second generation wrestler. But even if he was, I think Jordan has the skills to make this silly story work. Once he gets over and some time has passed, no one will care about this story, just like no one cared about Edge and Christian being introduced as brothers or most other in-story family relationships.
I will say I’m glad they didn’t make Angle’s secret something that would make him look bad. If this were the Attitude Era his secret would have been about drugs or an affair or something. Angle is too much of a beloved character and person at this point, so I’m glad they didn’t go that route. **
Match 5
The Hardy Boyz vs The Revival
(referee: Shawn Bennett; watching in the back: Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson)
Result: Scott Dawson pins Jeff Hardy after Dash Wilder trips Jeff off the top rope
Time: 9:52 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
A good match. This was a nice combination of styles. Both teams were able to wrestle their own style of match at different times which kept the match interesting. I don’t think The Revival were quite at the top of their teamwork game, but they did have a number of nice moments here. I think this sets up The Revival nicely for their return, and it adds fuel to my theory that the broken Hardys might be headed to RAW in some form.
Backstage
Charly Caruso welcomes Samoa Joe. Joe is not a man who posses qualms. He also doesn’t fear anyone. Tonight is his third match with Reigns, and the third time will be a charm.
Video
A profile of Norris Peterson, Special Olympics power lifter.
Backstage
Titus explains why he stopped Tozawa’s match, but Tozawa is still angry. Tozawa seems to at least accept Titus’ explanation, but he wants a match with Daivari tomorrow on 205 Live.
Match 6
Universal Title Number One Contender Match
Roman Reigns vs Samoa Joe
(referee: John Cone)
Result: the match ends in a No Contest when Braun Strowman interferes
Time: 11:43 (2 breaks)
Match Thoughts
This was a good match with some impressive moments. Both Joe and Reigns hit some rough looking moves, and they both looked like they wanted to fight. Unfortunately the match was cut short, but it was good while it lasted.
Ring Area
Braun Strowman continues his attack on Reigns after the match, but Joe gets involved as well. It’s essentially two on one as Reigns and Joe both take turns fighting Strowman. With Joe and Reigns both exhausted from their match, Strowman eventually gets the advantage in the ring. Strowman hits multiple powerslams before deciding to leave the ring.
Show Impressions
This episode was okay, but besides the Angle/Jordan segment nothing was terribly memorable. The wrestling seemed to take a backseat to story lines and setting up Summer Slam. Or really, it felt like they were getting things in place so that later on they can set up Summer Slam. So really, not much happened here.
Match of the Night
The Hardy Boyz vs The Revival
This match went on for a decent amount of time and it had a good finish. For that I think it was the best match of a night where where the matches weren’t spectacular as far as being solid on their own outside the context of the story lines.