WWE RAW
Episode 1316
#RAW
Original Air Date: August 13, 2018
Event Date: August 13, 2018 (aired live)
City: Greensboro, NC
Venue: Greensboro Coliseum
Commentary: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young
Ring Announcer: Jojo
Video
Ronda Rousey heads to the ring. She talks about the passing of Jim Neidhart and urges Natalya to stay strong. Rousey says she is the first to defend Natalya, and she’s going to beat Alexa Bliss this Sunday for all the things Alexa has done. Tonight though, Ember Moon is going to beat Natalya. Rousey introduces Moon, and she heads to the ring.
Alexa Bliss comes out with Alicia Fox. Bliss calls Rousey a “spoiled brat, over-hyped rookie.” Summer Slam will not be Rousey’s moment of glory, it will be a humiliation. Bliss also makes fun of Rousey’s face. She also points out Kurt Angle’s double standard saying he’ll kick Reigns out of the building to protect Lesnar, but he will allow Rousey in the building even though she’s suspended. Since Angle won’t protect her, Bliss has hired personal security for tonight. Four big guys come out and accompany Bliss and Fox to the ring.
Referee Darrick Moore gets into the ring to start tonight’s first match. As he’s trying to clear everyone from the ring, Bliss pushes Moon into Rousey. Rousey falls off the ring apron, but she quickly gets back in and goes for Bliss. Bliss hides behind her security, so Rousey dispatches three of the four security guards. The fourth decides to leave of his own free will. Fox stands in-between Rosuey and Bliss, so Rousey sends Fox to the floor. Bliss has already left the ring by this point. The referee tries to get control as the show goes to a commercial break.
Match 1
Ember Moon w/ Ronda Rousey vs Alexa Bliss (RAW Women’s Champ) w/ Alicia Fox
(referee: Darrick Moore)
Result: Ember Moon wins via DQ when Alicia Fox (sort of) attacks
Time: 8:46 (joined in progress; 1 break)
Match Thoughts
Pretty good match. It was kind of difficult to get into it with the commercial breaks and the Summer Slam promo playing over the match, but I liked it. It started getting a lot more exciting towards the end with Ember Moon doing some fun and unique moves. Unfortunately, the finish felt a little off. Fox was supposed to break up Moon’s pin attempt (naturally after Moon hit her finisher), but Moon didn’t seem to react. Bliss had to kick out on her own which kind of defeats the purpose of the overused “she was going to beat the champ but it got ruined” finish. That was a small thing in a fun match though.
Video
Clips of Lesnar attacking Angle and Heyman from two weeks ago. Also, clips from Heyman’s sit down interview from last week.
Backstage
Kurt Angle can’t believe Baron Corbin would go over his head. Corbin doesn’t care. He also leaves.
Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre walk into Angle’s office. Ziggler can’t believe Rollins isn’t here, but Angle assures him that Rollins will be here tonight. He just had some travel issues.
Match 2
Baron Corbin vs Tyler Breeze
(referee: John Cone)
Result: Baron Corbin wins via pinfall after Deep Six
Time: 4:13
Match Thoughts
Pretty good match. Breeze didn’t get totally dominated which is good. Breeze surprised Corbin a bit with some of his offense, and in the end Corbin just had to end the match before Breeze got too much momentum. This was definitely a Summer Slam warm-up match for Corbin, but I’m glad Breeze looked good.
Ring Area
After the match, Baron Corbin is proud of how good he is. He also introduces Finn Balor’s opponent for tonight, Jinder Mahal. Mahal and Singh head to the ring. Corbin says he’s not done yet. Finn Balor will also face Kevin Owens tonight in a handicap match. Owens heads to the ring.
Corbin finally introduces Balor who heads to the ring. As Corbin is leaving, Angle comes out to the stage. Angle says he can’t cancel the match, but he can add to it. Angle gives Balor a partner: Braun Strowman.
Match 3
Jinder Mahal w/ Sunil Singh & Kevin Owens vs Finn Balor & Braun Strowman
(referee: Shawn Bennett)
Result: Braun Strowman pins Jinder Mahal after a powerslam
Time: 10:39 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Good match. This was about as fun as expected. Balor spent a lot of time in the ring while Strowman had a few moments of destruction. Owens and Strowman were mostly kept away from each other which makes sense heading into Summer Slam.
Ring Area
After the match, Strowman chases Owens to the back. With Balor alone in the ring, Baron Corbin attacks him from behind. Balor takes End of Days, then Corbin claps for himself as he leaves.
Backstage
Ziggler tells Angle that since he and McIntyre showed up to work on time (unlike Rollins), Ziggler would like to review the title match contract.
Ring Area
Local competitor Ricky Roberts (John Skyler) is in the ring. He’s holding a guitar, wearing chaps and a cowboy hat, and his favorite WWE competitor is Elias. As Roberts talks, Elias comes out to the stage. Elias wonders how big of a fan Roberts is. Roberts can prove how big of a fan he is by beating Bobby Lashley tonight.
Elias talks about Lashley and Greensboro, but Lashley interrupts him when he heads toward the ring. Lashley is getting ready for his match with Roberts wen Roberts smashes his guitar on Lashley’s back. Lashley gets pissed and hits Roberts with a very large spinebuster.
Backstage
Bo Dallas is upset that the B-Team’s odds of winning tonight are lower than usual. Curtis Axel doesn’t care about math. Math didn’t make the B-Team champs.
Backstage
Ziggler and McIntyre continue to review the title match contract.
Match 4
Triple Threat RAW Tag Team Title Match
Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt vs The Revival vs The B-Team (RAW Tag Champs)
(referee: Darrick Moore)
Result: Curtis Axel pins Bray Wyatt after The Revival hits Wyatt with the Shatter Machine
Time: 7:19 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Good match. This was definitely one of the better B-Team matches. The action was good, and the finish didn’t rely on circumstance. Curtis Axel actually showed some intelligence and strategy, picking the right moment to get into the ring to get the win.
Backstage
Roman Reigns walks around in the backstage area. He encounters the B-Team as they celebrate their latest victory.
Backstage
Ziggler questions the clause in the title match contract allowing Rollins to have someone in his corner. Angle says that’s a standard clause, but he could take it out. That would mean McIntyre wouldn’t be allowed at ringside though. Ziggler says the clause is fine. It won’t matter anyway.
Ring Area
Roman Reigns heads to the ring. Reigns tells himself to leave this place better than he found it every day. He can’t do that with Lesnar around, so it’s time for Lesnar to go. Reigns barely gets started when Paul Heyman comes out and heads towards the ring.
Heyman is surprisingly joyous. Heyman says Reigns can make history on Sunday, but he can also make history tonight. Heyman offers Reigns the chance to learn all of Lesnar’s secrets. Reigns says he doesn’t need Heyman’s help. Heyman seems to be drowning, and he’s not worth saving. Reigns refuses Heyman’s services and wishes him sell in his future endeavors.
Heyman says yes, he is drowning. And it has to do with something Heyman learned while riding with Afa and Sika. Heyman hands Reigns a piece of paper. As Reigns reads, Heyman sprays something in his eyes. With Reigns blinded, Lesnar heads to the ring. Lesnar freely attacks Reigns and chokes him out.
Match 5
Bobby Roode & Apollo Crews & Titus O’Neil w/ Dana Brooke vs Mojo Rawley & Authors of Pain
(referee: John Cone)
Result: Bobby Roode pins Mojo Rawley after the Glorious DDT
Time: 2:47
Match Thoughts
This was super short and kind of an afterthought. This could have been a lot of fun, but there just wasn’t enough time.
Video
A tribute to Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart.
Selfie Promo
Ruby Riott and the Riott Squad don’t care about Sasha and Bayley making up. It’s easy to be friends when things are going well. How will they fare when the Riott Squad makes things difficult?
Match 6
Sasha Banks w/ Bayley vs Ruby Riott w/ Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan
(referee: Dan Engler)
Result: Ruby Riott wins via pinfall with a schoolboy (after a distraction from everyone at ringside)
Time: 5:42
Match Thoughts
Good match. It’s really nice having Ruby Riott back on RAW.
Backstage
Corbin tells Angle how terrible he is at his job.
Ring Area
In the ring, Kurt Angle announces that, despite what happened earlier tonight, the Universal Title match will still go on as planned. He also says Brock Lesnar is the worst Universal Champ of all time. Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre interrupt and head to the ring.
Ziggler wants to know if he’s going to have a match at Summer Slam or not. He’s fine either way. Angle introduces Seth Rollins, but no one comes out. Ziggler and McIntyre aren’t surprised. Still, they do respect Rollins. Rollins worked as hard as he could every night in order to make it to the top. Unfortunately, working so hard for the fans was also his downfall. Ziggler knows firsthand how the fans will turn their backs on Rollins. In McIntyre, Ziggler knows that someone finally has his back. Ziggler doesn’t care about anyone in the crowd or anyone in the back. All he and McIntyre care about is stealing the show for themselves.
Ziggler asks Angle for the title match contract so he can sign and Rollins can forfeit. Ziggler signs, and after a few moments Rollins’ music plays.
Rollins comes out and says he hasn’t been entirely truthful. He’s been in the building for a while, but he didn’t want to come out until Ziggler had signed the contract. Rollins has been dealing with some travel issues, but the issues weren’t his. They were Dean Ambrose’s.
Together, Ambrose and Rollins head to the ring. A brawl erupts. Rollins and Ambrose quickly clear Ziggler and McIntyre from the ring. Seth Rollins signs the contract as the show ends.
Show Impressions
I think this was a pretty good show. It was a lot better than last month’s pre-PPV show. I think it did a fine job of adding a little more interest to RAW’s portion of Summer Slam. Also, it was good seeing Ambrose.
Match of the Night
Tag Title Match
This was probably my favorite B-Team match so far.
Official Results: https://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2018-08-13