Original Air Date: July 31, 2107
Event Date: July 31, 2017 (aired live)
City: Pittsburgh, PA
Venue: PPG Paints Arena
Commentary: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Booker T
Ring Announcer: Jojo
Video
Clips of the situation between Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe, Roman Reigns, and the Universal Title.
Intro Video
“Enemies” by Shinedown
Ring Area
Kurt Angle heads to the ring. Angle talks about what’s coming up on tonight’s show, including a triple threat between Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman, and Roman Reigns. He goes on to briefly talk about his career and thanks the fans for being there with him along the way. Angle starts to exit the ring, but Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman head to the ring before Angle can leave.
Heyman tells Angle that he sees the scam he’s trying to pull. He knows Angle needs to take the title away from Brock Lesnar. Why else would he force him to defend his title in a Fatal Four Way? He respects what Angle is doing by protecting the RAW brand, but he doesn’t like it. Heyman says that if Lesnar does indeed lose the title, both Lesnar and Heyman will leave RAW. The thing is, Lesnar won’t lose his title.
Match 1
Hardy Boyz vs Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
(referee: Rod Zapata; guest commentary: The Revival)
Result: Jeff Hardy pins Luke Gallows after a Swanton Bomb
Time: 5:35 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Good match. A solid performance from both teams. There was a good back and forth, and though it wasn’t anything particularly special, it was an entertaining match.
Ring Area
As the Hardy Boyz make it up to the stage, The Revival attacks them. Gallows and Anderson join the fight, but the Hardys fight off both teams.
Backstage
Renee Young welcomes Dean Ambrose. Ambrose thinks he and Rollins looked good as a team, but he’s still not sure about being a team again. Rollins walks up and says their tag match last week was something special. Ambrose still doesn’t trust Rollins though.
Backstage
Rollins encounters Sheamus and Cesaro in the back. Cesaro and Sheamus laugh and tell Rollins that they used to hate each other, but now they have trust. Rollins and Ambrose had the opposite experience, and no one can ever trust Rollins again. He couldn’t even be on an episode of Ride Along. His show would instead be titled Ride Alone. Rollins doesn’t appreciate being made fun of, so he challenges whoever wants to fight him tonight. Sheamus accepts Rollins’ challenge.
Match 2
TJP & Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari vs Cedric Alexander & Rich Swann & Akira Tozawa w/ Titus O’Neil
(referee: Darrick Moore)
Result: Akira Tozawa pins TJP after a diving senton
Time: 5:27 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
The story here was all about Tozawa’s injured shoulder, but the action was good as well. Swann and Alexander make an exciting team, and adding Tozawa to that is a lot of fun.
Ring Area
The Miz, Maryse, Bo Dallas, and Curtis Axel head to the ring for Miz TV. Miz starts by saying how much he hates the city he’s in. He also starts by talking about Kurt Angle and Jason Jordan. Jordan heads to the ring as Miz’s guest.
Miz asks some questions and wonders what Jordan thinks about some people in the crowd booing him. He also suggests that “some people” questioning the opportunities Jordan has been getting lately. Not The Miz though. Miz offers Jordan the opportunity to join the Miz-tourage. Jordan politely refuses. Miz makes a case for helping Jordan navigate all the jealousy that he’ll be facing now that he’s Angle’s son, but Jordan again politely refuses. Miz starts to get a little nasty, talking about Angle in some derogatory ways. Jordan gets in Miz’s face and warns him not to talk about his father anymore.
Miz tries to attack, but Jordan avoids a clothesline and hits Miz with a suplex, launching him into Dallas and Axel. Jordan then escapes the ring before anyone can retaliate.
Backstage
Roman Reigns says tonight is about sending a message. He’ll be happy to drive Strowman to Hell, and he’ll also beat up Samoa Joe.
Match 3
Sheamus (RAW Tag Champ) w/ Cesaro (RAW Tag Champ) vs Seth Rollins
(referee: Shawn Bennett)
Result: Seth Rollins wins via pinfall with a roll-up
Time: 5:29 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
This was okay, but it was nearly a handicap match. Any time Rollins started to get an advantage, Cesaro helped Sheamus retain control. I can’t say I’m happy with the finish. It kind of diminishes the point of setting up Rollins as an underdog, though I’m sure people will forget about the finish in a week.
Ring Area
After the match, Cesaro and Sheamus attack Seth Rollins. No one comes to help Rollins until Cesaro and Sheamus decide to return to the ring for more beatings. Dean Ambrose runs to the ring, but he winds up getting double-teamed quickly and takes a Neutralizer from Cesaro.
Backstage
Samoa Joe has been putting brave men to sleep for 20 years. Joe pushed Lesnar to the limit, he dominated Reigns, and he’s going to make Strowman pay for getting into his business. Joe is not scared of anyone. Someone’s going to sleep tonight.
Video
WWE celebrates Special Olympics’ athlete Justin “JJ” Jones.
Ring Area
Justin “JJ” Jones is in the front row.
** Jones looked super happy to be there. That was cool to see. **
Ring Area
Bray Wyatt heads to the ring. There is no escape for Finn Balor. No mortal man can escape the darkness. Bray Wyatt sees, because Bray Wyatt is everywhere. He sees people living vicariously through Finn Balor. They’re foolish, and Balor is a man that never was. He exists on borrowed time. There is no escape from Bray Wyatt.
The lights go out and FInn Balor appears in the ring. His back is to Wyatt and he is still. Wyatt approaches Balor, and Balor hits him with an overhead kick. Balor follows up on the attack and sends Wyatt out to the crowd.
Backstage
Braun Strowman doesn’t use computers, he breaks things. Reigns also tried to murder him, so what else can Reigns or Samoa Joe do to him?
Match 4
Triple Threat Match
Samoa Joe vs Braun Strowman vs Roman Reigns
(referee: John Cone)
Result: Roman Reigns pins Samoa Joe after a spear
Time: 11:22 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
A good match. A lot of it felt like a series of one-on-one matches, but I still enjoyed this for what it was. It also felt a little like a Reigns vs Strowman match with Joe filling in the down time. And that’s fine. The finish felt a little anti-climactic because of the personalities involved, but obviously they aren’t going to give too much away with these three here.
Backstage
Enzo Amore apologizes to Big Show for getting him involved with Big Cass. Show doesn’t mind. He likes Enzo, and Cass needs to learn about respect.
Ring Area
In the ring, Elias sings about Pittsburgh and how it’s the “city of pits.” Kalisto interrupts.
Match 5
Elias vs Kalisto
(referee: Darrick Moore)
Result: Elias wins via pinfall after Drift Away
Time: 4:46 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
This was okay, but I think the crowd was a little exhausted after the triple threat match. They didn’t seem very into this match. Kalisto looked good and had a lot of energy, but that really highlighted Elias’ lack of speed. I’d like it if this would be used to get Kalisto on TV more, but I feel like this is just the start of a holding pattern for Elias while he gets his next feud lined up.
Backstage
Charly Caruso welcomes Alexa Bliss. Bliss isn’t worried that Bayley is now the number one contender for her title. She also thinks it’s funny that Sasha Banks lost to Bayley.
Video
A clip from Pure Country, Pure Heart “starring” Shawn Michaels.
Backstage
Seth Rollins thanks Ambrose for helping him earlier. Ambrose says he wasn’t out there to help Rollins, he was forced to run out there so he didn’t look like a bad guy. He accuses Rollins of orchestrating the whole scenario.
** Ambrose is slowly falling into conspiracy theory mode. **
Match 6
Bayley vs Nia Jax
(referee: Rod Zapata)
Result: Bayley wins via coutout
Time: 5:24 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
This was okay, but it was clear that Bayley injured her shoulder early in the match. It took her a while to get going after that, and even when she did, the action was considerably slower than usual. So much so that it was hard to believe a lot of the action taking place.
Ring Area
Alexa Bliss attempts to attack Bayley, but Bayley escapes and backs away up the ramp.
Backstage
Renee Young welcomes Big Cass. He wonders how Big Show can teach respect if he can’t even respect himself. How could he respect himself if he hangs out with Enzo?
Ring Area
Enzo Amore heads to the ring. He talks about eating a banana peel and having a guy that writes reality checks.
** Not his best promo… **
Match 7
Big Show w/ Enzo Amore vs Big Cass
(referee: Shawn Bennett)
Result: Big Cass wins via DQ when Enzo attacks
Time: 5:07
Match Thoughts
This was okay. It was a pretty even match, though Show had momentum early and Cass started to build momentum later. I think feud could have one or two really good matches, but this just felt like a warmup.
Show Impressions
I felt like this show was just okay. The matches were alright, but none were great. I thought the pacing was odd and that the triple threat really should have been the main event. The Cass/Show match just didn’t have the same impact. I understand that they’re trying to build Cass/Amore/Show as a big feud, but it needed something more tonight to justify its place on the show. My favorite stuff tonight was probably the tag stuff, both the opening match and the Sheamus & Cesaro / Rollins & Ambrose happenings.
Match of the Night
Hardy Boyz vs Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
A lot of matches tonight were just okay. This match was good.