WWE Raw came to us from the US Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio tonight with all the fallout from WWE WWE Clash of Champions. Raw brought us a US Championship rematch between Roman Reigns and a rematch between The New Day and The Club for the WWE Raw Tag-Team Championships. We were also promised a conclusive decision on the Cesaro vs Sheamus series.
Other questions that loomed before Raw were about Seth Rollins’ mindset after getting screwed at WWE Clash of Champions and whether Triple H would show up. What would be the situation in the WWE Raw Women’s division? What next for the WWE Tag-Team Champions, The New Day?
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Roman Reigns (C) vs Rusev (for the WWE United States Championship)
Raw kicked off with a rematch between Roman Reigns and Rusev. Rusev lost the United States title to Roman Reigns at Clash of Champions and immediately called for his rematch.
The match started off even with both the champion and challenger going back and forth. There were quite a few submission holds early on in the match with both men trying to wear out their opponent. Rusev made up his mind to target Roman Reigns’ back from early on and he relentlessly worked on it early on in the match.
Roman hit back with his trademark corner clotheslines and went for his patented one-arm powerbomb but his back couldn’t hold up after Rusev’s early attack and didn’t hold up. Rusev took advantage and laid Roman out.
Finding himself back in the driver’s seat, Rusev continued working on Roman’s back with submission holds but Roman eventually powered out with his bare hands, only to be hit by a nasty dropkick and a Gut-wrench Bomb from the challenger. Rusev continued to hit Reigns with measured right hands in a bid to soften him up and win back his precious United States Championship.
Just when we thought Roman may have been down and out, Reigns exploded out of the ropes with clotheslines and a big boot. Reigns then went for his patented Superman Punch Rusev caught him in mid-air and both men toppled over the top rope and fell outside with Roman landing on Rusev’s head.
We came back from the commercial break to see Rusev back on top. The ‘Guy’ hit back with a few targeted blows to try and get himself back into the match but Rusev is as tough as they come. Reigns hit a beautiful Samoan Drop on an inbound Rusev for the nearfall before Rusev took back the advantage once more in this back and forth encounter. Rusev hit Roman with two jumping headbutts before heading to the top rope. Roman caught him with a forearm and sent him crashing down to the outside where Roman met him and dragged him back into the ring.
Rusev hit Roman with a deadly kick to the head for another nearfall. Even though Rusev had been one step ahead of Reigns for most of the match, he just wasn’t able to put Roman away who finally hit back with a late flurry that began with a desperate Superman Punch. Lana tried to distract Reigns again but he didn’t take the bait as he took the fight to Rusev outside the ring.
The fight predictably went into the crowd as the referee reached the 8 count with it being clear that the match would end in a countout.
Match ended as a draw by countout
Roman and Rusev continued to go at it outside the ring after the bell. They smashed each other into the barricades till Rusev brought a steel chair into the equation and smash Reigns in the back with it. However, as Rusev went for the final blow, Roman hit him with a spear and sent him reeling.
The countout was a terrible ending to an overly long match.
Mick Foley addresses the WWE Universe
Raw GM Mick Foley was out next to address the fans after the events of Clash of Champions 2016. He started off by talking about Sheamus and Cesaro’s final match. Since the series ended in a draw after the final match had to get called off, Foley called out both Sheamus and Cesaro to the ring in order to address the situation.
Sheamus and Cesaro came out and bickered about who deserves the championship opportunity that Foley had promised the winner. Foley says that they both deserve championship opportunities and would get it together – they would face the winner of the match between the New Day and The Club for the WWE Tag Team Championships.
Cesaro and Sheamus complained and were unhappy with the decision but Foley’s decision was final. Sheamus and Cesaro in the same tag-team could work well.
The New Day (C) vs Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson (for the WWE Raw Tag-Team Championships)
The match began even before we came back from the commercial break, something that I always find annoying. New Day were on top at the beginning of the match but a vengeful Club were soon on top. They absolutely decimated Kofi Kingston and Big E in front of a watching Xavier Woods.
Anderson and Gallows had a chip on their as they viciously attacked their opponents after getting screwed at Clash of Champions. New Day just couldn’t get any offence in as the Club repeatedly hit them with stiff kicks and double teamed them. Gallows caught Kofi off a springboard and hit him with a vicious clothesline as we went for commercial.
We came back from commercial with Kingston desperately going for a tag but Karl Anderson hitting him with a running sitdown powerbomb. Anderson tagged in Gallows but Gallows was soon caught by Kofi while attempting a double axe-handle. Both legal men made tags as Big E came in and suplexed the hell out of Anderson. Big E followed it up by spearing Anderson through the middle rope. Kofi and Big E followed up with the Midnight Hour on Anderson for the nearfall as the count was broken up by Luke Gallows.
New Day went for another double team but Gallows took Kofi out from the outside. The duo then isolated Big E and hit the Magic Killer for the nearfall after Kofi broke up the count. With Gallows ad Big E on the outside, Kofi Kingston hit Karl Anderson with the Trouble In Paradise. 1 – 2 – 3!
The New Day retain the championships.
The New Day def. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows
Cesaro and Sheamus are arguing backstage as Mick Foley interferes. Foley yells at Sheamus and Cesaro and he tells them that he isn’t messing around. He says that the two of them proved themselves during their 7 match series and he couldn’t put themselves in a 8th match and together the two of them could create magic together.
He challenges them to prove something to the WWE Universe – something that he already knows.
Bayley vs Anna Fields
Anna Fields attacked Bayley as her back was turned before the bell even rang. She pounded Bayley into the ropes, clearly hoping to get an advantage with Bayley’s back turned. Bayley powered out of a rest hold, clearly annoyed at fields tactics, hitting fields with her trademark corner elbow followed up by a Bayley-To-Belly.
Easy win for Bayley tonight.
Bayley def. Anna Fields
Tom Phillips is in the ring with Bayley after the ring and he asks Bayley how she’s feeling after Clash of Champions. Bayley says that Sasha and Charlotte proved why they’re the top two women in the industry but Bayley said that she wouldn’t stop till she was hugging the WWE Women’s Championship.
Mick Foley and Stephanie are backstage following the match. Foley questions Stephanie’s integrity once more and this time he really sets her off. He asked Stephanie what was going on with her husband Triple H at Clash of Champions and questions Stephanie bringing out a referee in the nick of time to help Kevin Owens win and Stephanie told Foley that it was his job to protect the integrity of the matches as the GM.
Stephanie also tells Mick Foley not to forget that he works for her and it’s not the other way round.
Rich Swann and Cedric Alexander vs Lince Dorado and Drew Gulak
This one was a great tag-team match to showcase the stars of the Cruiserweight Division. Rich Swann and Cedric Alexander made their Monday Night Raw debut’s last week and Lince Dorado and Drew Gulak appeared on Raw for the first time tonight.
For those unfamiliar, Drew Gulak is one of the best catch wrestlers in the world and he’s a technical submission expert with his patented Dragon Sleeper making many an opponent submit. His partner, Lince Dorado was a Puerto Rican native and known as the “Golden Lynx” and is famous for his Shooting Star press.
Swann and Dorado started us off in the match and the begins with incredible speed with both Swann and Dorado countering Hurracanrana’s and at one point looked like mirror images of each other. Dorado went for the early cover but Alexander interfered and broke up the pinfall. He then sent the oncoming Gulak reeling to the outside before joining him. Dorado countered the oncoming Rich Swann and sent him flying to the outside too following which Lince Dorado went to the top turnbuckle and took out all three men with a moonsault from the top rope to the outside.
We came back from the commercial to see Drew Gulak on top of Rich Swann. Gulak tags in his partner Lince Dorado. Dorado hit a few moves but got countered on a corner splash as both legal men made tags. Cedric Alexander was on fire after the hot-tag and he hit Gulak with his patented headstand springboard Enzeguiri. Alexander followed this up by taking Lince Dorado out with the Lumbar Check.
Swann took advantage of his partner’s prowess by dodging a Drew Gulak punch and hitting him with a spinning Superkick he calls the Rich Kick which he followed up by a fancy roll-up cover.
1 – 2 – 3!
Rich Swann and Cedric Alexander def. Lince Dorado and Drew Gulak
Cesaro and Sheamus vs Nick Cutler and Willis Williams
Cesaro and Sheamus began their journey as a team next. Bickering all the way fown to the ring, the duo continued it into the match. Cesaro and Nick Cutler began and Cesaro held Cutler up in a vertical suplex before going for a tag. Sheamus avoided the tag and found it funny but Cesaro ended up tagging Sheamus in when he wasn’t looking. Sheamus pounded Cutler who went and tagged in his partner Williams.
Cesaro tagged himself back in went to work on both Williams and Cutler. As Cesaro went for the Neutralizer on Cutler, Sheamus hit Williams with a Brogue Kick as he wnet to break up Cesaro’s move. Sheamus wasn’t impressed with his opponents and hit Cutler with a Brogue Kick before skulking off to the apron as Cesaro covered Cutler for the pinfall.
This was the beginning of a beautiful new tag-team partnership.
Cesaro and Sheamus def. Nick Cutler and Willis Williams
TJ Perkins is backstage with Tom Phillips. Perkins talks about how debuting on Raw will be the culmination of many years of hard work and the achievement of his goals as he is interrupted by The Brian Kendrick. Kendrick asks Perkins how it feels to deprive him of what is rightfully his. He says that the Cruiserweight Championship was resurrected just for him and Perkins was taking his spot and standing in his way,
Charlotte addresses the WWE Universe
Charlotte came out to the ring to sing her own praises – which are richly deserved. She says that Clash of Champions was another great night for her and she defeated two of the best women wrestlers in the world.
Charlotte says that no one in the division could handle her and she reiterated that she wasn’t the hugger Bayley and she wasn’t the internet darling Sasha Banks. Sasha interrupted and demanded her rematch which Charlotte agreed to, next week. Charlotte says that no matter how much she beat Sasha down, Sasha kept getting back up, Sasha promised to show the world why she was the best woman in the WWE and slapped Charlotte and sent her reeling. She followed it up with a Banks Statement on Dana Brooke and followed it up by clearing the ring of Charlotte and Dana.
TJ Perkins vs Tony Nese
TJ Perkins competed for the first time on Raw against fellow Raw debutant, the ‘Premier Athlete’ Tony Nese. Nese started the match off really well, hitting two hard belly-to-back drops to TJP. Nese pulled off some unbelievable moves including a cartwheel dodge on the apron followed by a superkick on the outside. He followed this up running back into the ring and immediately hitting TJP with an over-the-top-rope twisting dive. Nese showed the WWE Universe what he had to offer and had the crowd won over just minuted into the match.
Perkins hit back with an unique Octopus hold off a hurracanrana but Nese powered out of it and hit Perkins with a leg drop. Perkins then hit back a hurracanrana and a neckbreaker out of the corner as the crowd disrespectfully chanted “CM Punk” for no reason at all. Perkins hits the chickenwing facebuster and went to the top rope. Nese caught him out however and powered Perkins out of an Octopus hold into a deadlift vertical suplex.
The match ended with a kneebar following a TJP signature apron dropkick with Nese tapping out. The crowd chanted “Randy Savage” during the ending sequence of the match in another shameful incident of self-promotion by a WWE crowd who ignored a pretty great match only to chant for Punk and Savage instead of getting into the match Perkins and Nese were putting on. Shameful.
TJ Perkins def. Tony Nese
The Highlight Reel guest starring Kevin Owens
Jericho comes out first and introduces his best friend and the longest reigning WWE Champion Kevin Owens before inviting the WWE Universal Champion out.
Jericho says that Owens proved what real excellence is when he proved to the WWE Universe that he’s the epitome of a champion. Owens replies that he’d usually wear a suit and come out but Cincinnati did’t deserve it, especially because they’re the city that spawned a bum like Dean Ambrose. He went on to say that he’d proved that he was the man, that he was the main event and that he was better than Seth Rollins.
Owens bragged that he injured Seth Rollins and it was karma for injuring Cena, Sting and Finn Balor. KO said that Rollins may well have been the most dangerous man in WWE and now that he had taken Rollins out, he was the most dangerous man in WWE.
Rollins’ music hit at that point as he came out. He was followed out by security however who prevented him from entering the ring. As Rollins walked away, Owens asked Rollins to “Rebuild, Redesign and Reclaim his couch.” After Rollins was escorted away, Enzo and Cass’ music hit.
The foursome then went on to have one of the best and funniest verbal jousts this year. This really needed to be heard to be believed and included everything from Jericho wanting to sit on Big Cass’ lap to Santa Claus and set up a match between Enzo and Cass and JeriKo.
Sidenote: Will the best “best friends” be facing off with Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson soon?
Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho vs Enzo and Cass
The main event was set up impromptu after Enzo and Cass interfered during the highlight reel. The match itself was really entertaining with both teams giving it all they had. Owens and Jericho competed in their Highlight Reel attire which was a tiny detail but helped the angle.
Enzo and Cass showed fire throughout the match and wasn’t overwhelmed by the calibre of their opponents. Owens and Jericho have great chemistry together and Owens mocking Enzo is one of the best things I’ve ever seen. The little things that Owens does, like stepping on Enzo’s fingers just for the sake of it, is what makes him special. Jericho and Owens isolate Enzo for large sections of the match and worked him over. Jericho pulled off some great moves including a stalling vertical suplex.
As Jericho went up for a Superplex half way through the match, Enzo pushed him off and went for a crossbody to which Jericho countered with a dropkick. Owens then got tagged in and delivered a swift bodyslam followed by a senton after which he claimed that Enzo should still be in NXT.
Enzo finally tagged in Big Cass who came in and cleared house like usual delivering a big boot to Jericho and an Empire Elbow to Kevin Owens. Cass miscalculated a Stinger Splash however and Owens countered with a Superkick before going for a Cannonball. Cass stopped Owens dead in his tracks with a big boot, however. As Enzo and Cass went for the Boom Shaka Laka, Jericho got in the way and just straight up slapped Cass who then big booted Jericho with so much momentum that both of then ended up going over the top rope and outside the ring.
Owens capitalised on being alone with Enzo and hit him with a vicious Powerbomb. 1 – 2 – 3. Owens pins Enzo.
Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho def. Enzo and Cass
