Rollins finally figured out that eye for an eye meant eye for an eye literally.
He talked about how he’s just trying to lead Raw to a brighter future but Rey Mysterio has been in his way every step of the way. Then Kevin Owens came out and said he expected Rey to pick a Last Man Standing or a Steel Cage Match, but Seth is such a scumbag that he can make a man as respected and genuinely very nice as Rey Mysterio come to the point where he wants to gouge his eyes out. I loved this line. Also he name dropped PCO!
So this was one of Seth’s best promos since turning heel. I’ll admit that his promos at times have sounded repetitive, but on this show he brought us back to the origins of this character. It’s the WWE Universe that made him who he is, and Rey will not sacrifice himself for the greater good. I really liked that Seth brought up the origin of why he became the Messiah.
Murphy came out to attack Owens but Aleister Black, the white knight of Raw, attacked him and we got a commercial. They fought for the 10th time or so and I’m not going into it because it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. There’s a DQ finish because of course.
Then we got to the meat. Owens and Rollins had a hard fought match with Aleister, Rey and Dom Mysterio on the outside and no Murphy to help out Seth. At this point in the show my feed started crapping out so I couldn’t get a lot of what was going on, but Rev. Claire said that Owens won via Stunner.
The key difference between a heel advantage around the ring and a babyface advantage around the ring, is that the babyfaces, like in this case, do not tend to interfere and take cheap shots while the ref isn’t looking and help the babyface cheat to win. It does happen sometimes with babyfaces, but that’s usually in grudge matches or when the heel has been so dastardly that it warrants cheating to win. Truthfully I like my babyfaces to not be 100% honorable.
I was really hyped to watch this match and then USA crapped out on me so boo USA. Reading up on what happened via the live blog, I would have really enjoyed it and a lot of great moves were done. I will have to check out on YouTube. I am hoping that the Eye for an Eye match is fun and not a contrived mess. Figuratively and literally.
Sasha’s the real MVP
This main event was such a great way to end the night.
Sasha and Asuka really gave us a taste of what’s to come on Sunday. The Kabuki Warriors did a double hip attack to the role models and really brought it to them.
The last few minutes were super smooth and looked legitimately painful. Sane did one of the greatest elbow dives I’ve seen and almost won it if not for evil Bayley pulling her out of the ring. Sane then connected with a great Alabama slam and Sasha counters with a vicious looking bank statement for the win.
I love that Sasha was the workhorse in this match and got the win for the team. It sets the stage for if WWE pulls off a hopeful face turn with her while Bayley stays heel. It seems like Sasha was always the real workhorse of the team though, and she was especially the woman who was always being put in matches for her best friend.
I am so incredibly hyped to see Sasha vs. Asuka on Sunday as well as Bayley vs. Nikki Cross. Like I’ve been saying, I’m so torn on whether they pull the plug on the role models and have them feud to a big Summerslam match, or ride this train for a while. I know some people are tired of seeing them around constantly but I am not. I absolutely love it. It led to Bayley’s best run on the main roster.
Much needed intimidation
Dolph was a guest on MVP’s VIP Lounge to start the show.
He and MVP continued to run down Drew’s lack of being grateful for his friends shtick.
Drew interrupted and said that this Sunday he’s going to hurt Dolph. He realized what their arrangement really was before he got big in his second run in WWE. Dolph used him for his own benefit. He’s going to make sure he regrets bringing him to Raw in the first place.
He then decked Dolph and hopped out of the ring. Legend.
This is the Drew McIntryre I know and love. Direct, no nonsense, and intimidating. Up to this point, I was not remotely interested in Drew vs. Dolph at Extreme Rules. This time he called what the pairing between them was – a business arrangement. Drew was always there to be the bodyguard, and it was great to see him point that out. If Drew had this fire under him each week, I would have had a totally different outlook. Dolph did his part well here. He’s pretty good at being delusional.
Now I am invested and ready to see these two go at it. Dolph isn’t winning though, and that should be obvious. The only thing that could be worrisome on Sunday is the secret stipulation up Dolph’s sleeve. Crossing my fingers for a good one!
The Rest
Angel Garza and Andrade def. Viking Raiders – Before the match the four teams were in the back with Charly Caruso and the only thing of note here was that Ivar’s… charm wooed Charly away from Garza for a change. Garza was not happy about it! One of the best things about this whole match was Zelina on the outside. Her reactions make these matches so much better. Already in the beginning there was tension between Garza and Andrade but once the match went on, they got into a groove. Erik didn’t get much offense in before he was eliminated first.
When Garza and Andrade were busy getting on the same page, Ivar dove onto them. Andrade actually ended up saving Garza twice before getting eliminated. Garza fought for Charly’s honor and got the win for his team. Now I like the Street Profits but I think they need to get more serious and be the chasers. They have been doing the tension between Garza and Andrade but they need to get on the real same page and become tag champs. Though I think the most likely scenario is the dissension overcomes them and they break up.
By the way, last week when I mentioned a new Legacy with Orton, Andrade, and Garza, in no way did I mean Zelina should be out of the picture! I would have loved to see Orton and Zelina interactions and maybe an angle down the line where Zelina sees that Orton is too evil for her men and tries to convince them to break off from him.
Ruby Riott and Bianca Belair def. IIconics – BIANCA BELAIR! IT’S ABOUT TIME! Ruby reintroduced her back to Raw and best know that you never want to mess with the EST of WWE. I would absolutely love to see these two as a tag team and have Liv focus more on a singles run. This was a quick one but got Bianca back on TV and wrestling, which is what we all need in our lives.
Bobby Lashley def. Ricochet – A one sided match with Ricochet getting tossed around. The standard Ricochet match. I watched his documentary on the Network yesterday and was very inspired by it. I highly recommend! I do find it kind of funny though that WWE has been pushing it on TV and having him on TV in matches, and he hasn’t won a singles match in months.
Shayna Baszler interrupted Akira Tozawa vs. R-Truth – Tozawa and Truth were going to face off but Shayna came out and fought off the ninjas as Tozawa peaced out. What I wanted to happen next was Shayna putting Truth to sleep and winning the 24/7 title but alas. Instead, Shayna told us that she was through letting the women run around and have fun. Everyone is under the delusion that they’re in control, but she’s back to hit them all with a hard dose of reality.
Again, it was a perfect way to get Shayna as dominant by grabbing that 24/7 title but whatever. I’m happy to see her back after her dropping off the face of the Earth. Start/stop pushes are one of my biggest pet peeves with Vince McMahon. Stop booking for yourself, guy.
Randy Orton def. R-Truth – This lasted all of 10 seconds. The bigger point here is WWE’s trash booking of the 24/7 title. Twice tonight people have completely ignored the fact that R-Truth is a champion with a title that you just need to pin him for. Anytime. Anywhere. Neither took advantage. I just don’t get it. The title has been a joke since debuting, but it’d be nice to at least have consistency in booking. Consistent booking is just too hard sometimes, though.
With Extreme Rules this Sunday, as I said I’m mostly intrigued for the women’s title matches. Orton continued to be wonderful and I really liked Ric Flair trying to talk Big Show into retirement. I also still hate that Ric Flair is continually being trotted out at this time but WWE isn’t listening to any pleas to take him off TV. This show was way better than SmackDown!
Grade: B
What were your thoughts, Cagesiders?