End of Ambrose?
The 27th annual SummerSlam had everything a classic Hollywood movie would feature as the event had action, betrayal, heartbreak, twists, turns, and surprise endings and as the smoke settles from one of the most memorable SummerSlams in history, the 1108th edition of WWE Monday Night RAW came to you, live, from the Thomas & Mack Center at the UNLV in Las Vegas, NV. The man who conquered the undefeated streak of The Undertaker at WrestleMania can add another dominant Superstar to his list of victims in John Cena as Brock Lesnar absolutely mauled John Cena at SummerSlam, hitting an unreal sixteen German Suplexes on Cena and even shrugging off Cena’s best offensive moves in the Attitude Adjustment and STF, leveling Cena with the F-5 to convincingly win the match and become the brand new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Now that “The Beast” has accomplished exactly what he said he was going to do by “conquering” John Cena, what will the new champion’s advocate, Paul Heyman, have to say on behalf of his client? Is there any Superstar in WWE today who stands any chance of slowing down the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion?
SummerSlam also played host to a shocking betrayal when Nikki Bella turned her back on her own flesh and blood, her sister Brie Bella, to side with The Authority, handing WWE Principal Owner Stephanie McMahon the win over Brie in their intensely personal war. Now the question remains, why did Nikki Bella betray her sister and how will Brie Bella respond?
“The Biggest Event of the Summer” will go down in history as a good night for The Authority as, not only did John Cena lose the WWE World Heavyweight Title and Stephanie McMahon beat Brie Bella, but Seth Rollins defeated Dean Ambrose in their Lumberjack Match. Despite the fact that the Lumberjack Match was filled with chaos from start to finish and despite the fact that Kane started a lumberjack brawl that ended up giving Rollins the opportunity to blast Dean Ambrose with the Money-in-the-Bank briefcase and pick up the win, Seth Rollins still left SummerSlam with a victory over Dean Ambrose and that has to leave “The Lunatic Fringe” unsatisfied to say the least. What will go down on RAW between these two former Shield “brothers”?
Not only was a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion crowned at SummerSlam, but a new Intercontinental Champion and a new Divas Champion were crowned as well. In the opening match of the night, Dolph Ziggler was able to survive The Miz’s best shots and, one three-count later, Dolph Ziggler was the new Intercontinental Champion for the second time in his career as The Miz lost the title in his very first defense since winning the gold. Also at SummerSlam, Paige defeated her supposed “best friend” AJ Lee to become a two-time Divas Champion and on her 22nd birthday, no less. With The Miz and AJ Lee both looking for their respective rematches, will they cash in their rematch clauses on RAW?
Match Results
- Big Show & Mark Henry def. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan by Mark Henry pinning Erick Rowan following the World’s Strongest Slam.
- Non-Title: Natalya (with AJ Lee) def. Paige by roll-up.
- Intercontinental Championship: The Miz def. Dolph Ziggler (c) by count-out. As a result, Dolph Ziggler (c) retains.
- Cesaro def. Jack Swagger by pin following the Neutralizer.
- 6-Man Tag: Roman Reigns, Rob Van Dam, & Sheamus def. Randy Orton & RybAxel by Rob Van Dam pinning Curtis Axel following the Five-Star Frog Splash.
- Non-Title: Goldust & Stardust def. The Usos by Stardust rolling up Uso.
- Falls Count Anywhere: Seth Rollins (with Kane) def. Dean Ambrose by the referee stopping the match.
Detailed Results
The fans were on their feet at the beginning of RAW when the music of Daniel Bryan blares throughout the arena, but it would be WWE Principal Owner Stephanie McMahon who would come out, mocking Daniel Bryan on her way to the ring. Stephanie says that people have been saying that SummerSlam was even better than WrestleMania, saying that there is a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion and, later tonight, The Authority will present a brand new WWE World Heavyweight Title belt to the new champion, Brock Lesnar! Stephanie continues, wishing John Cena a speedy recovery from the beating he suffered at SummerSlam. Stephanie then says that the biggest “loser” of the night at SummerSlam was Brie Bella, saying that The Authority “always wins”. Stephanie says that she cannot take all of the credit for her victory, thanking her husband Triple H for always being by her side and always being “faithful” unlike Brie’s husband Daniel Bryan, who cheated on Brie Bella because he found out who Brie really is. Stephanie then says that Brie only cares about herself before introducing someone who knows Brie better than anyone as the Principal Owner introduces Brie’s sister, Nikki, who betrayed Brie at SummerSlam.
Stephanie says that a lot of people think that what Nikki did at SummerSlam was an act of “betrayal” before asking for Nikki’s point of view. Nikki says that, from the moment they came to WWE, it was supposed to be The Bella Twins against the world, saying that she has always been there for Brie and loved her. Nikki continues, saying that Brie is “selfish” and “manipulative” and, ever since they were kids, Brie has always been trying to compete with her, saying that she gets so sick of Brie telling her that she is never going to get married and never going to have a husband. Stephanie then asks if Nikki thinks that Brie was even racing her to the altar and Nikki agrees, but says that she feels like she still won in that situation since Brie ended up getting married to the “scraggly, goat-faced” Daniel Bryan. Nikki continues, saying that she is “heartbroken”, saying that she has been “mistreated” by Brie throughout her entire life. Nikki then says that she could say that she “lost a sister”, but she never really had one, saying that, without the burden of Brie around her neck, it feels “good”. This brings a visibly upset Brie Bella to the ring, sporting a knot under her eye caused by her sister. Brie tells Nikki that they are “sisters for life”, telling Nikki that she has “destroyed” their family. Brie then tells Nikki that she can “forgive” her, but Nikki slaps her sister down to the mat. As Brie breaks down in tears, Nikki tells Brie that she can “never forgive” her! Brie then leaves the ring in tears as Nikki Bella stands emotionless in the ring.
The opening match of the night would be a rematch from Friday’s SmackDown as “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry and “The World’s Largest Athlete” Big Show would face The Wyatt Family’s Luke Harper & Erick Rowan. In the end, it was Big Show knocking Luke Harper out with the Knockout Punch before leveling Erick Rowan with the Knockout Punch as well. Before Rowan can fall to the mat, Mark Henry picks Rowan up, dropping Rowan with the World’s Strongest Slam, pinning Rowan for the win.
Backstage, an interview with “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” Seth Rollins is interrupted when Rollins has a bucket of ice water dumped over his head. Rollins then turns around to discover that Dean Ambrose was the holder of the bucket and, after saying it was for “charity”, Ambrose pops Rollins in the face with the bucket before a brawl breaks out between Ambrose and Rollins. Referees and agents quickly rush in to separate the two rivals with Seth Rollins screaming at the officials to let him go.
Shortly after his brawl with Dean Ambrose, an angry Seth Rollins barges into the office of WWE COO Triple H, telling the boss that he told Triple H that Dean Ambrose would not stop. Triple H tells “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” to calm down before telling Rollins that he will face Ambrose in a rematch from SummerSlam here tonight, but the fans will get to pick what type of match they will have so, when Rollins finishes Ambrose for good, the “blood” will be on the hands of the fans, not on The Authority’s hands.
One night after defeating her “frienemy” AJ Lee to become a two-time Divas Champion, the new champion was in action on RAW as Paige went one-on-one with Natalya in a non-title match. During the match, AJ Lee would come skipping out to ringside, skipping around the ring, distracting Paige long enough for Natalya to take advantage, rolling the Divas Champion up for the victory. After the match, AJ Lee tells Paige that, despite everything, she still “respects” Paige and she is dedicating her “life” to Paige, saying that she needs to get in the ring and shake her hand right now. However, this would freak out the already disturbed Paige, who quickly leaves the ring.
Then it was time for The Authority to ring in a new era in WWE as WWE COO Triple H & WWE Principal Owner Stephanie McMahon made their way to the ring to present the brand new WWE World Heavyweight Title belt to the brand new champion, Brock Lesnar. Triple H says that they witnessed a match at SummerSlam that will go down as an “instant classic”, saying that two men stood in the ring and gave everything they had to represent WWE into the “future”. Triple H then unveils the brand new WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt that will replace the two belts currently used to represent the championship as the COO shows a belt that prominently features the new WWE logo. Triple H then introduces the brand new WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Brock Lesnar, who makes his way to the ring with his advocate, Paul Heyman, in tow. The new champion then takes turns taking photos with Heyman, The Authority, and his new title belt. The COO then raises the hand of Brock Lesnar before the new champion shakes hands with Triple H & Stephanie, who leave the ring to the new champion and his advocate.
In signature Paul Heyman fashion, Heyman introduces himself before saying that he is the one behind the one who conquered the one who thought that he was the one to beat the one in twenty-one and one. Heyman continues, saying that Brock Lesnar did not just “victimize” John Cena, but he “conquered” the titleholder and that allows him to call himself the advocate of the reigning and defending WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Heyman then says that there is something that even The Authority probably does not want him to say before saying that John Cena is not in the arena tonight, saying that Cena is not able to appear on RAW because of his client, Brock Lesnar. Heyman continues, saying that he has been in the wrestling business in one form or another since he was fourteen years old and he has never seen an “ass-kicking” like he saw at SummerSlam, saying that John Cena is the “top Superstar of a generation”. Heyman then puts things into “historical prospective”, saying that The Rock’s reign on top of WWE was roughly three years and Stone Cold Steve Austin’s time on top was roughly four years, but there has been one “constant” and one “WrestleMania main eventer” for the past ten years and that man is John Cena. Heyman says that any ordinary man would have given up thirty seconds into the title match at SummerSlam, but he finally got it at SummerSlam, saying that Cena kept taking a vicious beating from Brock Lesnar, but he never gave up. Heyman then says that Cena has earned his “respect” and, if he had the time, he would make Cena a “Paul Heyman guy”, saying that, if they wrote the history books up until the moment Brock pinned Cena, then Cena would have went down in history as the “single greatest fighting champion in WWE history”. Heyman continues, saying that Brock Lesnar does not share that opinion and, in Brock’s universe, whoever “dies with the most street cred” still “dies” and the career of The Undertaker “died” because of Brock Lesnar and the Cenation “died” because of Brock Lesnar. Heyman then says that the same fate awaits any Superstar who gets in Brock Lesnar’s path and tries to take the WWE World Heavyweight Championship away from him, saying that anybody who steps into the ring with the new champion is just a “man”. Heyman then proclaims that Lesnar is not a “man”, he is “The Beast” and Brock Lesnar will lay “wreckage” to any challenger that stands before him. Heyman then declares that Heyman lives by the creed, “Eat, Sleep, Victimize, Repeat”, and “Eat, Sleep, Conquer John Cena”. The new and likely unstoppable champion then exits the ring with Paul Heyman in tow, having made a definitive statement about what awaits any challenger to step up and face Brock Lesnar for the gold.
In a rematch from SummerSlam, the new Intercontinental Champion, Dolph Ziggler, would defend his newly won championship against the man he defeated for the title one night earlier, “The A-Lister” The Miz. During the match, both men would battle on the ring apron and Dolph Ziggler would hit a super kick on The Miz, but the injured leg of the champion would cause him to fall to the outside while Miz rolls to the inside. This results in The Miz winning the match via count-out, but Dolph Ziggler retains the Intercontinental Title. After the match, The Miz would attack Dolph Ziggler, but the champion would fight back, hitting the Zig Zag on The Miz in the ring before limping away, still the Intercontinental Champion.
After a disappointing loss to Rusev in a Flag Match at SummerSlam where Rusev also kicked Zeb Colter in the face, Jack Swagger would go it alone on RAW as “The Real American” would go one-on-one with Cesaro. Throughout the match, Jack Swagger would encounter issues with his injured mid-section and, after a well-placed thumb to the eye, Cesaro would plant Swagger with the Neutralizer, pinning Swagger for the win. After the match, Bo Dallas would come out, saying that 318 million Americans were let down when Jack Swagger lost to Rusev at SummerSlam. Bo continues, saying that Swagger lost again tonight and Swagger has lost his manager and all his “self-respect”. Dallas then says that Swagger can get it all back if he only “bo-lieves”.
One night after Roman Reigns defeated Randy Orton in a hard-fought match at SummerSlam, Roman Reigns would team with Rob Van Dam and United States Champion Sheamus to face “The Viper” Randy Orton and RybAxel in 6-Man Tag action. At the end of a chaotic match, it was Sheamus taking out Ryback with the Brogue Kick before Randy Orton takes the United States Champion out with the RKO. Roman Reigns then levels Randy Orton with the Spear, but Curtis Axel sends Roman shoulder-first into the ring post, leaving it to just Rob Van Dam and Curtis Axel before RVD hits the Five-Star Frog Splash on Curtis Axel, pinning Axel to pick up the win for his team.
The WWE Tag Team Champions were in action on RAW as The Usos would face Goldust & Stardust in a non-title match. In the end, it was Stardust surprising one of The Usos with a sunset flip, pinning Uso to pick up the win for himself and Goldust.
Following an impressive win over Jack Swagger in a Flag Match at SummerSlam, “The Hero of the Russian Federation” Rusev would appear on RAW with Lana by his side. Lana says that, at SummerSlam, the Russian flag was raised as a symbol of “victory” and “supremacy”. However, Lana is then interrupted by the arrival of “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry, who makes his way to the ring to confront Rusev & Lana. Henry says that he’s had the honor of representing America twice in the Olympic Games and it will always be two of his proudest moments. Henry then says that he has never had a problem with someone having pride in their country, but he has a problem with how Rusev & Lana does it, saying that it got under his skin seeing the Russian flag raised in his country at SummerSlam. Henry continues, saying that Lana likes to say that the “power” in America is gone, but he and the American people do not believe that is true. Mark Henry then gets in Rusev’s face, saying that he is going to give Rusev a personal, guided “tour” into the Hall of Pain! After a brief face-off, Rusev cheap-shots Mark Henry, getting the better of Mark Henry, but when Rusev goes for a kick on “The World’s Strongest Man”, Mark Henry catches the foot of Rusev before dropping Rusev with the World’s Strongest Slam, following it up with a big splash as Lana looks on in disbelief!
Then it was time for the main event as, in a rematch from SummerSlam, “The Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose would go one-on-one with “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” Seth Rollins and, with 41% of the votes from the WWE fans, the match would be a Falls Count Anywhere Match! It would not take long for the action to spill outside of the ring as Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins brawl throughout the crowd before making their way to the stage. Both men then battle for control with Ambrose hitting a suplex on Seth Rollins on the steel stage. Now in control of the match, Dean Ambrose brings Seth Rollins back to the ring, as well as a steel chair, using the chair for a suplex on Rollins. Ambrose then takes the steel chair to the second rope, dropping the steel chair on Rollins with a modified elbow drop. Shortly after this, Rollins is able to regain the advantage, sending Ambrose head-first into a steel chair set up in the corner of the ring.
Later on in the match, Dean Ambrose would deliver a kendo stick shot to the mid-section of Seth Rollins, hitting a modified side Russian leg sweep on “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank”. Ambrose then tosses a pile of steel chairs into the ring before trying to deliver a superplex, but Rollins counters, hopping over the top of Ambrose before planting “The Lunatic Fringe” on the pile of steel with a running powerbomb! However, Dean Ambrose is able to kick out and, as Seth Rollins prepares for his next move, Director of Operations Kane makes his way to ringside, having a seat next to the ring announcer. “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” then brings a table into the ring, setting it up near the corner of the ring before climbing to the top rope with the intent of delivering the Curb Stomp, but Ambrose counters, hitting a superplex on Seth Rollins through the table, bringing a look of shock to the face of Kane! Ambrose is able to get to his feet first, knocking Kane off of the ring apron before tossing Rollins to the outside before running and diving out of the ring, taking out both Rollins and the Director of Operations!
Ambrose then brings Rollins back into the ring, hitting Dirty Deeds on Rollins, but before Ambrose could get the pinfall, Kane pulls Ambrose out of the ring, blasting “The Lunatic Fringe” with a right hand. Kane then tries to send Ambrose in the steel steps, but Ambrose catches himself and drops Kane face-first onto the steel. Rollins then charges at Ambrose, but Ambrose lifts Rollins over the ringside barricade before turning his focus back to the Director of Operations, tossing Kane over the announce table. Ambrose then runs across both announce tables, diving over the barricade and taking Rollins down before Ambrose brings Rollins back to ringside, exposing the announce table. Ambrose then rolls Rollins onto the announce table, setting Rollins up for Dirty Deeds, but Kane again gets involved, this time grabbing Dean Ambrose by the throat and delivering a chokeslam to Ambrose on the exposed announce table, which doesn’t budge in the least! Struggling to get to his feet, Seth Rollins manages to drive Ambrose’s skull into the exposed table with the Curb Stomp before instructing Kane to finish the job. The Director of Operations then moves a small wooden table out of the way to expose a stack of concrete blocks! Then, with Kane holding Ambrose’s head to the concrete, Seth Rollins jumps off of the announce table with the Curb Stomp, driving Ambrose skull-first through the cinder blocks! With Dean Ambrose motionless among the broken pieces of concrete, the referee calls for the ringside doctor before the official calls off the match, screaming at Rollins that Rollins “went too far”. Rollins then stands on the announce table, raising his hand in victory as EMT’s bring a stretcher to ringside as Dean Ambrose is prepared for a trip to the hospital after what could have been the last match of his career.
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