Detailed Results
Six nights before his client, Brock Lesnar, defends the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against John Cena at Night of Champions, RAW kicks off with Paul Heyman. Heyman says that he is there to offer everyone a “preview” of this Sunday’s Night of Champions, saying that John Cena will come to the ring to the sound of children chanting “Let’s go Cena”. Before Heyman can continue, he is interrupted by the #1 Contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, John Cena, who makes his way to the ring. Cena says that he does not see Brock Lesnar, asking Heyman where the WWE World Heavyweight Champion is at. Heyman attempts a long-winded excuse for Lesnar’s absence, but Cena cuts Heyman off, saying that he told the advocate last week that he was coming to either fight Brock Lesnar or fight Paul Heyman. Heyman then says that Cena is going to get what he wants before introducing Lesnar. As Cena prepares himself for a fight, Heyman laughs at the #1 Contender before explaining that, when Brock Lesnar travels, he travels via a private jet, saying that the WWE World Heavyweight Champion’s flight was “delayed”, but Lesnar will be in the arena later in the evening. Heyman then says that he thinks that Cena knows that Lesnar’s flight was delayed, saying that Cena called out Lesnar knowing that he wouldn’t be there. Cena then grabs Heyman by the head, saying that he is giving Heyman about 80 minutes and, if Brock Lesnar doesn’t show up, he is going to kick Paul Heyman’s ass! Scared for his life, Heyman exits the ring, but Cena slides out of the ring, standing in front of Heyman. Cena says that he does not “trust” Paul Heyman, so he is going to make sure that the fans get a fight tonight. The #1 Contender then grabs the advocate, putting Heyman into a headlock, forcing Heyman to go with Cena to the back. Shortly after this, Cena drags Heyman to his locker room, tossing Heyman in the room and instructing The Great Khali to stand guard at the door and not let Heyman out!
Before he faces Randy Orton at Night of Champions, the opening match of the night would see “Y2J” Chris Jericho going one-on-one with The Authority’s Director of Operations Kane. During the match, Kane would remove a turnbuckle pad, exposing the steel turnbuckle underneath, but Chris Jericho would repeatedly avoid colliding with the steel. Later on in the match, Jericho would dodge a charging Kane and the Director of Operations would run face-first into the exposed turnbuckle before Jericho catches Kane with a roll-up, pinning Kane for the win.
After weeks of Bo Dallas being a thorn in his side, Jack Swagger would get his shot at silencing Bo Dallas as “The Real American”, with Zeb Colter in his corner, would go one-on-one with the self-proclaimed “inspiration” Bo Dallas on RAW. At the end of a competitive match between the two, it was Jack Swagger locking in the Patriot Lock on Bo Dallas, making Bo tap out to pick up the win.
Before she defends the Divas Title in a Triple Threat Match against AJ Lee and Nikki Bella at Night of Champions, Divas Champion Paige would team with one of her challengers, Nikki Bella, to face her other challenger, AJ Lee, who would team with Brie Bella. During the match, Brie Bella would reach for a much-needed tag to AJ Lee, but Nikki Bella would pull AJ Lee off of the ring apron and this would allow Paige to hit the Ram Paige on Brie Bella, pinning Brie for the win. After the match, Nikki Bella would assault her sister again, this time hitting the Rack on Brie. After Nikki Bella exits the ring, Paige would skip around in the ring, but AJ Lee would synchronize her own skipping around the ring with Paige’s skipping in the ring!
Bray Wyatt would have a tall task ahead of him on RAW as the self-proclaimed “Eater of Worlds”, with his followers Luke Harper & Erick Rowan in his corner, would go one-on-one with “The World’s Largest Athlete” Big Show. During the match, Big Show would shove Bray Wyatt into Erick Rowan, knocking Rowan off of the apron. Shortly after this, Luke Harper would break up a pin attempt by Big Show, ending the match by disqualification. After the match, Harper & Rowan would try to beat down Big Show, but “The World’s Largest Athlete” would fight back, taking both Harper & Rowan out with a thunderous double chokeslam. Despite seeing his followers taken out, Bray Wyatt would sit in his rocking chair and laugh at Big Show’s feat of strength.
Six nights before they defend their respective championships at Night of Champions, United States Champion Sheamus would team with WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos to face the #1 Contender for the United States Title, Cesaro, and the #1 Contenders for the WWE Tag Team Titles, Gold & Stardust, in a 6-Man Tag Match. At the end of a wild match, it was Jey Uso hitting the Superfly Splash on Cesaro, pinning Cesaro to pick up the win for his team.
Backstage, Paul Heyman’s time was up as John Cena heads to his locker room, telling Heyman that it’s “showtime” before grabbing Heyman and dragging him all the way to the ring. Once in the ring, Cena grabs Heyman by the tie and grabs a microphone, saying that it is the moment that they have all been waiting for. Grabbing Heyman before he can wiggle away, Cena says that Heyman is either going to make a “beast magically appear” or he is going to use his fist to make Heyman’s teeth “disappear”! Cena then tells Heyman to produce his beast, but Heyman tells Cena that the John Cena before them is the John Cena he has been trying to expose. Heyman then says that Cena will never turn his back on the fans, saying that he can be the “trigger” that finally pulls the evil out from within John Cena. Heyman continues, saying that he is the one to bring the “hatred” out of Cena, but Cena will never assault him because that would make Cena a “bully” and Cena is not a bully. Heyman then says that Brock Lesnar is a bully and, unless Cena unleashes his inner bully, he will not defeat Brock Lesnar. Heyman continues to badger the #1 Contender, saying that Cena cannot be a bully and he cannot even hit him, saying that Cena will “fail” this Sunday and he cannot defeat Brock Lesnar. Cena then takes the microphone away from Paul Heyman, telling Heyman that he is a “waste of oxygen” with Heyman encouraging Cena to become his “vision” of Cena as a “Paul Heyman guy”.
Despite the fans supporting the idea of John Cena as a “Paul Heyman guy”, Cena refuses to succumb to the pressure, saying that he planned this whole thing out in the hopes that he would get his hands on Brock Lesnar and prove that he is ready for Night of Champions. Cena then says that there is “no beast”, there is just Paul Heyman, who doesn’t deserve the “dirt” off of his hands. The #1 Contender was then set to leave the ring, but Paul Heyman takes things too far by saying that Cena’s mother would be proud of Cena if the #1 Contender had been born with a “pair of testicles”! This unleashes the rage in John Cena as Cena violently shoves Heyman down and, finally, this brings the WWE World Heavyweight Champion out to the ring as Brock Lesnar appears on RAW. The champion slowly walks around the ring, helping Paul Heyman to his feet before Lesnar and Heyman stand at the bottom of the ramp as the champion laughs at John Cena. However, Brock Lesnar’s smile fades away as he approaches the ring, taking off the WWE World Heavyweight Title belt, slinging it over his shoulder and beginning to walk away. Lesnar then hands the title belt to Paul Heyman before finally getting on the ring apron and John Cena decides to strike first, attacking the champion, but Brock quickly gets behind the #1 Contender, drilling John Cena with a German suplex! “The Beast” then kicks John Cena out of the ring, but just when it seemed like Lesnar had sent a strong message to the #1 Contender, Cena gets right back into the ring, knocking the champion out of the ring and John Cena would repeatedly hammer Brock Lesnar with lefts and rights, repeatedly holding Brock down and keeping the champion from escaping. Security then rushes out, pulling John Cena off of Brock Lesnar as the entire security team restrains Cena while a busted up WWE World Heavyweight Champion retreats up the ramp with Paul Heyman by his side.
Former friends would face off on RAW as Naomi went one-on-one with Cameron. In the end, it was Naomi locking in a modified Crossface, making Cameron tap out to pick up the win.
In a rematch from SmackDown, Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler would team with his own “stunt double” R-Ziggler to face The Miz and his stunt double, Damien Mizdow, in tag team action. In the end, it was The Miz inadvertently hitting Damien Mizdow and Dolph Ziggler taking advantage of the confusion, hitting the Zig Zag on The Miz, pinning the #1 Contender to pick up the win for his team.
Night of Champions would come six nights early on RAW as, following the three-on-one assault on Roman Reigns by Kane, Randy Orton, & Seth Rollins last week, the powerhouse Roman Reigns would be looking for revenge as Reigns went one-on-one with “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” Seth Rollins. Roman Reigns would dominate the match early on, bringing Seth Rollins to the outside, smashing Rollins’ face into the steel steps before tossing “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” over the announce table. At the end of an awesome back-and-forth match, it was Roman Reigns catching Seth Rollins with the Spear, pinning “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” for the win.
As he prepares for a titanic collision with Rusev at Night of Champions, “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry would appear on RAW to hold a Rally for America. Commentator Michael Cole would interview Mark Henry, asking Henry how it feels to hear Rusev & Lana run down the country he loves. Henry says it makes him angry, saying that, in 1996, he had to withdraw from the Olympic Games due to injury and it still haunts him to this day. Henry continues, saying he is thankful for “second chances” before saying that he is going to shut Rusev & Lana up this Sunday and he cannot let America down at Night of Champions. Cole says that Lana has continued to disrespect America as Lana has said that America is “crumbling down” before them and Mark Henry says that, if Lana was at home in Russia, she would not have the “luxury” of being able to speak her mind. The Rally for America is then interrupted by Rusev & Lana as Lana tells Mark Henry to “shut up”, making their way to the ring as Lana says that Mark Henry is saying nothing but “propaganda”. Lana continues, saying that America’s intelligence is plummeting before saying that Mark Henry did not mention the fact that Henry also competed in the 1992 Olympics, but he failed, being defeated by the Russian-born athlete, Aleksandr Kurlovich, who won the gold medal that year. Lana then says that Mark Henry’s confidence was “shattered” in 1992 when he saw the power of the Russian athletes, saying that Mark Henry cited an injury in 1996 to avoid losing again. Lana continues, telling Mark Henry that he “reeks of inferiority” compared to Russia’s finest athletes and saying that President Obama “cowers in fear” when he hears the name of Russia’s “greatest leader”, Vladimir Putin.
Lana then says that history will repeat itself at Night of Champions when Rusev defeats Mark Henry. Henry then says that he wants to make a “pledge” to everyone in Lafayette and every single American from coast-to-coast before putting his hands over his heart and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. However, Rusev would interrupt the Pledge of Allegiance, attacking Mark Henry, but Henry would fight back, managing to toss Rusev across the ring. Rusev would pop back up from the toss, dropping “The World’s Strongest Man” with a huge kick to the face before attempting to lock in the Accolade on Mark Henry, but an impassioned Mark Henry would block the move, powering out of the move before drilling “The Hero of the Russian Federation” with a sit-down chokebomb, picking Rusev up and tossing him out of the ring before grabbing an American flag and proudly waving it as Mark Henry stands tall in the ring.
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