Detailed Results
After his night in control of RAW garnered major social media buzz last week, Shane McMahon would be in charge of RAW for a second week as “Shane-O-Mac” kicks off RAW. Shane says that, last week, his father Vince let him run RAW for his “own amusement”, saying that the Chairman must be pretty amused since Vince is letting him run the show again this week. Shane then thanks the fans for their support that has allowed him to be in charge of RAW again before saying that, tonight, he is going to continue what he started last week with “new Superstars, new opportunities, fresh matchups”. Shane first announces that there will be a match for the WWE Women’s Championship tonight when Charlotte defends the gold against Natalya. Shane then announces the start of a tag team tournament to determine new #1 Contenders for The New Day’s WWE Tag Team Titles! Shane then congratulates AJ Styles on becoming the new #1 Contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship last week.
Shane then says that there is an opportunity that was “squandered” last week, saying he is going to give Sami Zayn another opportunity tonight as Sami will go one-on-one with AJ Styles and, if Sami wins, then, in three weeks at Payback, it will be a Triple Threat Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, pitting Roman Reigns against both Styles and Zayn! Shane McMahon is then interrupted by the man who took Sami Zayn out of the #1 Contender’s Fatal 4-Way Match last week, Kevin Owens. Owens says that it’s a good thing that this might be the last week that Shane is in charge because, if Shane thinks that Sami Zayn deserves to be in the running for a shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, then Shane must have “knocked a few screws loose” when he jumped off the Hell in a Cell structure at WrestleMania, saying that he’s getting “screwed over”.
As Owens gets in the ring, Shane tells Owens that it was Owens who “screwed over” Sami Zayn last week. Shane then says that Owens has had opportunities and, last week, he had the opportunity to be the #1 Contender and he lost just like he lost at WrestleMania. Owens argues that he was “robbed” at WrestleMania and he was “robbed” last week because he didn’t get pinned. Owens continues, saying that he also hasn’t received his rematch for the Intercontinental Championship and it’s “not fair” before Owens demands that he gets his rematch for the Intercontinental Title and he gets it tonight! Shane says that Owens has to “earn” his shot at the title and, to do that, he just has to beat “one guy” here tonight before announcing that Kevin Owens will go one-on-one with Cesaro here tonight and the winner of that match will challenge The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship at Payback and that match will happen right now!
Per the orders of Shane McMahon, the opening match of the night would see “The Swiss Superman” Cesaro go one-on-one with Kevin Owens with the winner earning a shot at the Intercontinental Championship against The Miz at Payback. Throughout the match, Kevin Owens would target the surgically repaired left shoulder of Cesaro with Owens even locking in the Crossface. However, Cesaro would continue to fight through the pain, locking in the Sharpshooter on Owens, but Owens would get to the ropes to break the hold. Owens would then come off of the top rope with a big frog splash to “The Swiss Superman”, but Cesaro barely manages to kick out. Cesaro then mounts a comeback, hitting a corkscrew uppercut off the second rope, but when Cesaro goes for the Cesaro Swing, his shoulder gives out. Owens then goes for the Pop-Up Powerbomb, but Cesaro counters before planting Owens with the Neutralizer, pinning Owens to pick up the win and, now, Cesaro will head to Payback in three weeks where he will challenge The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship.
Backstage, a discussion between WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte and her Hall of Fame father Ric Flair is interrupted by the Guest Star of RAW, Dr. Phil. The TV doctor tells the WWE Women’s Champion that Flair has raised her and put a roof over head, but now, Flair is holding Charlotte back. Dr. Phil then says that Flair is “corrupting” Charlotte by giving her all of these “dirty tricks” and Charlotte is “cheating” every time she goes out there! Dr. Phil continues, saying that Flair is dragging her down and that Charlotte needs to stand on her own two feet and stop relying on her father to succeed. The champion takes offense to this, saying that she is going to chop Dr. Phil’s “hillbilly butt” all the way back to Texas. However, Dr. Phil doesn’t back down, telling Charlotte that she is a “victimizer” and she’s using her father to get to the top. Dr. Phil then says that Charlotte is “better than that” and she doesn’t need her father to succeed. The WWE Women’s Champion then walks away from the conversation and Ric Flair gets in the face of the TV doctor, but Dr. Phil beats “The Nature Boy” to the punch, wooing in the face of the Hall of Famer, also making Ric Flair walk away!
Backstage, Kevin Owens is pleading his case to Shane McMahon about getting “screwed over” before Owens says that what happens to Sami Zayn tonight will be on Shane McMahon. However, Shane responds to the threat by telling Owens to go get dressed because he’s going to have Owens escorted out of the building, saying he’s making sure that Sami Zayn is not cost another opportunity by Owens.
In the first match of the #1 Contenders’ Tag Team Tournament to decide who will be the next team to challenge The New Day for the WWE Tag Team Titles, The Lucha Dragons would take on The Dudley Boyz. Early on in the match, Kalisto would take a couple of hard falls to the floor on the outside, requiring medical attention as his partner Sin Cara was forced to go it alone against The Dudley Boyz. While Sin Cara would try his best to combat the odds, the veteran tag team would be too much for one man to handle as The Dudley Boyz would hit the 3-D on Sin Cara with Bubba Ray pinning Sin Cara to pick up the win for The Dudley Boyz, who advance to the Semi-Finals of the tournament.
However, after the match, The Dudley Boyz would be confronted by the team who made their RAW debut last week, Enzo & Big Cass. After Enzo Amore does his trademark introduction, Bubba Ray tells Enzo that he, as well as the fans, need to shut their mouths. Bubba Ray then says that The Dudley Boyz paved the way for guys like Enzo & Big Cass before D-Von says that Enzo & Big Cass are not the best tag team in this business, saying Enzo & Big Cass only exist because of The Dudley Boyz. Big Cass then tells The Dudley Boyz that, if they paved the way, then they need to step aside because he and Enzo are coming through like “jackhammers” and they’re “putting holes” in the ground, concluding by telling The Dudley Boyz that they’re “sawft”.
For the first time since finding out earlier in the night that he could possibly be facing both AJ Styles and Sami Zayn in a Triple Threat Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in three weeks at Payback, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns would make his way to the ring on RAW. Much like he did last week, the champion says that he’s not a “good guy”, he’s not a “bad guy”, he’s “the guy”. Roman then says that he’s got a lot of respect for both AJ Styles and Sami Zayn, saying that they’ve competed all over the world, but they’ve never been the WWE World Heavyweight Champion and he plans on staying the champion for a long time.
The champion is then interrupted by the arrival of The League of Nations as Sheamus asks Reigns how “confident” the champion would be if he had to face one of them at Payback. Sheamus then says that, last week, they eliminated the “weakest link” from The League of Nations when they ex-communicated King Barrett. Sheamus continues, saying that they’re not too happy about being left out of the #1 Contender’s Fatal 4-Way Match last week. Rusev then says that he’s “bigger” and “stronger” than Reigns and he should be the “face of WWE”. Alberto Del Rio then says that any one of them could have won the Fatal 4-Way Match last week and any one of them is capable of beating Roman for the title. Never one to back down from a fight, Roman Reigns dares all three members of The League of Nations to come down there and fight.
With the odds in their favor, The League of Nations would make their way to the ring, attacking the WWE World Heavyweight Champion before The Wyatt Family appears on the scene as, together, Roman Reigns and The Wyatt Family brawl with The League of Nations, tossing Sheamus, Rusev, & Alberto Del Rio out of the ring. The Wyatt Family then turn their attention as Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt go face-to-face. However, this is when Shane McMahon comes out to the stage, saying that he never thought that he would see Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt fighting side-by-side and, tonight, he would like to see some more of that. Shane then announces that tonight’s main event will see rivals Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt team up to face any two members of The League of Nations!
With RAW Guest Star Dr. Phil at ringside, the WWE Women’s Championship would be on the line on RAW as Charlotte, with her father Ric Flair in her corner, would defend the WWE Women’s Title against Natalya. During a hard-fought match, Natalya would hit the Discus Clothesline on Charlotte, but the champion would avoid the Sharpshooter before hitting Natalya with a big boot. Charlotte then hits an exploder suplex on Natalya before going to the top rope for a moonsault, but Natalya would move out of the way before locking in the Sharpshooter on the champion. However, after getting in the ring failed to get the attention of the referee, Ric Flair pulls the referee out of the ring just before Charlotte taps out to the Sharpshooter. The referee then calls for the bell as the match ends in a disqualification due to Ric Flair’s interference as Flair once again ensures that his daughter walks out as the champion.
In a First Round Match of the #1 Contenders’ Tag Team Tournament, The Usos would face Social Outcasts members Heath Slater & Curtis Axel, with Bo Dallas & Adam Rose in their corner. During the match, Heath Slater & Curtis Axel would decide to prematurely celebrate on the ring apron and Jimmy Uso would take advantage, knocking Curtis Axel off of the ring apron and rolling up Heath Slater to pick up the win for The Usos, who advance to the Semi-Finals of the #1 Contenders’ Tag Team Tournament. However, there would be no time for celebration for The Usos as two large men emerge from the crowd and blindside The Usos. These two men would be identified as none other than Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, who finally arrive on the scene after months of rumors and speculation!
With Anderson knocking Jey Uso out of the ring, Gallows & Anderson would pick up Jimmy Uso, dropping Jimmy with a vicious double team neckbreaker they call the Magic Killer. Gallows & Anderson then exit the ring with their sights set on Jey Uso as Karl Anderson drills Jey with a clothesline before Luke Gallows throws Jey shoulder-first into the steel steps as Jey immediately grabs his previously injured shoulder. Referees then rush out to break up the fight as the former IWGP Tag Team Champions are distanced from The Usos as Gallows & Anderson exit through the crowd with smiles on their faces, proud of their destruction.
After winning a Fatal 4-Way Match last week to become the new #1 Contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship with a shot at the gold at Roman Reigns coming up at Payback, “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles would go one-on-one with the Superstar who was cheated out of participating in the #1 Contender’s match last week, Sami Zayn, and, if Sami wins, then he will be added to the title match at Payback, making it a Triple Threat Match for the title. Throughout the stellar match, both AJ Styles and Sami Zayn would go hold-for-hold, shot-for-shot with Sami even hitting the Blue Thunder Bomb on AJ Styles, but “The Phenomenal One” would kick out before Styles locks in the Calf Crusher, but Sami is able to get to the ropes. Sami would then go for the Helluva Kick, but AJ Styles would counter before Styles scores with the Phenomenal Forearm, finally keeping Sami Zayn down for the three count, picking up the win and ensuring that his match against Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Payback will remain a one-on-one affair.
Chris Jericho would then be on RAW as “Y2J” would host his talk show segment, The Highlight Reel, with a special surprise guest. Jericho hypes up tonight’s Highlight Reel as being the biggest edition of The Highlight Reel ever, saying his guest is the “biggest star in WWE history”. Jericho then says that his guest is a multiple time World Champion who has main evented multiple WrestleMania events before revealing that he is his own guest on The Highlight Reel! Serving as both interviewer and guest, Jericho would ask himself the tough questions, saying that he is out there to give them the “gift of Jericho”. Jericho then continues to run down his list of accomplishments, saying that there is no one on the WWE roster who can touch him right now.
The Highlight Reel is then crashed by “The Lunatic Fringe” as Dean Ambrose makes his way to the ring with a potted plant and some sort of sign. Ambrose pokes around the set of The Highlight Reel before Jericho tells Ambrose that this is his show, The Highlight Reel. However, Ambrose informs Jericho that he has a memo from Shane McMahon, handing Jericho a piece of paper. However, the paper is actually a California speeding ticket so Ambrose digs in his pockets before handing Jericho another piece of folded paper, this piece with a hole in the middle.
As Ambrose tapes a sign over the Jeri-Tron 9000 that reads “Ambrose Asylum”, Jericho reads that The Highlight Reel has been “cancelled” and replaced with The Ambrose Asylum! “The Lunatic Fringe” then introduces his first guest on The Ambrose Asylum, Chris Jericho, before asking Jericho about his scarf. Jericho says his scarf cost $750 before saying that he doesn’t have to play by the rules and he can do what he wants. Jericho then says that Ambrose better keep his nose clean or he will “bury” Ambrose, telling Ambrose to get out of his ring. Jericho then slaps the microphone out of Ambrose’s hand and “The Lunatic Fringe” responds by grabbing Jericho, spiking “Y2J” with Dirty Deeds!
After a stellar debut on last week’s RAW, Apollo Crews was in action on RAW as Crews would go one-on-one with Social Outcasts member Adam Rose, with Bo Dallas in his corner. Despite an attempt by Bo Dallas to distract Apollo Crews, Crews would emerge dominant, hitting the spinout powerbomb on Adam Rose, pinning Rose for the win.
Then it was time for the main event as rivals would be forced to team up as WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns would team with “The Eater of Worlds” Bray Wyatt to face The League of Nations’ Sheamus & Alberto Del Rio, with Rusev in their corner. During the match, the uneasy alliance of Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt would make a surprisingly impressive tag team, but when Reigns & Wyatt nearly lose after Rusev gets involved behind the referee’s back, Bray’s backup appears as Erick Rowan & Braun Strowman would attack Rusev, taking Rusev out of the equation. Then, in the ring, Alberto Del Rio goes for the Cross Armbreaker on Bray Wyatt, but Bray counters, hitting Sister Abigail and, as Bray pins Del Rio, Reigns levels Sheamus with the Spear as Roman Reigns & Bray Wyatt emerge victorious. After the match, Roman Reigns comes face-to-face with the leader of The Wyatt Family once again with each man still unsure of the other.
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