Detailed Results
After Rusev cost him his shot at the WWE Universal Title and assaulted him after the match last week, RAW kicks off with Roman Reigns, who makes his way to the ring. However, Reigns would barely get three words out of his mouth before he’s interrupted by RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon, who makes her way to the ring, telling Roman that she knows that Reigns wants to carve his own “path of destruction”, but she’s got a show to run. Stephanie is then interrupted by RAW General Manager Mick Foley before the Commissioner and the General Manager enter the ring. Foley says that he let the show get away from him last week before saying that his solution is to pit the two Superstars who interfered in the main event last week against each other as Seth Rollins will go one-on-one with Rusev.
Not impressed, Roman says that, three weeks ago, Stephanie’s husband, Triple H, cost him the WWE Universal Title and, last week, Rusev did the same thing. Reigns then says that he knows that he’s never going to see Stephanie’s “coward husband” ever again. The GM then informs Reigns that he will get his hands on Rusev when Roman challenges Rusev for the United States Title this Sunday at Clash of Champions with Stephanie offering her assurance that the match will happen. Reigns sarcastically thanks the Commissioner before Foley says that Stephanie is the only reason that he’s the RAW General Manager and it “personally offends” him that the RAW Superstars are going against him and going behind his back.
The GM then says that, whether they get along or not, they are all a part of the “RAW family” and they are in a “fight for survival” against SmackDown Live. Foley then says that, if things don’t go right, Stephanie will land on her feet because she’s a McMahon, but if things don’t go right, he will be “out of a job”. The GM continues, saying that he’s in a good position in WWE right now and, no matter what happens, all he has is his “word”. Foley then declares that he is going to make things right and that is by putting Roman Reigns in a rematch against Kevin Owens tonight! This brings out WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens, saying that Foley’s decision “makes no sense” because he defeated Roman Reigns twice last week. Stephanie then clarifies that the match between Owens and Reigns will be a non-title match before Foley adds that the match will take place inside a Steel Cage!
Before he challenges Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal Title this Sunday at Clash of Champions, the opening match of the night would see Seth Rollins square off with United States Champion Rusev, with Lana in his corner, in a non-title match six nights before Rusev defends the United States Title against Roman Reigns at Clash of Champions. During the match pitting speed against power, Seth Rollins would lower the top rope to send Rusev to the outside before Rollins dives to the outside, taking out the United States Champion. This would spark a brawl between Rollins and Rusev that sees both men battle up the stage as the referee reaches his ten-count, ending the match in a double count-out. However, this would not stop the fight between the two Superstars as Rusev would get the better of Rollins before the United States Champion would set his sights on the RAW announce table by the stage. Rusev would look to powerbomb Rollins through the table, but Rollins would fight out, knocking the United States Champion to the floor. Rollins then climbs on top of the announce table, diving off of the table with a high cross body to Rusev on the concrete floor, leaving Rusev laid out!
Backstage, RAW Women’s Champion Charlotte and her protégé Dana Brooke are showing RAW General Manager Mick Foley the Triple Threat Match between Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Dana Brooke last week. Dana points out that, when Sasha pins Bayley, the shoulders of both Sasha and Bayley are down. Charlotte then declares that a double pin, telling Foley that Sasha is not the #1 Contender for the RAW Women’s Title, claiming that there is no #1 Contender. Dana then suggests that the GM scraps their scheduled tag match tonight and they put Sasha in a one-on-one match with Bayley with the winner getting the title match against Charlotte at Clash of Champions. Foley has a different idea, however, thanking Dana for giving him the idea before announcing that, at Clash of Champions this Sunday, Charlotte will defend the RAW Women’s Title against both Sasha Banks and Bayley in a Triple Threat Match! Foley then exits as a seething Charlotte again takes his frustration out on her protégé, shoving Dana Brooke down.
In a rematch from a couple of weeks ago, the dominant powerhouse Braun Strowman would face the masked high flyer Sin Cara on RAW. While Sin Cara would do his best to keep Braun Strowman at bay with his speed, it would be no match for Strowman as Braun hits a powerslam on the high flyer, pinning Sin Cara for another impressive win.
Six nights before they are opponents in the Triple Threat Match for the RAW Women’s Championship at Clash of Champions, “The Boss” Sasha Banks would team with her longtime friend and rival Bayley to face RAW Women’s Champion Charlotte and her protégé Dana Brooke in tag team action. During the match, Bayley would go for the Bayley-to-Belly on Charlotte, but Dana Brooke would intervene and, as Sasha Banks takes Dana out on the outside, Charlotte would catch Bayley with a big boot as the RAW Women’s Champion pins Bayley to pick up the win for herself and her protégé.
Backstage, Seth Rollins confronts RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon, again pressuring Stephanie about Triple H costing him the WWE Universal Title a few weeks ago, asking Stephanie why Triple H would betray him. While the Commissioner says that she can’t explain what she didn’t know about, Stephanie takes a few guesses, saying that Rollins is the reason that the WWE World Championship went to SmackDown Live and Rollins did fail to beat Finn Balor at SummerSlam. Stephanie then says that, maybe, Triple H, who handpicked Rollins as the future of WWE, was tired of Rollins “ruining his reputation”. Rollins then says that, maybe, after Clash of Champions, Stephanie and Triple H will see that they made the wrong decision in aligning themselves with Kevin Owens and they will come “crawling back” to him.
Rollins then adds that, maybe, after he wins the WWE Universal Title at Clash of Champions, he will be their “worst nightmare”, saying that Stephanie cannot “manipulate” him. Stephanie warns Rollins not to threaten her, saying that she didn’t have anything to do with Triple H costing Rollins the title, but Rollins is making her wish that she did. The Commissioner then says that she thinks that Kevin Owens is the right choice for WWE Universal Champion and she believes that Owens, not Rollins, is “the man”. Rollins responds by saying that Stephanie used to be a “shrewd businesswoman”, but now she’s starting to “crack”, citing the return of her brother Shane McMahon as the cause.
The newly aggressive Bo Dallas was in action on RAW as Bo would go one-on-one with local competitor Gary Graham. In the end, it was another dominant performance from Bo Dallas as Bo hits the Roll of the Dice on Gary Graham, pinning the local competitor for the win.
With Cesaro still one loss away from losing the Best of Seven Series against Sheamus, the sixth match in the Best of Seven Series would take place on RAW as “The Swiss Superman” Cesaro would face “The Celtic Warrior” Sheamus and, if Cesaro wins, he evens up the series at three wins a piece, but if Sheamus wins, he wins the entire series. During the match, Sheamus would focus on the injured back of Cesaro, planting Cesaro back-first on the ring apron with White Noise, but “The Swiss Superman” is somehow able to kick out! Sheamus then sizes Cesaro up for the Brogue Kick, but Cesaro ducks the kick before looking for the Sharpshooter with Sheamus escaping.
“The Celtic Warrior” then hits a backbreaker version of his Celtic Cross, but Cesaro continues to battle back and, when Sheamus puts his feet on the ropes to try and get the illegal advantage, the referee catches it and doesn’t count the fall. Cesaro then catches Sheamus coming into the ring with a European uppercut, following it up with the Neutralizer as Cesaro pins Sheamus to even the series up at three wins a piece, ensuring that there will be a seventh match in the Best of Seven Series as both men come one step closer to earning a championship opportunity!
Having spent the night compiling a list of grievances about RAW General Manager Mick Foley and dubbing it his “List of Jericho”, Chris Jericho would appear in the ring on RAW to vent his complaints about the GM. Jericho says that, for the past couple of months, Foley has been screwing up the entire show so he has made the “List of Jericho” and he is going to go through his list of grievances right now. Jericho’s first complaint states that Mick Foley is trying to drive a wedge in the friendship between Jericho and Kevin Owens before going to the fifth complaint on the list, saying the GM has a “terrible fashion sense”. Jericho then threatens to put all of the fans on the list before saying that Foley has developed an “affection” for Sami Zayn and, at Clash of Champions, he is going to cross Zayn off of the list “for good”. Jericho is then interrupted by Enzo & Big Cass, who make their way to the ring to confront Chris Jericho.
Enzo tells Jericho that, if Owens and Jericho were really best friends, Owens wouldn’t let Jericho come out to the ring wearing what he’s wearing. The Shining Stars then come out to the ring, trying to sell Enzo & Big Cass, as well as Chris Jericho, their Caribbean time shares. The Shining Stars are then interrupted by the arrival of RAW Tag Team Champions The New Day as the champions reveal that they are out there because they had nothing better to do. The New Day is then interrupted by their Clash of Champions opponents, Gallows & Anderson, as Karl Anderson says that The New Day is always out there talking about their “stupid cereal”. Now outside the ring, Chris Jericho then chimes in, saying that he’s starting a new list of “stupid idiots” and every one of them in the ring is on it. This is when Sami Zayn would come out with his sights set on his Clash of Champions opponent as Zayn is determined to get revenge for Jericho attacking him last week. The brawl between Zayn and Jericho would then spill into the ring, sparking a massive brawl between the ten Superstars!
The huge brawl moments earlier would pave the way for a big 10-Man Tag match as Sami Zayn would team up with Enzo & Big Cass and RAW Tag Team Champions Big E & Kofi Kingston, with Xavier Woods in his corner, to face the team of Chris Jericho, The Shining Stars, and Gallows & Anderson. At the end of a wild match, it was Enzo & Big Cass hitting the Bada Boom Shakalaka with Enzo pinning Primo to pick up the win for his team.
After weeks of anticipation, it was finally time for the debut of Cruiserweight Division on RAW as RAW General Manager Mick Foley is in the ring to introduce the RAW Cruiserweights himself. The GM first introduces the fun-loving competitor from NXT Rich Swann followed by the runner-up in the Cruiserweight Classic, “The Crown Jewel of Lucha Libre” Gran Metalik. Foley then introduces the Cruiserweight that won over Triple H with his performance in the Cruiserweight Classic as Cedric Alexander joins Rich Swann and Gran Metalik in the ring. The veteran of the Cruiserweight Division is then re-introduced to RAW as former WWE Tag Team Champion Brian Kendrick makes his way to the ring. The GM then reveals that, with every RAW championship on the line this Sunday at Clash of Champions, the Cruiserweight Championship will also be defended as T.J. Perkins will defend the title against the winner of the following match!
In the debut match of the RAW Cruiserweight Division, Rich Swann, Gran Metalik, Cedric Alexander, and Brian Kendrick would square off in a Fatal 4-Way Match with the winner earning a match against new Cruiserweight Champion T.J. Perkins for the Cruiserweight Championship at Clash of Champions. Towards the end of an intense, high flying match, Rich Swann would hit a double underhook powerbomb with the bridge, but Cedric Alexander would break it up. Swann and Alexander then go hold-for-hold with Alexander catching Swann with an enziguiri, but Rich Swann kicks out. Brian Kendrick then sends Alexander out of the ring before setting Rich Swann for Sliced Bread #2, but Gran Metalik gets involved and Kendrick catches Metalik with a DDT, but the masked man kicks out.
Cedric Alexander then takes Kendrick out with a flying knee before Rich Swann blasts Alexander with a hard kick to the face. Swann then hits his stunning standing 450 Splash, but Kendrick tosses Swann out before attempting to take advantage with the Captain’s Hook submission on Alexander. Again, Gran Metalik would intervene, breaking it up before Alexander hits the Lumbar Check on Metalik before the veteran of the match would take advantage as Brian Kendrick locks in the Captain’s Hook on Cedric Alexander, making Cedric tap out as Kendrick wins the Fatal 4-Way Match to earn a shot at the Cruiserweight Championship against champion T.J. Perkins this Sunday at Clash of Champions!
After last week’s main event was plagued by interference, the rematch would take place on this week’s RAW as, before he defends the WWE Universal Championship against Seth Rollins this Sunday at Clash of Champions, WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens would face Roman Reigns in a non-title match just six nights before Roman challenges Rusev for the United States Title at Clash of Champions and, to prevent outside interference, this match would take place inside a Steel Cage where the only way to win is by pinfall, submission, or escaping the cage with both feet touching the floor. During the rare Steel Cage Match, Roman Reigns would catch Kevin Owens with the Superman Punch, but the champion would kick out before the WWE Universal Champion would fight back with the Pop-Up Powerbomb to Roman, but Reigns kicks out!
Owens then tries to climb out over the top of the cage, but Roman stops the champion and both men find themselves standing precariously on the top rope as Owens repeatedly slams Roman’s face into the steel before Reigns fires back, exploding out of the corner with the Superman Punch, knocking Owens to the mat! With both Superstars laid out in the ring, Roman Reigns would begin his climb over the top of the cage as Owens would make his way towards the cage door. However, a split second would make all the difference as Roman Reigns is able to drop to the floor just a second before Owens falls to the floor as Roman defeats the WWE Universal Champion by escaping the cage! Rusev would then come out to ringside to try and prey on a weakened Roman Reigns, but Roman would fight back against his Clash of Champions, taking it to the United States Champion on the outside before Kevin Owens would get involved, kicking the cage door into the face of Reigns!
Rusev then rolls Reigns into the ring before Rusev grabs a steel chain, using the chain to lock the cage door shut! Roman Reigns is then at the mercy of the WWE Universal Champion and the United States Champion as Owens and Rusev work together to dismantle Roman Reigns before Rusev locks in the Accolade on Reigns. However, Seth Rollins would rush out for a piece of Kevin Owens as, with the door chained shut, Rollins would climb the cage, knocking both Owens and Rusev to the mat before Rollins stands on top of the cage, diving off of the towering steel cage with a huge cross body that takes out both Owens and Rusev! The #1 Contender then lies in the ring holding his mid-section, having sacrificed himself to take out his Clash of Champions opponent and proving that he will do whatever it takes to win the WWE Universal Title this Sunday.
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