7/10 Powell’s WWE Raw Live TV Review: Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle in-ring segment, fallout for Roman Reigns attempting to kill Braun Strowman, the night after Great Balls of Fire

By Jason Powell

WWE Raw on the USA Network
Live from Houston, Texas at Toyota Center

Raw opened with a recap of the Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman post match angle from Great Balls of Fire… The Raw opening aired… Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and Booker T were on commentary…

Ring announcer JoJo introduced Big Cass, who came to the ring, soaked up the boos, and asked, “How you doin’?” He said he was spectacular and couldn’t be doing better after what he did to Enzo Amore on Sunday night. Cass called for the still shots of their match to be shown on the big screen. Cass narrated some of the shots which showed him dominating Enzo.

Cass called for the bonus footage to be shown. It featured referees helping Enzo backstage. The live crowd chanted Casshole. Cass said it was a lesson for the entire locker room from the bottom to the very top of the totem pole. He said that’s what happens when you mess with him. He said those who didn’t support him before better not support him now. He told them not to hop on the bandwagon now that they know he is the future of WWE.

Cass said all of the doubters in NXT and backstage, one day he will be the Universal Champion. “And when I win the Universal Championship, I’m going to hold that title high and shove it down each and every one of your throats,” Cass said. He said he will win the title, headline WrestleMania, appear on the Tonight Show, have his face plastered everywhere, and represent WWE every day of his life. Cass said it’s because no one is on his level and no one can look him eye to eye.

Big Show’s music interrupted Cass’s rant. Show entered the ring and had a staredown with Cass. Cass stepped forward and began talking to Show until Show headbutted him. Show ended up taking Cass down and then threw kicks, punches, and knees at him in the corner. Cass fled to ringside and stumbled his way up the ramp…

The broadcast team hyped an update on Braun Strowman as more footage of the angle aired. Graves noted that Brock Lesnar survived his match with Samoa Joe and would appear live on Raw. Cole hyped Finn Balor vs. Elias Samson for after the break…

Powell’s POV: A solid promo from Cass that echoed the comments he made on the Raw Talk show that followed the pay-per-view. Do heels really want to represent the company to their fullest? Anyway, Show roughing up Cass slows down the momentum that Cass has built. I was surprised it was so lopsided. Perhaps the logic is that they need to reestablish Show heading into their eventual match in order for it to mean something when/if Cass defeats him.

[Q2] [C] Elias Samson sat on a stool in the middle of the ring with his guitar and asked the fans who wants to walk with him. Samson said that he’s asked before, but from the bottom of his heart he needs them to keep their cellphones down and to hold their applause until he finished with a song he wrote for Finn Balor. Samson said Balor isn’t the savior, he’s just a man who tried to upstage him but he didn’t understand. He said he would knock him off his pedestal and leave him lying too and not a single man was ever the same once he was through. Balor’s entrance music interrupted Samson, and he made his entrance for their match…

1. Finn Balor vs. Elias Samson. Cole said he spent time with Samson, who told him he got the scar on his arm when he hitchiked from Omaha to Vegas for an Eric Clapton concert. Samson stopped at a bar, got in a fight, he ended up beating the guy up after he injured his elbow. Cole said Samson sang a Clapton song at the bar. Graves called it nonsense. Balor cleared Samson from the ring heading into a break. [C] Balor tried to kick Samson from the apron, but Samson tripped him and Balor took a face first bump on the apron.

[Q3] Samson applied an armbar, but Balor reached the ropes. Booker said Samson was trying to put himself in “contentionship”. Graves told him that’s not a word, but he understands his point. Balor came back with an overhead kick and fired up. Balor performed a sling blade and a running dropkick. Balor went up top and performed the Coup De Grace for the win…

Finn Balor beat Elias Samson in 10:10.

Powell’s POV: A good television match. There’s one heelish broadcast team member and he’s the guy who doesn’t like heel Samson, yet was smart enough to call bullshit on the story that Cole told, and let Booker know that contentionship is not a word. Confusing.

After the match, the Hardy Boyz came out and congratulated Balor on the stage. Cole said Jeff’s daughter is a huge Balor fan. The Hardys theme song played and they headed to the ring. Cole said they would be in action after the break… [C] An ad for Smackdown questioned what the fallout will be from A.J. Styles winning the U.S. Championship, plus Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin for Tuesday’s Smackdown television show…

Cole recapped the Iron Man tag title match from the pay-per-view while the Hardys stood in the ring and played to the crowd. Jeff said hello to the fans and said they were one second short in the Iron Man match. He said he knew the tag teams in the back were thinking they were done and maybe they should fade away and classify themselves as obsolete. Matt said they came out to make a proclamation (said in Broken style). He said they weren’t going anywhere and had only just begun to make magic in the WWE Universe.

Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson came out and said they were the ones saying the Hardys are done and they should leave the ring and practice their magic elsewhere because they are the magic killers. Matt said they were not 100 percent and were a little bit broken, but he said they could have a referee come out and have a little fight…

2. Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.  Cole noted that Matt had nine stitches above his eye following the Iron Man match. The Hardys hit Poetry in Motion on Gallows in the opening minute. The heels fled to ringside heading into a break.

[Q4] [C] Late in the match and with Jeff down in the corner, illegal man Gallows caught Matt with a kick to the back of the head from the apron. Gallows tagged in and he and Anderson hit the Magic Killer and got the win. Cole said they got the win over a beaten up and banged up Hardys, but take nothing away from them…

Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson beat Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy in 6:45.

After the match, “The Revival” Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder walked past Gallows and Anderson and headed to the ring where they worked over the Hardy Boyz. They put Jeff down with their Shatter Machine finisher…

Powell’s POV: I like the way they established the Hardys were banged up and then had them put over another team. The Hardys don’t lose much, yet it provides a nice boost to Anderson and Gallows. Likewise, the post match attack gives the Revival a good return. Of course, this could also be a way of sending the Hardys into Broken territory, but only time will tell on that. Either way, this was good for the tag division in that it provided a boost to two tag teams.

The Miz hosted a Miz TV segment in the ring with Maryse, Bo Dallas, and Curtis Axel. Miz said he was presenting The Mizzies. He said this was the only award show that would tell the real winners from GBOF. The award for best supporting actor was a tie between Dallas and Axel. Bo took the mic and said thank you. A “you deserve it” chant broke out. Dallas thanked Miz for changing his career and his life. Axel said he looks and feels like a million bucks, and thanks to Miz he will make a million bucks.

Miz said Dallas and Axel are third generation talents who were underutilized before, yet are now award winning superstars. Miz presented the next Mizzie to the most beautiful, gorgeous, and sexy leading lady in WWE. In a shocking twist,

[Q5] Maryse was the winner. They showed her name flashing along with an applause sign on the big screen. Miz said the final award was for Greatest Man in WWE. Miz opened the envelope and acted surprised that it read Dean Ambrose. “Just kidding,” Miz said. He showed the envelope and it showed his name. Miz said people say he runs his mouth, but he speaks the truth. He claimed the Intercontinental Title is the most relevant title in WWE.

Miz also spoke about Ambrose folding under the pressure of facing him. Miz said Ambrose is the toughest man in WWE, then questioned what that makes him if he beat him. Ambrose came out and tackled Miz, but he was quickly outnumbered. Seth Rollins ran out and helped Ambrose clear the ring…

Graves hyped a Braun Strowman update for later in the show. Cole hyped Lesnar appearing live later in the show… Sasha Banks and Bayley were shown walking backstage while Graves hyped them facing Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax after the break… [C]

Powell’s POV: So we’re a step closer to The Shield vs. The Miz and his Miztourage? I would welcome the idea of a heel Shield reunion. Heck, I’d even be down with the three of them as babyfaces if they had the right heel opponents to work with, but I just can’t get excited by the idea of the three of them facing Miz and two wrestlers who were trading wins and losses on Main Event until they hooked up with Miz.

Backstage, Ambrose chased down Rollins and asked him what that was. Rollins said he wasn’t going to let Miz run his mouth about him. Ambrose mocked the idea of Rollins having a great reputation to respect. Rollins said he’s working on it. Ambrose said there won’t be a Shield reunion. He told him to stay out of his business and to fight his own battles…

Powell’s POV: Amen, but I still suspect that they are trying to get viewers excited about the trio reuniting.

[Q6] 3. Sasha Banks and Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax. Cole recapped footage of Jax taking out Bayley when these teams met last week. Bayley clipped Jax’s knee, then Sasha took a shot at her. Bayley performed an elbow drop to the back of Jax heading into a break. [C]

Bliss taunted Sasha, who took the bait, allowing Jax to splash Bayley in the corner while the ref was distracted. Bliss knocked Banks off the apron, then performed a top rope move on Bayley and went for a cover, but Sasha broke it up. Sasha was able to avoid a Jax shoulder block against the barricade. Meanwhile, Bayley rolled up Bliss and pinned her…

Sasha Banks and Bayley beat Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax in 9:15.

Graves hyped a Strowman update for later in the show… [C]

Powell’s POV: The women’s tag match followed up on last week’s tag match. It will be interesting to see if they go with the same four women in a four-way at SummerSlam or if they end up going in a different direction. Meanwhile, they continue to hype an update on Strowman, but they are not hyping any type of fallout for Roman Reigns. For that matter, they are not hyping that Lesnar and Kurt Angle will appear in the ring together despite issuing a video prior to the show that made a big fuss over it. Strange.

[Q7] Another Shattered Dreams video aired with Goldust quoting Reservoir Dogs to start. He said R-Truth wasn’t made for the spotlight. He said Truth tried to ruin his premiere, but he will give his audience an encore performance. He said the sequel normally isn’t as good as the original, but nothing is normal about him…

A video consisting mostly of still shots recapped the Ambulance Match and the post match angle. Cole hyped that Kurt Angle would have an update on Strowman’s condition later in the show…

Powell’s POV: The broadcast team isn’t endorsing Roman’s attempted vehicular homicide, but they’re not tearing him down either. In fact, they spoke about how Roman did what he said he was going to do by putting Strowman in the back of the ambulance and taking him straight to hell. In other words, there’s no reason to view this as a heel turn based on the way they are positioning this.

4. Goldust vs. R-Truth. The ref called for the bell. Truth approached Goldust, who was squatting in his corner. The referee got between the wrestlers, and Goldust used the distraction to take a cheap shot at Truth. At 2:40, Goldust performed a spinebuster and went for the pin, but R-Truth grabbed the bottom rope.

[Q8] Goldust stood on the middle rope and threw punches at Truth, who powerbombed him out of the corner. The crowd was silent as both men were down, then they started clapping a bit. Goldust avoided a scissors kick and then clipped Truth’s knee. Goldust worked the knee briefly, but Truth kicked him to ringside. When Goldust returned, Truth blasted him with a kick and then performed the scissors kick for a two count. In the end, Goldust ran Truth through the ropes and into the corner, then performed a neckbreaker finisher…

Goldust pinned R-Truth in 5:40.

Cole hyped Lesnar appearing next… [C]

Powell’s POV: The crowd was so quiet that you would have thought there were cruiserweights not named Neville in the ring. Speaking of which, we have yet to see anyone from the division that creative forgot.

Raw general manager Kurt Angle made his entrance and the crowd serenaded him with “you suck” chants. Cole hyped the WWE 24 documentary on Angle that will be shown on WWE Network after Raw. Angle said Great Balls of Fire was a hugely successful event and he can’t wait for next year’s pay-per-view. Angle said things got “a little out of hand” in the Ambulance Match.

Angle said Strowman refused medical treatment and he doesn’t know if or when he’ll return. “As the old saying goes, the show must go on,” Angle said. Angle introduced Brock Lesnar, who made his entrance along with Paul Heyman. Cole noted the WrestleMania history between Angle and Lesnar, and then recapped still shot footage of Lesnar beating Samoa Joe at GBOF.

Angle said Lesnar beat him for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 14 years ago. Angle said Lesnar probably took a few years off his career in that match. Angle said it amazes him that Lesnar gets better every single year. Angle said he thought Samoa Joe might take him out, but he was wrong. Angle congratulated Lesnar and shook his hand.

Angle told Heyman he thought the two of them would be curious about who will challenge Lesnar for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam. Heyman said he didn’t think they would be having a creative meeting in the ring. He said they don’t volunteer their services for live brainstorming sessions. Heyman said he knew Angle had his own cellphone issues, thanked him for his time, and said good evening.

Roman Reigns music stopped Lesnar and Heyman from leaving the ring. Reigns entered the ring and glared at Lesnar. Angle told Heyman they weren’t done with their conversation. Angle told Reigns that he had a lot of nerve coming out after what he pulled the night before. “What I pulled?” Reigns said. Reigns said he was in the ring with Angle, Lesnar, and the father of hardcore himself and Angle was telling him he went too far.

[Q9] Reigns said they were all a part of the Attitude Era and they destroyed everything and blew everything up. Angle said that was then and this is now. Reigns said they could thank him. He said Angle didn’t know how to handle Strowman, and Lesnar is never around to do it. Lesnar took offense and Angle stood between him and Reigns. Roman said he did them a favor and he’s owed one, and maybe it’s Lesnar at SummerSlam.

Heyman said he liked it. Lesnar took the mic and said, “You’ve got to be kidding me. You actually think you deserve at this? You don’t deserve shit (censored), buddy. Right now is as close as you’re going to get to this title. You don’t deserve it, my man. This is as close as you’re going to get.”

Samoa Joe’s music played. Cole noted that it looked like Lesnar took a step back. “Aren’t we all living in a wonderful fantasy land?” Joe said. He said he was going to drag them all back down to reality. Lesnar said reality was that he kicked Joe’s ass. Joe told him not to worry about that because sooner or later he would put his ass to sleep. Joe said Lesnar knows in his heart of hearts that he didn’t beat him, he escaped him. Joe said Reigns has never beaten him.

Heyman told Joe that Reigns putting Undertaker on a Samoan trophy case is a claim for a title shot. Joe said the excomunicated Samoan who was thrown out of his own tribe would never see another title shot with Lesnar again. Joe started to jaw at Lesnar, who got in his face until Angle stood between them. Joe told Lesnar that his advocate is protecting him because he knows Joe has his number. Reigns mocked the idea that Joe had his number by smiling and saying, “You showed the whole world last night.”

Joe said Reigns was pretty mouthy for a guy who got beat down by Strowman. Reigns told Joe to look at him, then said look at Braun if you can find him. Angle stepped between them and said that next week it will be Joe vs. Reigns with the winner getting the title shot at SummerSlam. Angle said he would cancel the match if they got physical…

The broadcast team spoke about the No. 1 contenders match. Cole threw to Graves, who was looking at his phone and said he had to leave. After Graves walked, Cole said Seth Rollins would face Bray Wyatt in a rematch from the pay-per-view… [C]

Powell’s POV: A good segment with Lesnar acting like more of a loose cannon than usual. It was cool to hear him do the talking for himself and to see him go face to face with Joe a couple times. Yes, it’s ridiculous that the Reigns character receives zero storyline punishment for trying to kill Strowman, but I can’t say I’m surprised either. It’s just too bad that Vince McMahon won’t budge because that would have been a hell of a double turn opportunity.

Backstage, Angle was shaken up as he looked at his phone. Graves entered the scene and said he received the same text. Graves asked Angle what he was going to do about it. Angle said he didn’t know, but he couldn’t let it get out. Then he said he might have to go public with it. He said he could be saying goodbye when he goes public with it next week. Graves said he has all the confidence in the world that everything would be fine because the people love him. Angle looked upset as Graves walked away…

Cole hyped Cedric Alexander vs. Noam Dar in an I Quit match for 205 Live…

[Q10] 5. Cedric Alexander and Akira Tozawa (w/Titus O’Neil) vs. Neville and Noam Dar (w/Alicia Fox). The broadcast team recapped Neville beating Tozawa to retain the title at GBOF. Neville and Dar had the advantage heading into a break a few minutes into the match. [C]

Late in the match, Neville ended up being crotched on the top rope. Tozawa kicked the top rope, just as Neville did to him the night before. Tozawa followed up with a top rope senton and then pinned Neville…

Cedric Alexander and Akira Tozawa beat Neville and Noam Dar in 8:45.

The broadcast team hyped Rollins vs. Wyatt… [C]

Powell’s POV: Cole did a good job of telling the story of Tozawa gaining revenge for what Neville did and putting himself back in line for a title shot. Titus didn’t annoy me as much this week because it was less about him and more about the wrestlers.

[Q11] The broadcast team recapped Rollins helping Ambrose clear Miz and his crew from the ring… Backstage, Charly Caruso interviewed Rollins, whose right eye was darkened to sell the eye gouge finish. He said he went out to shut up The Miz, and said Wyatt is a fraud who can’t hang with him…

A Bray Wyatt promo aired from an undisclosed location. He said Rollins can’t change who he is or turn back the clock. He said he can’t erase his acts of betrayal. Wyatt said he is everywhere and everything, and Seth’s fate is for him to toy with. Wyatt said Rollins will not be forgiven for his sings. Wyatt said Rollins will burn… Wyatt made his entrance… [C]

Cole hyped Reigns vs. Joe to determine the No. 1 contender for the Universal Championship, and Angle will come clean about his own controversy next week… Rollins made his entrance…

6. Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt. Rollins caught Wyatt with a superkick for a near fall at 1:45. Wyatt came right back with his running cross body block. Rollins performed a suicide dive that Wyatt apparently blocked.

[Q12] Wyatt threw a running punch at Rollins, who moved, causing Wyatt to hit the ring post. Rollins targeted the hand of Wyatt by stomping on it back inside the ring. Rollins also did the finger break spot, then took Wyatt to ringside and slammed his hand on the ring steps. Rollins rolled Wyatt back inside the ring and went for a springboard, but Wyatt caught him and performed a uranage. [C]

Wyatt performed a DDT for a two count at 11:00. Wyatt sold his hand injury from earlier when Rollins knocked him down with a kick. Rollins caught Wyatt with a kick to the gut an then stomped his bad hand again. Rollins performed the sling blade and Wyatt rolled to ringside. Rolins performed a suicide dive and then rolled Wyatt back inside the ring. Rollins performed a springboard clothesline for a two count at 14:00. Rollins followed up with a blockbuster for a two count.

Rollins sent for the setup for his knee finisher, but Wyatt performed a headbutt. Rollins sold his bad eye. Wyatt performed Sister Abigail and pinned Rollins clean…

Bray Wyatt pinned Seth Rollins in 17:00.

[Overrun] The broadcast team recapped the match. Wyatt knelt over Rollins and smiled. Wyatt struck the crucifix pose and yelled follow the buzzards. The Wyatt video flashed and Wyatt disappeared.

The Miz, Bo Dallas, and Curtis Axel headed to ringside and surrounded the ring. The trio climbed onto the apron as Rollins continued to sell the eye injury. Rollins took a swing at Dallas, but he immediately lost the numbers game. Dean Ambrose ran out with a chair. Ambrose struck Miz with the chair repeatedly until Dallas and Axel dragged Miz to ringside. Ambrose’s music played. Booker said they were brothers to the bone. Graves said it was the enemy of my enemy is my friend…

Backstage, Angle spoke on the phone and told the person to come in next week and they could both do it together. Angle said they don’t have anything to be ashamed of and he hopes the person feels the same way about him. He invited the person to come to television next week so they could tell the whole world together. Angle told the person he loved them and ended the call, which also ended the show…

Powell’s POV: The Raw main event was better than the pay-per-view version of the match. I really like the way Rollins targeted the hand of all things, even if the finger break spot felt a bit too much like Marty Scurll. The thing I actually liked more about this match compared to the matches I’ve seen Scurll do the same spot is that Wyatt continued to sell the injury throughout the match, whereas Scurll’s opponents seems to quickly forget that they had their fingers broken. Meanwhile, Angle sounded like he was talking with his wife, but could it be that he’s talking with his brother Eric and there’s going to be a case of mistaken identity due to their similar physical appearances? Just a shot in the dark. Overall, this show had some good moments and it was especially fun to see Lesnar do more than he typically does in verbal segments. I will have more to say about the show in my members’ audio review later tonight.