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With Battleground in the books and SummerSlam just around the corner, this week's Raw from Washington DC held a lot of importance.
Unanswered questions, an unfilled SummerSlam card, and feuds that needed polishing - WWE had their hands full this week and it turned out to be a decent episode indeed.
So here are the results and highlights for this week
Kurt Angle opens Raw and announces the Universal title match for SummerSlam
The RAW General Manager opened this week's RAW and was as over as always. Angle addressed his shocking announcement of Jason Jordan being his son on last week's episode and said that his personal troubles have hindered his decision making as GM.
He went on to announce Jordan's RAW debut for tonight and moved on to the topic of Brock Lesnar's SummerSlam opponent. Just when he was about to announce the Beast Incarnate's opponent, Braun Strowman's music hit and out came the Monster Among Men to an impressive pop.
Strowman threatened Angle and said that he hoped he was about to mention his name before anyone else's. Strowman claimed he wasn't scared of Lesnar and that he was the only one among Reigns, Joe and himself to have won at Great Balls of Fire.
As expected, Joe cut short the proceedings and made his way out as the fans rhythmically chanted 'Joe' along with his theme. Joe is finally getting the reaction he deserves!
Joe cut a short yet solid promo stating how he should be the one going up against Lesnar and that he doesn't even fear Strowman.
You know what happened next! Roman Reigns' music hits and the chorus of boos was deafening. Anyway, Reigns came out and cut a really crisp promo by mentioning his accomplishments in the WWE thus far. He too demanded a shot at the Universal title and all three men almost came to blows before Angle intervened.
Angle announced that Brock Lesnar would face Joe, Strowman and Reigns in a fatal 4-way match for the Universal title at SummerSlam - which could be bad news for the Beast Incarnate.
All hell broke loose thereafter as Reigns attacked Strowman, who fought back and attempted a chokeslam on both Joe and Reigns. The Samoans worked in tandem as they took Strowman out of the equation by putting him over the barricade. Joe then attacked Reigns and they brawled in the ring before Strowman returned to take control of the situation.
It was complete pandemonium as the entire locker room rushed out to stop the three men but to no avail. Strowman ended the segment on a high as he laid out both Reigns and Joe yet again with the running power slam.
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Finn Balor vs. Elias Samson
Elias Samson started as usual by singing and cutting a heel promo while Finn Balor came out to interrupt him.
Balor wasted no time in going after Samson as he blindsided him with his jacket. The action shifted to the outside as it was all Balor in the early goings as Raw went into a commercial break.
Balor continued the attack on Samson after Raw returned from the break as the Demon rammed him into the barricade and then got him back into the ring.
Samson, though, ducked under Balor's attempted forearm and took him down with a clothesline. It was all Samson from here on. Samson began to work on Balor's taped up left shoulder of Balor.
The momentum briefly shifted in Balor's favour owing to a dropkick before Samson assumed control yet again.
Samson goes for the chair but is thwarted by Balor. A banged up shoulder hindered Balor from exploiting the situation as the heel looked to inflict damage on the Irishman's shoulder.
Samson set the chair up in the corner, but things went awry as Balor revered and Irish Whipped him into the chair. Balor paid ode to Fit Finlay when he trapped Samson between the ring apron and unleashed a barrage of kicks.
It was all Balor from here as he executed his regular sequence of moves to set up the Coupe De Grace that included the two basement dropkicks. Balor went up to the top rope and perfectly hit his awe inspiring finisher and covered Samson.
But wait....
The light went off! Bray Wyatt laid out Balor with the Sister Abigail as the lights came on in the arena. He followed it up with another Sister Abigail and Samson capitalised on the situation to get the three-count.
Result: Elias Samson def. Finn
It all ended with the Eater Of Worlds doing the regular follow the Buzzard shtick over a lifeless body of The Demon King.
A vignette of the Jason Jordan-Kurt Angle storyline aired next after which Renee Yung caught up with Angle backstage. They were interrupted by a returning Emma, who complained about the lack of opportunities she was afforded on RAW while the people who previously looked up to her are now on the top. She threatened to date Jason Jordan to get the GM's attention.
An infuriated Angle booked Emma in a match against Nia Jax for tonight. Poor Emma!
Enzo Amore vs Big Cass III
Enzo cut a promo to begin with, which you all know how it may have been. Moving on...
Squash! Squash! Squash! That was all this was as Cass man handled his former best friend. Elbows, strikes, kicks and one BIG BOOT was all it took for Cass to get the win.
He continued to pummel Enzo after the match before you know what happened! Weeeell, it's the Big Showwwww! Out came the Worlds Largest Athlete to make the save but instead ended up crying out for help.
Cass systematically destroyed the giant with innumerable kicks to the gut, face, shoulder and to all the body parts you can imagine. Casshole taunted Show, trash talked the crowd and ended the segment with his hand held high while his entrance theme played in the background - that sounds straight out of an RPG game.
Result: Big Cass def. Enzo Amore
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Nia Jax vs. Emma
Emma pulled off an epic upset against the dominating Nia Jax.......not! It was a squash and an impressive one too. Emma looked both focused and frustrated at the same as she prepared to make her in-ring return after the Gauntlet match from over a month ago.
While Emma started off strong by trying to knock Jax off her feet, the monster among women took control of the match and punished the Australian star.
She ended the match with what looked like an incredible new finisher - a running moonsault transitioned into a senton/ Swanton Bo. Poor Emma!
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A new contender for the Cruiserweight title rises?
Titus O'Neil just knows how to annoy Akira Tozawa. During a backstage interview with Charly Caruso, O'Neil informs Tozawa that he had requested the officials to cancel his match for tonight as his shoulder was just too banged up.
A distraught Tozawa made his way to the ring anyway and called out Ariya Daivari. The King of the Cruiserweights Neville came out and belittled the Japenese superstar with a really solid promo.
Tozawa attacked Neville and hit his finisher before Daivari appeared out of nowhere to attack assault both Neville and Tozawa. His finisher -the hammerlock twisted into a short-arm lariat - was enough to decapacitate the two stars.
Another worthless Cruiserweight segment that showed the brilliance of Neville. He deserves so much better. Anyway, moving on.
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Bayley vs. Sasha Banks (No.1 Contenders match for the RAW Women's Championship)
The friends made their respective entrances followed by Alexa Bliss, who had a vested interest in the match. The Goddess of the WWE joined the commentary team much to the delight of Corey Graves.
Washington DC is leaning towards The Boss here but all roads pointed to a Triple Threat. Both women jockeyed for position and it nullified each other as Raw into a break.
Banks was busy wearing down Bayley as Raw returned. Bayley tipped the scales in her favour with a modified cutter and got a 2-count.
The match turned a solid back and forth encounter as both women put it all on table and showed glimpses of their chemistry from their NXT days.
Bayley hung by the skin of her teeth as she survived a Banks Statement. A tremendous sequence ensued and it ended in a stalemate as both women were back to squared one after the exchange. The crowd was hot for this one as chants for both the gorgeous ladies echoed around the arena.
The pace of the match picked up as Banks answered Bayley's running knee with a Shining Wizard. Both women continue to exchange strikes as the fans get even more vocal. Sasha caught Bayley with a knee and laid her out.
She went up to the top rope and paid homage to her idol Eddie Guererro before executing a Frog Splash.
However, Bayley showed incredible in-ring awareness to use Banks' momentum and reverse her pinfall. Bayley held on and kept up the pressure to pick up the huge win.
A dejected and shocked Sasha looked on as ecstatic Bayley revelled in the spotlight of earning a shot at retribution against Alexa Bliss.
There was no heel turns or beatdowns after the match as Bliss and Bayley just had a generic staredown.
Result: Bayley def. Sasha Banks to become no.1 contender for the RAW Women's title
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Jason Jordan makes his Raw debut
It was finally time for Kurt Angle Jr's acid test. Perrenial jobber Curt Hawkins stood in the ring as we all knew what was about to unfold for the former Edgehead.
Jordan came out to his old theme song (surprising!) and looked motivated to make a statement. While his mic skills are disputable, there are no qualms about Jordan's in-ring credentials as he showed a mean streak in finishing off Hawkins.
Jordan showed a variety of suplex variations in a match that ended with the debut of his new finisher - the Belly-to-back Neckbreaker. Kurt Angle looked mighty pleased backstage!
Result: Jason Jordan def. Curt Hawkins
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The Revival vs. The Club (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson
Fresh on the heels of a 'career defining' win against the Hardy Boyz on last week's episode, the Top Guys came out to the ring for an interview with Charly Caruso.
Scott Dawson was quick to interrupt Caruso, and while he put her over by calling her an asset to the company blah blah blah...he said that she wasn't needed and that the Top Guys will take over. Top stuff indeed!
Dash claimed that they had dominated NXT and were on the path of becoming the faces of the Raw tag team division. The duo said that they sent New Day to SmackDown, was indirectly responsible for the end of Cass and Enzo, and ended the legacy of the Hardys.
The Club couldn't take it anymore and came out acting like babyfaces for some reason. The former Raw tag team champions corrected the Revival and said that they were the first to do the following things - beat up New Day, beat up the Hardys, and to have shiny bald heads (Dash looked perplexed).
A match between the two teams was up next.
Dawson and Anderson started things off. They began with a lock up. Dawson shoved Anderson, who responded with a slap. The Revival then double teamed Anderson and used the referee to distract Gallows.
The Club was on top when we returned from the break, and they were running wild on The Revival. However, The Hardy Boyz music started to play, and this was enough of a distraction for The Revival to hit the Shatter Machine for the win.
After the match, The Hardy Boyz destroyed Dawson and Wilder, but The Revival escaped before Jeff Hardy can hit the Swanton Bomb.
Result: The Revival def. Gallows and Anderson.
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Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins vs. The Miztourage (2-on-3 Handicap match)
A partial Sheild reunion as Michael Cole reinforced was up next both men teaming up for the first time in 2 years.
The match kicked off the Dean Ambrose teeing off on Curtis Axel. After a brief flurry, Ambrose tagged Rollins in, who goes to work on Axel. He keeps up the pressure with a knee to the face followed by a snap mare and kicks to the back.
Axel, however, tagged Miz in and the A-Lister took things in his hands and the heels were on top. However, the Architect fought back with a sling blade and tagged in Ambrose. The former Shield Brothers decided to function as a unit and started decimating The Miztourage as we cut to commercial.
With the referee distracted, the other members of The Miztourage pummelled Rollins. The Miz taunted Ambrose, who was on the apron and tagged in Axel. Curtis grounded Rollins and started talking trash.
Bo Dallas then had a few moments in the sun before tagging in The Miz. The Miztourage's momentum came to a standstill as Rollins rolled and ducked through Axel's offence to make the hot tag to Ambrose.
The Lunatic Fringe came in hot and took out Axel and Bo Dallas. He drove the elbow down on Bo from the top rope and got a two-count, that had to be broken up by The Miz.
Miz almost pulled off a fast one of the faces when he executed a sneak tag and hit Ambrose with the Skull Crushing Finale. Rollins, made it back in the ring at the knick of time to break up the pin.
It was a nostalgic trip down memory lane thereafter as the former brothers executed a perfectly timed double suicide dive on the Miztourage.
Back in the ring, Ambrose hit Miz with the Dirty Deeds and picked up the win. The two men shared a half-hearted hug after the match but looked to be on the same page.
Rollins put his fist up for the classic fist bump but a reluctant Ambrose walked away to close out the show. sportskeeda.com
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