Reports are suggesting that Brock Lesnar’s opponent at the Madison Square Garden live event which will be broadcast on the WWE Network will be Bo Dallas, who will be seeking his, hm, revenge, for the massive beating he took this past Monday on Raw.
Dallas came out to offer Lesnar some advice and to “bo-lieve” however the beast did not appreciate it and took him to Suplex City with five suplexes and an F5 to finish him off.
This will be Lesnar’s first house show in the United States in over a decade. WWE televised his appearance in Tokyo, Japan, on July 4 on the WWE Network in a match against Kofi Kingston.
Other matches set for the MSG show will be Seth Rollins vs John Cena, Randy Orton vs Sheamus, Kevin Owens vs Cesaro, and Dolph Ziggler vs Rusev, all re-matches from SummerSlam. Chris Jericho is also scheduled to appear. Card is obviously subject to change.
The post-SummerSlam Monday Night Raw drew less viewers than last week and the buzz coming off from the weekend in Brooklyn did not translate to television viewers on Monday night. The show did an average of 3,721,000 viewers, down 56,000 viewers from the previous week.
Hour one did 3,606,000 viewers, hour two did 3,794,000 viewers, and then hour three did 3,764,000 viewers. Many were expecting the best number since the post-WrestleMania Raw however the numbers were way off. (Ratings credit: TV By The Numbers)
Before we dive into our season finale recap, I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who took the time to read these recaps and share their feedback over the past 10 weeks. It’s been a fun experience for me, one which has allowed me to occasionally vent my frustrations to a group of individuals who actually care. 🙂
I know the WWE struggled with the show in the beginning, but I do think it came full circle and ended on a high note. Looking forward to seeing if they renew the show again next summer.
Now, onward!
Amanda vs. Alicia Fox
For those who weren’t keeping up with the previews this week, each of the contestants were tasked with creating a persona, an outfit, and a ring entrance – then would be put in a match live! Squaring off against the girls would be the WWE’s current longest tenured Diva, Alicia Fox.
Amanda came to the ring introduced as Mandy Rose and carried with her a much more upbeat, bubbly personality than we’ve seen in the past. She was dressed well, conservative yet sexy, and looked the part of an in-ring performer. In her opening promo, she seemed comfortable albeit a bit out of place given how much of the “bitchy boss” we’ve seen in the past.
The actual match itself was what you’d expect from someone who just started wrestling 10 weeks ago. The pacing was off, the moves weren’t incredibly polished, and there were a handful of botches. To Mandy’s credit, though, she took a lot of stiff hits from Fox and performed incredibly well in her big spots. Namely, Mandy was able to counter a move by Fox with a sunset flip and she performed her top rope bulldog nearly perfect.
As one would expect, Alicia Fox ended up taking the win with a massive scissor kick that looked like it could have taken Mandy’s head clear off her shoulders!
Sara Lee vs. Alicia Fox
Sara Lee was introduced to the audience as Hope and wore a flannel belly shirt and a small pair of cut off jean shorts, really playing into the girl-next-door gimmick she’s been labeled with the whole season. Her entrance wasn’t spectacular, but she did seem to have a better sense of the ring than she has in the past.
Hope’s opening promo was probably the most shocking of all as she finally seemed to show a bit of fire and personality that she’d been lacking nearly the entire season. She played off the underdog role well and seemed relaxed doing so on the mic.
In slight contrast to Mandy, Hope’s match seemed to flow a bit nicer. The pacing was a little slower and didn’t feel as rushed, which allowed her to hit her cues a bit better than Mandy did. Hope’s Russian Leg Sweep take-down actually looked wonderful, but her armbar submission severely lacked any intensity.
Hope’s match wasn’t without a handful of mistakes, most notably when taking a hardly believable eye rake from Alicia Fox and then stepping into the scissor kick so that Fox’s leg hit the mid of Hope’s back instead of her head.
After the girls finished their matches, Chris Jericho announced that the voting would begin to decide which of the two would win the contract. When we returned from break, Jericho then dropped on a bombshell on the two ladies (who were visibly nervous) that we’d be waiting to find out about the vote until the end of the show.
It was cruelly hysterical!
ZZ vs. Cesaro
ZZ was introduced next as The King of the Bayou and came to the ring with an absolutely ludicrous crocodile head and skin draped over his body. I can only describe it as a some sort of ancient American Indian war gear. Below is a photo I found on Twitter which should give you an idea of the sheer insanity of this guy’s outfit:
Aside from the wild ring gear, ZZ’s actual entrance and subsequent promo weren’t very good. Throughout the entire season, ZZ has been very upbeat, personable, and full of quips. However he seemed to go in a completely different direction tonight, acting very serious and giving a very bland speech about beating his opponent – Cesaro.
Who, might I add, did interrupt ZZ’s speech.
In the match itself, ZZ definitely surpassed my expectations and I think that of the crowd’s, as well. With the exception of a few token miscues, he looked as if he knew what he was doing. He even went so far as to give his “Gator Grip” gesture to work up the crowd before trying to lock in his finisher, which I thought was a really excellent touch. Ultimately, though, Cesaro forced him to tap out with the most interesting of move choices … a crippler crossface!
Right after the match, The Miz took it upon himself to rip into ZZ a bit about not knowing if ZZ would last beyond the two minute match he just had. ZZ’s biggest drop-down miscue did look as if he was gassed; something the coaches made it a point to call him on.
Josh vs. Cesaro
The final of the four contestants, Josh comes to the ring introduced as The Yeti. Playing up his nickname and now infamous yeti-call, he seemed in full command of the crowd. His entrance gear looked great, his interactions with the audience looked great, and his promo ended with having the entire audience get on their feet and give off the yeti call.
But his wrestling trunks… Good God.
His wrestling trunks looked like a pair of generic boxer brief underwear he picked up from Walmart before the show. They were very unappealing and actually took away from his ‘look’ once the rest of the entrance gear game off.
In terms of the actual match, Josh looked like the best performer by far. His natural size gave him an opportunity to look strong over his opponent, something that none of the others could pull off believably. He did have a fairly big missed spot, where it looked like he was supposed to go for his finisher, but he played it off cool and basically re-did the entire spot after a few more moves.
Despite losing to Cesaro, he seemed to have a the crowd in the palm of his hands nearly the entire time. And the judges weren’t coy about bringing it up – telling him he looked like he belonged in this business.
And the Winners Are…
After all of the competitors were brought back out on stage, Triple H was introduced to name the winners and hand out the contracts. He shared a few quick words with the competitors, commending them all on a job well done before turning to the final votes.
For the ladies… Sara Lee becomes the newest WWE Diva with a vote of 63% to Amanda’s 36%.
For the gentlemen… Josh becomes the newest WWE Superstar with a shocking vote of 70% to ZZ’s 30%
And there we have it, folks! Your two new prospects are heading to the performance center!
Finale Final Thoughts
My Final Thoughts on… Sara Lee
In the beginning of the show, I was firmly behind Sara Lee as she brought something different to the roster. After seeing her fall behind, I was growing irritated that she kept blowing away the other, more athletic girls out of the water in votes. However, tonight, she really did seem to have the better overall match than Amanda. Will she ever be a mainstay in the Diva’s division? Probably not. But I do think there’s a place for her as a Bayley or Emma type character, where they really build on her natural giddy personality.
I did feel terrible for Sara Lee during Tough Talk, though. Every single judge on the show said that Amanda should have won the contest and most of them ripped on Sara in some regard, taking a lot of steam out of what should have been a really happy moment for her. Triple H finally stepped in and said that charisma is defined by how you connect with the audience and shared a great story about how his three little girls were most excited to see Sara Lee during SummerSlam – more so than anyone else on the entire roster. Jericho piggybacked it and said that there have been plenty of people who have risen to success without being the quickest learners, but while having that connection and he viewed Sara as a candidate.
My Final Thoughts on… Amanda
Amanda should have won this competition, unquestionably. From the beginning, she’s always shined with her athleticism, her charisma, and her natural poise. Whether or not her bitchiness on-screen was done to play up to the camera, I do think it was part of the reason she didn’t walk out the victor. I think Amanda, like some of the other girls, were already at a disadvantage against Sara because of how they looked. With that in mind, she should have made every effort to seem more approachable and relatable to us normal folk. GiGi was doing a great job of this early on and had the fan’s support. It wasn’t until her dark side was shown that the fans turned on her.
At the end of the day, it wouldn’t surprise me to see the WWE offer her a developmental contract. I’m not entirely sure if she is serious about being a wrestler or if this was just for exposure, as she did mention on Jericho’s podcast that she was contacted by a casting agency. Regardless, I think if she wants it bad enough – they would happily take the flyer on her.
My Final Thoughts on… ZZ
I’m honestly just glad that the people finally wised up on ZZ. His sheer lack of motivation and his constant use of quips to dance around questions were tugging on my last nerve. He went from a character you really wanted to root for because of his heart to a guy who just had an excuse for everything. Thinking back on this season, I’ve really started to question if ZZ really wanted this. And my suspicion was even further confirmed prior to writing this.
Earlier in the season, The Miz asked ZZ if he’d ever been on a reality TV show and ZZ replied that he had been on one show, Trading Spouses, when he was a young boy. A quick Google search on him, however, shows that he was also on Season 4 of Swamp People just two years ago. I know this is probably overthinking things, but it just makes me feel like ZZ is more interested in being a reality star than he is in the actual competition he’s partaking in. Again on Jericho’s podcast, ZZ mentioned that someone suggested he try out for Tough Enough. It wasn’t even his idea to do it. Hey — that path worked for The Miz. But at least he wanted this.
I don’t suspect you’ll see ZZ again. Not in a WWE ring, at least. But perhaps on another show!
My Final Thoughts on… Josh
When the show first started, I looked at Josh as that prototypical guy that the WWE looks for. He had the size, the build, and the look that we’ve seen a thousand times. But truth be told, my money was in Tanner or Mada going the distance. As the season went on, though, Josh really started to grow on me. Not only is he a hard worker and an athlete, but he’s very humble. He appreciates the opportunities he’s been given and works hard to capitalize on them.
The transformation he’s made over the past ten weeks is truly incredible and is a testament to both his eagerness to learn and the talent level of the coaches training him. Aside from improving in the ring, I think he’s also done a great job developing his personality on the microphone.
It was heavily rumored that the WWE would offer him a contract win or lose, but it’s refreshing to see that the audience wised up when deciding on a winner.
I look forward to seeing Josh in an NXT ring soon!
And that’s all folks!
Again, I thank you all for hanging around over the summer and thank Colin in confiding in me to crank out these reports. It’s been a blast and I look forward to doing something like this again!
Bubba Ray and Devon used Twitter to thank fans for welcoming back to the WWE ten years after leaving the company.
“Dear @WWE Universe, “Do you know who we are?!?!” We’re #TheDudleyBoys…AND WE’RE BACK!!! Thanks for that reaction NYC!!,” wrote Bubba Ray. “After 10 long years, we are back were we belong… Home!!! Thank you @WWE And the @WWEUniverse… Oh TESTIFY,” added his tag team partner Devon.
Meanwhile, The New Day member Xavier Woods also wrote about getting 3D’d through a table.
“Tonight I took a 3D from the Dudley Boyz through a table in front of a sold out crowd in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center after I played trombone during our entrance and my boys sand our remake of Sinatra’s ‘New York, New York.’ This is honestly one of the best moments of my life,” Woods wrote.
The Barclays Center was in full WWE mode this weekend with the social media team tweeting all kinds of WWE-related happenings and pictures to commemorate the 3 sell-outs in a row that WWE managed to achieve for the SummerSlam weekend.
SummerSlam originally was not supposed to take place at the Barclays Center but it was set for the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. With the city shutting down the Izod Center, WWE moved the pay-per-view to the Barclays Center where Raw was already booked to take place the following day. An NXT event, first a regular show and not a Takeover event, was slated to take place at a smaller venue but then the company decided to go all guns blazing and booked NXT at the Barclays Center as well. WWE managed to sell out all events.
“Thank You @StephMcMahon @TripleH @VinceMcMahon @WWE for 3 INCREDIBLE events in a row! See you in December,” said a tweet from the Barclays Center official Twitter account. WWE is back in the building for a Raw in December of this year. After a fan asked to have every WWE show at the arena from now on, the social media team behind @barclayscenter replied, “We second that!”
In addition, to celebrate Vince McMahon’s 70th birthday yesterday, the Barclays Center displayed a huge “Happy Birthday Vince McMahon” with the WWE logo on the massive video wall outside the arena during the day.
Episode 8 of season 4 of Total Divas airs tonight at 9PM EST on E! immediately following the Tough Enough season finale on USA Network.
The episode is titled It’s a Beautiful Life? and the synopsis for the show reads, “When Nikki claims to be the better singer, Brie sets her up to make her national debut. Meanwhile Paige confronts her trust issues by testing Kevin, and Nattie takes drastic measures when she fears the WWE is phasing her out.”
The Night of Champions main event was announced last night after Raw went off the air and continued on the WWE Network.
Triple H said that if Sting wants Seth Rollins, he will get Seth Rollins at Night of Champions for the WWE World Heavyweight title. This is Sting’s first – and probably last – title shot in WWE.
Sting has not appeared on television since WrestleMania 31 and did a Network-exclusive interview after the post-WrestleMania Raw went off the air saying he does not know what the future holds for him.
All titles are expected to be defended at Night of Champions so Seth Rollins might be pulling double duty unless the U.S. title is retired by the time the event comes around.
The WWE fans in Brooklyn crapped all over the Divas segment last night, starting with The MizTV segment and then during the Team Bella vs Team PCB that followed.
The Divas had around a 20 minute segment in total including The MizTV portion but fans showed their lack of interest – and quite frankly, disrespect – in the match when they started chanting “We are awesome” and doing the wave as it was obvious the whole thing was bombing with the crowd.
Paige took it to Twitter to show her disappointment in the crowd. “You helped us create change and then you did your best do disrespect,” she wrote. “Niceeeee jobbbbbbbb!” She later deleted the actual tweet.
Becky Lynch was less pissed, writing, “I’ll love you and leave you. You were a beautiful boisterous bunch.”
The Bellas were not so nice in their comments, with Nikki writing on her Instagram, “WWE Brooklyn shame on you for disrespecting women that put their bodies on the line for your entertainment.” She then thanked the ones who support them and said they make it worth working hard.
Her sister Brie said that the Brooklyn crowd can kiss her ass and she was proud of Alicia Fox.
Tonight is the season finale of Tough Enough with the final four – Josh, ZZ, Amanda, and Sara Lee – fighting for the two, one-year $250,000 WWE contracts.
The four will be wrestling on the show, with Josh and ZZ facing Cesaro while Amanda and Sara Lee will be taking on Alicia Fox. The whole group have already trained with Cesaro and Alicia Fox last week to put together their matches but rather than taping the matches, WWE is taking the riskier way and have them perform on live television.
The WWE Universe will once again vote to select the one male and one female winners, with many thinking Sara Lee and ZZ will be winners since they have been winning most of the popular votes over the course of the past nine weeks.
Tough Enough season finale airs tonight at 8PM EST on USA Network with hosts Chris Jericho and Rene Young and judges Daniel Bryan, Paige, and The Miz. Tough Talk will follow on the WWE Network at 9PM EST with Byron Saxton hosting.
The Wyatt Family added its newest member last night on Raw with the arrival of Braun Stowman after attacking Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose.
Stowman is 31 year old Adam Scherr who has been signed to a WWE developmental deal since mid 2013. He is a strongman competitor, earning his American Strongman Corporation Professional Card and winning six competitions between 2010 and 2012.
Last year Stowman appeared several times as part of Adam Rose’s Rosebuds.
Ten years exactly after the duo last appeared together inside a WWE ring, Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley made their surprise return to WWE last night on the post-SummerSlam Raw.
The former WWE, ECW, and TNA tag team champions attacked the recently-crowned WWE tag team champions The New Day following their match against Lucha Dragons and then proceeded to give Xavier Woods a Dudley Death Drop through a table.
Earlier this year Bubba Ray was a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble but his return was a one-off and then returned to TNA as “the law,” an angle which only lasted two weeks after Ray decided to leave again for good as he was not under a contract. D-Von never appeared on WWE television again since August 2005. The duo, in an interview with Sports Illustrated, said that a return to the WWE would be “best for business” and they’re ready to make the jump whenever the call comes in.
Monday Night Raw TV Report for August 24th, 2015 – “’Bombshells Dropped!”
Introduction Segment: Video Promo
The poster of Summerslam featuring The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar is the opening shot and then we here Triple H’s voice. The WWE’s C.O.O. touts SummerSlam’s success, and says it is because of Seth Rollins, who kept his WWE World Heavyweight Championship and won the United States Championship. HHH warns Rollins, however, that he is not the “future” of WWE; he is “the man.” Triple H tells Seth that a statue for/of Rollins will be revealed tonight.
Segment #2: Welcoming and Arena Promo
The regular Raw video plays and the pyro goes off in the Barclays center; Michael Cole welcomes us to Brooklyn, New York. He announces that The Wyatt Family will take on Reigns and Ambrose once again, and there will be fallout from the Title VS. Title bout.
Brock Lesnar’s music plays and he walks out to the ring with an unpleasant expression and cuts on his face; he is followed by his manager, Paul Heyman. “Ladies and gentleman, my name is Paul Heyman, and I am the pissed off advocate of the ripped off conqueror, ‘The Beast Of Barclays,’ Brock Lesnar!” Heyman wonders how the finish from last night’s SummerSlam could’ve happened the way it did; he then puts over Lesnar’s abilities in the match and shows the end with video. Paul continues to protest against the loss and demands a rematch tonight!
They await Undertaker’s arrival, but instead get Bo Dallas. He pokes fun at Lesnar’s match, which was not wise, because moment’s later, Brock destroys him with numerous suplexes at the encouragement of Heyman. They then walk off, pleased, and with Bo prone.
Commercials.
Match #1: Tag-Team – The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto and Sin Cara) vs The New Day
Prior to the bout, The New Day make their entrance singing about being the new Tag-Team Champions to a famous song by the late Frank Sinatra; Woods plays a trombone during this! Kofi misses a kick running off the ropes and is rolled up for a quick-count by Cara. Kalisto is tagged in and dumps Kofi to the floor with a flip, then spin-kicks Big E. to the outside as well. He follows with a slingshot-plancha, but Big E. and Kofi catch him. Cara joins with a dive to take out E. and Kingston!
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The New Day are in control, with Xavier playing them along on the trombone. Kalisto counters into a sunset-flip powerbomb, but is soon planted with the Champs’ finisher for the victory!
Winners via Pinfall: Tag-Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Big E.) (with Xavier Woods)
As The New Day are celebrating, a sudden fireworks blast shoots from the top of the arena. In a complete surprise appearance, out walk former WWE, WCW, ECW, and TNA Tag-Team Champions The Dudley Boyz! To a raucous reaction, Bubba Ray and D-Von march out and destroy the current Tag-Team Champs and Xavier, with all their signature moves, including 3D-ing through a table!
Commercials.
Segment #3: Video Promo
John Cena’s work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation is featured, which is now at 500 granted wishes.
Segment #4: Office Promo
Stephanie and Triple H are admiring Seth Rollins’ statue when the WWE World Heavyweight and United States Champion himself walks in. he is elated over what they are doing for him tonight, and they are elated over him.
Roman Reigns comes out and will be teaming with Dean to take on Wyatt and Harper again, next!
Match #2: Tag-Team – Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose VS. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper)
Ambrose and Harper begin, with “The Lunatic Fringe” taking the upper hand first on Luke and Bray. On the outside, Harper runs through the ropes with a suicide dive, but Dean hits back with a clothesline off the apron. Reigns follows with the Drive-By running front-dropkick.
Commercials.
Bray is now in control over Ambrose, clotheslining him hard then tagging in Harper. He slingshots Dean between the bottom and middle ropes, then switches with Bray. “The Eater Of Worlds” drives Dean with a DDT and swings him around onto his right knee. Luke is tagged back in and slingshots over the ropes with a Tope’ dive, then locks Ambrose in the Gator Roll. Dean fights back and scoop-slams Luke then Tornado DDT’s him out of the corner! He reaches for the hot-tag to Roman, who Samoan Drops an also-tagged-in Wyatt.
Roman gives Bray a big t-bone-like suplex and clotheslines him in the corner, then puts him to the mat with a backdrop. He gears up for the Superman Punch but is countered. Harper tries a distraction but is knocked off the apron; Bray one-arm slams Roman. Dean has to fight off both Harper and Wyatt, then rolls Bray back into the ring where Roman jackhammer-suplexes him. Harper is back in to stop the count and hits both Reigns and Ambrose. He picks up Reigns, but Reigns kicks Bray off and then hits Harper. Ambrose helps again, and as Roman signals for the Spear, the screen changes to the Wyatt Family video. We go back to the ring and a giant man appears standing on the apron in a black mask. He takes off the mask and is a completely new wrestler I do not recognize. He decimates Reigns and Ambrose, locking them in a reverse Cobra Clutch-type submission.
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Segment #4: Arena Promo
MizTV is on the air and he welcomes Team P.C.B.; Paige, Becky, and Charlotte join him in the ring. The women insist to Miz that they are all a trio, which is why they were able to win at SummerSlam. Miz doesn’t entirely believe them and insinuates that there may be dissension. Paige denies it and the women all pinky-swear each other. They all say they will take on any female or male, and Paige declares “this is the era of the female athlete. We will not back down; we will not surrender and we will keep proving that we are just as strong, just as agile, and just as dominant as any man, any…” She is cut off by Team Bella’s music, when Divas Champion Nikki, Brie, and Alicia Fox walk out.
Nikki declares herself to be the most dominant, since she is the Divas Champion. Brie says they “we empower women all over the world.” Alicia reminds Becky that she has been in WWE for nine years, but Lynch pokes fun at that. Nikki gets in her face and predicts that she “will become the longest-reigning Divas Champion in WWE history” on Sept. 22nd. She gets in P.C.B.’s face with the title, then Miz interjects before they go further. He tells Charlotte, Paige, and Becky to copy him so they can “revolutionize WWE,” then puts them down verbally again. They don’t take kind to his remarks and put him against the ropes. Team Bella assaults from behind and then all Divas glare at each other.
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Match #3: Six-Diva Tag-Team – Team P.C.B. (Paige, Becky, and Charlotte) VS. Team Bella (Divas Champion Nikki, Brie, and Alicia Fox)
Brie is kicking Becky in the corner as we come back from break. Becky reverses and flips over the Bella sister then gives her three running legdrops. Charlotte is tagged in and tries the Figure-8, but Brie kicks off and slaps hands with Nikki. The Divas champion slaps Charlotte, who pushes back and rolls her up quick. Paige is tagged and repeatedly knees Nikki through the ropes and covers for two. Becky is back in and also covers for two, then wears Nikki down with a front-facelock.
Nikki counters a wristlock into a snapmare and wristlock, which Lynch reverses into a couple roll-ups and a backslide. She wristlocks Nikki again and tags in Charlotte who locks Nikki in an armbar then tags in Paige, who snaprmares Nikki. She whips Nikki into the ropes, but the Divas Champion counters with a spinebuster. Paige regains control, giving her shoulders in the corner and kicking away. She switches with Becky, who also kicks away, then Charlotte comes in and planchas over the rope onto all of Team Bella.
Commercials.
Nikki now has Charlotte trapped in a half-crab, then is tossed to the outside. Nikki slams Charlotte’s left leg against the ring post, and sweeps her up onto the floor mat. She continues to work over Charlotte in the ring with her teammates. Charlotte breaks out of a leg-bending submission by Fox to get to Paige for the much-needed tag. She clotheslines Alicia again and again, then does the same with knees in the corner. Fox counters into a hard kick and leaping forearm for a near-fall! Alicia climbs the turnbuckle but Paige meets her there and jawbreaks her to the floor with the top rope. She follows with a somersault off the apron, then knocks the Twins off the apron. Paige clamps on the Paige Tap-Out to Fox, but Brie stops t with a kick. Becky comes in and tries to take her out, but she is face-busted for her efforts. Nikki hits Paige hard with a forearm, and Fox drives her with an Axe Kick for the 1 – 2 – 3!
Winners via Pinfall: Team Bella (Divas Champion Nikki, Brie, and Alicia Fox)
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Match #4: Tag-Team – King Barrett and Stardust VS. ???
Before a second team is announced, Stardust attacks Wade. Neville runs out and fends him off.
Winner: No Contest due to No Official Start
Up next, SummerSlam host Jon Stewart will be out to discuss his actions at the pay-per-view.
Commercials.
Michael announces that The Dudley Boyz will be back on Smackdown! this week.
Segment #6: Arena Promo
Jon Stewart receives a chant of “Thank you, Stewart” to start off his explanation of betraying John Cena. He says that “in my heart, I could not let John Cena tie ‘the great’ Ric Flair for sixteen championships, because, in my mind, ‘the champ is flair.’”
In another surprise, “The Nature Boy” himself struts out! Ric Flair tells Stewart that he appreciates his intentions, but he was rotting for Cena anyway, as he wants his sixteen world championship record to be stopped by someone he respects. Stewart tries to plea his case again, but now John Cena becomes involved (due to the boisterous dismay of Brooklyn fans, at first). Cena says is ok with not tying Flair’s record but not with Seth Rollins holding the two titles now, as he nor The Authority will give wrestlers or the fans a chance. Stewart claims he respects Cena for being who he is and giving all the up-and-comers a shot at the U.S. Championship. Cena doesn’t buy much of it and decides to do something about it – he gives Jon an Attitude Adjustment!
After replays, Flair and referees help Stewart to the back.
Up next, 8-Man Tag action!
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Segment #6: Backstage Promo
Rene Young asks John Cena about his actions; he is happy that he had a “talk” with Stewart, and then warns he is going to have a “talk” with Seth.
Match #5: Eight-Man Tag-Team – Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro, Randy Orton, and Intercontinental Champion Ryback (with Lana) VS. Rusev, Kevin Owens, The Big Show, and Sheamus (with Summer Rae)
Rusev and Ryback start out with a lockup. Ryback knocks him down with a shoulder block then rams him repeatedly against he canvas. He switches with Cesaro, who easily picks up Rusev and slams him down. Dolph is now in and dropkicks Rusev and goes for the leaping-DDT, but is tossed off. Ziggler puts Rusev to the outside, where Ryback pushes him. A face-off between the teams then happens.
Commercials.
Show and Ziggler are wrestling now, with Show big-booting Dolph. He slaps him hard in the corner then signals to the crowd to kiss his behind after they chant “Big Show sucks.” Owens comes in and suplexes Dolph into the top rope. He then shakes his rear at Ziggler, making fun of him. Sheamus is tagged and he works over Dolph with a leglock submission. He catches him off a run and drives him with the Irish Curse backbreaker.
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While Rusev and Dolph wrestle, Lana sweeps up and pounds away on Summer. In the ring, Ziggler hits the Fameasser and tags in Cesaro, who cleans house on Owens with many uppercuts. He signals for the swing, but Rusev comes in and gets swung instead! Cesaro turns into a boot by Owens, then Ryback enters and slugs it out with Kevin. He is tripped into the middle turnbuckle, but moves from the Cannonball attempt! The I.C. Champ hits the Meathook Clothesline, but is soon taken down with a clothesline from Owens.
Ryback and Owens both tag in Sheamus and Orton, with Randy dominating “Mr. Money In The Bank.” He ducks from a knockout punch, that lands on Sheamus, allowing Orton to RKO Sheamus for the victory!
Winners via Pinfall: Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro, Randy Orton, and Intercontinental Champion Ryback (with Lana)
Post-match, Owens and Rusev argue with Show over the lost, then take him out. As Owens walks off, he doesn’t even bother to help Sheamus. Back in the ring, Big Show is surrounded and RKO’d as Ryback and Cesaro held him up!
Commercials.
Segment #8: Video Promo
“I tried to warn you Roman. I tried to tell you so long as you walk this earth, so long as there’s a heart still beating inside your chest, I would be there to put you down. Because you, you infect everything and everyone around you. Take your so-called ‘brother’ Dean Ambrose. You selfishly pulled him into our little game, and now he’s just another pawn for me to play. Last night, at SummerSlam, the world witnessed your moment of glory, and I hope you cherished it, because now, now it’s over. Tonight, you witnessed her greatest gift. I have someone I’d like you to meet. This is Braun Stowman. And he is Abigail’s ‘black sheep.’” Bray laughs menacingly as the camera pans close to Braun’s face, who has a wicked smile.
Segment #9: Backstage Promo
John Cena and The Authority meet in the hallway. Stephanie give shim props for being talked about by A.A.-ing Jon Stewart, but then calls him “a sore loser.” Cena mentions about having a chat with Rollins, but Stephanie says that won’t be happening. She calls over security to vacate him from the building.
Up next is the statue revelation!
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Segment #10: Arena Promo
The Authority walks out to the ring, which is donned in a red carpet mat. The statue is in the middle, covered by a giant black sheet. First, though, Stephanie and Triple H since “Happy Birthday” to Stephanie’s father, Mr. Vince McMahon, as he has turned 70 today!
They move on to Seth Rollins, who they put over tremendously. The WWE World Heavyweight and United States Champion now joins them. He puts over the New York greats in sports and relates himself to them. Rollins uses the famous quote “heroes … but legends never die.” He claims he “became a legend” after SummerSlam, and now will “become immortal” with this statue. Seth also uses Ric Flair’s catchphrase, “to be ‘the man’, you’ve got to beat ‘the man’,” insisting that Cena was “the man” for the past decade, but now he will be after defeating Cena. He lists Andre The Giant, Bruno Sammartino, and The Ultimate Warrior as men who he will be with as a statue and in history. Rollins says he is ready for the moment, then asks the crowd.
The veil is lifted, but instead of Rollins in bronze, it is Sting! He is back and surveys The Authority, then goes after Rollins! He beats him to out of the ring, then holds up the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to the dismay and shock of Rollins, Triple H, and Stephanie to close the show.
End Of Raw.
Reporter’s Rumblings – By Moe Tapp
Following a pretty good SummerSlam, Raw was not as good, but decent. I felt other than the Divas match, the action was lacking, but the storytelling was superb. Here are my particulars:
Excellence: Heyman/Lesnar opener – as always, Paul E. was gold on the mike selling the “catastrophe” that was his client’s defeat, while Brock was a monster not to be messed with against Dallas. As mentioned above, the Divas match itself was great again, as was their promo.
I am absolutely intrigued by the new man in the Wyatt Family; I’m glad they’re expanding again, as I think Bray is better with a group than on his own. As well, the comeback of The Dudleyz was awesome and totally unexpected. I hope they are here for a while and have some more great matches; now they just need “Little” Spike Dudley!
Loved Owens ignoring a downed Sheamus post-match, as it adds even more to his fantastic “only me/I don’t care” character. Sting returning was very cool too; I’m fine with him at least having a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match, but as far as winning, I’m not absolutely sure – I will get back to you readers on that next week when the storyline forms more!
Bogus: no singles matches! Everything was a Tag-Team and mostly rushed. The one I was disappointed in the most was the rematch from SummerSlam; they just had it last night, so for those who are still paying the PPV rates, if I was one of them, that would make me mad to see it the very next night for free, and with a better result! (I was expecting a turn or a third-party on behalf of The Wyatts at SummerSlam.)
I hope Bo Dallas is soon repackaged; he’s totally lost his steam for a long while, and I think a fresh character would be best. I am also not digging Barrett; he also needs to be redone and back to the “bare-knuckle brawler” for legitimacy in him. Then I think he could have some great feuds with Neville, Ryback for the I.C., Cesaro, Owens if Barrett turns face. Pending that happening, I am not interested in him.
The crowd – when chants and actions disrupt the show (the wave or “we are awesome”) or are disrespectful (“boring” during the Divas match – come on!), then that’s where I get distracted and upset. It’s annoying and disregarding of both the work the wrestlers are performing in the ring and the viewers at home, whether it is during a promo or during a match.
All-in-all I thoroughly enjoyed Raw from the plot standpoint tonight and it has set up a few interesting new feuds! Until next week, Be Excellent Wrestling-Online Readers and Fans!
Former WWE tag team title holder Darren Young might have crossed the line today after posting screenshots of a conversation with a gay Total Divas cameraman who sent him a shirtless photo via Instagram.
“This is the real stuff you won’t see on Total Divas,” wrote Young, posting the photo of the cameraman who goes by the username jercams40 and the conversation. He added the hashtag #youcantbreakthishappyhome, obviously because Young is already in a relationship.
The cameraman told him that he finds him “relatable” as they’re “gay man in our predominantly straight industries.” Young replied saying thank you “but I don’t think sending someone you work with a shirtless pic is appropriate. Especially if you know he’s in a relationship.”
Apologies followed from the cameraman and then Darren Young’s partner sent a message saying that he knows he remembers seeing him at WrestleMania when they were filming Total Divas and sent him a photo of holding a glass of water saying, “here’s a tall glass of water to quench your thirst!”
The cameraman once again apologized and said he deserved it and that he does remember about him, at which point Young’s partner once again knocked him down. “Yeah you remembered just NOW huh? Shame,” he wrote back.
“I actually do just now. And yes I feel stupid and terrible,” the Total Divas cameraman replied.
CBS Radio today announced a new show with former ECW champion Taz titled The Taz Show: Bodyslams & Beyond, a live two hour daily audio and video podcast.
The show will exclusively air on the Play.it podcast network live from Monday through Friday from 7AM to 9AM EST from CBS Radio’s New York headquarters. The program can also be accessed on-demand daily beginning at 10AM EST. Live video streaming of the show will launch at a later date.
The live program comes as the result of the success of Taz’s podcast and replaces the weekly show which launched earlier this year on Play.it.
“The world of sports entertainment is well-known for its colorful characters and no doubt Taz is one of the most opinionated and passionate of all time,” said Chris Oliviero, Executive Vice President of Programming, CBS RADIO. “His unique personality along with his fanatical fan base make Taz the perfect personality to help build this new content platform.”
Fan footage has surfaced of the Undertaker along with his wife Michelle McCool arriving back at the Sheraton Brooklyn Hotel following his match against Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam.
The couple arrived in a black SUV and were surrounded by three police officers who escorted them all the way to the door. Taker was limping but acknowledged the fans who were chanting his name from across the street.
Another fan footage shows the Undertaker falling as he was about to go backstage following his match when cameras were not rolling. He crawled a few and then went back up on his feet.
The Undertaker took half a dozen of suplexes and three F5s – one of them through a table – during the match. The controversial finish saw Taker tapping out to the Kimura Lock and the timekeeper ringing the bell however the referee restarted the match since he didn’t see it. Lesnar eventually passed out later after he was locked in the Gogoplata, or Hell’s Gate as WWE refers to it.
Jon Stewart brought to WWE exactly what they wanted, a lot of main stream exposure on celebrity and entertainment websites. Hosting his first gig since his departure from The Daily Show, the life-long WWE fan got involved in one of the main events, hitting John Cena with a chair and helping his former rival Seth Rollins retain the WWE World Heavyweight title and win the United States title as well.
ESPN, Rolling Stone, Yahoo! News, Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated, Washington Post, Hollywood Life, New York Daily News, BBC News, MTV, Fox Sports, and more all covered Stewart’s “heel turn.”
During SummerSlam, Stewart was involved in two backstage segments, first with Stephen Amell and Neville, which included a cameo by the Undertaker, and then a verbal altercation with Paul Heyman after he knocked on Lesnar’s dressing room door which ended with Heyman wondering why they didn’t get David Letterman instead.
Linda McMahon was sitting front row for SummerSlam and accompanying her where three of her grandchildren, the daughters of Triple H and Stephanie.
Michelle McCool, the wife of the Undertaker, was also at the show while Maryse, the wife of The Miz, was backstage. Miz and Maryse flew in late for SummerSlam as they had a wedding during the weekend in San Diego.
Several former WWE Superstars and Legends were present as well. Jushin “Thunder” Liger did attend the show following his NXT match on Saturday. The IWGP champion Kazuchika Okada was there with his friend Samoa Joe. Most of the NXT wrestlers were in a skybox watching the show, probably thinking that their show beat SummerSlam!
A couple of stars were also present including Melissa Joan Hart, Liv and Mia Tyler, and model Ellie Gonsalves.
PWInsider.com is reporting that Sting is back in town after flying home on Saturday and is most likely going to appear on Monday Night Raw tonight.
Sting did an autograph signing on Saturday afternoon and many thought he would be sticking for the weekend but the former WCW champion was sent back home after the signing.
Sting last appeared on WWE television at WrestleMania 31 where he lost to Triple H. He did an interview on Raw the following night after the show went off the air.
After the controversial finish of last night’s main event, Brock Lesnar is now scheduled for Raw. Both Lesnar and the Undertaker were not advertised to appear tonight but it seems the plan has changed at least for Brock Lesnar.
The rumors over the weekend were that something big is going to happen tonight on Raw that will start shaping up WrestleMania.
Here are the results from SummerSlam 2015 which took place live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Sheamus defeated Randy Orton with a Brogue Kick; The New Day defeated Titus O’Neil and Darren Young, Lucha Dragons, and Los Matadores in a fatal 4 way to become the new WWE Tag Team champions; Dolph Ziggler vs Rusev ended in a double count out; Neville and Stephen Amell defeated King Barrett and Stardust; Ryback defeated The Miz and Big Show in a triple threat match to retain the Intercontinental title; Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns defeated Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper; Seth Rollins defeated John Cena with the help of Jon Stewart to retain the WWE World Heavyweight title and become the new United States champion; PCB defeated Team Bella after Team Bella eliminated Team B.A.D. in the Divas triple threat match; Kevin Owens defeated Cesaro; The Undertaker defeated Brock Lesnar after Lesnar passed out after he got locked in Hell’s Gates. The Undertaker actually tapped out before and the timekeeper rang the bell but the ref did not see it and restarted the match.
During the SummerSlam broadcast, WWE announced some new shows for the WWE Network that will air this Fall.
WWE Breaking Ground will be a show similar to HBO’s Hard Knocks, taking a look at what it takes to be a WWE Superstar or Diva. The show will be produced by the people behind Bar Rescue.
The Stone Cold Podcast returns with two guests, one of the most popular and successful WWE tag team champions in history, Edge and Christian.
The WWE 24 series returns as well with a special look at NXT. WWE 24 cameras were filming during the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event so that could be the focus of the show.
And finally the Madison Square Garden house show on October 3 will be broadcasting live on the WWE Network in an event similar to the Tokyo show on July 4. Brock Lesnar will be wrestling on the broadcast in a rare house show appearance.
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