The RAW Report
SLAM!
THE ONLY BLVD THAT HAS BLOODLINE FAMILY ISSUES
The road to the King and Queen of the Ring semifinals begin tonight as the June 15th edition of RAW comes from the CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, MD. Tonight will feature the return (again) of Roman Reigns, a Queen of the Ring Semifinal of IYO SKY against Raquel Rodriguez, and a King of the Ring Semifinal starring Oba Femi battling Dominik Mysterio.
Plus, don’t be surprised if there’s so much more. So, let’s hop on the BLVD and see what’s in store!
“Then. Now. Forever. Together.” That’s WWE’s cold intro. Deal with it!
We officially start things off with a video package showing the King of the Ring tournament highlights from last week’s SmackDown with Jey Uso getting the big win to advance to the semifinals.
Now live in the parking lot, we see Roman Reigns arriving while being joined by The Usos. They walk into the building and see Jacob Fatu. Reigns slaps his hand and keeps walking as Fatu and The Usos follow behind him. The Bloodline emerges and heads to the ring to kick off this week’s show. They walk past Eric Andre (he stars with Reigns in the new “Street Fighter” movie) at ringside as he acknowledged Reigns. They settle in the ring and the music dies down.
Reigns told Baltimore to acknowledge him. They do. Reigns mentioned “Right Hand Man” Jey advancing to the next level and he’s going to win King of the Ring, so acknowledge him. They do, with “YEETS!”. Reigns said if it wasn’t for “Big Jim”, there wouldn’t be a Right Hand Man, there would be no Tribal Chief and no Bloodline. Reigns said to acknowledge Jimmy. They do. Reigns then tells Fatu to acknowledge the twins.
Fatu snatched the mic away. He said he doesn’t listen to the Usos. Fatu told Reigns the only person he acknowledges is his “OTC”. He acknowledges Roman Reigns. Fatu handed Reigns the microphone back. Reigns says that’s good. He says he doesn’t need “Yes-Men” around him.
A ringside stagehand had a wooden box for him. Reigns pulled out an Ula Fala necklace. Reigns said everybody in the back is terrified because they think The Bloodline is going to run the business. Reigns talked about the Wild Samoans, Yokozuna, Rikishi, Umaga, and others being The Bloodline and always running things. Reigns talked about Fatu constantly referring to himself as being an outsider. He says that is no more. He’s on the inside now. Reigns welcomed Jacob Fatu to The Bloodline as he presented Fatu with a wooden Ula Fala necklace. They threw their 1’s in the air, except for the Usos who were talking behind Reigns’ back. But they fell in line, reluctantly throwing up their 1’s.
ANALYSIS: This was a good way to show how Reigns believes bringing Fatu in line into the Bloodline is going to make them the dominant force on the show once again. Of course, the Usos don’t fully trust their cousin. It keeps the tension going and makes things interesting.
After the promo, Roman Reigns shook hands with Eric Andre at ringside. Jey didn’t, but Jimmy shook his hands. Andre touched Fatu’s Ula Fala, so Fatu pulled Andre over the barricade and threw him in the ring. Fatu went to the top rope, but WWE officials were there and Reigns had to intervene to tell Fatu to calm down. Reigns changed his mind and Fatu hit a Superfly Splash on Andre. Raw GM Adam Pearce was freaking out while Reigns was smiling. After Fatu left the ring, Reigns told Fatu to do it one more time. Fatu went up top and hit a second Superfly Splash on Andre. Reigns said they are going to do that to anybody who gets in their way.
ANALYSIS: That was an interesting way to get actor/comedian Eric Andre involved in the show. They needed a way to show off the control Reigns has over the Samoan Werewolf. Fatu is considered to be a pretty safe worker so, even though those splashes looked vicious, they trusted him. Welcome to the big league, Eric.
Our commentary team is Joe Tessitore and Corey Graves. Tessitore is filling in for Michael Cole. “Amazing Hair” Alicia Taylor is the ring announcer.
We get to our first match of the night and we’re right into the QotR semifinals action!
Queen of the Ring Tournament Semifinals: IYO SKY vs Raquel Rodriguez
SKY was aggressive early on with strikes. Rodriguez caught SKY and then she hit a Cross-Body Block to knock SKY down.
The action was mostly Rodriguez for a while until she went for a twisting elbow drop off the turnbuckle, but SKY dodged it and sent Rodriguez into the ring post. SKY hit a Powerbomb out of the corner, then went up top and hit Over The Moonsault on Rodriguez for the win.
WINNER: IYO SKY (12 minutes)
ANALYSIS: *** ¼ by TJR
A solid match that was pretty good. Rodriguez was the dominant heel throughout most of the match until SKY found a way to make her comeback and get a clean win. No one from the Judgment Day got involved, which was a bit surprising.
I picked SKY to win this one and advance to the finals. I’m glad she did. She deserves a strong push.
IYO SKY’s win means she has advanced to the Queen of the Ring Finals at Night of Champions on June 27th in Riyadh. SKY will face either WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan or Charlotte Flair in the finals. Morgan vs Flair takes place on SmackDown this week on June 19th. Here’s the updated QotR brackets:
ANALYSIS: I’m still hoping for Flair to come out on top in that semifinals match-up. IYO SKY vs Charlotte Flair for the crown would be an incredible match worthy of the PLE. If Flair wins the QotR and gets a title shot at SummerSlam, she can say she beat the champ before and she’ll beat her again. Same thing if SKY is crowned and she beats Morgan in the finals. But if Morgan wins at Night of Champions she can gloat about being the QotR, having the World Champ title, and go after Rhea Ripley’s (if she’s healthy) WWE Championship title at SummerSlam to hold both Women’s titles. That might be risky based on Ripley’s medical status, but the possibilities are still there.
We go backstage where Liv Morgan and Roxanne Perez are talking. They talk about Rodriguez’s loss. Morgan says they should focus on her and Dominik Mysterio. Perez said she’ll take care of Flair tonight. Liv enters Danhausen’s lab, while wearing a Danhausen t-shirt, and asks Danhausen to curse Dom’s opponent, Oba Femi. Danhausen said it would take lots and lots of human monies and rattles off a list of what else he needs. Danhausen kept going, so Liv just leaves.
ANALYSIS: Danhausen shows why he’s the best comic relief the WWE has had in a long time. Oh, Danhausen 🙂
A video package is shown about the Seth Rollins-Bron Breakker rivalry. Rollins tells Breakker he brought him into his Vision and Breakker took six months of his career he would never get back. He was forced to give up the World Heavyweight Championship, and cost him the King of the Ring. Now, the moment has arrived for him to right his wrongs. At Night of Champions, Bron Breakker vs Seth Rollins, they settle this in a steel cage!
ANALYSIS: I figured there was going to be a Rollins vs Breakker III match at the PLE. Glad it’s going to be in a steel cage as they can really keep things intense and exciting while they fight it out.
Now in RAW GM Adam Pearce’s office, he’s talking to Lyra Valkyria. Pearce said it’s going to happen. Lyra says she cannot wait to tell Bayley. In walked LA Knight. He asks if Pearce watched SmackDown. Knight says everything happened like he said. Solo Sikoa got involved to cost him the match and Jey Uso got the win. Pearce says the ref’s decision is final and Sikoa is not with Reigns. Knight asks how he knows. He says he will get things done the only way he knows how to do it, and that is to do things his way.
ANALYSIS: Knight will likely be the first candidate fed to Fatu in the Bloodline. Knight’s issues with the Usos helps with the inside tension with the Bloodline storyline as well.
They showed what happened on RAW last week when Chad Gable helped Rey Mysterio and Penta after Rusev and Ethan Page attacked them and ripped off Rey’s mask.
Backstage, Jackie Redmond is with Chad Gable. She asks him about his first match on Raw as himself in over a year. Chad says after losing the mask and gaining respect after losing it, he’s gone through a lot. It has changed his perspective. Rey made him realize after he’s done with Rusev, he has other people to make amends to. Chad leaves and walks past Austin Theory talking to Maxxine Dupri. He pauses before going to the ring for his match.
ANALYSIS: Maxxine Dupri used to be part of the Alpha Academy faction when Chad Gable was a heel. Maybe some more amends are in order? Poor Chad.
Chad Gable made his entrance to a new theme song as a babyface. During the break, Rusev made his entrance joined by Ethan Page.
Chad Gable vs Rusev (w/ Ethan Page)
This was the heel Rusev who was powering and pounding away the babyface Gable who was putting on a wrestling clinic. It went back and forth.
Finally, Rusev goes for the Accolade and locks it in. Gable tries to get out of it as Rusev drags him to the center of the ring, but Gable grabs Rusev’s leg after a kick attempt, gets an Angle Slam and then locks in the Ankle Lock. Rusev taps out.
WINNER: Chad Gable (10 minutes)
ANALYSIS: *** ¼ by TJR
A predictable win with Gable using his amateur wrestling and what he learned as a luchador to overcome the power of Rusev. He’s also gotten some strong support from the crowd since unmasking.
After the bell, Page and Rusev attack Gable. Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee ran out to the ring for the save, so Page and Rusev retreated. Rey and Lee helped Gable to his feet.
ANALYSIS: Proof that Gable is a full-on babyface now. He’s still showing respect to the luchadores Dragon Lee and Hall-of-Famer Rey.
Now we’re backstage with Roman Reigns telling someone about food he wants later and to get things ready. The Usos arrived and they’re not happy about Fatu not listening. He was supposed to listen to them when Reigns isn’t around. Reigns tells them to think about how Fatu feels. They can’t have any in-fighting.
Roman wants to know why LA Knight’s still talking trash, and maybe he should send the Werewolf. Jey wants to take care of it, but Jimmy says he can talk to Knight.
ANALYSIS: Of course Reigns and Jey allowed it since Jimmy’s attempts at talking to good ol’ LA have gone oh, so well in the past. Right?
We see Oba Femi preparing for his match later.
Now we go to a video of Bron Breakker, who reminds Seth he made an entire career of stabbing people in the back to get to where he is now. Breakker destroyed his vision because he uses deception. He’s a sheep in wolves clothing. And at Night of Champions, he’ll be locked inside a cage with a dog, and the dog always makes it out. A graphic shows Breakker vs Rollins III inside a steel cage at Night of Champions is official at Night of Champions.
Live inside the arena, LA Knight makes his way to the ring. “Let me talk to ya!” Last Friday Night, he ended his night laid on the mat looking up at the lights. He got a phone call from a friend suggesting the KotR is over and he could take the week off to come home, but he needed to get to Baltimore. Knight said he stands in Baltimore and he is home. He didn’t return home a king or a champion, but he is still “L-A-Knight!” (YEAH!) Knight said he’s always been fighting the odds and he doesn’t give up because he doesn’t know how. Knight said he’s been fighting all kinds of groups, and when you’re looking at The Bloodline it’s tough for him to be angry because it happened just like he said. He told us every single member of the Bloodline would be there. But he’s not here to complain or whine. Solo spiked him, he’s out of the tournament, Jey moves on.
Jimmy Uso made his entrance to join Knight. Jimmy said the legit crap Knight went through a few years ago isn’t the same now. Jimmy said Solo doesn’t work with them anymore. Knight reminded Jimmy that Sikoa made sure that Jey advanced in the tournament. Knight wondered if he took out Sikoa, The Bloodline wouldn’t come after him. Jimmy said that’s exactly what he’s saying.
Now Jey Uso makes his entrance to a ton of “YEETS!”. Jey said what Jimmy is saying is right. They told Knight that Solo is on his own. But Jey isn’t out here for that. Knight cuts him off and said he knows the one thing Jey wants is for Knight to acknowledge the Tribal Chief. Jey said, since he beat Knight in the KotR tourney, Knight needed to acknowledge Jey. Knight said it’s a compelling offer. Knight said he acknowledges Jey… to kiss his ass.
Jey shoved Knight. Jimmy tried to separate them, but they go at it. Jimmy superkicks Knight off Jey and tells him it’s not his business. Jey grabs a chair into the ring. Knight got a hold of the chair and hits both Jey and Jimmy with chair shots to the back. Fatu runs down and locks in the Tongan Death Grip until Knight goes down. Jacob leaves and the Usos follow.
ANALYSIS: Everyone involved was supposed to be a babyface that’s over with the fans, but this shows how there’s still issues to ring out, not just in the Bloodline but with Reigns controlling Fatu. I figured Knight was going to be the first casualty. This could lead to either Knight vs Fatu, or even Knight vs one of the Usos. We’ll see.
After a break, The Usos were shown backstage arguing about what happened. Fatu said they tried it Jimmy’s and Jey’s way, but they couldn’t get the job done. So Fatu did it the “OTC” way.
Back live to the ring we go for some women’s singles action.
Charlotte Flair (w/ Alexa Bliss) vs Roxanne Perez (w/ Liv Morgan)
Things started with Flair chops (WOOO!) on Perez a few times on the floor. Perez sent Flair’s hand into the ring post and then stomped on Flair’s hand on the ring apron. This made Flair’s hand a target through the rest of the match.
The submission victory came when Perez went for Pop Rox, but Flair blocked it and applied the Figure 8 submission. Perez tapped out.
WINNER: Charlotte Flair (11 minutes)
ANALYSIS: *** ½ by TJR
Perez is a good technical wrestler, so she worked well with Flair. They involved Bliss and Morgan in the match just enough that they didn’t ruin things, but just barely got involved instead of just cheering on the outside. Flair sold the right-hand injury well throughout the match and overcame it in the end. That was the right decision to keep Flair hot going into her QotR semifinals match later.
When we return from another break, Je’Von Evans is walking to the ring for an interview with Jackie Redmond. She asks how he’s preparing for Jey Uso in the KotR semifinals on SmackDown. Evans tells Jey he’ll keep it short and sweet. He’s gonna put belt to ass and “YEET!” him out. Next week he’ll be winning the KotR tourney and people will be saying that boy’s “bouncy.”
With that said, Logan Paul and World Tag Team Champ Austin Theory of The Vision make their way to the ring. Logan has an arm brace on his torn triceps and says he’s here for Evans.
Paul claimed he had life-changing news, all while the crowd was booing him out of the building. He said Evans is a generational talent and has untapped potential. Evans needs the right people around him, and The Vision are the right people. Logan formally invites Je’Von Evans to join them.
Evans says, “Hell naw!” Paul said it was not an invitation, it was a mandate. Evans warned Paul to back up before he leaves Baltimore with no arms. Theory said Evans has it all wrong. He either joins The Vision or gets dropped. Evans took off his track pants and had his wrestling tights on. A referee runs to the ring to call for the bell and we have ourselves a match.
ANALYSIS: That’s one way to fill up time on a show; by setting up an impromptu match in a promo. I wasn’t expecting to see Logan Paul back so soon, but here he is in Theory’s corner. At least he can be the trash-talking, one-armed, red-hot heel to help generate tons of heat.
Je’Von Evans vs Austin Theory (w/ Logan Paul)
Technically, the match started during a break. Some nice dominating by Theory with Paul getting chants from the crowd, including some swearing (naughty Baltimore).
After Evans makes a comeback by tackling Theory around the outside, the end of the match approached when Evans hit the Red Dot spinning kick to the head inside the ring. Evans went for the OG Cutter off the top, when suddenly Bron Breakker came in and hit Evans with a Spear for the cheap DQ finish.
WINNDER by DISQUALIFICATION: Je’Von Evans
ANALYSIS: ** ¾ by TJR
Not exactly a great match, and the disqualification finish made it seem cheap, but other than that it wasn’t too bad for something that was put together by a quick promo. I honestly thought Theory would get the win with some Paul interference, like whacking Evans over the head with his brace while the ref was distracted or something. A little surprised Heyman wasn’t out there, too. Where was he?
Post match, The Street Profits duo of Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins made the save. Ford and Dawkins battled Bron and Theory. Dawkins hit the Silencer on Theory. Ford and Dawkins worked together to give a double clothesline that knocked Bron out of the ring.
ANALYSIS: Alas, another future tag-team match, likely next week for the titles.
Now we are backstage with Roman Reigns when Jacob Fatu walks up. Reigns talked to Fatu about handling family business. Fatu says he handled LA Knight, but the twins aren’t too happy about it. Reigns says he figured they wouldn’t be, they never understood Fatu. Fatu said nobody has ever understood him. He says he understands Fatu, and as long as Fatu understands him there’s no stopping them. As they shook hands, Reigns said he needed one more thing. Reigns whispered something to Fatu that we couldn’t hear.
ANALYSIS: Ruh-roh. Good news or bad? TO BE CONTINUED…
Next week on Raw from the O2 Arena in London, England, at 2 p.m. ET start time has the following card thus far:
- World Tag Team Championships: The Vision(c) vs The Street Profits
- Women’s Tag Team Championships: Brie Bella & Paige(c) vs Bayley & Lyra Valkyria
And now, it’s time for our main event as Dominik Mysterio makes his entrance as the AAA Mega Champion, joined by JD McDonagh. Dom was booed like crazy by the crowd as usual.
Oba Femi made his entrance as the fans chanted for him and they showed fans doing the Femi strut.
King of the Ring Tournament Semifinals: Oba Femi vs Dominik Mysterio (w/ JD McDonagh)
Dirty Dom bailed to the floor and avoided Femi for a while after the bell rang. Dominik shoved Femi and ran around the ring as Femi chased him. Femi got a hold of Dom and tossed him onto the commentary table. Dom secretly loaded his boot with the ring bell hammer. Femi sent Dom back into the ring, but Dom low-blows Femi while they’re back in the ring with the ref distracted by McDonagh. Dom hits a 6-1-9 two times with the loaded boot. Dom covered Femi, who power kicked out at one. Femi was back up with a double Chokeslam on Dom and McDonagh at the same time. Femi ran to each corner and hit multiple body shots on Dom and McDonagh. Femi hit a jumping uppercut on McDonagh. Femi tossed Dom across the ring. And to end it all, Femi hit a Fall From Grace for the pinfall win.
WINNER: Oba Femi (5 minutes)
ANALYSIS: ** ¼ by TJR
Well, that was pretty much it. Not a bad match. It was a little fun to watch “Dirty” Dom get squashed as he desperately tried every underhanded trick in the book. Still, it was a nice, fun last match of the night to send fans home happy. And that puts Femi into the finals at Night of Champions.
No Brock Lesnar, which I sort of predicted. Maybe if “King” Femi does win the KotR, then Lesnar could attack from behind and set up their third match for later. Or Lesnar could distract Femi in the finals and cost him the crown. Either could happen, since NoC is in Saudi it would be a huge payday for Lesnar to be there. We’ll see if Lesnar shows up.
Oba Femi’s victory means he’s in the King of the Ring Finals where he will face the winner of Je’Von Evans vs Jey Uso this Friday, June 19th, on SmackDown. Here’s the updated KotR brackets:
After the match, Oba Femi said he is one match away and “The Ruler” will have his crown. He said that whoever it is between Jey and Evans, it doesn’t matter, even Brock Lesnar because he thought Lesnar would come for him tonight (hint, hint). Femi said how he’ll be the Ruler, the Beast Slayer, and the King of the Ring. Femi said Brock Lesnar will be remembered as the man who ran away from Oba Femi. The fans chanted “Oba” and did the Femi strut.
Femi posed for the fans and the credit roll and we cut to black.
Next week, RAW will be held live at The O2 Arena in London, England on Monday, June 22nd. They’re back on their European tour, so don’t forget the early start time of 2pm ET. Only two matches on the card thus far:
- World Tag Team Championships: The Vision(c) vs The Street Profits
- Women’s Tag Team Championships: Brie Bella & Paige(c) vs Bayley & Lyra Valkyria
Here’s the card for SmackDown at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, MO this week on Friday, June 19th:
- WWE Undisputed Championship: Cody Rhodes(c) vs Gunther – Sami Zayn as the special guest referee. This title match will be commercial-free
- Carmelo Hayes vs Ricky Saints. Winner earns a US Title match at Night of Champions against Trick Williams.
- WWE Tag Team Championships: Damian Priest & R-Truth(c) vs MFTs
- Queen of the Ring Semifinals: Charlotte Flair vs Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan
- King of the Ring Semifinals: Jey Uso vs Je’Von Evans
That’ the SLAM, folks. This week’s SmackDown is jam-packed so I wouldn’t recommend missing it. See you then, stay close to your Bloodline, and see y’all down the BLVD!
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