WWE
The RAW Report SLAM for 07/20/26
The RAW Report SLAM for July 20th from the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI
The RAW Report
SLAM!
THE ONLY BLVD WHERE WE HYPE ALL THAT HYPE
The July 20th occurrence of Monday Night RAW comes to us from the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI. Baking in the oven tonight is a one-on-one encounter between Jacob Fatu and LA Knight. Penta joins forces with Chad Gable to face Ethan Page and Rusev. Je’Von Evans and Dragon Lee team up to take on “the Vision” of Austin Theory and Bron Breakker. Potential segments include Chad Gable, Danhausen will appear, and Seth “Freakin” Rollins will be at RAW. We also have the fallout from Saturday Night’s Main Event over the weekend.
We got this take-out order to go and more – so let’s SLAM the show and see what’s in store!
“Then. Now. Forever. Together.” Then, we got a video package recap of what happened at Saturday Night’s Main Event from The Garden over the weekend. You’re likely going to hear about it throughout the show, so I don’t mind spoiling it.
It showed Fatal Influence stealing one to win the Women’s Tag Tem titles. Danhausen created Karl-Anthony-Towns, or “KAT” (hence the stuffed cat from SmackDown) from the 2026 NBA Champs NY Knicks to help him win against JD McDonagh and his Mini-Hausens. Lyra Valkyria won against Bailey in a bloody bout. And Nick Aldis screwed Gunther out of a win for his team thus making the SummerSlam Undisputed WWE Championship match at SummerSlam one-on-one against Cody Rhodes. Then, to finish it off, the King of NY Jalen Brunson from the 2026 NBA Champs NY Knicks (good showing for the hometown heroes) received a special World Heavyweight Championship title from Roman Reigns before Seth Rollins sneaked attacked a beatdown on Reigns. Brunson stopped that and Reigns with a Superman Punch and a Spear on Rollins. Then Reigns and Brunson posed in the ring to send the NYC fans happy.
We’re shown superstars entering the arena including The Vision, Penta, Chad Gable, Jacob Fatu (with what looked like one of Fatu’s sons behind him as this is Fatu’s first match ever on RAW) and Jimmy Uso, LA Knight and Royce Keys.
Michael Cole is on play-by-play, Corey Graves is our heel analyst, and “Amazing Hair” Alicia Taylor is our ring announcer.
Now live in the arena, “Who Want it” hits and the bouncy young OG Je’Von Evans comes out. Next, Evans’s tag team partner, Dragon Lee comes down to the ring. Finally, the World Tag Team Champions Austin Theory and Bron Breakker of The Vision enter alongside Maxxine Dupri and Logan Paul (with his left arm brace, he didn’t wear it at the Fanatics Fan Fest). This is a non-title match.
Je’Von Evans & Dragon Lee vs The Vision – Bron Breakker & Austin Theory (w/ Logan Paul & Maxxine Dupri):
Before we even get the opening bell, Lee does a Somersault Dive over the top on Theory and Evans with a Suicide Dive through the ropes onto Breakker. They threw Theory back into the ring and we finally got the bell. Theory and Evans start things off.
Evans with a Running Knee on Theory, he tagged in Lee, and Lee hit a Running Dropkick in the corner. Lee covered for only a one while Breakker went over to his corner. Lee tried to lift up Theory, but Theory got out of it with elbows and punched Lee into the other corner. Shouldertackles by Theory. Theory then throws Lee into the other corner, Lee bounces off and Theory tries to pick up Le who wiggles out from behind. Lee ducks a Clothesline and takes Theory down with a Running Hurricanrana. Lee twists Theory’s arm and goes back to his corner where Evans tags in. Evans goes up op and punches Theory’s arm. Evans takes Theory and does some sort of bounced-off-the-top-rope Headscissors and a Standing Dropkick. Theory gets some knees to Evans. Evans throws theory to the ropes and Theory ducks a Clothesline while getting the blind tag from Breakker. Theory is stopped with a superkick by Evans. But Breakker comes in and helps Theory double-team Evans sending him into the air and slammed down. Now Breakker with some ground and pound on Evans. Breakker with an Overhead Suplex. Evans gets thrown to the ropes but he puts on the brakes and kicks Breakker. Hot tag to Lee as he goes straight to taking out Theory with a Running Dropkick. Lee dodges Breakker and kicks him in the head and gut. Lee hits the ropes, ducks a Clothesline by Breakker, up goes Lee on top of Breakker and Lee hits a DDT for a two-count. Lee goes up top but gets distracted by Paul, then takes out Theory off the apron. Lee climbs to the top again, but this time he’s caught with a Cross-Body Slam. Let’s take mid-match break.
Back live and Breakker is in complete control of Lee as he throws him to the corner, which Lee bounces off and Breakker nails an elbow to the head. Bron covers for a one, but it looked like he did that on purpose to show off with some push-ups. Breakker pulls Lee back up and hits a hard punch to the head, sending Lee into the heel’s corner for some double-teaming. Theory is tagged in as both Breakker and Theory hit Running Elbows in the corner. Theory with a Suplex and a two. Then Theory goes right into a Chinlock. Lee gets up and out with punches and tries to it the ropes, but Theory trips him up. Theory takes a brief break with Dupri. Theory leaps through the middle ropes and takes down Lee on the back of the neck. Theory punches Evans off the apron then taunts him. Evans tries to charge in but gets stopped by the distracted ref as Lee gets double-teamed stomped. Breakker gets tagged in and kicks Lee on the left leg. Lee is isolated now. Breakker with a Clothesline on Lee. Breakker went to punch Evans, but he ducked and again distracted the ref. Overhead Military Press by Breakker and what happened? We went to a break. Odd timing.
We’re back as Breakker sets up a spear on Lee in the corner, but Lee moved and Breakker speared the steel post. A shocked Theory tagged himself in and tried to stop Lee. Lee with an Enzuigiri and sends Theory to the outside. Just as Theory gets back in, Lee gets the hot tag to Evans. Evans Leapfrogs over Theory and a right hand on Breakker sends him to the outside. Evans’ kick got caught by Theory but Theory got smacked by Evans. Theory got thrown to the middle turnbuckle and got kicked in the back of the neck. Theory nearly caught Evans with a Lariat, but Evans flipped and hit a Stunner on Theory sending him outside. Evans over the top rope for a Suicide Dive onto Theory. Breakker charged and was thrown into the timekeeper’s area. Evans ran around the ring and leaped over the timekeeper barricade to take Breakker down again. Evans threw Theory back into the ring and hit the top rope Springboard for a close call. Evans now sets Theory on the top corner turnbuckle. Lee gets a tag and kicks Theory in the face, tying him up on the turnbuckle. Lee goes up and stomps Theory down to the mat. Time for Paul to hop on the apron to check on Theory for the ref distraction (again) while Lee was trying to charge from the other corner. But Dupri grabs Lee’s foot and Breakker with a vicious Lariat taking him down. Theory punches Evans to the floor and runs to Lee for a Suplex Backbreaker and a pin attempt, but in comes Evans for the save. Breakker Spears Evans. Breakker is tagged in as Theory holds Lee up. Breakker picks up momentum off the ropes and hits Lee with a Super Spear for the win.
WINNERS: The Vision (10 minutes)
ANALYSIS: ***
A nice opening tag team match to show off some great action. Evans is a great worker who needs a good storyline to sink his bounciness into, and as good of a luchador Lee is the poor guy can’t catch a break after taking yet another loss with another tag partner. But overall, matches like these make The Vision seem unstoppable. Even though they haven’t defended the titles just yet, it’s nice to see the hard workers each week.
After the match, Breakker and Theory beat down on Evans in the ring until The Alpha Academy of Otis and Tozawa came to the save. Otis Clotheslines Breakker on the outside while Tozawa punches Theory inside the ring. Theory fought back, saw Otis coming, tried to charge and got hit with a Clothesline by Otis. Tozawa with a Suicide Dive onto Breakker on the outside. Otis with a powerslam on Theory. Suddenly Dupri came in and slapped Otis. Otis got mad so Dupri got out of there while Otis turned around and Clotheslines Breakker into the corner. Otis splashes both opponents on each turnbuckle, Theory missed a charge splashing his own partner, and Otis hits a Super Splash on both men in the corner. Theory gets Clotheslined to the outside. Tozawa yells for Otis to get Theory as he clears the announce table. Suddenly, Breakker appears and spears Otis down. Theory throws Tozawa into the ring. Big elbow smash by Theory. Otis climbs back into the ring but Theory grams him. Breakker builds up momentum bouncing off the ropes for a Super Spear on Otis.
ANALYSIS: This just gets plenty of cheap heel heat for The Vision guys because Otis and Tozawa are well received by the fans. My guess is it will lead to a non-title match between them at some point, which I’ll bet they’ll win, leading into a title match at SummerSlam as the Tag Team Championship needs to be defended there.
It’s still sad that The Street Profits, the former champs, are gone for now. They were fun while it lasted.
Next, we’re shown the same video we’ve been getting from the Fanatics Fan Fest, showing Tom Brady on Cody Rhodes’ “What Do You Want To Talk About?” Brady said he could do one match, gets confronted by Logan Paul (sans his left arm brace) and Brady slapped him.
Now in the backstage area JD McDonagh, with Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan, is choking out Danhausen demanding their money back. Danhausen said he doesn’t have it, but if they let him go he can go find it. Mysterio said Danhausen has 30 seconds to find it, otherwise they’ll break his jaw so he can’t do no more curses. He leaves before the commercial (which might take longer than 30 seconds).
Back from break we get the new promo video for the return of Big Cass. This time we get a much clearer view that it is him looking in great shape. We’re shown what led to his previous downfall in WWE: his heel turn on Enzo, tearing his ACL, his severe alcohol addiction combined with untreated anxiety and depression, and ultimately his release from WWE during his injury recovery.
“Even If you haven’t reached the top. You have no idea just how far you can fall.”
video © WWE
ANALYSIS: We’ve been reporting on this for some time now. William Morrissey (Big Cass in WWE, and CaZXL around the indies) has really come a long way since being released by WWE in 2018. Not just getting his personal and addiction issues under control but really keeping himself in great shape for a return someday. It’s happening on RAW the day after SummerSlam Night 2 on August 3rd. And you can’t teach that!
On a side note, we’ve also been reporting about Enzo Amore (nZo in the indies after being fired by WWE in 2018) has been seen at the WWE Performance Center. With Cass now WWE contract ready, that likely means Enzo won’t be far behind. I don’t know if they’re going to come out together on August 3rd. Likely not right away. But I see them forming the “realest guys in the room” classic tag team of Enzo & Big Cass soon after, giving a jolt of excitement in WWE’s tag team division we’ve needed for a long time. How you doin’?
Next up we’re shown the highlights from the SNME match between JD McDonagh and Danhausen. Featuring Karl-Anthony Towns (“KAT”) from the 2026 NBA Champs NY Knicks and the three MiniHausens.
With that we’re back live as the “very nice, very evil” Danhausen makes his way to the ring with a briefcase. He said that, even though he took care of The Judgment Day at SNME, they still want their “human money” back. He said because it’s caused quite a problem he doesn’t want it. But he doesn’t want The Judgment Day to have it. So he wants the Fanhausen to have it. The Fanhousens in the fans cheer. Out comes The Judgment Day and they demand their money. Danhausen curses McDonagh again but gets jumped by McDonagh and Mysterio. Joe Hendry comes out for the save. Hendry tosses McDonagh out of the ring, then gives Mysterio a Fallaway Slam and a Clothesline out of the ring. Meanwhile, Morgan knabs the briefcase and runs as The Judgment Day go back up the ramp with their money.
ANALYSIS: The story continues, sans The Miz and Kit Wilson. At least they were funny. This whole story about The Judgment Day wanting their betting money back (they placed a big wager against the Knicks) at least gives Danhausen some wrestling ring time. I’m really not sure which one I liked the most.
Next, we’re shown the next video package of the Reigns vs Rollins match called Chapter III: The Cash In. This happened at WrestleMania 31 in 2015. Rollins said it was the right time, the right guy, and the right moment. He said when he ran down the ramp he was floating. Roman said that all his hard work, his moment, the top of the mountain was at his fingertips and he stole that.
ANALYSIS: These vignettes are really building some major hype to this huge clash between these two veterans of the current generation. I don’t think I can remember when there’s been this much hype for one match. Let’s all hope it lives up to it.
In case you forgot, this cash-in they showed was infamously called the “Heist of the Century”, and rightfully so. Reigns was battling the WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar at the time in a singles match when Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, making it a triple-threat match with himself involved. Lesnar put Rollins up for an F-5 but Reigns blasted Lesnar with a spear sending him outside. Reigns, still down, got a Curb Stomp from Rollins and Rollins pinned Reigns for the title win according to triple-threat rules. I watched it happen. It was a pretty exciting moment, including the Lesnar vs Reigns match itself.
Now in the backstage area somewhere, The Judgment Day and Danhausen & Hendry are all arguing in front of RAW GM Adam Pearce. Pearce told McDonagh to just take the money and be done. McDonagh opened the bag and it was filled with fake Danhausen moneys. He threw it behind him, and it hit Oba Femi. Pearce made a match between McDonagh and Femi next. Mysterio says that’s not fair. So Pearce makes a match between him and Hendry later.
ANALYSIS: The story behind this match Is that Danhausen cursed McDonagh so he has to face Femi. Gotta love those curses.
Now live, Femi comes out to the ring with pic-in-pic of fans doing the Femi strut. That match is next.
After the commercial, Pearce is forcing JD McDonagh into the ring, followed by Mysterio. McDonagh is wearing a Scott Hall classic “Outsiders” tee and Mysterio is wearing his “Custody Battle” tee.
Hendry and Danhausen come from behind and throw both McDonagh and Mysterio into the ring as Femi Clotheslines them both.
Oba Femi vs. JD McDonagh:
We finally got the bell as Femi threw Mysterio over the top rope. He turns around to kicks from McDonagh. McDonagh tries to chop Femi, but he just gets mad. McDonagh hit the ropes and Femi just launches him with a Back Body Drop. McDonagh is in the corner, so Femi hit a trio of Running Uppercuts. Femi picked up McDonagh and tossed him across the ring. Femi hit Fall From Grace for the win.
WINNER: Oba Femi (1 minute)
ANALYSIS: *
Just a lil’ squash match to both continue poor McDonagh’s story that he’s cursed by Danhausen, and to further Femi’s story that he’s obsessed with Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. I might have given it a DUD star as it wasn’t really a match, but I really don’t mind them using Femi in some way every week. Even in a squash he’s fun to watch.
After the match Femi told the camera there’s no more nonsense, no more BS. This squash was fake money stuff. The real $ is at Hell in a Cell and he’ll see Lesnar there.
It’s then announced that Darius Rucker will sing the National Anthem at SummerSlam Night 2 on August 2nd.
Before the break, LA Knight was shown getting ready for his match against Jacob Fatu while Royce Keys was talking to him. Break.
We come back and Solo Sikoa suddenly shows up in front of the commentators and gets in the ring. He says he’s not even supposed to be here, but he’s got a proposition to make. He calls out Rollins. “Burn It Down!” and Rollins comes out in his typical black suit as the crows sings his song.
He welcome Sikoa to “Monday Night Rollins!” and asked since Sikoa is on his show what can he do for him. Rollins asks if they’re talking for fighting. Sikoa said he’s here to talk. He know he’s focused on Reigns. But it’s not just one-on-one. It’s Rollins vs the whole Bloodline, four-against-one. The crowd is “WHAT~?”-ing along this whole time. Sikoa said he knows how they think, how they move, he knows because was a part of it. But it doesn’t have to be like that. The reason Sikoa called him out is he can watch his back at SummerSlam.
Rollins said Sikoa is right about Reigns and the Bloodline. Rollins said to let him think about it and started to leave but Sikoa grabbed him and stopped him. Sikoa said there’s nothing to think about. He said the same thing Rollins did for Rhodes two years ago when he beat Reigns, he can do for him.
The Samoan Werewolf Fatu comes down to the ring. Sikoa ran out of the ring and through the crowd. Fatu yelled at Sikoa saying you know what you got to do. As Fatu turned around he ate a Superkick by Rollins. Rollins got out of the ring and left down the ramp as Fatu got back up in the ring.
ANALYSIS: An interesting proposal, indeed. As pretty much everyone involved here are all faces loved by the crowd, it’s a bit confusing who’s who sometimes. Rollins kicking Fatu should earn them a match down the road soon. And if Rollins completely turns down Sikoa, he might turn on Rollins down the line.
What I think should happen is at SummerSlam, Sikoa should appear and look like he’s going to help Rollins. But instead, he turns on him and helps Reigns win, rejoining The Bloodline. Make them all heels again if you can. They were better that way.
There was a video clip shown from the SummerSlam Kickoff Show when Chad Gable and the Intercontinental Champion Penta went face to face. Gable said he’s going to take that IC Title at SummerSlam. Penta said he’ll prove why he’s Penta.
Back live, “All Ego” Ethan Page comes out. Then Rusev comes out to join him. And now, a break.
After the break, Chad Gable makes his way to the ring. Then Penta joins him.
Ethan Page & Rusev vs Penta & Chad Gable:
Right off the bell the baddies attack Gable and Penta. Gable is thrown out of the ring by Page as Rusev kicks Penta in his corner. Rusev throws Penta into Page for a big boot and a two-count. Rusev tags in and they hit a Double Suplex for another two-count. Rusev throws and splashes Penta in their corner as Page tags in. They threw Penta into their corner again and Rusev tried to throw Page into a splash on Penta, but Penta kicked Page. He kicked a charging Rusev. Penta ducked a Double Clothesline and got the hot tag from Gable, who leaped off the top with a Flying Double Clothesline. Page is Clotheslined to the floor by Gable. Penta got on the ring apron to attack Rusev, but Rusev gave Penta a back body drop on the ring apron to the floor. Before the break, Rusev sent Penta to the steel steps. We find out what happened during the break… after the break.
After the break now. Rusev and Penta are in the ring. Penta breaks a Headlock punching Rusev and Rusev sends Penta to the ropes. Penta kicks Rusev on the rebound. He stops Penta from reaching his partner and throws Penta to the corner. Penta kicks a charging Rusev as he goes up top and hits a Cross Body. Both men get the tags and it’s Gable vs Page. Gable punches Page then rolls into a kick on Rusev in the corner. Double German Suplexes on Page. Suplex on Rusev. Another German Suplex on Page. Angle Slam and a cover for a close call. Gable went up top for a Moonsault, but Page moved and Gable landed on his feet to be met with a kick. Page tried for a Suplex but Gable got out and they tussled to Rusev’s corner where Rusev got the tag. Knee to the spine by Page and a kick by Rusev. Slam by Rusev. He goes for a cover, but Penta makes the save. Page and Penta are in the ring sharing punches. Page is sent out of the ring, and Penta with a Tope Con Hilo (Suicide Dive). Gable and Rusev punch back and forth. Gable starts to punch wildly, but Rusev gets him into the Accolade submission. Gable almost makes It back to his feet but Rusev with a headbutt to stop that. Rusev grabs Gable and throws him into Penta who was trying to go up top. Rusev goes for the Accolade again but Gable reverses into the Ankle Lock. Page tries to get back in and interfere, but Penta hits the Mexican Destroyer on him. Rusev taps to the Ankle Lock.
WINNERS: Chad Gable and Penta (10 minutes)
ANALYSIS: *** ¼
They’ve got to be running out of combinations to use against the team of Page and Rusev. But it was still a fun tag team match. Rusev doesn’t usually tap out to anyone, and Gable seems to be the only one who can hold his own against him. So it was right to have Rusev tap to the Ankle Lock for once. Penta leaping off of Gabe to hit a Mexican Destroyer on Page while Gable was tapping out Rusev was a cool way to end it.
After the match, Chad Gable held the Intercontinental Title for a bit and presented it to Penta, who posed with it. They celebrated together.
ANALYSIS: That’s a cool way to have both faces confront each other before SummerSlam. My dollar is still on Gable to win in his hometown. Would make for an awesome moment on a big PLE.
Next, we’re shown another video package for the Reigns vs Rollins match called Chapter IV: The First Encounter. It took place at the 2016 Money in the Bank PLE. Reigns vs Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (the black one they used for RAW). Rollins said redesign, rebuild, reclaim. Said it felt great to beat Reigns and take back the title. If only for a moment. Reigns said he was lost and his title was lost. And so were his brothers. The night was terrible.
ANALYSIS: They forgot to mention that Dean Ambrose (later Jon Moxley in AEW) cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Rollins that he won the very same night to leave with the WWE Title. That’s why Rollins said he took back the title “if only for a moment”. And probably why Reigns said his brothers were all lost.
A bit of cool wrestling trivia: this is where all three former members of The Shield held the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at some point on the same night. Reigns walked in as the champion, Rollins defeated Reigns to win the title, and Ambrose cashed in on Rollins two minutes later to walk out with the gold.
Now backstage again, Rollins is walking until he bumps into Fatu. Rollins begs Fatu to hit him. He said Fatu can’t because he’s under strict orders from the Tribal Chief not to lay a finger on him. Rollis asks when he beats Reigns, does he get Reign’s title and his bag boy. Fatu told Rollins that he got one up on him and it won’t happen again. Fatu said if there is anything left of him after SummerSlam, Fatu will beat his ass. Rollins said he couldn’t wait and left.
ANALYSIS: That would be interesting if Rollins beats Reigns for the title and Reigs goes back on hiatus. What happens to Fatu? We won’t know because I really don’t think it’s going to happen. Reigns will retain and he’ll have a decent run for a while with his Bloodline.
Back from ‘mercial, we’re treated to a video package featuring Paul Heyman talking about SummerSlam’s HiaC match between Lesnar vs Femi. He introduced himself. Heyman introduces himself. “They” asked him not to use the word “violence” when hyping the HiaC. He asked how do you sell the cell without telling the truth about what awaits Femi. The cell is unforgiving, uncompromising, and the violence is extreme. Femi is Oba-rated because he thinks Lesnar’s undefeated streak at HiaC comes to an end. Femi has delivered the greatest rookie year since Lesnar. Heyman said Femi can’t beat Lesnar in HiaC. Femi’s rookie year doesn’t go down in history as being dominant. It comes to a violent end.
video © WWE
ANALYSIS: More hypeity-hype. They’re really dialing it up this year for SummerSlam. I’m glad they brought back the Cell. Heyman, as usual, did a good job hyping this one up. I’m still picking Femi to win, even if it means breaking Lesnar’s HiaC streak. Lesnar doesn’t need the win and he’ll probably go back on hiatus later. Femi can end his rookie year with a bang and remain dominant on the main roster. It’s still going to be a great “violent” match that’ll hopefully get plenty of time.
Now we have the next video package of the Reigns vs Rollins match called Chapter V: Back Together. Rollins said they don’t bend, they don’t crack. They got the band back together. But it never felt right. Reigns said it was lost time before the Tribal Chief that he would never get back and it should never have happened.
ANALYSIS: Technically there were a few instances when they got back together, even for a very brief time due to illnesses and injuries. They might be talking about all those times they tried. But I think they’re talking about their last “official” PLE match at Fastlane on March 10th, 2019. Look closely and you’ll see the infamous WrestleMania promo sign they display before April.
At least this time they showed Deam Ambrose. He left for the rival AEW company the month after The Shield Reunion special. Don’t know if they had to pay Jon Moxley or AEW for that.
Now live, The AAA Mega Champ “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio makes his entrance accompanied by the Women’s World Champ Liv Morgan. Let’s give them time for their entrance by going on a break.
When we return they showed a clip from the SummerSlam kick-off show with Triple H. Gunther comes out and complains, then Nick Aldis arrives as they both argue. Gunther with a low-blow kick. He walks off, but Aldis spins him around and punches him. A fight breaks out on stage, so Trips has to intervene. He officially announces Gunther vs Aldis at SummerSlam.
ANALYSIS: It’s about time this was announced. I can’t tell you how long this match has been rumored for. It’ll be nice to see Aldis back in the ring again.
We come back live and Hendry is in the ring as he did the wave with the crowd.
Dominik Mysterio (w/ Liv Morgan) vs Joe Hendry:
Right off the bell Mysterio attacks Hendry into the corner with Shouldertackles and kicks. Mysterio whips him into the ropes, but Hendry reverses it and Shouldertackles Mysterio. Hip Toss by Hendry. Hendry chops Mysterio in one turnbuckle corner and slams his head off of another. Punch and a Headbutt to Mysterio in the corner then Hendry kicks Mysterio down. Hendry throws Mysterio hard into the opposite corner. Vertical Suplex to Mysterio, which Hendry held him in the air for about 15 seconds. Hendry throws Mysterio to the ropes, but he hangs on and gives Hendry a kick as he charged. He charged again and Mysterio sent him outside. Mysterio with a Suicide Dive but Hendry Caught him and threw him on the hood of the announce table. Hendry threw Mysterio into the ring and while the ref was checking on him Morgan tossed Hendry into the steel post. When suddenly, here comes Danhausen marching to the ring. He tries to curse Morgan, but Morgan punched him before that could happen and Danhausen retreated to the back. Let’s give him a break.
We’re back and Mysterio is in control in the ring with Hendry in a Crossface. Hendry nearly got up and Mysterio slammed him back down keeping the Crossface in. Hendry once again gets to his feet but Mysterio leaps onto his back this time. Hendry gets psyched up before he reverses Mysterio’s hold into a Vertical Suplex. Hendry launches Mysterio against the ropes and catches him for a Fallaway Slam. Hit Single by Hendry but only gets a two-count. Hendry gets the crowd psyched up as Morgan gets on the apron for the distraction. Mysterio takes advantage and hits a Tornado DDT. Both men are down. This cues Danhausen with IYO SKY in the Hausen-Mobile. SKY charges at Morgan and they brawl outside. SKY slams Morgan on the apron then throws her into the ring. SKY with a Missile Dropkick in Morgan, but they’re not involved in the match so there’s no DQ there. SKY goes to the apron and hits a Cross Body on Morgan on the outside. While the ref is distracted trying to get some control, Danhausen hits the Danhausen Death Drop (Triple D) on Mysterio. Hendry realizes what just happened and pins Mysterio for the win.
WINNER: Joe Hendry (9 minutes)
ANALYSIS: ***
A pretty good match with your typical Judgment Day numbers game getting the better of Hendry until Danhausen brought out SKY to even the odds and Hendry getting a singles win. This continues The Judgment Day’s storyline that McDonagh and Mysterio are still cursed. And they still don’t have their human monies back. I wonder what happened to The Miz and Kit Wilson?
After the match, both Hendry and Danhausen did the wave with the fans.
We then go backstage where LA Knight is headed to the ring for his match with Fatu. Next.
Once we’re back, we get a repeat recap of SNME where Reigns and Brunson. Reigns presented Brunson with his own custom World Heavyweight Championship. Then asks Madison Square, NYC, to acknowledge them. “Burn Ut Down!” hit, but Tyrese Haliburton of the failed Indiana Pacers came out with a steel chair. Sneak attack beatdown on Reigns by Rollins. Before Rollins could use the chair on Reigns, Brunson walks between them. Sperman Punch and a Spear by Reigns. Reigns and Brunson stand tall to send the NYC crowd home happy.
It’s then announced that “Dirty” Dom Mysterio will go one-on-one with Danhausen at SummerSlam.
And next Monday’s RAW at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles (technically in Inglewood), CA, will be their go-home show for SummerSlam and will feature:
- A face-to-face between Reigns and Rollins
- The Vision will battle The Alpha Academy in a non-title tag team matchup
- The Women’s IC Championship: Sol Ruca (c) vs Raquel Rodriguez of The Judgment Day
- Joe Hendry & Danhausen Concert
- “The Ruler” Oba Femi and “The Beast” Brock Lesnar face-to-face weigh-in
ANALYSIS: After Cole said, “Speaking of L.A.”, Graves made a quirky heel-ish comment that “Our producers screwed you on that one.” That’s because, technically, The Intuit Dome is located in Inglewood, just bordering Los Angeles. Usually, the WWE and local media explicitly market the event’s location as Los Angeles so, whatever. They do the same thing with CM Punk’s hometown of the Allstate Arena, which is marketed in Chicago even though it’s in Rosemont just bordering Chicago.
“Welcome to L.A.” plays as LA Knight comes out to the ring for his match. But first, he has a mic.
Let him talk to ya. He said he’s standing in the Dirty-“D” a few weeks before SummerSlam. Knight said that he’ll be teaming with Solo Sikoa and Royce Keys against The Usos and Jacob Fatu. Knight talked about Solo wanting to help out Seth Rollins. Knight said you talk about Rollins vs Reigns at SummerSlam, and it makes him sick. He said that Reigns has conned the fans, begging people to like him. Knight said that the fans booed him year after year until finally he figured something out. He is everything that Reigns wants to be. From day one, everyone felt the undeniable kavorka you couldn’t stop. He is everything that Roman Reigns wanted to be, but also everything everyone in the back wanted Reigns to be but couldn’t. As much as he can’t stand Reigns and Rollins, Sikoa’s focused on helping Rollins? “Na na!” He appreciates everything Sikoa’s done against The Bloodline and that’s why he could be his partner for one night. They need to destroy The Bloodline. Knight said in a little bit Fatu’s Mortal Kombat music is going to play, he’s going to test his might (a MK1 reference if ya don’t know). Fatu has his little shake, and Knight has the cure which is smacking him back to factory settings. And the whole time it’s going down, Knight’s soundtrack is smacking Fatu back to factory settings all around the world with everyone saying… L-A-Knight! “YEAH~!”
ANALYSIS: Knight has been on fire as of late with these promos before SummerSlam. The idea that his group is going to destroy The Bloodline to stop them from interfering with the Reigns vs Rollins main event is interesting. It’s more likely The Bloodline will try to interfere in that match but then Knight’s group will come out and even the odds causing chaos. We’ll see.
Now Fatu’s music hits (I just don’t hear the MK reference) and out he comes. This match is live, and it’s next.
LA Knight vs. Jacob Fatu:
Our ref is senior official Chad Patton. We come back from break with the match already started. Punches back and forth will Knight getting the better of Fatu. Knight hits the ropes, ducks a Clothesline, and nails a Running Clothesline of his own taking Fatu down. Knight shows off a little, but he turns around to see an angry Fatu right back on his feet. Back and forth again, this time Fatu getting the better and punching Knight into the corner. Knight slides out and hits punches and Shouldertackles on Fatu in the corner. As Knight is counted off of Fatu, Fatu grabs Knight and throws him into the corner before hitting a massive right hand. With Knight in another corner, Fatu charges but Knight slips under the ropes and grabs Fatu’s boot, smashing his left leg around the steel post a few times. Both are back in the ring and Knight trips up Fatu’s left leg. Knight grabs Fatu’s legs but Fatu kicks him off sending him through the ropes to the outside. Suicide Dive by Fatu onto Knight. Fatu tosses Knight into the fan barricade and then against the ring apron. Fatu tries to throw Knight into the steel steps but Knight reversed it, sending Fatu’s already injured left leg into the steps. Knight got up top on the steps and tried to punch Fatu but Fatu caught him and hit a Samoan Drop on the ring apron. Fatu walks around the ring, then poses for the crowd, turning around into a Running Dropkick through the ropes onto Fatu crashing onto the side of the announce table. Knight bounces Fatu’s head off of the hood of the table, but Fatu just gets mad again. He drives Knight’s back into the steel steps. Fatu charges, but Knight moves and Fatu crashes into the steel post. Now Knight smashes Fatu’s head on the steel steps several times. Knight leaps off the apron and hits a Clothesline. Commercial time.
When we come back, both men are back in the ring with Fatu squeezing on the neck/trapezius of Fatu. Knight gets back up and elbows his way out, punching away at Fatu. Fatu with an Uppercut and a Headbutt sending Knight to the corner. Fatu charged but Knight moved, sending Fatu head-first on the ring post. Knight with a Neckbreaker and a close call. Knight climbs up top of another corner, but Fatu Superkicked the turnbuckle sending Knight crashing on top of it. Fatu leaps and elbows Knight on the spine as Knight collapses into the ring for a cover and a close call. Now Fatu goes up top, but Knight stops him. Knight climbs up with Fatu, punches away, then Fatu headbutts him down. Fatu perches on the top rope when Knight runs to the top for a massive Superplex. Both men are down.
Cue Jimmy Uso. While Jimmy is arguing with the ref that he’s just there for support, Sikoa appears from behind the timekeeper’s area behind Jimmy. Sikoa punches on Jimmy until Jimmy holds Sikoa for a Fatu Suicide Dive onto Sikoa. Fatu rolls back in the ring, but gets met with left and right punches by Knight. Fatu throws Knight against the ropes, Knight ducks a Clothesline, but Fatu grabs Knight and tries for a Pop-Up Samoan Drop. Knight slipped out, a kick and the Blunt Force Trauma (BFT) and the cover by Knight. But the ref is distracted by Jimmy who’s on the apron. Royce Keys appears and pulls Jimmy off the apron, knocking him down, then throws him onto the announce table. Here comes “Main Event” Jey Uso. Jey comes through the “YEET~!”-ing crowd and Superkicks Keys once, twice, three times but Keys just barely made it over the timekeeper’s area. Jey gave him a little help over the barricade before celebrating. Jey turns around to a Running Dropkick through the ropes by Knight. Knight gets back in the ring for a Superkick by Fatu and a Pop-Up Samoan Drop. Fatu runs up to the top and hits a Mighty Moonsault and the win.
WINNER: Jacob Fatu (14 minutes)
ANALYSIS: *** ½
It was a very good and solid matchup between two great workers who had a lot of good chemistry in the ring. Especially Fatu who put on a good showing on being a monster everyone loves to watch, and Knight who took some good bumps and kept on coming to nearly put the big man down. Even after the interference at the end it still turned out to be a great match.
This also happens to be Fatu’s first match ever on RAW so I think he made a great impact.
After the match, Solo Sikoa attacked Fatu. Jimmy went in the ring and Superkicked brother Solo twice and set him up for Jey to hit a Spear. Keys went into the ring with a Double Clothesline on Jimmy and Jey. Keys and Fatu exchanged punches, which led to Keys hitting a Spinebuster on Fatu. The Usos hit a Double Superkick on Keys, he bounced off the ropes and The Usos hit the 1-D (Cole mistakenly called it the 3-D) on Keys. Knight tries to fight but got the Tongan Death Grip from Fatu, who puts him down against the turnbuckle. The trio of Jey, Jimmy and Fatu all hit Running Hip Attacks on Knight. Jey went up top and hit an Uso Splash. They laid their opponents for SummerSlam in the middle of the ring as The Bloodline raised their 1’s in the air while the credits rolled.
That’s the end of RAW, folks.
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ANALYSIS: That chaos should’ve happened on the RAW before SummerSlam. But I can understand giving The Bloodline some momentum going into their match in a few weeks. Maybe next week we’ll have Knight, Sikoa, and Keys get the upper hand. Or better yet, have them all brawl into utter chaos tearing the whole commentary table and the entire place down sending the crowd home happy in anticipation for the big event.
And will someone please clean out Cole’s headpiece. Or fire the person feeding him incorrect info. Sure, it’s funny that Graves has to keep correcting him in heel-ish fashion. But come on, people.
And that’s the show for ya, pebbles! What and ending, and buckets upon buckets of hypeity-hype.
This Friday Night Smackdown on July 24th takes place from the Oakland Arena in Oakland, CA. Thus far, the only matchup on the card is one of the qualifiers for the Interim WWE Women’s Championship Ladder Match:
- Nia Jax vs Charlotte Flair
Then, next week’s Monday Night RAW on July 27th is from the Intuit Dome in CA. I just checked their official schedule and it’s listed as Inglewood, even though their events page does show it as Los Angeles. Silly WWE. Anyhoo, it also serves as the official RAW go-home show for SummerSlam. Here’s the loaded card for RAW next week:
- A face-to-face between Reigns and Rollins (again)
- The Vision will battle The Alpha Academy in a non-title matchup (foreshadowing much?)
- The Women’s IC Championship: Sol Ruca (c) vs Raquel Rodriguez of The Judgment Day (an IC title rematch this close to SummerSlam?)
- Joe Hendry & Danhausen Concert (don’t forget your triangles)
- “The Ruler” Oba Femi and “The Beast” Brock Lesnar face-to-face weigh-in. (let’s see how much these behemoths weigh before they reinforce the Cell)
And don’t forget that SummerSlam is coming to you on August 1st and 2nd from the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MI. Here’s the card thus far as of tonight:
- WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs Seth Rollins
- Undisputed WWE Championship: CM Punk (c) vs Cody Rhodes
- Hell in a Cell Match: Brock Lesnar vs Oba Femi
- Women’s World Championship: Liv Morgan (c) vs Iyo Sky
- Intercontinental Championship: Penta (c) vs Chad Gable
- LA Knight, Solo Sikoa & Royce Keys vs Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso & Jacob Fatu
- Gunther vs Nick Aldis
- Interim WWE Women’s Championship Ladder Match: Tiffany Stratton vs Jade Cargill vs three other women from SmackDown
- Danhausen vs “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio
So stay safe, hype yourselves up, and see y’all along the BLVD!