WWE Raw Preshow Notes
– Back at WWE HQ this week, it’s Stanford, Otunga and Graves talking Brock Lesnar’s return and what it means for Seth Rollins. They spend about half the preshow discussing this storyline, Brock’s suspension and return.
– We move on to the Cena/Owens feud and the panel talks the attack on MGK last week on Raw. MGK joins the preshow panel on the phone to discuss matters. This takes up most of the second half pf the preshow.
– With a couple of minutes left they quickly talk to the Reigns/Bray Wyatt feud. A very nothing happening edition of the preshow…
WWE Raw Report 6/22/15 from Bankers Life Fieldhouse from Indianapolis, IN
– Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman kick off the show. This week Brock’s Suplex City shirt reads Indianapolis. “Suplex City” chants. We’re reminded why Brock Lesnar was suspended via video footage of Brock killing everything in sight. Heyman explains how he got Brock Lesnar reinstated with WWE. The demand for Brock to return was for Lesnar to apologize in public to JBL and Michael Cole for his actions. If Brock doesn’t apologize he will not got his title shot at Battleground. Brock walks around the ring pondering if he should apologize, Michae Cole is squirming in fear…. Brock steps out of the ring to come over and confront the announcers…. Cole and JBL don’t appear to be excited. Cole says the apology is unnecessary. Lesnar steps up to JBL, Layfield stands up uneasy…. Lesnar shakes JBL’s hand. Michael Cole extends his hand next, Lesnar gives him a funny look…. Byron Saxton runs off. Lesnar steps up into the fans of Cole, Michael actually apologizes to Brock… Lesnar GRABS COLE IN A HEADLOCK!!!! AND LESNAR……. NOOGIES Michael Cole and asks him if they’re cool… Cole accepts his apology…. And therefore Rollins WILL defend the WWE Title against Lesnar at Battleground. Heyman closes things up warning Rollins of his demise now that he has nobody to hide behind.
Promo was just okay. Nothing spectacular as usual Heyman promos are, but even his mundane promos are decent.
— Commercial Break —
1. Dean Ambrose vs. Kane
Yuck. Back and forth usual stuff kicks it off. Dean lands a flying forearm and Kane sells it like he got a poke in the eye. Ugh. Dean runs into a chop or something and takes a bump for Kane to grab a 2 count. Ambrose finally comes back and drives Kane down, forcing Kane to roll out of the ring. The fight spills to the floor for a moment. Dean catches Kane on the middle rope with a guillotine legdrop from the ropes. Kane goes back to the floor, Dean follows, but Kane is waiting and he tosses Ambrose into the steps as Raw goes to break…
Back from break, Kane dominates, Ambrose makes his comeback… It looks like Ambrose is about to win when SETH ROLLINS comes out to ringside. Kane tries a sneak attack on Dean, but Ambrose escapes the Chokeslam and lands a suicide dive outside onto Seth… Ambrose climbs to the top rope to drive onto Rollins, but Kane grabs Dean and chokeslams him off the top rope for the win in 11:20.
Good old Seth, buttering up Kane to watch his back…
And this just about confirms we get a Ambrose vs. Kane mini-feud… Sigh… Dean did about 10% of his usual stuff here and Kane was just as bad as ever.
— Commercial Break —
– Back from break, Seth tells Kane they need to get the band back together. Kane is wise to Seth’s trickery and insinuates that Seth is just scared of Brock. Kane walks off.
– We’re reminded of the Wyatt/Reigns feud and their match scheduled for Battleground.
– Prime Time Players headed to the ring for action.
— Commercial Break —
– More Titus O’Neil footage of being a great dad…. Batista should be so proud…
We learn that New Day will have a title rematch at Battleground.
2. Tag Team Champions The Prime Time Players vs. The Ascension
Good double teaming by the PTP to start. Titus hits the throw away slam on Viktor. Titus and Konnor chop the shit out of each other as New Day looks on from the back. Ascension catch Titus in the ropes and double team him to take over. Chinlocks and other assorted crap offense follows. Titus breaks out with a back suplex and hot tag to Darren Young. Darren all over both Ascension. Titus sends Konnor to the floor, Viktor knocks O’Neil to the floor, Darren Young takes over and lands the “Gut Check” finisher for the win in 4:06.
– The match barely has time to end before Sheamus’ Intro for the next match begins… WTF??? Sheamus actually PASSES the Prime Time Players at ringside, lol… Somebody ran long…. They shot Sheamus out there before the last match could get out of the ring.
— Commercial Break —
3. Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns
This should be a barn burner… But not really. It’s more of the back and forth striking offense to begin. This goes on for a while with Sheamus taking a few trips to the floor. Sheamus winds up landing the Irish Curse backbreaker for a near fall before we head to break…
Back from break, Reigns escapes a chinlock. Reigns lands the 10 clotheslines in the corner. Reigns tries the dropkick on the apron but Sheamus clotheslines Reigns as he jumps onto the apron. Finally, something different. Both men to the floor where Roman goes into the barricade. Back inside Sheamus gets 2. Sheamus with a TRIO of Irish Curse Backbreakers!!! Still only gets a 2 count… Sheamus tries the Cloverleaf repeatedly but fails, third time is a charm (get it cloverleaf, a charm? womp womp) and he finally locks it in… Reigns gets to the ropes for the break, but Sheamus plows him over with a clothesline. Reigns comes back with a series of elbows and forearms before dropping Sheamus with a back suplex, and another back suplex, gets 2.
Reigns with a clothesline takes both men over the top rope, and Reigns hits the reverse version of the apron dropkick, and then a running flying elbow dive onto Sheamus onto the announce table… That finally woke the crowd up…
All of a sudden we hear Bray Wyatt humming “tea party”. We see Bray Wyatt sitting at a kid’s tea party set. Wyatt alludes that he is having tea with Reigns’s daughter… Bray tells Roman to come find him. Reigns leaves the ring and sprints backstage….
Bray continues to talk to someone off screen, the camera pans out and there’s a child’s rocking chair, empty but rocking. Wyatt laughs.
Apparently the match just ends…. OK…. No announcement or anything… What a pay off to making me watch that crap for like 16:00.
— Commercial Break —
– Backstage Roman Reigns finds the room Bray Wyatt is in. He heard Wyatt singing the TEAPOT song… Reigns enters the room to find candles, the words “Anyone But You” written in “blood” on the wall, and dozens of pictures of Reigns all over the wall with the eyes and mouths cut out… Bray however, is not there. His singing can be heard in a loop on a recording singing the Teapot song while Roman stares at a picture completely confused…
– Backstage Seth Rollins tries to make nice with J&J Security. Seth says they’re more than a security team, they’re his friends… He said he needs them not for Brock Lesnar, but because he represents the Authority. That doesn’t work either…
– Neville on his way to the ring for action next.
— Commercial Break —
4. Neville vs. Kofi Kignston (w/New Day)
Lots of back and forth to start, but these guys to is with style… Lots of flippies and counters before Kofi takes over. Xavier has a camera taking pictures of the fallen Neville. Neville takes Kignston to the floor on a head scissors and dropkicks him off the apron… Neville follows Kofi outside, New Day start to surround Neville when the Prime Time Players to show up to even the odds…. The referee, for some reason, immediately sends the PTP back to the back but allows the New Day stay at ringside… New Day gets too close to Neville, and they’re ejected as well. Kofi argues with the ref and eats a Neville enzuigiri and the Red Arrow finishes it in 4:27.
– Commercial for the July 4th WWE Network Special from Japan featuring Brock Lesnar. The show is titled “The Beast in the East”.
— Commercial Break —
5. King Barrett vs. Zack Ryder
R-Truth in an inserted promo. Truth thinks he’s the real King. Zack lands a Flapjack early, but Barrett takes over with a series of clotheslines and a neckbreaker gets 2. Ryder comes back with a facebuster but the crowd is dead. Zack starts clicking with his offense, a middle rope dropkick, but Barrett escapes the Broski boot… Ryder still lands a kick on Barrett outside. Zack goes to the top rope but gets crotched. Barrett Bull Hammers Zack while he’s on the top rope. Barrett wins in 3:20.
The crowd was dead and both goes moved in slow motion.
– We go to an Exclusive Interview with Kevin Owens from last week. He talks down to Cena, and says Cena only wanted to shake his hand to hog the spotlight. John Cena returns…. NEXT.
— Commercial Break —
– Super Cena returns for promo time. He puts over Owens the athlete, but craps on Owens the human. Cena says he could refuse Owens challenge for the U.S. Title like Owens refused to give Cena a NXT title match, but Cena is a fighter and he will give Owens that title shot.
Kevin Owens interrupts. He doesn’t care what anybody says or thinks of him, including Cena. Owens says he’s been called out of shape, a slob, and Cena just called hima dirt bag. Well this out of shape, slob, dirt bag beat Cena. Owens says Cena cares what the people think of him, but all Owens cares about is winning titles. He won the NXT title as soon as he showed up, and now that he’s in WWE he wants the U.S. Title. Owens calls it a symbol of excellence. Owens begins to cut a promo in French Canadian in an attempt to piss the fans off and boo him. He figures if the fans will boo him, then they will cheer Cena and that’s all Cena wants. Cena starts speaking French, then Chinese, and then American, he gives Owens the shot at Battleground and says he will kick Owens’ ass.
LOL, not even a mention of the MGK attack from Cena or Owens. I would have liked to seen the rubber match stretched to Summer Slam. I don’t know how these guys are going to follow their first two matches so quickly.
– Backstage HHH and Steph are talking Owens vs. Cena when Seth Rollins walks in. Seth is discouraged over Kane and J&J. Seth calls the Authority a family. He says he doesn’t NEED them, but they’re his family. Suuuurrrre buddy. Steph suggests an apology, Seth thinks she means they apologize to him. lol…
HHH cuts the nonsense off. HHH admits the facts, Seth wants them back because he fears Lesnar. HHH says Seth is smart, because any smart man would fear Brock Lesnar. HHH says a smart man always has a Plan B. HHH suggests Seth be the bigger man and apologize to everyone in order to get the Authority crew back.
Seth wants to know what if Brock shows up. HHH asks Seth how bad he wants the WWE Title/family.
— Commercial Break —
6. Naomi and Tamina vs. The Bella Twins (w/Alicia Fox)
Fox has aligned with the Bellas, for now. Boy did they cancel the Naomi/Tamina push fast. Tamina beats down Brie, and a Samoan Drop gets 2. Naomi continues with more punishment on Brie. Looks like Naomi’s light up boots are broken, lol… Naomi knocks Nikki off the apron before she can tag in. Hot tag finally happens and Nikki tags in on Naomi… Nikki dropkicks Tamina off the apron and takes it to Naomi with the Alabama Slam, Tamina breaks up the count. The referee gets in the way, Tamina trips and falls over him then eats a Brie dropkick from the ropes… Brie gets laid out with the Rear View. Naomi tries a Rear View on Nikki, but hits Tamina by accident. Nikki then lays out Naomi with the Rack Attack. And it’s over in 3:30. This SUCKED. #giveOTHERdivasachance
— Commercial Break —
7. IC Champion Ryback vs. Mark Henry
Big Show on commentary. A WrestleMania rematch… lol. Henry dominates early with some big shots, but Ryback sends Mark to the floor with a shoulder block. Once outside Henry takes back over by driving Ryback into the ring apron and tossing him into the barricade before we head to break.
Back from break, Ryback has control and lands the SPINEBUSTER… Ryback tries the Meathook Clothesline but runs into a BIG BOOT from Henry. Big Show leaves commentary to cheer on Henry. Henry picks Ryback up for the World’s Strongest Slam but Ryback slides out and delivers the MEATHOOK!!! Then Ryback GOES TO THE TOP ROPE…… FLYING SPLASH BY RYBACK!!!! 1…….2………….3…… Ryback wins in 7:20…
Big Show is pissed following the match, he yells at Henry in the ring but doesn’t get physical. Big Show leaves the ring in disgust.
– If you don’t know, there’s this Tough Enough thing going on. I’ll leave it to you to look up the info for it.
– Jojo is with Ryback backstage for an interview. I smell an angle. Ryback mentions his top rope splash, saying he has a few tricks up his sleeve. Ryback knows he doesn’t have to be pinned to lose in a Triple Threat Match at Battleground. He mentions his parents not speaking to each other in 15 years, but they recently came together to watch him defend the IC Title. He’s proud of the title.
Big Show interrupts and says Ryback is a little boy in the Big Show’s world. The two men start trading blows after exchanging words. Big Show takes Ryback down first, but Ryback comes back and drives Big Show into some poles and steel shelves. Big Show goes down and plays dead. Ryback says “You’re not so big now”.
Well we got either 1 or 2 segments left. Either just the Rollins crap, or a Ziggler segment and then Rollins.
— Commercial Break —
– Adam Rose Promo?!?!?!? Adam Rose and Rosa Mendes says they love themselves. Rose talks about unveiling some sort of masterpiece and then shows Dolph what true love looks like as he kisses Rosa. They both have suckers. How cute.
Dolph Ziggler (w/Lana) vs. Adam Rose (w/Rosa Mendes)
Rusev is shown watching in the back while on crutches. Dolph starts off on top, but Rose takes over and even mocks Ziggler while he’s down. Rose locks in a sleeper, but Ziggler escapes with a back suplex. Ziggler with his token stuff, the splash in the corner, the neckbreaker, the jumping elbow gets 2… Rose battles back and delivers a spinebuster for a near fall…Rose comes off the top into a Dolph Superkick, and that ends it abruptly in 3:04.
I think both guys are good in the ring but this match was just FLAT.
Dolph takes Lana’s hair down out of her bun and they kiss. Rusev is shown backstage upset as he throws his crutches and destroys the backstage set and falls down in a rage.
Rusev is confronted by Summer Rae, who hands Rusev the crutches back. Dear God no… They’re killing Ziggler, they’re killing Lana, and they’re killing Rusev. This entire storyline is crap.
– Backstage, HHH and Stephanie are with J&J and Kane. The screen goes green lol… Back to the promo HHH is selling why Seth was acting like an ass, stating how being the WWE Champion can drive a man crazy. Steph and HHH ask J&J and Kane to go out to the ring and hear Seth out. They walk off.
— Commercial Break —
– Seth Rollins has come out to be the bigger man and admit that he has been wrong. He asks Kane and J&J to come out to accept his apology. Out they come. Before Seth apologizes he wants to make it clear this isn’t about Brock Lesnar, he’s already beaten Brock. Seth says this is about family.
First, Seth apologizes to J&J. He says he patterned his career after them. He does’t want their answer yet, he tells them to think it over while he talks to Kane.
Next, Seth apologizes to Kane, for calling him a dinosaur among other things. He refers to Kane like a fine wine. He says Kane keeps getting better and better and he will always be the Devil’s favorite demon. Seth says Kane is his favorite WWE superstar of all time. Seth then asks Kane to accept his apology and come back and be a family.
J&J and Kane talk it over. They’re not sure. Seth says he is begging, what else can he do? He drops some more PLEASES and begs them to take him back.
BROCK LESNAR INTERRUPTS… Brock comes storming out with Paul Heyman… While Seth stands with Kane and J&J.
Brock walks around ringside and then stops and evaluates the situation with all the guys in the ring. It appears J&J and Kane are siding with Rollins at first, but then they walk off!!!! They leave Seth Rollins to fend for himself!!!
Brock on the apron…. KANE YANKS HIM OFF…. Kane and J&J attack Lesnar on the floor…. BUT BROCK LAYS ALL THREE OUT WITH EASE!!!!!!
It’s back to Brock vs. Rollins. Seth jumps Lesnar as he enters the ring, but Brock with SUPLEX CITY…. A pair of German Suplexes drops Seth… Fans chant ONE MORE TIME…. And Lesnar flings Seth across the ring with a THIRD German…
Brock picks Seth up for the F5!!!!! Kane comes in and grabs Brock by the throat. Seth escapes, Kane chokeslams Brock!!! Kane tries a second Chokeslam, but Brock FORCES KANE TO TAKE A GERMAN SUPLEX…. KANE TAKES A REAL BUMP!!!! Yeah Bitch!!!!
Brock picks Seth up for the F5 again, but Kane clips Lesnar’s leg…. Brock fights with Kane and then Seth also clips Brock’s leg. Seth holds Brock’s leg against tyhe post while Kane smashes it with a chair. They work over Lesnar’s knee while Joey Mercury joins in. Rollins drops Lesnar with a flying knee off the top rope, then another chokeslam from Kane. Meanwhile, Heyman just stands with his arms folded on the outside… Pretty lame.
Not sure what happened to Noble, he never got back up so he may have really been injured from Brock driving him into the barricade hard.
Seth Rollins drops Brock with a PEDIGREE as the Authority has reunited to end the show…
