Before we get going, I want everyone to stop on over at the Crazymax WWE 2016 Mock Draft and see the break down as we here at Crazy Max would have done it. You can check that article out here!
WWE Raw Preshow Notes For 7/18/16
– Stanford, Graves, Booker T, perhaps for the last time collectively… I hope.
– Rollins Report replay from last week. Whyyyyy? We then recap the Rollins/Ambrose stuff from last week. They meet tonight with the title on the line.
– Raw opens tonight with Stephanie and Shane introducing their picks as Raw & Smackdown General Managers.
– Graves and Booker do a 4 round mock draft. Corey is Raw and selects Rollins, Charlotte, Anderson/Gallows, & Nakamura. Book is Smackdown and selects Orton, Sasha Banks, Usos, & Undertaker. Well that was underwhelming.
– John Cena at the ESPY’s video.
– Big 12 Man Tag signed for Raw tonight. Because the two 6-mans at the PPV isn’t enough. New Day, Cena, Amore & Cass vs. The Wyatts & The Club. They recap the the angles from last week.
– Again, no hype for the Women this week, and no mention of Sasha’s mystery partner announcement. TWO women’s matches at Battleground, and no time spent getting them over… Yet they have time to plug Darren Young vs. Del Rio for tonight. Sigh
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The WWE Raw Report 7/18/16 from the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, RI
STEPHANIE / SHANE MCMAHON – GENERAL MANAGER SEGMENT
Raw Commish Steph is out first. Smackdown Commish Shane interrupts her immediately. Thank God… Stephanie tlks about “lady balls”… Gross.
Stephanie announces tht Raw will now feature an exclusive Cruiserweight division. Well that ruined that. SD has the “future vision, but Raw gets the Cruisers.
Stephanie introduces MICK FOLEY as the GM of Raw. Ugh. Foley more homeless looking than ever. Foley took risks all throughout the Monday Night War, and now he’s willing to take risks for Raw. Let’s see how long Foley lasts before he quits after he doesn’t like a storyline or push.
Shane begins to announce his. The fans chant “YES”…. BLAH. It is indeed, Daniel Bryan… Ugh. But at least his fucking sheepdog hair is cut…. SD is the underdog, Bryan was the underdog, so he’s back for the fans to do it together again.
Stephanie says a B+ Player for B+ Program…
Shane says Steph had to marry HHH to stay relevant on TV…
Daniel Bryan says YES, Smackdown will succeed….
20 minute segment. It didn’t drag. It was fine for what it was. Foley didn’t do much. Crowd erupted for Bryan. It’s amazing what a haircut will do for some people. He actually seemed human.
— COMMERCIAL BREAK —
MATCH #1: KEVIN OWENS & CHRIS JERICHO VS. SAMI ZAYN & CESARO
Insert promo of Zayn hyping his “biggest match” with Owens ever at Battleground. The faces control to begin, Owens soon cuts things off and the heels take over maybe 2 or 3 minutes in and we’re off to break.
Back from break, Jericho sends Zayn to the floor, but Sami is able to take out Jericho and Owens on the floor. Hot tag to Cesaro. Uppercuts-o-plenty on Jericho. Uppercut train on Jericho & KO. Jericho counters a Cesaro swing with a roll up for 2. Cesaro comes back with a springboard corkscrew uppercut for a near fall. Jericho counters the Neutralizer with an enzuigiri… Hot tags to KO & Zayn, they do indy punching. Zayn counters the Pop Up Powerbomb with a dropkick in mid air. Jericho & Cesaro tag bck in. High Cross body by Cesaro gets 2. Jericho tries the Walls, but Cesaro counters into the Cesaro Swing…
Cesaro tags Zayn… Zayn drops Owens, but Jericho is the legal man. Jericho tries sneaky pin, but Zayn counters into a cradle for 1..2…3…
Zayn & Cesaro win in 12:00.
– Backstage, the jobbers are kissing up to Daniel Bryan… Goldust, R-Truth, Jack Swagger, Titus O’Neil… Stephanie stops Bryan and they have some back and forth. He casually tells Stephanie “congratulations on ruining Raw” and just walks off… Lol…
— COMMERCIAL BREAK —
MATCH #2: ALBERTO DEL RIO VS. DARREN YOUNG (w/BOB BACKLUND)
Miz & Maryse on commentary. A little back and forth. Young in control and Miz gets up on the apron. The distraction allows Del Rio to get up, and cradle Darren, but Miz is still distracting the referee… So now Del Rio argues with Miz… Darren Young pushes ADR into Miz and lands the rolling cradle with the BACKLUND BRIDGE for the win in 2:25. It was a sloppy Backlund Bridge, but still cool to see.
— COMMERCIAL BREAK —
JOHN CENA, ENZO & CASS / THE CLUB / NEW DAY PROMO SEGMENT
Cena with a mini-interview to promote everything going on this week. He intros Enzo & Cass, who do their usual spiel. Enzo runs down The Club pretty good. Calls Gallows boring, says AJ has soccer mom hair, and says Anderson is like Times New Roman font, as generic as there is. lol. Cena gets into the comedy with them, but he wants them to take this match serious at Battleground. Cass says they have fun with the fans, but they take their wrestling seriously. The Club is SAWWFFFF….The Club interrupts the SWAFT spiel.
AJ Styles calls Cena a turd in the punch bowl… Umm okay. Anderson knocks team Cena for not having chemistry. Gallows says the Club has chemistry. Tonight they get to… “Beat up John Cena” and others as well…
AWWWWW, don’t you dare be sour… It’s New Day out next, not selling their time in the swamp with the Wyatts at all. Even Xavier is dancing. Ugh. New Day shrug off the Wyatts mind games. Bleh. Woods is back to his old self all of a sudden after almost being chopped in half last week. I give up. Woods is so “worried” that he begins to rattle off Pokemon Go characters to “How you doin?” chants. UGH
Wyatts interrupt just as New Day Rocks. Wyatts head to the ring as we go to bring… Sure, give everyone a promo EXCEPT Bray Wyatt… WHAT THE EFF.
— COMMERCIAL BREAK —
MATCH 3: JOHN CENA, ENZO, CASS, & THE NEW DAY VS. THE WYATT FAMILY & THE CLUB
12-Man Tag joined in progress. Cena tries his shoulder tackle on Gallows, but Luke doesn’t move and Cena takes a bump. Big E tags in and taints Gallows. Big E belly to belly on Gallows. Now it’s Strowman & Big E, and Strowman runs him over. Enzo tags himself in, he wants big Braun. Strowman drops Enzo, lol. Big Cass tags in, he and Strowman stand face to face. Strowman slaps Cena, and we end up with all 12 men in the ring fighting… It clears out to just Cass and Strowman back inside. BIG BOOT to Braun. Kofi tags in and jumps on Strowman, he’s supposed to catch Kofi but falls, LOL… Seriously? You can’t fucking catch KOFI??????? It’s official, this guy is AWFUL… Anyway, Strowman gets back up with Kofi like he didn’t fall and he plants Kingston to take control. Raw goes to break…
Back from break, Wyatt is beating down Kofi. Cena gets the hot tag and starts to control, but he’s quickly cut off, and the 6 heels take turns beating down on John. Styles hits his own version of the AA, onto his knee, and gets 2… Gallows eventually misses a splash and Cena starts to crawl towards his corner, but we go to break again.
Back from another break, Cena still hasn’t tagged out. Wyatt has control. Bray misses a senton, Cena hot tags to Big Cass… AJ tags in as well. Cass knocks the heels off the apron and Empire Elbow to AJ. Cass tries a fall away slam but Strowman attacks from behind. And now everyone starts running in and hitting signature moves. Wyatt blocks and SOS and kills Kofi with a urinage. Woods hits a somersault dive out onto the Wyatts. Cass ducks a Phenomenal Forearm and takes AJ out with a big boot. Anderson lays out Cena with a spinebuster. Enzo jumps off the top with a flying DDT on Anderson. I missed a lot of shit here, just too much going on, lol…
Styles goes for Styles Clash on Enzo, but Amore escapes. Enzo tries a clotheline, but Styles ducks. Enzo clobbers Cena by accident! Enzo turns into an AJ Pele kick and then the Styles Clash ends it in 19:00+.
The Wyatts and New Day brawl to the back. The Club celebrate. Cena lays on the floor with Enzo & Cass on the other side. They try to play up how the faces can’t trust each other like the established heel group.
– Backstage, Apollo Crews is kissing up to Steph and Foley.
— COMMERCIAL BREAK —
SETH ROLLINS PROMO
– Earlier today, we see Seth Rollins walking around the empty arena. He cuts a promo hyping this week’s matches and his willingness all along to split the Shield for his own gain. He says Reigns will never be the same, and calls Ambrose a thief and coward. Seth talks about recovering from his injury, winning his title back, and Dean stealing it. Tonight, Seth says he will end Ambrose’s fairy tale as champion. And at Battleground he will prove he was always “the man”.
– Backstage, Foley is with Breezango…. Shane interrupts to talk with Mick. He wants to know why Foley would work for Steph. Foley knows Stephanie is ruthless and how she can be. But Foley says Stephanie has passion and she can better Mick, give him an edge again. Mick gets a little smart with Shane and walks off. Shane tells Foley to “Have a Nice Day, Bang Bang”.
— COMMERCIAL BREAK —
MATCH #4: BARON CORBIN VS. SIN CARA
Cole announces the Lucha Dragons have split for singles aspirations… Why not just have them drafted separate? Cara controls early with some decent stuff. Corbin no sells a springboard body block and hits End of Days for the win in 1:19….
Corbin attacks Cara post match…. Kalisto comes out to make the save… Didn’t Cole JUST say they were split? Corbin slides outside, but attacks Kalisto from behind. The crowd is dead for ALL of this….
— COMMERCIAL BREAK —
MATCH #5: SASHA BANKS & BECKY LYNCH VS. CHARLOTTE & DANA BROOKE
I’m pretty sure Sasha was supposed to unveil her mystery partner for the PPV tonight. I’m also pretty sure that this is basically the same match we’re going to see at the PPV in 5 days, sans Lynch. Why not just plug Natalya in Charlotte’s spot here, and when you don’t give away your PPV match and you get over the Nattie/Becky match at Battleground. Eh, WWE.
The faces work over Brooke to start. They have complete control for a couple of minutes, Nattie attacks Lynch on the floor and beats her down. This causes a DQ win for the faces in 2:24. Sasha takes notice and comes to save Becky, but Charlotte attacks. Charlotte and Brooke beat down Banks in the ring with Lynch laid out on the floor thanks to Nattie.
These women’s matches haven’t been getting any TV time lately.
– Backstage, Bryan & Shane are chatting with Demon Kane.
– Dean Ambrose cuts a promo in the old Shield camera. Ambrose will retain tonight. Ambrose will retain at Battleground.
— COMMERCIAL BREAK —
MATCH #6: SHEAMUS & RUSEV (w/LANA) VS. DOLPH ZIGGLER & ZACK RYDER
You know, they split up that foreign group thingy months ago, yet they continue to team in some capacity almost every week. Ryder is all over Sheamus to start, Rusev distracts and Shemus sends Zack to the floor. The heels beat down Ryder on the floor and take over in the ring. Zack manages a neckbreaker Hot tags to Rusev & Ziggler. Crowd is dead. Famouser on Rusev gets 2. Ryder and Sheamus fight to the floor. Rusev hits a hot shot on Ziggler, a big jumping kick to the back of Dolph’s head, and the Accolade. Dolph jobs like a complete bee-otch in 3:47. UGH
– Randy Orton video hyping his return and match with Brock at Summer Slam.
— COMMERCIAL BREAK —
– Cena at the ESPY’s Video
– WWE Draft Rules shown
– The Ascension try and get Foley to draft them. Daniel Bryan interrupts and wants to talk with Mick. Bryan isn’t cut throat like Shane & Steph, he wants to be up front with Mick and wishes him luck. Daniel says he wants them to stay good with each other because they have a lot in common. They take a few tongue in cheek jabs at each other and end things a little serious. They understand there’s a competition.
— COMMERCIAL BREAK —
We’ve got Steph & Foley, and Shane & Bryan sitting at ringside for the title match.
MATCH #7: WWE CHAMPION DEAN AMBROSE VS. SETH ROLLINS
Some basic wrestling gets things going, Ambrose maintains control for much of it. Seth stalls for a bit but Dean takes right back over and clotheslines Rollins to the floor where he hits a clothesline, and then a second clothesline off the apron as Raw goes to break.
Back from break, Rollins gains control and methodically beats down Ambrose. A double clothesline drops both men. Ambrose meakes a comeback… PERFECT PLEX gets a near fall on Rollins. Crowd is kind of dead, and suck. Both men trade pinning combinations. Dean hits a neckbreaker for 2. Rollins comes back looking for the pedigree but Dean escapes. Rollins knocks Ambrose outside and tries a dive but Dean stops it. Ambrose sends Seth outside and hits his own suicide dive.
Rollins winds up driving Dean into the barricade and then hits a RUNNING POWERBOMB INTO THE BARRICADE on Ambrose… Back inside, Seth with a FROG SPLASH for a near fall, and Raw goes to break.
Back from the final break, Ambrose counters a powerbomb into the corner with a huracan rana into the corner on Seth. Dean counters a pedigree with a catapult, but Seth leaps up top and hits a FLYING KNEE, but misses a second Frog Splash!!! Both men are down.
Dean and Seth trade some wild shots. Seth hits an anzuigiri!!! Powerbomb in the corner on Ambrose!!!! But Dean stumbles out and hits DIRTY DEEDS!!!!!!!!
1…………2…………. Rollins leg on the rope!!!!!
Seth rolls outside and Dean goes to the announce table. Dean begins to set up putting Rollins through the table, but Rollins rolls off. They fight on the apron, Seth clotheslined back inside. Dean goes up top for the flying elbow, but ROLLINS CATCHES HIM IN THE PEDIGREE!!!!
1…………….2……………..
AMBROSE KICKS OUT!!!!!!!
Rollins goes for a second Pedigree. Dean counters with a kack knife for a near fall. Dean with the WICKED CLOTHESLINE!!!
Ambrose back up top for the flying elbow, Seth meets him up top. Dean shoves Seth off and into the ref… BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Ref goes down. Rollins leaps back up, top rope SUPERPLEX!!!!
Both men cradle each other’s legs…. Ref counts 1…………2………………3………… But both men’s shoulders were down… Ugh… Here we go after 22:00.
Both Commissioners enter the ring… Stephanie deems Rollins the winner, Shane says Ambrose is the winner. Stephanie announces Seth as the winner. Shane argues with Steph at ringside. Raw goes off the air with Rollins celebrating with the title, but the announcers are unsure of what just happened… WTF…
Stay tuned to Smackdown people…. We will be covering Smackdown Live with our brand new Smackdown reviewer beginning tomorrow night with the draft.
