WWE Raw Preshow Notes For 8/3/15
– We kick things off with a graphic dedicated to the passing of “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. As the show opens, Standford, Graves and Otunga discuss the passing of the Hot Rod and show several Tweets from WWE stars to actors to rock stars.
– We learn tonight’s show will start off with a tribute and salute to Roddy Piper. Plus Brock Lesnar returns. And a 6-man features Reigns, Orton & Ambrose vs. Wyatt, Harper & Sheamus.
– We go back to last week and the budding Cena vs. Rollins feud. We get highlights of the promo and match where Rollins obliterates Cena’s nose off his face. Graves repeatedly takes shots at Dana White after the video in regards to White’s recent lambasting of wrestling being “fake”. The panel discusses Cena’s injury as we take a look at some nasty pictures. They admire Cena for working through the injury.
– Next we focus on the recent return of the Undertaker and his wild brawl with Brock Lesnar a couple of weeks ago on Raw. Paul Heyman calls into the preshow. Heyman says he has something to show us on Raw that will show us how desperate the Undertaker is to win this rematch. Heyman then continues on to make the panel look like amateurs as he takes over the interview. Heyman explains his lack of interference is due to him being an advocate and he should not be in the ring with someone like Taker. Brock will handle Taker. Make no mistake, this rematch is strictly for revenge as Brock has nothing he needs to prove.
Following the Heyman promo we’ve got a few minutes left on the preshow, not sure if anything important came of it as my Wifi went down… I’m sure we missed very little…
The WWE Raw Report 8/3/15 from the SAP Center in San Jose, California
– We kick things off with the WWE roster, along with Vince McMahon standing on the entrance stage as the bell toll ten times for Roddy Piper. This is followed by a video package of Roddy to remind us just how many great memories he gave us…
– A we return to the arena, we get Seth Rollins to the ring. Yayyy, what a way to follow up the Piper tribute. We get boring heel promo guy. Hooray… Seth says the only man that can slow him down is himself. Seth says his flaw is sympathy. He talks about shattering Cena’s nose as we get video replay. Rollins blames his sympathy last week for his loss to Cena. The crowd chants “Thank You Rollins” for putting Cena out. This crowd is very anti-Cena. He then mocks Cena’s face and shows pictures of John’s nose under his right eye. lol… Seth asks who wouldn’t feel sympathy for a face like that. He refers to Cena’s face as a cross between a Raccoon and a Picasso. Seth challenges Cena to a rematch at Summer Slam where it would be title vs. title… He says if Cena doesn’t accept, then he can forfeit the title to Seth…. Rollins then announces a WWE WORLD TITLE OPEN CHALLENGE and then says all of Cena’s catch phrases because the CHAMP IS HERE… Seth starts the Open Challenge RIGHT NOW!!! Who will accept the challenge???
— Commercial Break —
– We get a SECOND Rollins interview. Jojo is in the ring with Seth. She wants to know if this challenge is even legitimate. Seth says the only rules are his challenger must be under 6 feet tall and under 200 pounds. Jojo says that brings it down to just El Torito. Seth calls out El Torito…
Torito’s music and graphics play as Seth laughs, but then the music stops… Rollins gets serious as NEVILLE’s music hits… So Jojo and Seth just compared Neville to Torito… Way to spotlight Neville’s size and compare him to a mini. Nice…
1. WWE World Champion Seth Rollins vs. Neville
Seth gets control to begin with your basic heel beat down crap. Neville comes back with some flippies and a big boot. Neville with a flying rana sends SWeth to the floor and then an inside out 180 dive outside onto Seth… Rollins back inside, but Neville with a cross body and they both go over the top rope to the floor… Then Neville up top hits what looks to be a SKY TWISTER PRESS with an added twist off the top rope to the floor onto Rollins… INSANE…. Even the announcers pop… And Neville LANDS ON HIS FEET and absorbs the applause as we go to commercial.
Back from break, we learn that during the commercial Seth knocked Neville off the apron and face first into the announcer’s desk. Seth has control and gets a near fall after that JTG around the body clothesline thingy… Neville catches Seth coming off the top rope into an enzuigiri… Neville with a REVERSES HURACAN RANA, and Seth forgets to flip, lol. NASTY BUMP… Near fall for Neville… Neville lands a German Suplex, a dropkick while Seth is on his knees and then the pure power German Suplex into a bridge gets another near fall… Good stuff… He has no business in a comic book feud…
Neville goes up top for the Red Arrow, but Rollins is up. Seth clotheslines the shit out of Neville and both men are down. Neville counters a Pedigree with a 1………………………….2…………………THREE!!! The ref says no, but THAT WAS FUCKING THREE…. The crowd shits on the count… The replay clearly shows it should have been three… Crazy…. Talk about a “near flal”.
Rollins goes to the top, but Neville goes jumping to the top.. JUMPING TOP ROPE FRANKENSTEINER OFF THE TOP ROPE!!!!!!!! Holy balls….
RED ARROW CONNECTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RED ARROW CONNECTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1……………………………….2……………………………………3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! SETH HAS HIS FOOT ON THE ROPE!!!!
Neville goes up for a second Red Arrow….. But Misses!!! Quick Pedigree by Seth ends it in 13:30. Tons better than I anticipated. Very good match!
Hey Vince, take notice… When you get guys over like this, guys like Cesaro or Neville, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!
— Commercial Break —
2. Lucha Dragons & Los Matadores vs. The Ascension & New Day (Kofi & Big E)
Xavier and Torito in respective corners… The Prime Time Players on commentary for this 8-man. Kofi & Kalisto get flippy with it as things get going, Matadores take over on Kofi and the Ascension. Viktor shoves one of the Matadores off the ropes and to the floor for the heels to take over as we are mercifully given a commercial break…
Back from break, Matador gets a beat down until a hot tag to Cara…. Soon we have guys everywhere. Matadores double suicide dives on Ascension. Sun Cara with a slingshot somersault senton to the FLOOR on Big E. Kalisto goes to the top rope, Woods gets on the apron to distract. Woods kicks Torito away but turns into a kick from Kalisto. As Kalisto turns back towards Kofi, Kingston lands the Trouble In Paradise kick that knocks Kalisto off the top rope for the win in 7:55.
– Divas are next.
— Commercial Break —
– We get a quick inserted promo from the Bellas and Foxy. We get the same from the other group with Paige who are now called the “Submission Sorority”. Lame.
3. Charlotte & Becky Lunch (w/Paige) vs. The Bellas (w/Fox)
Bellas control to start but Lynch takes over with her leg drops. Charlotte tags un and drops the FLAIR KNEE on Brie! WOOOOOO! Nikki gets tagged in after landing a kick to Charlotte from the apron. Nikki wears Charlotte down, Charlotte attempts to come back with the Figure 8, but Nikkie counters and drops Charlotte on her head. The Bellas with some double teaming for 2. Eventually, Lynch gets tagged back in and she locks in the Disarmer on Brie… but Brie finally makes the ropes…. Foxy and the Bellas stand over Lynch outside the ring as she is laid out and we go to break.
Back from break, the Bellas continue to work over Becky. Team BAD watches in the back. Brie Mode knee to the face gets 2. Becky and Brie end up double clotheslining each other and we get hot tags to Nikki & Charlotte. CHOPS… WOOOOO. Light up Nikki. BIG SPEAR from Charlotte, but Brie breaks up the cover. Becky tosses Brie with a T-Bone suplex… Meanwhile, Nikki with a nice Spinebuster on Charlotte. Near fall… Charlotte counters a knee to the face and trips down Nikki to lock on the FIGURE EIGHT… And the Divas champion TAPS OUT in 13:05. WOOOO.
– Backstage Jojo interviews Team BAD in the back. I now realize that Jojo is irritating as all hell. Naomi and Sasha are disgusted with Jojo’s comment about the Paige led group. We learn it’s Naomi vs. Paige later tonight. Blah. Naomi talks trash on Ronda Rousey and says Team BAD are the real baddest women.
– Kevin Owens and Cesaro are on MizTV tonight.
— Commercial Break —
MIZ-TV WITH CESARO AND KEVIN OWENS
– The Miz pays credit to Roddy Piper by wearing a Roddy Piper shirt and giving Piper’s Pit credit as the greatest talk show in wrestling history. Moving on to the segment. Miz talks about the IC Title situation and says Ryback should be a noble champion and foreit the title if he can’t defend. After getting his angle over, Miz brings out Kevin Owens… Lack of response. My how quickly we fall. Owens loves Miz, he owns all of Miz’s movies. We,, at least he knows how to get heat. lol…
Owens talks about Cesaro being jealous of him after what Owens has accomplished in his short time in WWE. He seems to stutter over his words and Cesaro’s music hits. Out comes Cesaro in a suit. Owens talks about how he has succeeded while Cesaro has failed. KO says Cesaro will never match his ability.
Cesaro says he’s not jealous, he’s ashamed of KO. He says KO walks away from matches and disrespects the fans and wrestlers by not finishing his matches. Cesaro calls Owens an embarrassment, and NOW Owens stand ups, and he’s so fat that the chair sticks to him. lol… The chair falls over as Cesaro makes a crack about it. The two men get in each other’s faces. Miz is loving it. Cesaro says this is MizTV but it’s also a WWE ring. Miz gets pumped on the mic, but Owens tells Miz to shut up and let the two real fighters talk.
Owens says he will fight anyone for the right money, but there’s no money to be made tonight, so Kevin begins to walk (as usual). Cesaro changes KO’s slogan to “Walk, Owens, Walk”. Miz starts to talk to Cesaro when Kevin comes back in the ring and knocks Miz into Cesaro… Owens attacks Cesaro, but Cesaro trips him up and goes for the Cesaro Swing… But Owens escapes and leaves the ring…. Cesaro rips his shirt off and calls for more!
— Commercial Break —
– We get a clip from UFC…hmmmmmm. Rousey pays credit to Roddy Piper after her fight from UFC 190 this past Saturday.
4. Rusev (w/Summer Rae) vs. Mark Henry
Rusev gets Mark Henry down early, Henry powers his way back up but walks right into the jumping side kick. Really, already? A SECOND JUMPING THRUST KICK ends it with a pin fall… 2:05…. WOW… Just…. Wow….
– The announcers spend time burying PPV and encourage you to just buy the Network for Summer Slam. lol…
– We get a backstage Wyatt Family promo. Bray Wyatt has a flowers he picks apart and calls it a weed. He compares it to Roman Reigns who “they” chose. But Wyatt says Reigns is no different than anyone else. Harper says they warned Ambrose, but Dean made a wrong choice. Sheamus steps into the black Wyatt area… Sheamus plans to kill Orton. Wyatt admires Sheamus’ brutality, and says the enemy of his enemies is his friend. Run!
Sheamus in Wyatt world there killed my suspension of disbelief, it was almost like when Hogan walked into the Dungeon of Doom. lol
— Commercial Break —
Zack Ryder already in the ring… OK, Who’s killing him???
5. Zack Ryder vs. King Barrett
Ugh, a Barrett promo on the way to the ring. It’s a little back and forth to start, Barrett takes over. Ryder comes back with his usual set of moves, the double knees, the dropkick from the middle rope, the face wash boot in the corner. Ryder goes for the Rough Ryder, Barrett throws him up over top and Zack comes down face first into the buckle… Looked like CRAP. Ryder turns into the BULL HAMMER for the quick win in 1:54.
— Commercial Break —
Paul Heyman And Brock Lesnar Expose The Undertaker
– Paul Heyman is standing in the ring and shows us footage of Taker returning at Battleground and costing Lesnar the WWE Title match. Heyman talks about Lesnar going to make Taker his bitch at Summer Slam, and then we get more footage, this time from Raw 2 weeks ago when the two had the big brawl. A little more Heyman style promoting and he finally introduces Brock Lesnar to the ring. Brock places the steps in the ring ans stands on them while Heyman continues to speak.
Heyman then exposes his surprise news. He says that the Undertaker had begged Vince McMahon for a match with Brock at Summer Slam and Vince turned him down for fear of his health. So that is why Taker showed up at Battleground and forced the match. Heyman calls this the match “Too Big For WrestleMania”. Heyman calls it the Rematch of all time, and Lesnar will win again. Last time Undertaker needed an ambulance and a hospital, but this time his career is over. Undertaker will rest in pieces…
– Stone Cold Podcast with Paige tonight… Ummm. Yay.
— Commercial Break —
6. Paige vs. Naomi
Both teams accompanied by their respective partners. Naomi’s theme is beyond irritating. The girls trade covers until Paige kicks Naomi in the face. Paige controls while Team Bella watches from the back. Series of knees in the corner and Paige works an armbar. Naomi escapes with sort of a back stabber with her feet. It was sloppy. Naomi bulldogs Paige’s head into the turnbuckle for 2… More sloppy crap from Naomi, she lands a double knee drop for 2… Naomi stretches Paige’s body around the ring post. Naomi dominates. Paige finally catches a cross body and lands a Fall Away Slam on Naomi… Paige makes the comeback with her usual stuff and looks for the PTO, but Naomi drop toeholds Paige’s face into the ropes. Naomi tries the corner bulldog again but gets thrown off. Naomi still goes up top but misses a high cross body. Naomi counters the PTO but runs into a Superkick from Paige… And NOW the PTO is applied and Naomi taps. All righty then… 7:28.
Naomi was sloppy, match was bland, and the fans were quiet more often than not. I think they have the wrong women wrestling each other in this feud.
– Eden interviews her husband… Stardust.Cody cuts a promo on Neville, his arch rival. Ugh.
– Up next, we celebrate the life of Roddy Piper.
— Commercial Break —
– Back on Raw we see that MSG paid tribute to Roddy Puper as he was on their marquee. We then follow up with the same video that opened the show. Ok then.
– Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns promo. Both are sporting Hot Rod shirts. Ambrose uses the Kick ass and chew bubble gum line. Reigns wants at Wyatt… Orton pops in, also in a Hot Rod shirt… Orton just wants them to leave Sheamus to him. Dean says it’s time to get Rowdy!
— Commercial Break —
7. Randy Orton, Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose vs. Sheamus, Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper
Ambrose & Harper start. Harper thrown to the floor and the other heels knocked to the floor. Ambrose dives off the top onto all of them with the flying elbow as we go to break.
Back from break, it’s Reigns and Sheamus brawling in the ring and then on the outside. Sheamus tags in Wyatt, who wants no part of Reigns so he immediately tags in Harper. We get Ambrose back in against Harper, with Dean going off. Ambrose is on the top rope but gets crotched. Wyatt tries a Superplex, but Dean knocks him off the ropes, then Dean knocks Harper off the apron. Harper’s distraction allows Bray to nail Ambrose and knock him off the top rope to the floor as we take a late commercial break.
Back from break… AGAIN, Wyatt has Ambrose in a chinlock. Dean tries a come back but Wyatt clotheslines him in half. Harper back in, Dena almost gets a hot tag but Harper with a Big Boot sends Reigns off the apron. Dean with a neckbreaker on Harper and hot tags ORTON. We get Orton and Wyatt in the ring. Orton counters the urinage with his backbreaker. Orton with the suspended DDT on Wyatt!!! Randy looks for the RKO. But Harper hits Randy with a discus clothesline… Ambrose gores after Harper, some great stuff ends with Harper big boot on Ambrose on the floor… Reigns SUPERMAN PUNCH on Harper outside!
Orton tags to Reigns, Sheamus tags in… Reigns Samoan Drop on Sheamus and the apron dropkick on Sheamus, and then the apron dropkick on the announce table to Wyatt!!! Reigns then lays out Harper outside. Then Superman Punch to Wyatt… Superman punch to Sheamus… Harper lays out Reigns, Ambrose with the wicked clothesline on Harper… Dean blocks Sister Abigail and ducks a clothlesine from Wyatt and hits a suicide dive on Harper over the announce table…
Back inside, RKO TO WYATT… Sheamus tries a Brogue on Orton, but Orton ducks…. Sheamus turns into a SPEAR from Reigns… And Reigns wins the match in 16:40.
End show.
