The debut of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows and some fantastic in-ring work made sure that the high from Wrestlemania continued this week on RAW. Although Roman Reigns still has plenty of work before he’s more than a nine o’clock Champion, AJ Styles and Sami Zayn pulled their weight and made this week’s episode more than watchable.
Matches:
Winner Gets Shot at Intercontinental Champion: Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro: This was a war, but one that was plagued by two commercial breaks. Owens hit Cesaro with a Super Kick and a Frog Splash, but Cesaro’s Spinning European Uppercut and the Neutralizer earned the Swiss Superman the win.
Tag Team Tournament for Shot at New Day: The Lucha Dragons: United States Champion Kalisto and Sin Cara vs. The Dudley Boys: Bubba Ray and Devon: After they took out Kalisto, the Dudley’s beat on Sin Cara and got the win with the 3D.
WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair w/Ric Flair vs. Natalya Neidhart: This was a fun one as Neidhart hit a rare German Suplex and the two traded moves throughout. However, things got spicy when Neidhart locked the Sharpshooter and got Flair to tap, but when Flair’s Nature Boy Papa pulled out the referee out of the ring, Neidhart earned the win by DQ, but not the title.
Tag Team Tournament for Shot at New Day: Jimmy and Jey Uso vs. The Social Outcasts: Curtis Axel and Heath Slater w/Adam Rose and Bo Dallas: The Usos won with a Rollup in a waste of a match, but the debuting Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows hit the ring and destroyed them.
AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn: Another enjoyable match but one that was killed by a pair of commercial breaks that ruined the pace. Regardless Zayn nearly won with a beautiful Blue Thunder and Styles was also dominant with an assortment of strikes and suplexes. After Styles nearly won with a Calf Killer, Zayn countered the Powerbomb from the top rope, but Styles was able to hit the Springboard Forearm for the win.
Apollo Crews vs. Adam Rose w/Bo Dallas: Rose wasn’t about lay down, but Crews got the win with the Toss Powerbomb after the Enzigieri.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt w/Braun Strowman and Erick Rowan vs. The League of Nations: Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio w/ Rusev: Reigns caught a beating here, but ironically worked well with Wyatt. Not so ironically, Wyatt did most of the heavy lifting in the ring until Rusev got involved, forcing Braun Strowman and Erick Rowan to hit the ring and even things out. Wyatt eventually got the win with the Sister Abigail on Del Rio, as Reigns nailed Sheamus with The Spear during the count.
Leave a Reply