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Add FightsATW on GoogleWWE Monday Night RAW was live from the Casey’s Center in Des Moines, Iowa, following the aftermath of the entire 48-hour SummerSlam affair. The ‘RAW-after’ show comes with lofty expectations, and the RAW following SS ranks among the top 10 RAWs of the year. Even with the returns of Randy Orton at the end of night one and Kevin Owens at the start of night two, this show was filled with innuendos surrounding returns, debuts, and potential call-ups.
One expected debut was that of ‘Big Cass’ following video vignettes over the past several weeks advertising on WWE TV the returning giant with ‘unteachable’ height. Aside from the unknown and potentially unsuspected, the advertised appearance of Roman Reigns following his decisive victory over Seth Rollins offered some insight into the direction of the company’s number one attraction as WWE Survivor Series season nears.
ROMAN TELLS LA TO HEAD FOR THE HILLS… THE OTC TO AAA CONFIRMED?!
Roman Reigns walked the long walk from the back of the arena to the ‘Gorilla’ curtain before hitting the aisle and delivering his ‘victor speech’ promo following his successful title defense against Seth Rollins. The story they finished on night two of SS began in June of 2014, when Seth used a single-chair swing to undo and dismantle the faction known as The Shield.
Roman was respectful in his promo surrounding Rollins, acknowledging that the chapter is respectfully behind him. LA Knight came out to interrupt Roman’s mic time, and the two went back and forth in a promo battle. Roman stuck to his usual truth bombs to downplay Knight as a legitimate threat. Knight was in the ring with his back against the metaphorical ropes, and that is when he dug deep to get the fans back on his side.
Later in the back, Roman was seen scolding The Bloodline for their SummerSlam loss against Knight, Royce Keys, and Solo Sikoa. He said that they have a brand to protect and that losing does not fit into the implemented strategy.
JACOB FATU VS ROYCE KEYS—Street Fight
The rest of The Bloodline might not be in Roman’s good graces, but at least Fatu was in a position to earn some of Roman’s faith back in him by giving Keys ‘street justice.’ It was a physical match with an emotional undertone, with Fatu yelling that he had “no choice” and that it was family, likely a fit of guilt spilling over into rage.
Beefy bodies were thrown around the ringside area, which included a spot where they crashed through the timekeeper’s barrier. Not long after, Fatu dumped several chairs inside the ring, and that time allowed Royce to recapture momentum by delivering a flying clothesline off the commentary desk. With the Slim Jim table set in the corner and the chairs scattered on the ring mat, Fatu was once again back in charge with the kendo stick as his weapon of choice.
In that moment, Fatu’s frustrations spilled out as he screamed, ‘it’s Bloodline business,’ before cursing at Royce, “you should’ve f*****g stayed out of it.” Keys was able to powerslam Fatu on top of the chairs, but the massive bump earned him only a near-fall. Fatu eventually finished the match with the Tongan Death Grip, putting Keys out, forcing the official to call for the match.
Fatu spent the remainder of RAW beating on Keys with a chair wrapped around his head for good measure, and while WWE officials attempted to stop him, Fatu merely pump-faked before delivering another head-smashing blow. Roman Reigns eventually walked out to give a head nod of approval as Jacob saluted him.
As the credits appeared on screen, the camera followed Roman to the back where Rey Mysterio Jr. was waiting for him. Rey asked Roman if he was aware that he was acting GM for AAA.
“I do now,” Roman said callously.
That is when Rey asked to speak to Roman, possibly to get ‘The OTC’ to work the upcoming TripleMania—AAA’s first-ever two-night show for what is their biggest event of the year.
OBA FEMI BREAKKING THE BARRIERS, BREAKKER LOCKED IN ON NEW TARGET?
Oba Femi was scheduled for a promo segment, but before he made his entrance, we saw him speak with Paul Heyman in the back moments after seeing the debut of the Brock ‘tribute video.’ Oba asked Heyman to thank Lesnar for the kind words next time he sees ‘The Beast.’ While Oba performed well in the HIAC match, taking the sentimental path sort of undermines the ‘monstrous’ work previously achieved.
Oba went out and cut a ‘winner’s promo’ before making his exit, but that is when the segment finally got interesting as ‘The Vision’ was making their entrance just in time to pass each other. Oba and Breakker faced off with neither man backing down; in fact, it took Theory saying ‘that’s money later’ to get Bron to break eye contact.
Breakker would go on to cut down Joe Hendry for the singles win, but a post-beatdown brought out Tazawa, who stood tall in the ring over the fleeing Austin Theory and Maxxine Dupri. Later, in an embarrassing display, Breakker tried running to Paul for help ‘finding Oba.’ Heyman denied knowing where Oba was, and Breakker sarcastically apologized for assuming Oba was Paul’s new best friend.
BIG TIME BECKS RETURNS; PEREZ BEATS SOL RUCA W/TJD ASSIST
The former women’s IC champ Sol Ruca got a shot at some payback against The Judgment Day after going one-on-one with Roxanne Perez. Before the match, Liv Morgan cut a promo hyping the rest of her cohorts while skating her next potential challenger. It was a bit unfortunate, in that moment, to see the match start and realize that Liv would go right back to using the title as set dressing.
However, after helping Perez to get past Ruca, we learned that the ‘next up’ line is crowded. First, a returning Becky Lynch made her entrance while TJD were beating on Ruca, and despite not actually getting physically involved, Lynch’s presence was enough of a distraction to discontinue the beatdown. Becky made it clear that she was there for Liv’s title, poking at her for the lack of title defenses that she has made since winning the title.
The champion fell right into ‘The Man’s’ trap by forcing her into a promo battle, and while Liv focused on Becky’s role as a mother, Becky fired back with the best bars of the night. She first told Liv that she was not even the best champion in her own faction, then she dropped the real bomb by claiming Liv isn’t even the greatest champion to ever ‘sleep with Dom Mysterio.’
After those fire lines, Stephanie Vaquer returned from injury to chase some retribution from Liv, and just like that, Liv went from no viable contenders to a battle between real potential threats. Becky and Vaquer locked eyes in the ring while sparring verbally off mic to close the segment.
JE’VON PINS ETHAN PAGE, BIG CASS RETURNS
Commentary said this match was all about moving up the ranks, and if that is the case, then Evans should continue to thrive following his win over Ethan Page. It was a solid match with a huge finish that saw Evans catch his cutter for the win, but his celebration did not last long after Big Cass made his expected return to the ring—sans Enzo.
Big Cass busted in the ring and beat on Evans with his back turned, delivering a big boot en route to leaving Evans down on the canvas. Later in the back, Big Cass was interviewed, where he claimed to have been ‘left out in the cold’ for 8 years. He claimed that it was nothing personal against Evans; he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Without Enzo, the Big Cass return felt flat, and while rumors of Enzo at the training center surfaced several months ago, it seems as though Cass is a solo project (for now).
OTHER TIDBITS
TJD’s Dom Mysterio and JD McDonaugh squared off against the newly crowned IC champion Chad Gable and the man he beat on night two for the strap, Penta. It was an incredible tag match that saw Penta hit a ‘Mexican Destroyer’ on JD on the outside as Dom attempted to use the timekeeper’s hammer to pick up the cheap win. Instead, Penta was able to work the distraction in a way where he struck Dom with the IC title with the ref’s back turned. Gable picked up the win for his team.
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