Monday Night Raw – July 25, 2016: The Newer New Era
Monday Night Raw
Date: July 25, 2016
Location: CONSOL Energy Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Michael Cole
After three months of a new era, we’re actually in a New Era as we’ve reached the first show with an exclusive Raw roster, which means a lot of things that aren’t entirely clear. We don’t officially have a World Champion as Dean Ambrose retained the title last night to keep it on Smackdown. Hopefully tonight we actually get some answers to the questions left over from the Draft so let’s get to it.
Quick look at the main event.
Opening sequence, complete with a new logo and theme song.
The announcers are no longer at ringside and are up by the entrance instead. There’s also a new set.
Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon are in the ring to introduce the entire Raw roster. Stephanie blames Reigns for costing them the title and says there has never been an episode of Monday Night Raw without a World Champion (Uh……what? Just……what?) so tonight they’re going to rectify that problem. Tonight there will be two fourways with the winners squaring off tonight for the right to go to Summerslam to face Seth Rollins for the…..wait for it….WWE Universal Heavyweight Championship (Killjoy is going to love that one). Foley introduces the eight people in the fourways:
Sami Zayn
Sheamus
Cesaro
Rusev
Roman Reigns
Kevin Owens
Chris Jericho
Finn Balor
We’re not done yet though as Charlotte is going to be defending the Women’s Title against Sasha Banks. The first fourway is right now.
Cesaro vs. Rusev vs. Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor
Owens gets a big pop but the crowd doesn’t seem to know Balor’s pose yet. They’ll get the hang of it soon enough. Balor and Owens are left inside with Finn scoring off a dropkick but Cesaro takes over with some uppercuts as we hit a break less than ninety seconds after the bell. Back with Owens and Rusev staring each other down until Balor comes back in to get caught in a German suplex.
Cesaro gets double teamed as well but Rusev misses a top rope splash. The heels start fighting until Cesaro cross bodies both of them. The uppercut train starts up but Rusev breaks up the Swing. Everyone goes to the floor and it’s Balor hitting a big flip dive for his first major pop of the night. Back in and 1916 (lifting reverse DDT) gets two on Cesaro and we take another break. We come back again with Rusev at the base of a Tower of Doom to plant everyone at the same time.
Owens gets two on Balor with the torture rack neckbreaker. The Bullfrog Splash crushes Cesaro and the Pop Up Powerbomb plants Balor. The Neutralizer is broken up though and Rusev grabs the Accolade on Owens. Cesaro comes back in and Swings Rusev, only to have Owens break up the Sharpshooter. Balor comes right back in with dropkicks though and the Coup de Grace puts Rusev away at 20:31.
Rating: B. I can’t even get mad at them for having the US Champion get pinned again when Cesaro was right there. This was really the only way to go with this match as you don’t have Balor debut and then lose in his first match. I don’t need him to go to the title match at Summerslam but he needs to have a dirty finish tonight. Good match here though and a good way to showcase Balor, which was the entire point.
Nia Jax vs. Brit Baker
Nia throws her around to start and ties her in the Tree of Woe. The legdrop only gets two as Nia pulls her up. A headbutt and another legdrop put Baker away at 1:20. Total squash.
Golden Truth are playing Pokemon Go and annoy Sasha Banks. Sasha says she’ll win tonight.
Sheamus vs. Chris Jericho vs. Sami Zayn vs. Roman Reigns
Sheamus and Jericho double team Reigns to start and Sami joins in on the beating. Reigns is sent to the floor so it’s Sami getting beaten down by both guys until Sami backdrops Jericho onto Sheamus. That means it’s time for Reigns to come back in and slam Sami down for two as the announcers talk about Stephanie. Sheamus comes back in for the ten forearms on Sami until Jericho knocks the Irishman to the floor. Reigns hits the big dive to take all of them out and we go to a break.
Back with Reigns getting double teamed but fighting back, only to get caught in a Blue Thunder Bomb for a very hot near fall. The Razor’s Edge sitout powerbomb gets two on Sami but the Brogue Kick cuts off the Superman Punch. Sami adds a Helluva Kick, only to have Jericho steal the near fall. A Brogue Kick saves Jericho from the Walls but Sami dives over to break up the cover. Back to back Superman Punches drop the heels and the Codebreaker is countered into…..something botched. Jericho takes another Superman Punch and the spear advances Reigns at 17:06.
Rating: C+. Not in the same ballpark as the first match with Sami and Sheamus basically disappearing in the last few minutes. Reigns winning was predictable and I’d be shocked if they went with Balor vs. Rollins for the title. They’re running a risk of having Reigns get back into the title picture so soon but I don’t think there was ever any real doubt.
Here’s New Day to celebrate 337 days as Tag Team Champions. After Woods says he’s glad Bray was drafted to Smackdown and a quick BootyO’s ad, we get a montage of the title reign. Tonight, New Day is going to let a member of the crowd be an honorary member of New Day, but the question is who.
They pick a somewhat rotund man in a New Day shirt and Big E. asks sonny boy what his name is. Man: “Sonny Boy.” Kofi: “No your government name.” Man: “Sonny Boy.” New Day doesn’t quite buy this and ask if that’s the name that comes on his bills or how he signs the check at restaurants. The dancing is on but the Club comes out to interrupt and beat the champs down. Big E. takes a Magic Killer and the other two lose their shirts. The Club talk trash to Sonny Boy and throw a shirt at him.
Curtis Axel vs. Neville
Axel is listed as Mr. Irrelevant because he was picked last. Neville snaps off a neckbreaker to start and flips over him a few times. A standing shooting star to the back keeps Axel in trouble and the lifting German suplex puts him in the corner. The Red Arrow puts Curtis away at 3:45.
Rating: D+. Neville is still Neville, meaning he still does almost every spot he has in each match which explains why they get weaker and weaker reactions every single time (see also Cesaro). Axel continues to be treated like a goof, especially when he should just be Joe Hennig and be Mr. Perfect II but that’s too easy for WWE for reasons I don’t understand.
Darren Young wants the Intercontinental Title but Bob Backlund’s pep talk is cut off by the Pokemon Go hunt. Backlund yells a lot.
Video on Finn Balor.
Charlotte thinks Sasha will crack under the pressure tonight.
Women’s Title: Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte
Charlotte is defending. They lock up and go down to the mat with a rollup freaking the champ out. Dana offers a quick distraction and earns an early reprimand. Banks grabs a quick Bank Statement but only gets a modified version of the hold, allowing Charlotte to escape. That’s nice of her. Instead Sasha sends her outside for the double knees from the apron and a near fall.
Charlotte kicks Sasha into the corner and then drives her into the barricade, setting up some trash talking with the belt in hand. Dana picks up the dropped belt and Sasha feigns an attack, earning Dana an ejection. Why this isn’t a DQ isn’t clear but it takes us to a break. Back with Sasha fighting out of a double arm crank and hitting more running knees. Charlotte grabs a quick neckbreaker but has to bail out of the moonsault. That’s fine as she lands on her feet (because she can), only to have a flip dive blocked by raised boots. Sasha sends her to the floor for a dive with a SCARY landing as Banks came down on her face.
She’s fine enough to cover Charlotte for two but the champ sends her outside for a huge moonsault to a standing Sasha. I mean, she barely made contact but dang it looked cool. Back in and Natural Selection gets two so we hit the Figure Four. The hold is rolled over but Charlotte goes under the ropes and bends the hold over the apron. Back in and Sasha flips out of another Figure four to grab the Bank Statement but Charlotte’s foot is under the ropes. Another Bank Statement gives Sasha the title in a big surprise at 16:53.
Rating: B+. Botches aside, this was a good match and felt like a big deal. Sasha winning feels like a crowning achievement, despite a limited build and WASTING THREE MONTHS ON THAT CHARLOTTE VS. NATALYA FEUD SO WE CAN CHANGE THE TITLE ON RAW. In theory this sets up either a rematch in Brooklyn or maybe a full time Bayley call up for a shot at Summerslam.
Sasha gives a quick speech about how she’s earned this and this is a new era.
Braun Strowman vs. James Ellsworth
Before the match, James thinks it would be a big win for his career and anyone with two hands can fight. A quick beating sets up a reverse chokeslam to give Strowman the pin at 1:10.
Video on Roman Reigns.
Golden Truth is STILL hunting for Pokemon and find……the Pittsburgh Penguins logo?
Here are Enzo and Cass for a chat about various raw foods. They’re cut off by the Shining Stars of all people and it’s time for a match.
Shining Stars vs. Enzo Amore/Big Cass
Primo puts Enzo down for all of thirty seconds before the hot tag brings in Cass to clean house. Cass actually gets low bridged to the floor but here are Golden Truth on the Pokemon hunt. The distraction lets Cass kick Epico in the face for the pin at 1:51. These guys were teaming with JOHN CENA last night and now they’re here?
Roman and Finn wish each other luck.
Finn Balor vs. Roman Reigns
Winner goes to Summerslam to face Rollins for the title. Reigns launches him into the corner to start but Balor snaps his throat across the top. Some kicks to the head don’t have much effect on Reigns as he runs Balor over again. The apron boot misses though and Balor’s slingshot double stomp has Roman in trouble.
We take a break and come back with Roman powerslamming him for two and grabbing a chinlock. A sitout powerbomb gets two but Balor comes back with a string of kicks for a near fall of his own. The Superman Punch only gets two on Balor and everyone is stunned. Balor gets two off his own off a sunset flip to counter the Razor’s Edge bomb. Back to back powerbombs get two more on Finn but Balor grabs a Sling Blade to block the spear. The Coup de Grace gets the big upset pin at 13:57.
Rating: B. I liked it better when AJ Styles did this the night after Wrestlemania but it’s still a good ending and the right call for a change. There was really no need to do Reigns vs. Rollins again and this is a great way to make Balor seem like a big deal. He doesn’t necessarily need to win the title at Summerslam but it’s a really smart idea to have him get a big rub like this on his first night on the main roster.
Post match Reigns says he hopes Balor wins the title because he wants another shot at Finn.
Overall Rating: B. This was up and down all night but the main event and the title change were enough to swing it upwards. That title change really needed to happen as the rest of the show didn’t exactly have a lot going on. The re-debuts were good and the matches made some people fresh players but that doesn’t mean the show was all that entertaining. I really liked the lack of authority figures as they just don’t need to be there that often. Overall it’s a good show but absolutely nothing that blew me away.
Results
Finn Balor b. Rusev, Cesaro and Kevin Owens – Coup de Grace to Rusev
Nia Jax b. Brit Baker – Legdrop
Roman Reigns b. Sami Zayn, Sheamus and Chris Jericho – Spear to Jericho
Neville b. Curtis Axel – Red Arrow
Sasha Banks b. Charlotte – Bank Statement
Braun Strowman b. James Ellsworth – Reverse chokeslam
Enzo Amore/Big Cass b. Shining Stars – Big boot to Epico
Finn Balor b. Roman Reigns – Coup de Grace
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I’ll get used to that new title name eventually. I miss JBL with Saxton. Byron sucks and at least JBL made a funny every once in awhile about Byron.
I really don’t get why Byron is so prominently displayed when you have Renee Young capable of doing a much better job.
Also wasn’t a fan of Finn getting this big of a chance this quickly. I’ve never even heard a promo from him (I only occasionally watch NXT). Too much, too soon. I’m not sure the masses know who he is and this will not make them care.
As for a better option, I have no idea. Zayn is still too new. Owens would make it heel/heel (and I still want him to lose weight because looks do matter to casuals and to prolong his career). Sheamus won’t do. Jericho is a heel. Reigns needs to not be near the main event. Cesaro isn’t at the level he should be due to incorrect booking. Rusev same as Cesaro but also a heel.
The best options to me were Zayn or Cesaro. All eight were not great options anyways.
You do realize they have 3 weeks for balor to cut promos and thus make people care. I would argue they already do as it’s something different. Also are you saying they’re no causal fans in the arena? or watching? The guy is already over. So long as he doesn’t mess it up. He’ll be more than fine.
“Owens would make it heel/heel (and I still want him to lose weight because looks do matter to casuals and to prolong his career)”
This never makes any damn sense when I see it
1. He can clearly move about the ring having excellent matches at his current size.
2. Fans already accept him as a jerk bully heel. Him being world champion would not be a stretch. He has already beaten Cena and been on par with everyone he’s faced.
3. Pro long his career? What are you even talking about? What do you think he’s going to just drop dead of a heart attack because of his size?
As Owens ages his weight will become a problem, especially with how much he moves around. He is putting a lot of pressure on his knees due to his weight. He is putting a large frame through a ton of damage. I do worry his ability will diminish much faster than it should (your body breaks down faster if you are fat).
Show a casual fan or non-fan a guy with the body of someone like Reigns without telling them anything else, they will be impressed. Show them Owens, they will not be impressed. That is a problem. It can be overcome but he is making harder on himself. I like Owens a lot actually (one of my favorites right now) but he has a few big things going against him.
This part will be in response to Bunk as well. Balor is being put in a very high spot from the get go. He hasn’t really been introduced (why they did a video on him after his match instead of before is confusing). A lot of the NXT guys are getting called up without being introduced and I’m not a fan of that. The difference between Reigns and Balor right now is nothing. They are both just two guys with no character. You can’t fix that in 3 weeks. He isn’t Lesnar. This is way too much for me this early. They have to make the casual crowd connect with him in 3 weeks. That’s a hard task.
As an avid NXT fan I have good news and bad news. Balor is pretty much average on the mic so don’t expect the Rock when he gets the mic next week. But the good news is that he already has a natural connection to the crowd. He got huge cheers in Pittsburgh which is by no means a smark town. Also double good news he has a few more natural charismatic wrinkles to his gimmick which the WWE felt the need to spoil in their video package but just wait to summer slam.
Zayn would have been a great option imo. Zayn is an underrated talker on a mic and obviously great in the ring so it would have been cool to see him get the title shot too.
Great Raw! They are making Balor look like a stone cold killer out there in a way that fans have clamored for, for what seems like years. I really hope they keep it up.
Loved the Sasha v Charlotte title match as we are finally get something of interest in the form a title change and a great match.
I liked the squash matches as they got the crowd introduced or reintroduced or repackaged wrestlers. The only one that didn’t work is Strowman because for some reason he just isn’t in the Family anymore and he is not in any way ready for that kind of push. His jobber was sorta great though. He embodied the terrified weakling trying to delusionally talk his way through the poor decision he made in a funny way.
I like that Raw is taking it’s time and focusing on two or three big things a show and just letting the roster float and do it’s own thing which is how it should be. I’m we will get some development on what the losers of the fatal four ways and Reigns will be getting up to at Summerslam but I like that they are not in a rush.
The show was fantastic as a whole. I could have gone without the squash matches and I definitely agree that Neville, Enzo/Cass, and Curtis Axel deserve much better. This really were down points for the show.
So nice having that clown JBL gone
Quite so. Graves sounds so much more natural. JBL always sounds like he’s reading off a card when he lists off history and stats.
Have they announced the Smackdown team yet? Mauro, King and JBL?
Mauro, Otunga and JBL actually.
I’m fully expecting Balor to win at Summerslam. I just don’t think it’s gonna be Rollins.
I do have complaints mainly towards the title separation but I’ll wait until after Smackdown to voice them.
Can i say the Commentary felt allot more natural without JBL yelling. Graves and Cole felt like they worked well together.
This was my first time hearing Graves on commentary, he’s not bad. My only complaint is how similar his and Saxton’s voices are, can get hard to tell who’s speaking.
Funny, I thought he and Cole sounded alike and I had trouble telling them apart. Byron you can always tell because he says something stupid or boring.
Tonight felt like a brand new start with the new opening,logo,theme song,and set. Plus i liked the new camera angles throughout the night. Finn Balor coming right in and going to Summerslam is great. Also a excellent Womens Title match and so happy for Sasha winning it. Let’s see how Smackdown counters tomorrow night.
As someone who doesn’t watch NXT, why wasn’t Balor in bodypaint tonight? Are they nixing it?
Because he does it on PPV only.
Gotcha. Does his character change ala Demon Kane or is he just a guy in bodypaint?
It does but not as extremely.
It functions more as war paint tbh. He works a tad more aggressively in the ring but it’s not like an alternate personality a la Kane.
We went a bit back to the early 00’s , right? Announce booth next to the entrance, red ropes, cool set. Loved it. Also curious to see what the UC looks likes.
Let’s see how Smackdown does tomorrow.
This was like the old WCW setup
What a shockingly bad name for a title though. Fairly certain they’ll be renaming that soon – can’t imagine anyone saying those words with a straight face.
It’s a pretty common alternative to calling a title a “World” title.
That was one the best Raw’s in yrs!
You’re way too much of a mark and need to get a life!
When I heard the name, I could not stop laughing. I made a joke about Carlito getting re-hired on a show and bringing the title but this is ridiculous.