1. Daniel Bryan's music...and Steffi comes out with a "STEPH! STEPH! STEPH!" t-shirt. She talks about Lesnar beating Cena and how Lesnar will premier a new WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt tonight. She takes shots at Cena, Jericho, and Ambrose, all of whom lost matches at Summer Slam. And then she takes a shot at Brie. (Oh, and she plugs the $9.99 WWE Network.) Then she brings Nikki out, and Nikki (who had a shoe malfunction...and a microphone malfunction) whines about her sister being selfish and manipulative. Brie comes out, and Nikki slaps the holy hand grenade of Antioch out of her.
Notes: Remember when I thought that Seth Rollins was going to turn on the Authority? Yeah, not so much. But I do think that Nikki Bella is going to turn on Stephanie at some point, if for no other reason than that Nikki is dating/engaged to the Superface of the WWE. How can a Superface be in a relationship with a heel?
2. Big Show and Mark Henry v. Luke Harper and Eric Rowan. I think there's something building for Show and Henry, and I'm going to pick them to win.
Big Show and Mark Henry pick up the pinfall victory when Big Show hit the WMD on both Harper and Rowan, leaving Rowan to turn around to be hit with the World's Strongest Slam.
Notes: This was an interesting match-up, with Rowan and Harper finally facing foes that are bigger than they are. I thought Harper and Rowan would win the Tag belts, but it seems that's no longer going to happen. The Junior Wyatts vs. Show and Henry was a surprisingly interesting match, especially when you consider that this was four huge athletes. I'd watch these teams go at it again.
3. Renee Young interviews Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose poured ice water over Rollins. "What? It's for charity."
Notes: AWESOME!
4. Dolph Ziggler is backstage with Ric Flair. The Miz is invoking his rematch clause, and he comes in to say the belt will come back to an A-List superstar. Ziggler calls him an A-hole.
Notes: I know Flair was working with the Miz a while back, but Ziggler makes much more sense. If they're going to (finally) push Ziggler again, having Flair with him would be great.
5. Hunter and Steffi unveil the new belt and bring out Lesnar. They pose with the belt, and then Paul Heyman gives a promo. He gives a lot of props to John Cena..."but my client doesn't share my opinions." Brock didn't have to say a word. All he had to do was stand there and look imposing. And he did. "EAT! SLEEP! SUPLEX! REPEAT!"
Notes: Not a fan of the new emblem. The scratches looked good as a doubled-W. The clean doubled-W is ugly. It's probably a nicer symbol for a youngster-friendly WWE, but it's just...dull. Now that that's out of the way, that was another tremendous promo from Heyman. Can I get him to speak for me at church meetings? *wink*
6. Intercontinental Championship Title Match: The Miz v. Dolph Ziggler. I'll pick Ziggler to win, but I wouldn't be surprised to be wrong to continue this feud.
Miz wins with a countout after he did enough damage to Ziggler's leg that he couldn't get back in the ring. Ziggler retains. Miz attacks Ziggler after, but Ziggler hits the Zig Zag.
Notes: Not a great match--which is unsurprising, considering it's the Miz--but Ziggler sells damage convincingly enough to make it believable. I'm hoping that Ziggler will pick up a clean win soon so this feud will end and Ziggler will move on to bigger and better rivalries. I'd love to see him face, oh, Cesaro, for instance, though it seems as if he'll be going after Sheamus first. Or maybe Big E? Kofi? Ryback?
7. Randy Orton and AxleBack v. Sheamus, RVD, and Roman Reigns. I pick the faces to win. The crowd was chanting "Feed me more!" and "Ryback Rules!" Good physical match. RVD pins Axle for the win after they all exchange their finishing moves.
Notes: Wow. The crowd was giving the kind of attention Ryback was getting back when he was in the middle of his huge push. I think the crowd is trying to tell Vince and Hunter something. Although the matchup seemed a bit forced, the match itself was fun to watch. And the Ryback chants were awesome!
8. Ric and Randy backstage, and Randy blows him off. "Back off, or you'll find out why they call me the Legend Killer."
Notes: *eye roll* And people think he's a five-tool superstar? He's barely adequate as a talker.
9. A quick Bray Wyatt promo.
Notes: Not a lot of meat to it. Not his best work.
10. Rusev and Lana come out. Lana begins a promo, but Mark Henry interrupts. "To see that flag raised in my country. it made me sick to my stomach. I'm gonna give you a personal, guided tour to the Hall of Pain." Rusev backs off and then throws a sucker punch. They go back and forth, and Henry hits the World's Strongest Slam and a Splash.
Notes: Odd to see JBL, the heel commentator, pulling for Mark Henry, even in a patriotic segment. I thought Show and Henry were building for something, but it seems like Henry and Rusev are going to be working something instead. Hmm.
11. Seth Rollins v. Dean Ambrose in a Falls Count Anywhere match. I just read that Ambrose is leaving to do a movie. Had I known that, I would have picked Rollins to win at Summer Slam. As it is, I'll pick Rollins to win tonight and probably knock Ambrose out.
There was never a cover, but Rollins was announces as the winner after Rollins (with Kane's help) put Ambrose's head through a pile of cinder blocks.
Notes: I hope Ambrose isn't away for too long filming this movie. He has built some great momentum with the fans, and he's really fun to watch. As for Rollins, I'm not sure what's next for him--he won't challenge Lesnar with the MitB briefcase--but they need him in the upper-midcard for now. Ziggler might be a good rivalry for him, as he hasn't held a singles title yet.
Not on Hulu
1. Natalya v. Paige. I'd like to see these two in a match that's actually allowed to develop. Since that wasn't the case, I don't mind missing it.
2. Swagger v. Cesaro. No Zeb Colter. It appears this wasn't much of a match from the description I read of it online, so I guess I don't mind missing this one either. But if Swagger lost to Cesaro (who also hasn't won much of anything lately), then maybe I was wrong about Swagger not being buried after not submitting.
3. No Usos v. Goldust and Stardust. This is a match I really would like to have seen, even though the description made it sound like a short one. They've been giving the Dusts a lot of promo time lately, and it seems like, after the Dusts beat the Usos, they're destined for a title shot. And I imagine the Dusts will win the titles. Seems odd to have two face teams squaring off like this, but since they are, I'll be interested to see how it develops.
Overall
Four matches in 90 minutes. I know they gave Heyman a lot of time, and he certainly made the most of it. Still, four matches in a 90 minute version of Raw seems really weak. The four matches were good ones, and Heyman was his usual genius self, but it seemed like the show was...lacking.
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