After making it clear that Paul Heyman isn’t his friend, Universal Champion Brock Lesnar attacked his longtime advocate after hitting Raw General Manager Kurt Angle with an F-5. How will Roman Reigns — who was forced to leave the building moments earlier — react to his SummerSlam opponent’s malicious onslaught?
WWE Universal Champion, Brock Lesnar refused to confront Roman Reigns.
In 2012, Brock Lesnar appeared, unannounced, to kick-start his second run in WWE. Tonight, Brock Lesnar, despite having been advertised, refused to come to the ring and confront his SummerSlam challenger, Roman Reigns.
Such has The Conqueror’s power grown since becoming Universal Champion, and his decision to simply stay in his private locker room instead of going nose-to-nose with Reigns has been consistent with his actions over the past several months. Ever since re-signing with WWE after WrestleMania, Lesnar has flouted his dominance and used his championship as something of a contractual bargaining chip en route to his desired goal of becoming a two-sport titleholder across WWE and UFC. According to Heyman, The Beast isn’t exactly sweating Reigns following his (controversial) win over The Big Dog at the Greatest Royal Rumble.
This isn’t to say Lesnar wasn’t there. As Paul Heyman pointed out to Reigns when he emerged in his client’s stead, The Beast was indeed in the building, though he would not come to the ring until and unless he felt like it. So, Reigns opted to give Heyman an aggressive pre-SummerSlam message to dictate to his client. Heyman obliged, but Lesnar didn’t just disregard the message, he destroyed it, whipping Heyman’s cell phone across his locker room when the advocate attempted to show him what Reigns had said. (Via WWE.com)
Such has The Conqueror’s power grown since becoming Universal Champion, and his decision to simply stay in his private locker room instead of going nose-to-nose with Reigns has been consistent with his actions over the past several months. Ever since re-signing with WWE after WrestleMania, Lesnar has flouted his dominance and used his championship as something of a contractual bargaining chip en route to his desired goal of becoming a two-sport titleholder across WWE and UFC. According to Heyman, The Beast isn’t exactly sweating Reigns following his (controversial) win over The Big Dog at the Greatest Royal Rumble.
This isn’t to say Lesnar wasn’t there. As Paul Heyman pointed out to Reigns when he emerged in his client’s stead, The Beast was indeed in the building, though he would not come to the ring until and unless he felt like it. So, Reigns opted to give Heyman an aggressive pre-SummerSlam message to dictate to his client. Heyman obliged, but Lesnar didn’t just disregard the message, he destroyed it, whipping Heyman’s cell phone across his locker room when the advocate attempted to show him what Reigns had said. (Via WWE.com)
"Constable" Baron Corbin defeated Finn Bálor.
Baron Corbin has made it a goal to demean and insult Finn Bálor over, among other things, their height difference across the past few weeks. The Extraordinary Man hasn’t exactly broken down over the insults, but Corbin did use his size to his advantage in his victory over the first-ever Universal Champion in a rematch of their bout from WWE Extreme Rules.
Corbin, much he did in the first match, focused on a ground-and-pound strategy that put Bálor firmly on the defensive. Bálor dug deep as the match progressed, even setting Corbin up for the Coup de Grâce after employing a stick-and-move counter to Corbin's aggressive press. But The Constable dodged Bálor and sprang with the End of Days to earn the victory — pausing only briefly after the match before returning to mug Bálor some more. (Via WWE.com)
Corbin, much he did in the first match, focused on a ground-and-pound strategy that put Bálor firmly on the defensive. Bálor dug deep as the match progressed, even setting Corbin up for the Coup de Grâce after employing a stick-and-move counter to Corbin's aggressive press. But The Constable dodged Bálor and sprang with the End of Days to earn the victory — pausing only briefly after the match before returning to mug Bálor some more. (Via WWE.com)
Alicia Fox defeated Natalya.
Alexa Bliss remains the undisputed master of mind games in the Raw Women's division, this time exploiting Ronda Rousey's aggression to swing a match that neither were competing in, costing Rousey's training partner Natalya a potential victory.
Rousey had been at ringside to support The Queen of Harts in her match against Alicia Fox, who boasted Bliss in her own corner. (Mickie James was out of action for the evening). Alicia was in the driver’s seat when she swatted at Rowdy Ronda, causing Rousey to climb up on the apron and distract the ref. Alexa took advantage by blasting Natalya with a hard right, teeing Alicia up for an easy win. When Ronda pursued Bliss after the match, Alicia again capitalized, jumping Ronda from behind and setting Rousey up for an overwhelming two-on-one-attack.
Clearly, Rousey's aggression was building to critical mass (by her own admission), and Raw General Manager Kurt Angle had a solution: Next week, Ronda would have her first-ever Raw match against Alicia Fox. (Via WWE.com)
Rousey had been at ringside to support The Queen of Harts in her match against Alicia Fox, who boasted Bliss in her own corner. (Mickie James was out of action for the evening). Alicia was in the driver’s seat when she swatted at Rowdy Ronda, causing Rousey to climb up on the apron and distract the ref. Alexa took advantage by blasting Natalya with a hard right, teeing Alicia up for an easy win. When Ronda pursued Bliss after the match, Alicia again capitalized, jumping Ronda from behind and setting Rousey up for an overwhelming two-on-one-attack.
Clearly, Rousey's aggression was building to critical mass (by her own admission), and Raw General Manager Kurt Angle had a solution: Next week, Ronda would have her first-ever Raw match against Alicia Fox. (Via WWE.com)
Elias challenged Bobby Lashley to a duet.
Last week, Bobby Lashley interrupted Elias’ performance, thus preventing The Living Truth’s debut album from a permanent perch atop the charts. (At least, according to Elias). This week, Lashley didn’t just interrupt another performance; he played a tune of his own on the chart-topping Superstar.
Initially irritated by Lashley’s arrival — spurred by some trash-talk from the guitarist — Elias goaded Lashley into a duet of “Rockin’ Robin” that seemed designed to embarrass him. To Elias’ surprise, Lashley was no slouch in the vocal department. Upstaged and infuriated, The Living Truth jumped Lashley from behind, but he paid dearly for the sneak attack: Lashley quickly turned it around on Elias and sent him retreating up the ramp after a brief scrap. (Via WWE.com)
Initially irritated by Lashley’s arrival — spurred by some trash-talk from the guitarist — Elias goaded Lashley into a duet of “Rockin’ Robin” that seemed designed to embarrass him. To Elias’ surprise, Lashley was no slouch in the vocal department. Upstaged and infuriated, The Living Truth jumped Lashley from behind, but he paid dearly for the sneak attack: Lashley quickly turned it around on Elias and sent him retreating up the ramp after a brief scrap. (Via WWE.com)
Jinder Mahal defeated Braun Strowman by count-out.
Braun Strowman has long been a proponent of disregarding wins and losses in favor of causing as much destruction as possible, but those carefree days may be short-lived for Mr. Monster in the Bank: Not only does he have a match looming against Kevin Owenswhere any kind of loss will cost Strowman his Money in the Bank contract, but his tunnel vision landed him on the wrong side of a count-out loss to Jinder Mahal on Raw.
Stemming from Strowman’s decimation of Mahal and Sunil Singh on last week’s Raw, the match began as you might expect — with Strowman heading toward a rout of the former WWE Champion, despite The Maharaja’s attempt to Shanti Strowman into passivity. Then, Owens appeared, stealing Strowman’s Money in the Bank briefcase and leading The Gift of Destruction on a mad chase that gave Mahal a count-out win. Strowman seemed a bit more shaken up than usual by this loss and with good reason. If it happens at SummerSlam, he loses the contract. Clearly, he’ll have to be something he usually isn’t when it comes to his rivalries: Careful. (Via WWE.com)
Stemming from Strowman’s decimation of Mahal and Sunil Singh on last week’s Raw, the match began as you might expect — with Strowman heading toward a rout of the former WWE Champion, despite The Maharaja’s attempt to Shanti Strowman into passivity. Then, Owens appeared, stealing Strowman’s Money in the Bank briefcase and leading The Gift of Destruction on a mad chase that gave Mahal a count-out win. Strowman seemed a bit more shaken up than usual by this loss and with good reason. If it happens at SummerSlam, he loses the contract. Clearly, he’ll have to be something he usually isn’t when it comes to his rivalries: Careful. (Via WWE.com)
Apollo Crews defeated Akam.
The Authors of Pain’s rivalry with Titus Worldwide persists, largely because Titus Worldwide refuse to roll over for the ascendant powerhouses. So, Akam decided to zero in on Apollo Crews to forcibly extract deference from the veteran tag team. It didn’t quite go the way he’d hoped. After Crews proved to be harder to put away than expected, Akam got desperate and accidentally charged into the turnbuckle, leaving him to stumble backward straight into a match-ending rollup. (Via WWE.com)
Seth Rollins defeated Drew McIntyre by disqualifications.
Usually, it’s Drew McIntyre who plays spoiler during Seth Rollins’ matches against Dolph Ziggler. This time around, the roles were reversed: After McIntyre’s dominant performance was cut short by an out-of-nowhere Stomp from Rollins, the Intercontinental Champion provided an eleventh-hour save of his hulking enforcer, saving McIntyre the humiliation of a pinfall loss at the hands of The Kingslayer.
Unfortunately, Ziggler’s interference also cost McIntyre the match, albeit via disqualification. The Showoff took advantage of the surprise to briefly put Rollins on his back, though The Kingslayer rallied to hit a suicide dive on the champion and leave in one piece. Of course, by that time, McIntyre had gotten back to his feet and given Rollins a stare that indicated The Architect isn’t quite as in the clear as he thinks. (Via WWE.com)
Unfortunately, Ziggler’s interference also cost McIntyre the match, albeit via disqualification. The Showoff took advantage of the surprise to briefly put Rollins on his back, though The Kingslayer rallied to hit a suicide dive on the champion and leave in one piece. Of course, by that time, McIntyre had gotten back to his feet and given Rollins a stare that indicated The Architect isn’t quite as in the clear as he thinks. (Via WWE.com)
The Revival defeated "Woken" Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt.
For weeks, The Revival have been scouting the Raw Tag Team Title picture as the championships shifted from the clutches of “Woken” Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt to the jubilant hands of The B-Team. Now, the “Top Guys” are making their move.
After crashing a confab between The B-Team and The Deleters of Worlds, Dash & Dawson threw a wrench into the Tag Team division when they defeated Hardy & Wyatt in an impromptu match stemming from the confrontation. They used their time-honed tactics to do it, too, with Dash Wilder grabbing a handful of Wyatt’s dreadlocks before he could suffer Sister Abigail. With The Reaper of Souls thrown, Scott Dawson tagged in, and the team executed a textbook Shatter Machine to close out the match, a feat that was best summed up by The B-Team on commentary: "That's a big win." (Via WWE.com)
After crashing a confab between The B-Team and The Deleters of Worlds, Dash & Dawson threw a wrench into the Tag Team division when they defeated Hardy & Wyatt in an impromptu match stemming from the confrontation. They used their time-honed tactics to do it, too, with Dash Wilder grabbing a handful of Wyatt’s dreadlocks before he could suffer Sister Abigail. With The Reaper of Souls thrown, Scott Dawson tagged in, and the team executed a textbook Shatter Machine to close out the match, a feat that was best summed up by The B-Team on commentary: "That's a big win." (Via WWE.com)
Sasha Banks & Bayley defeated The Riott Squad.
You’d think they never had to go to counseling. Bayley & Sasha Banks earned their second consecutive victory as a team this week, this time toppling The Riott Squad despite an impressively fought contest from Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan.
Building off their maches with Ember Moon over the previous few weeks, Morgan & Logan turned in one of their crispest performances yet, battling back as Bayley & Sasha steadily began to roll. Once Sarah Logan was tossed out of the ring, however, Liv Morgan found herself at a numbers disadvantage that became too high to overcome, and Banks & Bayley put her down with a combo of a Backstabber into a Bayley-to-Belly. (Via WWE.com)
Building off their maches with Ember Moon over the previous few weeks, Morgan & Logan turned in one of their crispest performances yet, battling back as Bayley & Sasha steadily began to roll. Once Sarah Logan was tossed out of the ring, however, Liv Morgan found herself at a numbers disadvantage that became too high to overcome, and Banks & Bayley put her down with a combo of a Backstabber into a Bayley-to-Belly. (Via WWE.com)