Bayley and Sasha came out before the women’s tag match to announce that Asuka was the Empress of Stupidity for thinking that she would beat either of them at SummerSlam.
But, who should she face first?
Bayley said Sasha should face her first, then Sasha said Bayley should face her first, they went back and forth. But in a bit of foreshadowing, Sasha said because Bayley is her bestie, she wants her to go first, and Bayley accepted. Shayna and Asuka came out and Shayna said first, that she will face whoever is the Raw women’s champion after the pay-per-view. Asuka then said that Shayna needed to work with her in the match tonight.
So the match started, and almost immediately Nia Jax burst through a section of plexiglass and attacked Baszler. They brawled to the back and Baszler left Asuka alone in the ring. Bayley said “No Kairi, No Shayna, No Chance!” and I love her so much. And my feed froze again for a little bit. The role models tried some double team offense to get the match won, but Asuka kept kicking out. Shayna decided to come back and got tagged in, almost losing when Bayley and Sasha did a back stabber/Bayley to belly combo. Asuka came in to get Sasha out and locked in the Asuka lock on the outside while Shayna locked in her Kirifuda Clutch to win.
I really enjoyed the back and forth with Sasha and Bayley before the match, and Sasha was able to convince Bayley to go before her at SummerSlam. I already had the feeling that someone was losing a title.
Maybe, both will. And I think that Bayley will be the reason why Asuka becomes Asuka Two Belts. She did say she’d do anything for her best friend, and I think she’ll be making her best friend lose when that help goes awry.
Another legend down
It was Shawn Michaels’ turn to run down Randy Orton for being a bastard.
Before he came out, he met Drew McIntyre in the back and said he understands how upset Drew is, but he needs to understand, Randy Orton’s gonna use that against him. HBK called him a stud and said yeah, it’s been tough, but he can do it. He wants Drew to go to SummerSlam, show everyone who he is, but he wants a favor - give him space when he goes out to face Randy.
Later, he said that without Ric Flair, there’d be no Shawn Michaels, no Triple H, Batista, Big Show, Edge, Christian, and no Drew McIntyre. Orton doesn’t have the same gratitude and appreciation, despite Ric mentoring him.
And Randy does the good ol’ fashioned RKO Outta Nowhere. McIntyre ran out and threw Orton around, but when he went back in to check on Michaels, Orton gave him the RKO too.
I’m ready for the match at SummerSlam. To be honest, I’ll be satisfied with either man winning. Orton has had a stellar 2020 and as much as we say the old guard should be putting over the new blood, Orton deserves one last run. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time, and yeah he got boring for a while. He even said so last month! But I wouldn’t mind one more run.
As for Drew, his 2020 started out with a big Rumble win and he got the coronation at WrestleMania 36. His run at the top hasn’t had the best moments, especially the most recent feud before Orton, but the present feud brought a real seriousness Drew needed. He’s certainly been one of the best babyface champions in recent memory.
Who do you want to win at SummerSlam?
A little better RETRIBUTION
This is how RETRIBUTION should have always been introduced, folks.
I was enjoying Drew’s promo at the start of the show and the beginning glitch seemed like an oops-a-daisy, but then the shot to the back and some of the group with bats and crowbars in the production truck.
They destroyed some laptops and forced a dude to cut the feed to USA Network and go to commercial as Drew was talking. When they returned, the hard cam was the only camera used for the first few minutes as The Hurt Business came out. Honestly getting Kevin Dunn out of the production truck is a babyface move.
I can only hope that this Friday they take it to another level, similar to this show. I don’t know how much destruction RETRIBUTION can do to the Amway Center, though.
The Rest
Mysterios get revenge - Rey said that having to see his own flesh and blood in agony and not being able to do anything about it made him feel a rage that he’s never felt before. He needed to be there to protect Dom, to stop the beating, to take that beating himself if need be. No doctor on this planet will stop him from protecting his son. Dominik thanked his dad and said he knew what he was in for when he signed his contract, and he knows what he has to do to defend their family, and he’ll be ready.
Seth said he didn’t take Rey for an idiot, and yet here he stands in the ring less than a week away from the most important moment in his son’s life, putting him in more danger. Rollins can’t understand why he continues to put himself and his son in these situations. Rey baited him into coming down to the ring with Murphy. They came out and while Rey distracted them, Dom got kendo sticks and the Mysterios took their revenge.
I’m curious to see how Dom does at SummerSlam. The street fight stipulation will help him, but I want to see some wrestling. I don’t think he’s winning though, even with Rey in his corner.
Apollo Crews def. Shelton Benjamin / Bobby Lashley pins Apollo Crews - MVP and the Hurt Business called out RETRIBUTION. Who benefits most from Retribution’s actions, he asked. Apollo Crews does! They showed up about the same time that he fought Crews for the United States Championship, and that’s not a coincidence. Apollo came out and said that he knows MVP can’t beat him without Lashley and Benjamin. If he wins against Shelton, Hurt Business is banned from ringside at SummerSlam.
Benjamin tried a Paydirt but it got blocked and Crews hit a nice spinebuster. R-Truth and the ninjas got in the way and distracted Benjamin, and Crews got a jackknife pin to win. MVP put out a challenge for Apollo and two men of his choosing VS. the Hurt Business in a 6 man elimination tag match. Truth came back out and Benjamin pinned him for the 24/7 title.
For the elimination tag team match, Ali was the first one eliminated. I hate you, WWE. Then Ricochet. I hate you, WWE. Apollo eliminated Shelton, and Cedric came out of nowhere and pinned him for the 24/7 title. Apollo eliminated MVP, then Lashley speared Apollo for the win. I didn’t care about any of this because I absolutely hate WWE for screwing up Ali ALREADY! Lashley looked good, as did Apollo. Ali and Ricochet look bad. But that’s par for the course.
Angel Garza def. Ivar - Backstage before this match that woman from the Bachelor was hanging around and she quickly revealed how much of a bad actress she is and I tuned out. Just know that Ivar apparently has powers to summon turkey legs from the floor. The match literally doesn’t matter. What does however, is that Angelo Dawkins and Samoa Joe revealed that there is some footage WWE found.
Zelina got some ‘splaining to do! - Turns out our girl Zelina Vega was the one who poisoned Montez Ford after all, and I have to say I’m a bit disappointed by this. I would have rather RETRIBUTION been the ones behind this. Welp, I guess this is supposed to light fire under Street Profits. I see them retaining because the Bachelor woman is probably getting involved somehow.
Montez Ford def. Andrade - Short match and Bianca Belair slammed Zelina and Tez took advantage of the distraction.
Natalya wins a… match? - Most of Mickie James’ return match was taken up by the Messiah asking Samoa Joe how he knew Rey Mysterio was going to be in the building. The camera crew prioritized that interaction over the actual match. This was a shame because I was looking forward to Mickie James’ return.
Peyton Royce def. Ruby Riott - ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Raw Underground - This time we had Erik and Dolph Ziggler where Dolph choked him out. Arturo Ruas and Riddick Moss were in a fight and no one won because it broke out into the crowd. Shayna brought her friends Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke to Shane, and that got Shafir a match which she won quickly. Then Nia Jax showed up and beat up Duke and Shayna got in the ring to fight her, but she left. Underground was better this week, with some longer matches with a more shoot fight feel. The camerawork is still trash.
Samoa Joe played a nice role as an insider, knowing about Rey coming back to the show and the video Angelo Dawkins showed revealing Zelina poisoned Montez. I really liked that little arch on the show. A lot of this show was okay. More YouTube worthy, in my opinion. The best part was the women’s tag team match. That’s what I’m most interested in for the pay-per-view.
I’m not that excited for ThunderDome, because Kevin Dunn is still employed.
Grade: C+
What were your thoughts, Cagesiders?