Seth Rollins pulled a fast one on just about everyone at SummerSlam, revealing he wasn’t really that injured and cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase to become World Heavyweight Champion. But it’s the man he hosed in the process, CM Punk, who will open the show tonight on WWE Raw from Centre Videotron in Quebec City.
Unless you’re brand new to WWE, you don’t need to be reminded how much Punk and Rollins dislike each other. In fact, cashing in on Punk could only have been that much sweeter for Rollins due to their ongoing animosity … which in turn means Punk’s fury should be something to behold.
Of course, there’s an issue of whether Punk can do anything about The Vision, as Rollins’ group is being called now, since he’s just one man. But at least for the moment, his interests may align with LA Knight and Roman Reigns, and perhaps we’ll get more insight into that tonight.
Also on the docket for this Monday are Becky Lynch defending her Women’s Intercontinental Championship against Maxxine Dupri, Sami Zayn taking on Rusev, and AJ Styles joining forces with Dragon Lee to face Dominik Mysterio and El Grande Americano. Well, one El Grande Americano anyway.
It all starts tonight at 8 p.m. ET on Netflix, but you can get live updates or your second screen fill here at Slam Wrestling throughout the night, simply reload at your leisure for the latest.
Highlights of some of the Rollins-Punk stuff from SummerSlam through last Monday kicks off the show. And we have some unfortunate medical news about Naomi, with Michael Cole revealing she is not medically cleared to compete as originally planned.
CM Punk wants his rematch, but so does LA Knight
I almost accidentally typed CM Pink, which would be an amusing typo. Punk, not Pink, says the Quebec City crowd makes it hard to stay angry, but then he thinks about how he should be representing the people as their champion and he’s not. “I have … a Seth Rollins problem,” he admits.
Punk says Rollins is trying his best to be CM Punk but failing miserably. He may also have failed at becoming champion, saying he let everyone down, but he promises that he’s even more “possessed” to regain the title. Punk goes on to threaten Rollins, saying he would break his legs to get the championship back, but he’s cut off from saying more by the arrival of LA Knight, who joins him in the ring and shakes his hand.
Knight says the whole world knows Punk was robbed at SummerSlam and deserves a rematch for the world title. BUT …
Last week, Knight was having his shot at Rollins that had nothing to do with Punk and made him lose his opportunity. “My man, I understand it, but wrong place, wrong time.”
Knight ends by saying Punk should get his rematch after LA gets his. Naturally, Punk feels a little different, reminding Knight that his attack prevented Rollins from stomping his head onto the concrete.
There’s more debating between the two of them after that about who might do the other guy a favor, but there’s another interruption to come in the form of Paul Heyman, Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. And two of Reigns’ pairs of shoes, of course. Heyman warns Knight about getting into the favor business with Punk since it will cost him everything.
But perhaps cognizant of the fact that this segment has gone 20 minutes, Punk is tired of fighting and wants to get his hands on the Brons. Heyman likes it and says the challenge is for the Brons vs. Punk and Knight tonight, and even though they don’t agree on how to accept, the good guys are down for it. Breakker calls them both old as Heyman and Reed keep him from starting the party early.
Mysterio brings El Grande Americano into the Judgment Day clubhouse, which irritates Finn Balor. Dom explains his thinking about using Americano to help him in AAA this weekend, an idea that Balor approves. It’s important to keep in mind, though, that Finn always has something else cooking.
AJ Styles and Dragon Lee vs. “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio and El Grande Americano
It struck me as this match got going that Chad Gable’s injury has had ongoing benefits for Ludwig Kaiser, who almost certainly would not have been part of the upcoming Triplemania XXXIII card under other circumstances. He hasn’t been sullying the great tradition of El Grande Americano by any means. Heh.
Mysterio and Americano show some signs of teamwork even though they will be foes on Saturday. Dom puts on a mask that is an homage to the original Rey Misterio, which is pretty cool. Styles gets a hot tag run of offense, the least WWE can do since he lost to Dom at SummerSlam, and there’s some awesome tandem offense with him and Lee as well.
Americano tries to loas his mask and gets kicked before he can use it, so Dom takes advantage and loads his mask instead, popping up from the floor just in time to headbutt Styles. El Grande rolls up AJ and gets the pinfall. “I hate to say it, but Dirty Dom just outsmarted AJ Styles again,” notes Cole.
Winners: “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio and El Grande Americano by pinfall
Zayn pays a visit to Adam Pearce, asking for a champ to become world champ. Scrap Daddy can’t make any promises, but says if Sami can get through Rusev tonight, they can have a conversation. Sheamus also drops in, and Pearce warns him that whatever happened last week can’t happen again. The Celtic Warrior gives his word to let Zayn’s match go uninterrupted but vows that Rusev is his as soon as the match is over. Hopefully he’s being literal there.
Moving elsewhere after a commercial break, Pearce has to give Iyo Sky the bad news that she has no title match tonight since Naomi isn’t cleared. Unamused by Roxanne Perez gloating over her misfortune, Sky suggests that she could fight Roxanne instead, an idea that Pearce loves and immediately makes official.
Sami Zayn vs. Rusev
Surely WWE isn’t going to have Sami lose in front of his home fans, right? It’s going to be tricky to have him win and keep Rusev strong when Sheamus is likely going to stay out of this, but it’s possible.
It’s going to be hard for Sheamus to keep his promise when he sees Rusev doing the 10 Beats of the Bodhran. It fires up Sami too, as he strikes with an Exploder. It never occurred to me that someone else might interfere, but that happens when MFT arrives en masse and beats up Zayn on the outside.
True to his word, Sheamus hears the ref call for the bell and comes flying in with a jumping knee to Rusev. They end up brawling into the crowd despite Jason Jordan’s pleas for them to stop (“Get in there Jordan, you used to be a wrestler!” my son yells), and other officials check on what’s left of Sami.
Winner: Sami Zayn by disqualification, probably
Pearce really has his hands full now, visibly upset on the phone as MFT is ushered from the building. That means he is in no mood to deal with any nonsense with The New Day complaining about Penta, quickly telling Xavier Woods he can settle things with Penta in the ring next week.
Reed gets a video promo where he threatens to keep stealing shoes from Reigns until he’s acknowledged as Roman’s Tribal Thief. Words I could not imagine typing until a few weeks ago, legit.
For your nightly does of wholesomeness, Sky is walking to gorilla when she runs into the Kabuki Warriors, who offer to be in her corner to keep things fair against Perez. Iyo appreciates the offer but says she’s got this, and they all hug. See? Wholesome.
Iyo Sky vs. Roxanne Perez
This should be pretty good, and the first few minutes include numerous examples of the wrestlers attempting to one-up each other. The Genius of the Sky is obviously going to escalate things when possible, and her gorgeous suicide dive takes out Raquel Rodriguez more than it does her opponent.
Sky’s eventual rally after a lengthy period of offense by Perez gets the fans into this. Cole puts over Perez for her display of toughness and persistence while Corey Graves does the same for her ring IQ.
Roxanne has a few more tricks up her sleeve but finds Iyo has an answer for Pop Rox, forcing her to escape a hip attack in the corner. Iyo has more to showcase with a springboard moonsault to the floor, followed by the Over the Moonsault that leaves both women hurt as Roxanne tries to get her feet up.
The official has to deal with Rodriguez, and an attempt by the Kabuki Warriors to even the odds backfires badly. Sky gets shoved into her friends and Perez grabs the tights to hold on for a three count.
Winner: Roxanne Perez by pinfall
Jackie Redmond tells Jey Uso everyone missed him last week and he’s upset that The Vision took advantage of it by going after Reigns. “Receipts are coming,” Uso says, but as soon as he mentions the world championship, Knight shows up and tries to tell him to get in line. They should just have LA do this any time someone utters anything about the title.
Backstage, things do not seem to be all good between Kabuki Warriors and Sky.
Maxxine Dupri vs. Becky Lynch
Graves suggests that Dupri needs to compete against wrestlers the caliber of Lynch on a regular basis to reach the next level. That’s a good bit of IRL logic that also applies to WWE. Dupri certainly knows how to sell the Becksploder because she does so three times in a row.
The fans are somewhat split but still enjoy Maxxine getting some offense in, including an ankle lock she could only have learned from Gable back in his Alpha Academy days. Alas, Lynch knows the submission game even better, and when she gets the Disarm-her applied, Dupri quickly taps out.
Winner: Becky Lynch by submission
Rollins is overjoyed with the rest of The Vision, as he thought he’d have a CM Punk problem tonight and instead has arrived to see his underlings have everything under control. “Stack some bodies boys,” Rollins says before saying he’s off to his jet.
We hear from sad Bayley, who explains exactly what she is going through at the moment and why she currently feels she has nothing to show for her previous accomplishments. Bayley says she can’t remember the last time she felt proud of herself, and it’s her fault.
Redmond gets Lyra Valkyria’s reaction, but she mostly feels bewildered and says nothing going on with Bayley is her fault.
A dismayed Sky bumps into Vaquer, who reminds Iyo that she isn’t the only one promised a title match. Next up, Rhea Ripley, who gets a huge pop before she suggests that maybe Iyo can’t trust the Kabuki Warriors. Sky says in two languages that Rhea should stay out of the whole situation.
LA Knight and CM Punk vs. Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed
I defy anyone to see Reed hand the shoes to Heyman just like Reigns used to hand the necklace to him and not smile at least a little. Our heroes, meanwhile, have a lengthy discussion before the opening bell but do team up once the action begins to send Reed to the floor when neither can do it alone. This is about as classic as “can they coexist?” gets.
Also worth pondering: Is there any way to take Breakker’s dive from the apron over the announce table without looking like you are going to the hospital? I’d say no.
Punk has some fun at Breakker’s expense by mocking his dog barks as he runs through some offense. Graves calls him the Second City Saint, a nickname I haven’t heard for Punk in quite some time. A top rope elbow finally has Punk confident enough to go shirtless as he signals for the GTS, but it turns out Rollins hasn’t gone to his jet after all. His assault gets the ref to call for the bell, and the fans chant “OTC” in the hopes Reigns will arrive to save the day.
Come on people, Roman isn’t working back to back weeks. It’s Jey who comes own the aisle wielding a chair, which he quickly uses on Breakker. Jey slugs it out with Big Bronson and uses the chair to send him to the floor as well.
Winners: LA Knight and CM Punk by disqualification, most likely
Pearce sees what’s happening and expresses his displeasure with Rollins. He expresses it by telling Rollins he will defend the title at Clash at Paris against Uso … and Knight … (cut to Rollins saying no, no, no, no) … and Punk.
The only problem is that the challengers are all at each other’s throats before long, and The Vision takes advantage by returning to attack as a unified force. That ends with finishers on repeat for all the good guys, and Rollins revels in taunting Punk in particular before giving him one last Stomp.
Another Raw, another show-ending triumph for The Vision, even if this one was a little pyrrhic for Seth. See you next week!
