We’re live from Monday Night Raw at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, and it’s ladies’ night as Alexa Bliss is crowned as the first competitor to ever win both the Raw and SmackDown Women’s titles with her Raw Women’s Championship win over Bayley at Payback.
We open with the entire Raw women’s roster in the ring which is covered in red velvet. Bliss admits she told General Manager Kurt Angle to force all of the women to come to the ring. Bliss declares the queen is dead. She calls herself the “Goddess of WWE,” and demands a coronation.
The Wicked Witch of the WWE opens up with insults of Mickie James and Sasha Banks before noticeably staying on Nia Jax’s good side. After Bliss tells Bayley her whole family finally has a role model to look up to, Bayley flips Bliss off a two-stair gold pedestal she’s standing on and a melee ensues amongst all the women before we go to break.
Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax, Alicia Fox & Emma Defeat Bayley, Sasha Banks, Mickie James & Dana Brooke
Raw General Manager Kurt Angle made an impromptu eight-woman tag match during the break. Emma opened up with Bayley, but tagged out as soon as Dana Brooke tagged in.
Best friends Bayley and Sasha Banks teamed up for a double snap mare takedown on Alicia Fox to gain control. When Fox breaks free and flips Banks out of the ring, all eight women converge outside the ring and stare each other down as we cut to commercials.
Nia Jax brutalized Sasha Banks during the break with a clothesline. Fox nearly pins Banks with a Northern Lights as we come back from break. Jax hits Banks with a corner splash and then tosses her halfway across the ring. Jax then drives Banks into the turnbuckle in her corner and tags in Bliss.
Banks works free and tags in Bayley, who lands a Bailey to Belly on Bliss. A wild exchange takes place with the other six women out of the ring.
With the referee’s view obscured, Bliss rakes Bayley’s eyes and then hits a DDT for the win.
Luke Gallows with Karl Anderson Defeats Enzo with Big Cass
It’s a rare singles match for the Certified G and the former Club member. Amore says he and Big Cass are tired from beating “Big Gal and Andy” up at Payback.
Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows then ambush Enzo and Cass while they’re on the mic. The match officially starts with Gallows pummeling Enzo with a big boot and a series of furious fists to the face. After Enzo failed to land a dropkick, Big Gal cuts him in half with a clothesline.
Gallows then starts working on Enzo’s right arm, wrenching it several times before opening up a cut above the Certified G’s left eye with another kick to the face.
Enzo finally lands some offense with a bulldog off the top rope before a baseball wind-up punch and a field goal kick to Gallows’ face.
Anderson distracted Enzo from making another move off the top rope, and Gallows took advantage, picking Enzo up off the top rope and planting him with a fireman’s carry flapjack on the mat for the win.
Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Dean Ambrose & The Miz Confront Each Other
The Kingslayer comes to the ring with a raucous crowd ovation. Seth Rollins runs off his list of accomplishments. He says he slayed the King at WrestleMania. He got revenge on Samoa Joe for taking out his knee at Payback.
Rollins then calls out The Beast. Rollins says he’s been to Suplex City and he doesn’t mind going back.
As Rollins calls out Brock Lesnar, Finn Balor interrupts him. Balor congratulates Rollins on being the one-legged man who won at WrestleMania, but Balor says he was the one-armed man who beat Rollins to become the first WWE Universal Champion. Balor then says when it comes to facing Lesnar, the line starts with him.
Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose then butts in. Ambrose says Lesnar fights when he wants and it’s not that often. Ambrose said he believes in fighting champions, and he says he’ll fight anywhere, anytime. He says the Intercontinental Championship is the No. 1 title on Raw, and Rollins and Balor should be trying to fight him.
The Miz and Maryse then join in on the fun. The Miz quickly says Rollins and Balor haven’t earned the right to fight for a championship and calls Ambrose an embarrassment as champion. The Miz says he’s the only one who made the Intercontinental Championship prestigious. He calls Balor a coward for cheapshotting him at Payback. He told Ambrose he wasn’t even important enough to be included on Payback, and he calls Rollins a gimp.
As The Miz tries to say he’s the No. 1 threat on Monday Night Raw, everybody tells him to shut up. The Lunatic Fringe then asks the crowd if they would like to see Balor and Rollins beat up The Miz. Ambrose then calls Raw GM Kurt Angle on the phone. Ambrose announces that The Miz, Rollins and Balor will be in a triple threat match to be No. 1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship.
Rich Swann, Akira Tozawa & Gentleman Jack Gallagher Defeat Tony Nese, Brian Kendrick & Noam Dar
Tony Nese gets the early momentum in the cruiserweight tag match by putting Akira Tozawa in a Torture Rack, but Rich Swann and Gentleman Jack even things out by helping Tozawa clear Nese, Brian Kendrick and Noam Dar out of the ring.
Dar walloped Tozawa with a soccer kick during the break, and Kendrick has Tozawa grounded on the mat as we return from break. Nese tags in and immediately starts flexing as he toys with Tozawa. Nese then holds an extended vertical suplex before bouncing Tozawa’s ribs off the top ropes. Nese locks in another Torture Rack, but Tozawa escapes and tags in Swann, who cleans house.
Swann lands a rolling thunder splash and almost gets a pinfall on Kendrick. Gallagher then head butts Kendrick before nailing him with the Gentleman’s Dropkick to get the victory.
Cesaro & Sheamus Turn Heel
Sheamus announces he’s never liked any of the WWE Universe, and he blames the Hardy Boyz for stealing the moment he and Cesaro should have had at WrestleMania in winning the Raw Tag Team Championship belts.
Cesaro says he and Sheamus proved at Payback that the Hardy Boyz are a novelty act that don’t belong in the ring with them. Both Cesaro & Sheamus claim they will win the titles back because they are “the bar.”
The Hardy Boyz then come out to confront Cesaro & Sheamus by throwing the “delete” sign. As The Hardy Boyz charge the ring, Cesaro and Sheamus flea up the ramp.
Dean Ambrose Ambushes The Miz’s Backstage Interview
As The Miz is trying to explain his preparation for the Triple Threat match with The Architect and The Demon, The Lunatic replaces the backstage reporter during mid response from The Miz. Ambrose then interrupts The Miz and asks his follow up question: Does The Miz’s hair gel get in his eyes during the match?
An angry Miz and Maryse storm off without saying a word.
Apollo Crews with Titus O’Neil Defeats Heath Slater with Rhyno
In a taped segment before the match, Titus admonishes Apollo for seeking Heath Slater’s advice about taking care of his kids. Titus tells Crews not to fraternize with the enemy.
As the match begins, Slater keeps Crews grounded most of the early part of the match with a series of headlocks on the mat.
When Crews finally gets to his feet, he lands an Enziguri kick to the ear and finishes off Slater with a sit-out power bomb.
Bray Wyatt Introduces Himself To Raw GM Kurt Angle
Raw GM Kurt Angle announces there will be repercussions to the Roman Reigns-Braun Strowman match at Payback that caused Reigns to reinjure his ribs and Strowman to injure his rotator cuff.
The screen goes black and the Golden 1 Center lights up with the fireflies of Bray Wyatt as he walks to the ring with his lantern. Wyatt says he put Randy Orton to rest. He tells Angle that he needs Wyatt, and asks Angle if he is going to walk by his side or stand in his way.
Angle reacts that Raw is his show which draws cackles of laughter from Wyatt. The New Face of Horror says Raw may be Angle’s Show but it’s Wyatt’s world.
Austin Aries Defeats TJ Perkins
Double A and TJP renewed their intense cruiserweight rivalry. Aries manhandled TJP early on with a massive missile dropkick which followed a shot to the ear.
Neville’s protégé turned the tables by landing some kicks with Aries tied up in the Tree of Woe on the ropes. TJP grinds Aries into a Butterfly Lock in the middle of the ring as we return from break before TJP unloaded with a kick on Aries’ right knee. Perkins then added to the misery by locking in a Half Crab from the top rope.
Aries finally mounted some offense by getting Perkins out of the ring and then landing a Suicide Dive through the ropes outside of the ring. Aries then got a near fall by dropping an elbow to the back of the neck off the top rope.
Just when it looked like TJP was about to turn the tables with a Detonation Kick, Aries reversed the move into the Last Chancery and got TJP to submit.
As Aries is announced as the winner, Perkins puts Aries in a knee bar and smirks at Aries writhing in pain as he leaves the ring.
Intercontinental Championship No. 1 Contender Triple Threat – The Miz Defeats Seth Rollins and Finn Balor
The A-Lister immediately joined Maryse outside the ring as he tried to wait out Finn Balor and Seth Rollins from a safe distance.
Rollins and Balor, however, wouldn’t take the bait as they chased The Miz back into the ring and double teamed him. Balor then kicked The Miz back out of the ring. As Balor tried to make a move, The Miz bounced him off the ring apron. Rollins then landed a Suicide Dive on The Miz out of the ring.
During a scramble back in the ring, The Miz kicked Balor down to the mat. Rollins then nailed Balor with a backbreaker. As The Kingslayer went to the top rope to try to finish off Balor, The Miz raced out of nowhere to throw Rollins off the top rope onto the crowd barricade.
The Miz had Balor on the mat in a headlock with Rollins out of the ring as we returned from commercial. Balor rallied with a series of running clotheslines and a superkick to The Miz, but Rollins then drilled Balor with a massive springboard splash off the top rope. The Miz then gained control, ramming Rollins into the midsection of Balor as he tried to climb back into the ring. The Miz then imitated Daniel Bryan with a series of kicks to both Balor and Rollins.
In a wild exchange, Balor raised up to dropkick Rollins who then landed a DDT on The Miz as he was falling down to the mat. Balor then cleaned house, kicking The Miz twice to the head, running around the outside of the ring and double-leg dropkicking Rollins.
The Miz then knocked Balor out of the ring before attacking Rollins’ bad knee, nearly getting The Architect to tap before Balor raced back into the ring to kick The Miz in the head.
It looked like Rollins had the match wrapped up after hitting a double Blockbuster off the top rope before nailing another top rope move, a Frogsplash, off the top rope on Balor, who kicked out. Then Rollins hit a Superplex off the top rope and a Falcon Arrow on The Miz, who kicked out. After hitting both Balor and The Miz with Suicide Dives, Rollins was ambushed by Samoa Joe, who chokeslammed him outside of the ring.
With Rollins out of commission, Balor had The Miz lined up for the Coup De Grace, but out of nowhere the screen blacked out and Bray Wyatt ambushed Balor, hitting the Sister Abigail. The Miz then scrambled atop Balor for the 3-count to become the No. 1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship.