Randy Orton strikes from out of nowhere, Lana and Bobby Lashley are arrested, and R-Truth loses then regains the 24/7 Title from NASCAR Champion Kyle Busch.
AOP crash Seth Rollins' apology ... but why?
NASHVILLE — Last week, some things were said, some tempers were raised, and Seth Rollins seemingly wanted nothing more on Raw than to come out and make it right. To that end, The Beastslayer offered an apology to the WWE Universe and the Raw Superstars — especially Kevin Owens, who caught the worst of the former Universal Champion’s less-than-constructive criticism. Not only was Owens not buying it, but the situation got even more complicated once AOP reared their heads for a second time.
The appearance of Akam & Rezar gave Owens the ammo he needed to confirm his own suspicions that Rollins was secretly in cahoots with the former Raw Tag Team Champions, even after AOP seemingly undercut those suspicions by challenging the pair to a match. KO still smelled a rat and declined, leading Rollins to call it a day and leave Owens on his own. AOP, surprisingly, left the stage for the locker room area when Owens tried to bait them to throw hands, but the fiery Canadian still declared he wanted a fight all the same. And lo and behold, his prayers were seemingly answered by the sight of Bobby Lashley and Lana walking through the locker room area to presumably take Owens up on his offer.
Owens vs. Lashley leads to AOP ambush and double arrest
It’s hard to know who got the worst of what began as a Kevin Owens vs. Bobby Lashley match but soon turned into a two-on-one beatdown and ended in a dual arrest. It’s fair to say that Owens was certainly worse off at the end of the bout, which saw AOP ambush him in the middle of the action. Owens won via disqualification, but Akam & Rezar concluded the beatdown by dragging him out of the arena. But whatever relative moral victory Lashley and Lana could claim was quickly shattered during an in-ring interview with Charly Caruso that was blown up by the arrival of Lana’s estranged husband, Rusev.
Even then, however, Lashley and Lana were still in the clear on paper. The Bulgarian Brute’s attack of Lashley was yet another violation of Lana’s restraining orders, which at this point, could generously be called frivolous at best. Luckily for Rusev, the arresting officer happened to be familiar with all the martial drama in the Rusev family and wasn’t about to go out of his way to lock up Rusev. He did, however, cuff Lashley after The All Mighty shoulder-checked him while exiting, and Lana was next after she open-palm slapped Nashville’s finest on the ramp. Kevin Owens got beat up, Rusev crashed the show and Bobby Lashley and Lana are under arrest, and there are still two hours to go.
McIntyre-Orton face-off gets derailed by The O.C.
Randy Orton has been making an awful lot of enemies since he arrived on Raw. Why, just last week, he made two in the same night: Drew McIntyre, whom he poked in the eye during a Fatal 4-Way Match with United States Title implications, and AJ Styles, whom he RKO’d to cost said U.S. Title just minutes later. And as both men made it very clear on Raw, they were not done with The Viper by any means.
The first out of the gate was McIntyre, who outlasted a persistent Akira Tozawa before calling Orton to the ring for a face-to-face confrontation that seemed to be leading to a match … until Styles and The O.C. interrupted. McIntyre, sensing this wasn’t his problem, gleefully left The Viper to the mercy of the good brothers, and they took advantage of their numbers advantage by brutalizing the 13-time World Champion until a three-man contingent of Ricochet, Humberto Carrillo and new U.S. Champion Rey Mysterio arrived to even the odds — a defensive measure that drove The O.C. from the ring.
Black downs Nese, but Murphy isn't impressed
Despite knocking on Aleister Black’s door, Buddy Murphy hasn’t given The Dutch Destroyer the fight he so clearly craves. So, Black went looking for it elsewhere, toppling a very, very game Tony Nese on Raw in a match that that ended with a Black Mass to the chiseled jaw of The Premier Athlete.
Not that it impressed Murphy much. The Best Kept Secret watched the match stone-faced and sore-jawed — or, as he referred to it in a post-match interview, “cool, calm and collected.” Murphy also offered Black the professional advice that he should calm down. Buddy even volunteered to calm Aleister down himself, as sure a sign as any that this fight is likely just beginning, even if both men are content to stay at arm’s length for the time being.
Kyle Busch pins R-Truth to win the 24/7 Championship!
From one continuing display of dominance to another, Andrade added to his still-growing winning streak with yet another victory, this time over Eric Young. And while Young mustered up a fair amount of hometown magic against the former NXT Champion in the form of a gorgeous top-rope elbow drop and a wheelbarrow neckbreaker, Andrade dodged Young’s second attempt at the elbow and quickly put the match away with his running double knees and the Hammerlock DDT.
Not to be outdone, however, 2019 NASCAR Champion Kyle Busch notched a WWE victory of his own when he pinned 24/7 Champion R-Truth (Busch's seatmate Michael Waltrip served as the ref), leading to a title change that was unexpected even by the standards of WWE's most chaotic title. True to form, Truth rallied, winning the title back later in the evening by pinning Busch during his championship photo session.
No Way Jose's conga line sneaks a peek in Rowan's cage
There are few Superstars who are quite as polar opposites as Erick Rowan and No Way Jose. One’s a dancer, one simply destroys people. One boasts a flamboyant conga line, and the other carries around a mysterious pen covered with a filthy burlap sack. And, more relevant to wins and losses, one is simply on something of a tear and the other is not.
All of which is a roundabout way of saying that Rowan decimated Jose, motivated by the conga line’s attempt to peek under the burlap cover to see what he’s carrying. That The Dominican Dancing Machine was willing to throw hands with the former Tag Team Champion is certainly worthy of respect, but the effort ended just like it did for all the locals Rowan has feasted on the past few weeks. Iron Claw, 1-2-3, and a wide berth from Rowan’s pen, the contents of which remain as mysterious as ever.
Could Charlotte Flair defeat The Kabuki Warriors by herself?
It’s not unreasonable for Charlotte Flair to think she could take The Kabuki Warriors singlehandedly in a Handicap Match. After all, there are few Superstars with the kind of credibility of the 10-time Women’s Champion. But her eyes might have been bigger than her stomach on this one. More to the point, she didn’t keep them where they should have been, allowing the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions to win the two-on-one match in cruel fashion.
Charlotte was justifiably focused on Asuka in the deciding moments, looking to serve up some payback to The Empress of Tomorrow for spraying her twice in two nights with the green mist. And while The Queen applied the Figure-Eight to her longtime rival, Flair completely forgot about Kairi Sane, who had tagged in unbeknownst to The Queen and soared with an InSane Elbow as Charlotte applied the submission hold. The impact flattened Flair and easily earned the three-count. So Charlotte’s woes increase, and The Kabuki Warriors pick up a victory that Charlotte mistakenly thought was hers to lose. Sure, she’s The Queen. But there’s still only one of her.
Viking Raiders demand your attention with decimation of locals
The Viking Raiders were feeling a certain kind of way on Monday. There’s no other explanation for the savage beating they put on the two locals who were unlucky enough to step into their path on Raw. Poor Mark Sterling & Mitchell Lyons were disintegrated in short order, and Erik & Ivar wanted to make sure the message was received. “Are you watching?” they screamed at the camera every chance they got. Safe to say, the answer was likely yes, if only because the one thing that is more difficult than watching an obliteration this thorough is to look away.
Orton strikes following Six-Man thriller to end Raw
Even though they were in the ring with Rey Mysterio, Humberto Carrillo & Ricochet, The O.C. made it very clear that they wanted to send a message to Randy Orton. Ironically, The Viper was the one who got the last word on the official, original, and only club that matters.
Prior to Orton’s strike, AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson racked up a truly thrilling victory against three men who are about as close to superheroes as you’re ever likely to see. Despite the combined aerial attacks of Ricochet, Carrillo and Mysterio, Ricochet found himself caught in an avalanche Styles Clash from The Phenomenal One that sealed the match. While AJ was making his victory lap, however, Orton slithered into the ring and struck with an RKO, standing tall as Raw went off the air and making sure that his name will remain on Styles’ lips — and, most likely, in his head.
