Seth Rollins wagered his Survivor Series captaincy against Andrade, Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch teamed up with longtime rival Charlotte Flair, and Raw ended in an all-out brawl between all three brands.
The NXT Horsewomen throw hands with Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair
BOSTON — We said it before, and we’ll say it again: They make a good team. Following an impressive if unsuccessful showing last week, Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair notched their first victory as a tag team in Raw’s opening match by knocking off The IIconics. Although Becky and Charlotte weren’t exactly keen on teaming up, the match nevertheless seemed to cement them as players in the Women’s Tag Team division. And that was before the post-match scrum with NXT’s finest.
Despite their well-documented differences in philosophy (Becky wants to fight anything that moves; Charlotte is a bit more calculating) and trajectory (The Man will battle Shayna Baszler and Bayley on Sunday in an all-champions Triple Threat; Flair leads Raw’s Women’s Survivor Series team), the pair worked in near-perfect sync, with Lynch providing a crucial assist that allowed Charlotte to secure the Figure-Eight submission victory. They continued that teamwork after the match, too, defending Raw when NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke stormed the ring to take out The IIconics.
Unfortunately, the NXT Horsewomen got the better of The Man and Queen connection, landing a few hits and escaping into the crowd where a wall of security stopped Becky & Charlotte from pursuing them. That isn’t to say Lynch was denied the punchout she so clearly craved. The Man knocked one of the guards out cold with a right hand as the NXT women made their escape. Like we said, she’ll fight anyone.
Humberto Carrillo gets a little help from his friends against Karl Anderson
Humberto Carrillo finally pinned AJ Styles last week, but the young talent isn’t exactly about to get hot-shotted to the United States Title anytime soon. Under the pretense of punishing Carrillo for his “disrespect,” Styles instead sent his good brother Karl Anderson to deal with his rival, a move he surely hoped would expose Humberto as a one-and-done wonder. Instead, however, the 205 Live draftee picked up a surprising surplus of cache and a stronger case to potentially once again challenge Styles.
To be fair, there was one element that proved key to Carrillo’s victory besides dimples and a can-do attitude: The presence of The Street Profits, who served as a check on Styles and Luke Gallows and essentially kept the match from turning into Carrillo against the entire O.C. And when Styles & Gallows tried to get involved by distracting the ref, the Profits engaged in a bit of turnabout, with Montez Ford reversing Anderson’s ill-gotten small package in Humberto’s favor while Angelo Dawkins held Gallows at bay. That was enough to snuff “Hot Karl’s” efforts, and as for Humberto, he has now pinned the champ and one half of the best tag team in the world. If it’s a title match he wants, he’s got a leg to stand on.
Lashley returns to action and Lana serves Rusev divorce papers
Lost in all the revelations surrounding Bobby Lashley and Lana’s extracurricular activities is the fact that The All Mighty is also a full-time WWE Superstar — one who hadn’t competed in several months. A harsh reminder was served on Raw, as the two-time Intercontinental Champion returned to action against No Way Jose, eventually winning with a vice-like Full Nelson that put The Dominican Dancing Machine to sleep with Lana looking on at ringside.
The Ravishing Russian's estranged husband Rusev was nowhere to be found in all this, having been served with a temporary restraining order and divorce papers on the same day. All of which meant that Lashley and Lana were free to kiss to their hearts’ content following the match — a privilege they enjoyed in emphatic fashion. Lashley appears to have been renewed with rest, motivation and the love of a beautiful woman. At least on paper, there’s not much can stop him at this point.
Surprising interference derails Rollins vs. Andrade
After a close call, Seth Rollins is still going to Survivor Series, thanks in no small part to a group of interlopers from Friday Night SmackDown whose arrival ensured that Andrade didn’t steal The Architect’s captaincy.
Somewhat surprisingly, that would be The Lucha House Party, who made their presence known at the end of the contest with a kind of brand-boosting boast, but they thankfully waited until after Rollins and his opponent had wowed the audience with a true, blue show-stealer. Safe to say the match delivered from an in-ring perspective, with the two trading holds, dives, kicks and bombs at a breakneck pace. Zelina Vega’s ejection halfway through the match left the two to battle at an almost dead heat, though Rollins eventually gained the upper hand by getting Andrade into position for a Frog Splash.
The Luchas struck The Architect at that very moment, securing the win for Rollins but raising the ire of both men, who clearly wanted to see which of them would have gotten the win. That’s not just speculation, either. After driving away the masked trio, Andrade and Rollins shared a moment of respect after the match, seemingly agreeing to pick up where they’d left off down the line. Only one is going to Survivor Series, but when it comes to workhorses, there might be room enough for both of them.
Buddy Murphy knocks on Aleister Black's door
The sky is the limit for Buddy Murphy, but the former Cruiserweight Champion might have a line of his own. In Murphy’s latest consecutive Raw victory, he knocked off fellow former titleholder Akira Tozawa in a fast, furious and pretty extraordinary match. Tozawa more or less decimated Murphy, only to very, very narrowly get caught with Murphy’s Law — though it was more what Murphy did before and after his match that might signify where he’s going long term.
Murphy vs. Tozawa was bookended by a pair of trips to Aleister Black’s door, the first of which saw Murphy loudly knock in what appeared to be an attempt to provoke Black into a fight. “All talk,” he replied when Black was a beat too late to the door. But when Murphy made a return trip, he didn’t even get a chance to knock. The door swung open to reveal The Dutch Destroyer, very much ready to throw down. Nothing came of the confrontation except for a staredown, but there’s no disputing after these past two weeks that Buddy Murphy is up for a good fight. Whether he's ready for that fight is another matter entirely.
Rowan obliterates everyone and defends his cage
What’s under Erick Rowan’s sheet? We’re still no closer to knowing, but we at least now know what happens when someone gets too close to it. Oddly enough, the offending party was once again The Singh Brothers, who ran afoul of Rowan for the second consecutive week — this time during his bout with a local named Alex Malcom. The brothers’ transgression amounted to little more than coming too close to Rowan’s precious cargo, and given that R-Truth was still trying to chase down Samir’s 24/7 Title, there was little they could do about it. Samir & Sunil were punished all the same, however, with Rowan obliterating them and the local with a crossbody at ringside while Truth backed away in fright. To top it all off, Rowan won the match, cementing himself as the most imposing kind of monster: The kind who can destroy not one, not two, but three people at once.
Is Kevin Owens going back to NXT?
What began as an incredible match between Kevin Owens and Drew McIntyre turned into a truly Machiavellian power play from Triple H on Raw. After allowing the two former NXT Champions to duel to a stalemate, The Game reared his head to essentially stop the match and lay the groundwork to potentially turn Owens from Team Raw to NXT.
Triple H’s assessment that Raw management sees Owens as something of an unwanted burden may have been an aggressive sales pitch, but there’s no disputing a series of GMs have tried to fire him. The King of Kings, however, pointed out that he never had any issues with KO during the former NXT Champion’s backstabbing, brutally ambitious days under Triple H in NXT’s infancy. Much like the proposal Triple H dangled in front of Seth Rollins a couple of weeks ago, it was definitely one worth thinking about, hence the human wall of The Forgotten Sons, Damian Priest and Dominik Dijakovic that The Game employed to give him and Owens some privacy.
Luckily for Owens, the choice was made for him when Cedric Alexander, Ricochet, Mojo Rawley and Buddy Murphy sprinted down the ramp to equalize the NXT contingent, and The Undisputed ERA’s attack of KO put any negotiations to a halt. The O.C. hit the scene to finally turn the tide in favor of Raw by chasing off Undisputed ERA, and while the NXT collective’s retreat seemingly prevented Owens from joining them, it oddly made Triple H’s point all the same. NXT takes care of its own.
Asuka delivers payback to Natalya on Raw
Natalya didn’t get to challenge The Kabuki Warriors for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles last week, but unfinished business remained between her and Asuka all the same. And The Empress of Tomorrow settled that account by repaying The Queen of Harts for her submission victory two weeks ago with a vicious pinfall of her own — one she didn’t even have to use the green mist to secure. Thanks in no small part to the efforts of her partner Kairi Sane on the outside, Asuka withstood Natalya’s slow dismantling and finally pounced with a high kick to the side of the head, dropping the former SmackDown Women’s Champion for three and reinforcing something that the Raw roster might have forgotten. Asuka may have gotten to the point where she can stomach a loss, but two? That’s a different story.
Raw, SmackDown and NXT finally come to blows in Raw's closing moments
Randy Orton doesn’t play well with others, but he seems to want to keep Ricochet close for some reason. Despite lingering tensions, The Viper chose Ricochet as his partner to face The Viking Raiders for the Raw Tag Team Titles after the original challengers, Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins, were ambushed by AOP in the locker room area. Unfortunately, the saga of The Viper and his friend (foe?) was quickly overwhelmed by the latest and greatest salvo in the battle for brand supremacy.
Orton and Ricochet made for an effective tag team, but in the middle of the match, SmackDown Superstars Dolph Ziggler, Robert Roode and Cesaro were shown attacking Raw talent in the bowels of the TD Garden. They stormed the ring later in the title bout in an ambush that led to a disqualification win for Orton & Ricochet, who were quickly overwhelmed by seemingly the entire NXT roster. The black-and-gold stalwarts rushed the ring to pick off Orton, Ricochet and The Viking Raiders, though The Viper landed a couple of RKOs before succumbing. Despite a plethora of Raw Superstars joining the fight, NXT got the last word when Keith Lee hoisted Humberto Carrillo over his head and chucked him from the ring onto a crowd of Superstars.
They also got the last word in the literal fashion. During the melee, Triple H appeared on the TitanTron to announce an “open door” policy for this Wednesday’s NXT. Anybody who wants to come to Full Sail and show what they’re made of is free to do so. Given the shellacking Raw took at the end of the night, there are more than a few who might be tempted to take him up on that offer. But unless they come prepared, it’s going to be a long week, and the battle for brand supremacy will be very short indeed.
Rey Mysterio will appear live on Raw six days before challenging Brock Lesnar
Rey Mysterio has been relatively quiet since hobbling Brock Lesnar with a pipe and challenging The Beast to a WWE Championship Match at Survivor Series. But The Ultimate Underdog will surge back into the forefront this Monday when he appears live just six days before his monumental opportunity. Whatever he has to say will surely be worth hearing as Survivor Series approaches … and, of course, there’s always the possibility that Lesnar isn’t far behind.
Tune in to Raw this Monday for the final lead-up to the Survivor Series pay-per-view, live at 8/7 C on USA Network.
Ryder & Hawkins earn Raw Tag Title Match after international victory
A Triple Threat victory at WWE Live in Mannheim, Germany, has led to a golden opportunity for Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins that could shift the balance of not only Raw, but Survivor Series as well.
After defeating The O.C. and The Street Profits in a match at the Live Event, Ryder & Hawkins will get their big chance when they challenge reigning champs The Viking Raiders this Monday on Raw.
To say the fan favorite former champs face a tall order is an understatement. Erik & Ivar remain undefeated in traditional tag team action, most recently knocking off former NXT UK Tag Team Champions Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster. But Ryder & Hawkins’ persistence speaks for itself, as does recent history. The all-champions’ Triple Threat Match at Survivor Series has already been upended thanks to The New Day’s SmackDown Tag Team Title victory against The Revival, and it’s not out of the question for Ryder & Hawkins to (again) defy the odds and (again) change the complexion of next Sunday’s battle for brand supremacy.
Tune in to Raw to see who heads to Survivor Series as Raw Tag Team Champions, this Monday live at 8/7 C on USA Network.
Natalya takes on WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Asuka
Not everyone can boast that they submitted Asuka in the middle of the ring, but two weeks ago, Natalya did just that. And while The Queen of Harts missed out on the WWE Women’s Tag Team Title Match she seemed headed toward last week, she’ll get a chance to face off with The Empress of Tomorrow one-on-one come Monday. Given that Natalya owns an emphatic victory over Asuka, it’s safe to say she holds an early mental advantage going into the match. Of course, Kairi Sane’s presence is likely to complicate the proceedings. As good as Natalya is, there simply aren’t two of her.
