Raw 8/8 Recap

Last week on Raw recap takes the place of SmackDown. 

Jesus another 15 yrs in the making match. 

Enzo and Cass receive their big pop to open the show. Makes me ask why they couldn't let the NXT talent keep what made them hot. The Descension should have been this over. Essentially last week was used to set up the face E&C off with Jericho and KO. Jericho and Owens bring enough heel comedy relief to make this feud interesting. I'm here for it. 

Enzo vs. Jericho

Who's Line Is It still comes on? Owens worked the interference to bring Cass into the match causing the DQ. KO goes over the top with the celebration. We get the Summer Slam challenge that we've been waiting for along with KO covering Jericho's ears to avoid hearing how sawft they are.

Sasha gets an interesting stipulation for her concern surrounding Dana Brooke's possible involvement. 

Strowman vs. Jobber

Strowman's massacre continues. This time it's the speechless Jorel Nelson. He even gets entrance music. Welcome to Raw, Mr. Nelson. 

Puffy ain't shit for mentioning Lil Kim after Faith Evans. The segment got black as hell when the New Day rolled through. I'll take it. 

Titus O'Neil vs. Darren Young

Eh, Titus and Darren are back in the ring again. Break time. I come back from break and Young has won. Don't even know what happened. Black Wrestlers Matter. After watching the replay, Darren got payback by holding the tights. Classy.

Rollins came to talk about Balor and the upcoming match. It started strong; maybe it was just me, but it seemed pretty long winded. It feels like someone gave Rollins a clock and told him to kill as much time as possible. I mean dude had a 15 minute monologue.

Sheamus vs. Cesaro

Sheamus makes his way to the ring to take on Cesaro to avenge his loss last week. These two commence to exchanging blows and power moves. I saw Cesaro slide under a Brogue kick. Dude is super athletic more so than Rusev. I also saw a standing drop kick delivered to Sheamus while he was sitting on the top turnbuckle, amazing. Cesaro gets the roll up pin for the win. 

This Orton/Randy beef is being built better than the Cena/Styles one. Brock has the most filthy mouth ever. 

Dudley Boys vs. Neville and Sin Cara

The Dudleys are back to face Neville and a a partner of his choosing, Sin Cara. I legit went to sleep on this match. SC comes down donning a new less colorful ensemble.  Could this be his last chance with the cruiserweights coming up? The Red Arrow is truly an amazing move. Watching it in slow motion I realized this. 

Rusev brings his new bride to the ring for a celebration and there are 3 cakes to be destroyed. Rusev is dressed in his wedding garb sans shirt. Thus continues the Get Roman Over experiment. The man comes to be the stand in best man and channels the Rock insulting the bride and groom. Lana gets the Anna Mae treatment with a full frontal of cake. Roman slides out quietly having ruined the event. 

Sasha Banks vs. Dana Brooke

Sasha has her chance to ban Brooke from ringside with a victory. Charlotte attempted to help her protege win the match but it backfired. A swift double knee later, Sasha and Charlotte have a one on one match at Summer Slam. 

The commercial break ends with a replay of Razor Ramon being upset by The Kid to help promo the Ben-Hur movie. Balor gets a zen-esque video promo refuting Seth's claims of his disrespect. It was a history lesson into his character and set up the beast at SS. 

Anderson and Gallows cut a promo to explain Ringpostitis. Needless to say there were enough references to balls that makes one want to skip the segment. 

Luke Gallows vs. Kofi Kingston

Out next are the New Day sans Big E for the one on one match between Gallows and Kingston. Anderson works the distraction to his advantage for a win. Post match, there was an attempt to line Kofi up for the same fate as Big E, but Xavier comes through with the chair to run them off. 

D. Bryan accepts Foley's invite to chop it up about the superstars jumping shows. Mick puts the SmackDown GM on the spot for his comments on talking Smack. Rusev comes down to defend his GM and lay claim to him being the only champ Raw needs. Bryan plays the role of instigator when Cesaro comes to ask for his title shot which Mick grants. 

Main Event: Cesaro vs. Rusev

Cesaro pulling double duty takes on the champ. Rusev works the shoulder early, but the challenger battles back displaying his strength. It looks like he may be able to pull off the victory until Sheamus interjects himself into the match. The combination of the Bulgarian brute and the Celtic warrior were too much for the King of Swing. Rusev celebrates his victory as the show closed. Not so fast my friend Roman lands a Spear on the champ making a statement to punctuated this show. It seems that someone is understanding how to get him over with the crowd.  

By Tony A.

WWE SmackDown 6/30

There's an announcement the Fatal 4 way match for US Title #1 contender at the top of the show. Cesaro drives up. Issues a challenge to Rusev. Crews working out backstage. Sheamus spikes his hair, no Zack Ryder. I don't believe anything Del Rio said. 

Cesaro vs. Sheamus vs. Del Rio vs. Apollo Crews

Cesaro is out first. Otunga is sitting in for King. My first time seeing him in a long time. We've moved on from Titus already? Damn that was fast. Heels go after each other to start the match. Sheamus is a marked man with Del Rio and Crews gunning for him; Cesaro seems to be the lone wolf of the four. Is Cesaro still nursing that shoulder injury? Crews spends more time out of action. That was the quickest Swing transition I've ever seen from Cesaro. Del Rio taps to the Sharpshooter which I suspected. Del Rio ambushes the winner from the front some how and landed a stomp from the apron. Rusev makes his own appearance to congratulate his new challenger and demands to start the match immediately. 

Rusev vs. Cesaro for the the US Title

Rusev mouths off to Cesaro making him turn around like Marty McFly after he got called chicken. Just like that, we're on. The champ works over his opponent's midsection until Cesaro was able to muster up a reversal only to have Rusev to regain the upper hand with a bear hug. Cesaro manages to pull off s few athletic feats still battling a rib injury. After breaking an Accolade, Cesaro would eventually tap to the submission move as quickly as the match started. 

Titus getting another shot on Monday.

Dana Brooke vs. Billy Kaye

Dana Brooke is here to face off with Billy Kaye? Oh it's Jesse McKay coming up from NXT or maybe she just took the brief trip down to the MIA. Anyway, Dana still looking good. Billy Kaye put in some work for a before catching that Somoan Driver for the pin and win. 

Summer Rae walks up on Sasha's backstage interview saying she's tired of the Boss angle. She tries to hide behind the hopes of being drafted to different brands, but Sasha promised to show her what a boss can do before then.

Miz TV welcomes the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Dean Ambrose only after Mayrse announces the host in her heavy Canadian accent. Maroon 5: Battleground sounds like a good album though. Dean shows up with a Cuban and comments on Miz TV's set up. All of a sudden we have a challenge of show segments. Dean doesn't stop eating while Miz drops his insults. The Dude wipes his mouth with the host's jacket after its dropped in preparation for a fight. Mayrse snatches it back and tosses it over the head of the champ so that her husband can land a swift boot to face. Mind you, this was a white jacket; white no more.

John Cena has been announced as the host for the Espy's, which works with the new WWE/ESPN partnership. The Wyatts are here, Miami! 

The Wyatts vs. No Name Jobbers

Who are these dudes? Smackdown, again being booked like a houseshow complete with a squash match featuring some no name jobbers. Strowman gets the double pin for the win.

Oh shit, New Day spoofed the Wyatts promo style. We cut to Kofi in the black sheep mask with a unicorn horn through it. He adds the cryptic tone. Big E's flavor is a lanten made of horns. They ask Bray what is his fear naming off a few comical items that includes females with big ole booties. They even make the "Expose yourself" joke that isn't so PG. Xavier still isn't partying with the group. As I'm sure New Day is working this angle, this change in demeanor should be interesting.

Summer Rae vs. Sasha Banks

In the midst of summer, the time for that bashing by the Boss. Sasha is in Muscle & Fitness Her, and I think I need to get it as a collector's item. After the bell, there's a shoulder tackle, wrist lock, and arm drag. This has to be due to Summer Rae's move and skill set because we all know that Sasha is beyond this here. Not much flare before the commercial break either. I would love to say it was great perfomance from Summer, but Sasha worked to put her on. Enough is enough; there was a Bank Statement for the submission.

Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz

Dean comes charging out to the ring; apparently, he's facing off with the Miz after their showdown earlier. You can't say he's not a fighting champ. These two are fast paced from the onset. How I forget that these two have shared the ring many times in the last year or so. Miz lands three kicks in the corner that look a lot like groin kicks but the ref didn't call for the bell. Dean embraces his inner Catholic before diving through the ropes on a bum leg then he kicks out a Skull Crushing Finale; HACK! This is SmackDown. No kicking out of finishers. Dean better win with a.... Nevermind. He lands a Dirty Deeds for the pin and win. That was the show everybody.

Surprisingly there was no Darren Young. If they're unsure of how to book Primo and Epico, this is a great outlet to try them out. Hell, we already know what they can do. The only tag match was a squash, and this is how you're selling the show that's about to get expanded and go live in less than a month.

Contributed by Tony A.