Advertisement
As SummerSlam drew closer, Brock Lesnar returned to WWE on Monday night, opening Raw with a promo. When all was said and done, Lesnar had once again left dead bodies and delivered a vehement warning to Roman Reigns ahead of their Last Man Standing match for the undisputed Universal Championship.
Lesnar’s promo was interrupted by Paul Heyman, Theory and Alpha Academy. While everyone involved made their own threats to Lesnar, it was Alpha Academy that decided to get physically involved. They would pay a heavy price for their decision.
CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of the action from the Sames Auto Arena in Laredo, Texas.
Brock Lesnar threatens Roman Reigns and destroys Alpha Academy
Brock Lesnar kicked off the show with an in-ring promo. Lesnar said that Roman Reigns has been “high on the hog” since beating him at WrestleMania. Lesnar then called Reigns a pig and said that he butchered pigs on his farm every day. Lesnar was then interrupted by Paul Heyman. Heyman said the Last Man Standing rules for Lesnar vs. Reigns at SummerSlam clearly made Lesnar the favorite because Reigns hits people because he’s a better wrestler, but Lesnar trades in destruction. Heyman then said that Reigns would shove his hand up Lesnar’s ass and pull his heart out.
The theory then broke in and said he still plans to cash in his money-in-the-bank contract for whoever wins the match between Reigns and Lesnar. Alpha Academy was out next and Chad Gable and Otis attempted to attack Lesnar, only to be quickly finished off by Lesnar, who ended up using ring stepping on both men and then attacking them both with a steel chair. Lesnar ended his statement with an F-5 on Otis through the commentator table.
If there’s one thing WWE has done well over the years, it’s Brock Lesnar as a force of nature. Some of the promo work here was weird, especially between Lesnar and Heyman. But Babyface Lesnar still feels pretty fresh and interesting playing in front of the crowd and he seems to be enjoying it. Where the segment really worked was when it released Alpha Academy as cannon fodder. Otis is a big man, so there’s one of those big splashy moments when Lesnar hits him with the F-5, which Lesnar does so well. This didn’t really do much to advance a Lesnar vs. Reigns storyline that no one really wants, but it did well in allowing Lesnar to be Lesnar. Grade B
What else happened at WWE Raw?
- Finn Balor vs. Rey Mysterio via pinfall after hitting the coup de grace. The match came after Rey and Dominik confronted Mysterio about The Judgment Day, with Balor and Damian Priest suggesting Dominik join their cause before calling Rey a bad father.
- Raw Women’s Championship – Defeated Carmella. Bianca Belair (c) via count-out when Belair was distracted by Becky Lynch at ringside. Before the match, Lynch demanded that she get a title shot against the winner, but couldn’t stop herself from committing in the end. Belair retained the title because you can’t win a championship by counting.
- AJ Styles & Ezekiel defeated. The Miz & Ciampa via disqualification when Ciampa refused to stop attacking Styles on the referee’s orders. Before the match, Miz again challenged Logan Paul to team up with him at SummerSlam.
- Alexa defeated Bliss & Asuka. Nikki ASH & Doudrop via Pinfall after Bliss hits Nikki ASH with a DDT.
- The Usos & Omos def. The Street Profits & R-Truth via Pinfall after Omos hit Angelo Dawkins with a chokebomb. R-Truth was looking to guest referee the Usos-Street Profits rematch at SummerSlam when Omos came into the picture for an impromptu six-man tag match.
- Riddle & Bobby defeated Lashley. Seth Rollins & Theory on Pinfall after Riddle Theory hit with an RKO. Dolph Ziggler returned mid-match and sat ringside until he helped knock Theory’s feet off the ropes during an illegal pin. That prompted Riddle to hit the match-ending RKO. After the match, Ziggler hit Theory with a super kick as the show went off the air.
