«WWE Raw» was in Dallas this Monday, July 13, at the American Airlines Center as WWE pressed toward SummerSlam. To close out the night, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns made a significant step toward their next clash at the «biggest party of the summer.»
Numbers game
Given how many «ones» and «twos» were mentioned in the main event segment, it really was a pleasant surprise that the Bloodline didn’t intervene and help out their boy.
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Rollins and Reigns took their sweet time getting to the ring before quickly signing their SummerSlam contract for their World Heavyweight Championship match.
The narrative is simple with this one, while not entirely accurate. We have, indeed, seen Reigns beat Rollins before. But WWE is hitting the audience with the old «Men In Black» neuralyzer for this one. (And another story beat that we’ll get to later.)
«Death, taxes, and Seth Rollins beats Roman Reigns every single time,» Rollins noted in his promo tonight.
Reigns shrugged it off, calling Rollins his «No. 1 hater» after «boring everyone to sleep» the week prior. More importantly, he argued SummerSlam would finally end the debate over which of them truly belongs at the top, prompting Reigns to hit Rollins where it hurts.
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The «OTC» questioned whether Rollins could even survive another title reign, reminding him of his injury history and that he needed Money in the Bank (multiple times) to become champion. They were some great digs, and the chemistry between these two is, unsurprisingly, always golden after the many years they’ve been orbiting each other.
«They gave you all my stuff, and you still couldn’t walk in my shoes,» Reigns said before punctuating it with, «Acknowledge it, b****.»
That finally lit the fuse, as Rollins stormed back to the ring after an early exit and exploded, throwing the first punch and unloading on Reigns. «The Tribal Chief» briefly rallied with a Superman Punch and looked ready to drive Rollins through the contract-signing table before eating a microphone shot and a stomp.
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Rollins stood tall, but the real winner was the segment itself.
WWE has boiled this rivalry back down to its simplest premise: two all-time greats still arguing over who has always been No. 1. After all these years, it’s still compelling, despite the thrown-together nature of this version of the feud. But that’s the beauty of programs like this one — they can work because of the hefty amount of history at play.
Duped by Maxxine
So, WWE seems to want us to forget the Otis-Mandy Rose storyline, which was completely derailed by the pandemic. Tonight felt like a near-rehash of that, or at least a step in that direction.
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The Vision got a lot of time on tonight’s «Raw» when they came out to thank Maxxine Dupri for handing them a World Tag Team title win last week. They were quickly approached by Otis and Akira Tozawa — Maxxine’s old pals in Alpha Academy.
It was difficult to tell exactly where this was going at first. The faces told Maxxine that they had warned her about Austin Theory. She defended herself, claiming she was left with no choice — and then Otis took the segment in a wild direction, teasing that he was going to confess his feelings for Maxxine.
Theory swiftly made fun of him and called Alpha Academy losers who will never get the girl. You know how it goes.
It all broke down into a scramble. Otis actually came out looking pretty strong, while Bron Breakker couldn’t have looked any more like a complete bust of a project in the company. From a potential world champion to the muscle in a cursed tag-team — it’s wild to see.
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Then there’s Maxxine, who is admittedly doing well in this role so far. But it’s way less interesting than what WWE was teasing with her push as Intercontinental Champion. That suddenly feels like it never even happened, which is sad.
To cap it all off, Paul Heyman doesn’t even want to help The Vision out anymore.
Counting down to the «Brocktagon»
Speaking of Heyman, he opened «Raw» alongside Brock Lesnar — with five «Dallas Policemen.»
He cut his usual hype promo, but this time called Oba Femi an «obsessed dummy» for bailing on his world title shot to face Lesnar. Funny enough, he’s totally right. It’s a terribly dumb, illogical move for Femi, who wasted his time in the King of the Ring tournament.
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However, Femi explained when he eventually arrived. He said Lesnar would have cost him the match anyway. That’s a fair enough thought, and literally what the whole community was thinking after we didn’t Lesnar do it during King of the Ring. Still, you would like to see Femi have the confidence to the point where he wouldn’t expect it to matter.
Ultimately, Femi wiped out all the guards with ease after Heyman said he had put a restraining order on Femi for him and Lesnar. That was thankfully later explained to be a lie, because, realistically, that would mean Femi was headed to a cell (hold the Hell) for his actions.
💪 Match of the Night
The Chad Gable push is here, ladies and gentlemen. For real this time.
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Gable, yet to win a singles title in WWE, is now on the hunt for Intercontinental gold. That’s the story. That’s all you need. He’ll face Penta for the strap at SummerSlam in his home of Minnesota.
In a banger of a Gauntlet match, Gable came out on top by defeating Je’Von Evans, Dragon Lee, Joe Hendry, Dominik Mysterio, Rusev and Ethan Page. Technically, he only defeated Rusev and Page, as he entered third-to-last after some fun showings from Evans and Lee in particular.
Hendry, unfortunately, got the short end of the stick in all of this, getting beaten out of the gate against Mysterio with relative ease.
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👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑
Solo Sikoa is just great. The face turn is in full effect, and the guy is so much more charismatic than he’s had the chance to show. On tonight’s show, he was part of the setup for a trios match with Royce Keys and LA Knight against The Bloodline. But he admittedly sold me for a moment on the idea that he was actually realigning with his family — then he swerved Jimmy Uso and Jacob Fatu, and it was incredible.
I give this «Raw» a crown score of: 6.5/10 👑
WWE Raw full card results:
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Intercontinental Championship No. 1 Contender’s Gauntlet match: Chad Gable def. Je’Von Evans, Dragon Lee, Joe Hendry, Dominik Mysterio, Rusev, Ethan Page — 👑 4/5 👑
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Royce Keys def. Jimmy Uso — 👑 1/5 👑
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Iyo Sky def. Roxanne Perez — 👑 2.75/5 👑
Recap «WWE Raw» with Uncrowned’s live blog:
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
Rollins screams at Reigns, telling him everything he needs to tell himself to beat him. He goes off about everything he’s fought for to be who he is, and how glad he is not to be Reigns — then he lands the first punch and attacks.
Rollins stomps out Reigns before dropping punches. Reigns crawls, inviting a stomp. Instead, he counters with a Superman Punch and moves the table. He attempts to Powerbomb, only to get hit with a mic. And there lands the stomp, leaving Rollins standing tall.
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
Rollins asks Reigns to say whatever he has to say. Reigns says Rollins still needs a Money In the Bank briefcase to become champion, making him perma-No. 2, then calls back to the injury fake in order to use the cash-in. “They gave you all my stuff, and you still couldn’t walk in my shoes,” Reigns said. “Acknowledge it, b****,” he punctuated, regarding their pecking order as one and two.
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Drake Riggs
Reigns calls Rollins his No. 1 hater after “boring everyone to sleep” last week. That’s sad, says Reigns, because that’s the only thing Rollins is No. 1 at. The people are confused about whether they are on the same level. That changes at SummerSlam, Reigns says, as he signs the contract.
Rollins says he owes Reigns for keeping the title warm for him. Then he leaves the ring.
Reigns hops back on the mic, asking where he thinks he’s going. “Sign and run?” Before a “what if you do win?” from Reigns. He questions whether Rollins carries the belt and gets hurt again — since it happens “every single time.” The weight, pressure, and burden of being the top guy are too much for some people, says Reigns, which entices Rollins back into the ring.
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Drake Riggs
Rollins instantly signs the contract, while Reigns gazes down at the paper. Rollins says he knows it’s gotta be hard for his chants to drown out Reigns’, and the crowd starts battling verbally into a blur of noise. That was disorienting, but neat.
“It’s tough,” says Rollins. Some things are certain in life: “Death, taxes, and Seth Rollins beats Roman Reigns every single time,” he adds.
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Drake Riggs
Rollins emerges right after Reigns hits his catchphrase. They’re taking their sweet time here.
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Drake Riggs
Well, we’ve arrived at the main event segment, where Reigns and Seth Rollins will sign their SummerSlam contract.
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
A failed Egoplex leads to a Gable Angle Slam! Page kicks out. They move to the top rope, where Page wants an avalanche Powerslam! Gable fights it off when Page poses, locking on the ankle lock in the middle of the ring to force the tap! Gable gets the title shot!
👑 Crown score: 4/5 👑
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Drake Riggs
Page instantly big boots Gable, but can’t score the pin. A scoop slam fails on the pin, as Page gets fired up and punches away at Gable. Page lands a big Clothesline and sends Gable into his boot in the corner. Gable gets propped up for a back Superplex, but fights it off. He goes for a Moonsault and lands to counter the feet up and go for an ankle lock! Page escapes and hits a Confidence Breaker! Gable kicks out!
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Drake Riggs
Gable and Rusev get to trading punches in the center of the ring. Gable gets the better of the exchange and goes for an Angle Slam. Rusev escapes, landing the Machka Kick and locking on the Accolade! Gable presses toward the rope, but eventually slips out from underneath, then German Suplexes Rusev into the corner and hits a victory roll pin for the elimination! Rusev reapplies the Accolade, and out comes Ethan Page.
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
Gable rattles off a trio of German Suplexes right as he enters. A big belly-to-belly follows. Rusev kicks out of the pin. Gable gets hit with a Uranage in return, but kicks out of the pin.
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Drake Riggs
Rusev catches Evans to land a swinging Uranage. Evans kicks out and gets locked in the Accolade! Evans reaches for the rope and finds it. But Rusev instantly reapplies the submission. Evans fires up and lifts Rusev up on his back. He drops Rusev backward to the mat. An OG Cutter misses from Evans, and another Accolade gets locked on in the center of the ring, putting Evans out — or not! Evans fires up again, only for Rusev to adjust his grip and force the slumber.
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Drake Riggs
Rusev has been in control since sneaking up on Evans to start his entry in the match. He ends up crashing outside when Evans avoids a rope attack. Evans takes the leap, hitting Rusev down below before they get back in the ring and open up Rusev to a red-dot kick.
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
Evans slaps Lee and goes up high. Evans gets stomped and nearly positioned for a big finish by Lee, but counters with a surprise roll-up! He gets the pin.
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Drake Riggs
Lee goes flying into the timekeeper’s ringside after a missed senton. That allows Evans to go all the way around the ring for a massive dive of his own, crushing Lee. They return to the ring, and a springboard move fails from Evans, leading him into a super kick. The old Shelton Benjamin-Shawn Michaels spot! Evans survives before a jumping Hurricanrana sends him out of the ring. Lee nails a huge tornado DDT, but Evans still kicks out!
