OO Column: Online Onslaught by Rick Scaia (Pro Wrestling News, Analysis, and Commentary... WWE, WWF, WCW, ECW, The Rock, Brock Lesnar, Triple H, Rob Van Dam, Hulk Hogan, Undertaker, Trish Stratus, Lita, Stacy Keibler, Divas, RAW, SmackDown, WrestleMania

OO RAW RECAP
WWE Title in the Balance
August 10, 2015

by Rick Scaia
Exclusive to OOWrestling.com

I still sort of want to do my bit about how WWE's reaction to Hogan's racism is lacking.... they have a "teaching moment," but they respond with the full Benoit? Boo. Saying "We don't see color" (the same way Colbert always did) is pretty much saying "We're trying to ignore color," and I just don't cotton to WWE's handling of this situation.

But at the same time, the Reds are playing on the west coast this week (tonight is San Diego, which means the Reds can actually win, even with their delightfully rookie-ish starting rotation; we ain't gonna win shit this year, but we're starting to look good for the future!), which means I want to go watch that, instead of doing an extended pre-ramble.....

So I think I'll restrain myself again, this week, and just nudge you all along to what just happened on tonight's just-completed Monday Night RAW:

Opening Theme/Pyro/Etc, and we're live in Seattle, WA, where Cole & the Gang welcome us to the show, and promise that -- in addition to the previously hyped appearance by Stephen Amell from Arrow -- we'll also get a Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper match, as well as a night-spanning theme of various WWE personalities giving their predictions for Lesnar/Undertaker (since neither Lesnar, nor Undertaker, are actually here in person, tonight).

ROLLINS OWES JERICHO AND SMIGEL ROYALTIES~!

And then, it's time to send it down to the ring, where Seth Rollins is preparing to deliver a promo. He welcomes us to "Monday Night ROLLINS," and must now pay royalties to Chris Jericho. Before he can go much further, a "YOU SOLD OUT" breaks out. Rollins "So Whats" it, because we covered this two weeks ago on SmackDown.

That shuts people up, so Rollins moves on to reminding us that he splattered John Cena's nose all over his face, then challenged him to a match, and now it's been a week, and we haven't heard a word from Cena in response. Rollins offers up various theories for this silence, related to Cena's possible obsession with the new NWA movie/soundtrack. [Hey, as the whitest man on the planet, even *I* might end up seeing that, since Eazy E's "EZ Duz It" is the one rap album that I ever absolutely felt like I had to own. So I do.]

Then, Rollins starts ranting about how Cena has already promised to show up at "Tough Enough" tomorrow night, but he's not man enough to come to RAW to answer Rollins' challenge, and yadda yadda yadda....

After riffing for a bit, Rollins pretends to get a note from a PA, and says he's just heard that Cena WILL be here tonight.... via satellite. Rollins says to flip that switch and bring Cena up on the Tron.

And sure enough, a still photo of Cena pops up, with fake lips inserted (a la Conan's old bit), and Rollins proceeds to have a "conversation" with faux Cena. Faux Cena pays respects to Rollins and says he wants no part of Rollins. Sadly, no part of this is anywhere near as funny as when Conan would interview Faux Clinton or Faux Schwarzenegger. Also: pay Smigel, you hack~!

But once Rollins gives up the charade, and just starts gloating, he is mercifully interrupted by Cesaro, who astutely points out how unfunny Rollins is, and then says that if Rollins is lacking opposition, then hey, why not face Cesaro tonight?

Rollins immediately back pedals, and says he was only talking about Cena, and how he hasn't responded to Rollins' challenge for SummerSlam. It's not like he's issued another WWE Title Open Challenge.

Enter Kevin Owens, who says that he agrees: Cesaro hasn't done anything to deserve a shot at Rollins. But Owens has done something NEITHER of them has done: he's pinned John Cena. So if anybody is gonna get a shot at Rollins, it should be him (Owens).

Enter Randy Orton, who congratulates Owens on getting fatter since he last saw him. And then, he congratulates Cesaro on.... dressing well? I dunno. Orton's just being kind of a dick, here. But once he addresses Rollins, he basically puts his name on the list of guys who wants a shot at the Champ.

Rollins rants again, saying he never issued another WWE Open Challenge. Last week was a one time thing, and he's just talking to Cena, who has yet to respond to his challenge, and he's done with these three idiots, and he doesn't care what they think, what the WWE Universe thinks, or even what the Authority thinks....

Whoops. The mention of the Authority causes Triple H to show up on the stage, and he's a bit annoyed at Rollins' insubordination.

HHH also reveals that things with Cena are a bit touch-and-go, and he's only 50/50 to compete at SummerSlam.... and if Cena can't go, well, that creates a huge void on the SummerSlam card. But it also creates a whole lot of chaos and opportunity, and those two things can be combined to be Best For Business.

So, just in case we need to shake up the WWE Title Picture, HHH wants to conduct an experiment tonight.... first, we'll have a Triple Threat Match: Cesaro vs. Owens vs. Orton. And then, the winner of that will face Rollins in a WWE Title Match, in tonight's main event.

Whoa. That's two potentially awesome matches, with WWE over-playing the idea of Cena missing SummerSlam, to good effect.

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THE BELLA EMPIRE vs. TEAM B.A.D

"Team PCB" is sitting in on commentary, and are no longer called the "Submission Sorority," because of EXACTLY the reason I suggested last week. Except, it didn't just SOUND like an adult video series, it actually WAS an adult website. Ha!

Except, less than 30 seconds into the match, Paige starts no-selling "Team PCB," and says that JBL called them "The Freakshow," and she likes that name a lot better, because it's the kindest thing JBL's ever said about them. Paige is awesome.

Naomi starts against Nikki, and gets the better of it.... all of a sudden, a HUGE "WE WANT SAH SHA" chant breaks out. Naomi gives them Sasha Banks, who comes in, lands a quick improv moves, but then brings Naomi back in (because that's what they had planned). Nikki makes the requisite pre-ad-break heel comeback, and chucks Naomi out of the ring so we can watch some....

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Back, and Sasha is now in control of Nikki, meaning that she's the narrative heel, even though the fans have decided that she's the face. Nikki finally breaks free, and gets the hot tag to Brie, and actually that DOES flip the narrative, since Seattle loves it Daniel Bryan, and by extension, loves Brie, too.

It helps that shortly after Brie tags in, so does Tamina. And Tamina is a lot less popular than Sasha. So Brie keeps the heat on, and finally hooks Tamina with a schoolgirl roll-up. One, two, and three.

Your Winners: the Bella Empire, via pinfall, in about 8 minutes. Not much of a story. Or rather, kind of a jumbled story. But I think WWE is just purposely leaving things a bit vague to see who fans go for. In this case, they went for Sasha and for Brie, despite them being on opposite teams, and it didn't quite add up to a compelling overall enterprise.

After the Match: Sasha and Naomi jumped Brie, and then Team PCB came in, and it was a brief Pier Niner. But as soon as the Bellas and Alicia dove out of the ring, PCB and BAD both realized that there was no point fighting each other, since they both hated the Bellas more. Final image was Nikki/Brie/Alicia on the stage, gloating, while Paige/Charlotte/Becky/Sasha/Naomi/Tamina stood tall in the middle of the ring.

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LOS MATADORES (w/ El Torito) vs. THE NEW DAY (w/ Eggsavier Woods)

This match is still about tag division positioning, as witnessed by the fact that the Prime Time Players are shown backstage, watching on a monitor, and taking notes.

Flashy start for the Matadores, snuffed out after a bit of a distraction from Woods. From there, Kofi and Big E make frequent tags. Big E is using his power to dominate when Matadore #1 side steps a charge, and E eats the ring post.

Hot tag to Matadore #2, corresponding move to Kofi. Flurry by the Matadores, but that's when Woods interferes again. Torito chimes in to offset Woods, but the distraction is still enough to allow Kofi to tag E back in, and hit the Big Ending on one of the Matadores.

Your WInners: the New Day, via pinfall, in about 4 minutes. Nothing offensive, but nothing noteworthy, either. Basically, it served its purpose of keeping the New Day in the discussion for a tag title shot.

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Backstage: the New Day are strutting up and down, chanting their new "HEEEEYYYYY, WE WANT SOME NEW DAY" chant. Renee Young approaches, and says she's got some news.... the New Day will fight for the tag team titles at SummerSlam! The New Day over celebrate, as Renee drops the other shoe: it's not just the New Day vs. the PTPs. The Matadores and the Lucha Dragons are also involved. It's a Fatal Fourway.

New Day are momentarily put off, but summon the powers of positivity, declare the "Sharing is caring," and welcome the four-way match. At the end of the night, they will emerge as two time tag champs. NEW DAYROCKS? Nope, not quite yet.... NEW. DAY(still)SUCKS. Or so sayeth Seattle. You know I love you, guys!

Elsewhere Backstage: Triple H and Seth Rollins are hanging out, and Rollins is subtle-nagging about how he really doesn't want to defend his title tonight. Afterall, he did some unprecedented last week, by defending the title in an Open Challenge.... HHH says, Yep, and How Proud We All Are Of You.

But doing something once doesn't make you The Man. Doing something, and then doing it again, and again, and again, proving your dominance makes you The Man. Don't you want to be The Man, Seth? Seth says, Yeah, he does. So he accepts the mandate that he defend the title tonight, against the winner of Cesaro/Owens/Orton.

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CESARO vs. RANDY ORTON vs. KEVIN OWENS (#1 Contenders Match)

Cesaro is the hands-down fan favorite, with almost universal support. Orton is a nominal fan favorite, with a tiny minority cheering him against Cesaro, but with a 75/25 split against Owens. Owens is a mostly heel, but still garners some cheers against Orton. But more than anything, it seems like every fan in the audience has SOMEone they like, and so that makes for an electric atmosphere.

Cesaro and Orton do some early teamwork, but then Orton backstabs Cesaro, leading to an extended Owens vs. Orton segment. It's actually kinda fun, as they start going back and forth, hitting moves, then doing the Pose of Ultimate Douchebaggery, to see who can do it the best. It's funny because Owens is purposely trying to be a Douchebag, and Orton just doesn't know any other way.

Cesaro gets back into the match for a high energy segment, mostly outside the ring, where he rams Orton and Owens into the ringside barricade a few times. But then Owens returns the favor, dumping Cesaro over the barricade and into the crowd. Another brief Owens/Orton segment.

Cesaro back into it, lowbridging Owens, and then focusing on Orton for an exchange, including YAY/BOO uppercuts. Cesaro wins, and cinches in the [REDACTED] Crossface. Orton gets to the ropes, but there is no break, because a Triple Threat is a de facto No DQ Match. Instead, Orton has to wait until Owens gets back in and attacks Cesaro, to break the hold.

Cesaro and Orton both roll outside, and Owens follows up with Fly Fatass Fly. All three men down, so we break for....

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Back, and we join a Cesaro vs. Owens brawl, in progress. Owens is getting the better of it, leading to a cannonball and a near fall. Owens gets greedy, heading to the top rope.... this is when Orton rejoins the fight, and inercepts Owens. Orton goes for the superplex, but Owens fights him off.

Cesaro takes advantage and hits an awesome standing dropkick on Owens, who is seated on the top turnbuckle. Cesaro and Orton make eye contact, and decide to team up again, and hit a double superplex on Owens.

But when Cesaro makes a cover, Orton breaks it up, and says "Uhhhh, No." Cesaro and Orton go at each other, and Cesaro wins it, leading up to a Giant Swing, into the Sharpshooter. Owens has to come in to break it up, much to the fans' chagrin. Owens eventually dumps Cesaro to the outside, and Orton betters Owens in the one-on-one brawl.

This leads up to a spot where Owens is trying to get out of the ring, and Cesaro is trying to get back in.... and Orton sees this, and turns it into a Double Hanging DDT, which is, admittedly, pretty cool.

Orton dumps Owens out of the ring, and focuses on Cesaro. Orton coils, ready to hit the RKO.... but Owens reachs up, and drags Orton out of the ring. Cesaro gets his wits back about him, and hits a giant suicide dive onto both guys.

Cesaro and Owens back into the ring. Cesaro with a springboard uppercut for a near fall. "THIS IS AWE SOME." Can't really disagree.

Cesaro sets Owens up on the top turnbuckle, with designs on a superplex. Owens fights out, and Cesaro crashes to the mat. Owens goes for the Swanton, but Cesaro gets the knees up. Double reversey spot has Owens going for the Pop-Up Powerbomb, but Cesaro leapfrogs him.

RKO OUT OF NOWHERE on Owens. Owens powders out. RKO OUT OF NOWHERE on Cesaro. Orton pins Cesaro. One, two, and three.

Your Winner, and NEW #1 Contender: Randy Orton, via pinfall, in 15 minutes. Well, that's a let down. Fricking Orton, when either of the other guys would be the better match against Rollins. But I get it: Sheamus has concussion issues, and Orton may need something else to do at SummerSlam, and on top of that, Orton never got his one-on-one WWE Title Match after WM30, so.... yeah, I get it. But I won't lie to you and tell you I'm all that fired up for it.

It's not even anything to do with my long-standing dislike of Orton, because his work the past 4 years or so has washed all that away. Orton's a perfectly capable top level talent. It's just that in the past 2 years, WWE has stocked up on all these great new toys, who are WAY better than "capable," and I'd rather see them in the top spots than Orton. I'm greedy that way.

Backstage: Dean Ambrose is chilling, waxing poetic about how he never had any friends when he was a kid, but in time, he grew into his own skin and blah blah blah.... Roman Reigns shows up, and says that he appreciates Dean trying to go all deep, but there's an easier way to get to the point. Cuz, you see, Ambrose is saying he wasn't born into a family. He grew into it. Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper call themsleves family, but honestly, Harper would do ANYTHING for Wyatt, but would Wyatt do anything for Harper? Nope. But Ambrose and Reigns are truly brothers, who would do anything for each other. And that's why they will prevail at SummerSlam.

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Taker/Lesnar Hype: An extended look at Lesnar vs. Taker, with the best bits coming from Steve Austin (but also, the entire active WWE roster is on hand). It's not something I can transcribe, you kind of just have to see it. Or don't, it's not like it will ultimately change how awesome the Lesnar/Taker match is at SummerSlam.
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DEAN AMBROSE (w/ Roman Reigns) vs. LUKE HARPER (w/ Bray Wyatt)

With both Reigns and Wyatt on hand, let's see how long this one-on-one lasts before shennanigans. Personally, I'm guessing not much more than 4-5 minutes; if they stretch this thing to two segments, I'll be shocked.

Opening moments are Ambrose's pure kinetic energy vs. Harper's size and power. For some reason, the crowd opts to ignore this in favor of a "Sea? HAWKS!" chant. But then, once the back and forth takes a back seat, and Harper's substance overwhelms Ambrose's flash, they do re-focus with "LETS GO AMM BROZE" chants.

Ambrose gives 'em what they want, at the 3 minute mark, and low bridges Harper, and follows up with the standing elbow to the floor. Looks like we're going two segments, afterall. As Ambrose celebrates with Reigns, we break for....

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Back, and Harper has regained control, and is working Ambrose over with the Gator Roll. A split screen reveals that Harper turned the tide by ducking a clothesline and hitting a big boot on the rebound.

The beatdown continues, with nice bits of heel flourishes from both Harper and Wyatt. Wyatt (who took Byron Saxton's chair) responds to a "SIT DOWN BY RON" chant by pretending to offer Byron's seat back to him, only to renege at the last second. Harper gets some yuks by giving the ref the old "Talk to the Hand."

But eventually, it's time for Ambrose's babyface fire up. It is met with much joy, but when it spills outside, Ambrose gets a little crazy, and takes a potshot at Wyatt. Ambrose and Harper get back in the ring, but Wyatt intends to get involved.

Reigns cuts him off, from doing any direct damage. But the mini Pier Four Brawl creates enough of a distraction that Ambrose loses track of Harper, and then walks into a lariat from hell.

Your Winner: Luke Harper, via pinfall, in about 10 minutes. They played it more straight than I'd have guessed.... or more accurately, they played it straight longer than I thought. Shennanigans were still the ultimate story, but that's OK, because they were ultimately pretty amusing shannanigans that inched us towards the eventual PPV tag match.

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MIZ TV w/ DANIEL BRYAN

We come back to find Miz is already in the ring, sporting his Tatooine Douche Ensemble. He immediately brings attention to Stephen Amell ("Arrow") seated at ringside. He invites Amell to call him after Stardust is done ruining him, later tonight. Because Miz will gladly take him under his (Miz's) wing, and teach him how to act and revive his career.

Speaking of mentoring and saving careers, back on the first season of "NXT," Miz mentored a certain someone, and taught him everything he (Miz) knows, which is the only reason he ever amounted to anything. And that someone just happens to be from the great state of Washington, and is his guest tonight.... it's Daniel Bryan.

Bryan enters to a huge ovation and full YESses. Then, once he sits down, he and Miz have to wait out a "DAN YIL BRY YAN" chant. But Miz doesn't want to wait, so he interrupts with "When my hand goes up, your mouth goes shut." The chant breaks down into boos, and Miz briefly succeeds in talking over them. But then the chanting resumes, and Bryan himself sarcastically says "Hey guys, Miz wants you to shut up." A giant "NO NO NO" chant breaks out.

But finally, things peter out, and Bryan says he's not really interested in being on Miz TV, he just wanted to make sure he came out to see all the fans in his hometown. Another "Sea? HAWKS!" chant breaks out. Miz gets more boos by pimping the Cleveland Browns.

Then onto business: Miz rips into Bryan for being WWE's most famous "broken toy," the one that everybody used to love, but nobody can play with, anymore. What's it like, Bryan, sitting at home, doing nothing, and with nothing to live for other than living in the past?

Bryan says he's actually got a lot going on, what with a New York Times Best Selling Book, and a role on a red hot TV show, Tough Enough.

Miz says, yeah, that's all well and good, but Miz has best selling movies and DVDs out there, and he's actually the HOST of that red hot TV show (Miz has replaced Hulk Hogan), so even after all these years, he's still better than Bryan. But more to the point, he should also be the current IC Champ, because Ryback should have forfeited the IC Title weeks ago, and just handed it to Miz....

Enter Big Show, who says he's amazed Miz's teeth are so unrealistically white, given all the crap that comes out of his mouth. Along the way, he turns the phrase "Jedi-looking manure spreader," which is objectively hilarious.

But before Miz and Show can get too serious, Ryback himself decides to make his return, after an absence due to injury. Ryback gets in the ring, eyes on Big Show. Miz tries to chickenshit his way out of the ring, as Ryback and Show go face-to-face.

Bryan intercepts Miz, and tosses Miz into the middle of the ring, where Big Show and Ryback salivate over the notion of taking him out. They surround him, and theaten to take him out, but Miz manages to sidestep a spear by Ryback, and Ryback takes out Big Show, instead.

But once it's down to Ryback vs. Miz, Ryback decimates Miz, too. The reigning IC Champ might have been on the shelf for a bit, but he's standing tall tonight. Segment ends with Ryback and Bryan YESsing their asses off.

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Earlier Tonight: the entire Diva Division exploded into a 9-person brawl. And as a result, the Authority has just announced a 9-woman, 3-corners tag match for SummerSlam.... no title on the line, but it's the Bella Empire vs. Team PCB vs. Team BAD. Sort of felt like it was breaking this way, but it's good to make it official....

MARK HENRY vs. RUSEV (w/ Summer Rae)

Summer gives an update on Dolph Ziggler, saying he's improving and should be back "after SummerSlam." Which is a lie, because Ziggler returned on Sunday night's house show. But I'll let it slide, on the grounds that, in this case, the liar is delightfully easy on the eyes.

Meantime, Rusev beat Henry in a squash last week, so why are we being asked to give a shit a second time?

We're not. Less than 30 seconds into the match, Summer blindsides Lana. The catfight creates a distraction, so Rusev beats the shit out of Henry, and Henry powders out.

Meantime, the Summer/Lana catfight gets a bit more serious, and Summer really starts kicking the hell out of Lana, until Rusev -- in a flipping of the script -- demands, "Summer, CRUSH!" Summer is happy to comply, and gets a nasty glint in her eye as she cinches Lana in the Camel Clutch, and does not let go until Lana is limp.

So, uhhhhh, No Decision, I guess.

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NEVILLE vs. KING BARRETT

Although the match is Neville/Barrett, all of the video packages leading up to it are about Stardust/Amell, so.... well, you do the math.

Time Compression on display, as we just head into an Insta-Heel-Beatdown. Then, at the 90 second mark, Neville lands one Pele Kick, and hits the Red Arrow. Yes, 90 seconds. Maybe 80.

Your Winner: Neville, via pinfall, in slightly over 1 minute. Yeah, that wasn't anything. Or was it?

After the Match: Stardust insta-attacks Neville, and beats the crap out of him. Then, Stardust goes over to Stephen Amell, and just flat bitchslaps him. This sends Amell into a frenzy, and he hops the barricade, then hops into the ring, with an enthusiasm and fluidity that I can appreciate.

He tackles Stardust and rains down the fists until security swarms and pulls him off. All of a sudden, Stardust backs off and huddles with Barrett. Amell has a bit of mutual appreciation with Neville. And all of a sudden, we just might have a Celebrity Tag Team Match for SummerSlam. I'll take it.

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Backstage: Triple H is lecturing Amell, saying that he stepped over a line. He was here as an invited a guest, and he made himself a participant, and that's not acceptable.

After some back and forth where Amell kept saying he didn't care about legalities, he just wanted to be a man and fight his own fights, HHH said, Fine, I'll send you the paperwork, and if you sign it and get it back to me by 9am tomorrow, I'll make the match. But I wash my hands of this, your blood isn't on my hand. You're digging your OWN grave.

SummerSlam: the Red Arrow and the Green Arrow vs. Stardust and King Barrett.

Elsewhere Backstage: Joey Jo Jo Shabadoo Junior is standing by with Sheamus, who has some thoughts on the upcoming Orton/Rollins WWE Title Match. Who should he root for? "Randy Boring," with whom he already has a match at SummerSlam, but how is, well, boring. Or Seth Rollins, who is a skunk-haired worm, but who is "entertaining." Somehow, Sheamus steers this into a "Goonies" reference, which loses me....

But then, he gets back to "Boring" vs. "Entertaining," and says that ultimately, he'll do what's best for him, seeing as how he's Mr. Money in the Bank, and you never know when he might cash in. Maybe tonight's the night? Hmmmm, so I just went from "how do we write Sheamus out of SummerSlam, due to concussion" to "his concussion wasn't that bad, and they just held him off of the Australia tour because of the 20 hour plane ride." Eeeeeeeenteresting....

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SETH ROLLINS vs. RANDY ORTON (WWE Title Match)

On one hand, it's a WWE Title Match. On the other, it's 10:52pm (eastern) by the time both guys are present, and the bell rings. Not enough time to have an archive-worthy match, but more than enough time to tell a compelling story, depending on things like Cena's injury and Sheamus' briefcase. Nice job of planting all those story piece....

After full boxing-style ring intros by the perpetually delightful Lilian Garcia, we are off... fans in Seattle seem mostly split on traditional face/heel lines. Majority for Orton, but a very vocal minority are cheering Rollins. Given the scattershot responses during the initial 3-way #1 Contender Match, I think that's a testament to how well Rollins plays the sleazy weasel.

After a brief flurry by Orton, Rollins chickenshits out of the ring, but uses that to set up a cat and mouse role reversal spot.... Rollins back in control briefly, until Orton side steps a charge, and tries for an RKO out of nowhere.

Rollins just shoves him off, and bails out out of the ring again.... and against all logic, we have to break for one more set of....

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Back, and I no longer have the energy to point out the humor/irony/laziness in a clever way, so I'll just report that Rollins has Orton in a chinlock. Oy. Also: it's exactly 11:00pm (eastern) when we return. Double Oy.

Rollins keeps the heat on for about a minute, eventually sending Orton out over the top rope. But on his entry, Orton manages to drop Rollins' neck over the top rope. Wraparound backbreaker hits. Orton goes for the Hanging DDT, and Rollins worms out, and leaves the ring again.

Rollins grabs his title from Lilian, and tries to abscond with it. No dice. Orton catches him, and tackles him onto the announcers' desk. Back in the ring, he gets another near fall. Orton argues with the ref. Orton eats a superkick. Rollins with a near fall.

Both men down. Rollins first to his feet, Rollins to the top rope. Orton catches him and knocks a leg out. Superplex time.... it hits, and Orton only gets a near fall off it (he can't make the immediate cover, and sells the previous match before covering).

But after Rollins' kick out, Orton is still in better shape, and starts hositing Rollins up for an RKO.... but Rollins fights out, and after some Triple Reversey, Rollins actually has Orton set up for the Hanging DDT.

And he hits it!

But then: he gloats about it. Rollins wastes a lot of time, and then coils, calling for the RKO.... but Orton fights off the initial RKO attempt, and Rollins goes for the Pedigree, instead. Orton fights out of that, but eats a superkick.

Rollins regroups, and sets up for a springboard move.... but Orton catches him in mid-air with an RKO!

New Champ? Nope. Sheamus runs in and saves us all by yanking Orton out of the ring, and hitting a Brogue Kick. Insta-DQ.

Your Winner: Randy Orton, via DQ, in 10 minutes. But Rollins is still the champ. But for how long?

After the Match: Sheamus spies Rollins, flat on his ass, and thinks about cashing in MitB.... and he thinks, and he thinks some more. Then, he calls the ref over, and is about to cash in, officially.

That's when Orton gets into the ring and hits an RKO OUTTA NOWHERE on Sheamus.

So just like that, we're back to Sheamus/Orton being a major going concern, after Sheamus missed house shows due to concussion concerns. And presumably, it means we were just playing Cena's broken nose for the added drama, but Cena/Rollins is on, too. I'm not complaining. Nice use of all the rumors and moving pieces by WWE. It gave them an excuse for a #1 Contenders match and a WWE Title Match, none of which were REALLY meaningful, but both of which wound up being pretty compelling, regardless.

Final image is Orton celebrating, before we fade to black.

And so ends the show.. decent effort, on the whole. But nothing nearly as earth-shatteringly good as the past few weeks.

I think a case can be made the Amell/Stardust is the biggest "moment" of the night, and that's something where they still played it close to the vest (a quick pull-apart, after a shitty 80 second match)... that said, it still adds some cache to SummerSlam, because Amell looked very enthusiasic and capable when he stormed the ring, and he should occupy a spot somewhere in between Seth Green and Hugh Jackman on the Credibility Spectrum.

But the over-arching WWE Title stuff was also pretty good. Not jaw-dropping, or anything, in the end, but for an on-going throughline? Not too shabby. I bought into the idea of Cena missing SummerSlam, and a need for a new #1 Contender, and I bought into Cesaro/Owens/Orton meaning something. And Orton's shot at Rollins got a bit of extra traction if you knew Sheamus missed house shows (and maybe Orton needed a new SS plan?).

That's some nice work, playing off a bit of real life... and nothing else came up too lame. The tag title stuff worked for me. The IC Title thing worked, too. Stardust/Amell didn't suck. Women's turmoil isn't eh most elegant "out" for them, but it'll suffice. Wyatts vs. Shield is still very healthy. Two hot ladies in mini-skirts, check.

I mean, even the crappy parts of tonight's RAW fed into decent parts, so what am I supposed to say? A shitpot like Rusev/Henry leads to Lana/Summer.... I'll take it.

So while nothing on tonight's show reached the towering heights of recent shows, nothing sucked. I think I can, in good consciense, give a grade of B-minus, for tonight's effort.

See you in seven, OO Nation....

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Bonding Exercises

RAW RECAP: The New Guy Blows It

PPV RECAP: WWE Night of Champions 2012

SMACKDOWN RECAP: 18 Seconds? NO! NO! NO!

RAW RECAP: The Show Must Go On

SMACKDOWN RECAP: The Boot Gets the Boot

RAW RECAP: Heyman Lands an Expansion Franchise

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Losing is the new Winning

RAW RECAP: Say My Name

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Deja Vu All Over Again

RAW RECAP: Dignity Before Gold?

PPV RECAP: SummerSlam 2012

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Backfired!

RAW RECAP: Bigger IS Better

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Hitting with Two Strikes

RAW RECAP: Heel, or Tweener?

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Destiny Do-Over

RAW RECAP: CM Punk is Not a Fan of Dwayne

SMACKDOWN RECAP: The Returnening

RAW RECAP: Countdown to 1000

PPV RECAP: WWE Money in the Bank 2012

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Friday Night ZackDown

RAW RECAP: Closure's a Bitch

SMACKDOWN RECAP: In-BRO-pendence Day

RAW RECAP: Crazy Gets What Crazy Wants

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Five Surprising MitB Deposits

RAW RECAP: Weeeellll, It's a Big MitB

SMACKDOWN RECAP: #striketwo

RAW RECAP: Johnny B. Gone

PPV RECAP: WWE No Way Out 2012

RAW RECAP: Crazy Go Nuts

SMACKDOWN RECAP: You're Welcome

RAW RECAP: Be a Star, My Ass

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Needs More Kane?

RAW RECAP: You Can't See Him

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Lady Power

RAW RECAP: Big Johnny Still in Charge

PPV RECAP: WWE Over the Limit 2012

SMACKDOWN RECAP: One Gullible Fella

RAW RECAP: Anvil, or Red Herring?

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Everybody Hates Berto

RAW RECAP: Look Who's Back

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Care to go Best of Five?

RAW RECAP: An Ace Up His Sleeve

PPV RECAP: WWE Extreme Rules 2012

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Sh-Sh-Sheamus and the nOObs

RAW RECAP: Edge, the Motivational Speaker?

SMACKDOWN RECAP: AJ is Angry, Jilted

RAW RECAP: Maybe Cena DOES Suck?

SMACKDOWN RECAP: No! No! No!

RAW RECAP: Brock's a Jerk

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Back with a Bang

RAW RECAP: Yes! Yes! Yes!

PPV RECAP: WWE WrestleMania 28

E-MAIL RICK SCAIA
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Rick Scaia is a wrestling fan from Dayton, OH. He's been doing this since 1995, but enjoyed it best when the suckers from SportsLine were actually PAYING him to be a fan.