WWE Raw live results: Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey return

Date: July 30, 2018  
Location: American Airlines Arena in Miami, FL

The Big Takeaway —

After a lot of convincing, Brock Lesnar finally appeared on Raw in the final segment. He gave Kurt Angle an F5 and threatened to hurt Paul Heyman. Roman Reigns was escorted out of the building earlier in the show, so he did not get involved. Read below for more.

Ronda Rousey will make her Raw in-ring debut next week against Alicia Fox.

Show Recap — 

Two graphics were shown back-to-back in memory of Nikolai Volkoff (1947-2018) and Brian Christopher (1972-2018). 

After a recap of last week, Brock Lesnar was shown backstage with Paul Heyman. He got a mixed reaction but it seemed mostly negative. Speaking of which, Roman Reigns came out to start the show. Fans chanted “you suck” at him. 

Reigns gave Miami a shoutout for being energetic. He also gave credit to Bobby Lashley for going to war with him and said Lashley earned his respect. That’s more than he can say for Lesnar, who he has no respect for. He complained about Lesnar never showing up for work, but having plenty of time to go to UFC to confront Daniel Cormier (mentioned by name).

Paul Heyman interrupted. Heyman said the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result (note: that’s not the definition). Heyman suggested Reigns should be sitting in a padded cell instead of getting another shot at Lesnar, which the crowd cheered.

Heyman gave us a spoiler: that Lesnar would beat Reigns and go to UFC to become a two-sport champion. The crowd booed that. Reigns told him to shut up and bring out Lesnar. Heyman said Lesnar was sitting in his comfortable locker room and would come out when or if he felt like it.

Reigns said if Lesnar bothered to show up at SummerSlam, he would send him back to UFC not as the beast, but as Roman Reigns’ bitch. 

Seth Rollins was shown backstage getting psyched up for his match with Drew McIntyre. Ronda Rousey was shown speaking with Natalya. Rousey got a pretty big pop. 

Lesnar was shown sitting and reading The Backwoodsman magazine, which appears to be real. Heyman asked if he saw what happened. Lesnar said no. “I don’t watch the show, Paul. Why would I watch the show?” Heyman was about to play the audio of Reigns’ message, but Lesnar whipped his phone at the wall, chuckled, and went back to reading the July/August 2018 issue of The Backwoodsman. 

Baron Corbin defeated Finn Balor (20:05)

Corbin had control forever until Balor made a comeback 11 minutes into the match with a double foot stomp, chops, enziguri, and flip dive, leading to the match’s second commercial break. After the break, Corbin was back in control with at least his third rest hold. The crowd was booing.

Balor countered a chokeslam into a cradle for two, then hit a sling blade. Corbin followed with a chokeslam backbreaker for two. Balor hit a DDT but Corbin avoided a Coup de Grace attempt and used a Deep Six for a nearfall.

Balor dropkicked Corbin out of the ring, then into the barricade. He gave Corbin another dropkick into the turnbuckle but missed Coup de Grace. Corbin bounced up and hit End of Days for the clean win. The match was 20 minutes long, which is too many minutes. Balor sold for most of it and still lost.

After the match, Corbin ran back down and beat up Balor. Balor fought back for second before Corbin tossed him outside and clubbed him in the head repeatedly against the barricade. Balor sold it like he was knocked out. 

Kurt Angle approached Heyman backstage and told him Lesnar was contractually obligated to appear on the show. Heyman said he already fulfilled his obligation by showing up to the arena, but Angle could go talk to Lesnar if he wanted. Angle said Lesnar was Heyman’s problem, because if he didn’t appear, Heyman would be fired. 

WWE congratulated themselves on having 30 million Youtube subscribers. They then aired a video package of Stephanie McMahon’s announcement of the women’s PPV. They included comments from Alexa Bliss, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, and Bayley.

Bliss approached Alicia Fox and explained that Mickie James was injured, so Fox was her hand-picked replacement. She said not to worry about Rousey at ringside and to take care of Natalya. Fox said she would make Natalya say “me-ow” and made cat noises. 

Alicia Fox (w/Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss) defeated Natalya (w/Ronda Rousey) (5:01)

This was the top-of-the-hour segment. Fox got the heat after catching Natalya between the ring and the ring skirt. Natalya came back with a basement dropkick and discus clothesline for two. Fox then used a Northern Lights suplex for two.

Fox took a swipe at Rousey, which got Rousey on the apron. The distraction allowed Bliss to get a cheap shot on Natalya, then Fox gave her a big boot for the pinfall win.

Rousey took off her jacket and ran after Bliss and the crowd was very excited. She got her hands on Bliss but Fox got in the way. Rousey gave Fox a spinning Samoan drop and went back after Bliss but again she was stopped by Fox. Fox tossed her into the barricade a few times then she backed away with Bliss. Rousey went in the ring the check on Natalya. The crowd chanted for Rousey. 

In the locker room, Heyman tried to convince Lesnar to appear tonight. Lesnar said he doesn’t give a crap about the WWE Universe and would rather be at home on his couch. He told Heyman to get him a medium-well steak, baked potato with steamed broccoli. Heyman left.

Later tonight, Braun Strowman faces Jinder Mahal, and Banks/Bayley face the Riott Squad. 

Backstage, a furious Rousey told Angle that she was tired of Bliss and her friends. Angle announced that Rousey would have her first ever Raw match next week against Fox. The crowd lightly booed because they wanted the match now. 

Elias was in the ring. He spoke about the success of his album and said it would’ve done even better if not for Lashley who interrupted him last week. He called Lashley a loser. The crowd was completely behind Elias until he turned on the city.

He said Miami was the same town that worships Pitbull and a low-life like The Rock. The crowd loudly chanted for Rock, perhaps thinking he would appear. Elias said The Rock wants no part of him. He was about to sing, but Lashley interrupted. Elias suggested that Lashley wanted to sing with Elias. Lashley said no, but the crowd chanted “yes.”

Elias began singing and told Lashley to jump in whenever. Sure enough, Lashley began singing with a smile. Elias kept playing for a moment before jumping Lashley from behind. Lashley fought him off and suplexed him. Elias slunk away. This was a perfectly enjoyable segment. Elias is so good and playing the crowd. 

Kevin Owens congratulated Corbin on wiping the smile off Balor’s face. Owens said Corbin was now his son’s favourite wrestler, and he walks around the house in a dress shirt and vest. Corbin was happy to inspire. Owens wasn’t happy that Angle put Lesnar in a situation where Strowman could cash in tonight. Corbin basically said this wasn’t his problem.

Jinder Mahal (w/Sunil Singh) defeated Braun Strowman via countout (1:35)

Owens appeared at ringside and had Strowman’s contract. Strowman ran after him, so Owens chucked the briefcase at Sunil Singh, who was leveled by Strowman. Owens ran to the back and Strowman chased after him, which led to a countout win for Mahal.

Strowman marched back to the ring once he realized he was counted out, but Mahal escaped. Strowman was pissed. The crowd liked Strowman.

Angle spoke with Stephanie on the phone. You couldn’t hear her, but Angle sounded disappointed with her message, which was about the SummerSlam main event. 

Mojo Rawley confronted the low-carders in the locker room. He said he’s been running through the roster, taking out Tyler Breeze and No Way Jose. He also got in Zack Ryder’s face. Bobby Roode stepped in and asked if Rawley had a problem with him. Rawley asked what Roode would do about it, wondering if he would catch-phrase him into submission. Roode took him down and they brawled until officials broke it up. The other wrestlers just watched and egged them on.

Apollo Crews (w/Titus O’Neil & Dana Brooke) defeated Akam (w/Rezar) (1:53)

Akam ran shoulder-first into the turnbuckle, then Crews caught him in a schoolboy for the pinfall win in less than 2 minutes. Yup.

Before the match, the announcers put over O’Neil’s recent charity work alongside the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Florida Hospital, providing 15,000 kids with school supplies, eyeglasses and more. 

Seth Rollins defeated Drew McIntyre (w/Dolph Ziggler) via DQ (9:14)

McIntyre caught Rollins on a dive attempt, then catapulted him throat-first into a metal railing under the ring. Back from break, Rollins was perfectly fine and hit consecutive suicide dives. Rollins used a Falcon Arrow for two, then McIntyre hit a spinebuster for two.

Rollins hit consecutive superkicks and went to the top, but McIntyre caught him and hit a White Noise off the middle rope for two. Rollins rolled through a reverse Alabama Slam attempt and got a nearfall on a cradle. He immediately followed with the curb stomp but Ziggler ran in for the DQ. Rollins fought off Ziggler and gave him a suicide dive. Rollins was announced the winner by DQ and that was it.

Reigns was shown watching something on a tablet device when he was approached by Angle and Corbin. Angle told Reigns that Stephanie wanted him removed from the building, or else he would lose his title match.

Reigns wondered when this stuff was going to end. Reigns said Angle was a champion and told him he wasn’t a yes-man. Before Angle could respond, Corbin called for police officers to escort Reigns from the building. Angle asked Corbin if this was necessary. Reigns punched Corbin in the face before leaving with the officers. 

There was a quick [corporate sponsor] video package for Curt Hennig. Cedric Alexander vs. Brian Kendrick was plugged for 205 Live. 

Charly Caruso interviewed B-Team in the ring. Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel said this has been like a dream and thanked their fans for supporting them. Caruso said Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt weren’t exactly fans of theirs. Axel wondered why they got attacked last week and dared them to come out.

Hardy and Wyatt showed up in the ring and Caruso left. Hardy said B-Team’s success was a cosmic anomaly. Wyatt said dreams were fleeting but nightmares were real and they were the B-Team’s nightmare. Hardy said they would haunt them until they were deleted.

The Revival interrupted. Scott Dawson wondered how these two teams were on top and Dash Wilder reminded us that they beat Reigns and Lashley. A brawl broke out, so B-Team bailed and Revival were tossed from the ring by Hardy and Wyatt. 

The Revival defeated Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt

Revival won clean with the Shatter Machine on Wyatt. Dallas and Axel were on commentary. Dallas complimented Revivals’ in-ring ability but doesn’t love fists and much as they do.

Rollins told Renee Young it was frustrating dealing with the numbers game, but nothing was going to stop him from taking the title at SummerSlam. He was suddenly attacked from behind by Ziggler and McIntyre who left him laying.  

Sasha Banks & Bayley defeated Sarah Logan & Liv Morgan (8:49)

They decided to run down the SummerSlam card during the entrance for Banks and Bayley. Ruby Riott was not at ringside, even though she was shown in the graphic for this match earlier.

The faces were in control before the break, the heels were in control after the break. Bayley made a hot tag and ran wild on Morgan. Bayley gave her a hurricanrana off the top, then Banks hit meteora off the top. They had it won but Logan broke up the cover. They tossed her from the ring, Banks gave Morgan a backstabber, then Bayley followed with Bayley-to-belly for the win. 

Heyman made one last attempt to convince Lesnar to go to the ring. He suggested they go the ring, say hi to the crowd, then leave and go to a steakhouse. Lesnar ignored the suggestion and wondered if Heyman got his money.

Heyman told him that Angle threatened to fire him if Lesnar didn’t go to the ring. Heyman said he should do it, if only because they’re friends. Lesnar grabbed him and said they aren’t friends, Heyman works for him. Lesnar told Heyman to go to the ring and do his job. Heyman was terrified. 

Rousey vs. Fox was confirmed for next week in Jacksonville. Also, Roode will face Rawley. 

Main event segment 

Angle and Corbin came to the ring. Angle told Heyman to produce Lesnar or else it would be his last night on Raw. A dejected Heyman came out and introduced himself as the crowd sang the goodbye song. He said Lesnar would not be appearing tonight.

Angle was pissed off. He said a real champion shows up, defends his title, works his ass off for the fans and does charity work. He said Lesnar does none of those things and called him the worst Universal champion of all-time. The crowd chanted “yes.” Heyman agreed with him. Heyman has tried to rehabilitate Lesnar but he won’t listen to him.

He tried to mold Lesnar in Angle’s own image, a gold medalist who won with a broken neck. Heyman said Angle should be taking this out on Lesnar, not him. Angle said he was full of crap. Heyman said Lesnar didn’t respect anyone, but Heyman did respect Angle. Angle terminated his contract, then Heyman fell to his knees, grabbed Angle by the leg and pleaded with him.

Lesnar came out. Heyman had his evil grin as Lesnar sauntered to the ring. Lesnar put the belt on Heyman’s shoulder and grabbed the mic. The crowd booed him. Lesnar got in Angle’s face and asked if he had a problem with him. He got in Corbin’s face too and asked the same question.

Lesnar suddenly grabbed Angle and gave him in F5. He stared down Corbin who slowly backed out of the ring. Heyman gave Lesnar his belt and they laughed. Lesnar then aggressively grabbed Heyman by the face and told him to look at what he did to Angle. A moderate “we want Roman” chant broke out. Heyman writhed around in pain as Lesnar left. 

Final Thoughts —

They’ve successfully turned Lesnar heel to the majority of the WWE audience. You can argue the value of doing this, but what they should not do is make Lesnar seem like an undeserving champion. In one segment, Lesnar was shown as a malcontent who isn’t taking this seriously. In the final segment, Angle called him the worst Universal champion ever. Tearing him down right before he’s finally set to lose to Reigns doesn’t seem like a great idea.