WWE Raw live results: McIntyre-Rollins contract signing
Date: April 27, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL
The Big Takeaway —
Apollo Crews pinned Andrade in a six-man tag match which earned him a US title shot later in the night. However, the match was stopped after Crews “injured” his leg and Andrade retained. They teased that Crews may not be able to compete at MITB.
Jinder Mahal returned and won a squash match over Akira Tozawa, Liv Morgan beat Ruby Riott again, and Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins signed a contract.
Samoa Joe was on commentary in place of Jerry Lawler. Lawler was briefly used in the contract signing.
Becky Lynch and Kevin Owens were not on the show.
Show Recap —
Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and Samoa Joe are tonight’s announcers. No Jerry Lawler.
MVP’s VIP Lounge
The ring was set up like a nightclub lounge. MVP spoke about the Money in the Bank ladder match then introduced Rey Mysterio, Aleister Black and Apollo Crews, who all came out one at a time. MVP asked Black not to break anything. They all sat down on comfy chairs waiting for MVP to ask them questions.
MVP asked Mysterio a question but before he could answer, MVP answered the question for him. MVP allowed Crews to talk but as soon as he started, he was interrupted by Zelina Vega, Andrade, Angel Garza and Austin Theory. Vega called them the future and said none of the men in the ring could measure up. They entered the ring.
Vega went on for a while and concluded that Mysterio, Black and Crews should allow her men to take their place at MITB. Mysterio thought this was absurd and also figured they wanted to pick a fight. Mysterio, Black and Crews attacked, sending the heels out of the ring.
This was kind of a nothing segment.
Six-man tag match: Apollo Crews, Rey Mysterio & Aleister Black defeated US Champion Andrade, Angel Garza & Austin Theory (w/Zelina Vega) (24:37)
Mysterio went for a double 619 but Andrade tagged himself in and cut him off. Mysterio used a leg scissors takedown and went for a 619 but Andrade’s teammates pulled him out of the ring. Black and Crews hit flip dives on Garza and Theory which led to a commercial break.
Black was getting beat up after the break. After a while, Black came back with strikes and tagged in Mysterio who gave Andrade a leg scissors takedown, springboard seated senton, and a kick to the head but Andrade kicked out. Garza tagged in but Mysterio gave him a springboard crossbody for two. Garza punted him and slid him out of the ring leading to another break.
Mysterio was getting beat up after the break. Black was down on the outside (to put the odds further against Mysterio) for a long time but they provided no explanation. After a while, Mysterio hit a tilt-a-whirl DDT and tagged in Crews who used shoulder tackles and powerslam on Theory but Andrade broke up the cover. Theory responded with a nice neckbreaker for two.
Black kneed Theory, Garza superkicked Black, Mysterio gave Garza a seated senton, and Andrade tossed Mysterio from the ring. Andrade gave Crews a spinning back elbow for a nearfall. Crews followed with a spin-out powerbomb for the pinfall win. Crews pins the US Champ. (Garza tried to break-up the cover but Mysterio stopped him.)
They’re counting down Triple H’s top ten moments. Number ten was Triple H forming the “DX Army” with Chyna, X-Pac, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg in March 1998.
Number nine was Triple H beating Sting at WrestleMania 31 in March 2015.
Charly Caruso interrupted an argument between Andrade and Vega. Caruso asked what went wrong in the match. Andrade looked at Vega and asked, “what happened?” Vega said his teammates let him down and he agreed. Andrade added that Crews couldn’t beat him one-on-one.
After they left, Crews popped in and was very pleased with himself. He told Caruso that he could beat Andrade twice in one night. Andrade and Vega returned and Andrade told Crews that he didn’t deserve a title match. Crews slapped him right in the face. Vega was pissed and got in his face. Crews wanted a title match so she gave it to him. This was good.
They aired a video recapping the angles so far between Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre.
Triple H moment number eight was his WWE Championship win over The Rock, with help from Shawn Michaels, on the first Smackdown in August 1999.
[Second hour]
Triple H moment number seven was Stephanie McMahon walking in on him teaching Trish Stratus some holds in July 2000.
Triple Threat match: Asuka vs. Nia Jax vs. Shayna Baszler
The match didn’t happen.
As Asuka entered, the announcers said Asuka has a personal issue in this match and at MITB. They showed a replay of Jax clumsily dumping Kairi Sane into the turnbuckles before ultimately beating her in the match. Asuka cut a pre-match promo reminding us that she’s tapped out Jax. Asuka kept going until she was interrupted by Jax’s music.
Baszler yanked Asuka out of the ring and tossed her into a ladder. All three of them brawled and Jax eventually got the better of them. She rammed a ladder into both women, sending them out of the ring. She teased dumping the ladder on top of them but just dropped it in the ring instead. They played Jax’s music as she stood tall. That was it.
Bobby Lashley told Lana that she should remain backstage for his match. He knew she wanted to help but she was a distraction at ringside. Lana was offended until Lashley told her she was a distraction because of how beautiful she was. She understood. They were happy.
Bobby Lashley defeated Denzel Dejournette (1:42)
Dejournette blocked a kick and very lightly slapped Lashley in the face. It was so light that it almost made it better because he legitimately looked terrified by Lashley. Lashley attacked him and won after a suplex and spear. (There was a new woman referee for this match.)
They plugged the new Battlegrounds video game. The commercial ends with Charlotte Flair decking Becky Lynch.
Liv Morgan defeated Ruby Riott (2:54)
After Morgan beat Riott last week, one of the announcers said Morgan was done with her.
Ruby hit a Riott Kick about 90 seconds into the match but Morgan kicked out. Riott acted stunned as if she kicked out of a Pedigree after wrestling for 30 minutes. Riott continued the attack but Morgan caught her with a Flatliner off the ropes for the pinfall win. Morgan’s finisher is now called “ObLIVion.”
Saxton asked Morgan if this was the start of a new chapter. Morgan said she’s had so many chapters and there’s many more to come. She was like many people her age, still trying to figure out who she was. She was confident she would figure it out.
Triple H moment number six was Hunter Hearst Helmsley beating Mankind to win the King of the Ring final in 1997.
Caruso approached Jax backstage and told her people were questioning her actions earlier tonight. Jax asked what she or anyone else could do about her actions. She then shrieked that they could do “nothing.” Hopefully your volume was down for this.
The Viking Raiders cut a promo on the Street Profits. They said the Street Profits have never beaten them and they only rise when the Viking Raiders aren’t around. The Street Profits may hold the belts, but as long as the Raiders were around, the Street Profits were only second best. The Raiders said, “we want the smoke.”
Jinder Mahal returns next.
Triple H moment number five was NXT invading Smackdown last November.
Jinder Mahal defeated Akira Tozawa (1:36)
Mahal tossed Tozawa around ringside and won via pinfall after a Samoan drop and Khallas.
Caruso wanted to ask Andrade and Vega a question. Vega didn’t want to hear any more questions and they left. Garza slinked in. He called her a professional and asked if she’d like to get better acquainted sometime in the future. She said yes. He gave her a rose.
Triple H moment number four was him and Shawn Michaels doing their impressions of Vince and Shane McMahon in June 2006. (HHH has won over 20 titles in WWE and this was his fourth-most defining moment?)
Andrade (w/Zelina Vega) defeated Apollo Crews via ref stoppage to retain the US Championship (16:48)
They went back-and-forth early on until Andrade avoided a dive and hit a clothesline. Crews sold it as if he tweaked his knee.
[Third hour]
After a break, Andrade was in control and applied a single leg crab. Crews avoided a running double knee strike and hit an Angle Slam. Crews followed with a clothesline, shoulder tackles, Stinger Splash, overhead belly-to-belly suplex, press slam, and standing moonsault for two. Andrade dropped him into the turnbuckle and hit the running knee strike for two.
They traded strikes until Andrade countered a press slam into a DDT for a nearfall. Crews kicked out of a victory roll and hit an enziguri and powerslam for two.
Crews went for a frog splash but Andrade moved and Crews landed awkwardly on his leg. Andrade tried to attack but the referee stopped him. Crews sold as if he was injured and the referee called for the bell because Crews could not continue. Andrade retained. This was good until the finish.
Triple H moment number three was the formation of Evolution in February 2003.
The Street Profits cut a promo on the Viking Raiders. They told a few jokes before admitting the Viking Raiders were right. The Street Profits wanted to prove them wrong and accepted a tag title challenge next week.
They aired a clip from Becky Lynch’s WWE 24 documentary. It focused on her win over Ronda Rousey and Charlotte at last year’s WrestleMania. It included words from Sami Zayn, Charlotte, Seth Rollins, Natalya, Lynch’s dad, and Lynch herself.
Ricochet & Cedric Alexander defeated Ever-Rise (Chase Parker & Matt Martel) (4:08)
This actually wasn’t a straight squash but Ricochet and Alexander still won fairly quickly. Ricochet gave Parker a superkick, then Ricochet and Alexander did a combo double foot stomp/flatliner for the pinfall win.
MVP appeared on the screen and congratulated Ricochet and Alexander on their win. However, he wanted to introduce them to the team of Shane Thorne and Brendan Vink. MVP said their win over Thorne and Vink last week was a fluke. They have a rematch next week.
Triple H moment number two was DX attempting to invade WCW in April 1998.
A sad Apollo Crews limped away from the trainer’s table on crutches with ice wrapped around his knee. Caruso approached him. She was apologetic and mentioned this must hinder his progress. Crews was basically crying. He waved her off and left without responding. (There was a poster of Tyler Breeze in the background.)
Triple H moment number one was his recovery from a torn quad. (They only showed his actual return on Raw, not him winning the Rumble or beating Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 18.)
Drew McIntyre-Seth Rollins contract signing
Jerry Lawler hosted. He explained the rules of the MITB match before introducing both men. Rollins wore a black suit with a white shirt. He still wore a single glove. McIntyre wore jeans, a t-shirt and leather jacket. McIntyre advised Lawler to leave the ring, just in case. Lawler was happy to oblige.
They both sat down. McIntyre immediately signed the contract. He suggested Rollins should sign too and they can get this done in 20 seconds.
Rollins didn’t sign. He asked McIntyre if he thought he really wanted this. Rollins said he dropped McIntyre two weeks ago but this wasn’t about either of them. This was bigger than them. Rollins said McIntyre would be a great champion one day but he was not a leader. Rollins was a leader and the WWE universe needed that.
Rollins said he suffered for the title but McIntyre doesn’t have to. He doesn’t want McIntyre to suffer the way he did. It was Rollins’ burden to carry.
Rollins doesn’t want to be the one to crush his dream, but it was a sacrifice he was willing to make, and in time, this would make sense to McIntyre. When that time comes, Rollins invited McIntyre to find him, and Rollins would not turn him away.
McIntyre thanked him for that speech. McIntyre said it was now clear to him and everyone else: “You’re completely full of shit.” McIntyre asked where all of his followers were and reminded him that the fans turned on him. McIntyre didn’t know what this Rollins was all about, but he did know he wouldn’t let him win the championship.
McIntyre had some advice: shut your mouth. He said nobody wanted to hear Rollins talking. Not the fans, nobody in the back, and probably not even his own family. McIntyre advised Rollins to try to finish the job at MITB and go for the throat, because he was planning on doing the same.
Rollins said the picture would be clear at MITB and McIntyre would be better off for it. Rollins signed the contract. Rollins leaned over the table and told McIntyre to have faith. McIntyre drove his head against the table and tossed the table out of the ring. He set up for a Claymore Kick but Murphy appeared and attacked him.
Rollins hugged Murphy. As they hugged, McIntyre flew in with a Claymore Kick. He was aiming for Rollins but Rollins managed to move and Murphy was killed instead. This was a pretty funny visual. (Murphy likely pushed Rollins out of the way, although it was hard to see.) Rollins bailed.