WWE Raw live results: Stomping Grounds go-home show

Date: June 17, 2019
Location: Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA

The Big Takeaway —

There was a show-long story where Seth Rollins used a steel chair to attack anyone who accepted Baron Corbin’s offer to be the special referee for their match on Sunday, including one guy who didn’t actually agree to it. Rollins beat Daniel Bryan in the main event, which was their first match in four years, and the first time Rollins beat Bryan in a singles match. Corbin attacked Rollins with a chair to end the show and we never found out who the referee will be.

Show Recap —

Elias kicked off the show. He said he asked his friend Anthony Davis why he would move to Los Angeles and Davis answered that he was a piece of garbage who wanted to be surrounded by other pieces of garbage and the people in LA were more toxic than the air.

Elias said he was invited by Baron Corbin to be here tonight. He took off his coat to reveal a referee shirt and announced he would be the referee at Stomping Grounds. As he spoke, Seth Rollins showed up and attacked him from behind with a steel chair. Rollins hit Elias repeatedly with the chair.

This seemed to eliminate Elias as the referee on Sunday. Rollins issued a warning to anyone who was considering siding with Corbin and accepting his offer. Rollins left.

The Miz came out for the opening match and gave Elias a Skull Crushing Finale. Bobby Lashley came out next and gave Elias a spear while looking in Miz’s direction. Cesaro came out next, shrugged his shoulders, and gave Elias the big swing. Ricochet was next and gave him a Codebreaker. Finally, Braun Strowman entered and gave him a powerslam.

Suffice it to say, this was a more fun than usual way to start Raw. 

5-Way elimination match: Ricochet defeated The Miz, Bobby Lashley, Cesaro and Braun Strowman (14:19)

The match began after a break. Samoa Joe watched from ringside.

Strowman dominated everyone early on. After Cesaro gave him a death valley driver, Strowman gave Cesaro a powerslam, then powerslammed Lashley onto Cesaro. Strowman then pinned Cesaro to eliminate him. (It was at this point I realized this was an elimination match. They were previously calling it a fatal 5-way.)

Soon after that, Strowman gave Lashley another powerslam to eliminate him. Cesaro and Lashley were both eliminated within the first 2:20 of the match.

Strowman did laps around the ring, running over Miz and Ricochet. Cesaro and Lashley attacked Strowman at this point. Lashley gave him a spear and Cesaro gave him a Neutralizer. Ricochet followed with a 630 splash and pinned Strowman (with help from Cesaro and Lashley) for the elimination. Strowman laid out everyone before leaving.

After a break, Ricochet nailed a flip dive on Miz. Miz later spiked Ricochet with a DDT for two. Miz followed with It Kicks but Ricochet turned a Figure Four attempt into a schoolboy for two. Miz then applied the Figure Four but Ricochet reversed it. Miz reversed back into the Figure Four but Ricochet got a rope break.

Miz tried a springboard move but Ricochet caught him with a Codebreaker followed by a 630 splash for the pinfall win. Ricochet faces Joe for the US Title on Sunday.

As Ricochet celebrated, Joe attacked him from behind. Ricochet fought back and gave him a Fosbury flop. 

They plugged Rollins vs. Daniel Bryan and noted that Rollins has never defeated Bryan one-on-one. They showed Bryan and Rowan arriving to the building, then showed Becky Lynch walking around backstage. 

They showed a picture of Rollins and Lynch kissing on the red carpet at the MTV Movie & TV Awards. 

Becky Lynch promo

Lynch came out to a good reaction. She called out Lacey Evans. Lynch called Evans dopey and warned her she would get what she deserved the next time they came within striking distance. Lynch offered to kick her ass all over Los Angeles.

Evans came out. Lynch mocked her for speaking so slowly. Evans continued speaking and got “what” chants from the crowd. Evans said she’s been through things that even Lynch couldn’t understand. Evans noted that they were in Hollywood and said there should be a movie about her. Evans mentioned that she was a former U.S. Marine, unlike Lynch.

Evans said the division deserved someone like her as champion. Lynch said she knew her story, but it didn’t matter, because she was still a steaming pile of trash. Evans said Lynch was beatable. As she slowly entered through the ropes while cutting her promo, Lynch grabbed her and gave her an Exploder. Lynch’s music played, she put on Evans’ hat and left.  

The Revival were all dressed up and joined Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre in a VIP lounge where they drank champagne.

Charly Caruso told Corbin that Elias no longer wanted to be the special referee and wondered if he was scrambling for a replacement. Corbin already had a replacement in mind and would reveal it on the Kevin & Sami Show tonight. Rollins showed up and nailed him with the chair. Rollins said he had more work to do. 

Daniel Bryan promo

Bryan and Rowan came out on the stage. Bryan understood why the McMahons wanted him here as a wild card tonight, “because this place sucks.” Bryan was referring to both Monday Night Raw and the city of Los Angeles. He called LA the smog capital of America filled with impotent people. Bryan said they were here to lift them up and excite them.

Bryan would excite them by beating Seth Rollins and prove that one-half of the Smackdown tag team champions was better than the entire Raw roster. It was also a message to the Raw tag teams. “Prepare to be excited!” The Viking Raiders came out for their match and had a brief staredown with Bryan and Rowan.

The Viking Raiders defeated Russ & Randy Taylor (0:33)

Viking Raiders won with the Viking Experience.

They cut to the front row where a bunch of fans/plants were booing the Viking Raiders. Among them were R-Truth and Carmella in disguise. Instantly after they were shown on camera, the 24/7 title division sprinted out to ringside. Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins were among them. Truth hid under the ring, but when someone went after him, they found Titus O’Neil randomly hiding under the ring instead. This allowed Truth and Carmella to escape through the crowd. 

Heath Slater showed up at Shane’s VIP party. Slater told Shane that his kids were getting older, everything was getting more expensive, and asked for a raise in his contract. The Revival laughed at him. Shane thought it took guts for him to ask and understood what it was like to have kids. He said no and told him to leave.

Shane then nodded at McIntyre who followed Slater out of the room. Slater was on the phone with someone breaking the bad news. McIntyre pulled cash out of his pocket for Slater. Slater declined, then McIntrye dropped the cash. Slater went to pick it up for him, then McIntyre attacked him. As he beat down on Slater, Revival and Shane came out to pull him off.

As they did this, Scott Dawson pocketed some of the cash, which got a laugh out of the crowd. They returned to the party and Dash Wilder picked up the rest of the cash.

The Kevin & Sami Show / The Sami & Kevin Show  

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were already in the ring. Owens apologized to Zayn because he requested new graphics and set but none of it was ready. He angrily yelled, “Thanks a lot, Bob!” Owens introduced Corbin.

Zayn removed himself from consideration as the referee because of what Rollins did to him last week and because of what Rollins has already done tonight. Owens also removed himself from consideration out of solidarity to Zayn.

Owens and Zayn gave Corbin a drumroll as he revealed his special referee: EC3. EC3 came out on the stage and was attacked by Rollins with the chair. Rollins left.

As Corbin contemplated what to do next, he was interrupted by the New Day. They placed a jacket over EC3’s dead body. Zayn said he checked the lineup and noted that New Day weren’t wild cards tonight.

Kofi Kingston said he was the WWE Champion which meant he goes where he wants, when he wants, and that meant his boys go with him too. Owens warned him that if Dolph Ziggler didn’t take the title from him, Owens would do it himself. Kingston reminded Owens that he lost at Money in the Bank. Kingston said he was ready for Ziggler, who had nowhere to run, and would leave Stomping Grounds as champion.

Corbin heard enough and challenged them to a six-man tag. Xavier Woods was willing, but they needed an official to approve it. Woods and Big E picked up EC3’s dead body, held the mic to his lifeless face, and Kingston’s voice accepted the match. I found this amusing. 

AJ Styles was with the trainer backstage when they were interrupted by Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, who were dressed as doctors. Styles was happy to see them and recalled that it was three years ago when they debuted at Staples Center and beat up the Usos. Styles mentioned the battles they had upon arriving.

Anderson and Gallows thought he was about to call them the best tag team in the world, but Styles actually said it was the Usos. Styles told them they’ve gotten too comfortable and wondered when they were last on TV, let alone the last time they won a match. He told them to get serious. Anderson got in Styles’ face and said they would beat the Usos tonight. 

2-out-of-3 falls six-man tag match: WWE Champion Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods & Big E defeated Baron Corbin, Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn (12:17)

New Day won the first fall at about 3:40 when Woods pinned Zayn with a schoolboy.

After a break, the heels worked over Big E. Big E gave Owens a belly-to-belly suplex and made the hot tag to Kingston who hit Corbin with strikes and flying crossbody for two. Kingston followed with a boom drop but after Zayn distraction, Corbin gave Kingston a Deep Six. Woods and Big E broke up the cover, then they were sent from the ring by Owens and Zayn.

Kingston ducked a Corbin clothesline and he nailed Zayn by accident. Owens stuck up for his friend and superkicked Corbin. Owens and Zayn left. Kingston then gave Corbin a Trouble in Paradise for the pinfall win. New Day won two straight falls. The crowd liked New Day. 

Backstage, Alexa Bliss had a gift for Nikki Cross. It was an invitation to join her in a title match against the IIconics tonight. Cross was excited and wondered how she pulled this. Bliss knew that she was upset about not getting a title shot despite beating Peyton Royce, so she worked her magic to get the shot. Bliss said WWE would finally have a woman’s champion who knew how to treat the fans. Cross didn’t know what she meant. Bliss mentioned something about Bayley and quickly moved on. 

Paul Heyman promo 

Heyman admitted to not being comfortable in the ring with Rollins running around attacking people with a chair. He made it clear that he was not the special referee, then said you’d have to be a “dumbass” to accept the spot considering what Rollins has been doing.

Heyman said Rollins and the LA Lakers had something in common–they both traded away their balls. The Lakers traded their Ball to get a new playmate for LeBron James to disappoint the fans, and Rollins traded his balls for a steel chair.

Heyman noted that Rollins had a match tonight against a formidable opponent in Daniel Bryan, and just maybe Brock Lesnar was here tonight. The crowd lightly cheered, then Heyman said maybe he wasn’t here and the crowd lightly booed. Heyman said maybe Lesnar would be there on Sunday or next Monday. He said nobody knew when Lesnar would be there, including the soon-to-be former Universal Champion Seth Rollins.

Backstage, Corbin offered Eric Young the role as referee. Young said he’d think about it. After Corbin left, Young then bumped into Rollins. Young assured him he wasn’t going to accept, he was just tired of talking to Corbin. Rollins said they’ve known each other for a long time and wasn’t worried about it. Young was relieved–then Rollins clobbered him with the chair from behind and nailed him with it repeatedly. 

The Usos defeated Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (2:40)

Styles was shown backstage watching on TV, rooting for his buddies. Anderson was in control but wasted too much time gloating. He tagged in Gallows, but they were fought off by the Usos. Both Usos gave Gallows superkicks for the pinfall win. Styles was disappointed. 

Roman Reigns was shown walking around aimlessly backstage.

They showed a Twitter video by Hulk Hogan from a few days ago where he wished the USA women’s soccer team luck against Chile. There was a line where he said they would “wipe Chile off the face of the map.” 

Roman Reigns promo 

Reigns said SSD was not a good week for him, but he didn’t have any excuses for us, because excuses aren’t entertaining. What was entertaining was him whooping some ass. He challenged Shane to be a man for the first time in his life and fight him tonight.

Shane appeared on the screen and had Mike Rome introduce him. Shane told Reigns there was no shame in losing to the best in the world. McIntyre then cut a promo on Reigns about their match. Reigns was likely as bored as the rest of us because he abruptly left and walked to the back. The Revival tried to cut him off but he laid them both out.

Reigns entered the VIP room and attacked Shane and McIntyre. Reigns put McIntyre through a table, then Shane ran away all the way to ringside. Reigns chased after him, leaped over the barricade and knocked him down. Reigns then gave him a superman punch and spear. Reigns grabbed a mic and told Shane to crawl to the back and tell McIntyre he’ll whip his ass on Sunday. 

Caruso approached Bayley who was hanging out with Naomi and Natalya. Caruso asked Bayley about a social media post suggesting that Bayley wouldn’t take a picture with a fan because the fan wore a Nikki Cross shirt. Bayley said that was obviously set up by Bliss. Bayley left do deal with Bliss. Natalya wondered if Bayley really wouldn’t take a picture with a fan.

Renee Young thought that this implication was hot steaming garbage, which is the second time a variation of that line was used tonight. 

The IIconics defeated Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross to retain the Women’s Tag Team Championship

The IIconics cut a promo before the match and they made more jokes about LeBron and the Lakers. Even Corey Graves commented on how tired this was getting. Renee gave the Toronto Raptors a shout-out. (I was an hour late for work today because of the Raptors parade.)

Bayley watched from ringside. Bliss was knocked off the apron and got face-to-face with Bayley. Bliss shoved Bayley down. Suddenly, Billie Kay rolled up Cross for the pinfall win. This didn’t even get on camera, because they cut back to ringside where Bayley shoved down Bliss. They quickly moved on from this and didn’t show any replays. This sucked. 

Backstage, Bliss apologized to Cross. Cross put the blame on Bayley, who crushed her dream. Cross told Bliss she would be in her corner for her title match on Sunday. Bliss nodded and the crowd cheered. (So Bliss’ plan worked and the fans are behind her.)

Firefly Fun House

Bray Wyatt said he knew what it was like to not belong. That’s why he built this place, so they could all be together. All of the puppets showed up, including the Vince puppet. Bray said people worship what they fear, and fear was power. A radio dial turned and a few different songs played, including a cover of the Muscle Man Dance. Bray then appeared in his creepy outfit as a child’s voice said “follow the leader.” This finished with Bray saying “let me in.”

Bryan asked Caruso why nobody had the common sense to just take the chair out of Rollins’ hand. Bryan said Rollins was not a better wrestler than him, and while Rollins might be the beast slayer, he’s never beaten him.

Rollins was shown walking backstage with the chair. Lynch walked by, they acknowledged each other, and he kept walking.

Non-title match: Universal Champion Seth Rollins defeated Daniel Bryan (w/Rowan) via DQ (1:12)

Bryan wore black with dark green. Rollins wore his Avengers: Endgame tights. Rollins gave Bryan a suicide dive. He tried one on Rowan but Rowan caught him and slammed him on the apron for the DQ. The crowd booed as Bryan gave Rollins a running knee.

New Day ran down the save Rollins. Owens, Zayn and the Revival ran down to attack them. The Usos followed to make the save and took out the heels with dives. The brawl continued as officials tried to break it up.

Mike Rome announced that the match would be restarted one-on-one with no one allowed at ringside.

Non-title match: Universal Champion Seth Rollins defeated Daniel Bryan (8:00)

Bryan sent Rollins to the outside and shoved him against the steel steps. Bryan followed with running dropkicks in the corner, but Rollins avoided the last one and nailed a clothesline, followed by a slingblade. Bryan avoided a curb stomp and they traded rollups. They then traded strikes.

Bryan missed a kick, then Rollins went for a Pelé kick, but Bryan dodged, grabbed his leg and applied an ankle lock. Bryan then turned that into a German suplex, sending Rollins out of the ring. Bryan followed with a flying knee off the apron.

Bryan went to the top but Rollins ran up and nailed a superplex. Rollins tried to follow with a Falcon Arrow but Bryan countered into the LeBell lock until Rollins got a rope break. Bryan hit Yes Kicks and went for the running knee, but Rollins caught him, hit a buckle bomb and superkick for a nearfall.

Rollins tried a frog splash while selling his shoulder, but Bryan countered into the LeBell lock. Rollins slipped out and used a schoolboy for two, then hit an enziguri and curb stomp for the pinfall win.

As Rollins backed up the ramp, Corbin attacked him from behind with a steel chair. Corbin hit him two more times with the chair, and the last shot appeared to catch Rollins on the back of the head. The referee quickly checked on Rollins as Corbin dragged him into the ring. Corbin gave him an End of Days then held up the title belt. No referee announcement. 

Final Thoughts —

The show started out well and you could tell they were making an effort to have the top babyfaces more in control than we’re used to seeing. The show quickly started to drag, though, and the crowd was quiet by the end. Also, Bryan and Rollins initially had enough time to have a 15-plus minute match, but because of the angle they did, they got 8 minutes instead.