WWE RAW live results: The return of Vince McMahon

After being off television since March, Vince McMahon will return to Raw tonight in Detroit. This will set the wheels in motion over whether Shane or Stephanie McMahon will take over SmackDown, which has been the main focus of the brand extension since it was announced in May.

That’s one of several irons in the fire. The draft is set for next Tuesday, while Battleground is two weeks away as the company continues to hype the three-way main event while Roman Reigns is still serving his suspension.

Perhaps most interesting of all will be how much they acknowledge Brock Lesnar’s victory over Mark Hunt from Saturday night.  

Also scheduled for the show are Sasha Banks vs. Dana Brooke and a Battle Royal to determine the number one contender for The Miz’s I-C championship. 

The feud between John Cena, Enzo, & Cass and the Club will also be furthered on the show, with a six-man tag set for Battleground. 

Our coverage starts at 8 PM ET. 

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The Big Takeaway: Shane McMahon was named the Commissioner of SmackDown Live, as it was called, by Vince McMahon. Stephanie McMahon was named Commissioner of Raw.

However, Vince told both of them that they would each have to pick General Managers for their respective brands next week.

Show was built around next week’s draft and the matches were just a backdrop for them. Announcers talked about the draft constantly. Darren Young will face the Miz at Battleground for the Intercontinental Championship. Next week, Dean Ambrose will face Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship. 

The show opened with a battle royal to determine the #1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship. Apollo Crews was the only one who got a ring entrance.

The Miz and Maryse were on commentary. Miz got on the PA and welcomed the fans to the 98th day of the never ending Miz Intercontinental Championship world tour. 

Darren Young won a 17-man battle royal to become the #1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship (13:15) 

Aiden English was eliminated by Goldust at :50. Konnor was eliminated by R-Truth at 1:23. Curtis Axel was eliminated by Devon Dudley at 2:15. Truth was then thrown by Baron Corbin at 2:55, then Viktor was thrown out by Corbin at 3:09.

There was a spot where Jimmy Uso tried to throw out Jey Uso, but Jey slid under the ropes. Jey just smiled at his brother. In the midst of that, Devon missed a clothesline on both Usos, went over the top, landed on the apron and the Usos gave him a superkick party for the elimination at 3:31.

During a commercial, Dolph Ziggler eliminated Simon Gotch and Bubba Ray Dudley threw out Jey. Alberto Del Rio gave Goldust an enzuigiri for an elimination at 7:39. Crews threw out Bo Dallas at 7:51. Corbin threw out Jimmy Uso at 8:36, then gave Jack Swagger a backdrop over at 8:39.

Darren Young threw out Bubba Ray at 9:39. Corbin gave Young the End of Days in the middle of the ring.

Ziggler gave Del Rio a Famouser and tried to pin him. Ziggler quickly realized that mistake and tried to throw Del Rio over, but Del Rio recovered and gave Ziggler a Divorce Court. Del Rio fell between the ropes after a missed dropkick, and Ziggler kicked him out, but Del Rio got back in. At 12:01, Del Rio was eliminated by Crews.

So it was down to four men. Ziggler clotheslined Corbin, and both men fell over the top rope and caught themselves on the apron. With Corbin on the apron, Ziggler made a dash at Corbin, who caught him and threw him over.

Crews ran at Corbin, and they both went over to eliminate themselves, leaving Darren Young as the winner. Bob Backlund was at ringside and went wild, carrying Young in his arms. There was a “Darren Young” chant. 

They previewed a piece on how Brock Lesnar won his UFC fight for later tonight. They also promised footage of the New Day’s trip to the Wyatt Family compound. 

Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon discussed why their father would show up tonight. Shane said maybe he’ll be there to fire someone, implying Stephanie could get canned. Seth Rollins walked in and said there is footage regarding Roman Reigns that the world should see.

Shane suggested he show it on the Ambrose Asylum, but Stephanie would hear none of it. Rollins brought up nearly taking over for Jon Stewart on the Daily Show last year and said he could show it on his new talk show “The Rollins Report.” Stephanie liked that idea. 

Still photos of Lesnar’s victory over Mark Hunt aired. For his SummerSlam match against Randy Orton, they aired footage of Lesnar’s UFC post-fight press conference where he said Lesnar does what Lesnar wants to do. 

Zack Ryder walked up to Rusev and Lana backstage and challenged him to a U.S. Championship match. Sheamus jumped Ryder from behind and said Ryder would be facing him next instead. 

Sheamus defeated Zack Ryder (2:15) 

So Sheamus won clean as a sheet with the Brogue Kick. Then Rusev came down, gave Ryder a belly-to-belly suplex and the Accolade. Rusev accepted the challenge for a U.S. Championship match from the man who just lost in 2:15. 

Brezango defeated Lucha Dragons (4:20)

Tyler Breeze pinned Kalisto with a superkick while Kalisto was on the second rope. Kalisto got the hot tag from Sin Cara and botched a springboard move immediately. Cara hit Fandango with a plancha before the surprise finish. 

Rollins came out for the debut of the Rollins Report. He compared himself to an investigative reporter of the likes of Anderson Cooper, Stewart and Bill O”Reilly. He claimed to have obtained a sit-down, one-on-one interview with Reigns. Crowd already booed knowing where this was going.

Rollins threw it to a taped interview, which was a direct ripoff of an angle that the WWE did in 2000 with Kurt Angle as the heel and the Rock as the babyface where the footage was selectively edited with Reigns answering questions from past interviews while Rollins asked him questions that were out of context.

Rollins asked Reigns about Ambrose as world champion. Reigns, though not responding to that question directly, said it wanted to make him puke. 

Back in the ring live, Ambrose came out and said Rollins outdid himself, and he was happy that Rollins could pull that stick out of his butt and have some fun.

Rolllins called Ambrose a coward who couldn’t beat him one-on-one. Rollins said Ambrose tried and tried last year and failed, and now Ambrose wouldn’t give him a one-on-one rematch.

Rollins said at Battleground, it would be all about who is the best member of the Shield. Rollins said he would prove to the world that he was better than Ambrose before the Shield, during the Shield and after the Shield. 

Ambrose said he was the top man in the industry and he proved a long time ago that regardless of how many guys wash out of this sport, try another sport or get themselves suspended, he’s stayed where he is and now he’s at the top. Ambrose said Rollins has known him for a long time and what type of person he is.

So Ambrose asked Rollins if he was willing to go through all that to get the WWE Championship, how far would he be willing to go to keep it?

Ambrose said Rollins, Reigns, Vince McMahon or everyone else would have to pry the championship from his cold, dead hands. If Rollins wanted a one-on-one match for the WWE Championship, he could have it right now. 

Rollins teased accepting, but said not tonight. He would see Rollins next week. It was announced later than Rollins would face Ambrose for the championship.

Sami Zayn came out for commentary on Kevin Owens match. Owens was supposed to come out, but he refused. In a takeoff of Shawn Michaels, he told a group of referees he wanted Zayn removed because of an unsafe work environment.

Stephanie walked up and ordered the referees to remove Zayn from ringside. Zayn said Shane had given him permission to be there, but he was forced to leave. As he left, he and Owens got into a fight like they were Bob Probert and Tie Domi in 1990s NHL. 

Vince McMahon pulled up. Renee Young asked him about what he was going to announce tonight. He said he was going to announce the new COO of “SmackDown Live.” Then Vince corrected himself, saying since it was a new era, the term should be “commissioner.” 

Young asked him if anyone knew who the commissioner would be. Vince said no one did, and he might even change his mind before the night is over. 

Kevin Owens defeated Cesaro (12:19) 

Very good match which ended with Owens crotching Cesaro on the top rope. Owens got the pin with a torture rack into a neckbreaker, a move A.J. Styles has also used. As a rib, Cesaro grabbed JBL’s cowboy hat and wore it while he jumped off the top rope.

Post-match, Owens grabbed Byron Saxton’s headset and bragged about being the best in the world. Zayn ran out of the crowd and decked Owens with a crossbody block. Zayn threw Owens back in the ring, where Cesaro gave him a 13-rep Giant Swing. 

Styles, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows did an interview about the Club’s match with Enzo & Cass tonight. Styles mentioned that John Cena wasn’t in Detroit tonight because he was in Los Angeles preparing for the ESPY awards.

Anderson and Gallows ripped off Allen Iverson’s “practice” rant from 2002. The new deal with the Club is trying to get over “Go to (insert town) and beat up John Cena” as a catchphrase. 

Social Outcasts did an inset promo. Heath Slater said Titus O’Neal let down America on the Fourth of July when he lost to Rusev and let down his sons when he lost to Rusev on Father’s Day.

Dallas mentioned today was National Blueberry Muffin Day. Curtis Axel said there were going to be a lot of disappointed bakers tonight. 

Titus O’Neal defeated Heath Slater (3:08) 

O’Neal won with the Clash of the Titus. It was a match. 

Sasha Banks did an interview with Young. She talked about when she went to the gym over the weekend, all she could think about was beating up Dana Brooke.

When she went to get her hair done, her stylist wanted to know when she would beat up Brooke. When she watched her cousin Snoop Dogg on Family Feud last night, all she could think about was Brooke. 

Then came the New Day’s trip to the Wyatt Family compound.  It was pretty clear this was a direct copy of the Final Deletion from TNA last week that got such a stir online. New Day showed up to seven cars providing light by turning their car lights on.

It started with a car trying to run over the New Day, but it slammed into a truck. Out of the car came Braun Strowman, Erick Rowan and Bray Wyatt. The footage was splotchy and distorted.

It was edited together like a video with threatening background music as if it were the final fight scene in a horror movie. Rowan hit Big E. with a hubcap. Kofi Kingston came back by jumping off a pickup truck with a hubcap to Rowan’s back.

Rowan laid out Kingston with a Anderson Spinebuster on the ground. Xavier Woods was left and backed up against a tree like he was a classic Jason Vorhees murder victim.

Wyatt tried to hit him with an ax, then rammed his head against a tree to knock him out. Big E. gave Rowan a belly-to-belly suplex into a mud puddle.

Strowman tried to throw a huge tractor wheel onto Kingston, but missed. Then we saw Wyatt drop an unconscious Woods to the ground.

Strowman choke slammed Kingston onto the roof of the truck. Strowman teased jumping off the truck onto Kingston, but Woods recovered. Wyatt took out Woods again and threw him into the back of the car they arrived in.

Wyatt shattered the glass of the car with a pickax. Then Woods, Big E. and Kingston somehow recovered from all this. They stood together as Rowan, Wyatt and Strowman came out from the row of trucks that lined up with their lights on.

And dozens of children wearing sheep’s masks came out of the woods as Wyatt laughed and screamed “Follow the Buzzards.” 

Enzo and Big Cass did their routine. Cass talked about everybody wanting to take Cena’s spot, including the Club.

Cass said if he was going to take Cena’s spot, he would earn it. Styles said that Cena wasn’t here tonight because he doesn’t care about Enzo and Cass, and warned them to walk away. Enzo said “Walk away? The only place they were walking was into the ring right now.” 

Enzo & Cass defeated Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson by DQ (10:46) 

Enzo and Cass did the Rocket Launcher on Anderson. Styles jumped on the apron to distract Cass, who missed a big boot and took a bump to the floor. Styles threw Cass into the crowd for the DQ.

Anderson, Gallows and Styles surrounded Enzo. Then Cena came out to a huge pop. Cena punched Styles, who took a bump for a right hand that missed by two feet. The Club couldn’t believe that Cena would show up after they thought he was in L.A.

Fans spent the first half of the match with dueling chants for Styles and Amore. Then they chanted for and against Cena. Amore got the heat before Cass’ hot tag, where he hit the Empire Elbow on Gallows. 

Sasha Banks defeated Dana Brooke via submission (11:57) 

Banks won with the Bank Statement. Brooke got a surprising amount of offense and the crowd lost interest. Good near fall toward the end when Banks hit a crossbody.

Post-match, Charlotte said that Banks won by a fluke and challenged her to face Brooke again on SmackDown this Thursday. If Brooke won, then Charlotte would think about giving her a title shot. 

Main event segment started when Shane came out to about one-quarter of the reaction he got when he returned in the same building four months ago. Stephanie followed. Then came Vince. It’s become a thing where the fans sing Vince’s music.

Vince said Shane and Stephanie have done a pretty good job, but he was a little disappointed in both of them. It was as if neither one of them came from his loins. 

Vince derided Stephanie for being passive-aggressive, trying to get along with her brother and being too sweet. Then Vince said Shane shouldn’t be here because he lost his match at WrestleMania, but the only reason he’s around was because of his death-defying leap against the Undertaker.

But he was disappointed that he didn’t stab Stephanie in the back. So Vince said one of them had to convince him they should be commissioner of SmackDown Live.

Stephanie said she watched Shane’s interview with Mick Foley and said the reason why he left was because Vince didn’t pat him on the back enough. She said Shane talks behind Vince’s back all the time and he was the only villain in the ring. 

Shane started to speak but Stephanie interrupted him. Shane said he turned to the company five months ago in Detroit to an ovation that humbled him and rocked him to his core.

As for why he should run SmackDown Live, the fans reacted to him because of the change he would bring to the company.

That includes the glass ceilings that Stephanie and HHH had set because they were choking the life out of the business. Shane said he was the only one in this business that tells Vince and Stephanie what is on his mind without kissing their asses.

Shane said change was in the hands of Vince and if he still had the grapefruits, Vince should pick him. 

Vince said he could care less what the people thought because it’s not the way to run a business. He asked for a drumroll to think through his decision. Vince announced the new commissioner was Shane McMahon. 

Shane celebrated and his music played. Then Vince stopped the music and said Shane was no longer in charge of Raw. So he announced Stephanie would be running Raw. Stephanie started dancing in Shane’s face. Wasn’t she going to get Raw by default? 

Vince said he wanted Shane and Stephanie to compete at each other’s throats, in social media, in television ratings. He wanted them to compete and he didn’t even care if they broke the law, just as long as they didn’t get caught.

Vince said they each needed General Managers to run their respective brands, and if they don’t he’ll name one for them. Vince said “Let the Games Begin.” 

Vince left. Shane and Stephanie had a face-to-face confrontation. Stephanie said all her life she’s had to work twice as hard for half of the recognition. She’s going to make Shane wish he was never born.

Shane said Stephanie was hiding something. He said Stephanie was scared because she’s seen the movie. At the end of it, Stephanie was going to be looking up to him just as she’s always done. He said game on. 

Stephanie said the only game is the one she’s married to, then slapped Shane. He didn’t sell it.

Stephanie leaned her chin out for Shane to slap him, but he kissed her on the cheek. Stephanie slipped off the ring steps by accident as she left. Shane thanked the crowd and said if it wasn’t for them, he wouldn’t be there.