India Independence Celebration
-The show starts with Jinder Mahal. They call Cena vs Mahal tonight the biggest match in Smackdown Live history and I’m trying to not hurt myself from laughing so hard.
-Jinder said something about this being India’s celebration of independence or something. I’m still too busy laughing over here. There are a bunch of dancers doing a dance. Some woman sings India’s national anthem.
This is the go home Raw before Summerslam and there are some lingering questions –
Will Brock Lesnar get his hands on any of his opponents before Sunday??
Will Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins be able to put aside their differences to destroy SheaSaro, or will they only destroy each other??
Who will take Bayleys spot against Alexa Bliss this Sunday?
Will we see a bunch of matches tonight that should be held off until Summerslam?
Well, we got those answers and more on this weeks MONDAY NIGHT RAW!
Match For 3 Aztec Medallions: The Rabbit Tribe vs The Worldwide Underground
-Jack Evans, out with a broken jaw during this, is now the sign guy of the group.
-Saltador grabs Taya’s ass then pushes her down by it.
-Paul London and Saltador come in and block Mala Suerte from getting hurt by Taya in the corner because they both want to get some of Taya.
Well, here we are. After over two weeks of outstanding wrestling action we are at the finale of the G1 Climax. I’ll start with a breakdown of the Finals then add more thoughts to the overall tournament after.
G1 Finals: Tetsuya Naito vs Kenny Omega
-The crowd erupts right after the bell rings. This is a great atmosphere.
-Naito tosses Omega to the outside and goes for a dive but nope, signature pose.
-Omega blocks a throw into the railing then hits a moonsault off it.
We want to thank Matt Ederer for all of his contributions during the G1. You can follow him on Twitter @MattEderer and all of his blog postings here: https://medium.com/@TheSpoilerRole
The definition of a one match show. The undercard was fine, if a little weaker than last night’s. The first four G1 matches were mostly good, but nothing spectacular or above 4*. Omega/Okada III is the one we were all waiting for. Did it deliver? Let’s find out.
El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taka Michinoku & Taichi vs. Tiger Mask, Jushin Thunder Liger, KUSHIDA & Hirai Kawato
Your typical NJPW tag team opener. I’m a big fan of KUSHIDA, and Ol Despy’ is awesome when he gets the chance. A long match or short program between those two guys could be pretty good. They have some chemistry.
Solid NJPW tag team opener,. If you’ve seen them before, you’ve seen this before.
WINNERS: Suzukigun- 2.5*
Justin C and Cam bring you this week’s HTCWrestling Podcast. They look back at SummerSlams from the past and talk about the Top 3 Non-Title matches of all time. They also look at how this year’s current SummerSlam is taking shape and how the injuries to Bayley and Scott Dawson affect not only the card but plans for the women and tag team division on RAW. They also discuss the “controversial” spots from Indy wrestling shows this past weekend involving Lio Rush and Joey Ryan. Do they think they killed the business just like Jim Cornette?
Listen to find out!
John Cena Opening Segment
-Cena said last week he found out that Nakamura hits hard. And he thought he was easily on his way to become 17 time Champ. Then next thing he knew he lost.
-The crowd broke into a Jinder chant, cheering their national hero who is so proud of Canada that he is billed from India.
-Cena said last week Nakamura earned the right to become a Champion.
B Block Match: Tama Tonga vs Satoshi Kojima
-Tonga attacks Kojima before the bell. He puts on Kojima’s jacket then does his trademark chops in the corner.
-Tenzan chops Tonga on the apron with the ref trying to get him off allowing Kojima to get the upper hand.
-Tonga grabs Kojima off the top and face plants him. He then hits a splash in the corner and follows it up with a neckbreaker.
-Kojima blocks the Stun Gun and we get our first LARRIIIAAATTTTOOOOOO!!!
TONIGHT…
Bayley is injured! Is she OUT at Summerslam?! Who will replace her?!
Who will be the LAST MAN STANDING when BRAUN meets his arch rival Big Dog Roman Reigns?
Are Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins still at odds? Or will they finally squash their differences to become brothers once again?
How is Titus Worldwide doing now that Tozawa has a shot at KING Neville again?!
With Finn moved on to Bray Wyatt has The Drifter….drifted away?!
We’ll look to get all the answers to those questions and more TONIGHT…on MONDAY NIGHT RAW
Her interactions with the fans are on point. The fans here were chanting for Bayley to drop the title all night.
WWE.com broke the news today that Bayley is officially out of her SummerSlam match with Alexa Bliss. Bayley suffered a separated shoulder last week in her match with Nia Jax. Bayley will be on RAW tonight to address her injury and more than likely give a final message to the fans.
To replace Bayley, there will be two separate triple threat matches. The winners will then face each other and the winner of that match will go on to face Alexa Bliss at SummerSlam. I’d be shocked if the two winners aren’t Nia Jax and Sasha Banks.
