WWE RAW & Smackdown July Thread

[UFCMPunk]

RAW Preview for July 20th:

Randy Orton vs Big Show - Unsanctioned Match

Christian Returns to RAW

Aliester Black vs Seth Rollins

Kairi Sane vs Bayley - The description for this match is "one night after Bayley and Sasha Banks STOLE the RAW Women's Championship from Asuka."

Asuka is still listed as the RAW Women's Champion on WWE.com.

[UFCMPunk]

Ruby Riott wins her first match in OVER A YEAR. Before tonight, Ruby's last win was Feb 11th, 2019 when she beat Nikki Cross.

[Majingir]

So MVP isn't officially US champ, but no explanation why Apollo who didn't show up for his title defense and hasn't been on TV in weeks gets to keep the title?

And Mustafa Ali returning. I guess he wasn't the hacker after all? Or maybe he was? They've dropped that angle weeks ago, so who knows.

[chronoxiong]

I feel like this week's RAW was an okay show. I wasn't too bored with it. Opening promo with Seth Rollins was effective. Then his match against Aleister Black was good too although I continue to wonder when will Aleister gain some momentum and climb up the ranks. We got a new 24/7 Champion in Shelton Benjamin and he instantly joins MVP and Lashley for a promo. Which leads to the bland Ricochet and Cedric Alexander to come out and challenge them with the arrival of Mustafa Ali. I guess so. The 6 man tag team match was solid though.

Ruby Riott wins her first match in over a year against Peyton Royce. It was too short too. Street Profits vs Garza and Andrade was solid too. I continue to be impressed by Montez Ford. He's a rising star for the future. Great match between Bayley 2 Beltz/Kairi. Bayley made her look so good. Loved the finish. If only Kairi can get a win over that slob Nia Jax, life will be good. Heard this was the last set of tapings she's doing before she goes back to Japan. Lastly, that Orton/Big Show match was fine too. Thought it was going to be boring. Orton continues to be fire right now. Love his work. Happy to see him punt Big Show post match.

[Majingir]

With the stipulation set up the way it is next week, who wins Banks vs Asuka? Funny how Sasha isn't officially champ, but they added these stipulations so it actually hurts Asuka more than Sasha (since the title can change hands with Asuka getting DQed).

Does Asuka win and we get Asuka vs Shayna at SS?

Or could Sasha win and we see a rematch such as a cage match at SS?

Maybe Sasha wins thanks to Bayley? Ref gets knocked out, Bayley comes down to try helping Sasha, only for a mini argument where Sasha doesn't want Bayley there and risk losing by DQ and "losing" the title. The ref gets up, sees Bayley who then "slaps" Sasha (making fans briefly think Bayley turned on Sasha) which forces the DQ and Sasha becomes champ.

Sashas the champ, another Sasha vs Bayley tease, Asuka gets a rematch (since theres no rematch clause, she has a case here since she got screwed in the match by technicalities), and the cage match would make lots of sense since it's designed to keep away outside interference like Bayley. Whoever wins the cage match gets attacked by the "cagefighter" Shayna.

[UFCMPunk]

Vince: Damn it Bruce, we need ratings! Move Big Show vs Randy Orton to RAW, that will draw ratings!.

Reality: Randy Orton vs Big Show drew a 0.42 with the 18-49 Demo. Worst quarter performance in the 27+ year history of RAW. Mind you this match was promoted ahead of time.

[UFCMPunk]

Quote: Originally Posted by Majingir

With the stipulation set up the way it is next week, who wins Banks vs Asuka? Funny how Sasha isn't officially champ, but they added these stipulations so it actually hurts Asuka more than Sasha (since the title can change hands with Asuka getting DQed). Does Asuka win and we get Asuka vs Shayna at SS? Or could Sasha win and we see a rematch such as a cage match at SS? Maybe Sasha wins thanks to Bayley? Ref gets knocked out, Bayley comes down to try helping Sasha, only for a mini argument where Sasha doesn't want Bayley there and risk losing by DQ and "losing" the title. The ref gets up, sees Bayley who then "slaps" Sasha (making fans briefly think Bayley turned on Sasha) which forces the DQ and Sasha becomes champ. Sashas the champ, another Sasha vs Bayley tease, Asuka gets a rematch (since theres no rematch clause, she has a case here since she got screwed in the match by technicalities), and the cage match would make lots of sense since it's designed to keep away outside interference like Bayley. Whoever wins the cage match gets attacked by the "cagefighter" Shayna.

Just watched RAW on my DVR. Stephanie worded it "If a certain role model gets involved" meaning Bayley but Asuka has Kairi. So Stephanie took the long way around of banning Bayley & Kairi from ringside but they aren't really banned. I'm curious if this will lead to a winner take all tag match at Summerslam. Kairi beat Bayley, and just have all the gold on the line. If Asuka & Kairi win, they become Tag Champs and Kairi becomes the SD Women's Champion.

I hope they do put the title on Sasha officially, you could play up the split using Survivor Series. Sasha being the RAW Champion is the captain for RAW, Bayley for SD. Bayley pins Sasha, ultimately costs her the title in December leading to a Sasha Rumble win and challenging Bayley at Mania.

[Majingir]

Apparently Kairi might be done with WWE, so who knows if she's even going to be around by SS