WWE RAW Results: July 25, 2016

Detailed Results

With the new RAW commentary team of Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, & Corey Graves at their new announce position near the staging area, the new era of Monday Night RAW kicks off with RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and RAW General Manager Mick Foley in the ring. After welcoming everyone to RAW, Mick Foley introduces the new, exclusive RAW roster as Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Neville, Mark Henry, Women’s Champion Charlotte, Dana Brooke, Sasha Banks, Chris Jericho, Titus O’Neil, Sin Cara, The Golden Truth, Nia Jax, Alicia Fox, Darren Young, Bob Backlund, Sheamus, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, United States Champion Rusev, Lana, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Braun Strowman, Cesaro, Jack Swagger, The Dudley Boyz, The Shining Stars, Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel, Summer Rae, Enzo & Big Cass, and WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day all make their way out to the stage.

The General Manager assures the roster that he will be working with each and every one of them to ensure that RAW is as entertaining and hard-hitting each and every week. Stephanie then adds that Foley will have “full authority” to do so before addressing what happened in the main event of Battleground in the Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship where Dean Ambrose defeated Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns to retain the WWE Title and ensure that the most prestigious championship in WWE is the exclusive property of SmackDown Live.

The RAW Commissioner puts the blame solely on the shoulders of Roman Reigns, who was hit with Dirty Deeds and pinned by Dean Ambrose in the title match, saying that, now, the WWE Championship belongs to SmackDown Live. Stephanie then says that Seth Rollins had the match well in hand before Roman “screwed it up” for everyone on the RAW roster, calling Reigns a “loser”. The RAW Commissioner continues, saying that there has always been a World Champion on RAW and that is exactly what is going to happen! Mick Foley then explains that tonight’s episode of RAW will feature two Fatal 4-Way Matches with the winners of those two Fatal 4-Way Matches advancing to the main event of RAW. Stephanie then adds that the winner of the main event will go on to SummerSlam to face Seth Rollins for the new top championship on RAW! Foley then says that this new championship is named for the WWE Universe, so the top championship on RAW will be called the WWE Universal Championship!

The RAW General Manager then announces the eight men who will compete in the two Fatal 4-Way Matches as Sami Zayn, Sheamus, Chris Jericho, Cesaro, Roman Reigns, United States Champion Rusev, Kevin Owens, and their first NXT draft pick Finn Balor will all be in the running to earn a shot at the WWE Universal Championship! With that, Finn Balor steps onto the stage alongside the other seven Superstars who will get the opportunity to come one step closer to making history on RAW. Stephanie then asks for Women’s Champion Charlotte to step forward before Mick Foley says that Charlotte did tap out to Sasha Banks in their tag match at Battleground and, therefore, Charlotte will be defending the Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks tonight on RAW! Stephanie then declares that tonight is going to be a “historic night” on RAW and the first of two Fatal 4-Way Matches will start right now!

The first of two Fatal 4-Way Matches would be the opening match of RAW as “The Swiss Superman” Cesaro, United States Champion Rusev, Kevin Owens, and the debuting Superstar from NXT Finn Balor would all compete with the first Superstar to score a pinfall or submission will advance to the main event to compete against the winner of the other Fatal 4-Way Match with the ultimate goal of advancing to SummerSlam to face Seth Rollins for the brand new Universal Championship. Towards the end of a wild match, Kevin Owens would hit the Pop-Up Powerbomb on Finn Balor but Cesaro would break up the pin. Cesaro then shoves Balor out of the ring before hitting Owens with the springboard corkscrew uppercut before “The Swiss Superman” prepares for the Cesaro Swing.

However, Rusev would intervene with a kick to the face of Cesaro before the United States Champion takes Owens down as well. Rusev then locks in the Accolade on Owens before Cesaro comes back into the ring with a big suplex to Rusev. Cesaro then looks for the Sharpshooter, but Rusev counters into the Accolade before Cesaro reverses that into a roll-up that the United States Champion barely kicks out of. Cesaro then levels Rusev with a big clothesline, leaving both men down in the ring.

Cesaro and Rusev then make their way back to their feet as both men trade shots before “The Swiss Superman” sends Rusev for the Cesaro Swing, locking in the Sharpshooter on the United States Champion. Kevin Owens then re-enters the fray, dropping Cesaro with a super kick before hitting the Cannonball to Rusev in the corner. Finn Balor then comes in with a high velocity dropkick to Kevin Owens before Balor hits the slingblade on Owens. Finn then hits a dropkick on Rusev before Balor climbs to the top rope, drilling the United States Champion with the Coup de Grace, pinning Rusev to win the Fatal 4-Way Match and advance to the main event of RAW where he will face either Sami Zayn, Chris Jericho, Sheamus, or Roman Reigns for the right to go one-on-one with Seth Rollins at SummerSlam to decide the first ever Universal Champion!

The new era of RAW would then see the debut of a one-of-a-kind competitor from NXT as the powerhouse Samoan known as Nia Jax would face Brit Baker. The dominant Superstar would have the match won after one leg drop, but Nia Jax would decide to punish her opponent, hitting a second leg drop before pinning Brit Baker to pick up a dominant victory in her debut match on RAW.

The second Fatal 4-Way Match of the night would then take place on RAW as six-time former World Champion Chris Jericho, “The Celtic Warrior” Sheamus, “The Underdog from the Underground” Sami Zayn, and Roman Reigns would all compete with the first Superstar to score a pinfall or submission advancing to the main event to face Finn Balor with the winner of that match facing Seth Rollins at SummerSlam for the new Universal Championship. Early on in the match, Sheamus and Chris Jericho would work together to try and take Roman Reigns out of the equation with Sami Zayn adding a bit of a helping hand. Sheamus and Jericho then set their sights on taking Sami Zayn out of the match, but Zayn would fight back against the two former World Champions, sending both men out of the ring before Roman Reigns comes back into the ring. Roman takes down Sami, trying to keep Sheamus and Jericho out of the ring as he goes to work on Sami Zayn.

Roman Reigns would later take control of the match before Sami Zayn comes back into the fray, nearly beating Reigns with the Blue Thunder Bomb. Sami then goes for the Helluva Kick, but Roman counters, hitting a sitout version of the Razor’s Edge. Roman then goes for the Spear, but Sheamus intervenes with a big boot to Reigns before Zayn hits Sheamus with the Helluva Kick. Chris Jericho then tosses Sami out of the ring, trying to steal the pin on Sheamus, but Zayn breaks it up. Jericho would then lock in the Walls of Jericho on Sami Zayn before Sheamus levels Jericho with the Brogue Kick. Sheamus then targets Sami Zayn before Roman Reigns takes out Sheamus with the Superman Punch. Reigns then follows this up with the Superman Punch to Jericho as well before going for the Superman Punch to Sami Zayn, but Sami ducks out of the way and Reigns knocks Sheamus off of the ring apron.

Sami then tries to surprise Roman with a roll-up, but Reigns kicks out before scoring with the Superman Punch. Jericho then tries for the Codebreaker, but Roman blocks it before taking Jericho down with another Superman Punch. Roman then sizes Jericho up for the Spear, but Jericho counters before hitting the Codebreaker, but Reigns is able to kick out. Roman would then hit the Spear on Jericho, pinning Jericho to pick up the win in the Fatal 4-Way Match as Reigns will now go to the main event to go one-on-one with Finn Balor for the opportunity to face Seth Rollins at SummerSlam to crown the first ever Universal Champion.

After making history last week by becoming the longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions in history, WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day would have a big celebration on RAW for their landmark title reign, making their way to the ring for the celebration. Xavier Woods says that their match against The Wyatt Family at Battleground may not have went how they wanted it to go, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are the longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions of all-time, currently having held the title for an impressive 337 days. After showing a video package highlighting some of their greatest moments, the WWE Tag Team Champions pick a fan out of the crowd to be an honorary member of The New Day.

After introducing the honorary New Day member, whose name is “Sonny Boy”, Kofi Kingston tells Sonny Boy that his first act as an honorary member of The New Day is to celebrate with them. However, as Big E dances with Sonny Boy, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson come out and, unbeknownst to Big E, Gallows & Anderson pull Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston out of the ring. Gallows then sends Xavier into the barricade as Anderson sends Kofi into the steel steps before Gallows & Anderson target Big E in the ring, beating Big E down before laying Big E out with the Magic Killer. Gallows & Anderson then rip the shirts off of Xavier and Kofi before Gallows sends Woods into the steel steps. Gallows & Anderson then confront Sonny Boy at ringside, tossing the ripped shirts at the honorary New Day member.

RAW would then feature the return of “The Man That Gravity Forgot” as the high-flying Neville would return following an ankle injury four months ago, going one-on-one with the man dubbed “Mr. Irrelevant” due to being picked last in the WWE Draft, Curtis Axel. In the end, it was Neville hitting Curtis Axel with the Red Arrow, pinning Axel to pick up the win in his return to in-ring competition.

Then it was time for the biggest opportunity of Sasha Banks’ career as “The Boss” would finally get her one-on-one shot at the Women’s Title as Sasha Banks would challenge Charlotte, with her protégé Dana Brooke in her corner, for the Women’s Championship. During the match, Sasha Banks would take a page out of the late Eddie Guerrero’s playbook in an attempt to rid herself of the outside interference from Dana Brooke, grabbing the Women’s Title belt and throwing it to Dana on the outside. Sasha would then lie on the floor, acting as though Dana had hit her with the title belt and this plan would work to perfection as the referee buys the ruse, ejecting Dana Brooke from the ringside area! Later on in the match, both champion and challenger would take turns taking to the air as Sasha would dive onto Charlotte on the outside, taking out the Women’s Champion before Charlotte would battle back, hitting a big moonsault to the outside!

Charlotte then rolls Sasha back into the ring, but failed to score the three-count before the champion would score with a big boot and follow it up with Natural Selection, but “The Boss” would make it to the bottom rope to break up the pin. Charlotte then locks in the Figure-Four and, despite Sasha trying to fight it off, Charlotte would transition to the Figure-Eight. However, Sasha rolls to the ropes before Charlotte rolls to the outside with the Figure-Four still locked in, but was forced to break the hold. With the damage done to Sasha, Charlotte would again look for the Figure-Four, but Sasha would counter. Sasha then locks in the Bank Statement on Charlotte with the champion trying to roll to the ropes, but just when it looked like Charlotte was about to tap out, the champion gets her foot on the bottom rope, forcing the break. As both competitors get back to their feet, a seething Charlotte tells Sasha that Sasha will “never” beat her before Charlotte charges at “The Boss”, but Sasha ducks and hits the Back Stabber on Charlotte before locking in the Bank Statement again, this time making Charlotte tap out as, finally, Sasha defeats Charlotte to become the brand new Women’s Champion!

As the crowd roars their approval, the new champion raises the Women’s Title belt high with the emotion of the moment written on her face. Byron Saxton then enters the ring to interview the new Women’s Champion as the fans chant “You Deserve It” with an emotional Sasha proclaiming “I did it” before saying that she has told everyone that she is the “best” and, now, she has the title to prove that she is the best. Sasha then proudly declares that it’s “the era of The Boss” and it’s “the era of women’s wrestling” before saying that, every time she steps into the ring, she is going to show everyone why she’s the champion and that there is only “one boss” in WWE and it’s her! Having finally achieved her lifelong dream of becoming a champion in WWE, “The Boss” holds her new prize high, soaking up the overwhelming support of the crowd.

No longer a part of The Wyatt Family after last week’s WWE Draft, the powerful and intimidating Braun Strowman would set out to blaze his own trail on RAW as the monstrous Strowman would face local competitor James Ellsworth. The former power lifter would dominate his much smaller opponent, flattening James Ellsworth with a reverse chokeslam, pinning Ellsworth for the decisive victory.

Fresh off of their victory, alongside John Cena, against The Club at Battleground, Enzo & Big Cass were on RAW as the “Certified G’s” would face The Shining Stars in tag team action. In the end, it was Big Cass hitting Primo with a big boot, pinning Primo to pick up the win for Enzo & Big Cass.

Then it was time for the main event as, after both men won their respective Fatal 4-Way Matches earlier in the night to earn the opportunity, former NXT Champion Finn Balor would go one-on-one with three-time former WWE Champion Roman Reigns with the winner advancing to SummerSlam to face Seth Rollins in a match to crown the first ever Universal Champion. In a hard-hitting first time ever match between Finn Balor and Roman Reigns, both men would go blow-for-blow with Roman nearly putting Balor away after the Superman Punch, following it up with back-to-back powerbombs to Balor, but Finn continues to kick out. Reigns then sizes Balor up for the Spear, but Balor counters with the slingblade, following it up with a dropkick to Roman into the corner.

Balor then hits the Coup de Grace, pinning Roman Reigns to pick up the upset victory to earn a match against Seth Rollins at SummerSlam for the new WWE Universal Championship! As Finn Balor celebrates his huge win in the ring, Roman Reigns is interviewed about the loss with Roman saying that he hopes Finn Balor beats Seth Rollins for the WWE Universal Title at SummerSlam, saying he “respects” Balor and wants to face him again. Roman then makes the slow walk to the back as Finn Balor continues to celebrate in the ring, having arrived from NXT via the WWE Draft and earning a shot at the brand new WWE Universal Championship at SummerSlam on his first night on RAW.

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