WWE RAW Results: August 8, 2016

Detailed Results

RAW kicks off with one of the most popular tag teams in WWE as Enzo & Big Cass make their way to the ring. After their trademark introduction, Enzo Amore says that, last week, he came out there and was “spitting some game” with Women’s Champion Sasha Banks with Big Cass adding that she was “loving it”. Enzo then says that the “chemistry” between him and Sasha last week was like a “science fair” with Big Cass commenting that Enzo’s “Bunsen burner” was “on fire”. Enzo continues, saying that he was swinging for the fences before Chris Jericho interrupted and ultimately hit him with a Codebreaker. Enzo then says that he is sickened by the sight of Jericho before saying that he and Big Cass are same “Anaheim Angels” on the “Stairway to Heaven” before saying that Jericho is going down. This brings Chris Jericho out to the stage as “Y2J” tells Enzo that the only reason that he is still in WWE is because every time that Enzo makes a “mess” he’s got a “seven-foot maid” to clean it up for him. Jericho then says that at least Enzo always has somebody watching his back, but, now, so does he.

This brings out Jericho’s new ally, Kevin Owens, as Jericho and Owens then walk down to the ring together to confront Enzo & Big Cass. Jericho says that he and Owens used to have problems but now they are “closer than brothers”, saying that, no matter what, Owens has his back. Big Cass responds by comparing Jericho & Owens to “Bert & Ernie”, telling Jericho that, if he doesn’t like it, then he should do something about it. Owens then says that he can relate to Big Cass because he used to have a “waste of space” as a best friend who ended up being nothing but “dead weight”. Owens continues, saying that, unlike him, Big Cass brought his “dead weight” with him to RAW and, now, every week, he has to look at Enzo Amore.

Owens then says that Enzo is there because of Big Cass and that is why he no longer likes Big Cass, saying that he doesn’t care if Big Cass is seven-foot tall because he is going to “hurt” him. This leads to Big Cass getting in the face of Kevin Owens before Owens says that, if he doesn’t hurt Big Cass, then Jericho will. Big Cass then suggests that they fight right now but Jericho claims that he wasn’t talking to Big Cass with Big Cass pointing out that Jericho was looking directly at him. Jericho then turns his focus to Enzo, saying that Enzo better be prepared because Enzo is going to “get it”. Enzo says that, when he finds out what “it” is, he’s going to shove it down Jericho’s throat!

The opening match of the night would then see Enzo Amore, with Big Cass in his corner, go one-on-one with Chris Jericho, with Kevin Owens in his corner. The story of the match would be Kevin Owens’ repeated interference on behalf of Chris Jericho with Owens grabbing the foot of Enzo Amore behind the back of the referee. This would lead to Big Cass heading over to confront Owens, but meanwhile, in the ring, Jericho would catch Enzo with the Codebreaker. This would bring Big Cass into the ring as Cass would blast “Y2J” with a big boot, giving Jericho the win by disqualification. Owens is then quick to pull Jericho out of the ring as Jericho & Owens retreat with Jericho technically picking up a victory as Big Cass checks on Enzo in the ring. Big Cass then grabs a microphone to challenge Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens to a match against himself and Enzo at SummerSlam with Jericho & Owens accepting the challenge!

Backstage, Women’s Champion Sasha Banks confronts RAW General Manager Mick Foley to express her frustration about her one-on-one match with Charlotte at SummerSlam, saying that she fully expects Charlotte’s protégé Dana Brooke to get involved and requesting the SummerSlam match be changed to a 2-on-1 Handicap Match! The GM responds by making a match for RAW where Sasha Banks will go one-on-one with Dana Brooke and, if Sasha wins, then Dana will be banned from ringside for the title match at SummerSlam. However, if Sasha loses, then the match at SummerSlam will become a 2-on-1 Handicap Match pitting Sasha Banks against Charlotte & Dana Brooke!

After paving a path of destruction in recent weeks, Braun Strowman would be in action on RAW as Strowman would face another local competitor, this time facing Jorel Nelson. The match would start with Jorel Nelson having second thoughts as the competitor would get on the ring apron, but before Nelson could make up his mind, the monstrous Strowman would charge at Jorel, knocking the hometown competitor to the floor. Strowman then brings Nelson back into the ring, sending Jorel for a ride with a huge clothesline, following it up with the reverse chokeslam, pinning Jorel Nelson for another dominant victory.

In a rematch from last week where Titus O’Neil illegally hooked the tights of Darren Young to pick up a victory, RAW would see Darren Young, with his mentor Bob Backlund in his corner, would go one-on-one with Titus O’Neil. While Titus O’Neil would dominate most of the match, Darren Young would surprise Titus with a roll-up of his own, illegally hooking the tights to pick up the win, getting a measure of payback for last week.

Less than two weeks before he goes one-on-one with Finn Balor at SummerSlam to decide the first ever WWE Universal Champion, Seth Rollins would make an appearance on RAW. Rollins says that he thought he knew everything about Finn Balor, saying that he always thought that Balor was a “second rate” version of himself, saying that Finn changed his opinion on last week’s RAW. Rollins then says that he is “no normal man”, saying that, if being “simply the best” was an Olympic sport, he would have “more gold medals than Michael Phelps”. Rollins continues, saying that he wants to “get to know” Finn Balor better, saying that the name Finn means “famous warrior” in Irish mythology while Balor means “demon king”. After laughing at Balor’s “demon king” moniker, Rollins calls Balor “disrespectful” and “arrogant” before saying that Finn has only had two matches on RAW.

Rollins then says that he has “worked for everything” in his life and he overcame a career-threatening knee injury before saying that Balor is “arrogant” and “ignorant”. Rollins continues, saying that he is neither of those things because he knows his place in WWE; at the very top. Rollins then says that, unlike Finn Balor, he knows who he is, declaring that he is the “myth”, he is the “legend”, and he is the “man” and, in 200 years, they will tell tales of how Seth Rollins slain “The Beast”, how he crushed “The Face That Runs The Place”, and how he conquered the “Roman Empire” because that is what he did. Rollins then says that he is going to add to his legend at SummerSlam when he beats Finn Balor to become the first ever WWE Universal Champion. Rollins then drops the microphone, having made an emphatic statement that surely had the attention of his SummerSlam opponent Finn Balor.

After Cesaro picked up a win over Sheamus last week that led to a brawl between the two Superstars, the rematch would take place on RAW as “The Swiss Superman” Cesaro would go one-on-one with “The Celtic Warrior” Sheamus. During a hard-hitting match, the referee would get a little too close to the action and would get knocked down and Sheamus would roll Cesaro up, but the referee could not recover in time to count the pinfall. This is when Sheamus would decide to argue with the referee and Cesaro would capitalize, surprising “The Celtic Warrior” with a roll-up to pick up his second straight victory over Sheamus.

Following a confrontation between Neville and The Dudley Boyz on the RAW Pre-Show, The Dudley Boyz would face Neville and a partner of his choosing in a tag team match on RAW and Neville’s partner would be a fellow high flyer in Sin Cara. During the match, D-Von Dudley would go for a clothesline to Neville, but Neville would duck out of the way and D-Von would inadvertently take out Bubba Ray! Shortly after this, it was Neville hitting the Red Arrow on D-Von Dudley, pinning D-Von to pick up the win for the high-flying team.

RAW would then home to a wedding celebration as United States Champion Rusev and his new wife Lana would express their love for each other in front of the live crowd in Anaheim. The newlyweds would make their way to the ring, which is adorned by wedding cakes, flowers, and wine. Lana says that Rusev gave her everything she ever wanted when they got married, saying that none of them were invited. Lana then says that they are going to “re-enact” their wedding for them right now. Rusev then says that Lana is his “princess”, showing off the impressive ring on his wife’s finger.

Lana says that they are going to show all of them what it means to have “true love” before Lana presents a slideshow of photos from their lavish wedding. Lana then says that Rusev is the “greatest man of all-time” and the United States Champion says that is why he trains so hard to be a great champion so that he can provide Lana with whatever she desires. Rusev & Lana then continue to badger the crowd, saying that the fans in attendance could never afford a custom-made wedding dress like Lana is wearing or the cakes that were made for the occasion. Lana then says that all major outlets covered the moment that they became man and wife before Lana says that they are going to recite their wedding vows for the crowd. When the crowd boos the couple, Rusev says that the fans are “jealous American pigs”.

This brings out Roman Reigns as “The Big Dog” makes his way to the ring to break up Rusev & Lana’s wedding celebration. Roman says that he’s not out there to ruin the celebration, saying that he noticed that Rusev didn’t have a “best man” at his wedding. Reigns then offers to be Rusev’s best man, saying he wants to “toast” the newlyweds. Rusev refuses to have Roman be his best man and Reigns responds by saying that, if Rusev won’t accept his toast, then maybe Rusev will accept his challenge to face him with the United States Title on the line at SummerSlam. However, the United States Champion refuses Roman’s challenge and so Reigns decides to go ahead and give his toast against the wishes of the couple.

Roman then pours himself some wine, downing a glass of the wine before presenting his toast, saying that he’s never before seen a wedding between a “sasquatch” and a “mail order bride”! Roman then says that he’s a “little disappointed”, saying that he was expecting a “little more” just like Lana was expecting a “little more” on their wedding night. This gets under the skin of the United States Champion and a fight breaks out between Roman and Rusev with Reigns catching Rusev with an uppercut that knocks Rusev into Lana, who falls face-first into one of the cakes! This leaves the frosting-covered bride completely humiliated as Roman Reigns exits the ring, leaving the newlyweds irate in the ring.

Backstage, an angry Rusev confronts RAW General Manager Mick Foley, demanding that something be done about Roman Reigns ruining their wedding celebration and humiliating Lana. Foley responds by making a match for SummerSlam as Rusev will defend the United States Title against Roman Reigns at “The Biggest Event of the Summer”!

With the rematch between Sasha Banks and Charlotte for the Women’s Title coming up at SummerSlam, the Women’s Champion would be in action on RAW as Sasha Banks would go one-on-one with Charlotte’s protégé Dana Brooke, with Charlotte in her corner, in a non-title match with the stipulation that, if Sasha wins, then Dana will be banned from ringside at SummerSlam, but if Dana wins, then the match at SummerSlam will be a 2-on-1 Handicap Match. During the match, Charlotte would inadvertently slap Dana Brooke before Sasha Banks knocks Charlotte down. Sasha then follows this up with the double knees to the mid-section of Dana Brooke, pinning Dana to pick up the win and ensure that Dana Brooke will be banned from ringside for the Women’s Title match at SummerSlam.

After Gallows & Anderson put Big E on the shelf last week, the other two members of The New Day would be looking for revenge on RAW as WWE Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston, with Xavier Woods in his corner, would go one-on-one with Luke Gallows, with Karl Anderson in his corner. In the end, it was Luke Gallows hitting a one-man flapjack on Kofi Kingston, pinning Kofi to pick up the win. After the match, Gallows & Anderson would look to put Kofi Kingston out of action the same way they put Big E out of action, but Xavier Woods would make the save with a steel chair, fending off Gallows & Anderson for the time being.

After SmackDown Live’s Randy Orton invaded RAW last week to attack Brock Lesnar and RAW’s Brock Lesnar responded by invading SmackDown Live to attack Randy Orton, RAW General Manager Mick Foley would look to clear the air on RAW as the GM would make his way to the ring as Foley would invite SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan to join him in the ring. Before bringing out Daniel Bryan, the RAW General Manager says that in the “spirit of brotherhood”, he introduces his special guest, bringing out SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan. Bryan commends Foley on doing a great job running RAW and Foley responds by complimenting Bryan on, not only running SmackDown Live, but his work with Mauro Ranallo calling the Cruiserweight Classic. The RAW GM then says that he invited Bryan there to apologize, apologizing to the SmackDown GM for Brock Lesnar invading SmackDown Live last week and attacking Randy Orton. Bryan says that they did it first when Randy Orton invaded RAW and hit Brock with the RKO with Bryan offering a less than sincere apology before saying that he has the “utmost respect” for what they’re doing on RAW.

Mick Foley then tells Daniel Bryan to “knock it off”, saying that he heard what Daniel Bryan had to say on the WWE Network show “Talking Smack” where the SmackDown General Manager makes light of RAW’s creation of the WWE Universal Championship, jokingly suggesting that SmackDown is going to create the “Milky Way Tag Team Titles”. Bryan then continues to make fun of the WWE Universal Championship, sarcastically saying that RAW should have made an “Interspecies Championship”. Offended, the RAW General Manager says that the WWE Universal Championship is “not a joke” and the RAW fans deserve a champion who will represent RAW. United States Champion Rusev then interrupts, angrily making his way to the ring as Rusev declares that RAW doesn’t need another champion. The United States Champion then says that, if another SmackDown Superstar shows up on RAW, he is going to “crush” him for the “greatest GM in the history of mankind” Mick Foley.

Daniel Bryan sees right through what Rusev is trying to do, asking the United States Champion if he is trying to get out of his SummerSlam match against Roman Reigns by sucking up to Mick Foley, calling Rusev’s attempts “pathetic”. Rusev then threatens to “crush” Daniel Bryan like the “bug” that he is before Cesaro interrupts, making his way to the ring. “The Swiss Superman” tells Mick Foley that he thinks that he proved this week and last week that he deserves a shot at the United States Championship. The RAW GM says that Sheamus almost had Cesaro beat a couple of times and Cesaro responds by saying that he thought that Mick Foley was a man of his word. Daniel Bryan then chimes in, telling Cesaro that he thinks that Cesaro is being “underutilized” on RAW with the crowd solidly behind the SmackDown GM. Foley says that Roman Reigns will get his shot at SummerSlam, but Cesaro will get his shot right now as “The Swiss Superman” will challenge Rusev for the United States Championship!

In an impromptu match made by RAW General Manager Mick Foley, RAW would see Rusev defend the United States Championship against “The Swiss Superman” Cesaro. Throughout the match, Rusev would target the previously injured shoulder of Cesaro and would even lock in the Accolade on Cesaro, but “The Swiss Superman” would power out. Cesaro would then send Rusev for a ride with the Cesaro Swing, transitioning into the Sharpshooter, but that is when Sheamus would come out to distract Cesaro and Rusev would capitalize with a kick to the head of Cesaro, but Cesaro would kick out! Rusev would then look for the Accolade again, but Cesaro would counter and, with the referee trying to keep Sheamus from entering the ring, Cesaro would shove Rusev into the referee and into Sheamus, taking down both of them.

Cesaro then hits the Neutralizer on Rusev, but the referee was still down and unable to make the count. Cesaro then manages to get the referee back into it as Cesaro would make a second attempt at pinning Rusev, but Rusev was able to kick out. With the referee still struggling to get back to his feet, Rusev would deliver a thumb to the eye of Cesaro and, when Cesaro stumbles and falls to the bottom rope, Sheamus would blast Cesaro with the Brogue Kick from the outside! Rusev then capitalizes with a kick to the head, pinning Cesaro to successfully retain the United States Title with a major assist from Sheamus. After the match, Rusev would exit with the United States Title firmly in his grasp but that is when Roman Reigns would charge at the United States Champion, leveling Rusev with a Spear on the outside! Roman Reigns then stands tall on the stage as Rusev is laid out on the floor, capping off a rough night for the United States Champion.

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