As RAW comes on the air, the announcers welcome us to the show tonight live from Memphis, Tennessee. The announcers quickly go over a couple matches happening tonight including Dean Ambrose vs Sheamus, Round 2 of the Cruiserweight Championship Chase and Nia Jax vs RAW Women's Champion Sasha Banks. Suddenly the music of the GM hits and Kurt Angle comes out and heads down to the ring.
After the music cuts, Angle welcomes all the fans in attendance to Monday Night Raw and confirms that after talking to Paul Heyman last week, that at No Mercy, Brock Lesnar will return to have his rematch for the Universal Championship against Braun Strowman. Before he can continue talking, the music of The Miz cuts him off and the IC Champ walks out on stage, flanked by Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel and Maryse. The Miz says nobody cares about the Universal Championship or who's holding it, because the most important championship right now is the IC Championship, because it's held by him. He starts to brag about defeating Roman Reigns last week, when he gets cut off by Kurt Angle who reminds him that he lost by DQ. Miz says all that matters is he's still the champion and Angle says due to his actions last week, The Miz will give Roman Reigns a rematch at No Mercy. Miz is furious about this but Angle says he isn't done there, because next week The Miz will face his son Jason Jordan and if The Miz loses, Jason Jordan will also be in the match. Miz starts ranting and starts heading down to the ring, but Kurt Angle says he almost forgot to tell Miz about tonight's main event, which features Miz.
This makes Miz stop walking as he reaches the bottom of the ramp and he asks who he's facing, and Angle says he's glad Miz asked....and the music of the Universal Champion Braun Strowman hits! The Miz slowly turns around in horror, as Braun Strowman strolls out onto the ramp with a big smile on his face. Braun starts making his way down the ramp, but Miz and Maryse take off running, leaving Bo and Curtis behind as they try to stop Braun, but he simply runs them over! Braun raises his arms and lets out a roar as Miz stands at the top of the arena looking terrified and Raw goes to commercial.
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Match #1:
Cruiserweight Championship Chase Round 2
Cedric Alexander vs The Brian Kendrick vs Mustafa Ali vs Drew Gulak
Fast paced match here as all four cruiserweights battled it out hoping to keep their championship dreams alive. Around the 5 minute mark Cedric and Kendrick hit stereo superplexes on Mustafa Ali and Drew Gulak, before popping up and brawling with each other to the floor, which led to Kendrick throwing Alexander into the ring post, before throwing him into the time keepers area, leaving him down and out on the floor for the time being. Around the 10 minute mark, Mustafa Ali hit the 054 on Drew Gulak, only for Brian Kendrick to pull Ali to his feet, throw him into the corner face first, and hit him with The Kendrick which made him land onto Gulak! Kendrick was about to go for the pin, when Cedric Alexander springboarded into the ring taking him down with a forearm smash to the face! As Cedric was loading up for the Lumbar Check, a masked man wearing a suit slid into the ring behind him and took him out with a low blow! The fans were in shock as Cedric crumbled to the mat, and Kendrick stumbled to his feet and the masked man revealed himself as Jack Gallagher! The fans were in shock as was Brian Kendrick, as Jack offered him a handshake and Kendrick slowly took it and a devious grin spread across his face as he realized he had a new ally. Alexander slowly stumbled back to his feet, but before he could fully get up he was pulled to his feet by Gallagher, who hit him with a nasty headbutt! Alexander stumbled backwards, and Kendrick grabbed a school boy pin on him, as the ref counted the pin!
Winner: The Brian Kendrick (12:58)
Eliminated From The Chase: Cedric Alexander
As Raw returns from commercial, the cameras go backstage to where Samoa Joe stands, as Renee Young approaches him. She asks him what's next for him after his loss at Summerslam and he says he's still setting his sights on the Universal Championship and wants to face Braun or Brock no matter who wins at No Mercy. Renee asks him what he'll do in the meantime and he simply says he's waiting for the right opportunity to strike, and that this is two weeks now he wasn't given a match. He promises next week that he's going to choke someone out.
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Match #2:
The Club vs The Hardys
Rematch from last week here after The Club stole a victory by cheating and this one was fast paced and broke down into more of a fight than a match quickly. Around the 4 minute mark, Jeff Hardy was trying to fight off Gallows and Anderson, but the numbers game caught up with him and The Club took him down and started stomping the hell out of him, before Matt came back in from being down on the floor and tackled Gallows, leading to Anderson jumping on top of him. The ref threw the match out around the 5 minute mark but that didn't stop the two teams from fighting. Gallows and Anderson ended up getting the better of Matt and tossing him out of the ring, just as Jeff got up right into a Rocket Kick from Anderson!
With both Hardys down for the moment, Gallows bailed from the ring, kicking Matt in the face in the process as he walked over to the time keepers area and grabbed two chairs, throwing one to Anderson in the ring as he took the other one, and smashed Matt over the back as he tried to get up! Jeff stumbled to his feet in the ring and Anderson tried to hit him over the head with the chair, but Jeff caught the chair! Jeff yanked the chair away from Anderson and hit him in the ribs with it to the delight of the fans! Jeff tossed the chair down, threw his shirt off and went for a Twist of Fate onto the chair, but got blasted with a big boot from Gallows! Things ended shortly after as The Club hit a Magic Killer onto one of the chairs on Jeff, before wrapping a chair around his ankle as Anderson went to the top rope, and jumped off crushing the ankle of Jeff in the chair! Refs quickly pushed The Club away from Jeff, who was rolling around the mat in pain while Gallows and Anderson shared a too sweet, as Matt got up and slid into the ring, causing them to bail as he stared them down. Raw went to commercial with Jeff being helped out of the ring and to the back by a referee and Matt.
Match Ends In A No Contest (5:02)
Neville is backstage with a camera on him as he says he's been watching the championship chase closely, but knows it doesn't matter who wins because nobody can touch the King of the Cruiserweights. He says he has vanquished Akira Tozawa once and for all, and next week he's issuing a challenge to the false prophet known as Titus O'Neil, who dared get in his way multiple times last week, to face him in the ring. The cameras then cut to the ring for the next match.
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Match #3:
Dean Ambrose w/ Seth Rollins vs Sheamus w/ Cesaro
Solid match here as Ambrose and Sheamus battled it out with the match having more brawling and striking than technical wrestling. Cesaro got involved a couple different times, and after the 2nd time Ambrose dove onto him on the floor and started pounding on him until Sheamus grabbed him by the shirt, and threw him into the steps! Sheamus took control from there, managing to get a few of his signature moves once getting Ambrose back into the ring, including White Noise for a close two count. Around the 8 minute mark, Sheamus went for the Brouge Kick, but Ambrose ducked it and kneed Sheamus in the back, sending him face first into the turnbuckles! Ambrose walked over, but Cesaro grabbed his foot from the floor sensing his partner was in danger, but suddenly Seth Rollins came flying in off the apron, taking out the Swiss Superman with a diving knee strike! Ambrose watched the fight on the outside for a moment, and that was enough for Sheamus to hit him with a clubbing blow to the back! Sheamus dragged Ambrose to the middle of the ring, but suddenly Ambrose pushed the irishmen off him, and dropped him with a quick Dirty Deeds for the pin!
Winner: Dean Ambrose (9:48)
The cameras now go to the ring where Elias sits on a stool with his guitar. He does his usual speech before he performs introducing himself and telling everyone to silence their cell phones and shut their mouths before beginning to perform his song about Memphis and how much he hates it here. He stops when he's getting booed loudly and tells them he'll sit here all day if he has to, which leads to more boos from the fans. After waiting a minute or so for them to quiet down he begins to perform again, but suddenly he stops as something hits him in the back of the head and he falls out of his seat and face first onto the mat! The fans are surprised and start cheering...until the lights come on to reveal Dolph Ziggler standing over the fallen Elias with a big grin on his face! Dolph kicks the stool over and throws it out of the ring as Elias pulls himself to his feet with the ropes...but he turns around right into a Superkick from The Show Off!
Elias goes down again as Dolph picks up his guitar and looks at it for a minute, before shaking his head and smashing it over the back of Elias as he begins to recover! The fans aren't sure how to react as Dolph throws down the broken pieces of guitar and exits the ring through the ropes, walking backwards up the ramp while shaking his head in disgust as Raw takes a break.
As RAW comes back from commercial, the cameras go to the ring where Rhyno stands ready to compete with Heath Slater hyping him up for the match, and the music of Big Cass hits as he faces the other member of the team that are former Smackdown Tag Team Champions.
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Match #4:
Rhyno w/ Heath Slater vs Big Cass
One sided match here as Rhyno tried to take the fight to Cass early, but got fought off and taken out with a Big Boot! Cass proceeded to hit a couple big slams on Rhyno, and taunted Slater on the floor, before going for an Empire Elbow on Rhyno only for him to roll out of the way! The finish came a minute later when Rhyno had the Gore get countered with East River Crossing from the big man, followed by an Empire Elbow for the pin.
Winner: Big Cass (3:00)
A vignette plays hyping the upcoming debut of a female superstar while the song Killa Queen plays in the background, at the end it says "The Killer Queen: Madison Rayne. Coming Soon To RAW!" After the vignette ends, the cameras go into the arena where Alexa Bliss has just come out onto the stage, and walks over to the commentary table, joining commentary for the next match of the evening.
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Match #5:
Nia Jax vs Sasha Banks
Good back and forth match here as Nia and Sasha battled it out. The champ was dominated for a majority of the match by the bigger, stronger Nia Jax but managed to fight back with quick strikes, some signature offense and a couple dives outside the ring. Around the 6 minute mark Sasha locked in the Bank Statement but Nia was able to escape it, get up to her feet with Sasha keeping the crossface on her, and slam her down onto her back. The match came to an end around the 8 minute mark as Sasha dove onto Nia on the floor, and knocked her backwards onto the ramp. With Nia stumbling, Sasha charged her and hit her with a tornado DDT onto the ramp to take her down and ultimately, Nia wasn't able to recover in time to get back into the ring before the count of 10.
Winner by Countout: Sasha Banks (8:44)
Post Match, Bliss cut off Sasha celebrating getting one over on Jax by standing on the announce table and telling Sasha that next week, her little title reign comes to an end because she's getting her rematch for the championship. With Sasha yelling back at her to come down to the ring and fight her now, Nia Jax slid into the ring behind the champ, lifted her up onto her shoulders and hit her with a big Samoan Drop! Bliss simply laughed as Nia followed it up with a splash onto The Boss before bailing from the ring as The Boss was left laying. Before Raw went to commercial the announcers hyped up the upcoming main event of champion vs champion with The Miz taking on Braun Strowman.
As we return from commercial we see Kurt Angle on the phone in his office, talking about the great show they've had tonight, when suddenly TJP walks in and Angle hangs up the phone. Angle asks TJP what he can do for him and TJP tells him he's sick of the Cruiserweight Division and wants a new challenge, he wants a shot at the Intercontinental Championship. Angle informs him that that's not possible right now but TJP asks if it would be possible if he was his son, since Jason Jordan has a chance to get a shot next week for doing nothing. Angle ends up agreeing to change the match next week, instead of Jason Jordan vs The Miz it'll be Jason Jordan vs TJP with the winner fighting Roman Reigns and The Miz at No Mercy. TJP seems satisfied as he nods in approval and leaves the office, as the cameras go to the ring for the main event of the evening.
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Match #6:
The Miz w/ The Miztourage vs Braun Strowman
Not the best match here as Braun easily overpowered Miz, but Miz hung in the match thanks to underhanded tactics as well as Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel pulling him out of danger once and providing multiple distractions. After the latest distraction, Braun grabbed a mic and told Curtis and Bo if they wanna keep getting involved in his match then they can get in the ring and get these hands, which led to them backing down and begging Braun to show mercy. As Braun got back into the ring, he was hit with a low dropkick to the knee which set up the It Kicks for The Miz, but he only managed a one count after them. The finish came around the 8 minute mark when Braun left the ring to deliver a double chokeslam to Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas, which left them laying and led to Maryse fleeing in terror, as Braun got back in the ring Miz tried to hit the Skull Crushing Finale, but Braun avoided it, picked up the IC Champ and hit him with a Running Powerslam for the pin.
Winner: Braun Strowman (8:31)
Post Match Braun celebrates his victory as Bo and Curtis quickly pull Miz out of the ring after recovering from their earlier beating. While the three of them went to leave up the ramp, Roman Reigns came out of nowhere and hit a massive Spear on The Miz! The fans booed loudly as Bo and Curtis took off and Roman picked up the IC Championship from the ramp, and held it up over his head as RAW came to a close.