The Big Takeaway: Seth Rollins will officially face Kane at Hell in a Cell. Summer Rae asked Rusev to marry him. Rusev said he would, but only until he captures a championship. John Cena was accidentally superkicked by Dolph Ziggler following the main event, which teased a program between the two. Stephanie McMahon shouted down The New Day. Stephanie McMahon shouted down Kane. Stephanie McMahon shouted down Rollins. Twice. To keep the storyline cohesive, HHH later offered support to Rollins.
Show Recap:
Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman starts the show. Heyman put over Lesnar’s victory over the Big Show to start the Go to Hell Tour, and now it’s time to focus on the Undertaker. Heyman said the Undertaker considers Hell in a Cell to be the Devil’s Playground, but Lesnar considers it the Lair of the Beast. They replaced highlights from Wrestlemania 31, which got a mixed reaction.
Heyman said Undertaker realized at SummerSlam that he wasn’t Dead Man enough to get revenge on Lesnar, then replayed the controversial finish from SummerSlam.
Heyman promoted Lesnar being on Steve Austin’s podcast later this month, and vowed this would be Lesnar’s last match against the Undertaker. The winner would be the winner of history between Lesnar-Undertaker, and the loser wouldn’t walk out at all.
Big Show came out and said he was very close to beating Lesnar. Show extended his hand to Lesnar to shake it, but Lesnar snubbed him and walked out of the ring. Show said it must be nice being as arrogant as he is, but he hopes he loses to the Undertaker again.
Lesnar took exception to that and got back in the ring, and gave Show a belly-to-belly suplex. Then he got Show up for the F-5 and smiled like it was the 2004 version of Lesnar, acting like the world’s biggest Bob Backland knockoff.
Seth Rollins and Stephanie McMahon watched this scene. Rollins was mad because Show was supposed to tag with him later in the show against the Dudley Boyz. Now that Show was laid out by Lesnar, Rollins figured he wouldn’t be available for the match tonight. Rollins asked for Stephanie to cancel the match. Stephanie told him she wouldn’t do any such thing and to figure out the problem for himself. He looked like he was ready to deck her and walked off.
Roman Reigns, Randy Orton and Dean Ambrose defeated Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Braun Strowman (15:53)
Roman Reigns got the hot tag and gave Luke Harper a power bomb. Randy Orton hit Harper with the RKO, and Regins followed with the spear for the pin. Real good match with Orton being the most over performer. Bruan Strowman got the monster heel treatment again. As Dean Ambrose tried a pescado, Strowman caught him and slammed him on the floor. This led to JBL comparing him to Jeep Swenson and Bill Kazmaier. I can’t wait to see Strowman joining eight other guys to face John Cena and Orton in a triple deck cage match in 10 years.
Sheamus defeated Neville (:32)
King Barett was on commentary. Sheamus ran down the Boston Celtics mascot, saying if they wanted a real leprechaun mascot, they should have used him. Did they have a character who was a leprechaun for years? Sheamus ran down Neville saying he would always be a loser. Neville attacked him with punches. Barrett got up and argued with Neville, allowing Sheamus to hit the Brogue Kick with the pin. Neville didn’t even get a ring entrance and jobbed in 32 seconds.
Director of Operations Kane limped into the building. He was in the ring after a commercial and said Rollins got slightly out of control last week. Kane announced himself as Rollins tag team partner tonight against the Dudley Boyz. This brought out Rollins, who said Kane was no Tom Brady, even though they both have deflated balls.
Rollins said Kane couldn’t lie, cheat and swindle his way to whatever he wants, implying Brady and the Patriots did that, as well. Kane said his goal was to bring out the best in Rollins, who said the championship brings out the best in him. Kane said Rollins had to face his demons and walk through hell in order to bring out the best in himself.
Stephanie came out for the monthy evisceration of talent. She was a complete babyface running down Rollins for making fun of Brady, saying he would lead the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl again this year. That got a huge pop and it was a striaght babyface move. Then she announced the Demon Kane would face Rollins at Hell in a Cell, and added that Corporate Kane could team with Rollins tonight. She also announced that if Demon Kane doesn’t beat Rollins at Hell in a Cell, then Corporate Kane would be relieved of his duties.
Rollins pleaded his case with HHH about teaming with Kane tonight. HHH reminded him of the saying “Do unto other before they can do unto you.” So HHH was the heel here. I feel like Johny Hendricks trying to cut weight trying to make sense of the Authority.
Natalya defeated Paige via submission (6:03)
Natalya got the tapout victory with the Sharpshooter, the second time she used that hold. Paige was a rogue heel, which didn’t have much of a reaction.
Ryback did a taped promo that was heavily scripted on Kevin Owens. At least it didn’t look he was reading a teleprompter.
Kevin Owens defeated Sin Cara (2:35)
Owens won with the Pop Up Power Bomb. Talk about a random match. Owens jumped Kalisto, but Ryback ran out after Owens, who left through the crowd.
Stephanie was checking her iPhone when the New Day walked up chanting “Steph-un-Nee.” Xavier Woods started to play his trombone, but without even looking, Stephanie told Woods that if he played one note on that trombone, she would send the New Day to a place worse than Suplex City. Would that be WWE headquarters on Tuesday afternoons? She forced New Day into another tag title match with the Dudleys at HIAC. Stephanie has scolded the World Champion, the Director of Operations and the Tag Team Champions and we weren’t even 90 minutes into the show.
The entire WWE roster came out on the ramp. Cena and Reigns were in the ring with breast cancer survivors for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. They got a standing ovation as the nine women rose their arms together. Reigns did prepared remarks promoting a t-shirt called “Rise About Cancer” The fact Reigns was out there shows he’s still slated as the number two babyface in the company. CM Punk, Paul Lazenby, Lance Storm and others have been vocal on Twitter about breast cancer funds going to other foundations aside from the Koman Foundation, to the point where it’s too complicated to get into here. I would check their Twitter feeds for more information.
The Dudleys defeated Seth Rollins and Corportate Kane by DQ (13:23)
The storyline was Kane has an injured right ankle so he wasn’t 100%, which forced Rollins to practically wrestle the match himself. The doctor told Kane he would have to go to the back. Just as he did on Smackdown last week, Rollins handcuffed Kane to the ringpost so he wouldn’t leave and turned into Demonic Kane. Then Rollins was thrown into Kane by Devon Dudley, and Kane broke free from the handcuffs. Kane left with the doctor. As he went to the back, Kane smiled at Rollins like it was all a ruse. That left Rollins alone against the Dudleys. When the Dudleys left to get the tables, Rollins dropkicked the table into both Dudleys. That led to the DQ, a finish the crowd booed.
Rollins went to leave, but Demonic Kane came out. Kane gave Rollins a big boot, but the Dudleys went back in the ring and gave Kane a 3-D.
The Dudleys left. Rollins set up a table in the ring while Kane appeared to be laid out. But as Rollins talked trash, Kane grabbed him by the throat. Rollins kicked him away and came off the top rope, but Kane caught him and gave him a choke slam through the table. Not much of a reaction for Demonic Kane until the table spot.
In footage from earlier today, Nikki Bella, Brie Bella and Alicia Fox were shown leaving a limosuine. At the same time, Naomi, Tamina and Sasha Banks got out of another limosuine. Naomi threw Nikki’s Yankees baseball cap away and laughed. This set up a trios match.
Banks did a prematch in-ring interview since they were back in her hometown, saying she put the Boss in Boston. Team Bella interrupted her, with Nikki running down the Boston Red Sox. Nikki and Brie traded barbs.
Team BAD defeated Team Bella via submission (11:46)
Banks got Fox to tap out with the Bank Statement in a match that dragged. Good final two minutes leading to the finish. Crowd was lively for Banks. They’re still tossing around the Divas Revolution hashtag like it’s still a thing. At this point, the Miami Dolphins would have better luck launching #TannerhillRevolution.
Charlotte did a promo saying the Divas Championship would remain around her waist after her match with Nikki Bella at Hell in a Cell. She and Becky Lynch slapped hands.
Summer Rae saying she heard rumors Summer was over. If she paid any attention to the crowd, she would understand that isn’t true. She introduced Rusev. Summer wanted to dedicate the segment to Rusev, who she claimed has done more than any other superstar on the roster. There was a montage of Summer calling Rusev gentle and friendly as replays of him slamming Dolph Ziggler and Fandango were shown.
Rusev said when they first started their relationship, he didn’t like her at all. But now that she’s been under his arm, he can’t imagine anyone caring more than her. Summer said there’s been something she’s been meaning to ask him. She dropped to a knee and pulled out a ring under her blouse. She asked him to marry her. Ruseve looked speechless. Summer, who called Rusev “Ru-Ru,” said they could go straight to the top together. Rusev finally said yes and they hugged. Summer looked overjoyed. However, after that embraced, Rusev said “Yes, but not yet.” Rusev said they must prove to each other that they’re worthy. He wanted WWE gold around his waist before she could have gold around her finger. Summer looked confused and angry as Rusev held the ropes for her to leave.
Cena came out and wanted the challenger for the U.S. Open Challenge. Ziggler’s music played. However, the New Day showed up with a beaten up Ziggler in their arms. Woods reminded Cena of his warning to New Day last week that they better get serious and asked if this was serious enough for him? Big E. took the challenge. Loved the idea of New Day becoming more serious heels.
John Cena (C) defeated Big E. to retain the U.S. Championship (9:54)
Cena won with the AA after Big E. tried to hit Cena with Woods’ trombone. Moments earlier, Cena lifted Big E. for the AA, but Kofi Kingston and Woods helped Big E. escape, leading to referee Charles Robinson ordering them to the back. During a commercial, Big E. delivered an overhead belly-to-belly suplex where Cena landed on the back of his head.
Postmatch, the New Day attacked Cena until Ziggler came out for the save. Ziggler tried to give Woods a superkick, but instead he accidentally kicked Cena. The Dudleys ran out, but the New Day outnumbered them. Kingston gave Devon the Trouble in Paradise. Then they gave Devon the Midnight Hour. This was done to make New Day more aggressive heels.
SUMMARY: Another cold show, even with Lesnar in the opening segment. With Cena taking a leave of absence in a month, it’s a major period of rebuilding ahead. The question is can they stop booking for ego and start booking for drawing money? The top two heel acts were berated by the boss’ daughter tonight. Reigns doesn’t feel like he’s hot enough to carry this show. However long Cena’s departure will be, it may be similar to when Bret Hart departed for WCW after the Montreal Screwjob in 1997. It’s hard to believe now, but Bret left behind a company with very little depth and only Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin as true stars. With the company at its breaking point, the WWE responded by making more stars than at any point in its history. Really, Cena is leaving behind a roster that’s even more thin than it was 18 years ago, but the paradigm has changed. However, the company’s mission shouldn’t be any different now than it was back then.
Pre-Show notes:
Only the very top of TD Garden is taped off
Cesaro comes out to a big cheer. Adam Rose is out to boos. Adam Rose says this must be the lowest point of his career. And by lowest point I mean he literally says “Wrestling Adam Rose on Superstars”. Way to out yourself over Adam.
Cesaro swings Adam Rose 36 times, and submits him with the Sharpshooter.
PTP vs Ascension
PTP get on offense early, but Darren eventually gets isolated gets the face in peril heat. Tides makes the hot tag and wins after a powerbomb