It’s time for one more RAW In A Nutshell, and the theme is simple : it’s time for a huge Houston go home show.
Next stop is Detroit and SummerSlam, at least for the red brand.
What’s left to be dealt with before we get into the Biggest Party of the Summer?
Logan Paul and Ricochet will get face to face one more time, so that ought to be fun.
Brock Lesnar and Cody Rhodes under the same roof…that won’t end well. If we are getting a stipulation for that one, it seems like now or never.
And with the Judgement Day taking over RAW and NXT to some extent, what will they have in store tonight? After all, Finn Balor has a big match this Saturday.
By the time I type the next RAW Nutshell…will Balor hold the gold?
All that, and so much more…so it is now time for…
Huge Houston Go Home Show : RAW In A Nutshell
Lets crack open this Nutshell and see how things go!
Best Match of the night:
If I don’t at least mention this one, I’d be missing a big one.
The main event was really fun, crazy ending and all.
Worst match of the night:
Honestly…I don’t want to complain about a one.
We could maybe give some grief to Valhalla and Maxine, but for Dupri’s first solo RAW match, it was fine.
Crowd Chants of the Night:
No chants, but they were hot in Houston.
Star of the Night
Hmm…
Judgement Day was on point.
Cody and Brock, of course.
Sami and Seth.
And, major major kudos to Chad Gable and Gunther. Gable looked as strong as he’s ever looked, I think.
Spot of the Night:
I kinda liked Maxine’s finisher.
Not the drop by itself…but that drop, into a bridge for the pin? She surely seems to have a lot more in-ring talent than I imagined.
Jobber of the Night:
I suppose this would go to Valhalla?
Upset of the Night:
Did not see a clean win for Ludwig Kaiser over Matt Riddle.
Then again, Kaiser and Vinci deserve some tag push sometime, right?
Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:
Lesnar absolutely destroyed Cody Rhodes, less than a week before the two lock horns on Ford Field.
Now, how often do we see this, where one Superstar stands tall ahead of the PLE match…and then lose it?
Will this hold to form? I truly expect a decisive end to this trilogy, and the smart move here would be to have Lesnar put Rhodes over.
Botch of the night:
I do think there were a few issues between Ricochet and Logan Paul as they fought, but they made it work and the job was done.
Like, it wasn’t flawless, but given the feud it didn’t need to be in that moment.
LOL Moment of the night:
I am sure something made me laugh…but not as much as usual.
Maybe Samantha Irvin’s facial expressions when Logan Paul brought her into the Ricochet feud?
Noteworthy Moment:
With the buildup, I think many of us expected Trish versus Becky to happen in Detroit, but it will not.
Per the backstage interaction on this week’s RAW (after the sham of a match tonight), it was announced that we get Stratus versus Lynch on August 14.
To the surprise of no one, Raquel returned to challenge Rhea. Doubt this is the end of Ripley’s reign, but these two have had some clashes in NXT…
I’d be in trouble if I didn’t mention this…but…the video package for Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey was solid. Like, really solid, well done by all.
Overall lowlights:
Well, if nothing changes…
Right now, we have I think what, two women’s matches on the big summer show? There’s the triple threat for Asuka’s title, and then the Shayna/Ronda battle.
We have no Damage CTRL, no tag title match, no Ripley defense. There should be at least one more on this card, probably a couple.
Overall highlights:
The final hype for the red brand has been delivered, and it was pretty good.
Lesnar-Rhodes III should be really good, even if no stipulation.
Shayna and Ronda, also should be…even if no stipiulation.
Judgement Day shows their dominance once again, though the in-fighting, or teased in-fighting, cost them the main event.
After the final bell:
Pretty solid job by a go-home show, I think.
Some lacking, as has been covered with the lowlights. I cannot help but wonder if there aren’t a few surprises planned for Saturday, given that we seem to be missing a few expected matches.
