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Last night at Battleground, Smackdown had something to celebrate when Dean Ambrose retained the WWE Title in a Triple Threat match against Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.
We are in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and your announcers are Corey Graves, Michael Cole, and Byron Saxton. They are now situated on the stage.
We go to the ring and Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley are in the ring.
Mick welcomes everyone to Raw. He says the first episode of the new era of Raw begins tonight . . . right here . . . in Pittsburgh. Mick brings out the entire roster of Raw and some are wearing their red Raw shirts, but it does not appear to be mandatory for tonight.
Mick says as General Manager of Raw, he will be working with everyone on the stage to bring the most thrilling and action packed Raw every week.
Stephanie says Mick will have full authority to do that. Stephanie wants to talk about the main event of Battleground when Roman Reigns lost it for all of them. Now the WWE Champion is on Smackdown. She says Seth had it in the bag before Roman screwed it up for everyone. She says Roman is not a good guy or a bad guy, he is just a loser. In 1,209 episodes of Raw, there has always been a WWE Champion. Everyone demands a World Champion and that is what they are going to get.
Mick says tonight's episode will feature two Fatal Four Way Matches. The winners of the matches will meet in the main event.
Stephanie says the winner will face Seth Rollins at SummerSlam for the brand new Championship title.
Mick says it is named for all of you so it will be called the WWE Universal Championship.
Mick introduces the eight participants. They are Sami Zayn, Sheamus, Chris Jericho, Cesaro, Roman Reigns, Rusev, Kevin Owens, and Finn Balor.
Stephanie points out the Women's Champion is still on Raw and she asks Charlotte to step forward.
Mick mentions that Charlotte lost the match last night when she tapped out to Sasha Banks. You will be defending the Women's title tonight against Sasha Banks.
Stephanie tells the men in the Fatal Four Way Matches to be ready because the first match is next.
Match Number One: Cesaro versus Rusev versus Kevin Owens versus Finn Balor
Balor goes after Owns while Rusev goes after Cesaro. Cesaro with a European uppercut and Irish whip followed by a running European uppercut. Owens chops Balor while Cesaro comes off the apron and takes down Rusev. Owens shows he is the Chinlock Master while Rusev punches Cesaro. Owens with a shoudler tackle but Balor with a drop kick to Owens. Cesaro sends Rusev into the ringside barrier and he hits a cannonball off the apron onto Rusev.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Rusev and Owens work over Balor. We see a double suplex during the commercial break. Owens kicks Balor while staring at Rusev. Owens has something to say to Balor while he chokes him. Rusev works over Cesaro while Balor punches Owens but Owens with a back elbow. Cesaro is sent to teh floor. Rusev suplexes Balor and owens applauds but he wants to show Rusev how it is done. Rusev with a German suplex to Balor and the challenge is on. Balor with elbows to stop the German suplex attempt but Owens with a clothesline and he gets a naer fall. Owens punches Balor while Cesaro punches Rusev. Owens punches Cesaro and Rusev sends Balor to the floor. Owens and Rusev suplex Cesaro back into the ring and Rusev makes the cover but Owens tells him to wear him down and do the flip. Owens with a back senton while Rusev hits a somersault senton.
Owens sends Balor into the ring and Balor with forearms to Rusev and Owens. Balor with a cross body but Owens catches Balor and hits a Schwein and gets a near fall. Rusev with a Saito suplex on Owens but misses a diving head butt on Owens when Kevin moves. Owens and Balor exchange punches until Cesaro takes care of them with a cross body from the top. Cesaro with running European uppercuts to Owens and Rusev and then he sees Balor and he adds a stop on the trip. Rusev stops Cesaro from hitting the Giant Swing on Owens. Rusev and Cesaro go to the floor. Owens goes for a power bomb but Owens with a back drop and Owens holds on for a sunset flip. Balor rolls through and hits a drop kick.
Balor with a flip dive onto Owens, Cesaro and Rusev. Rusev stops Balor from going up top but Balor with a kick. Balor with kicks to Cesaro and he hits a side slam from a reverse suplex position and we go to commercial.
We are back and Owens chops Cesaro and puts him on the turnbuckles. Balor with forearms and he climbs the turnbuckles. Rusev comes under and hits the Tower of Doom. Rusev runs into a boot from Owens. Cesaro with a European uppercut. Rusev with a spin kick but Balor with a Pele Kick. Owens with a neck breaker out of a Torture Rack. Owens with a frog splash for a near fall on Balor that is broken up by Rusev. Rusev is sent to the floor and Owens with a super kick. Owens with a pop up Power Bomb to Balor and Cesaro breaks up the cover. Cesaro goes for the Gotch Style Neutralizer but Owens with a back body drop and Cesaro lands on his feet. Cesaro with a springboard European uppercut. Rusev stops the giant swing with a super kick to Cesaro and then he kicks Owens.
Rusev stomps on the back and he puts Owens in the Accolade but Cesaro picks up Rusev for a dead lift suplex and Cesaro gets a near fall. Cesaro tries for the Sharpshooter but Rusev counters into the Accolade but Cesaro counters into a rollup for a near fall. Rusev with a round kick and Cesaro with a clothesline and both men are down. Rusev and Cesaro exchange punches. Cesaro with the Giant Swing and he applies the Sharpshooter. Owens with a super kick to Cesaro. Owens with a cannonball to Rusev and Balor with a running drop kick that sends Owens into Rusev. Balor with Slingblade to Owens and then he hits the running drop kick to Rusev and then hits the Coup de Grace on Rusev for the three count.
Winner: Finn Balor
We go to commercial.
Match Number Two: Nia Jax versus Britt Baker
They lock up and Nia sends Britt to the mat and then hits a splash in the corner. Nia catches Britt and runs her into the turnbuckles and puts her in the Tree of Woe. Nia with a running hip into the corner. Nia with a leg drop and she pulls Britt up instead of getting the three count. Nia with a head butt and she hits a leg drop for the three count.
Winner: Nia Jax
Sasha Banks is in the back and Goldust and R Truth are playing Pokemon Go and they stop by her.
Tom Phillips asks Sasha about her match and whether she feels any pressure. Sasha says Charlotte has been dodging her. She says that she has been living a ten year old girl's dream wtih this women's revolution. When she wins tonight, it will be a dream come true. She will become the champion and there is nothing that Dana and Charlotte can do about it.
We go to commercial.
Coverage Continues on Next Page
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