The final Raw before SummerSlam 2022 will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City tonight.
The Bloodline will be in action in a six-man tag team match against The Street Profits and Riddle. This Saturday, Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns is slated to defend his title against Brock Lesnar, while The Usos will defend their Undisputed Tag Team titles against Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins of The Street Profits.
WWE will also celebrate Rey Mysterio on his 20th anniversary in the company. Rey will be in action tagging with his son Dominik against The Judgment Day’s Finn Balor and Damian Priest.
Logan Paul will host his own talk show called “Impaulsive TV” in an attempt to show up The Miz ahead of their match at SummerSlam.
Tonight's show is the first Raw episode since Vince McMahon announced his retirement from WWE. Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
No intro or recaps to start Raw. The show opened immediately with Miz and Logan Paul brawling in the middle of the ring until officials ran down to break them up.
Things quickly settled and they showed a clip of Miz charging out to the ring before they went on the air because Paul had called him out.
(Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves and Byron Saxton are on commentary as usual.)
Roman Reigns, the Usos and Paul Heyman entered to officially kick things off at Madison Square Garden. They received a big mixed reaction including chants for Roman.
Reigns told MSG to acknowledge him. They did. Reigns said he didn’t feel like talking anymore so he handed the microphone over to Heyman.
The mic cut out as Reigns spoke and again as Heyman spoke. Heyman said they must have a sound guy from New Jersey. Heyman said, “We want your name written down, you’re the next one out the door.”
Heyman said Sunday would mark 700 days of Reigns as the champion but he knew that Brock Lesnar wanted to end Reigns’ party. Heyman noted that Lesnar ended Randy Couture when he was on top, ended Undertaker’s streak, and took John Cena to Suplex City when he was at his peak.
Heyman mentioned notable streaks in sports, whether it be the Red Sox vs. Yankees or The Rock vs. Stone Cold. However, you wouldn’t think about Lesnar alongside Reigns’ name anymore after Saturday. It was time for Lesnar to go back to Saskatchewan to slaughter hogs. In their final match against each other, Reigns would finally rid himself of Lesnar. The crowd chanted “Suplex City.”
Theory interrupted. He repeated his plan for SummerSlam again. Reigns told him to step in the ring and acknowledge his Tribal Chief. Theory was defensive as he entered the ring.
Reigns told Theory that he had no idea what to do with the briefcase so he offered him some advice. Reigns told Theory to analyze the situation. “Your daddy’s not here anymore.” This got a big pop from the crowd followed by chants of “daddy’s boy” and “who’s your daddy.” Reigns told him that the Garden belonged to him.
As the Bloodline left, Jey Uso smacked Theory in the back of the head. Theory responded by hitting him with the briefcase. Reigns held Jey back before he could go after Theory. Reigns settled things down and they left.
Theory was still in the ring after a break and was introduced to the live crowd. Before he could say much, he was interrupted by Drew McIntyre. I guess they're having a match.
Drew McIntyre defeated Theory via disqualification (9:37)
This match featured your usual number of rapid camera cuts and it ended in a DQ.
McIntyre hit a Future Shock DDT and set up for the Claymore Kick but Theory rolled outside the ring. McIntyre went after him and dropped him onto the announce table which led to break. Theory briefly took the advantage after driving McIntyre into the steel steps but McIntyre came back with a vertical suplex and spinebuster for two.
As McIntyre set up for the Claymore again, Sheamus, Ridge Holland and Butch ran in for the DQ.
As they attacked McIntyre, Bobby Lashley ran down to make the save and they cleared the ring. Theory tried attacking from behind with the briefcase but they chased him away.
US Champion Bobby Lashley & Drew McIntyre defeated Theory & Sheamus (approx. 12:20)
This match featured interference and a distraction finish.
The match started during a break. Sheamus was amused by McIntyre chopping Theory but he used a distraction to knock down McIntyre and take control. The crowd chanted “we want Bobby” as Sheamus faked a tag to Theory. McIntyre headbutted Sheamus before tagging in Lashley.
Lashley gave Sheamus a delayed vertical suplex before giving Theory a flatliner. Lashley went to spear Theory through the barricade but Sheamus clocked him with a knee strike. Butch and Holland tried to attack McIntyre but McIntyre caught Butch and suplexed him onto Holland. The referee kicked them out and they went to another break.
They briefly had the heat on Lashley until he made the hot tag to McIntyre who hit Theory with a sit-out spinebuster for two. Lashley made a blind tag and gave Theory a chokeslam but Sheamus broke up the cover with a flying knee strike. McIntyre wiped out Sheamus but Sheamus poked him in the eye and gave him White Noise on the outside.
Theory set up for his finisher but got distracted by Dolph Ziggler who suddenly appeared at ringside so Lashley applied the Hurt Lock for the submission win.
— The Usos superkicked Theory after the match. Reigns placed the briefcase on Theory’s chest and sarcastically reminded him to bring it on Saturday.
There was a Rey Mysterio video package featuring words from JBL, Kurt Angle, Kofi Kingston, Batista, Randy Orton, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, and John Cena. There was a clip of Rey early in his Smackdown run where he wiped out Lance Storm and Christian with a dive off the top of the steel cage as well as clips of Rey winning the 2006 Royal Rumble and winning the world title at WrestleMania 22. They also showed Rey and Dominik winning the tag titles.
Rey, Dominik, Aalyah and Angie were shown arriving at the building.
Ziggler told Kevin Patrick that Theory has risen fast but hasn’t done anything to earn it. AJ Styles approached him and basically agreed with him. Alpha Academy showed up to mock them and challenge them to a match. Styles and Ziggler accepted.
Rey Mysterio’s 20th-anniversary celebration
Rey and Dominik entered. The crowd chanted “thank you, Rey.”
Rey mentioned having his first match at 14 years old in Tijuana and never imagined back then that he would perform in a WWE ring, travel the world, make money, and create legendary rivalries for the crowd to enjoy.
Rey said guys his size were not part of the business back then but he broke the blueprint of what a superstar should look like. He was a smaller guy and a proud Latino who went on to win the world title.
Rey thanked Dean Malenko, Konnan (“K-Dog”), Batista, Kurt Angle, Edge, and of course, Eddie Guerrero. The crowd chanted for Eddie. Rey choked up as he told Eddie how much he missed him. He thanked Eddie for always watching over him.
Rey was humble and appreciated the love and support the fans have given him over the years. Rey said it meant that much more to be able to celebrate it with his family. The crowd chanted “you deserve it.”
Rey thanked Angie and Aalyah for always being there. He told Dominik that he was proud of him. Rey knew that Dominik would represent the Mysterio legacy to the fullest when he no longer could.
Rey thanked the fans for always accepting him and for the most awesome 20 years. Rey especially wanted to thank the fans at the Garden. Rey spoke in Spanish and said, “Viva mi Raza!”
Finn Bálor and Damian Priest approached through the crowd and sarcastically applauded as they went to break.
Rey & Dominik Mysterio vs. Finn Bálor & Damian Priest
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