A Room with a Review: Raw 07/13/20

It’s the go-home Raw before The Horror Show at Extreme Rules, the lesser-known cousin of The Americana at Brand (shout out @americanamemes).

• MVP is starting us off with an episode of the VIP Lounge. His guest for the evening is Dolph Ziggler, who is still taking credit for Drew McIntyre’s success. Drew interrupts and says he will hurt and maim and torture Dolph. He knocks Ziggler on his ass with a straight jab and leaves the ring.

• Backstage, Charly Caruso is with Zelina and the Vegaboys. She asks about the friction between Garza and Andrade, but Vega says that narrative is overblown. The Viking Raiders walk up and say that they will run through Andrade and Garza tonight. Ivar even puts the moves on Charly and Angel is crestfallen. 

• After the commercial break, it’s the Viking Raiders vs. Andrade and Angel Garza w/ Zelina Vega in a tag team elimination match. Erik is the first elimination after Andrade hits him with the hammerlock DDT. After teasing some additional friction, Andrade pushes Garza out of the way of a charging Ivar. Andrade is out next after a spinning kick misses Garza and nails him instead. Garza wins the match after reversing a seated senton attempt by Ivar into a power bomb.

• Sarah Schrieber catches up with Ruby Riott, but is promptly dismissed by the IIconics. They have a tag match with Ruby and an unnamed partner, who is quickly revealed to be Bianca Belair! The IIconics are not fans of that choice.

• One commercial break later and it’s the IIconics vs. Ruby Riott and Bianca Belair. It’s a quick match, with Belair getting the pin on Kay after a KOD.

• R-Truth finds Ricochet and Cedric Alexander backstage. Truth thinks he’s facing Ric Flair tonight, not Randy Orton. He asks Tozawa for help in becoming a ninja, but Akira responds by rolling him up and going for a pin. The ninjas rush in, as do Ricochet and Cedric, but Truth says nobody else needs to get involved; he and Tozawa can finish this in the ring.

• It’s a 24/7 Championship match as Akira Tozawa faces off with R-Truth. Before the match starts, though, Shayna Baszler comes to the ring and takes out Tozawa’s ninjas. Akira himself bows out gracefully, as does Truth. Baszler says the women of WWE have been living with the illusion that she was gone, but she’s here to shatter that illusion.

• Seth Rollins asks Murphy what is troubling him. It appears the former Buddy is concerned about the literal interpretation of the Eye for an Eye match coming up at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules.

• After another commercial break, it’s Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens. Before they start, though, Rollins pontificates on the concept of Eye for an Eye. He thought Rey meant it metaphorically, but it turns out that the only way to win is to pluck your opponent’s eye from its socket. For real. KO comes down and Seth is so evil that he got Rey to the point of wanting to gouge his eyes out. Rollins calls for Murphy, but Aleister Black also joins the fray. 

• After things settle down, it will be Murphy against Black. Aleister goes for a pin after a Black Mass, but Rollins pulls him out of the ring, causing a disqualification. This prompts Dem Mysterio Boys to come out, which triggers a commercial break.

• Now we get Rollins vs. KO, with everybody mentioned above (except for Murphy) at ringside. It is a hard-hitting match that Owens wins after Black and the Mysterios (which is my Soundgarden cover band) provide myriad distractions, allowing KO to hit a stunner.

• Backstage, Ric Flair is buttering up Big Show. He says Show can’t win because he’s too busy being Mr. Netflix. 

• Next up is a video package highlighting Randy Orton’s history as the Legend Killer. I always thought he should have gone from the Legend Killer to the Killer Legend, going after NXT guys trying to make a name for themselves. The package is followed by an Orton promo where he questions Big Show’s thought process. 

• R-Truth heads to the ring for his match with Orton. Ric Flair comes out and says he and Randy respect Truth and Orton won’t punt him, just RKO him. Truth tries to talk to Flair, but Orton jumps him and gets a quick win with the RKO. Randy starts to leave, but can’t pass up the opportunity to punt another legend. Flair tries to stop him, giving Big Show time to come down. Orton says he would not punt Truth, he just wanted Show to come down so he could challenge the giant to an unsanctioned match. Show angrily accepts.

• Backstage, MVP and Lashley approach Cedric and Ricochet. MVP asks Ced if he got that thing he sent, but Alexander doesn’t want any part of him. Sarah asks MVP about his match with Apollo Crews at THS: ER, but MVP isn’t worried about Sunday. She then spies Drew McIntyre and asks him about preparing for a match without knowing the stipulation. Before he can answer, Dolph jumps him from behind and they brawl into a commercial.

• Next up it’s Lashley w/ MVP vs. Ricochet w/ Cedric Alexander. Lashley gets the win with a full nelson. Alexander tries to help his boy out, but gets a full nelson slam for his troubles. 

• Backstage, Charly asks Big Show about the unsanctioned match.

• It’s main event time as the Golden Role Models defend the Women’s Tag Team Championships against the Kabuki Warriors. How many shows have one of these four women main-evented in the past month? They’ve definitely been the most interesting part of Raw and SmackDown. Before the match starts, Sasha and Bayley want to watch their tribute video again. During introductions, Banks and Bayley jump Asuka and Kairi, but the Warriors get the advantage back quickly. Kairi looks great off the hot tag, taking out both of her opponents. It’s a great match, marred by some bad timing on a couple of false finishes. The Golden Role Models retain after Kairi Sane taps to the Bank Statement. 

Go-home shows are usually a little bogged down by having to get one more interaction in between all of the involved parties and this one was no exception. Still, it was exciting to get Shayna Baszler, and especially, Bianca Belair back, and hopefully not just in anticipation of the possible Evolution 2 all-women’s PPV.

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