25th April 2017

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The Miz and Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose interrupted “The Highlight Reel”



KANSAS CITY — What’s a guy gotta do to get through a talk show around here? Chris Jericho’s planned “Highlight Reel” discussion of his United States Title rematch with Kevin Owens — a match that will send him to SmackDown LIVE if he wins, for what it’s worth — was interrupted not once, but twice, by Superstars looking to take over the proceedings.

First, The Miz swooped in and immediately transformed “The Highlight Reel” into “Miz TV” so he could interview Jericho, but Dean Ambrose was hot on his heels to flip “Miz TV” into “The Ambrose Asylum.”

And, to his credit, Ambrose remembered he owed Jericho a jacket, so he brought the G.O.A.T. a peace offering of a homemade, Christmas light-spangled replacement.

(The destruction of Mitch the Plant and Ambrose’s lingering $15,000 debt to Jericho apparently cancelled each other out.)

When Miz tried (unsuccessfully) to stop Jericho from trying it on, maaaannnnnn, and started bemoaning Dean's supposed sullying of the Intercontinental Title and complaining that he didn't get a gift, Ambrose hit him with Dirty Deeds and Jericho put Maryse on The List for being married to The Miz.

Harsh.

Raw Tag Team Champion Matt Hardy def. Sheamus



They did it again! Faced in a singles match against one of their No. 1 contenders for the second consecutive week, The Hardy Boyz managed to defeat their would-be usurpers when Matt edged Sheamus to send him and his brother to WWE Payback with all the momentum in the world on their side.

Granted, a little shenanigans were required to push Matt Hardy over the finish line against Sheamus — Jeff Hardy got into it with Cesaro and Sheamus was distracted, allowing Matt to pick up the win with Twist of Fate.

The King of Swing was ready to throw down then and there, but the Irishman managed to defuse the situation to the tune of the third, and most assuredly final, handshake between the two teams.

Austin Aries & Gentleman Jack Gallagher def. WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville & TJ Perkins



Neville and TJ Perkins have been doing the Cruiserweight division dirty over the last couple weeks, and on Raw, their recent targets got some much-deserved — wait for it — payback against The King of the Cruiserweights and his newfound associate.

Facing Austin Aries (Neville’s No. 1 contender for Sunday) and Gentleman Jack Gallagher (the recipient of collusion last week), Neville and TJP seemed to have things in hand when The King of the Cruiserweights stomped Aries in the gut to free The Fil-Am Flash from Last Chancery.

But then, after Gallagher brained Neville with a headbutt, Aries rallied and smashed Perkins in the face with the Discus Five-arm for three.

Kalisto def. Braun Strowman in a Dumpster Match



As it turns out, the only thing that makes Braun Strowman angrier than when he doesn’t get a match is when he loses one.

After suffering a shocking upset defeat to Kalisto in Raw’s first-ever Dumpster Match, The Monster Among Men made his displeasure known in profound fashion, placing a beating on The King of Flight the likes of which has rarely been seen.

First, the match. Credit to Kalisto for not only withstanding the monster’s onslaught, but picking up the win in the savviest of ways: Wiggling out of a Gorilla Press off the apron and dropkicking The Gift of Destruction into the dumpster.
Nicely done.

Of course, Strowman landed on his feet and hopped out about half a second later, raining destruction upon the former United States Champion before locking him in the dumpster and pushing it off the stage, subjecting Kalisto to hip and cervical trauma in the process. Congrats, dude.
Hope it was worth it.

Dana Brooke def. Alicia Fox



With Charlotte Flair on SmackDown LIVE and no desire to reprise EnD anytime soon, Dana Brooke is on the road to independence.

Unfortunately, Emma isn’t going to let her old protégée fly solo so easily.
During Dana’s match with the newly-single Alicia Fox — which only came about because Emma stirred up tension between them last week — Emma herself came down to the ring to observe the proceedings.

She must have liked what she saw because after Dana defeated Fox with a Michinoku Driver, Emma got into the ring and attempted to join the celebration, even giving Dana a hug that was notably unreciprocated.

The plot, as they say, thickens.

Finn Bálor, Seth Rollins & Big Cass def. Samoa Joe, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson



We’ll admit it: Taking out Enzo Amore before a planned Six-Man Tag Team Match was a good strategy for Samoa Joe, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson.

Alas, Raw General Manager Kurt Angle wasn’t exactly going to leave Seth Rollins and Big Cass hanging, so he was quick to sub in a third man for the beleaguered fan-favorites: Finn Bálor.

Joe, Gallows & Anderson wisely formulated their strategy on separating Finn from his tag team partners, leading to the surreal sight of Bálor battling his own good brothers for minutes on end.

After Gallows superkicked Cass off the apron, things looked even more dire. But Finn managed to reach Rollins, who singlehandedly took out the opposition.

The Architect set up for the Pedigree on Anderson before seemingly reconsidering and instead pulling the former Tag Team Champion face-first into a flying knee. Neat.

Sasha Banks def. Alexa Bliss via Count-out



Bayley will defend the Raw Women’s Title against Alexa Bliss this Sunday, but Sasha Banks is showing no signs of stepping to the sidelines anytime soon.

The Boss didn’t just crash a confrontation between Bliss and Bayley on Raw, she got a match with WWE’s Wicked Witch and ended up winning it with a helping hand from the champ herself.

In fact, Banks (who Bliss said was becoming "unhinged") had been so firmly in control of the match that Alexa decided to walk out on the contest altogether, choosing to take the count-out and fight another day.

Bayley got a few punches in on Bliss as she tried to escape, but after it seemed Alexa had fled for good, the No. 1 contender bum-rushed Bayley and laid her out from behind, only making her exit before The Boss could enact further retribution.

Apollo Crews def. Curt Hawkins



After professing to be a star-maker for the last two weeks and being put in his place by Big Show and Finn Bálor, Curt Hawkins changed the criteria for his would-be protégés, attempting to attract an opponent to the "Star Factory" who had not previously been a champion.

Enter Apollo Crews, a Superstar who many have pegged as a champion-in-waiting, to showcase his talents against Hawkins.

Unsurprisingly, Crews put on a clinic against his opponent, sealing the win with his Sitting Spinout Powerbomb and attracting the attention of Titus O’Neil, who last week attempted to sign Crews to the Titus Brand and took it one step further this time, raising the hand of the confused-looking victor and snapping a seemingly-unwanted post-match selfie.

Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose & Chris Jericho vs. The Miz ended in a No Contest



The bad news for The Miz is that he’s already alienated everyone on Raw to such a degree that only one person wanted to be his tag team partner against talk-show foes Dean Ambrose & Chris Jericho in a Kurt Angle-organized main event.

The good news is that that one man was ... Elias Samson? Nah, Miz doesn’t even know him, despite a brief backstage interaction.
It was, apparently, Bray Wyatt.

Granted, The Reaper of Souls waited until about halfway into the match to actually show up, leaving Miz to suffer a 2-on-1 mugging for more time than he probably would have preferred.

But the former WWE Champion more than made up for the delay, saving Miz from a trip through the commentary table, Sister Abigail’ing Ambrose into the LED board and leading a 2-on-1 beatdown of Chris Jericho that ended the match without an official announcement.

Once Jericho had been hauled into the ring, Wyatt feasted upon his foe with Sister Abigail, but he wasn’t interested in sharing the glory: When Miz tried to mug with The Eater of Worlds after the match, Wyatt turned on The A-Lister and subjected him to a Sister Abigail of his own.

Miz did say his partner had a flair for the dramatic. Maybe it was Wyatt after all.