Shinsuke Nakamura is done playing around. Tonight on WWE Raw from Winnipeg, we’re apparently going to find out just why he had his recent change of heart.
Nakamura seemed pretty entrenched as a fan favorite during his current run, even helpfully volunteering to team with Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes to take on The Judgment day last week after the villainous stable had taken out Sami Zayn.
There was just one problem: After the match, Nakamura laid out Rollins with a vicious Kinshasa, leaving the World Heavyweight Champion staring up at the lights.
The assumption is that Shinsuke wants Seth’s gold for himself. That’s how these things usually work, after all. But perhaps there’s a little more to it than that, and WWE is hinting that we’ll find out tonight.
The other big to-do for this Monday is Becky Lynch battling Trish Stratus. You may recall that they were supposed to have a match two weeks ago, except Stratus had Zoey Stark aid her as soon as the bell rang, content to lose by DQ.
Adam Pearce said “uh-uh!” (hopefully in his best Stone Cold Steve Austin voice) and that Becky and Trish would have a proper rematch, this time with Zoey banned from the ringside area. We thought it might be at SummerSlam, but it will instead take place on this episode of Raw.
We think. Hopefully.
There’s also the not so small matter of Payback coming up in just a few weeks, so time’s a wasting on getting the gears in motion for that event. That could happen tonight as well.
Let’s dive in.
WWE Raw results from Winnipeg:
(scroll down for more details on any match or segment in bold)
- The Judgment Day is out here without Finn Balor, and they aren’t happy about it; also JD McDonagh and Sami Zayn get into a scrap
- Sami Zayn def. JD McDonagh by pinfall
- Chelsea Green apologizes to Chelsea Green and looks like he’s going to strip her of the tag team titles, but she threatens to call Human Resources on him, then suggests they hold auditions for a new partner; Piper Niven tries to declare herself Green’s new partner and doesn’t appear she’ll take no for an answer
- Cody Rhodes notes that Balor has always been a leader, but one of the problems with The Judgment Day is that both Priest and Ripley are too; Cody says he’ll be ready for Finn and The Judgment Day tonight
- The Ring General has arrived in Winnipeg, but while Alpha Academy has to accept that Gunther is very good, they don’t take any crap from Ludwig Kaiser
- Chad Gable def. Giovanni Vinci by pinfall
- Gunther def. Otis by pinfall
- Ripley has to step between Balor and Priest to stop their bickering, and Finn comes around and says the group will show they are still a united force against Cody later tonight
- The weekly SmackDown Bloodline recap video plays
- Drew McIntyre is asked what’s next for him, but he doesn’t get to answer before Matt Riddle asks him if he’ll tag up to face the Viking Raiders tonight; McIntyre says he’ll consider it, and Riddle does the “so you’re telling me there’s a chance!” thing
- A short video hypes up Indi Hartwell
- Matt Riddle and Drew McIntyre def. Viking Raiders by pinfall
- Raquel Rodriguez tells Candice LeRae and Hartwell how frustrated she is that she can’t get cleared since she can’t wait to rip Ripley apart, but everyone agrees this is Indi’s night to show what she can do
- Riddle thinks he and McIntyre can win the tag team champions, but The New Day is offended by the thought that one win can make them title contenders and they challenge Matt and Drew to a match next week
- Rhea Ripley def. Indi Hartwell by pinfall, though LeRae may have made a tactical error by attacking Ripley after the match
- A quick replay shows Nakamura’s attack on Rollins again from the end of last week’s Raw
- Shinsuke Nakamura gets a title shot from Seth Rollins … and lays him out again
- The Miz denies shaking LA Knight’s hand, says he’ll beat someone better than Knight ever has, and may show up on SmackDown too
- Trish Stratus vs. Becky Lynch ends in a double countout, with Zoey Stark joining in when they brawl up to the concourse
- Gunther is angry at Vinci for losing and ticked at Kaiser at getting distracted with Dupri, then says he’ll go to Pearce and sort it out by giving Gable his title shot next week
- Speaking of Pearce, he’s furious with Stratus and tells her Trish will have to face Becky in a steel cage
- Cody Rhodes def. Finn Balor by pinfall, but after the match, he and Sami Zayn take a horrific beating from The Judgment Day after the arrival of McDonagh turns the tide