Seth Rollins executed his master plan to perfection at Night 1 of SummerSlam on Saturday night. After being “injured” in his Saturday Night’s Main Event match with LA Knight, Rollins appeared on crutches at SummerSlam after CM Punk defeated Gunther to become world heavyweight champion before shedding the crutches and knee brace and cashing in the Money in the Bank contract to win the title.
Knight got another crack at Rollins at Raw on Monday night, being granted a title match despite Rollins’ protests. In the end, the match ended prematurely when Punk attacked Rollins.
But Punk’s attack didn’t knock Rollins’ plans off course as Rollins and his crew laid out Punk and Knight. The group then managed to overcome a surprise appearance and attack from Roman Reigns as Raw went off the air.
CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Seth Rollins puts down Roman Reigns, CM Punk and LA Knight
Seth Rollins, Paul Heyman, Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed were out at the top of the show to celebrate Rollins winning the world heavyweight championship at SummerSlam. Rollins’ celebration was interrupted by LA Knight, who claimed Rollins faked his knee injury because he was scared of what was going to happen in their match at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Knight laid down a challenge for a title match later in the night, which Rollins declined before Raw general manager Adam Pearce entered the picture to make the match official as punishment for Rollins having his medical team lie about his injury. Pearce also banned Breakker and Reed from ringside.
World Heavyweight Championship — Seth Rollins (c) def. LA Knight via disqualification after interference from CM Punk. Rollins and Knight were battling back and forth before Punk emerged from the crowd to attack Rollins, resulting in the match being called off. Punk continued his assault as Knight grabbed him to ask what he was doing. Reed and Breakker eventually made their way to the ring and helped Rollins hit stomps on both Knight and Punk. As the show seemed it was about to go off the air, Roman Reigns’ music hit. Reigns managed to take down Rollins, Reed and Breakker before the numbers game got the better of him, and Rollins hit him with a stomp. Rollins held Reigns up so that Breakker could hit a spear before Reed hit a trio of Tsunamis on Reigns to end the show.
Even if it never felt a title change was in the cards, it was nice to get three title matches on the Raw after SummerSlam. With Rollins as the new world heavyweight champion, WWE did a solid job of making it clear that his group was as dominant and dangerous as ever by dispatching of three of the biggest challengers to his throne. Overall, a solid, watchable episode of Raw. Grade: B+
What else happened on WWE Raw?
- Sheamus vs. Rusev ended in a double countout. In what was another hard-hitting match between the two, Sheamus had the advantage on the outside but chose to continue hitting Rusev rather than beating the count. The two continued to brawl after the match until finally separated by WWE officials. The two brawled backstage throughout the show, including accidentally hitting Sami Zayn during a backstage interview.
- Penta def. Grayson Waller via pinfall after a Mexican Destroyer. The match came about after Waller insulted Adam Pearce and Penta in an attempt to get New Day a tag title match.
- Women’s Tag Team Championship – Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair (c) def. Roxanne Perez & Raquel Rodriguez via pinfall after Bliss hit Perez with Sister Abigail. Bliss and Flair were out to celebrate winning the titles at SummerSlam when Perez and Rodriguez came to the ring seeking a rematch, which the champs granted.
- Rhea Ripley wished Iyo Sky luck after finding out Sky went to Adam Pearce to request a shot at Naomi and the women’s world championship.
- Intercontinental Championship – Dominik Mysterio (c) def. Dragon Lee via pinfall after Mysterio hit Lee with his boot. Three different El Grande Americanos interfered in the match, eventually providing enough distraction that Mysterio could slip his boot off to use it as a weapon. After the match, AJ Styles saved Dragon Lee from any further attack.
- Becky Lynch hit Nikki Bella with a sucker punch after Bella challenged Lynch to a match for the intercontinental championship. Lynch was then challenged to a match by Natalya backstage and said she accepted, but only against Maxxine Dupri.