Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler def. Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins (Tag Team Title Match)
It’s not every day that The Shield walk into a fight and don’t come out the winner, so it says a lot about Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre that they held off two of The Hounds of Justice — Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins — to retain the Raw Tag Team Championship … even if they resorted to some rule-breaking when things truly got dire.

Ambrose & Rollins came into the match looking to prove themselves as workhorses, and while they certainly worked hard, the champions worked smart, staying juuust on the right side of the rulebook while employing a timely array of distractions and interference to stop the challengers from reaching full steam. When Ambrose chopped McIntyre down to his knees, Ziggler jumped the ropes to start a commotion that helped the Scotsman escape. When Rollins had Ziggler lined up for a suicide dive, McIntyre tripped him up in the ropes, and The Showoff pounced with a DDT.

As the match began to go long, strategy seemed to go out the window, with Ambrose throwing hands at anything that moved (he had eyes for McIntyre in particular) and Rollins answering Ziggler’s counters with counters of his own in an athletic showcase. Eventually, the champions managed to work their way back to their initial game plan, though they were far less subtle this time around as McIntyre blatantly rushed the ring and struck in the middle of a Rollins sequence, obliterating The Kingslayer with the Claymore while he was hoisting Ziggler up for the Falcon Arrow. The Showoff fell on top of the KO’d Rollins to earn the three-count, ending a bout that may well have remade the Tag Team division as Corey Graves said — yes, it was that good. But even if the game has changed, the titles stay where they are.

Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose Attack Drew & Dolph during the World Title Match
According to Braun Strowman, all Mick Foley had to do as the Special Guest Referee was count the pinfall on Universal Champion Roman Reigns. As it turned out, the conclusion to the main event of WWE Hell in a Cell wasn’t so simple, as the arrival of several Superstars, including Brock Lesnar, brought the bout to an unprecedented ending: A no contest.

Even for the notoriously anything-goes Cell, which just that night had played host to borderline torture from Randy Orton, the Reigns-Strowman bout was shaping up to be particularly lawless. Strowman was so sure he’d win the bout — which doubled as his Money in the Bank cash-in — that he snatched the Universal Title out of Reigns’ hands just before the bell. The Monster Among Men certainly backed up his bravado, though, beating The Big Dog about the crimson structure with gleeful abandon and kicking out of every Spear and Superman Punch thrown his way — and there were a few. As he said to Reigns himself, “your boys can’t help you.”

Except, maybe they could. When Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre — Strowman’s “Dogs of War” — attempted to force their way into the Cell, Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins ran interference and initiated a mad scramble around and atop the Hell in a Cell. All four Superstars threw fists and swung kendo sticks with reckless abandon atop the harrowing structure, and the brawl ended with McIntyre and Ambrose laid out atop the cage, while Rollins and Ziggler tumbled off the side through the commentary table. Then, Brock Lesnar’s music hit, and what had been a figurative hell turned literal very fast.

The Beast Incarnate, who lost the Universal Title to Reigns at SummerSlam (and had been denied the rematch he wanted at WWE Hell in a Cell), kicked open the door and attacked both champion and challenger, reducing a chunk of a table to splinters across their backs before laying both out with F-5s — Reigns landing on top of Strowman. Paul Heyman, meanwhile, incapacitated Foley with what looked like pepper spray to the face, leaving the replacement ref no choice but to call off the match. So Strowman’s cash-in fails. Reigns’ big defense ends in ruins. And Brock Lesnar is ready and willing to unleash hell on anyone who’s anywhere near the Universal Championship.

Photos:
• Hell In A Cell Digitals
• Captures (Full) *Coming Soon*

Video Clips:

Full Video Links:
*Coming Soon*

The Shield Attack the Heel Locker-Room
Last week, Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre got themselves a bunch of new friends last week when half the Raw Superstars helped them lay out The Shield. That said, it doesn’t seem from Raw’s opening moments like that alliance was anything more than a partnership of convenience.

After thanking the Superstars who had made what Ziggler called the “hard choice” of standing up to The Shield, Strowman & Co. found their backup all but evaporated after The Hounds of Justice came down through the audience, axe handles in tow, and tried to fight their way to Braun and his “dogs of war.” Rather than throw down on even footing, however, Strowman, Ziggler & McIntyre opted to head for higher ground.

Once again, however, The Shield found themselves in a standoff with the law, as local police officers cornered The Hounds of Justice backstage. Rather than have them hauled off to prison a second time, however, Acting General Manager Baron Corbin offered them an ultimatum: The Shield must vacate the premises, or Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins would forfeit the Universal and Intercontinental Championships and all three would go to jail for a “long, long time.” The Shield can call this skirmish a victory, but clearly, the bigger battle isn’t quite being dictated on their terms just yet.

Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose Attack Drew & Dolph after their Match
With their win over The B-Team, Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre cleared the decks of competition and cemented themselves as the kings of Raw’s Tag Team division, but they might find that it’s harder to hold the throne down than it was to take it.

Even though the champs held off an effort by The B-Team that was so gritty and inspired that they had to resort to chicanery — McIntyre dispatched Curtis Axel with a Glasgow Kiss, and Ziggler raked Bo Dallas’ eyes — to set up the Claymore-Zig Zag combo, they didn’t get to enjoy the fruits of their labor: Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins jumped the titleholders from behind immediately after the match and sent them scurrying.

Acting General Manager Baron Corbin was furious that his edict had been defied and The Shield had returned, but Rollins & Ambrose pointed out that they were acting on their own, and The Shield had technically kept to their word and stayed away. They also seemed to get Corbin to kind of-sort of admit he had them arrested last week, bringing out a Deputy Sheriff (“G. Ambrose,” according to his uniform) to take The Lone Wolf into custody. However, after a quick sidebar, Rollins & Ambrose opted not to press charges and Corbin later ruled that Ziggler & McIntyre would defend their titles against Ambrose & Rollins at the WWE Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. His reason? That Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon wanted Sunday’s event to have as many big matches as possible.

Photos:
• Raw Digitals
• Captures (Full) *Coming Soon*

Video Clips:

Full Video Links:
*Coming Soon*

Seth Rollins def. Kevin Owens (Open Challenge for the IC Title)
It’s been a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad summer for Kevin Owens, but it appears the former Universal Champion’s woes may be over. Not because he made good on his promise to leave Toronto with a title, mind you, but because KO’s fiercely contested bid for the Intercontinental Championship ended in a loss that left him so demoralized he up and quit on the spot.

The match came about in the first place because Seth Rollins had reinstituted his Intercontinental Title Open Challenge policy when it became clear former champion Dolph Ziggler was otherwise occupied. That brought out Owens, who was hungry for redemption after a Raw return that has not gone quite as he’d hoped. He gave a great fight, too, brutalizing The Architect’s arm and forcing him to fly on a clipped wing. When an agonizing submission and surprise Stunner failed to get the job done, however, KO got desperate with a last-ditch moonsault. Rollins dodged, hit the Stomp, and that was that.

Rather than accept his outstanding performance as a moral victory — to say nothing of Rollins’ post-match nod of respect and a “Kevin Owens” chant from the audience — Owens opted for a knee-jerk reaction of the highest order: After stewing in the ring for the entire commercial break, KO grabbed hold of a microphone and declared, “I quit.”

Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose Main Event Run-In
Last week, Braun Strowman felt the wrath of The Shield. This week, he got even. During a main event that saw The Monster Among Men team with Universal Champion Roman Reigns against Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre, Strowman accepted a crucial tag from a battered Reigns but refused to enter the ring. Instead, The Gift of Destruction gave The Showoff and The Scottish Psychopath free reign to decimate The Big Dog, ending the bout in a disqualification and opening the door for Strowman to exact his payback.

The extended three-on-one beatdown of Reigns first brought out Dean Ambrose and eventually the one-armed Seth Rollins, but the two other Hounds of Justice were no match for the makeshift trio. The Lunatic Fringe suffered the Claymore-Zig Zag combo, Rollins caught a Zig Zag of his own, and all three were subjected to Running Powerslams from The Monster Among Men. Ziggler & McIntyre couldn’t have been more right when they opined that Strowman and Reigns couldn’t get along as partners and that they were teaming only as a matter of pride. What they didn’t realize was how far that pride would motivate Braun Strowman to go.

Photos:
• Raw Digitals Pt. 1
• Raw Digitals Pt. 2
• Captures (Full) *Coming Soon*

Video Clips:

Full Video Links:
*Coming Soon*

Seth Rollins Ringside during Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler
Seth Rollins openly admitted that Dean Ambrose all but made it possible for The Kingslayer to win the Intercontinental Title from Dolph Ziggler at SummerSlam by taking out Drew McIntyre. On Raw, Rollins returned the favor, running interference at the moment of truth to help Ambrose over the finish line against Ziggler in The Lunatic Fringe’s first match following a nine-month layoff due to injury.

It seemed, however, like McIntyre would be the one to claim retribution, as the former NXT Champion stalked a weakened Ambrose at ringside, prompting Rollins to step up. The Architect was briefly overwhelmed by a two-on-one attack from Ziggler & McIntyre, but Ambrose broke it up and sent the action back into the ring. Rollins quickly rallied to down McIntyre with a suicide dive, and Ambrose did the rest, putting his new, power-based style to good use by stopping Ziggler’s leaping DDT cold, popping him into the air and catching him in Dirty Deeds for the win.

The Shield Returns to defend Roman Reigns from a MITB cash in
Roman Reigns defeated Finn Bálor one-on-one to retain the Universal Championship in a title match two years in the making, but when it came to repelling Braun Strowman and his Money in the Bank contract, the Universal Champion needed a little help from his friends.

Before Strowman showed up and all hell broke loose, however, Reigns and Bálor put on an instant classic where The Extraordinary Man summoned the full reserves of his legendary heart. Reigns, unfortunately, had reached his proverbial final form and took everything Bálor had to give him. The arrival of Strowman allowed Finn to set up the Coup de Grâce, but Reigns avoided the move and spiked the Irishman with a thunderous Spear for three.

Strowman quickly entered the ring and struck down the reeling Reigns with a vicious kick, but his Monster in the Bank cash-in was cut short by the unmistakable crackle of “Sierra, Hotel, India” and the arrival of Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, back in the signature black colors of The Shield. Strowman didn’t hesitate to throw down with the brothers in black, but The Hounds of Justice overwhelmed him all the same after Reigns Speared Strowman on the outside, setting up a monstrous Triple Powerbomb through the announce table. Clearly, the message of Reigns’ bout with Bálor was that Raw does, indeed, have a fighting champion. The message of what happened after is that Braun Strowman isn’t the only one with an ace in the hole.

Photos:
• Raw Digitals
• Captures (Full) *Coming Soon*

Video Clips:

Full Video Links:
*Coming Soon*

Seth Rollins def. Dolph Ziggler to win the Intercontinental Championship
Back when Dolph Ziggler beat Seth Rollins for the Intercontinental Title on June 18, The Showoff had Drew McIntyre in his corner, and Rollins had nobody. This time, The Kingslayer brought a Lunatic, and that backup from Dean Ambrose made all the difference.

Ambrose proved he had Rollins’ back right from the bell as he stepped to McIntyre when it appeared Drew was going to inject himself into the contest. Rollins embodied that same mentality, quickly taking the fight to Dolph with an array of strikes and chops. Ziggler cunningly took advantage, swarming Rollins with gritty offense designed to keep The Architect both cornered and down.

Rollins then countered a Ziggler-attempted crossbody, which resulted in Rollins dropping The Showoff (and inadvertently himself) over the top rope onto the floor with an unbelievable suplex. Each Superstar scored with big hits from there. Ziggler spiked Rollins with a ring-rattling spike DDT onto the edge of the ring. The Kingslayer battled back and hit Dolph with an awe-inspiring reverse Superplex from the top freaking rope, which he then followed with a Falcon Arrow.

That unbelievable sequence had Rollins closing in on the victory, but The Scottish Psychopath chucked Ambrose into the steel steps on the outside, which distracted Rollins. Ziggler used the opening to connect with the Zig Zag, but The Architect miraculously kicked out, which brought McIntyre to the apron, but The Lunatic Fringe stopped The Scottish Psychopath and dropped him with Dirty Deeds.

With the fight now even, Rollins countered Ziggler’s superkick with one of his own and then put Ziggler’s lights out with a Stomp for the victory and his second Intercontinental Championship.

Photos:
• Pay-Per View Digitals
• WWE.com Exclusive Captures
• Captures (Full) *Coming Soon*

Video Clips:

Full Video Links:
*Coming Soon*