Videos:
Seth Rollins Confronts Finn Balor (WWE YouTube)
Seth Rollins vs. Sami Zayn (WWE YouTube)

Seth “Interviews” Finn Balor
Finn Bálor has arrived, and all he has to do is get past Seth Rollins to become the first WWE Universal Champion. Rollins, of course, isn’t buying the hype, and he laid out a case for his own superiority under the caveats that he was the first of the two to achieve all of Bálor’s signature accomplishments. Bálor countered that he’s beaten no shortage of competitors who referred to themselves as “The Man,” and he was the only of the two of them to earn the Universal Title Match at SummerSlam, as Rollins was handed his own spot. That riled Rollins, but his attempts to sucker-punch the Irishman landed him a boot to the gut and a Pele Kick to the dome.

Seth def. Sami Zayn
Know this about Seth Freaking Rollins: He will not be humiliated twice in one night. After landing on the wrong end of a tussle with Finn Bálor, The Architect saved face in a one-on-one bout against Sami Zayn later in the night, though The Underdog from the Underground proved a tougher opponent than Rollins might have liked.

Riding off the confidence of having beaten Kevin Owens at WWE Battleground, Zayn rallied from nearly every big move Rollins threw his way. He seemingly had the bout won after he gritted his way to a late-game Blue Thunder Bomb, tightrope DDT and plancha to the outside. But The Architect’s last-second dodge of a Helluva Kick offered all the opening he needed, as Zayn bounced off the turnbuckle straight into the waiting embrace of a Pedigree. It marked a big win for Rollins on his road to SummerSlam, but it was probably closer than he hoped.

Videos:
New WWE Universal Title Is Announced (WWE YouTube)
Seth Rollins Watches Finn Balor (WWE YouTube)

Seth is Announced for New Title Match at SummerSlam
The new era on Raw kicked off big time tonight not only a whole new look (with a new logo, new theme song and stage set) but a brand new title announcement! This was very much anticipated and predicted by the fans for quite some time. Stephanie announced that the winner of the title will be crowned at SummerSlam and it will be named The WWE Universal Championship. She also along with Mick Foley decreed that there will be two fatal four-way matches tonight on the show in order to decide who will face Seth Rollins at SummerSlam. She makes it clear she was not happy with Roman Reigns “losing the title for her brand” and screwing things up for everyone when Seth “had the match won” in her opinion.

A happy Seth Rollins meanwhile checked out all his possible opponents as they were announced onstage. He and Jericho shared an interesting and rather unimpressed stare down and when it came to Finn Balor’s turn… Seth looked rather surprised. As it turns out, Balor would win the first four-way match up and Reigns would win the second match. The two faced off in the main event of Raw and Balor pulled out an amazing victory for his debut Raw night! So it will be Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins at SummerSlam!

Seth did not have a match on air tonight but was a participant in the dark match. Seth Rollins & AJ Styles vs. John Cena & Dean Ambrose!

Cena & Ambrose def. Seth & AJ (Dark Match)

Videos:
Seth vs. Dean vs. Roman (WWE YouTube)

Seth Gets Drafted/Ambrose def. Seth Rollins (Ambrose Retains)
The main event of WWE Battleground was two years in the making, one the WWE Universe had been waiting to see ever since Seth Rollins stabbed his Shield brethren Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose in the back. The stakes could not have been higher, with the WWE Championship hanging in the balance less than 24 hours before a New Era of WWE began, with defending champion Ambrose heading to SmackDown Live and Reigns and Rollins anchoring Monday Night Raw.

Despite the odds being stacked against SmackDown Live and their top draft pick, the determined Ambrose persevered against his former Shield brothers, eventually hitting Reigns with Dirty Deeds to retain his title and take it to Tuesday nights.
Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and her Raw General Manager, Mick Foley, SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon and his General Manager, Daniel Bryan, all made their way to ringside to get the best view of the match that would shape the future of WWE and determine which brand got control of the WWE Championship.
Continue reading »

Videos:
Seth on The SmackDown Preview (WWE YouTube)
Seth Rollins Interview on SmackDown (WWE YouTube)
Seth is Drafted First (WWE YouTube)
Seth vs. Dean Title Rematch – Clip (WWE YouTube)
SmackDown Full Video – Link Soon

Seth Gets Drafted/Ambrose def. Seth Rollins (Ambrose Retains)
On this special draft addition of Raw, things kicked off with Stephanie McMahon using her first pick to select none other than Seth Rollins. It was expected all along that Seth would go first and Dean Ambrose would get drafted second by SmackDown, which was exactly what happened.
In his backstage interview following, Seth said “was there ever any doubt” and seemed as confident as ever in his position at the top of the roster and that he would once again be the champion.

Unfortunately, things did not go his way later on in the show as he would lose to Dean Ambrose in their title rematch. This is not much of a surprise as WWE likely wants to save the real contest for Battleground or use this opportunity to introduce a second title belt. We will soon see if that is indeed the case and whether Seth will become a three time WWE Champion!

Videos:
Seth Rollins Reflects On The End of The Shield (Clip)
Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose (Clip)
Raw Continues on the WWE Network (Clip)
Raw Full Video – Link Soon

Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose Ends in a Draw (Ambrose Retains)
The good news first, if you’re a Dean Ambrose fan: The Lunatic Fringe is still WWE Champion. The good news second, if you’re a Seth Rollins fan: The Architect fought like hell to wrestle the supreme championship from his former Shield ally, taking Ambrose to both the physical limit and the time limit in a match that spilled into a WWE Network overrun after a disputed pinfall left the match with an unclear victor.

Things ended far more decisively in the extra innings, so to speak, when the referee went to the tape and ruled the match a double-pin draw. Ambrose ultimately got the better of Rollins when The Architect attempted to ambush him with the title, meaning he’ll walk into Battleground as champion. And lastly, the good news if you’re a Roman Reigns fan: He’s back on Sunday. Which could be very, very bad news for the other two, and you can believe … well, you know the rest.