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From the moment Randy Orton won the WWE championship from Drew McIntyre to Hell in a Cell, it seemed time was running out for the title. McIntyre was focused on regaining the belt, Bray Wyatt had Orton in his sights and The Miz was a constant threat to cash in on the Money in the Bank contract and steal the title. But on this week’s Raw, it was McIntyre who ended the reign, beating Orton in a fantastic main event to regain the title.
With the win, McIntyre now moves on to the Survivor Series, where he will face SmackDown universal champion Roman Reigns in Sunday’s main event. But Orton and The Miz could both play a factor when McIntyre faces “The Tribal Chief”.
CBS Sports has been with you all night, bringing you summaries and highlights from all the action of the evening. Read on for everything you need to know for Raw’s Survivor series go-home show.
Drew McIntyre regains the WWE championship
McIntyre opened the show with an in-ring promo aimed at Randy Orton and Roman Reigns. It was interrupted by Orton on the Tron, who talked about being the most fined and most hanging superstar in the locker, saying he is still in WWE despite all this because he is the greatest wrestler ever. After McIntyre said he’d put his foot in Orton’s head, The Miz and John Morrison were next to stop, saying they’d be front row for the title match later in the night – and that Miz would be the man with the title at the end of the night.
Bray Wyatt def. The Miz via pinfall after hitting his sister Abigail. A joke from Miz in his previous promo that Wyatt was a “crazy, delusional nut” led Wyatt to prepare for the match during a Firefly Fun House match. Miz tried to apologize before the match, saying there was no good reason to have the match and instead found a peaceful solution, like working together to take out Orton in the main event. Alexa Bliss came out from behind and said, “He says no.” Nikki Cross then came out and told Bliss that she had to leave Wyatt, only to be slapped and attacked by Bliss. Morrison got involved several times on the outside, but was ultimately attacked by Alexa Bliss, with the pair falling over the fence in the front row. Miz tried to take advantage of the distraction but was knocked out by a sister Abigail for the finish, effectively removing Miz from the equation for the main event.
WWE Championship – Drew McIntyre def. Randy Orton (c) via pinfall to win the title. McIntyre had a new entrance, walking into the ring wearing a kilt and stabbing a giant claymore sword in the entrance ramp – both were given to him earlier in the night by Sheamus, who said he received them from McIntyre’s mother and that they were a family heirlooms. McIntyre dominated early, forcing Orton to decide to walk away and take the tally of 10, but Adam Pearce interrupted to say the match now featured no counts or disqualifications. Orton quickly brought a chair into the equation, using the weapon to gain the upper hand. Orton would continue to take shortcuts, using the ring steps and a thumb for his eyes while McIntyre was on his return. McIntyre was able to hit a Future Shock DDT for a two count and then knocked Orton from the ring apron across a table set up at ringside for another near fall. After more back and forth action, McIntyre hit Claymore to regain the championship.
The show as a whole has been kept together with a strong focus on core storylines heading towards the Survivor series with little unnecessary grease around the edges. This paid off as the evening seemed to be constantly changing for the main event. McIntyre and Orton then had time to put together a game that could have led to almost any card in the main event. The only small misstep was having Miz completely absent due to Wyatt’s elimination, which eliminated some of the “What if?” feel that it has been established in the opening segment. For anyone grumbling about a brief title reign for Orton, I suggest looking at NWA world championship history to realize that even in the 70s and 80s, sometimes doing business took a short time. Grade: A
The team problems of the Survivor series continue
Asuka, Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke def. Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler and Lana via submission after Asuka puts Lana in Asuka’s lock. Before the match, Baszler and Jax told Lana – who was the one who requested the match – that she shouldn’t tag under any circumstances. Baszler stepped on Rose on the steps of the ring early in the match. Baszler pinned Asuka in the Kirifuda clutch but Lana got in and hit a kick for a two count. Asuka then quickly locked herself in the lock Asuka for the finish. This, of course, meant that Jax continued the end of the match by putting Lana across the announcement table with a Samoan drop. Later, while Brooke was giving a behind-the-scenes update on Rose’s health, she was attacked by Reckoning and trampled in some crates of equipment. Rose and Brooke have been announced as being unable to compete in the Survivor Series, with Peyton Royce and Lacey Evans announced as their replacements.
Retribution def. Riddle, Keith Lee, Braun Strowman and Sheamus via pinfall when Mustafa Ali rolled up Riddle. The match was put together by AJ Styles as an attempt to build team chemistry, something Ali seemed to be having trouble with, arguing that his group is not a collection of pawns and would simply wait to see Team Raw fall apart. . Problems within Team Raw immediately surfaced with Strowman and Sheamus getting into it before it turned into an argument with Styles about his claim to be the team captain. Lee had a big blast of offense after a hot tag, setting his team to take over, but Sheamus used a blind tag to get into the ring, Strowman did the same seconds later and then Sheamus stopped Strowman from hitting the powerslam. This led to an argument between the team, allowing Ali to roll Riddle for the win.
Similar to the WWE title image, everything here was pretty concentrated all night, but the changes in the women’s squad didn’t make much sense unless there were legitimate injuries at stake. Rose is believed to have been legitimately injured last week, which would require Brooke to be removed from the match, as they are presumably a tag team that will presumably chase the headlines soon. The men’s team looks so dominant on paper that further establishing the issues between the members was a great move to get into Survivor Series. Grade: B.
What else happened on WWE Raw?
- Raw Tag Team Championship – The New Day (c) def. The Hurt Business via pinfall to keep the titles. This was a fantastic tag match with everyone going full speed and some very convincing falls in both directions before Xavier Woods blocked Shelton Benjamin after hitting Daybreak. This solidifies the New Day for the Survivor Series game with the SmackDown The Street Profits tag champions.
- Jeff Hardy faced Elias in the locker room after Elias plastered the backstage area with “wanted posters” featuring Hardy and the car accident that knocked Elias out months earlier. Hardy insisted he had proved innocent and threatened to do worse than hit Elias with a car if he didn’t back down.
- Asuka was interviewed backstage and said she was looking forward to beating SmackDown women’s champion Sasha Banks at the Survivor Series.
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