The Horror Show at Extreme Rules is getting closer and tonight’s the night Dolph Ziggler will reveal the stipulation for his title match against Drew McIntyre. Rey Mysterio has been cleared for action, so is teaming with Aleister Black to face Seth Rollins and Murphy. Asuka and Bayley have a Champion versus Champion match. We have a very odd six-man tag on the card, The Viking Raiders and Big Show versus Andrade, Angel Garza, and Randy Orton. And Kevin Owens returns to RAW.

Match Results

Drew McIntyre def. Heath Slater

Kairi Sane def. Sasha Banks (DQ)

Rey Mysterio & Kevin Owens def. Seth Rollins & Murphy

MVP & Bobby Lashley def. Cedric Alexander & Ricochet

Randy Orton, Angel Garza, & Andrade def. The Viking Raiders & Big Show

Billie Kay def. Ruby Riott

Asuka def. Bayley

The Show

♦ Drew McIntyre opened the show and talked about his upcoming match with Dolph Ziggler. He speculated about the stipulation Ziggler could have chosen, and how he’d beat him in all of them, then called out Ziggler.

Ziggler came to the stage and said it was a secret and will remain a secret until The Horror Show at Extreme Rules. Insults were exchanged then Ziggler brought out Heath Slater of all people. That was a bit of a surprise considering Slater was fired in the mass exodus a couple of months ago.

Slater feels like McIntyre let him down. He promised to petition to have a match with him and instead Slater got fired. He’d always been there for McIntyre and McIntyre wasn’t there for him. So he’s there to get what McIntyre promised him. Drew McIntyre didn’t seem keen, so Slater shoved him, then slapped him when that didn’t work. He got his match.

Drew McIntyre vs Heath Slater started after a break and finished with a Claymore after less than a minute. Ziggler started giving McIntyre a hard time as McIntyre was leaving. Slater pushed him and Ziggler started pounding on him in retaliation. McIntyre ran back and chased him off then pulled Heath Slater to his feet hugged him and raised his hand.

♦ Bayley and Sasha Banks had a backstage interview with Sarah Schreiber, except Bayley said they didn’t want to talk to her when they could talk to the world. Asuka appeared after they left, and Schreiber asked her how she was planning to handle them alone tonight. Asuka said ‘Who said I’m all alone’ and danced away.

Banks and Bayley did head to the ring to talk about themselves, everything they’ve done, and everything they’re going to do. Asuka crashed the party before it got too monotonous. After the usual exchanges, Asuka pointed out Banks wasn’t scheduled for a match tonight. Bayley said Sasha is ready for anybody, so Asuka brought out Kairi Sane to test that.

Sasha Banks vs Kairi Sane was an unexpected pleasure, and rumour has it we should make the most of Sane while she’s still there. She certainly made the most of this match, she was in complete control of Banks in the early going. Bayley and Asuka briefly got into it on the outside. Sane threw Banks out and basement dropkicked her and Bayley into the barricades. She didn’t have it all her own way, but she definitely had the best of the match. It was a good long match as well. Sadly, it finished in a DQ when Bayley invaded the ring to stop Banks tapping out.

It quickly turned into Bayley and Banks battering Asuka until Sane took them out with an InSane Elbow.

♦ After a recap of Rollins post-match shenanigans from last week, we saw Aleister Black in a Rey Mysterio mask laying backstage, having clearly been attacked, with Murphy yelling at him. Rollins walked up and said, ‘Damn shame’, and kept walking.

♦ Big Show wanted to make sure The Viking Raiders were taking their match seriously. They were laughing and joking around until he chopped them both. That got them focused and they were growling when he left.

♦ The KO Show was how Kevin Owens made his RAW return. His special guests were Seth Rollins and Murphy. The first thing Owens did was the throw the chairs out of the ring to reduce the available weaponry.

Rollins enquired about Owens’ fractured ankle. Owens gave Rollins a KO Mania shirt, just like the one he was wearing when he beat him. ‘Pleasantries’ out of the way, Rollins said he was only there to use Owens’ platform to send a message to Rey Mysterio and formally challenge him to a match at Extreme Rules – The Horror Show, so he can permanently make Mysterio a sacrifice to the greater good.

With that out of the way, Rollins made a pitch to Owens to join him and fight with him rather than against him. Rey Mysterio and Dominik arrived before Owens could answer. He accepted Rollins’ challenge and said Rollins destiny will be in his hands at the PPV.

Rollins asked what Mysterio was going to do about the tag match now his partner was out of commission. Owens said he’d be Mysterio’s partner and suggested they add some stakes, winner picks the stipulation for Rollins vs Mysterio at The Horror Show.

Rey Mysterio & Kevin Owens vs Seth Rollins & Murphy. Mysterio might have been medically cleared, but his right eye was still covered over. It inevitably got messy. Murphy and Rollins went after Dominik and Rollins tried to get him to hit him. When he wouldn’t. Rollins stuck a thumb in Dominik’s eye. After a break it got messier. Mysterio set Rollins and Murphy up for 619s. They slipped out of the ring and Rollins grabbed Dominik. Aleister Black arrived and Rollins encouraged him to attack him and cause the DQ. He didn’t, but while Rey Mysterio had the ref’s attention, Dominik raked Murphy’s eyes and shoved him back in the ring. Mysterio gave Murphy a 619 and a frogsplash and pinned him while Owens kept Rollins out of the ring.

Mysterio picked an Eye for an Eye match, whatever that is. It seems to involve pulling Rollins eye out of its socket… which sounds a little extreme even for The Horror Show at Extreme Rules.

♦ Apollo Crews is apparently out of action but has a match with MVP at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules. MVP and Bobby Lashley are taking credit for it and planning to use it to their advantage. They told Charlie Caruso that before they came to the ring. When they got there MVP talked about Crews and the future he could have had with him as manager. He unveiled a new United States Championship and Lashley awarded it to him on the spot. Cedric Alexander and Ricochet interrupted the self-satisfied rubbish to get some retribution for Crews’ injury. It turned into a match.

MVP & Bobby Lashley vs Cedric Alexander & Ricochet was a decently entertaining match. It finished via a Bobby Lashley spear to Alexander. Ricochet had to rescue Cedric Alexander from a post-match full nelson.

♦ Kairi Sane and Asuka had a backstage interview with Charly Caruso. She asked them how they felt about Bayley and Sasha Banks declaring themselves the dominant force. Asuka said after she beats Bayley tonight, she and Sane are challenging Bayley and Sasha Banks to a tag title match next Monday. Kairi Sane played them out on her recorder.

♦ Before The Viking Raiders & Big Show vs Andrade, Angel Garza, & Randy Orton, Ric Flair had a chat with an arguing Garza and Andrade. He wanted to warn them they had to win tonight or all three of them (him, not Vega) would have to answer to Orton. Orton came up behind him and told them The Big Show is his and if they get in his way he’ll introduce them to the Legend Killer.

Angel Garza got his ass handed to him in the early parts of the match, then argued with Andrade. Randy Orton responded by grabbing Garza by the throat and threatening him if he didn’t get his act together. It seemed to work as a pep talk because they were a dominant team from then until Erik tagged Big Show. Randy Orton made himself unavailable to tag at that point, but he tried to deliver an RKO out of nowhere. Big Show shoved him away.

It was an RKO that finished the match though. Andrade saved Garza from a Viking Experience. Randy Orton tagged himself in and, while Andrade and Garza threw Ivar out of the ring, Orton delivered the RKO to Erik for the win.

♦ The IIconics and Ruby Riott exchanged insults backstage ahead of Riott’s match against Billie Kay. Riott confirmed she had been trying to get hold of Liv Morgan, but doesn’t know where she is – NOTE: Sarah Logan, the third Riott Squad member, announced her pregnancy today, so congratulations to her and Erik.

♦ MVP is now trying to recruit Cedric Alexander to his stable. He asked him why he’s content to be Ricochet’s sidekick and said he’s going to be sitting in catering for the rest of his career watching other people be successful. Alexander turned him down, but he may have got in his head. They managed to get in a solid plug for Ricochet’s WWE 365 documentary at the same time.

♦ R-Truth interrupted Randy Orton and Ric Flair talking and accused Flair of being Tozawa. He ran off when Tozawa and the ninjas arrived. Orton held them up for a moment then sent them off in the wrong direction.

♦ Ruby Riott vs Billie Kay was fun, but short. Riott started it by stamping on Peyton Royce’s hands, which was very much her own fault for leaving them in the ring. Billie Kay was dominant through most of the match, which was a bit of a surprise. Ruby Riott lost her hair extensions mid-match, then got pinned off a Peyton Royce distraction.

♦ In Bayley and Sasha Banks backstage interview, Banks ended up accepting The Kabuki Warriors’ challenge. Bayley questioned it, but Banks said there is no team on any brand who can touch them, so she agreed.

Nikki Cross joined commentary for Bayley vs Asuka – Champion vs Champion – despite security trying to evict her before it started. She promised to be calm, but Samoa Joe had to literally hold her back to stop her leaping on Banks and Bayley. Bayley knocked Cross’ headphones off a few minutes in, and security removed her. Sadly, that meant she didn’t see Asuka practically knock Bayley out with a knee going into the break. She would have like that.

It was less entertaining without Nikki Cross, but it was a good match. With Sasha Banks and Kairi Sane at ringside, the chances of a clean finish were minuscule. Bayley bounced Asuka’s face off the ropes and the announce desk and sat down on commentary ahead of a second ad break, but the ads spared us. Predictably, Bayley’s arrogance got her in trouble and fired Asuka up. Asuka hit Bayley so hard with a spinning backfist she appeared to back off and check she was ok before she knocked her to the floor.

Bayley punched Kairi Sane to the floor, as an encouragement for Sane to hit her, so she could ram Asuka into Sasha Banks’ knee while the ref was occupied. It worked but Asuka kicked out. Bayley threw water in Asuka’s face, then got distracted by Nikki Cross hammering on the plexiglass barricades and ended up in an Asuka lock.  Bayley tried to flip out of it and failed. Sasha Banks tried to interfere and got speared by Kairi Sane. Bayley broke the Asuka Lock but got pinned trying to counter.

It was nice to see some returning faces on this week’s RAW. I hope Heath Slater wasn’t just brought back to deliver an A+ promo and take a Claymore to the face. I also hope Kairi Sane’s rumoured departure can be prevented. RAW is a better show with both of them.