Welcome to another edition of WWE Recap Report — a breakdown of the biggest takeaways of the week from WWE programming for those who may have missed out.
Whether you need to catch up on a show, had too busy of a week to stay on top of the breaking news or just skipped out on WWE as a whole, I’ve got you covered.
Obviously, not every single thing will be recapped here in detail. But this is your TL;DR of the week to be caught up to speed before the next Monday Night Raw so you’re not left in the dark.
With that being said, here is a quick rundown of this week in WWE.
MONDAY NIGHT RAW
- Drew McIntyre kicked things off with a promo. He offered Randy Orton a rematch and talked about how he plans to kick his damn head off. Orton attacked McIntyre and gave him two punts to the skull. Later in the night, Orton cut a promo about how he didn’t want a pity match offered to him. Keith Lee interrupted and challenged Orton to a match. When they did fight, McIntyre attacked Orton for a disqualification finish. Later still, Orton attacked McIntyre from behind while he was doing an interview and punted him a third time.
- Nia Jax said she apologized to Pat Buck and her suspension’s been lifted. She and Shayna Baszler shared some antagonistic words. Jax attacked Baszler in her match against Bayley, but the two actually ended that fight as allies, somehow, and will team up against The Golden Role Models for the women’s tag titles at Payback.
- Aleister Black hit Kevin Owens with a Black Mass on The KO Show.
- Akira Tozawa won the 24/7 Championship in a Fatal 4-Way with Shelton Benjamin, R-Truth and Cedric Alexander by pinning R-Truth.
- Montez Ford beat Angel Garza by pinfall.
- Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott beat Billie Kay, Peyton Royce and Zelina Vega by pinfall.
- Mark Henry was the officiate for an arm wrestling contest between Apollo Crews and Bobby Lashley, which Crews won.
- Mickie James interrupted a promo from Natalya and Lana about her.
- Bobby Lashley took out several people, including Dolph Ziggler, in Raw Underground. Later, Lashley beat Cedric Alexander. Then, The Hurt Business beat Erik and Ivar. No Ivar vs Ziggler match, which was advertised for this episode last week.
- Dominik and Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins and Murphy ended with RETRIBUTION attacking the Mysterios.
NXT
- Karrion Kross cut a promo about how people should expect casualties on both sides when they go to war. He did what he said he would do by taking the NXT Championship from Keith Lee, but his separated shoulder has forced him to relinquish the title.
- NXT Tag Team Championship Match: Breezango defeated Imperium (c) by pinfall to become the new champions!
- Timothy Thatcher picked a fight with Damian Priest backstage.
- Tommaso Ciampa defeated Jake Atlas by pinfall in a squash.
- Bronson Reed spoke about how he’s beaten Damian Priest, so he thinks he’s actually the next deserving of a shot. Austin Theory then popped up and said maybe by the time Reed is 55, he’ll be champion. Reed slapped him in the face.
- Mia Yim was supposed to face Mercedes Martinez, but Robert Stone came out to say he wouldn’t let her wrestle after what Rhea Ripley did last week. Shotzi Blackheart then once again ran over Stone and decided to take Martinez’s place against Yim.
- Shotzi Blackheart defeated Mia Yim by pinfall.
- William Regal announced the NXT advisory board has come to a decision about the next champion. Next week, there will be a Fatal 4-Way to crown the new champion. The participants are Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Finn Balor and Adam Cole. This will be an Iron Man Match, too. This is going to be Tuesday night, not Wednesday night.
- NXT Cruiserweight Championship Match: Santos Escobar (c) retained the title over Isaiah “Swerve” Scott by pinfall after headbutting him while wearing a seemingly loaded luchador mask
- Kyle O’Reilly defeated Drake Maverick by submission. Killian Dain made the save for a post-match beat down and ran off Roderick Strong, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly. Then, Maverick walked over to Dain, only for Dain to knock him down.
- Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez defeated Io Shirai and Rhea Ripley by pinfall.
MAIN EVENT
- Mustafa Ali defeated Arturo Ruas by pinfall
- Ricochet defeated Humberto Carrillo by pinfall
FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN
- Throughout the night, Adam Pearce was tasked by Vince McMahon to get the signatures of Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns for their upcoming title match.
- Jeff Hardy properly started the show with a promo, which was interrupted by AJ Styles. Styles complained Hardy cheated to win the IC title when he used his knee brace. Hardy issued an open challenge for the belt to anyone but Styles, who wasn’t cleared to compete anyway. Shinsuke Nakamura answered the challenge (which upset Cesaro, who was getting champagne at the time) and lost to Hardy by pinfall.
- After the match, Sami Zayn returned, holding his old Intercontinental Championship belt that he claims he never lost. He called Hardy and Styles frauds and nailed Hardy with a Helluva Kick. Later, Cesaro and Nakamura were having a disagreement and when Zayn tried to reform The Artist Collective, Cesaro and Nakamura told him to leave as he hadn’t been in contact with them for four months.
- Matt Riddle beat Shorty G by pinfall.
- Bayley and Sasha Banks cut a promo about their tag title match at Payback and Sasha losing the Raw title at SummerSlam. Bayley blamed herself for having two titles and giving Sasha something to strive to be, as well as how she never should have let her challenge Asuka. Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler appeared on the TitanTron to talk some trash.
- Drew Gulak hit Braun Strowman in the back with a chair in retaliation for last week. This just upset him. Strowman later squashed Gulak by pinfall.
- Cesaro beat Kalisto by pinfall and Lucha House Party argued after the match as Kalisto had lost in part due to Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik fighting with Nakamura ringside, inadvertently causing a distraction.
- Alexa Bliss is going a bit crazy. She’s got her hair in pigtails again and when Nikki Cross pointed out that it reminded her of The Fiend, Bliss snapped at her and broke Nikki’s mug, which was the first gift that she had gotten her.
- Big E and Heavy Machinery beat The Miz, John Morrison and Sheamus by pinfall.
- Adam Pearce had gotten Bray Wyatt (in the Firefly Fun House) to sign the contract, Strowman to sign it after the chair shot from Gulak and last needed Roman Reigns, who signed it, but revealed Paul Heyman is now advising him.
205 LIVE
- The Brian Kendrick defeated Tehuti Miles by pinfall.
- Tony Nese defeated Liam Gray by pinfall.
- The Brit-Am Brawlers defeated Ever-Rise by submission.
What were your big takeaways from this week? Tell everyone your thoughts on this past week in WWE by leaving a comment below!
