Monday night the Houston Toyota Center welcomed back WWE RAW for their Tag Team Championship. These Rocket halls are no stranger to the WWE family. They have been visiting Houston for over ten years! Unfortunately, due to arena restrictions and safety protocols, some of the handmade signs had to be left at the door. Seeing them piling at the trash I was worried this would dampen the energy of the crowd. I should have learned by now to have more faith in my fellow Houstonians, they still brought all the energy! Dads were walking arm in arm with their kids, dressed to match their favorite Wrestler. Almost everyone I passed held a giant WWE belt that they had shinned up for the big night.
Becky Lynch took the stage first, we were off for an electrifying start. With shimmering red lipstick, a nod to the Houston Rockets, Bianca Belair met Lynch at the center of the mat. The two Champs shook hands in mutual respect, both understanding what it takes to win a title. However, this peace was short lived. Lynch walked off stage to give the mic over to Belair but while behind the stage, Lynch was hit with what appeared to be a metal chair. The newly named group CONTROL jumped Lynch and left her on the floor. Current WWE Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair dropped her mic and ran backstage to help. The crowd, on the edge of their seats, started booing with full force!
The first Triple Death Match started next, with The Miz, AJ Styles, and Mustafa Ali. The Miz slid out from under the ropes and on to the floor below, he was injured from his time spent at Summer Slam last week with Logan Paul and didn’t want to hit Styles or Ali head on. The crowd cheered like it was an Astros game and Styles was up to bat “let’s go Styles!” they chanted! It was incredible! Ali really didn’t hold back! As he climbed to the top of the ropes to deliver what appeared to be the final blow needed to win the match, he was shown quickly just how much experience and endurance pays off. Only by the saving grace of AJ Styles did the match come to and end. A pleased Houston crowd had their hands in the air as the ref raised Styles’ hand.
Seth Rollins came rolling out as a Host for Monday Night. Houston native Booker T would later come out to host as well. It was an awesome surprise for the fans! Rollins’ intro was everything you expect from the taunting six-time WWE Champion. The arena got heated when Rollins decided to through a few jabs right at the place that was housing him for the night. This was a common theme for the boys, later in the night, Gable would use his intro to dust off an old Astros joke to rile up the crowd.
With an idea brought on by Rollins himself The Streets Profits set up to play an old school game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Out from under his teammate Ford grabbed the ref and ran down the catwalk for the chance to meet Rollins in the ring. Seth gave quite a foreshadow of how this match would come to a controversial end. Going in for his signature stomp Ford quickly avoided the first move from his opponent and was able to knock Rollins out of the ring by the first sound of the bell. He must have had a metal jaw installed for this match because he was taking a beating. Ford was coming down on him so hard I’m positive Seth left that match talking with his lips turned sideways.
The over ten-minute match looked like it was never going to end, both men leaving it all in the ring. With a costly misjudgment by Ford, Rollin was able to secure his victory.
Bianca Belair was back and ready to defend her title against Iyo Sky, she entered the ring holding her belt high. Sky tried her best to win over the hearts here in H-Town but quickly realized that was not a match she had signed up for. The WWE Women’s Champion kept the fans engaged and cheering her name. With star quality that can’t be taught, Belair is a Champion for a reason. She made sure to remind Iyo of that. Just when Iyo had Belair by the back of the hair pinned down, the Champion fought through. The Ref was already on the count of two, when Belair used her strength, gathered from the roaring crowd, and broke free from the hold! What a match! Belair caught Sky jumping off the top rope and off the mat! Blair swung her so hard into the side of the crowd wall Sky lost her choker necklace. Just as soon as we thought the match couldn’t get any wilder, it was clear things weren’t over for this match. Bayley and Dakota appeared on one side of the ring, Alexa Bliss and Asuka on the other, the ring turned into a brawl! The bell was rung, and more refs had to be called out to stop the wrestlers. This match will be settled, it just won’t be at the Toyota Center.
Next bell to ring was for a Triple Threat Match between Dolph Ziggler, Ciampa, and Chad Gable. Gable, clearly not a crowd favorite, didn’t let this affect him as this match was a dog fight. Every man for himself, with men flying in and out of the ring. In a quick and skilled match, the winner was Ciampa!
But Ciampa wasn’t finished, he stayed in the ring to compete with AJ Styles to see who would have the right to challenge Bobby Lashley for the United Stated Title. Styles came to the catwalk holding his shoulder like he was still feeling the pains from the last fight in the night. Ciampa made sure to use this to his advantage the whole fight. It was starting to look like another Triple match with The Miz right by Ciampa’s side. The crowd at one point was getting into a screaming match with The Miz on the sidelines. The Miz had moved Ciampa’s foot to the rope right as the count of “Thr…” was leaving the ref’s mouth. Although Styles fought till the end his shoulder injury held him back and he was pinned. Ciampa won the match and will be facing off for the US Title.
The Houston crowd was split down the middle with this match, the mixed emotions one the winner stirred in arena.
It was the end of the night in Downtown Houston everyone was geared up for the final match. Edge took center stage to give a quick backstory of his pure concept of helping youth realize their full potential. He didn’t see it coming but everything he worked for was taken from him and he was ready to kill what he had created. “Finn, Damian, Rhea I am going to end Judgment Day” said the WWE Superstar before parting off stage. You could sense that the members of Judgment Day were somewhere looming around.
Monday night’s final match was one of my personal favorites. Phenomenal doesn’t began to cover the insane strength that was displayed in that match. The Mysterios vs The Undisputed Usos in the WWE Tag Team Title Match was one for the books. It was incredible to watch how in sync the Usos bothers, twins Jey and Jimmy, had to be in order to execute their high-level skills. The Usos brother used this throughout the match to keep Rey Mysterio and his son, Dominick, apart from one another. The hope amongst the crowd was that Dominick was going to win the match to secure the title and his safety from Judgment Day. Both Dominick and Rey gave incredible efforts holding their own against the current Champions. Each Mysterio had their moment to shine taking on Jimmy and Jey. So many times, it looked like the title was going to a new home. Unfortunately, at the end of the match, Dominik didn’t see the tag and the Uso brothers were able to take him out to remain the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions. As Jimmy and Jey went to celebrate, that looming feeling returned. While the Mysterios had their guard down Judgment Day not only jumped into the ring but jumped Dominick and Rey. Thankfully, one last time, Edge came running out from backstage. This was a night of WWE RAW storyline history you won’t soon forget.
All Photos by Kory Savage
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