Posted in: Fox, Sports, TV, USA Network, WWE | Tagged: bleeding cool, cable, fox, NXT, nxt uk, pro wrestling, Raw, Smackdown, streaming, television, tv, usa, wrestling, wwe

WWE Raw 7/6/20 Part 3: The Beginning of the End for Bayley?

In the first two hours of WWE Raw, we've seen the returns of Heath Slater, Kairi Sane, and Kevin Owens. We've seen a new United States Championship debut. We saw Rey Mysterio invent a brand new match type. And other stuff too. Who can keep track of it all? Read about all that in part one and part two of my overall report. Now, it's time for the home stretch. One more hour and we can go to sleep. Can we make it?

It's Big Show and the Viking Raiders vs. Andrade, Angel Garza, and Randy Orton. Big Show starts off the match by absolutely manhandling Garza. After beating the crap out of Garza, he tags Ivar, who looks small in comparison to Big Show. Ivar quickly tags in Erik, who hits one move and tags Big Show back in. Big Show is just using Garza as a prop now to intimidate Randy Orton. He hits a few punches and chops and tags Ivar back in. Garza sips off Ivar's back and falls toward his corner. Andrade is able to tag in, but he and Garza have a little spat, which lets Ivar take control of Andrade  The Viking Raiders do their Erik bodyslams Ivar onto Andrade thing. Then Big Show bodyslams Erik onto Andrade. Garza runs in the ring and stars talking trash to Andrade. Orton calls Garza outside the ring for a chat. Orton yokes him up by the throat and threatens to literally murder him if he screws up this match. He gives him one more chance and then… Raw goes to commercials.

Back from break, Andrade is in control of Ivar, but Randy Orton is calling the shots. There are a few mishaps, but this team is functioning much better with Orton in charge. Ivar tags out and Erik takes a beating for a while. Garza and Andrade take turns beating up Erik. They keep him in their corner. Zelina looks extremely pleased. But unfortunately for her, it doesn't last.  Andrade is unable to prevent Erik from tagging in Big Show. Big Show cleans house on Andrade and Garza. Orton tries for an RKO out of nowhere, but Big Show blocks it. Andrade jumps on Big Show's back with a sleeper. Show flips him and tags in Ivar. Andrade tags in Garza. Ivar tags in Erik and they try the Viking Experience, but Garza and Andrade block it. Orton tags himself in and hits the RKO on Erik for the win. Orton and his new cronies back up the ramp as a frustrated Big Show looks like a goober.

Backstage, Peyton Royce is excited to see Billy Kay beat Ruby Riott tonight. They make fun of Ruby and her failed friendship with Liv Morgan until Ruby walks up behind them. Ruby didn't have a problem with them before, but now she hates them. Ruby doesn't know where Liv is, but that's not what she's focused on.

Ruby walks away, right past MVP and Cedric Alexander. MVP is trying to get Alexander to sign with him. He gives him the pitch. Alexander is holding himself back. Why is he content being Ricochet's sidekick? Alexander isn't buying it. MVP asks, if he and Ricochet are equal partners, why does Ricochet have a new WWE 365 documentary and Cedric doesn't? MVP says Cedric will be stuck in catering forever with that attitude. Raw goes to commercials.

Backstage, Ric Flair is congratulating Randy Orton for his victory. R-Truth runs up and bumps into Randy. Truth accuses Flair of being Akira Tozawa. Then he runs when the real Tozawa comes chasing him. Orton intercepts Tozawa and tells him Truth went in a different direction than he actually went in. Well, if Ric Flair is gonna get coronavirus, he might as well at least win another championship in the process. Hopefully, this leads to Flair pinning Truth later tonight.

But first, it's time for Ruby Riott vs. Billie Kay. Last week, Peyton Royce had a great match with Riott. Kay isn't as accomplished as Royce, but if Riott can pull a great match out of her, then we have to declare Ruby the Bret Hart of the modern WWE women's division. Okay, Ruby is good, but not that good. Riott loses some of her extensions during the match. She loses off a sort-of sit-out powerbomb after Royce distracts her.

Charly Caruso interviews Sasha Banks and Bayley. Bayley says she may slap the green face paint off Asuka's face. Sasha says that the Kabuki Warriors will never be champs again and if she and Bayley have to accept their challenge for a tag team championship match next Monday on Raw to prove that, they will. Bayley is reluctant at first but gets on board. And Bayley's going to beat Asuka tonight too. That match is next, after some commercials.

Back from break, security guards are trying to make Nikki Cross leave the commentary table. Tom Phillips says she can stay. Cross is definitely getting involved in this match tonight. Bayley and Banks head to the ring. Then Asuka and Kairi Sane. Bayley takes control early with a headlock, but Asuka gets a shoulder tackle. Asuka goes an armbar and Bayley rolls outside. Bayley trips Asuka when she tries to follow and knees her in the face. Then she knocks off Nikki's headphones, causing Nikki to attack and get ejected. But it also lets Asuka get a knee to the face on Bayley as Raw takes a commercial break.

After we return, Asuka has Bayley in an armbar. She goes for a kick to the face, but Bayley trips her and smashes her face into the mat. Bayley takes control now. She hits her offense on Asuka but can't get a pinfall, so she tosses Asuka out of the ring and distracts the ref. But before Sasha can cheat, Kairi gets in her way. Kairi and Asuka retreat and Bayley tries a sneak attack, but Asuka catches her with a kick and throws her in the ring. Asuka's in control now and hits her kicks and her offense. But Asuka can't put Bayley away either. Bayley takes control again by running outside the ring and then back in and attacking Asuka when she gives chase. Bayley rams Asuka's throat into the ropes. Bayley perpetuates ringside violence on Asuka. Then she jumps on commentary. Bayley can do it all! Raw goes to commercials.

Back from break, Bayley is beating the crap out of Asuka. She slams her head into the mat and chokes her against the ropes. Bayley screams at Asuka about how she better not use the mist. She hits a running elbow on Asuka in the corner. Asuka fights back but Bayley beats her down. But eventually, Asuka spends too much time gloating. Asuka makes a comeback. Now it's time for a showcase of Asuka's offense. Eventually, the fight spills outside. Bayley attacks Kairi Sane, getting her to chase her, which distracts the ref so Sasha can interfere and kick Asuka in the face. Bayley gets a suplex, but Asuka still kicks out. Okay, more antics are required. Sasha grabs a water bottle for Bayley. Bayley throws some in Asuka's face and drinks some. But Nikki Cross appears behind the plexiglass barricade. It distracts Bayley, leading into a rollup by Asuka. Bayley reverses into a pin. Asuka reverses into the Asuka lock. Sasha tries to make the save but Kairi takes her out. Asuka rolls up Bayley and gets the three-count. Match of the night, obviously.

The show started off shaky, but between the return of three faces we hadn't seen in a while and the constant great work from Sasha, Bayley, and Asuka, Raw turned out alright tonight. If this monstrosity was two hours long instead of three, it would be a halfway decent show from week to week. In the current format, at least it was tolerable. Ric Flair did not win the WWE 24/7 championship, but now I'm wondering whether they recorded all of this during that one day Flair was at Raw and now they're stretching it out. I hope that's the case and they're not flying a seventy-year-old man with a history of health issues in and out of Florida for every taping when the company has had 30 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Don't kill Ric Flair, WWE.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!