Live from the Mean Streets of Los Angeles – A Raw Recap for 6/26/2017

Tonight’s Raw comes to us from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

Michele and I were actually at The Staples Center for Raw tonight with our pal Eric C.  Instead of a full recap, I’ll share my observations.

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• Great balls of Fire is a perfect place for an ambulance match.  Roman accepted the challenge from Braun before being forcibly loaded into an ambulance himself.
• Michele almost had a heart attack when she saw the match card graphic afterwards.  She’s a big fan of the Hardy’s and Finn. She would have been fine going home after that.  It was probably the match of the night with Finn getting the Coup de Grace for the win.
• The Goldust segment didn’t play very well for the live audience.  We figured this was just the first of many matches but we couldn’t tell what was really happening. We also didn’t realize that they didn’t ring the bell.
• Neville beat Lince Dorado in a quick match with Akira Tozawa eating popcorn at ringside.  Titus arrives to announce that he negotiated a title match at Great Balls of Fire.  The crowd wasn’t really into it, which surprised me a bit. I thought people loved Neville.  Perhaps Dorado is a little underwhelming?  With half the attendance, people were way more into the Brian Kendrick Vs Cedric Alexander for Main Event.
• That Miz Tv segment was really weird. The internet seemed to go crazy for it, despite the fact that Baller Dad dropped two N-words to the Miz.  So I guess it’s a win go WWE.  Thanks to Eric for filling Michele and I in about the Ball family. To thwart Miz yet again, Baller Dad announced a partnership with Dean…which led to a 6-man tag.  Dean brought Heath and Ryhno to round out his team.
  • It’s probably just because I was there, but this 6-man was fun as well.  Do these matches translate to good TV?  Either way, through a distraction, Curtis Axel nails Rhyno and Bo Dallas rolls Rhyno up for the win.
• Brock Lesnar shows up to get put in the Coquina Clutch on his way out to the ring.  It lead to some great photos.

• I’m convinced that Vince named the PPV Great Balls of Fire just to make Paul E. have to say it out loud.  It’s a rib, people.
• Enzo came out to demand an apology from Big Cass…and Cass obliged?  I was very confused by this segment.  Cass eventually turns on him at the top of the ramp but that was already after a hug and a celebration.  It’s almost like Cass has a brain tumor and that’s why he’s acting very erratically.  Or he got that virus that Big Show had where he switched alignments 5x every show.
  • Cass did corner Corey Graves for snitching on him last week.  Apparently, Corey has something on Angle, I’m guessing it has something to do with the mystery texts, so Cass can’t touch him.  Plus…Corey could die.
• Finally there was a gauntlet match to determine the #1 contender for the Women’s Championship, Nia and Bayley started things off.
  • Nia and Bayley went at it for a bit but she ultimately fell to a Samoan Drop.
  • The next several women were dispatched quickly. Here’s where I think the pacing suffered. Each of the women should have gotten a little bit more offense to Nia than they ultimately got.
  • Sasha Banks finished things off.  The were a lot of potential count outs. I could have used one or two less of those.  It seems like they were trying to draw out the time a bit.  I’m sure some of those ring outs took place during commercial as well.  So maybe it was just bad for the live crowd.
  • Sasha eventually forces a submission on Nia to become your new #1 contender.  Kurt Angle comes out congratulate Sasha followed closely by Alexa Bliss with a stare down.
• The Dark Match: Seth Vs. Bray
  • We actually bailed during this match so WE COULD BUY NO MERCY TICKETS AT THE BOX OFFICE!  Eric stayed behind and he enjoyed the match.  Seth won.
• Overall, it was one of the better Raws we’ve been to.  It was so much better than the one that Dr. Phil hosted.