WWE Raw: AJ Styles turns to the dark side as Club reforms to attack Ricochet
Tuesday 2 July 2019 09:39, UK
Weeks of respect for Ricochet came to a shuddering halt on Raw as AJ Styles reunited the Club to attack the US champion.
Styles was the first man to challenge the former NXT star for his United States championship following his victory over Samoa Joe at Stomping Grounds.
WWE Late Night Raw
Fast-paced and high-flying action have been key features of the matches between the pair which have commenced, both of which have ended with a handshake.
That was the case again on Raw, after Ricochet had rolled up Styles for a successful title defence which left the former Universal champion looking flustered.
His frustration then boiled over, as the lurking Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson joined him in the ring for a savage attack on Ricochet.
A Magic Killer and a second-rope Styles Clash later, and the US champion was down and out and The Club had confirmed their reunion.
Kingston takes first loss as champion
Samoa Joe made a major statement to his Extreme Rules opponent Kofi Kingston on Raw, first forcing a DQ stoppage to the match between The New Day and the Viking Raiders, which then became a six-man contest.
With Kingston added to the team of Xavier Woods and Big E, and Joe joining the Vikings, the action became increasingly fast and furious.
Kofi cleared the decks with a Trouble in Paradise to Ivar on the ring apron, but his team's preoccupation with the Raiders left them blind to a tag from Joe, who snuck up behind Kofi and put the finishing touches on the bout with a Coquina Clutch that put Kofi to sleep in the centre of the ring.
A rough night for Mike Kanellis
Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins found themselves in the midst of a domestic disagreement on Raw as Mike and Maria Kanellis attempted to dislodge them from their position as WWE's golden couple.
The 205 Live star and his betrothed challenged Lynch and Rollins to a mixed tag match which did not go according to plan - when Maria Kanellis was tagged in, she retreated to ringside and proclaimed that she could not compete as she was pregnant.
She then lambasted her husband, claiming he was not "man enough" to be the father to said child, and Lynch added further salt to the gaping wound of that comment by slapping on a Dis-Arm-Her (surely making it a Dis-Arm-Him?) for the tap-out victory.
Maria, however, was not finished there, adding that the only "man" in the ring that night was Becky Lynch.
The Undertaker confronts McIntyre & McMahon
Drew McIntyre came dressed for a fight on Raw but instead he and Shane McMahon found themselves on the receiving end of something much darker.
The pair take on the Dead Man and Roman Reigns in a tag match at Extreme Rules and were on Raw to try to find out why the legend has returned to support the man who beat him at WrestleMania.
After making his trademark entrance, Taker revealed that he didn't target Shane out of some kind of loyalty to Roman Reigns, and said his sole aim was to take out a man whose ego had been allowed to run amok.
He then promised that both men would soon be subjected to "the stench of death, and eternal damnation".
