Jefferson Lake
WWE Editor @jeffersonlake
WWE Raw: Braun Strowman denied title win against US champion AJ Styles
Last Updated: 27/08/19 9:02am
Braun Strowman came close to adding the United States title to his tag-team championship against AJ Styles.
Disaster struck during The Monster Among Men's title rematch against Styles, and The Phenomenal One staggered out with the belt by virtue of a disqualification win - though Strowman made sure the walk back to the locker room would be a painful one indeed.
Things had progressed much as you might expect - Styles targeted Braun's base with a Calf Crusher; the big man shook it off - until Braun crashed headlong into referee Chad Patton, sending him tumbling to the outside.
Styles took advantage with a thumb to the eye and a low blow, with the rest of The OC running interference and putting the boots to Strowman.
Braun shook that off, too, and even took a chair to the heel trio - an act which was unfortunately witnessed by Patton, who disqualified him on the spot.
Strowman then obliterated The OC with the chair and delivered a final Running Powerslam to Styles, having to settle for a moral victory instead of a literal one.
Banks picks up tap-out victory
Sasha Banks delivered a promo which was completely in keeping with her recent villainous character, telling the fans she didn't care about losing the tag title belts at WrestleMania and that, yes, she did have a temper tantrum in the dressing room at that event.
The crowd chanted for Becky Lynch throughout but it was Natalya who ran out, attacking Banks despite beeing injured and kicking off an impromptu match between the two.
The Queen of Harts had her moments but the injury to her elbow cost her at several points and The Boss capitalised, locking in the Bank Statement and using that same arm as a leverage point against Natalya's throat.
The returning former champion didn't hesitate to add insult to injury after the match, trapping Natalya in yet another Bank Statement as the crowd once again chanted for Lynch.
Title opportunity for Ziggler & Roode
The unlikely pair of Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode will challenge for the Raw tag-team titles at Clash of Champions after winning a mammoth eight-team turmoil match.
Ziggler and Roode came through a match which included The OC, The Revival, Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins, The B-Team, Lucha House Party, The Viking Raiders and Heavy Machinery.
The Viking Raiders' early win over The B-Team was nullified by a double-disqualification against The OC, leaving Ziggler & Roode with the benefit of a clean slate.
They made good on that chance, running the table against The Lucha House Party (superkick to the back of Gran Metalik's head), The Revival (Glorious DDT to Scott Dawson) and Ryder & Hawkins (superkick to Ryder) to bring it down to the wire against Heavy Machinery.
They played that matchup perfectly, too, isolating Tucker with a two-on-one assault designed to keep Otis from getting into the match. When Heavy Machinery turned the tables and set up the Compactor, Ziggler struck, Zig-Zagging Otis on top of Tucker to set him up for a Glorious DDT.
