Finn Balor Vs. Karl Anderson
Bálor quickly gains the advantage over Anderson and knees away at him. Bálor knees away at him and kicks him in the midsection. Luke Gallows gets on the apron to distract him. Anderson elbows and clotheslines Bálor down. Anderson rips at his face, and Gallows gets a cheap shot in. Anderson punches away at Bálor for a two count. Anderson applies a chin lock.
Bálor tries to fight up, but Anderson quickly grounds him again. Bálor tries to fight up again, but Anderson hits him with a backbreaker for a two count. Anderson goes back to the chin lock, but Bálor gets out. Anderson elbows him, but Bálor comes back with an overhead kick.
TWO for the price of one as @FinnBalor takes FLIGHT to lay out BOTH @KarlAndersonWWE and @LukeGallowsWWE! #RAW pic.twitter.com/Halr3MtqvX
— WWE (@WWE) May 23, 2017
Anderson charges into a boot, and Bálor forearms him down twice before hitting a low dropkick to the head. Bálor chops him in the corner, sends him to the opposite corner, and chops again. Anderson reverses a whip, but Bálor slingshots over him. Anderson boots him and goes to the second rope, but Bálor kicks him off to the floor. Bálor baseball slides Gallows and viciously kicks him in the face.
Bálor then kicks Anderson back before going to the top rope, but Anderson gets to his feet and hits a spinebuster for a near fall. Anderson cannot believe he couldn’t keep him down. Anderson goes for a powerbomb, but Bálor counters, takes him down, and hits a double stomp.
Anderson gets out of the ring, and Bálor connects with a summersault senton. Bálor gets him in the ring and hits a Sling Blade followed by a vicious dropkick into the corner. Bálor then hits the Coup de Grâce for the win.
Winner: Finn Balor
Tonight’s main event will see Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins take on Bray Wyatt and Samoa Joe. Later, we’ll see Matt Hardy take on Sheamus with the winner being able to choose the stipulation at Extreme Rules.
*Commercial Break*
Alicia Fox makes her way to the ring, accompanied by Noam Dar. I think it’s fair to say her opponent is slightly more popular.
Things just got LEGIT on #RAW, because here comes #TheBoss @SashaBanksWWE! pic.twitter.com/OJFXTZNv7N
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) May 23, 2017
Alicia Fox W/Noam Dar Vs. Sasha Banks
They lock up, and Banks takes her down before hitting a drop-toe-hold. Fox quickly gets out of the ring. Banks takes her down with a baseball slide and gets her in the ring.
Noam Dar distracts Sasha, and Fox blindsides her for a two count. Fox applies a chin lock. Banks escapes, and they fumble through some stuff before Banks hits a double knee to the midsection for the win.
Winner: Sasha Banks
*Commercial Break*
We return to a fun promo from Goldust, which you can watch here:
“I’m back in the director’s chair, and I control how and when my next film will end… The Golden Age is BACK!” – @Goldust #RAW pic.twitter.com/eizEpJxz0Y
— WWE (@WWE) May 23, 2017
Charly Caruso is backstage with Alexa Bliss. She mentions she’ll be facing Bayley at Extreme Rules in a Kendo Stick on a Pole Match. Footage is shown of Bliss hitting Bayley with a kendo stick last week on RAW. Photos are shown of the welt on Bayley’s back. Bliss says she doesn’t feel bad. The sound of the stick hitting her flesh makes her salivate. If Bayley thought she was in pain last week, that was nothing. At Extreme Rules, she’ll make sure her body is tattooed in welts. Bayley must be planning her revenge, but that won’t happen. Bayley can’t get extreme. Tonight, she’ll do to Mickie James what she’s going to do to Bayley at Extreme Rules: turn her dreams into nightmares.
Footage is shown of Roman Reigns destroying Braun Strowman two weeks ago on RAW. Strowman could be out up to six months. Tonight’s main event tag team match is yet to come.
*Commercial Break*
Apollo Crews Vs. Kalisto
The bell rings and Kalisto goes for a waistlock, but Crews powers him off. Kalisto kicks away at him before having a whip reversed. Kalisto quickly takes him down with a head-scissor that takes him out of the ring. Kalisto hits the ropes, but Crews gets in the ring and dropkicks him down for a two count.
Crews hits a nice delayed vertical suplex for a near-fall. Crews applies a front facelock, but Kalisto quickly fights out. Kalisto hits the ropes, but Crews takes him down with a step-up enzuigiri for another two count. O’Neil yells at the referee. Kalisto counters a spin-out powerbomb into a roll-up for a two count. O’Neil yells at him to finish Kalisto. Kalisto counters a move into Salida del Sol for the win.
Winner: Kalisto
Titus comes into the ring after the match and scolds Apollo for losing. Seriously, what is the point of this?
Up next, Matt Hardy will take on Sheamus for the right to choose the stipulation at Extreme Rules.
*Commercial Break*
Dar gets in Banks’ face after the match, so she slaps the taste out of his mouth. Fox attacks her from behind and hits the scissor kick to put her down. It looks like this feud will continue for a little longer.
Kalisto is shown trying to reason with Apollo Crews backstage and he asks if it was him who attacked Enzo Amore. Crews says he should know better than to think he would do that and Titus is helping his career. Titus walks up and thinks Kalisto wants to be part of the Titus brand, but The Lucha Dragon shuts him down. O’Neil says he is going to have a match made between Crews and Kalisto tonight. When did he get booking power?