Monday Night Raw August 4, 2014: Raw kicked off with Roman Reigns interrupting The Authority’s pitch at the opening of Raw to challenge The Apex Predator, but Kane – who never got his one-on-one match with Reigns last week thanks to Orton – pre-empted The Viper’s strike and was named as Reigns’ opponent for the night instead.
WWE.com has all the results of all the matches that transpired:
Roman Reigns def. Kane
After a long, bloody battle, Kane nearly sent Reigns to hell itself when he reversed the Superman Punch into a Chokeslam through a table. Yet despite Triple H's demands that Kane bring his inner demon to the fight, all the hellfire the former World Heavyweight Champion could muster wasn't enough. Reigns, however, was more than up to the task, dropping Kane with a particularly gruesome Spear to earn the requisite 10-count that handed him the victory.
Mark Henry def. Damien Sandow
The World's Strongest Man did not take kindly in the slightest to The Enlightened One's latest impersonation. The ensuing World's Strongest Slam was certainly a boomer, though certainly not the kind Sandow had in mind. Texas forever.
Dean Ambrose def. Alberto Del Rio in a Beat the Clock Challenge
Not only did The Lunatic Fringe defeat Mexico's Greatest Export in the time-controlled contest, he did so in a timely - though not unbeatable - fashion. He just had to survive a brutal assault on his still-injured shoulder to do so. Del Rio beat on Ambrose's arm like it owed him money, rendering Ambrose's shoulder too compromised for him to hit Dirty Deeds on his left side. So The Lunatic Fringe simply flipped the script, reversing the Cross Armbreaker at a particularly dire moment to hit his signature strike with the other arm to pin Del Rio for a time of 15:42.
Rusev def. Sin Cara
The International Icon had previously given The Bulgarian Brute a stronger test than expected, yet the luchador found himself decisively outmatched by the Russian monster in their latest encounter, submitting to the Accolade on the WWE App.
Dolph Ziggler def. Cesaro
Despite Cesaro's strength, the show off was still able to beat him with a Zig Zag. Ziggler and Miz will be settling everything in Summerslam.
Goldust & Stardust def. RybAxel
Curtis Axel allowed The Bizarre One to tag in Stardust and execute his "Dark Matter" maneuver on the former Intercontinental Champion for the win.
Chris Jericho def. Luke Harper via Disqualification
Jericho, who stands accused of misleading the WWE Universe by Wyatt, fought from underneath against the towering Harper for the majority of the bout. Y2J turned to some of his craftier maneuvers to finally lock Harper in the Walls of Jericho, at which point Bray himself materialized and thumbed the former Undisputed Champion in the throat. The intrusion not only handed Jericho the victory, it set the stage for SummerSlam: The Eater of Worlds now stands alone. And it seems like he might just want it that way.
Diego def. Fandango
A collision with Hornswoggle opened Fandango up to a match-ending Backstabber, and he even suffered further post-match humiliation when Hornswoggle and El Torito buried their hatchet and helped Diego beat the dancer down.
Bo Dallas def. R-Truth
Aggressive Bo Dallas dispatched Truth with a dirty roll-up.
Heath Slater def. Seth Rollins in a Beat the Clock Challenge
To be fair, Slater (who The Authority named to replace Rob Van Dam as Rollins' opponent) owes Ambrose some backstage passes to his next show: It was a distraction by The Lunatic Fringe that opened the door for the former WWE Tag Team Champion to pin Rollins before the 15:42 benchmark expired. Ambrose lurked at ringside for the entire match and went so far as to pick the lock of Rollins' coveted briefcase and systematically destroy and defile The Aerialist's championship contract, allowing Slater to pin the enraged high-flier with plenty of time to spare. Advantage: Ambrose.
Stephanie McMahon and Brie Bella signed their SummerSlam contract
To recap: The cost to watch SummerSlam is $9.99 on WWE Network. But seeing this long-stewing rivalry finally come to its glorious conclusion? Well, that's priceless.
