WWE Raw following SummerSlam saw John Cena shift to the red brand. (Source: WWE)
In his first WWE Raw appearance in over a year, John Cena found an ally – an unlikely buddy – in Roman Reigns and the duo came together to get the better of Samoa Joe and The Miz in an incredible Raw main event following an extremely physical WWE SummerSlam event on Sunday night. The Monday night event at the same venue in New York was also a stage to more Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman brutality. The massive Strowman continued his physical assault on Lesnar – not a small feat by any stretch of imagination – and set on course a huge WWE Universal Championship match at No Mercy.
WWE Raw General Manager Kurt Angle had been promising a big-name Superstar to come to the red brand and the name couldn’t have been bigger than John Cena. The Superstar walked in as a free agent and made his intentions clear – he wanted to go at Reigns following their numerous multi-athlete matches and Twitter spats. He wanted a one-on-one. But before his wishes could be filled, The Miz’s music blared and he questioned why the two were afforded marquee moments at his expense.
But what happened next came as a surprise to one and all. Instead of a possible, and likely, The Miz vs John Cena clash, Cena offered a team-up with Reigns to take on The Miz and any of his Miztourage members. But as it turned out, Samoa Joe threw his hat in the ring and made his presence felt immediately with a surprise punch to Cena to welcome him to the brand. What followed was a brawl from which Cena and Reigns came out safely.
In the main event of the night, things didn’t go The Miz’s way of getting a winning end. In fact, he became the pinned Superstar in the tag team match despite the uneasy alliance between Cena and Reigns. Cena, meanwhile, applied the Attitude Adjustment when The Miz took too long for his finishing move of Skull-Crushing Finale.
WWE Raw Results:
Enzo Amore def. Big Cass in a Brooklyn Street Fight
Nia Jax def. Emma
Elias def. R-Truth
Cedric Alexander, Rich Swann, Mustafa Ali & Gran Metalik def. Noam Dar, Ariya Daivari, Tony Nese & Drew Gulak
Raw Tag Team Champions Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins def. The Hardy Boyz
Alexa Bliss confronted Raw Women’s Champion Sasha Banks
Finn Bálor def. Jason Jordan
John Cena & Roman Reigns def. Intercontinental Champion The Miz & Samoa Joe
