Rowdy Recap: Week of July 22, 2019

With so much weekly content on WWE TV, it can be difficult to keep track of everything.

That’s where Rowdy Recaps come in, looking back at the week in WWE TV and narrowing down the highlights of the big three shows (and sometimes more). (205 Live and NXT UK will certainly get some more love and appreciation in the future, but baby steps.)

So: Let’s take a look back at the past week in WWE!

Monday Night RAW: RAW Reunion (July 22, 2019)

Quick & Dirty Results:

• The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) def. The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson)
• Drake Maverick def. R-Truth (c), for the WWE 24/7 Championship
• Pat Patterson def. Drake Maverick (c), for the WWE 24/7 Championship
• The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) def. Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder
• Gerald Brisco def. Pat Patterson (c), for the WWE 24/7 Championship
• Kelly Kelly def. Gerald Brisco (c), for the WWE 24/7 Championship
• Roman Reigns def. Samoa Joe
• Candice Michelle def. Kelly Kelly (c), for the WWE 24/7 Championship
• Alundra Blayze def. Candice Michelle (c), for the WWE 24/7 Championship
• Rey Mysterio def. Sami Zayn
• “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase paid off Alundra Blayze (c), for the WWE 24/7 Championship
• Drake Maverick def. “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase (c), for the WWE 24/7 Championship
• R-Truth def. Drake Maverick (c), for the WWE 24/7 Championship
• Seth Rollins def. AJ Styles, via Disqualification
• Braun Strowman def. local talent

The Highlights:

Seriously, just read all the 24/7 Championship changes in the results. But really, we shouldn’t have to wait until a RAW Reunion for more exciting 24/7 title changes: The biggest highlight of that, actually, is that it now means women are allowed to compete for the title. Carmella, this is your chance to shine and step out from underneath R-Truth’s shadow (aka “Little Jimmy”)!

Look, I don’t know what… *checks notes* “Randy Rowe” did to Braun Strowman. But whatever he did, he needs to apologize. No, this “match” isn’t apology enough.

Honestly, RAW Reunion might always get the show a great rating and hit the nostalgia button, but it’s far from the best episode of RAW. Really, if you like seeing people you were a fan of when you were a kid—and don’t mind them looking better than the guys your kids are fans of now—then sure, the whole show is a highlight. But in terms of the legend cameos, I’m gonna have to go with the real highlight being the return of John Cena. (Technically he’s still on the roster. See how I’m not all-in on the nostalgia factor?)

The return of “The Doctor of Thuganomics” John Cena, thanks to The Usos. WIth almost some bonus white boy dancing, thanks to The Usos’ Hall of Famer daddy, Rikishi. Much like Corey Graves, I’d never been upset to hear The Revival’s entrance music put a stop to shenanigans—until that moment.

But at least they brought RondaRousey.com friend D-Von Dudley with them.

SmackDown! LIVE (July 23, 2019)

Quick & Dirty Results:

• Shinsuke Nakamura def. Apollo Crews
• Ember Moon def. Charlotte Flair
• Kofi Kingston def. Samoa Joe, via Disqualification
• Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns, with Guest Ring Announcer (Shane McMahon), Guest Timekeeper (Elias), & Special Referee (Drew McIntyre) went to a No Contest

The Highlights:

During RAW Reunion, “The Fiend” appeared for the second week in a row to attack Mick Foley. (Foley was the only legend bested by a present-day Superstar on Monday’s RAW Reunion, in case you were wondering.) On SmackDown, Finn Balor—“The Fiend’s” first victim, from last Monday—challenged him to a match at SummerSlam. “The Fiend’s” response? Well, actually Firefly Funhouse host Bray Wyatt accepted the challenge on his behalf. So who exactly will Balor be facing at SummerSlam? Probably not Husky Harris, but the fun is in not knowing what’ll happen next.

Kofi Kingston has challenged Randy Orton to a WWE Championship match at SummerSlam. If you know your aughts WWE history, you’ll know just why: 10 years ago, when it looked like young upstart Kingston was going to be a main eventer for years to come, that couldn’t have been further from the truth after his main event feud with Orton. In Kingston’s own words:

You can probably tell from just reading the result that the main event was a cluster and not a particularly long one. The highlight is Kevin Owens Stunnering Shane McMahon twice, of course. Because every highlight with Shane McMahon is one where he is being Stunnered by Kevin Owens.

NXT (July 24, 2019)

Quick & Dirty Results:

• Jordan Myles def. Angel Garza, in an NXT Breakout Tournament Semifinals match
• Bianca Belair def. Xia Li
• Io Shirai def. Kacy Catanzaro, via Disqualification
• Damian Priest def. Keith Lee

The Highlights:

As expected, Mia Yim continued her assault on the Four Horsewomen in order to send a message to NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler. You can read more about that here.

We are in the semifinals of the NXT Breakout Tournament, baby! (Slightly anticlimactic when they’re right after the first round, but work with me here.) And we’re kicking it off with smiles (Jordan Myles) and tearaway pants (Angel Garza). You know—two things that are definitely att riddle“killing” the wrestling business. As I’ve said before, Myles is my pick to win it all; so him making it past a tough opponent like Garza (who could’ve easily upset him) in the semifinals brings that one step closer to reality.

On the one hand, Velveteen Dream vs. Pete Dunne vs. Roderick Strong for the North American Championship should be something special. Especially considering the fact that Dunne’s coveted this title since Ricochet held it. On the other hand, Dunne’s British Strong Style buddies could really use him right now, and he just kind of bailed on them in their feud with WALTER’s Imperium for this. (This part is clearly not the highlight. The first part is.)

It’s good to see Dunne back in NXT, but I guess this speaks to how NXT UK can just be put on the back burner like it’s no big deal when it kind of is. (I know, I know—I’ll get to covering NXT UK eventually. Otherwise, I’m also part of the problem.) Plus, it’s going to suck when he doesn’t even win it; as we all know, Undisputed Era is going to be draped in gold after TakeOver.

Keith Lee does things in that ring that a man his size just shouldn’t be able to do, plain and simple. Damian Priest is billed at 250 pounds, and Keith Lee catches him midair like he’s a basketball. Basketballs don’t weigh 250 pounds, y’all! What more can I say? Big boys flipping and flying around like they’re not big boys, throwing their massive weight into every move that they make. That’s an instant highlight.

You can watch last week’s RAW and SmackDown on Hulu and NXT on the WWE Network.