Tonight was the start of the 2019 King of the Ring Tournament as the Raw side went underway. What also was locked down for Raw was Rey Mysterio talking to the crowd, the backlash from Sasha Banks, and a United States Championship. Here are the Raw highlights.
Raw Highlights: King of the Ring Night 1 Results
With the King of the Ring kicking off, two matches took place as four men competed with two moving on to name themselves “King” in the future.
King of the Ring First Round: Cesaro vs Samoa Joe
Cesaro opened up the match with a thunderous uppercut on Samoa Joe and the action was crazy from the start. Cesaro continuously showed feats of strength as Joe was out of it from the start. This was a solid 10 minutes of action as we came down to the close. Cesaro attempted the Swing and placed Joe into the Sharpshooter. Joe would manage to get out, leading to an attempt of a Neutralizer by Cesaro. Joe would reverse and Cesaro would try to stay on the offense before eventually getting caught by Joe and choked out via Coquina Clutch. Samoa Joe is on to the next round in an emphatic way.
King of the Ring First Round: Cedric Alexander vs Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn acknowledged before the bell even rang that since his return, he has struggled to win in recent weeks and has suffered loss after loss. He looked at this as a chance to right those wrongs and turn it around. Cedric Alexander would deny that however, as he would manage to take the victory and continue the rise of the “Age of Alexander” as he pinned Zayn to advance following a Lumbar Check. The first round will continue tomorrow night and next week.
Raw Highlights: “The Fiend” puts down another Hall of Famer
Jerry Lawler was out to hold a “King’s Court” with Sasha Banks. Before that, he discussed the King of the Ring and picked Drew McIntyre as the winner of the tournament. As he prepared for Banks to show up, the lights began to shut down as Bray Wyatt was ready to strike. “The Fiend” would appear at the top of the ramp and put out Lawler with the Mandible Claw to take another WWE Hall of Famer out.
Raw Highlights: Randy Orton and The Revival Alliance Destroys The New Day
The New Day faced The Revival on Raw last night as it seems they are heading for action involving the SmackDown Tag Team Titles. As Big E looked to Spear Dash Wilder through the ropes, Randy Orton appeared out of nowhere and caught E with an RKO. Kofi Kingston would run down to the ring to attempt to make the save, but Orton would hit him with an RKO as well. Xavier Woods would try to defend himself but The Revival would prompt him up for the Shatter Machine but instead of a Codebreaker, it went into an RKO. They went out of their way to injure the leg of Woods as Orton forced Kingston to watch on. If this Randy Orton/Revival Alliance is a long term idea, it is certainly brilliant.
The six most dangerous letters in @WWE. #RKO #FTR #FTRKO
@DashWilderWWE @ScottDawsonWWE pic.twitter.com/IwCo46ZLmn— Randy Orton (@RandyOrton) August 20, 2019
RAW MVP: Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman
Early in the night, Braun Strowman would take on AJ Styles for the United States Championship. Not so shockingly, The OC interfered to end the match in a DQ. Seth Rollins made his way down to the ring to make the save for Strowman, much like Strowman did last week. This would lead to Rollins offering the idea of facing Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson for the Raw Tag Team Championships. That match was made, and history was possible.
Raw Tag Team Championships: The OC (c) vs Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman
The OC defended their tag team titles against the Universal Champion and “The Monster Among Men”. After some back and forth, the match would come to a close when Luke Gallows attempted to hold Rollins as Styles would hit him on the outside. This would be when Strowman would get to his feet and take down both with a shoulder tackle. Rollins would roll back into the ring and tag in Strowman. Braun would hit a Powerslam on Karl Anderson. Styles would roll into the ring and attempt to stop the match before Rollins would Stomp him, allowing the duo to become the new tag team champions. The night ended with them standing tall but Strowman eyeing Rollins’ Universal Title.
It was an eventful night that would lead to new champions and names moving on in the King of the Ring tournament. Tomorrow night, Buddy Murphy will take on Daniel Bryan as the King of the Ring continues with the SmackDown LIVE side kicking off.
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