Kevin Owens is the current WWE Universal Champion. (WWE)
Tonight on Monday Night Raw, Kevin Owens makes his debut as the new Universal Champion. Plus, the WWE universe reacts to Triple H’s shocking appearance during last week’s show. Raw will air tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the USA Network, broadcast from Kansas City, Missouri. Read on for match results and spoilers, followed by a full preview of the night’s events as written earlier this afternoon.
8:03 – Backstage, Mick Foley confronts Stephanie McMahon, saying that she hasn’t been responding to his calls or texts about Triple H’s appearance last week. McMahon says she had no idea this was going to happen and that she was embarrassed by her husband. Foley struggles to believe Stephanie but she eventually convinces him.
8:08 – Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon open the show in the ring as balloons drop onto the audience. Kevin Owens enters. Confetti falls as Owens holds up his Universal Championship title.
Owens agrees with the audience that he deserves the title. But he goes on to call the crowd idiots for chanting “You deserve it,” saying that this makes it about themselves. He doesn’t need anyone else to tell him he deserves it. He earned the title for himself, though Triple H gave him “a little nudge.” Owens claims he already did most of the work himself before Triple H arrived.
Seth Rollins enters. He tells Kevin Owens to shut up and proceeds to scream at Stephanie, asking how she could do this to him. Stephanie says she had nothing to do with Triple H’s actions, but Rollins doesn’t believe her for a second. If Kevin Owens is the face of the new era, Seth Rollins says he will be the one to burn everything to the ground.
Owens says that Rollins is a total failure, causing Rollins to assault Owens and throw him out of the ring. Stephanie declares that Rollins is now indefinitely suspended, but Mick Foley chimes in to say, “No he’s not.” Instead, Foley decides there will be a rematch between Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens, which will take place at Clash of Champions.
8:23 – Backstage, Stephanie McMahon warns Mick Foley to never overextend his authority like that again. Kevin Owens complains, but Foley chimes in to say Owens will have a match tonight against Sami Zayn. Chris Jericho enters, outraged that Mick Foley is treating the longest-reigning Universal Champion like this. Foley places Chris Jericho in a match against Seth Rollins tonight.
8:26 – Bayley defeats Charlotte. During the match, Bayley’s match is apparently injured, but she’s able to come back and gain the upper hand.
8:49 – Backstage, Charlotte can’t believe that Bayley beat her and that she was embarrassed in front of the world. She takes this anger out on Dana Brooke, slapping her in the face.
8:51 – Bo Dallas defeats a local jobber.
8:53 – Backstage, Chris Jericho gives Kevin Owens a pep talk, saying that tonight he’s going to beat down Seth Rollins.
8:58 – Seth Rollins defeats Chris Jericho.
9:20 – Sheamus defeats Cesaro. He is now ahead of Cesaro 3-0 in the best of seven.
9:34 – The Shining Stars start talking about Puerto Rico before being quickly interrupted by Enzo and Cass. Enzo mocks the Shining Stars, saying it’s painful listening to them speak. Also, Enzo pretends to give birth for some reason.
9:38 – The Shining Stars defeat Enzo & Cass.
9:50 – Backstage, Sami Zayn says that he feels directionless ever since Battleground, even though he beat Kevin Owens. He admits there’s a bit of jealously there. Kevin Owens interrupts, saying that just a few years ago he was trying to catch up to Zayn. But the title has always been the finish line, and Owens won the race.
9:53 – Nia Jax defeats a local jobber.
9:55 – Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows declare themselves retirement specialists, planning to retire the New Day as tag team champions at Clash of Champions. They welcome out “The Old Day,” and three people pretending to be old men versions of the New Day enter, complete with wigs and walkers. They are supposedly future versions of The New Day after they were retired by Anderson and Gallows at Clash of Champions
After a painfully long segment with The Old Day, the real New Day enters. They’re worried about the implications of coming into contact with their future selves, as this might destroy the WWE universe. So instead they go after Anderson and Gallows, who immediately flee the area. Afterwards, The New Day end up going after The Old Day.
10:15 – Darren Young defeats Jinder Mahal. After the match, Darren Young and Titus O’Neil brawl outside the ring.
10:21 – Backstage, Nia Jax confronts Alicia Fox, who blows up in her face.
10:26 – Braun Strowman defeats Sin Cara.
10:35 – Sasha Banks enters. She talks about the women’s revolution, saying every time she steps in the ring she thinks about the little girls everywhere who are told they won’t be able to do things in life. She says she was pushed beyond her limits at SummerSlam, and earlier today she met with her doctor. She is about to announce some bad news before Dana Brooke enters.
Dana Brooke says she’s going to finish what Charlotte started at SummerSlam. Sasha attacks Dana Brooke before announcing that the bad news wasn’t for Brooke. It was for Charlotte: Sasha Banks will return at Clash of Champions to retain her title.
10:51 – Kevin Owens defeats Sami Zayn. As the show is about to end, Roman Reigns enters and stares down Kevin Owens. Chris Jericho comes out to help Owens, but before anything more can happen, Mick Foley enters. He announces that next week, Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns will fight, and if Roman wins, the Clash of Champions match will become a triple threat.
On August 29th’s Raw, a Fatal 4-way match ended in a massive twist when Triple H came out of nowhere to betray Seth Rollins and help Kevin Owens win the Universal Championship. Owens will appear for the first time with that belt this evening, and Seth Rollins will surely have something to say about Triple H’s actions. Plus, it seems that a feud between Owens and Rollins will begin, supposedly leading up to a Universal Championship match at Clash of Champions later this month.
It should also be interesting to hear from Big Cass and Roman Reigns, the two other Fatal 4-way competitors who came up short last week. Reigns’ response is particularly anticipated, considering he was attacked by Triple H as well. After unsuccessfully going after the United States Championship and now the Universal Championship, what’s the new direction for the man who was once the company’s top guy? As WWE.com’s official preview puts it, “Denied Team Red’s most prestigious title by his longtime nemesis, Reigns is undoubtedly furious, and the rest of the Raw locker room would be wise to stay out of his way this week.”
The best of seven between Sheamus and Cesaro will also continue tonight. Cesaro needs to turn things around, as so far he’s losing to Sheamus 2-0. But he was seriously injured during the match last week, which will certainly make a comeback difficult. And on the women’s division side of things, just about everyone wants some Bayley, and hopefully she will keep going after Dana Brooke and Charlotte with the help of The New Day tonight.