RAW 1255: June 12, 2017

## Episode recap

#### **Dean Ambrose vs. Elias Samson"**

Dean Ambrose is still willing to walk with Elias Samson — but thanks to The Miz, the former Intercontinental Champion can’t quite seem to beat him.

Despite suffering a clothesline that nearly knocked him out of his boots, The Lunatic Fringe fought back from the brink to put the burly balladeer on his heels during the latest installment of their rivalry.

The A-Lister made his presence known at the moment of truth, and while the Intercontinental Champion crucially refrained from laying hands on Ambrose, his presence was enough to seal The Lunatic Fringe’s fate. Ambrose chased Miz around the ring, dove back into the squared circle when he realized he was about to be counted out and immediately ate a knee to the back from Samson. The sinister serenader followed up with the rolling neckbreaker for the win.

#### **Cedric Alexander vs. Noam Dar**

Alicia Fox might be laid up with a neck injury, but that didn’t stop her from weighing in on the Noam Dar-Cedric Alexander rematch following The Scottish Supernova's loss on 205 Live last week.

Given the long history between Cedric, Dar and Alicia, the former Divas Champion obviously had a vested interest in this contest and insisted on FaceTiming Dar (with her voice amplified for all the Cajundome to hear) the entire time so she could see what happened in the match.

Unfortunately, Noam couldn’t get his lady love to hang up the phone after the bell rang, so Cedric dispatched him almost immediately with the Lumbar Check. When Dar picked the phone back up, he received a fresh scolding from his furious girlfriend, who was frustrated he wasn’t immediately replying to her. “Communication is key!” she exclaimed. Fair point, though Dar could probably have used a little less of it in this instance.

#### **Sasha Banks, Mickie James & Dana Brooke vs. Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax & Emma**

Alexa Bliss managed to hang on to her Raw Women’s Title on a technicality last week, but she put herself in the unenviable position of having nearly every woman in the Team Red ladies’ locker room — including a returning Emma — gunning for her prize.

A confrontation between Bliss and the assembled women of Raw — minus Bayley, who still hasn’t competed since losing her title rematch — led to a Six-Woman Tag Team Match among champion and potential challengers.

During the bout, all of Bliss’ opponents — Sasha Banks in particular — wanted a piece of her. When Sasha had Emma on the ropes, Alexa did the only thing she could do: Ditched the match before being tagged in, leaving Emma to tap out to a match-ending Bank Statement after Mickie James neutralized Nia Jax.

Of course, Six-Woman Tags don’t decide titles, and Alexa’s championship reign will continue. However, it's fair to question whether Little Miss Bliss has missed an opportunity to shore up allies for the fights to come.

#### **Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. The Miz & a bear**

First, after Raw General Manager Kurt Angle told Miz he was on his own against Dean Ambrose, The Awesome One attempted to poach Heath Slater to his side as an ally, which led The One-Man Band’s tag partner, Rhyno, to challenge The A-Lister to a tag match — provided, of course, he could find a partner of his own. That turned out to be a giant bear, much like the one Miz suspected was Ambrose in disguise during last week’s catastrophic Intercontinental Championship coronation.

Suspicious of his ursine ally from the get-go, Miz attacked the bear and removed its giant head, only to reveal, once again, that it wasn’t Ambrose, at which point he threw the bear out of the ring in frustration.

The bear seemingly recovered in time to re-enter the fray, but when he hit Dirty Deeds on Slater, the WWE Universe realized a switcheroo had been pulled and Ambrose had finagled his way into the match. Miz was too banged-up to notice, and a panicked Maryse couldn’t get her husband’s attention to warn him.

But when The Lunatic Fringe revealed himself, Miz freaked and accidentally bumped Maryse off the ring apron in his attempt to flee, leading to Ambrose planting his rival with a Dirty Deeds. Ambrose then placed The One-Man Band atop Miz for the win and covered Miz’s head with his mask, leaving WWE’s self-dubbed “It” couple to suffer more humiliation than anyone can possibly bear.

## Featured Superstars

* Maryse
* Nia Jax
* Sasha Banks
* Alexa Bliss
* Dana Brooke
* Mickie James
* Emma
* Bayley
* Alicia Fox

## Results

1. Sasha Banks, Mickie James & Dana Brooke def. Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax & Emma