Monday Night Raw from Seatlle Washington opens with Dean Ambrose making his way out, wearing a cross between his Shield garb and his regular clothes.
Ambrose comes to the ring for an interview with Charly Caruso. She asks if there is any truth to the claims from last week, in which it was said Ambrose is the third wheel of The Shield and being used. Ambrose says yes, there is truth to it. He says Roman and Seth are indeed Champions and he has nothing. And he was out for a year and Seth replaced him with Jason Jordan very quickly. Charly asks if he has ever thought about leaving The Shield and the fans give a mixed response. He says “sure”. He thinks about a lot of things. Maybe he already gave his resignation, maybe he doesn’t need the dog tags, maybe it doesn’t mean as much to him as much as it used to. He says maybe he already ran Roman’s car off the road tonight – the fans cheered for that.
Charly says he is being confusing and people want answers. Dean asks what kind of questions do people have? He says people are wondering why he hasn’t left The Shield, why he’s still hanging on. He asks if people are wondering when he’ll do it, is he waiting for the perfect opportunity to stick the knife into their backs? Those kind of questions. Charly looks intimidated and says people were wondering about this, and they show the end of Raw last week in which Ambrose looked to wonder which side to choose. He responds by saying maybe he was wondering why he still does it? Why did he even come back to Raw, when all he has done is clean-up his brothers messes? Maybe he’s just sick of The Shield altogether. He flips the script and says that people should stop asking questions and trying to analyse his actions. Judge him by what he does, and all he has done is stand by his brothers. The Shield is not a brand, not a company, it’s a family, and he will stand by them until the end.
Ambrose turns to leave but out comes Baron Corbin to interrupt. Corbin mocks Ambrose’s speech, to which Ambrose calls him “the world’s biggest substitute teacher” and asks if he is just salty because he couldn’t keep The Shield down. Corbin says he will give them credit where it’s due, they’re tough. But tonight he will test Ambrose’s resolve by offering him three matches; he can face Rollins for the Intercontinental Championship, Reigns for the Universal Championship, or Braun Strowman one-on-one. Ambrose mulls it over for a minute but says he won’t sing and dance for a shiny carrot in front of him. He suggests “secret option #4”, him against Corbin right now. Corbin laughs and says it isn’t that simple, so he’ll make the decision for him…
*Commercial Break*
Braun Strowman Vs. Dean Ambrose
We return as the bell rings and Ambrose tries to chop Strowman down with kicks to the left leg. Strowman shakes it off and knocks Ambrose down. Braun hits the ropes and kicks Ambrose as he sits up. Strowman picks Ambrose up and whips him hard into the corner. Strowman grounds Ambrose with a neck crank in the middle of the ring.
Ambrose fights to his feet but eats a knee to the gut and an axe handle to the back. Strowman throws Amrbose to the corner and splashes him at breakneck speed. He goes back to the neck crank. Dean tries to pull his beard to get out but Braun bites his fingers. Ambrose again tries to fight out but Strowman just picks him up from behind and slams him down.
Strowman slaps Ambrose on the face. Dean crawls to the corner and slaps Braun, who responds with a huge biel across the ring. Braun lifts Dean but the Lunatic grabs a guillotine and wraps his legs around the waist. Braun fights back by tossing Ambrose over his head, but Ambrose doesn’t waste any time and hits a chop block. Strowman stumbles to the corner, where Ambrose runs at him and eats a big boot. Strowman jumps in the air and stomps on the back of Ambrose as we head to the break.
*Commercial Break*
We’re back to see Braun once again grounding Ambrose with a neck crank. He then sets Ambrose on the top rope but Dean punches him away, grabs him from behind and forearms the monster in the chest. Strowman lifts Ambrose up for the running powerslam but Dean rakes his eyes to get off. Ambrose suckers Strowman into flying over the top rope to get a breather.
Strowman is back in and runs at Dean in the corner but nobody’s home. Ambrose starts to rally but Strowman grabs him by the throat and chops him in the chest. Strowman looked for the running powerslam again but Dean climbed off and hit Dirty Deeds! Ambrose took forever to make the pin and Braun kicked out. Strowman rolls from the ring.
Ambrose hits a huge suicide dive to Strowman but the monster is still on his feet, thanks to the barricade. He runs at Ambrose but misses and hits the steel steps! Back inside the ring, Strowman grabs Ambrose and hits a quick powerslam out of nowhere. Ambrose rolls to the apron and down to the floor, as Strowman climbs to his feet. Braun slides out of the ring, runs around and hits Ambrose with a big shoulder tackle. Strowman throws Ambrose into the barricade, then back into the ring.
Braun lifts Ambrose and hits a powerslam. That isn’t enough though, he lifts him up again but Roman Reigns’ music hits and out comes The Big Dog! Roman gets into the ring and hits Braun with a Superman punch!
Winner Via Disqualification: Braun Strowman
Reigns looks for a Spear but Strowman lifts him for the powerslam, Reigns climbs down and back into the corner. Strowman runs at him and eats a big boot. Strowman stumbles around and, from out of nowhere, Seth Rollins comes off the ropes with a flying knee to Strowman. Rollins and Reigns toss Strowman from the ring and he retreats up the ramp. Strowman gets to the top of the ramp and out comes Ziggler and McIntyre, along with Baron Corbin. The Acting General Manager says this isn’t The Shield’s show, so later tonight Seth will face Drew McIntyre, and up next Reigns will face Ziggler!
*Commercial Break*
We return to see Ambrose in the trainers room. Rollins walks in and asks him how he’s doing. Ambrose gets angry and throws a bag of ice at the wall. Rollins tells him to calm down and that Roman came out when he had to. Ambrose says he sure did. He stands up and says the funny thing is, he could have been Intercontinental Champion by now. Ambrose walks off and Rollins looks puzzled.
We return ringside and Reigns hands the referee his Universal Championship but then Corbin comes back out. He says Reigns doesn’t get to put his title on the line whenever he wants. Corbin announces that this match is non-title, as is Rollins Vs. McIntyre. He says Roman won’t defend the belt again until Saudi Arabia.
Roman Reigns Vs. Dolph Ziggler
The bell rings, and Ziggler attacks a distracted Reigns. Dolph rakes his eyes on the ropes but Reigns throws him into the corner and punches him. Ziggler quickly snaps Reigns’s neck off the top rope and dropkicks him down for a two count. Ziggler then applies a chin lock to ground the big man.
Reigns tries to fight up, but Ziggler takes him down and drops an elbow. Reigns tries to fight back, but Ziggler sidesteps him to send him shoulder-first into the ring post. Ziggler goes outside to grab him, but Reigns punches him. Ziggler runs at Roman and hits him with a spike DDT on the floor!
Ziggler gets in the ring to break the count, back out and gets Reigns in the ring. Ziggler connects with a famasser for a near fall. We’re off to the break with Dolph in charge!
*Commercial Break*
We come back from the break to see Ziggler applying a chin lock to Reigns. Reigns fights up and punches out. Ziggler quickly ducks a right hand and jumps on Reigns’ back with a sleeper hold. Ziggler cinches it in, and Reigns seems to be fading away. Ziggler digs his fingers into Reigns’ eyes.
All that does though is give Reigns a burst of energy. The Champ backs him into the corner and hits a snapmare. Reigns connects with a back elbow before hitting a lariat, then another. Reigns hits a leaping clothesline and gets fired up in the corner. Reigns hits Ziggler with ten clubbing blows in the corner before coming off of the ropes and connecting with a big boot. Reigns looks at Ziggler on the mat and poses for a Superman Punch. Ziggler sidesteps it and rolls him up for a near fall. Reigns quickly blocks a superkick and goes for a Samoan Drop, but Ziggler rakes the eyes and hits a Zig-Zag for a close near fall.
Ziggler slowly gets up and stomps for a superkick, but Reigns counters it with a Superman Punch for a near fall. Reigns sets up for a spear, but Ziggler leap frogs him and rolls him up for a near fall. Ziggler head-butts Roman, who bounces off the ropes and responds with a huge spear for the win!
Winner: Roman Reigns
We see The Bella Twins backstage with Natalya. They’re talking and hugging before the camera turns and we see Ronda Rousey. The Champion will take on Ruby Riott next!
*Commercial Break*
