So with SummerSlam done and in the books, we move on to the next stage of my WWE 2K23 Universe Mode… and what is that you say? Well, for now it’s just a minor refresh, in the form of the post SummerSlam shows from my Raw and SmackDown, and then updated roster lists for both brands. But those two shows are… eventful… and we’re not all that far away from our next ppv… CLASH AT THE CASTLE! So without taking up anymore time explaining, let’s get right into things!
RAW – August Week 4
Fresh off his controversial count-out victory at SummerSlam, WWE Champion Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins opens the show, coming out for an in-ring promo. After gloating to the crowd, Cody Rhodes comes out to respond, and after reminding Rollins that he has still never pinned or made him submit, Cody manages to get Rollins to agree to a SummerSlam rematch, the ‘rubber match’ between the two, for the WWE Championship, in the main event TONIGHT!
Austin Theory is backstage for an interview. After losing the US title at SummerSlam, he has a chance for revenge against Carmelo Hayes tonight… but this time, he brought back up…
Carmelo Hayes (C) defeated Austin Theory (with Dolph Ziggler) to retain the United States Championship
I’d have this be quite a competitive match, with Ziggler subtly getting involved when he can sneak some interference. It would all lead to the big finish, where I’d have Ziggler and Theory’s cheating to finally be stopped by the debut on the main roster of Carmelo Hayes’ good pal TRICK WILLIAMS! Hayes would retain and stand tall, with his accomplice now once again by his side.
Asuka defeated Dana Brooke
The headline here is Asuka is now definitely a heel, and she’s a MONSTER! Go to a mix of the irl WWE Kana 2.0 and the OG NXT Asuka, where she just brutalizes people wherever she goes.
Kevin Owens comes out for a promo. But as soon as he gets into the ring, the man who destroyed him at SummerSlam comes out too!
But instead of fighting once again… Brock offers a handshake, of which Owens accepts. And they show mutual respect between the two of them.
PRETTY DEADLY come out to the ring for their Raw debut appearance! They cut an in-ring promo, before the Raw Tag Team Champions ‘RK-Bro’ come out to confront them. Both teams go back and forth on the mic, until eventually they set up a match… for right now!
Pretty Deadly defeated RK-Bro
They cheat to do so, but PRETTY DEADLY BEAT THE RAW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS ON THEIR RAW DEBUT! Matt Riddle is the one that’s pinned, he’s left looking shocked and distraught. Both Wilson and Prince are overjoyed… Randy Orton looks initially annoyed, but eventually reassures his beaten tag partner.
Bianca Belair, fresh off her successful defense of the Raw Women’s Title at SummerSlam comes out for an in-ring promo. She’s very quickly interrupted by Damage CTRL. Bayley is out first, before Dakota and Iyo help Bayley jump Belair… luckily for the champion, she has two friends who come out to make the save…
Which leads us to…
Candice Lerae & Indi Hartwell (with Bianca Belair) defeated Damage CTRL (Iyo Sky & Dakota Kai with Bayley)
Good, solid tag match with the babyfaces getting the surprise win. This whole thing has only just got started for these 6 women though…
Kevin Owens then has a backstage interview, where he is asked about his earlier face to face with Brock Lesnar, as well as what the future could hold… long story short, this interview is the official babyface turn for KO…
But after that… he was attacked…
Tommaso Ciampa defeated Kevin Owens in a Backstage Brawl
What’s next for KO? Ciampa! That’s who!
AND FINALLY… It is time for the main event! Probably the biggest match I’ve done on a Raw or SmackDown since I started my WWE 2K23 Universe Mode…
Cody Rhodes vs Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins (C) for the WWE Championship
Is it FINALLY time for Cody to ‘Finish The Story’? …
Or does the reign of the Visionary, the Revolutionary, WWE Champion continue…???…
So yes indeed, FINN BALOR HAS CASHED IN HIS MONEY IN THE BANK CONTRACT, AND THE MATCH IS NOW A TRIPLE THREAT!!!
AND JUST LIKE THAT… WE HAVE A NEW WWE CHAMPION… AND IT IS FINN BALOR!!!
SmackDown – August Week 4
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair opens the show, after her successful title defense against Mandy Rose at SummerSlam.
Eventually she is interrupted by the WWE Women’s Tag Champions Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, they both go back and forth with Flair on the mic, until the team of Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne interrupt the tag champs, and challenge them to a title match for the main event!
Our opening match of the show sees the culmination of an ongoing feud, inside a STEEL CAGE!
Rey Mysterio defeated Santos Escobar in a Steel Cage match
So in the end, it was the experience of Mysterio that shone through and got him the win here. Both men will move on to different things now, but it will be Rey who does so off he back of a big win here inside the cage!
We next have a vignette for an Alexa Bliss promo. During this ‘out of the shadows’ would come Dutch, Vincent, Rowan, Uncle Howdy and finally Bray Wyatt, who says… “RUN!”
LA Knight defeated Tyler Breeze
A fairly straightforward win here for the ever-popular LA Knight, another with big things on the horizon…
We then get a backstage segment with Drew McIntyre. He is being interviewed when he sees The Brawling Brutes, and he ‘fires up’ Sheamus…
Sheamus then in turns fires up Butch and Ridge Holland! “FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!!!” … This all makes Drew very happy.
That leads to…
The Brawling Brutes (Butch & Ridge Holland with Sheamus) defeated The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) (with Solo Sikoa)
A HUGE win for the Brawling Brutes against the SmackDown Tag Team Champions! Having been on the wrong end of this feud for a while, a big win here could be the launchpad towards another title match maybe…
Mandy Rose is interviewed backstage. She is unsure where things stand with her former Toxic Attraction stablemates…
A pretty big match up next…
Drew McIntyre defeated Karrion Kross (with Scarlett)
A HUGE win for Drew! He now looks forward to the biggest match of them all, particularly with Clash At The Castle on the horizon…
After this, I’d have Sami Zayn come out to the ring. He would just walk out there, no big entrance or music… He’d get into the ring, ask for a microphone, look towards the Hard-Cam, and say the following:
“My name is Sami Zayn. I, am a professional wrestler, and I have been for over 20 years. It hasn’t always been the easiest of journeys, but it has been one heck of a ride. But recently, I’ve kinda hit a bit of a dead-end. You see, a few years ago, Sami Zayn meant something. When people would see Sami Zayn, they’d see a guy who always gave his all, who always went out there, and bust his ass, and when you fans left the arena, you’d all remember what Sami Zayn did that night. But you see, recently to me, it hasn’t felt like that. I’ve taken a fair few losses, I kinda… don’t really have a direction around here anymore… and I think the person to blame for that… is myself. So tonight, I’m making a vow to each and every single one of you people watching me right now, every single person around the world who has ever cheered for me or chanted my name… (There’s a pause as the crowd chant Sami’s name), The Sami Zayn that you all knew and loved, the professional wrestler that I truly am, the one who dazzled in Dallas against Shinsuke Nakamura, the one who faced John Cena in Canada on his very first night on the main roster, FROM THIS VERY MOMENT, I’M BACK… BECAUSE MY NAME… IS SAMI ZAYN!” …
After that, we have our main event match of the show…
Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne) defeated Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez (C) to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship
So yes indeed, just days after Morgan & Rodriguez won the titles, they have lost them. The match would be going along at a fairly competitive level, until Mandy Rose makes her way to ringside, and it is her that causes Dolin and Jayne to win the titles. Rose has turned heel, and Toxic Attraction are a full trio once again!
To close the show, we have the official return to WWE of Bray Wyatt.
After his huge entrance to an equally huge crowd reaction, Bray smiles and seems a mixture of happy and emotional to be back in WWE. He says how happy he is to be back, that although this is a new beginning for him, he feels like he is home. He says he is back with his family, and he has a new family as he runs down each member of the ‘Wyatt 6’, He goes on to say that there is always room for more, and everyone is welcome to join them, he then talks directly to Braun Strowman, saying “my brother Braun, come home”… Braun himself then comes storming out…
Braun is very angry, and the two go back and forth on the mic, until Bray leads Braun to look at the titantron screen, where we see Braun’s tag partner Ricochet being laid out by Dutch, Vincent and Uncle Howdy… that is when Rowan appears and attacks Braun in the ring! Alexa Bliss appears at ringside now looking on, and as Bray and Rowan lay out Braun, the other members all join them in the ring… They all pose together as Bray takes the mic and says “Welcome, to the era, of the WYATT 6!”… We then get a close up on Bray’s face, as he smirks and laughs to close the show.
AND THAT… is how we follow up on Raw and SmackDown from SummerSlam! So with that all in the books, now feels a good time for a bit of a roster update…
Raw roster (September Week 1 onwards)
Edge – F (F = Face, H = Heel)
WWE Champion: Finn Balor (H) – JD (The Judgment Day)
Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins (F) , Cody Rhodes (F), Kevin Owens (F)
Bobby Lashley (H) – HB (The Hurt Business) , Tommaso Ciampa (H)
United States Champion: Carmelo Hayes (F) (With Trick Williams – F)
Damian Priest (H) – JD, Austin Theory (H), Mustafa Ali (H)
AJ Styles (F) – OC (The OC), Johnny Gargano (F) – TW (The Way) (With Dexter Lumis (F) – TW)
Raw Women’s Champion: Bianca Belair (F)
Rhea Ripley (H) – JD (With Dominik Mysterio (H) – JD) , Asuka (H), Bayley (H) – DC (Damage CTRL), Iyo Sky (H) – DC, Dakota Kai (H) – DC, Carmella (H)
Becky Lynch (F), Candice LeRae (F) – TW, Mia Yim (F) – OC (kind of…), Indi Hartwell (F) – TW, Dana Brooke (F)
Raw Tag Team Champions: RK-Bro (Randy Orton (F) & Matt Riddle (F))
Viking Raiders (Erik (H) & Ivar (H)) (With Valhalla) , Shelton Benjamin (H) & Cedric Alexander (H) – HB, Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson (H) & Elton Prince (H))
Luke Gallows (F) & Karl Anderson (F) – OC, Street Profits (Montez Ford (F) & Angelo Dawkins (F))
Chad Gable (F) – AA (Alpha Academy), Otis (F) – AA, Titus O’Neil (F)
Omos (H) – HB (With MVP (H) – HB), Dolph Ziggler (H), The Miz (H)
SmackDown roster (September Week 1 onwards)
‘Wyatt 6’ – Bray Wyatt (H), Alexa Bliss (H), Uncle Howdy (H), Erick Rowan (H), Dutch (H), Vincent (H)
World Heavyweight Champion: Roman Reigns (H) (With Paul Heyman) – BL (The Bloodline)
Drew McIntyre (F), Big E (F) – TND (The New Day), Rey Mysterio (F)
Karrion Kross (H) (With Scarlett), LA Knight (H)
Intercontinental Champion: Gunther (H) – I (Imperium)
Sheamus (F) – BB (The Brawling Brutes), Shinsuke Nakamura (F) (With Rock Boogs (F)), Sami Zayn (F)
Robert Roode (H), Santos Escobar (H) – LDF (Legado del Fantasma)
SmackDown Women’s Champion: Charlotte Flair (H)
Liv Morgan (F), Raquel Rodriguez (F), Shotzi (F), Katana Chance (F) & Kayden Carter (F), Natalya (F)
Miss MITB: Ronda Rousey (H), Mandy Rose (H) – TA (Toxic Attraction), Shayna Baszler (H), WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions: Gigi Dolin (H) – TA & Jacy Jayne (H) – TA
SmackDown Tag Team Champions: The Usos (Jey – H & Jimmy – H) (With Solo Sikoa – (H)) – BL
The New Day (Kofi Kingston – F & Xavier Woods – F), The Brawling Brutes (Butch – F & Ridge Holland – F), Braun Strowman (F) & Ricochet (F)
Imperium (Giovani VInci (H) & Ludwig Kaiser (H)), Legado del Fantasma (Joaquin Wilde (H) & Cruz del Toro (H))
Happy Corbin (H), Jinder Mahal (H)
Tyler Breeze (F), Madcap Moss (F)
So that’s where we are up to now in my WWE 2K23 Universe Mode. Two great rosters, with hot angles all up and down both shows. We are a few weeks of TV away from my next PPV, Clash At The Castle, so lots of exciting things to come… with a new WWE Champion in Finn Balor on Raw, and a new era beginning over on my SmackDown! Lets see how it all plays out and where it all goes form here, next time…
Josh.