Randy Orton doesn’t play well with others, but he seems to want to keep Ricochet close for some reason. Despite lingering tensions, The Viper chose Ricochet as his partner to face The Viking Raiders for the Raw Tag Team Titles after the original challengers, Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins, were ambushed by AOP in the locker room area. Unfortunately, the saga of The Viper and his friend (foe?) was quickly overwhelmed by the latest and greatest salvo in the battle for brand supremacy.
Orton and Ricochet made for an effective tag team, but in the middle of the match, SmackDown Superstars Dolph Ziggler, Robert Roode and Cesaro were shown attacking Raw talent in the bowels of the TD Garden. They stormed the ring later in the title bout in an ambush that led to a disqualification win for Orton & Ricochet, who were quickly overwhelmed by seemingly the entire NXT roster. The black-and-gold stalwarts rushed the ring to pick off Orton, Ricochet and The Viking Raiders, though The Viper landed a couple of RKOs before succumbing. Despite a plethora of Raw Superstars joining the fight, NXT got the last word when Keith Lee hoisted Humberto Carrillo over his head and chucked him from the ring onto a crowd of Superstars.
They also got the last word in the literal fashion. During the melee, Triple H appeared on the TitanTron to announce an “open door” policy for this Wednesday’s NXT. Anybody who wants to come to Full Sail and show what they’re made of is free to do so. Given the shellacking Raw took at the end of the night, there are more than a few who might be tempted to take him up on that offer. But unless they come prepared, it’s going to be a long week, and the battle for brand supremacy will be very short indeed.