Roman Reigns achieved a wrestling grand slam with his Intercontinental Championship win. Photo by WWE.com
This was the WWE’s third night in Houston and, boy, did the post PPV Raw deliver.
Stephanie McMahon opened the show congratulating Raw for winning the most matches at Survivor Series. She proceeded to invite her husband, Triple H, to the ring. Before he could even speak, an angry Kurt Angle raced to the ring to confront him for attacking him at Survivor Series. Kurt’s son, Jason Jordan, came out to ask his father to let him have a match against Triple H. Stephanie explained that Angle was not authorized to make that match, even though her husband is not scared of anyone on the roster. That, of course, prompted Braun Strowman to come to the ring. Triple H backed away, and McMahon explained to Jordan and Strowman that they would be facing each other later that night. “You’re a coward” chants serenaded Triple H as he made his way backstage. Samoa Joe and Finn Balor lit a fire under the Houston crowd. Balor did all he could to stay in the match, including escaping a Coquina Clutch. Joe caught Balor as he was making his way to the top rope and placed him in a second Coquina Clutch to win the match. Asuka made Dana Brooke pay for her cheap shot on last week’s Raw. Throughout the match, Asuka mocked Brooke and hit her with stiff kicks and chops. She knocked her lights out with a stiff kick to win the match.
The Miz shared a great Miz TV segment with The Shield. The crowd got really involved with this segment, making it even more entertaining. “Miz is awesome” chants filled the arena. Seth Rollins mentioned they’ve traveled around the world, and Houston was the first place ever where they heard that chant. The segment closed with Reigns issuing a challenge to Miz for his Intercontinental Championship. Dean Ambrose defeated Sheamus despite Cesaro’s efforts to spoil the match for Ambrose. Alexa Bliss came to the ring to express her displeasure for the fans who insulted her after her loss to Charlotte. Mickie James, Bayley, Sasha Banks, and Alicia Fox faced off in a Fatal Four Way to determine Bliss’ next opponent. A surprise return a year in the making occurred when Paige showed up. She didn’t come alone, though. Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, formerly of NXT, joined Paige in spoiling the match.
Braun Strowman’s match with Jason Jordan was short-lived thanks to a brutal attack from Kane. The Big Red Machine used a chair and steel steps to jam Strowman’s throat. The team of Rich Swann, Tozawa, Cedric Alexander, and Mustafa Ali defeated Davari, Drew Gulak, Noam Dar, and Tony Neese. Elias Samson’s “concert” was cut short by Matt Hardy who forced The Drifter to coward away from the ring. The Miz defended his Intercontinental Championship against Roman Reigns in the main event. Reigns was in control of the match until The Bar got involved. Ambrose and Rollins raced to the ring to even out the playing field. One spear later, Reigns sealed the Intercontinental Championship win. This meant Reigns collected his fourth championship, a wrestling grand slam. After the show went off-air, The Shield sent fans home happy by Triple Powerbombing The Miz through the announcer table.
Highlight of the night:
Paige’s return has been speculated for weeks now. The way it was done, though, was a genuine surprise. She’s had very weird year, and it is great to see her back in the WWE.
WWE’s third straight night in the Toyota Center was a great one. The involvement of the crowd blew me away. Surprises like Paige’s return, or Reigns achieving a Grand Slam, helped this post pay-per-view Raw live up to the hype. The ball is in SmackDown Live’s court to do the same thing later tonight in the WWE’s final night in town.
What looked like a minor blip after an emotional series win in Los Angeles has turned into something more concerning for the Houston Astros.
Swept at home by a Guardians team that came in riding a 10-game losing streak, the Astros were left looking exposed. Not exhausted, as injuries, underperformance, and questionable decision-making converged to hand Houston one of its most frustrating series losses of the year.
Depth finally runs dry
It would be easy to point to a “Dodger hangover” as the culprit, the emotional peak of an 18-1 win at Chavez Ravine followed by a mental lull. But that’s not the story here.
Houston’s energy was still evident, especially in the first two games of the series, where the offense scored five or more runs each time. Including those, the Astros had reached that mark in eight of their last 10 games heading into Wednesday’s finale.
But scoring isn’t everything, not when a lineup held together by duct tape and desperation is missing Christian Walker and Jake Meyers and getting critical at-bats from Cooper Hummel, Zack Short, and other journeymen.
The lack of depth finally showed. The Astros, for three days, looked more like a Triple-A squad with Jose Altuve and a couple big-league regulars sprinkled in.
Cracks in the pitching core
And the thing that had been keeping this team afloat, elite pitching, finally buckled.
Hunter Brown and Josh Hader, both dominant all season, finally cracked. Brown gave up six runs in six innings, raising his pristine 1.82 ERA to 2.21. Hader wasn’t spared either, coughing up a game-losing grand slam in extra innings that inflated his ERA from 1.80 to 2.38 in one night.
But the struggles weren’t isolated. Bennett Sousa, Kaleb Ort, and Steven Okert each gave up runs at critical moments. The bullpen’s collective fade could not have come at a worse time for a team already walking a tightrope.
Injury handling under fire
Houston’s injury management is also drawing heat, and rightfully so. Jake Meyers, who had been nursing a calf strain, started Wednesday’s finale. He didn’t even make it through one pitch before aggravating the injury and needing to be helped off the field.
No imaging before playing him. No cautionary rest despite the All-Star break looming. Just a rushed return in a banged-up lineup, and it backfired immediately.
Second-guessing has turned to outright criticism of the Astros’ medical staff, as fans and analysts alike wonder whether these mounting injuries are being made worse by how the club is handling them.
Pressure mounts on Dana Brown
All eyes now turn to Astros GM Dana Brown. The Astros are limping into the break with no clear reinforcements on the immediate horizon. Only Chas McCormick is currently rehabbing in Sugar Land. Everyone else? Still sidelined.
Brown will need to act — and soon.
At a minimum, calling up top prospect Brice Matthews makes sense. He’s been mashing in Triple-A (.283/.400/.476, 10 HR, .876 OPS) and could play second base while Jose Altuve shifts to left field more regularly. With Mauricio Dubón stretched thin between shortstop and center, injecting Matthews’ upside into the infield is a logical step.
*Editor's note: The Astros must be listening, Matthews was called up Thursday afternoon!
The Astros are calling up Brice Matthews, their top prospect on @MLBPipeline
via @brianmctaggart pic.twitter.com/K91cGKkcx6
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 10, 2025
There’s also trade chatter, most notably about Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins, but excitement has been tepid. His numbers don’t jump off the page, but compared to who the Astros are fielding now, Mullins would be a clear upgrade and a much-needed big-league presence.
A final test before the break
Before the All-Star reset, Houston gets one last chance to stabilize the ship, and it comes in the form of a rivalry series against the Texas Rangers. The Astros will send their top trio — Lance McCullers Jr., Framber Valdez, and Hunter Brown — to the mound for a three-game set that will test their resolve, their health, and perhaps their postseason aspirations.
The Silver Boot is up for grabs. So is momentum. And maybe, clarity on just how far this version of the Astros can go.
There's so much more to discuss! Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday.
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*ChatGPT assisted.
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