Monday Night Raw – October 2, 2017: The Upside Down Egg Version
Monday Night Raw
Date: October 2, 2017
Location: Pepsi Center, Denver Colorado
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Booker T.
We’ve got a title match on the card tonight as the Miz defends the Intercontinental Title against Roman Reigns. While a title change is always possible, there’s also the high likelihood that this is all helping to set up the Miztourage vs. a reunited Shield at Tables Ladders and Chairs 2017. Let’s get to it.
The roster is on the stage for a moment of silence in memory of the Las Vegas shooting. Even Vince and Shane are there.
Video on the Miztourage beating Reigns down last week and standing over him in the Shield pose.
Opening sequence.
Seth Rollins vs. Braun Strowman
Rollins kicks at the ribs to start but has to slip out of a running powerslam attempt. For some reason Seth slaps him in the face, setting off a chase. A kick to Braun’s head connects but Braun launches him into the air for a big crash. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Seth fights up and sends him outside. A suicide dive is knocked out of the air though and we take a break.
Back with Rollins getting tossed via a fall away slam but sidestepping a charge. Now the suicide dives connect, only to have the springboard knee to the face get two. A great looking superkick drops Braun but the wind up knee is countered with a clothesline. The running powerslam ends Rollins at 10:27.
Rating: C. Not a bad little match here but there was no question about Strowman winning. Rollins is great for something like this though as he’s legitimate competition for Strowman and makes him look great even in defeat. It was a fun match and a good way to open the show, which is all you can ask for.
Strowman gives him another powerslam for fun. He goes back for more but Dean Ambrose runs out for a save attempt, only to get chokeslammed for his efforts. Another running powerslam leaves both champions laying. Strowman leaves and here are Sheamus and Cesaro to pick the bones.
Breast cancer awareness video.
We recap Mickie James and Alexa Bliss’ issues.
Mickie runs into Alicia Fox and Emma, who say there’s a present in Mickie’s dressing room. She goes in to find a walker and adult diapers. Mickie goes to find Alexa but she’s hiding behind Nia Jax. A match is set for later.
Bray Wyatt is in his walking chair and rocking back and forth, going over things that Sister Abigail told him. She told him to fight the man and would never lie to him. He repeats the last line over and over.
Here’s Elias to tell us how horrible this town is and how much he can’t stand Titus O’Neil.
Elias vs. Titus O’Neil
Elias headlocks him to start but gets shoved off for a crash. A big boot knocks Elias outside where he gets in a staredown with Apollo Crews. Back in and Drift Away ends Titus at 2:58. Nothing match.
The announcers preview Hell in a Cell.
Mickie James vs. Nia Jax
Alexa comes out to watch and the distraction lets Nia jump Mickie from behind. The beating is on in a hurry and Mickie is sent outside as we take a break. Back with Mickie slugging away but getting thrown down again, setting up a chinlock and bearhug. Nia tries a powerbomb but Mickie slips out, setting up a few running kicks. A bad looking tornado DDT (Mickie’s leg was underneath Nia) plants Jax, only to have Alexa run in for the DQ at 9:45.
Rating: D+. As I’ve said before, Nia needs to win something at some point. That being said, I’m very happy that Mickie is in this story as she’s the fresh blood the division has been needing. That being said, she’s now been in stories where she’s crazy, fat and old. What did she do to WWE over the years to deserve those?
Mickie kicks Alexa in the face.
Long recap of Enzo Amore winning the title and being destroyed last week.
Enzo has nothing to say.
Mickie James will get her title shot at TLC.
Matt Hardy/Jason Jordan vs. Anderson and Gallows
Jordan slugs away at Anderson to start but everything breaks down with the good guys (guys, not Brothers) cleaning house to send us to a break. Back with Anderson working over Matt in the corner but it’s quickly off to Jordan. A slam is broken up via a Gallows kick to the face and Jordan is back in trouble again.
Anderson slaps on an armbar as the announcers ask Booker why he’s always complaining about Jordan’s relationship with Angle. That’s broken up as well and the hot tag brings in Matt for a middle rope elbow. Anderson makes a save and knocks Jordan outside, leaving Matt to take the Magic Killer for the pin at 11:02.
Rating: D+. Not much to this one but were you expecting anything else? Jordan is a complete filler partner and while that makes sense in the short term, I don’t see this lasting too much longer. Hardy is more than capable of a singles run and that would be the best option for everyone at the moment.
Reigns says he’s keeping things simple tonight: destroy what’s in front of him, break Miz’s jaw, and leave with the title.
Some breast cancer survivors are brought out and presented with WWE Championships by Dana Warrior.
Intercontinental Title: Roman Reigns vs. The Miz
Miz is defending and comes out ala the Shield with the Miztourage. Reigns wastes no time in bailing to the floor and beating the heck out of the Miztourage to make things even. Axel staggers through the crowd so Reigns follows him up for a chair to the back. Dallas gets one as well before Reigns just unloads on both of them with multiple chair shots. The bell rings after a break with Reigns headbutting the champ on the floor. Miz avoids a charge though and Reigns winds up in the crowd. That’s only good for a nine count but Miz catches him in a short DDT for two.
We hit the chinlock for a bit before Miz switches to just choking on the ropes. Back from a break with Miz hitting the YES Kicks but getting caught in a sitout powerbomb for a very near fall. The Superman Punch is countered into the Skull Crushing Finale for the same and Miz is stunned. The second Superman Punch connects for an even closer two and it’s Reigns’ turn to be shocked. Reigns loads up the spear but Sheamus and Cesaro pull him out for the DQ at 10:47.
Rating: B-. This was good while it lasted but the ending hurt it a lot. They’re not hiding what they’re going for in the post match stuff and while there’s nothing wrong with that, I could go for it not being so heavy handed. There were some awesome near falls in this one and it was really entertaining at times, but the time factor and the storyline stuff isn’t great.
Reigns gets destroyed post match. The fans chant for the Shield as Reigns takes a TripleBomb. Miz, Sheamus and Cesaro do the Shield pose. That would be a heck of a lot better than Miz and the Miztourage.
Here’s Finn Balor for a chat. He’s heard Bray Wyatt’s talk for weeks now and he sees Bray for the coward he is. For all of Bray’s games, it boils down to him just being afraid that he can’t beat Finn Balor. If Bray wants another fight, come get one right now. Bray appears on screen, again in his rocking chair and saying that she never lied to me. Finn lied to him though and hid his true face behind the Demon. Sister Abigail is alive and dying to meet Balor.
Video on Asuka.
Sasha Banks/Bayley vs. Emma/Alicia Fox
Sasha takes Emma down and does Bayley’s roll over Emma’s back to take over. Bayley sends her into the corner for some rams into the buckle and we take a break. Back with Fox hammering on Banks before Emma comes in for a chinlock. Emma’s butterfly suplex gets two and Fox’s tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets the same.
Banks still can’t get over for the hot tag as Fox pulls her back one more time. This time around though Banks sends the villains into each other and the hot tag brings in Bayley for some right hands to Alicia. A jawbreaker cuts Bayley off….but Emma drops to the floor and says she’s out. The Bayley to Belly ends Alicia at 12:58.
Rating: C-. Kind of boring with all the chinlockery but it wasn’t too bad. The big problem here though was the lack of any question about who was going to win. Emma and Alicia are some of the lowest level women the division has had in a good while and there’s no reason to expect that they’re going to beat two of the bigger names. That made the long chinlocks feel even longer, though it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.
We look at Amore getting destroyed last week.
Here’s Enzo Amore to talk about the beating he took last week. He’s now put the cruiserweight division in the main event two weeks in a row and you’re absolutely right that he deserves it. Enzo talks about all the money he makes and all of his star power, but carrying the division has made his back hurt. He brings up the No Contact clause from last week and says there’s a new one tonight: if anyone attacks him, they’re fired. Now he’s on top of the throne but he doesn’t have any opponents.
Cue the cruiserweight division to surround Amore but he insults every single one of them in turn. This brings out Angle to say that none of the cruiserweights at ringside can lay a hand on him. HOWEVER, there’s a new member of the Cruiserweight division: Kalisto. The fight is on in a hurry with Kalisto easily beating the heck out of Enzo.
A banged up Reigns is in the back when Ambrose comes in. They stare at each other a bit until Rollins comes in as well. Ambrose leaves with Rollins going the opposite way. Reigns thinks things over to end the show. No one ever said or did anything more than look at the others.
Overall Rating: C-. I’m really going to need more time to get used to this Saturday Night’s Main Event style layout for the shows. For the young ones out there, Saturday Night’s Main Event would load up the first third or half of the show and then the last part would be whatever else they had time to squeeze in.
That would make for a far less interesting ending, which is what WWE has been going for lately. I’m so used to Raw ending with a big moment and now it’s something that feels like it’s filler. I get why they’re doing it (the last hour doesn’t do well anyway so don’t waste big stories) but DANG it’s punishing to fans who watch the whole thing.
The rest of the show was fine enough with Cesaro and Sheamus being a VERY nice upgrade over Axel and Dallas. It’s made me somewhat more interested in a Shield reunion, even if they’re doing such a rushed job with the whole thing. The show wasn’t terrible, but aside from the Shield stuff, I’m having trouble remembering anything important on the whole thing. That’s not good, especially when we’re less than three weeks away from a big pay per view.
Results
Braun Strowman b. Seth Rollins – Running powerslam
Elias b. Titus O’Neil – Drift Away
Mickie James b. Nia Jax via DQ when Alexa Bliss interfered
Anderson and Gallows b. Matt Hardy/Jason Jordan – Magic Killer to Hardy
Roman Reigns b. The Miz via DQ when Sheamus and Cesaro interfered
Sasha Banks/Bayley b. Alicia Fox/Emma – Bayley to Belly to Fox
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Thats true, WWE don’t care. Its all for show instead of letting the wrestlers choose who they want to induct. Shatner is known to be a wrestling fan but purely that. Nothing more
The last hour of Raw isn’t doing well? Does this mean there’s hope Raw is going back to being just two hours?
I’d hope not as it would be a disaster for the company.
KB, heard of Lance Russell’s death? Another big hit in the business.
Yeah I did. That’s one of the names that a lot of fans won’t ahve heard of but he was a big reason why Memphis worked so well. Lawler wanted him to do his induction speech for the Hall of Fame but WWE shot it down.
Interesting, but yeah he’s not s big fancy name. But a big guy back in the territory days.
Well the problem was they had William Shatner induct him because they did a segment together back in the 90s. Shatner clearly had little idea what to say about Lawler and it wasn’t much of a speech. It also basically says this has nothing to do with the inductee but rather making a spectacle of the whole thing.
Please tell me they aren’t wasting Asuka in this role…Please…
I’d like to say it’s impossible, but this is the same company that is pitching Jason Jordan as Kurt Angle’s son in 2017.
No. Not even by WWE standards would they do that, as awesome as that would sound; Asuka is better than being part of Wyatt’s clique.
You ever heard of Sage Beckett? She made a tweet responding to Bray’s promo, it sounded like something Sister Abigail would say. Now i’m not writing things out in stone, but it sounds like she’s the sister we’ve never met.
My money is on a returning Paige
I dug the little tease at the end and i think we’re getting it. Also isn’t it ironic The Shield debuted in Indianapolis, broke up in Indy and guess where RAW is next week?
Are we finally going to meet Sister Abigail?
Maybe, though it sounds like it might be Bray’s alter ego this time around.
So Bray in drag? I thought he couldn’t possibly be used any worse.