Monday Night Raw – September 10, 2018: Would A Compass Help?

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 10, 2018
Location: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
Commentators: Renee Young, Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s the go home show for Hell in a Cell, though I’m not sure how much attention that is going to get since we’re about a month away from Super Show-Down and a month and a half away from Evolution. WWE doesn’t seem to mind about going that far into the future so Sunday might not get the most attention. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Here are Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman to open things up with the roster (the lower portions of it that is) around the ring. Dolph says we told you so because they beat the Shield down. We get a recap of Strowman vs. Reigns, which has morphed into the trio vs. the Shield. This led up to last week’s huge beatdown, with most of the roster getting together to wreck the Shield, with Seth Rollins nearly being thrown through a police van window.

Back in the arena, Strowman calls Ziggler and McIntyre his Dogs of War, which really doesn’t fir a guy wearing pink tights. Cue the Shield to beat down the guys at ringside with Dean Ambrose busting out some ax handles to make things easier. Strowman, Ziggler and McIntyre bail and Shield stands tall to wrap a pretty hot opening. Above all else: it was eleven minutes, not twenty.

Earlier today, the Riott Squad wrecked the Bellas’ locker room. That’s like desecrating a national monument.

The Shield is trying to keep up the fight but cops cut them off. Baron Corbin tells Shield to get out or forfeit their titles. Rollins, seemingly with a plan, says no problem and they leave.

Nikki Bella vs. Ruby Riott

Ruby headlocks her down to start as the announcers IMMEDIATELY start talking about how the Bellas are such legends and how the locker room reveres them. Maybe if the Total Bellas cameras are around. An STO gives Riott two but Nikki hits that lame spear. Ruby kicks the rope to send Nikki outside though and we take a break.

Back with Nikki hitting a spinebuster and some clotheslines, followed by the Disaster Kick (one of the few things that looks good) for two. Sarah Logan offers a distraction though and it’s a Downward Spiral to give Riott two of her own. Back up and the Rack Attack 2.0, with Brie intercepting Logan, is good for the pin on Riott at 9:13.

Rating: D+. Perfectly watchable match, which is about par for Nikki. That’s all well and good(ish), but you would think the twins were Moolah and Trish in their primes based on the commentary. It’s kind of hard to take that seriously when you see what the other women, if nothing else some of the bigger names in the Mae Young Classic, are doing.

Big Show is on the stage with some pediatric cancer survivors. Cool indeed.

More kids got wrestling personas. Stephanie handles their introductions because of course. Gripes about narration aside, there is nothing wrong with this whatsoever and it’s always going to bring at least a smile.

Show talks about how greater these kids are than wrestlers trying to win a match. Each one gets their own introduction.

We look back at last week’s Shawn vs. Undertaker segment. I really hope this doesn’t set up Shawn getting back in the ring.

Drake Maverick gives AOP (yes that seems to be their official name, likely because Vince had a random idea one night) a pep talk. I’m sure they’ll need it.

AOP vs. Ronnie Ace/Nathan Bradley

Ace tries his luck on Rezar, earning himself an early fall away slam. A powerslam puts Bradley onto Ace and it’s the Super Collider for the pin at 1:18.

Video on Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton in the Cell.

HHH arrives in a limo.

Here’s HHH for a chat. HHH talks about how the era was back and the upcoming Undertaker match was on. Undertaker dominated a poll among the fans and that didn’t bother him. It did however bother Undertaker last week when Shawn Michaels picked HHH. He watched it back and Undertaker hadn’t lost respect for HHH or Shawn, but for himself. Undertaker has lost a lot since those matches and now he’s just a reputation. Now it’s personal though and HHH is going to put him down. More great stuff here as they’re doing everything they can (and succeeding) to turn this into an epic showdown.

We recap Shield’s issues tonight.

Tag Team Titles: Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre vs. B Team

The B Team is challenging. Ziggler and Dallas start things off with Bo hitting an early neckbreaker for two. Axel comes in and slugs away as we take a break. Back with McIntyre working on an armbar before stomping on Axel’s hand. A superkick into a reverse Alabama Slam gives McIntyre two but Axel catapults Ziggler into the corner. Everything breaks down and Ziggler rakes Dallas’ eyes, setting up the Zig Zag/Claymore combination to retain at 8:48.

Rating: D. The B Team are still comedy guys and there’s still no reason to believe that Ziggler and McIntyre shouldn’t slaughter them. They were fine for what they were as short form comedy goofs but they were designed to lose huge to a better team. There’s nothing wrong with that, but this match should have been what the title change was: near if not complete and utter dominance.

Post match Ambrose and Rollins run in to beat down Ziggler and McIntyre, who bail before McIntyre can get Stomped.

Video on the Undertaker vs. Mankind Cell match, with Foley being here tonight to commemorate the 20^th anniversary. I mean, it was two and a half months ago but points for the thought? Maybe?

Corbin yells at Ambrose and Rollins for coming back in but they insist that they’re individuals and not the Shield. They threaten to have Corbin arrested for filing a false police report last week with the local sheriff coming in to read him his rights. Corbin wants to talk in private and Dean says they won’t press charges. WWE really needs to have David Otunga explain how law works.

Kevin Owens vs. Tyler Breeze

Cole: “We thought Kevin Owens had quit.” Well he did quit, but what we’re curious about is why he’s back. No match as Owens wrecks Breeze before the bell and gives him the apron bomb.

Post destruction, Owens says Corbin immediately called him after he quit and begged Owens to come back. Owens agreed, under the condition that he suffers no consequences for his actions. Therefore Owens is back and blames Bobby Lashley injuring Sami Zayn for the whole thing. This is still his show and you can expect agony, anarchy and destruction. You can almost picture Lashley’s hand being raised from here.

Video on AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe, which is miles ahead of anything on Raw at the moment.

Bobby Roode/Chad Gable vs. Ascension

Rematch from last week where the new team won. Gable tags himself in to suplex Viktor a few times but Konnor kicks him in the face. The chinlock goes on early and it’s Konnor’s running splash setting up a Viktor jumping knee for two. Gable backdrops his way to freedom and hands it off to Roode to clean house. Roode loads up the GLORIOUS pose but Gable tags himself in again and hits Rolling Chaos Theory for the pin at 3:16.

Rating: D. They’re not exactly hiding what they’re going for here and that’s not the worst idea in the world. There’s a story there of having Gable turn heel because his partner isn’t doing enough, but WWE isn’t likely to think that way with a story like this. What we’re getting is long overdue though and finally getting it done is the right call. I mean, it should have happened months ago but at least it’s happening.

WWE has been nominated for People’s Choice Awards. Good for them.

Ziggler is annoyed at the Shield being back when Corbin comes in to announce McIntyre and Ziggler defending the titles against Rollins and Ambrose. It’s what Stephanie would want you see. Strowman is off to hunt the Big Dog.

Ronda Rousey/Natayla vs. Alexa Bliss/Mickie James

Alicia Fox is in Bliss and James’ corner. Natalya and Bliss start things off with Bliss being taken down off a headlock. The basement dropkick gives Natalya two and it’s off to Rousey for a nice reaction. Of course Mickie comes in as well, meaning Rousey gets to toss her down and bring Natalya back in.

The threat of a Sharpshooter sends Mickie bailing to the ropes and Alicia gets in a cheap shot from the floor. Bliss comes back in for an armbar attempt, drawing Rousey in for a glare. Everything breaks down and a Hart Attack (with Natalya playing her father of course) takes us to a break.

Back with Bliss throwing Mickie into the corner but stopping to mock Rousey’s punches, allowing Mickie to make the hot tag. Rousey is a bit too aggressive though and Mickie gets in a cheap shot to give the villains control. Bliss stomps away in the corner and James kicks her in the ribs to put Rousey in some very rare trouble. Rousey start throwing punches though, including rolling into a right hand to Bliss. James gets tossed around and the armbar is good for the tap at 13:53.

Rating: C. Perfect formula based tag match here and that’s a good idea for Rousey. They were playing up the rib injury here and that’s the kind of thing that can give Sunday’s match a little flavor. You can only have her steamroll people for so long and while the idea of Bliss hanging with her is a stretch at least, someone has to do it.

Post match Bliss kicks Rousey in the ribs to bang them up a little more.

Video on the Smackdown Women’s Title match. I can dig this cross promotion.

We run down Sunday’s card.

Elias spits water at someone when Strowman comes through the hallway, screaming for Roman.

Rousey is ready to fight again and doesn’t worry about her ribs.

Here’s Elias to talk about how he’s perfected rock and roll. The fans certainly seem to approve and he wants to know who wants to walk with him. Of course he makes fun of the Saints, swearing the Drew Brees told him that the season was already over. Cue Mick Foley, with a bad looking perm, to interrupt.

Foley says he’s a big fan and while Elias isn’t Nita Strauss, Elias doesn’t have a sincere bone in his body. Elias talks about being in the arena to watch Foley vs. Undertaker inside the Cell. That was a special moment but now Foley is a sad man who has been singing the same sad song for twenty years.

Foley actually isn’t here to discuss the past but rather the future. Apparently Foley lives pretty close to Stephanie McMahon and went to her with an offer. He wants to be part of Sunday’s show, which has made him flash back to 1998. That night, Foley got off the stretcher and got back on the cage. That’s why this Sunday, he’s going to be the guest referee for Reigns vs. Strowman. Elias doesn’t like the idea and tells Foley to leave while he can. That’s not cool with Foley, who is allowed to make one match tonight to take some pressure off of Corbin. The match is after a break.

Strowman wrecks more stuff.

Elias vs. Finn Balor

Elias starts fast with a clothesline and we hit the early neck crank. That lasts even less time than usual as Balor is back up with a basement dropkick. Elias whips him hard into the corner though and grabs a nerve hold. Balor pops back up again and hits a Sling Blade, only to charge into a jumping knee. Back from a break with Balor sending him to the floor but Elias charges back in with a hard clothesline. An electric chair Batista Bomb gets two but Balor grabs a small package for the pin at 10:18. It’s as sudden as it sounds.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here, again, as neither really has anything going on at the moment. That being said, I’ll take this over another Balor vs. Corbin match anytime as at least this one had some potential to be entertaining, just from Elias having a microphone. At least they both made it onto the show, and that’s about all the positives there are here. Just a match really.

Earlier today, Bobby Lashley was working out when Lio Rush was talking him up. Lashley got a bit annoyed but told Rush to motivate him. I’ll take the cruiserweights doing these little roles. It’s far better than signing new talents when you already have them there in the first place.

Strowman knows Reigns is here and is going to call him out from the ring.

Undertaker is here next week.

Here’s Strowman to call out Reigns. No one shows up and Strowman says Reigns won’t be able to run on Sunday. Strowman will get his hands on Reigns and then hurt Foley far worse than Undertaker ever did. Reigns pops up on the announcers’ table so Strowman goes after him, earning himself a Samoan drop off said table through part of the stage to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. This show has gotten lost and is having a really hard time getting out. Again, at least part of that is due to trying to hype up multiple shows at once. The big story is still Undertaker vs. HHH with Reigns vs. Strowman a close second. The problem is they’re not making me believe that this Sunday’s show means much. It’s pretty clear that we’re heading to a big six man tag between the top trios and while that’s good, it’s not exactly making me want to see the next matches.

Strowman and Reigns have a very long history together but you don’t hear anything about that. Instead it’s all based on the cash-in from a few weeks ago, which isn’t worthy of a Cell match. Then there’s Foley being added, which comes off like a way to get people to care about the match when the match itself isn’t doing so. Other than that it’s the Tag Team Title match, which is the logical way to go but doesn’t feel like it’s all that important. The rest of the card…bleh. Look at this week’s show. Of the six matches featured, four of them involved all people who aren’t on Sunday’s card. How is that the best go home show they have?

Results

Nikki Bella b. Ruby Riott – Rack Attack 2.0

AOP b. Ronnie Ace/Nathan Bradley – Super Collider

Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre b. B Team – Zig Zag/Claymore combination to Dallas

Chad Gable/Bobby Roode b. Ascension – Rolling Chaos Theory to Viktor

Ronda Rousey/Natalya b. Alexa Bliss/Mickie James – Armbar to James

Finn Balor b. Elias – Small package

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6