IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 12, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton Samoa Joe, Tom Phillips

It’s the second night of the Draft and that means we get to see the final rosters set up, or at least the rosters that matter. Next week will likely be their final nights on Raw and then it’s off to the races the night after the Cell. That means we need to build towards the pay per view as well so let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Randy Orton to start things off. He’s ready to win the title in the Cell, but one thing you can’t deny is that 2020 has been the year of Drew McIntyre. Not only has McIntyre become WWE Champion, but he has been running through his competition. That’s all well and good, because last week he got taken out by the RKO, and that is going to be the case again in the Cell.

Cue McIntyre, who says he kicked Orton in the head at Clash Of Champions for everyone else, but next time, it’s going to be for himself. Drew wants to fight now though and the brawl is on at ringside. Orton gets dropped onto the announcers’ table and bails, with McIntyre saying he has three hours to do this tonight.

Here’s Stephanie McMahon for the first batch of draft picks.

To Raw: The Fiend Bray Wyatt

To Smackdown: Bayley

Raw: Randy Orton

Smackdown: Street Profits

Raw: Charlotte

The Fiend is interesting and the Profits moving over is your biggest “well duh” moment around after Friday.

Aleister Black vs. Kevin Owens

No DQ. They brawl on the floor to start before heading back inside so they can both miss finishers. It’s already back to the floor with Black kicking him in the head but Owens is back with the Cannonball against the barricade. it’s table time, with Owens going up onto the barricade but being slammed off onto the announcers’ table, which doesn’t break (but the top does go flying).

Back from a break with a chair in the ring and a legsweep sending Owens face first into the seat. Black throws a few more chairs inside but Owens uses a chair to block the running knee. A DDT onto the chair gives Owens two and he opens up four chairs next to each other. The superplex attempt is broken up so Black hits a top rope Meteora through the four chairs, say it with me, for two. The table is set up inside but the Black Mass is blocked. Owens hits the Stunner and then powerbombs Black through the table for the pin at 12:04.

Rating: C+. They did some big stuff here, but you really can feel how little impact the big spots have these days. A DDT onto a chair and a Meteora through four chairs are only getting near falls and they aren’t even getting that much drama. It’s certainly not a problem just with this show or match, but dang it takes away a lot of the impact.

More picks:

Raw: Braun Strowman

Smackdown: Daniel Bryan

Raw: Matt Riddle

Smackdown: Kevin Owens

Raw: Jeff Hardy

Smackdown is actually hanging in there for a change, and getting rid of Strowman is almost addition by subtraction.

It’s time for MizTV, with Miz and John Morrison talking about some of the biggest changes so far. Miz calls out Morrison for using Seth Rollins’ catchphrase, but it’s cool because he’s on the other show. This week’s guests are Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose, with Mandy not being happy with Miz causing her to be sent to Raw. Miz thinks Mandy is happy here and offers her his back for a thank you pat.

That isn’t happening, so Miz moves on to Mandy possibly turning on Dana like she did on Sonya Deville. They’re ready for tonight’s battle royal but here are Natalya and Lana to ask why those two blondes are being interviewed instead of the two of them. Lana talks about how awesome they are with their social media influencing so Mandy tells them to stick to Tik Tok dancing because they don’t win much. The brawl is on and we take a break.

Back with MizTV continuing and Miz talking about the debut of Miz and Mrs. He has a Plan B, so here’s his next guest: John Morrison. John talks about how everyone is wondering when the Dirt Sheet is going to debut…and here’s Lars Sullivan to wreck the show, with Miz bailing to leave Morrison to take the beating on his own. That includes a Freak Accident, with Miz looking terrified.

We look at the New Day being split up with Kofi Kingston/Xavier Woods, the Smackdown Tag Team Champions, coming over to Raw.

Adam Pearce is with Kofi/Woods and the Street Profits, who trade titles to make things a lot easier to understand. Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode come in and say they want a title shot tonight, which is granted.

More picks.

Raw: Retribution

Smackdown: Lars Sullivan

Raw: Keith Lee

Smackdown: King Corbin

Raw: Alexa Bliss

Not much here, though I’m surprised at Sullivan staying on Smackdown.

Here’s Seth Rollins for the big farewell. He wants to soak it all in one more time because Raw is losing a huge name. Above all else, Raw is losing a leader and no, there is no one to step up and take his spot. It won’t be Dominik or Rey Mysterio because they are going to Smackdown with him. Rollins knows this is a bad night for everyone so…..actually never mind as here’s Jeff Hardy to interrupt.

Seth laughs off the idea that Hardy is going to be a leader and thinks Jeff should be more focused on Lars Sullivan this week (this surprises commentary, even though the match was announced earlier). Rollins goes to leave but here’s AJ Styles to say he is the leader around here but Seth gets in his face. Hardy dives onto both of them and says get a referee out here for a triple threat tag match.

Jeff Hardy vs. AJ Styles vs. Seth Rollins

I guess Jeff is a fan of Andre the Giant’s promo stylings. AJ goes after Jeff’s leg to start and Rollins is sent outside. The fight is on but Rollins comes back in for the double teaming. AJ rolls Rollins up for two and Seth is sent outside again. The Whisper in the Wind is broken up and Hardy is sent outside, meaning Rollins can take him out with a dive. Rollins sends AJ outside as well and dives onto both of them as we take a break.

Back with Rollins holding Hardy in a chinlock with AJ out on the floor. Rollins gets up and shouts about how he runs this house but AJ gets back in. Hardy is back up with a Whisper in the Wind to both of them and everyone is down. A standing Hennig necksnap hits Rollins and Hardy adds a sitout gordbuster for two on Styles. Rollins breaks up another cradle on AJ, who is back up with a reverse DDT for two more on Hardy.

It’s Rollins coming back in with a Falcon Arrow for two on AJ but the Stomp is broken up with a tornado DDT from Hardy. The Swanton is broken up but AJ pulls Rollins into the Calf Crusher. That’s broken up with a rope break so Jeff hits the Swanton with AJ stealing the near fall. The Twist of Fate hits AJ but here’s Elias to BLAST Hardy with a guitar, giving AJ the pin at 13:23.

Rating: B. This was mostly action packed and they did a nice job with the surprise finish. It might have gone through one near fall too many, but there was more than enough action to make it work. I’m not huge on Elias, but it’s nice to have him back after such a long absence. Also, at least a Raw wrestler won here as you probably wouldn’t want a Smackdown guy winning over two people actually sticking around.

More picks.

Raw: Elias

Smackdown: Sami Zayn

Raw: Lacey Evans

Smackdown: Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura

Raw: Sheamus

Lacey and Sheamus are some interesting picks, if nothing else for the sake of switching up that pretty nothing Smackdown women’s division.

Lana/Natalya vs. Mandy Rose/Dana Brooke

Dana tries to make up for last week with a better headscissors to Natalya (if that’s the bar she has to clear, even Dana might be able to make it work), who is back up with a belly to back drop. Lana comes in for a suplex to Dana and it’s time to stomp away in the corner. Natalya does the same and hands it back to Lana for a crossface armbar. Dana fights up and gets over to Mandy for the tag so house can be cleaned. Mandy knees Lana down and Dana climbs onto her shoulders for the Swanton and the pin at 4:12.

Rating: D+. This wasn’t exactly a great match and that wasn’t the point anyway. Mandy and Dana are here as the new pretty blonde team and they fill the roles well enough. It isn’t like Lana and Natalya mean anything as a team but at least Lana didn’t get crushed and drive through a table again.

Post match Mandy and Dana leave as Natalya says this isn’t working. She says she’s done and walks away from Lana, who cries. Ah, there’s your humiliation for the night.

The Hurt Business talks about how they’re here for Retribution, but Ricochet comes up to say he’s here for one last match on Raw. That’s why he wants one more match with the Hurt Business so let’s blow it off tonight. If Ricochet wins, the feud is over, but if Ricochet loses, he’ll join the team. Cedric Alexander would love to take him up on that.

Angel Garza vs. Andrade

Zelina Vega is on commentary. Garza TAKES OFF HIS PANTS to start and grabs a headlock on Andrade to start. Andrade isn’t having that and hammers away with elbows to the head, followed by a kick to the taped up thigh. A superkick gives Garza two but Andrade hiptosses him into the corner. Andrade hits the Judas Effect to send Garza outside but Garza sends him into the apron. Back in and the Wing Clipper finishes Andrade at 2:55.

Post match Vega checks on Andrade but here’s Alexa Bliss (who Vega had insulted during the match) to hang upside down in the corner. The Fiend pops up and it’s stereo Sister Abigails to plant Vega and Andrade. Bliss and Fiend stare at each other again.

More picks.

Raw: Nikki Cross

Smackdown: Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode

Raw: R-Truth

Smackdown: Apollo Crews

Raw: Dabba-Kato

Well thank goodness we got the Dabba-Kato sweepstakes out of the way.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode vs. New Day

Kingston and Woods are defending and still have the Big E. intro. Ziggler rolls woods up to start but Woods is back on top of him for two of his own. The grappling continues until it’s Roode coming in to headlock Kingston. That’s broken up and Kofi hits his jumping elbow to Roode’s face. Ziggler gets in the Fameasser though and we take a break.

Back with Kofi getting stomped against the ropes and Roode dropping the middle rope elbow for two. Kofi gets a boot up though and hands it off to Woods to snap off a running headscissors to Ziggler. The Honor Roll hits Roode and a running dropkick through the ropes takes Ziggler down again. Woods’ springboard tornado DDT gets two and he gorilla presses Ziggler, who blocks a drop into a kick to the face.

Ziggler hits a running DDT for two more and Roode’s spinebuster is good for the same. A kick to the head gets Woods out of trouble as Kofi takes Ziggler out on the floor. It’s back to Kofi who kicks Roode in the head as well. The top rope double stomp/backbreaker combination (now the Midnight Hour) finishes Roode at 11:56.

Rating: C+. The match was fine enough but sweet goodness I could go with never seeing Ziggler in an important match again. There wasn’t any drama in the match in the first place as the Street Profits are already going to Smackdown, and it’s Dolph Ziggler. I’m not sure why I’m supposed to be interested in him, but WWE isn’t going to stop putting him in big spots no matter what because we’re just that lucky.

Elias says that was the first single off his album Payback, as Hardy hit him with a car and took him out for months. Charly Caruso says that Hardy was never proven to be the driver so the real one might still be out there. Elias shrugs that off and says that he is releasing his magnum opus, a new album, on October 26. Next week though, it’s a concert.

We look back at Mustafa Ali being revealed as the leader of Retribution.

Ricochet vs. Cedric Alexander

If Ricochet loses, he’s in the Hurt Business, which is here at ringside.. Alexander kicks him in the face to start and we’re already into the chinlock. That’s broken up so Alexander hits him in the face a few times (MVP: “SLAP HIM FOR ME ONE TIME!”). Ricochet is back up with a half nelson suplex but he has to bail out of the 450.

A kick to the head staggers Alexander but he’s right back with the Michinoku Driver for two. The referee goes down and MVP throws Ricochet a chair, which he uses on….no one, instead going with the Eddie Guerrero move of throwing it to Alexander and grabbing his head. The referee gets up and that’s enough for the DQ at 5:27.

Rating: C. They didn’t have much time here but I liked the ending, which was a nice touch around Eddie’s birthday. That’s something they haven’t used in a little while and it was a nice way to get them out of a bit of a corner. Good enough match here, but it’s time for Ricochet (and Apollo Crews) to move on so it works out best for everyone.

We look at Braun Strowman vs. Keith Lee last week. They meet again next week, and it’s SANCTIONED.

It’s time for the final picks.

Raw: Titus O’Neil

Smackdown: Carmella

Raw: Peyton Royce

Smackdown: Aleister Black

Raw: Akira Tozawa

That’s a good round for Smackdown as it’s nice to see someone who hasn’t gotten the big chance yet getting another start. Black did well with Paul Heyman so maybe it can work out again.

Battle Royal

Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, Lana, Mandy Rose, Natalya, Dana Brooke, Billie Kay, Peyton Royce, Nikki Cross, Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross, Bianca Belair, Tamina, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan

The winner gets a title shot at Asuka, on commentary, at some point in the future. Before the match, Nia says either she or Shayna is going to win the battle royal so everyone can jump over the top right now. The brawl is on instead and we get the Nia vs. Tamina showdown, with Tamina being thrown out in a hurry. Billie goes after Jax and gets sent to the apron, where she hurts herself by shouldering Nia in the ribs. Nia headbutts her out as Asuka is very, very excited on commentary.

Jax shrugs off the group elimination attempt and dumps Mandy and Dana at once. Everyone goes after Nia again and Shayna gives them the final boost for the elimination. Nia freaks out…..and drives Lana through the announcers’ table again. I can’t help but sigh and not be even slightly surprised. We cut to the back where Orton and McIntyre are brawling and take a break.

Back with Billie having been eliminated during the break. Lacey and Nikki fight in the corner until Lacey forearms her out,. Shayna Kirifuda Clutches Riott on the apron but can’t get her out. The Clutch has Belair in trouble again but she flips out and tosses Baszler for an upset. The Riott Squad tosses Belair and we’re down to Morgan, Riott, Evans and Natalya. It’s time for the quick tag match, with the Squad being sent over the top and eliminated at the same time, leaving us with Evans vs. Natalya for the title shot. Lacey grabs a waistlock before kneeing Natalya in the ribs.

A big slap ricks Evans again as Asuka has left commentary and is watching in the back for no apparent reason. They fight out to the apron with Lacey being sent into the post but saving herself. Natalya charges into a boot and has to hang onto the middle rope with her feet dangling. She gets back up as well until Lacey tries a hurricanrana for some reason. That earns her a whip into the post for the elimination…but here’s Lana, who was never eliminated, to knock Natalya off the apron for the win at 11:24.

Rating: D+. Hokey sweet freaking goodness I cannot stand that finish and WWE absolutely LOVES the thing. Lana vs. Asuka sounds like a pretty bad idea but maybe Nia can come in and drive her through a table again. The match wasn’t very good, but the ending made it even worse because that’s about as dumb and overused of an ending as you can have in a battle royal.

Post match here are Orton and McIntyre to brawl again, with agents and referees breaking it up to end the show. It feels like they forgot Orton and McIntyre were supposed to be a big deal until the end of the night.

Overall Rating: C-. The length got them again here as this show was looking good to start and then collapsed under the length. It was too long and the stuff we got wasn’t exactly enough to make it a great night. I like some of the moves and I’m going to have to look at the whole thing before passing judgment on the Draft. Overall, the show was far from bad, but the extra hour is what holds it back from being as good, or at least easy to watch, as Smackdown. Oh and nothing from Mustafa Ali? Not even a quick promo?

Results

Kevin Owens b. Aleister Black – Powerbomb through a table

AJ Styles b. Jeff Hardy and Seth Rollins – Styles pinned Hardy after a guitar shot from Elias

Mandy Rose/Dana Brooke b. Natalya/Lana – Swanton to Lana

Angel Garza b. Andrade – Wing Clipper

New Day b. Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler – Midnight Hour to Roode

Ricochet b. Cedric Alexander via DQ when the referee thought Alexander used a chair

Lana won a battle royal last eliminating Natalya

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: May 8, 2006
Location: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California
Attendance: 15,290
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

I’m not sure what the focus is going to be here as we had the big Joey Styles angle last week, along with what looks to be Shawn Michaels/HHH vs. the McMahons/the Spirit Squad. That could make for some interesting moments, as could Edge vs. Mick Foley in another hardcore match, which probably won’t be as good as Wrestlemania. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of what seems to be the beginning of HHH vs. Vince McMahon, which might be putting HHH/Shawn Michaels vs. Vince N Pals. What could go wrong there?

Opening sequence.

Hey JR is back. That’s an improvement.

Here’s HHH for a chat. He isn’t out here to be a referee or fight with Vince McMahon. The only thing he wants to do is be the WWE Champion so John Cena needs to get out here right now. Cue Cena, to say HHH has ten championships. The New York Yankees have like twenty seven, but that doesn’t mean they get the easy pass to the World Series. Cena knows what HHH has done, but around here, what has he done lately? Actually who cars because we can have a title match right now. HHH is pleasantly surprised and says get a referee down here.

Instead he gets Vince, who says this isn’t happening right now. HHH says he knows Vince wanted Kenny to win the title, but that would just be going from a poser to a cheerleader. Cena says hang on because there’s nothing wrong with being a poser. He had some great poses after he pinned HHH and after he made HHH tap out. HHH says his favorite Cena pose was him being flat on his back after HHH knocked him out.

Cena looks ready to go so HHH appeals to Vince, but that’s Mr. McMahon to him. Vince is the boss, not his friend, but he’ll change his mind: HHH can have a title match, just not tonight. Instead, he has the rest of the night off, but Cena doesn’t. Instead, Cena can team up with Shawn Michaels against the Spirit Squad. Cena tells Vince what he can kiss but Vince says cut the mic. For right now, let’s have a four way for the Intercontinental Title.

Intercontinental Title: Rob Van Dam vs. Charlie Haas vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Chris Masters

Van Dam is defending and has a quick staredown with Cena on the way to the ring. Before the match, Van Dam agrees with everything Joey Styles had to say and it was a gutsy move to say them. Instead of hearing RVD, Van Dam wants to hear ECW. Masters and Benjamin jump the other two to start and it’s a double shoulder to Haas. Rob comes back in and starts striking away, including the top rope kick to Masters. More kicks take down Haas and Benjamin and we take a break.

Back with Rob in trouble for a change and the fans ignoring his pro-ECW chanting wishes. Rolling Thunder hits Benjamin as Haas is sent outside, leaving Benjamin to suplex Van Dam. Haas comes back in for some dropkicks and another suplex gets two on Rob. Masters gets sent outside but Benjamin kicks Haas down for two of his own. Rob gets some fast twos on Shelton, who is right back with a backbreaker on the champ. Back up and Benjamin grabs a Samoan drop on Haas but gets clotheslined by Masters. There’s the Masterlock to Haas but Van Dam comes in with a top rope sunset flip to pin Masters and retain.

Rating: C. This didn’t have a ton of time when you took out the commercial but it was nice to see Van Dam overcome some odds to retain. Giving him win after win is going to make him seem like a much more viable challenger for the World Title when he gets the chance. Wins and losses do matter in something like this and I’m really not sure why that is so hard to figure out.

We look at See No Evil, with the production crew thinking Kane is a little out there.

The cast of See No Evil is here to say Kane really is evil. Cue Kane to choke one of them out. Neither of these two segments are on the Network.

Carlito vs. Matt Striker

Carlito wastes no time in hitting a dropkick but gets taken down with a backbreaker. Striker hammers away and we’re in the early chinlock. Some clotheslines get Carlito out of trouble and there’s the springboard back elbow. Cue Eugene to go after Striker for the fast DQ.

Post match Carlito beats up Striker and gives Eugene a Backstabber, as he should.

Edge vs. Mick Foley

Hardcore and Edge and Lita are dressed like they were at Wrestlemania. Before the match, Edge says in real life, the bad guys win so Foley can get out here and take his beating. Foley has his own barbed wire baseball bat and since they had the best hardcore match ever, whoever wins tonight is going to be the best hardcore wrestler in the world today. However, we can’t do that without having ECW included, which is why this match is being changed.

Edge vs. Mick Foley vs. Tommy Dreamer

Hardcore. Edge bails to the floor to start so Foley hits Dreamer in the back with a barbed wire bat. Foley hands it off to Edge for a shot to Dreamer’s face and the double beatdown is on, with Lita getting in for a bonus. Mr. Socko goes on and Edge adds a spear for a double pin on Dreamer.

Post match Foley kisses Lita’s hand and the three leave together.

Mickie James vs. Maria

Non-title and Maria has Trish Stratus, with her arm in a sling, in her corner. An early Trish distraction lets Maria grab a rollup for two but Mickie kicks her down. Some rather taunting shots to the face set up the MickieDT for the easy pin.

Post match Mickie stays on Maria so Trish comes in to stare her down. Mickie beats her down anyway, so here’s a blonde “fan” to jump Mickie until security breaks it up. Mickie screams that the woman ruins everything as the woman is arrested. I think we’ll be seeing the blonde woman again.

Umaga vs. Kevin Martenson/Tommy Wilson

Martenson is still floating around the indies today. The destruction is on in a hurry with Wilson being sent outside, leaving Martenson to be choke suplexed off the top. The Tree of Woe headbutt connects and there’s the running hip attack against the barricade. Wilson takes the Samoan Spike for the easy pin. Total devastation, as it should have been.

Kane vs. Big Show

They start with a fist bump and then actually go to the mat for the technical exchange (someone pull up the Twilight Zone theme). Show takes him down with a drop toehold and JR (JR: “Well cut off my legs and call me shorty.”) is more than a little surprised. Show picks him up for the takedown and Kane looks a little impressed.

They fight over a hammerlock until Show drop toeholds him down. Kane is back up with a hammerlock of his own before sending Show face first into the middle buckle. Then the red lights are back on and, with Kane’s old mask on the screen, Kane’s voice says it’s happening again on May 19. The lights come back up and Kane grabs a chair to unload on Show.

Rating: D+. Well they certainly did something different before getting to the stupid ending. I really can’t wait for the movie to come out so we can get on from this already, as it isn’t exactly much more than Kane hearing voices and saying the date over and over. It’s fine for a weird marketing campaign, but it gets annoying having it take over everything Kane does for the last few weeks.

The Spirit Squad fires itself up.

Spirit Squad vs. Shawn Michaels/John Cena

Non-title. Shawn and Kenny start things off with Kenny shouting about how Shawn cost him the title last week. That earns him some slaps to the face and it’s Cena coming in to face Nicky. They go to the mat with Nicky getting the better of it until Cena fights up with the running shoulders. The Squad bails to the floor and Kenny is tossed onto the rest of the team for the big crash as we take a break.

Back with Cena cleaning house but Johnny uses the distraction to hit a spinwheel kick for two. Cena is sent outside and it’s the trampoline clothesline to take him down again. They head back inside and Kenny gets to unload in the corner, followed by the jumping back elbow for two. We hit the neck crank for a bit before Cena misses a running crossbody. Nicky comes in for two off some right hands and we hit the sleeper.

A running knee to the head gets two and it’s right back to the neck crank. Cena fights up but gets caught by a cheap shot from the apron. The group beatdown sets up a suplex for two on Cena but Johnny misses a Swanton. The diving tag brings in Shawn to clean house, including the flying forearm into the nip up as everything breaks down. In the melee, Kenny gets in a title shot to Shawn for the quick pin.

Rating: C-. The match wasn’t supposed to be anything great but they also made sure to get to the point. There is no shame in having two top stars losing to a group of five people with cheating involved so it worked as well as anything else they could do to keep the Squad looking like threats.

Post match Kenny decks the referee and steals his belt to whip Shawn. Cena fights back but walks into a Pedigree from HHH to end the show. Works for me for the pay per view level Raw main event.

Overall Rating: C+. They’re doing some things around here which make me curious to see more. The Edge/Foley stuff is a nice twist and hopefully means we get some evil Foley promos in the future. I’m also digging the HHH face turn as he really does need to do something fresh after so many years of being the big bad. That stuff is all working, but at the same time you have the Spirit Squad, Eugene/Matt Striker and the See No Evil campaign. The good is rather good, but the other end is dragging it down hard. Overall, good stuff though and I want to see where it’s going.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 5, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton

The road to the Cell continues as we are now less than three weeks away from the next pay per view. There is little secret to the fact that we are coming up on Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre III inside the Cell for McIntyre’s title, though the match has not been announced just yet. Let’s get to it.

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

Randy Orton is in the back where he talks about how he could have left Clash Of Champions as WWE Champion. Instead, he left in an ambulance. He remembers a little bit about the match, which included Big Show, Christian and Shawn Michaels all interfering and Ric Flair driving the ambulance away. All Orton felt was excruciating pain and then the next night, Drew McIntyre stood in front of the four of them and celebrated.

That sight made him sick and then the four of them played poker all night. It was too much for Orton, so he turned out the lights, grabbed some night vision goggles, and beat all of them down. Orton talks about how all four of them looked lost and how he attacked them, including chair shots and a Punt to Shawn Michaels. He wishes he could have seen Drew’s face when he heard what happened. McIntyre still has to deal with Orton, so let’s do it in the Cell. McIntyre bursts in and beats Orton down until agents and referees break it up. Kind of a long way to get to the obvious but it was a little bit of a different presentation.

Zelina Vega/Natalya/Lana vs. Asuka/Mandy Rose/Dana Brooke

Natalya rolls Dana up for two to start but Dana is back up and Natalya grabs Dana’s legs while Dana spins around, eventually flipping Natalya over. Now usually this would be called a headscissors, but given that Dana’s legs were in no way putting pressure on Natalya and Dana was literally being held in the air to spin around, there was nothing involving a headscissors whatsoever. That was so bad that I actually had to rewind to make sure I saw it right and I still don’t quite believe it.

Mandy comes in and this has to be better. Tom: “It’s officially Mandy Night Raw.” Ok maybe it is just going to get….ok it can’t be worse than that headscissors but it isn’t any better. Mandy hits a basement dropkick for two on Natalya but Zelina runs over to pull Asuka off the apron.

Mandy pulls Zelina in and Natalya throws her down by the hair for two. It’s off to Zelina in a legal way this time for a seated Octopus but Mandy counters into a quick rollup. Natalya comes in and immediately hands it off to Lana for a sliding kick to the face. The Sharpshooter is broken up though and the hot tag brings in Asuka to clean house. Mandy tags herself in and knees Lana in the face for the pin at 4:49.

Rating: D. That headscissors alone kept this from being a good match. As much as I like Dana, that was completely inexcusable and they should have just bailed on the move instead of making it look that horrible. I can go with them pushing Mandy as she is the definition of all the elements being there, provided she can make it work with the parts that matter.

Post match the winners leave so here are Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler to beat up Lana and Natalya, with Lana being driven through the announcers’ table. HEY! DID YOU KNOW THAT LANA’S HUSBAND WORKS FOR AEW NOW???? I DIDN’T KNOW IF WWE HAD VOICED THEIR DISPLEASURE WITH THAT LOUDLY ENOUGH YET!!!

R-Truth, mock draft, Drew Gulak is a fake custodian, Truth trips in a mock bucket, the chase continues.

We look back at Apollo Crews/Mustafa Ali/Ricochet beating the Hurt Business last week.

MVP comes up to see the trio and brings up the Draft. Their careers could change in a snap, just like Apollo Crews. He went from doing nothing on Smackdown to being the US Champion. For tonight though, there is an opening in the Hurt Business and being drafted to the black and gold means business is booming. They’re on the clock. MVP leaves and Ricochet seems intrigued.

We look back at Seth Rollins revealing Murphy’s texting with Aaliyah Mysterio. I’m still not sure why people were up in arms about this when they made it clear she was 19 but maybe I’m too old to get why it’s an issue.

Rollins and Murphy come out for their tag match and Murphy won’t hand him the mic because he has to get something off of his chest. For months, he has been Rollins’ perfect disciple but that can’t happen unless Rollins apologizes….to Aaliyah. Rollins slaps the mic out of his hand and screams that he is the messiah and Murphy is the disciple. He went easy on them last week by revealing all of the DM’s they shared, like the ones where she talks about how she thinks her family ignores her. Rollins yells some more but here are their opponents to cut them off.

Seth Rollins/Murphy vs. Humberto Carrillo/Dominik Mysterio

Carrillo and Mysterio charge the ring and clear the villains out with stereo dives as we take an early break. We’re joined in progress with Mysterio getting stomped down in the corner in a hurry. Rollins hits a gutbuster into a waistlock and then the abdominal stretch as he stays on target. Murphy and Rollins get in an argument though, allowing the hot tag off to Carrillo. House is cleaned again with Dominik hitting a dive to take both of them out on the floor. Back in and Carrillo goes up top for a dive with the sole purpose of having Murphy knee him out of the air for the pin at 4:19.

Rating: C-. They had a point to this one at least, though you might not want to have back to back matches end with such similar moves. Either way though, this feud is going to continue because it has to, even as it is going to clear five months next week. I’m sure that is going to keep going, and that has been the problem for a long time now.

Murphy storms off on his own.

Braun Strowman demands a match but Adam Pearce says no. Pearce can’t make it an official match but he can give Braun an exhibition. That’s fine with Braun so he leaves, with Keith Lee coming up behind him. Lee: “Sign me up.”

Rollins yells at Murphy in the back and demands an apology. Murphy has until 10PM or there will be h*** to pay.

It’s time for the Kevin Owens Show and he doesn’t want to waste time. He met the Fiend for the first time on Smackdown and he can still feel the evil and the dread. Tonight isn’t about a nice chat though, so he throws the set out to the floor. Tonight it’s about this, and we see a clip from Smackdown with the Fiend attacking him and taking Alexa Bliss’ hand. What’s next from the Fiend? The Brood? The Ministry of Darkness maybe? All he cares about right now is having Bray come out here for a nice face to face chat.

Instead it’s time for the Firefly Fun House, with Bray welcoming him in French. Bray says Kevin is his new friend and he’s so happy that he has a song about it. The rest of the Funhouse gang gets in on it, though Mercy eats Ramblin Rabbit. Owens cuts them off and says they could have been friends.

For not though, Bray needs to come down here and take a beating because he isn’t going to brainwash Owens like he did to Bliss. Bray doesn’t like that, and neither does HE. This Friday, Owens will know what that means. Consider this a warning, because that’s what friends are for. Bray leaves and Owens knows what that means. He’s coming for Bray tonight but here’s Aleister Black to lay him out with Black Mass. Nice segment, though I do wonder if they have already forgotten about Wobbly Walrus.

Drew says he’s ready to fight Orton at any time and yes, he’ll face him in the Cell.

Video on Braun Strowman.

Keith Lee vs. Braun Strowman

They make it clear that it’s an exhibition, because this can’t be part of the Brand To Brand Invitational deal due to reasons of oh my goodness look at the size of that meerkat. Strowman dropkicks him to the floor but Lee stops a charge with straight power. Lee gets sent into the steps though and it’s a double countout at 1:15.

Post match Strowman tackles him through the barricade. Strowman goes to leave but Lee rises up and the fight is on, with Strowman going into an LED board on the stage. Lee drives him off the stage and through a bunch of tables for the crash.

Bianca Belair wins a trivia game because she’s the smartest.

R-Truth jumps out of a dumpster to jump Drew Gulak and knocks him into a trashcan…which contains Akira Tozawa. They all fight into the dumpster and Truth somehow gets the pin and the title back. Joe: “Duke the Dumpster Droese would be proud.”

Here’s the Hurt Business for a chat before their match. MVP talks about how they didn’t lose last week, even if the Hurt Business got pinned. They might lose a match, but they never lose the fight. It was all because of Retribution, so MVP is officially putting them on notice. If Retribution wants to play tough, they need to learn: when you see the black and gold, be prepared to fold. They are what nightmares are made of but here are Mustafa Ali and company to interrupt. Ricochet says he’s going to pass on joining the team, which Crews and Ali find funny. Ali isn’t running, so MVP tells the team to focus on Ricochet.

Ricochet/Apollo Crews vs. Hurt Business

Benjamin starts fast with an upside down cross armbreaker on Ricochet, who goes straight to the ropes for the break. The Hurt Business is knocked to the floor in a hurry though and we take a break. Back with Lashley suplexing Ricochet for two and choking on the ropes. Ricochet is fine enough to slap a yapping MVP in the face, only to get caught with a Downward Spiral for two.

Back up and Ricochet slips over for the hot tag to Crews so house can be cleaned. Everything breaks down and Ricochet scores with some superkicks until Lashley scores with the spinning Dominator. A German suplex drops Crews but he hits an enziguri on Lashley. The big spinebuster drops Crews again though and the Hurt Locker is good for the tap at 9:45.

Rating: C-. I think we’ve gotten the point here as it’s the same kind of a match with the same people that we’ve seen for months now. The good thing though is the feud only seems to have continued for the sake of Retribution being gone. They didn’t have much else to do here, but that’s mainly because we’ve done this so many times now and there isn’t much else to do here.

Murphy comes up to Aaliyah, who says this is all Seth’s fault. Murphy isn’t going to apologize.

Ali comes up to the Hurt Business in the back because he wants to face MVP one on one.

Here is Seth Rollins to receive Murphy’s apology. Cue Murphy, who isn’t exactly looking happy. Rollins wants Murphy to get on with it already and gets all the more frustrated when Murphy says nothing. He even grabs Murphy by the beard, shouting that he made Murphy what he is. Murphy charges at him and the fight is on with the two of them heading outside.

Rollins whips out the kendo stick but Murphy drives him into the barricade and gets in some swings of his own. They get inside with Rollins begging off and getting beaten up even more. Rollins calls for Aaliyah to come out here and then apologizes after another stick to the head. Murphy begs off so Rollins goes for the eye and gets in his own stick shots. It’s chair time but here’s Aaliyah to cover Murphy. The Mysterios run out to chase Rollins off and we see Rollins watching from the back. Dominik tries to talk Aaliyah out of this because of everything he has done.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler vs. Riott Squad

The Squad is challenging and starts by double teaming Jax down. Jax has to lay down so Riott can drop Morgan onto her for the early near fall, but Jax knocks Liv out of the air. Riott gets tied in the Tree of Woe and Baszler goes outside to glare at her a bit. Back in and Baszler stomps on Riott’s arm and then snaps it back for a bonus. Riott gets sent outside and Jax whips her hard into the apron a few times as we take a break.

Riott forearming her way to freedom and making the hot tag off to Morgan. A hurricanrana sends Jax into the middle turnbuckle and the rolling elbows in the corner hit both champs. Jax runs her over with a clothesline though and the screaming ensues. Baszler comes back in but her knee hits the turnbuckle. The hot tag brings in the one armed Riott to clean house but gets pulled into the Kirifuda Clutch for the tap to retain the titles at 9:43.

Rating: C. This was kind of messy but they did a nice job of making the Squad look like a team who could give the champs a challenge. That being said, there wasn’t much drama here and that’s most acceptable. It’s better than having Jax destroy Lana week after week, or at least doing something other than that for a change.

The Street Profits aren’t cool with Orton attacking the legends last week. Tonight, they want the smoke. Drew McIntyre is here too and seems pleased with the whole thing.

MVP vs. Mustafa Ali

The rest of the Hurt Business is here and MVP takes Ali down for an early knee drop. A clothesline out of the corner gives MVP two but Ali is back with a running dropkick to the floor. The rest of the Hurt Business gets in the ring but here’s Retribution. MVP tells Ali to fight with them but Ali rolls to the floor to get in the team’s face….and then stands with Retribution instead. Ali: “GET EM!” The match is thrown out at about 2:30 or so.

Retribution destroys the Hurt Business in short order and Ali seems pleased. Ali gets in the ring and the rest of the team (seven members this week) join him as Ali holds up his hand. Now this could be very interesting, especially if they find a way to tie it into the hacker deal (not a requirement, but it would be a nice way to tie up a loose end).

Video on the Draft.

Drew McIntyre/Street Profits vs. Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler/Randy Orton

The good guys waste no time in cleaning house and we take a break. Back with Dawkins diving over for the hot tag to Ford so the pace can pick up in a hurry. Ford’s standing moonsault gets and it’s off to Roode, who scores with the spinebuster for two. Orton pulls Ford outside and drops him hard onto the announcers’ table. Back in and Orton slowly hammers away but stops to mock McIntyre, allowing Ford to score with a DDT. The double tag brings in McIntyre and Ziggler, with Drew launching him into the corner.

That’s enough for Ziggler though as McIntyre pulls Orton in to start the brawl. Roode and Ziggler make the save and everything breaks down. Dawkins’ Anointment is countered into a DDT though and he winds up right in front of Orton. The hanging DDT plants Dawkins but he’s right back with the Anointment into the Cash Out with Roode and Ziggler diving in for the save. McIntyre tags himself in as Ziggler hits the Fameasser on Ford. The Claymore puts Ziggler on the floor and there’s another to Roode. Orton is back up though and the RKO finishes McIntyre at 10:14.

Rating: C+. They kept the pace up here and I can go for putting off the announcement of Roode and Ziggler getting a title shot for as long as I can. Pinning the champ to build up towards a title match is a good idea and something that has worked for the better part of ever. Go with something that works and keep Ziggler away from any title at the same time. That’s certainly a nice way to end the show, even if we’ve seen it before.

Overall Rating: C-. This was an up and down show with some points being a lot better than others. They set up the obvious main event with Orton vs. McIntyre and the Ali to Retribution stuff is rather interesting. Other than that though….yeah it’s kind of downhill from there. The Rollins/Mysterios stuff is as old hat as you can get and Strowman vs. Lee didn’t need to be a match. At the same time though, you have whatever Brooke did to Natalya and that is going to drop any show. Raw’s half of the pay per view is really feeling like the most warmed over of leftovers, but maybe the Draft can fix things. It kind of needs to.

Results

Asuka/Dana Brooke/Mandy Rose b. Zelina Vega/Lana/Natalya – Jumping knee to Lana

Murphy/Seth Rollins b. Dominik Mysterio/Humberto Carrillo – Jumping knee to Carrillo

Keith Lee vs. Braun Strowman went to a double countout

Hurt Business b. Apollo Crews/Ricochet – Hurt Lock to Crews

Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler b. Riott Squad – Kirifuda Clutch to Riott

MVP vs. Mustafa Ali went to a no contest when Retribution interfered

Randy Orton/Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode b. Drew McIntyre/Street Profits – RKO to McIntyre

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 28, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton

Clash Of Champions has come and gone and we are on the way to the Cell. That could mean a few different directions, though Orton vs. McIntyre III would seem to be in the cards. At the same time though, the Draft is looming and that means we could be in for a big shakeup in the next few weeks. Hopefully we don’t have a big lull for the next few weeks on the way there. Let’s get to it.

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

Here are Ric Flair, Big Show, Christian and Shawn Michaels to get things going. Shawn welcomes us to the show and introduces Drew McIntyre for the big congratulations. Drew talks about knowing all of these people for years, including how they all guided him as far as he has gotten. Drew tells a story of Flair being on the active roster when he first arrived in American (Drew: “Before somebody retired you.”). He couldn’t believe he was on the main roster as Ric Flair and it was one of the coolest things he had ever seen.

Then last night he defeated Randy Orton and is he is still WWE Champion. Shawn talks about how they’re all here to congratulate him and he hopes that Drew isn’t mad about that. If he is mad, it was all Ric’s fault. Drew is cool with them….and here’s Orton on the Titantron. Orton says this is over when he says it is, so Drew knows he is going to beg for another match.

Orton says he won’t have to beg because he is Randy Orton and will get another title shot. He’s here today to say there is a price to pay when you cross the Legend Killer. Orton walks over to….get his bag and leaves. Drew wants to be a fighting champion so tonight, anyone who has never gotten a shot against him can get a title match. Somebody please step up.

We recap Asuka beating Zelina Vega to retain the Raw Women’s Title, followed by Vega attacking her after the match.

Vega says she is ready but here’s Asuka to yell at her. They have to be held apart.

Raw Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Zelina Vega

Asuka is defending and mouths the Big Match Intros for a nice touch. Vega fights out of an armbar to start and grabs an Octopus on the mat. They head outside with Asuka knocking her down as we take a break. Back with Vega grabbing an armbar and making Asuka hold her up at the same time. Asuka muscles her over with a suplex for the break and tries the Asuka Lock, sending Vega straight to the ropes. A Backstabber gives Vega a quick two but her moonsault only hits knees. Asuka is right back with the Asuka Lock to retain at 8:38.

Rating: C. Nothing close to their match last night but that is usually the case with the post pay per view rematches. They really didn’t need to do a rematch in the first place as Vega got a lot out of last night’s match. This was a downgrade, though it wasn’t terrible by any means. It just didn’t need to happen, but why go with what makes sense when you can just do the same thing?

The legends are still here and a poker game has broken out.

Post break Andrade is in the ring to yell at Zelina Vega for being nothing without him. Vega leaves and Andrade starts ranting about how he was holding the team together last night before Angel Garza got hurt. He is the best in the company and it’s open challenge time.

Andrade vs. Keith Lee

Lee shoves him around to start but Andrade slips away. Some arm cranking has Andrade in more trouble but he goes for the knee to slow Lee down. The running knees in the corner connect but Lee is right back with the Spirit Bomb for the pin at 2:53. Presenting the Spirit Bomb (or hopefully the Big Bang Catastrophe as well) as this sudden freight train that no one can handle is a good way to go and something that could work out well.

Earlier today, the Hurt Business was in catering when a random guy came and took Bobby Lashley’s seat. Lashley showed up and the guy moved over, but that was still Lashley’s seat. Some glaring got rid of the guy, but Lashley had him leave his food anyway. MVP looks a little confused but they all start laughing.

We look back at Akira Tozawa being eaten by a shark.

R-Truth is playing chess with Little Jimmy but here’s a Ninja with a letter for him. It’s in Japanese, but the Ninja provides an English version as well. The letter says that if Truth is readying this, Tozawa has been eaten by a shark. Their battles were epic though and now that he is gone, Truth needs to have this. It’s Tozawa’s black belt, leaving truth to wonder why Tozawa had to be devoured. Tozawa pops out from under a table and wins the title. The Ninja jumps Tozawa though and steals the title, revealing himself as Drew Gulak. Truth hits him in the head and steals it right back.

We look back at the Seth Rollins/Mysterio Family genetics drama last week.

Seth Rollins comes up to Murphy in the back and mentions that the Mysterios will be on the King’s Court tonight. Murphy is in his gear though and Rollins doesn’t like it. Rollins had a suit ready for him and says go put it on, which Murphy begrudgingly does. With Murphy gone, Rollins steals Murphy’s phone and pockets it.

It’s time for the King’s Court with Jerry Lawler bringing out the Mysterio Family. Rey and Dominik want to finish things with Rollins and Murphy but Lawler asks about Murphy talking to Aaliyah last week. She says she’s 19 years old and Murphy talked to her. What she does know is that someone who associates with Rollins needs to evaluate things because he is evil.

Rollins pops up on screen to say he needs to tell them the truth. The truth is that one of them isn’t being 100% honest with the rest of the family. The truth is that Aaliyah might not be telling the truth about Murphy. Rollins shows us a screenshot from Murphy’s phone of Murphy and Aaliyah texting each other.

Murphy apologizes again and Aaliyah seems interested in his offer to spend some time together, even wishing him a happy birthday. Back in the arena, Aaliyah says Murphy isn’t like Rollins and leaves, with Rey and Angie following her. Murphy comes up to Rollins in the back and grabs him by the shirt as Rollins laughs. Dominik runs up and jumps Murphy until agents break it up. The soap opera drama isn’t making up for the fact that this story has been going on for almost five months.

Here are Lana and Natalya to say that they want the Women’s Tag Team Titles because Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax can’t defend them. Adam Pearce comes out and makes a tag match for right now.

Mandy Rose/Dana Brooke vs. Lana/Natalya

Natalya headlocks Dana to start but Dana fights up and hits the handspring elbow in the corner. A cartwheel kick to the face gets two on Natalya but Lana comes in off a blind tag for her own kick to Dana’s face. Lana grabs the chinlock for a bit until Dana fights up and brings Mandy back in. A faceplant gets two on Lana and a jumping knee finishes her off at 3:10.

Rating: D. Yeah this didn’t work and I’m not exactly surprised. These four are not the ones you need out there to make a match work and that was the case here again. Lana, Brooke and Mandy are not exactly polished in the ring and Natalya is hardly the most popular star. This was almost never going to work and it really didn’t here.

We look back at Aleister Black attacking Kevin Owens last week.

Black thought Owens was a good man but Black isn’t buying Owens saying one thing and having everyone change their thoughts on him. Owens has a history of betraying people and at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many people forget and forgive. The eye patch comes off and Black says he will not forget.

The legends are playing poker when the Street Profits come in to join the party.

Kevin Owens vs. Aleister Black

Black has lost the rising board entrance and now has music with a voiceover at the beginning. Owens jumps him to start and the fight heads outside with Black being driven into various things. Black comes back with some strikes of his own, only to get hit in the face. A clothesline takes him down again and the backsplash crushes Black again.

Black is suplexes down again and rolls out to the floor, with Owens hitting a Swanton off the apron. We take a break and come back with Black kicking Owens between the shoulders and adding a running kick to the chest for two. The front facelock keeps Owens in trouble for a bit and a big kick to the head gives Black two more.

Owens gets in a hard shot for his own two but gets sat on top. Black’s superplex attempt is blocked and shoved away but the Swanton hits knees. Black nails a jumping knee to the face for some near falls but the referee yells at Black for attacking on the ropes. Owens slugs back but Black unloads, accidentally hitting the referee in the process for the DQ at 13:18.

Rating: C. This wasn’t the most thrilling stuff after the break and I’m not exactly looking forward to what we are going to be seeing with Black’s latest moodiness. He was getting somewhere with the face run and the longer matches, but this was a bunch of kicks and a chinlock until we got to the finish. Black worked a lot better as a face, but for now we’re stuck getting through this.

Post match Owens gives Black a Stunner.

Mustafa Ali runs into the Hurt Business, who isn’t pleased. They hit him in the face but here are Apollo Crews and Ricochet to say they’ll see them tonight.

24/7 Title: R-Truth vs. Drew Gulak vs. Akira Tozawa

Truth is defending and gets double teamed to start, but Gulak and Tozawa fight over who gets to go for the cover. With that argument out of the way, we hit a double arm crank until Gulak throws Tozawa outside (bumping into the referee in the process). The Gulock has Truth in trouble until Tozawa makes the save. A sitout gordbuster hits Tozawa and Gulak gets AA’d onto Tozawa to retain Truth’s title at 4:17.

Rating: D+. This was a weird situation as they just had a match instead of doing any wacky shenanigans. That being said, it was kind of a downgrade to not have the goofiness as it left them with a run of the mill triple threat. It wasn’t terrible or anything, but this was about five minutes that just came and went.

Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose are coming for the Women’s Tag Team Titles. Also, Dana sees Mandy as an inspiration. I’d ask how but that might just make things worse.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Murphy

Dominik starts fast and hammers away in the corner before they go outside. Murphy sends him over the announcers’ table for a nine count but Dominik is back in with a high crossbody. Some shots to the face have Murphy in trouble until he scores with a pump knee to the face. Dominick is back with a tornado DDT and some stomps in the corner send Murphy outside. It’s kendo stick time but here’s Aaliyah to say don’t do it. The distraction lets Murphy roll Dominik up for the pin with tights at 7:13.

Rating: C-. This is a situation where the wrestling doesn’t matter. The problem here is how this story has dragged on for months and they just keep finding ways to extend it. Dominik and the rest of the family aren’t interesting but we’ve had so much between Rey and Rollins that it can’t be done any more. The match was fine, but I can’t bring myself to care about anything involved.

Post match Dominik unloads with the kendo stick but Aaliyah tells him to stop. Dominik says this is for the family but Aaliyah says Murphy isn’t like Rollins. Dominik says she really is naive and she slaps him in the face.

Dolph Ziggler talks to Adam Pearce about his idea for the open challenge. It’s going to be Robert Roode isn’t it?

Here’s the Hurt Business, minus Cedric Alexander, for their six man. Before the match, MVP says Cedric Alexander messed up last week so he’s off at Hurt Business Boot Camp to avoid future mistakes. As for Apollo Crews, he is the definition of insanity as he keeps trying to take on the Hurt Business and gets dropped over and over. It happened at Payback, it happened at Clash of Champions and it is going to happen again tonight.

Hurt Business vs. Ricochet/Apollo Crews/Mustafa Ali

Ricochet and company jump the Hurt Business before the bell and the brawl is on outside. Hold on though as the lights flicker and Retribution’s logo pops up everywhere. We take a break and come back with the match in progress and Benjamin grabbing a chinlock on Crews. MVP comes in but misses the running boot in the corner, only to have Lashley break up the tag attempt. Crews hits a German suplex and frog crossbody to MVP though, allowing the hot tag to Ricochet.

The pace picks up in a hurry but Ricochet has to bail out of the Phoenix splash, allowing MVP to kick him in the face. The Playmaker is countered though and Ricochet hits his own kick to MVP’s face. It’s off to Ali to pick up the pace, including a running neckbreaker for two. Lashley pulls Ali to the floor where Crews makes a save with a moonsault off the apron. Back in and Ali hits most of his tornado DDT (thankfully commentary doesn’t act like it was hit perfectly), setting up the 450 for the pin at 5:23 shown.

Rating: C. This was more of the same feud that we’ve seen from everyone involved and I can take that over a lot of the other things that we have seen on the show. The Hurt Business seems ready to move on but with Retribution in quarantine, there is only so much that they can do. Granted having them lose isn’t the most logical move, but I can go for Ali getting another win.

Ric Flair keeps winning at poker.

Bianca Belair outruns a bunch of other people because she’s the fastest.

Video on Retribution.

Here’s Drew McIntyre for the Open Challenge for a title shot. No one comes out at first so McIntyre asks how Charles Robinson’s day is going. Cue Dolph Ziggler though and we have an opponent.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Robert Roode

Roode is challenging and rakes Drew’s damaged back to put the champ in early trouble. They’re out on the floor in a hurry though, with Drew hitting the reverse Alabama Slam onto the apron as we take an early break. Back with Roode knocking McIntyre into the Tree of Woe, only to have McIntyre sit up for the choke throw off the top. Ziggler offers a distraction though and Roode goes after the leg to take over.

The leg is wrapped around the post and then dropped onto the announcers’ table. Back in and Roode hits a top rope clothesline for two, followed by the Figure Four in the middle of the ring. McIntyre turns it over to send Roode bailing to the ropes for the break and they both need a breather.

It’s McIntyre back up first with the Glasgow Kiss into the overhead belly to belly suplexes. There’s the nip up but McIntyre’s knee gives out. Roode’s spinebuster gets two and McIntyre’s Futureshock gets the same. McIntyre takes Roode out but walks into the Glorious DDT for two more. That’s enough for McIntyre as he hits the Claymore to retain at 12:38.

Rating: B-. Perfectly nice main event here with a bit of drama before McIntyre retained. Roode is someone who may not have the most varied offense but he does everything rather well, which is a style that is going to make anyone look good. I liked the match well enough, even though the challenger was pretty obvious.

We cut to the back where Randy Orton, dressed as a janitor, goes into to the Legends’ Lounge (yes it has its own sign), whips out some night vision goggles, turns out the lights, and apparently nearly massacres everyone with a chair. Orton leaves, throws his hood up, and points referees and trainers to the room to end the show. So….it’s pretty much the same way they set up Summerslam but now it’s the third match in the trilogy and it’s going to be in the Cell?

Overall Rating: C-. The wrestling was passable enough tonight and they have set up a few things for the future, but there was a lot of warmed over leftovers on this show and it made the show feel long. Asuka vs. Vega II, R-Truth still doing his wacky 24/7 stuff, MORE Mysterios vs. Rollins/Murphy, the Hurt Business vs. Ricochet N Pals and a spinoff of McIntyre vs. Ziggler to set up McIntyre vs. Orton III. That isn’t quite inspiring stuff and while a lot of what we had here was fine, it wasn’t exactly fun to watch. Oh and there is an open challenge for the World Title and Keith Lee chose to face Andrade. How bright of him.

Results

Asuka b. Zelina Vega – Asuka Lock

Keith Lee b. Andrade – Spirit Bomb

Dana Brooke/Mandy Rose b. Lana/Natalya – Jumping knee to Lana

Kevin Owens b. Aleister Black via DQ when Black hit the referee

R-Truth b. Drew Gulak and Akira Tozawa – Gulak was AA’d onto Tozawa

Murphy b. Dominik Mysterio – Rollup with tights

Mustafa Ali/Ricochet/Apollo Crews b. Hurt Business – 450 to MVP

Drew McIntyre b. Robert Roode – Claymore

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 24, 2006
Location: Wembley Arena, London, England
Attendance: 8,500
Commentators: Joey Styles, Jerry Lawler, Jonathan Coachman

We’re overseas for a taped show this week as it’s the go home show for Backlash. With all of the handicap matches for the main event exhausted, I’m not sure what we’re going to be seeing here. Aside from a red phone booth and whatever else WWE associates with England of course. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a long recap of Shawn Michaels vs. Vince McMahon, mainly focusing on their Wrestlemania match and the ensuing fallout.

Opening sequence.

Here are Edge and Lita to get things going. Edge talks about being in a triple threat match at Backlash and one of the men he is facing is HHH. We see Edge pinning HHH last week in the handicap match, followed by a clip of Edge pinning John Cena at New Year’s Revolution. This should be simple enough for even the British fans to figure out: Edge is going to be leaving Backlash as WWE Champion.

Cue HHH, to a pretty strong face pop. HHH says Edge has come a long way as he now looks like, talks like and acts like a champion. Edge even was a champion…for three weeks. It means Edge can go, but he can’t go very long. A lot of guys have that problem and HHH knows how frustrating that must be for Lita. Edge can even have his own catchphrase: the premature superstar. Edge insists he can do it ten times a night and last week he only needed three seconds to pin HHH.

That was rather impressive, but HHH was only focusing on sending Cena a message. On Sunday, he is focusing on the title and he will go through either of them to get back on the throne. Edge is sick of hearing about the eleventh title reign but wants to know why HHH is in the triple threat. He lost at Wrestlemania and has never beaten Edge, so Edge suggests that HHH likes to get on his knees in front of Vince.

That gives us the most obvious Lita joke of the year but HHH says he’ll bash Vince McMahon or his own grandmother in the head to be champion (dang Randy Orton stole that line from him all those years later). Cue John Cena to go after HHH as Edge and Lita bail. HHH is ready to go but here’s the Spirit Squad to interrupt. The let us know, through cheering form, that they will be facing the three of them tonight in a handicap match. HHH, Cena and Edge aren’t exactly thrilled.

Chris Masters/Matt Striker/Shelton Benjamin vs. Carlito/Charlie Haas/Rob Van Dam

Carlito and Benjamin start things off but it’s quickly off to Van Dam, who gets pounded down in the corner. Van Dam kicks him out to the floor and the villains are cleared out in a hurry. Rob hits a big dive and we take an early break. Back with Van Dam in trouble as Masters pulls him off the ropes to set up a bearhug. Shelton comes in for the reverse chinlock as the LET’S GO ROB chant starts up. That sounds so out of place after the RVD chants became so well known.

Van Dam fights up and makes the hot tag to bring in Haas as house is cleaned. Everything breaks down and Carlito hits a Backstabber on Benjamin. Masters comes in with the Masterlock to Carlito but Haas makes the save with a German suplex. Carlito Rolls the Dice on Striker but walks into the t-bone from Shelton. Van Dam comes in off the top with a kick to Benjamin’s…well something. The Five Star finishes Shelton.

Rating: C+. This didn’t get too much time considering the commercial but they were going non-stop almost the entire time they were on camera. That’s a good way to go and I can always go for a six man tag mixing up a bunch of feuds at once. Van Dam now has momentum going into the title match, Carlito vs. Masters will be a thing and Striker…well he has a job at least.

Vince McMahon calls last week’s “acts of God” a bunch of coincidences and says he has fired the pyrotechnics director. Vince has it on good authority that God is on holiday this week so tonight, Shane McMahon will take care of Shawn Michaels. Shane says he’ll get back at Shawn tonight and he swears to God….pause for a look around….that Shawn will get what’s coming to him.

Kane is still going insane when Big Show comes up. They have been friends and partners but they need to work this out. Show says May 19 and Kane threatens him if he says it again. Show: “May…19.” The fight is on with Kane sending him into a metal wall and beating the heck out of him until referees break it up. Show’s eye was hurt in the melee and it’s busted open rather bad.

Coach is in the ring because it’s time for a bikini contest. We have Candice Michelle, Maria, Torrie Wilson and Victoria here and the fans seem to fancy Torrie (as you might have guessed). They disrobe, the fans cheer for Maria, Candice wins anyway. Candice’s prize is the chance to kiss Coach but here’s Viscera to threaten to do, ahem, things, to Coach. Instead he’s taking the prize, meaning he beats up Coach, kisses Candice, and leaves with her.

We see the same video that opened the show.

Shawn Michaels vs. Shane McMahon

Vince is here to handle Shane’s introduction. Shane starts fast and is quickly sent over the top for a big crash. A cheap shot lets Shane get in a few knees and punches to the back before hammering away at the face instead. Shane even shows off a bit with a torture rack neckbreaker for two, only to miss a pretty good looking moonsault. Shawn wins a slugout and hits the forearm into the nip up, followed by the top rope elbow.

Vince breaks up Sweet Chin Music but gets beaten onto the announcers’ table for his efforts. Shane makes the save and helps Vince load up the announcers’ table. A monitor to the head sets up the big elbow through the table and Vince says he told Shawn so. Vince declares God a chicken who will abandon him on Sunday. The match is a no contest of course.

Rating: C. Pretty good for a Shane match as he just does his spots and doesn’t try to have anything resembling a traditional match. That’s all he should do and it worked out well enough. It wasn’t exactly good but Shawn can work with anyone and helped Shane through things here. They weren’t out there very long either and that helped hide a lot of the weaknesses.

We look back at Kane attacking Big Show.

We look at See No Evil, of course edited off the Network.

Backlash rundown.

Edge comes in to see Cena because they have to work together. Cena says Edge is a snake and if he tries anything, he’s going down quicker than Lita.

Post break, Edge and Lita seem to be scheming.

Umaga vs. Steve Lewington

Lewington would wind up having a cup of coffee on ECW as DJ Gabriel. Umaga wastes no time in kicking him to the floor before swinging Lewington into the steps. Back in and the running Tree of Woe headbutt sets up the running hip attack in the corner. The thumb to Lewington’s throat is good for the pin.

Post match here’s Umaga to slug away at Umaga, including a testicular claw before a right hand puts Umaga on the floor.

Lita comes up to see HHH and says she has smoothed it over with Cena. HHH hopes she’s still nice after he beats Edge on Sunday. Lita says if he does, she can hit him with his sledgehammer. She leaves, but HHH was hoping for advice on how to take on five guys at once. Dang some of these lines are brutal.

Flair vs. Umaga is set for Backlash.

Here’s Mickie James, dressed like herself and coming out to her own music. She’ll admit it: she got a little carried away after winning the Women’s Title. Yeah she dressed up like Trish and dyed her hair but now she knows who she is. She’s ready to beat Trish again on Sunday, but here is Trish in the full Mickie impression again. Trish keeps cutting her off and saying the same things Mickie is saying, setting up the fight. The Chick Kick sends Mickie out to the floor.

Edge/HHH/John Cena vs. Spirit Squad

The cheering starts before the bell and the trio clears the ring in a hurry. We take a very quick break and come back with Edge unloading on Johnny in the corner before it’s off to Mikey to get beaten up as well. Edge sends Johnny into Mikey but the distraction lets Mikey get in a few cheap shots. Kenny comes in and the numbers game have Edge in trouble. Edge gets away for a bit though and it’s off to HHH, who comes in off a slap from Edge, which doesn’t go well.

HHH takes over on Mikey but Cena slaps his way in as well, much to HHH’s annoyance. Mikey uses a trampoline to springboard up and get in a shot on Cena, allowing Johnny to hit a spinning kick to Cena’s head. Cena is sent outside for the big group beatdown and it’s an assisted moonsault to give Mikey two back inside. Mikey grabs a chinlock before it’s off to Mitch for a flipping neckbreaker. After a rather odd crawl over to the ropes, Mitch brings Johnny back in to get punched in the face over and over.

Johnny takes Cena down again though and it’s back to Mikey, who gets powerslammed. Cena manages to beat up the Squad for just a bit before it’s HHH tagging himself back in to clean house. Kenny breaks up the Pedigree as everything breaks down. The FU to Johnny and the Pedigree to Mikey connect at the same time as Edge and Lita walk out. Cena and HHH slug it out as the match and show end.

Rating: D+. This was another example of a match that was there to advance a story with some wrestling going on at the same time. The biggest problem with the Spirit Squad (ok the second biggest) was on display here: other than Kenny, none of them stand out in any way and they’re just a bunch of pests who can beat people up because of their numbers advantage. That’s fine if you’re a little more intimidating, but a bunch of annoying guys beating people up is kind of a weird combination. And the whole cheerleaders thing makes it even worse.

Overall Rating: C-. These British shows are always a little off and this one did nothing to hide the fact that we are coming up on a two match show this Sunday. The triple threat is looking good and they have done a nice job of making you believe that anyone could win. The McMahons vs. Michaels stuff though is one of those things that is feeling very stupid in a hurry and that could make for a long, long Sunday. Still though, this is a formula that worked well enough on a larger scale at Wrestlemania so maybe it can work out here too.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 21, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Jerry Lawler, Byron Saxton

It’s the go home show for Clash Of Champions and we still have some more to do for the show. First up is a triple threat match to crown new #1 contenders, but we also have a rematch from last week when Retribution interrupted Keith Lee vs. Drew McIntyre. Other than that, expect some more Retribution interference. Let’s get to it.

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

Retribution hacks the opening feed and here they are to get things going. They have officially signed contracts (because that’s a good company move) and unmask (mostly), revealing Mia Yim, Mercedes Martinez (I believe), Dominik Dijakovic, Dio Madden and a fifth member (Shane Thorne maybe?).

They talk about wanting to drain the lifeblood of this company because this place has betrayed them for the love of money. Cue the Hurt Business to chase them off and issue a challenge for tonight. Cue more masked members of the team to surround the ring and the beatdown is on. The goons are kicked out but the original members get in and the Hurt Business is overwhelmed.

Rey Mysterio is proud of his son for following in his footsteps.

Seth Rollins/Murphy vs. Angel Garza/Andrade vs. Dominik Mysterio/Humberto Carrillo

The winners get the Street Profits, on commentary, for the Tag Team Titles at Clash Of Champions. There is no Zelina Vega here to shake things up a bit, meaning she isn’t here to see Garza TAKE OFF HIS PANTS at the bell. Murphy gets sent to the floor to start so Andrade and Garza take over on Carrillo. Andrade is sent outside as well and an enziguri drops Murphy to the floor again.

Mysterio and Carrillo hit big dives to the floor to take out Andrade and Garza before we settle down to Mysterio hitting a Code Red for two on Andrade. Mysterio gets in a pretty sloppy 619 to Garza before it’s off to Murphy for a jumping knee to Andrade’s face. Murphy goes over for the tag to Rollins, who walks away, saying he has a lot on his mind. That leaves Andrade to hit a heck of a spinning elbow to Murphy and the Wing Clipper to Murphy to send Andrade/Garza to Clash at 5:24.

Rating: C+. It was a high energy match while it lasted but it seemed to be a lot more about Rollins and Murphy splitting up than the title match being set. That’s all well and good for a change, as that’s a bigger story than almost anything involving the Tag Team Titles. It doesn’t help that it’s a title match we’ve seen for months now but at least it should be decent.

We recap Braun Strowman invading Raw Underground and getting in a staredown with Dabba-Kato.

Shane McMahon is ready to hype up the fight on the Kevin Owens Show and has the large guard keep Raw Underground on lockdown.

Retribution is ready to beat up the Hurt Business tonight.

It’s time for the Kevin Owens Show with Kevin talking about how he had to deal with Captain Hot Topic last time but we’ll move on from that. He can’t believe it, but his guest is Shane McMahon. After a recap of their history, Owens hands it off to Shane’s natural promotional skills to hype up Raw Underground.

Shane talks about how Owens got to meet Kato a few weeks ago so let’s bring him out right now. Owens looks a bit impressed and says he and Kato will do this at some point, but here’s a preview. That means a slap to Kato, who Shane has to hold back. Owens has a second guest tonight so here’s Braun Strowman. Shane has to try to keep them apart until Raw Underground but here’s Aleister Black to crotch Owens against the post a few times. Shane and the giants don’t seem to notice.

We look at Drew McIntyre vs. Keith Lee being interrupted by Retribution.

Drew McIntyre says yeah, he’s worried about wrestling again with a fractured jaw. As for his fight with Lee last week, it was just business. If you’re in WWE and don’t want to be the champ, why are you here? They’ll laugh over drinks later, but for now, they’re beating each other up.

Retribution has jumped Titus O’Neil and Humberto Carrillo with Dijakovic shouting that WWE stars are the sickness. They are the judge, jury and executioners.

Keith Lee vs. Drew McIntyre

Non-title and Lee has new gear again, with the low cut singlet top that Big Show wore for years over his shorts. McIntyre misses a Claymore attempt at the bell and they trade aggressive headlocks. A running crossbody sends McIntyre over the top in a heap and it’s time to forearm it out in front of the announcers’ table. Back from a break with McIntyre not being able to get him up in a fireman’s carry and being forearmed down instead. The Spirit Bomb is broken up though and McIntyre comes back with a spinebuster for two.

A neckbreaker gives McIntyre two more but the Future Shock is powered into the corner. Lee Hulks Up and hits something like a spinebuster of his own for his own near fall. Some shots to McIntyre’s face (after commentary brought up the bad jaw) and a clothesline give Lee two more. The Spirit Bomb is escaped again and McIntyre hits the Claymore but here’s Randy Orton with a chair to McIntyre for the DQ at 12:22.

Rating: C+. It was nice while it lasted but this was a matter of time until Orton came in. They don’t want to pin Lee and McIntyre shouldn’t be taking any kind of a pin right now so this was the only way to go. That doesn’t make it better, but it makes it logical. Lee is still impressive in the ring, but

Post match Orton drives the chair into McIntyre’s face and hits a Punt on Lee.

Post break Orton says shame on all of the fans for doubting him for even a second. Of course he is going to make it to Clash Of Champions. He’s been here for twenty years and he has been the only constant. Orton has never walked away from a World Title match and he won’t be doing it anytime soon.

The match on Sunday isn’t your usual World Title match though, is it? Orton walks over to an ambulance parked in the arena and opens the doors, saying he took a ride in this ambulance just a few weeks ago. That came after three Claymores and as he heard the sirens, he was fading in and out of consciousness.

Then he knew what it felt like to be taken out by the Legend Killer. He knew what Edge, Christian, Shawn Michaels, Big Show and Ric Flair all felt like. As he came to in the back of the ambulance, he started to smile. It wasn’t because of the pain, but it was because he remembered what he was capable of doing. He knows what it takes to become WWE Champion and that is where he will go again.

For some people this ambulance represents hope, pain or death. For Orton though, it means his 14^th World Title, so listen up Drew. At Clash Of Champions, Orton is giving Drew one more ride in the ambulance to make his title reign flat line. Orton slams the door to wrap up a good promo.

Asuka isn’t worried about facing Zelina Vega or Mickie James at Clash but here’s Billie Kay to interrupt. She laughs at the idea of Asuka being willing to face anyone, but here’s Peyton Royce to say she should get a title shot. Billie: “….Yeah. Either of us!” Asuka says no one is ready for her on Sunday, but tonight, she is ready for Billie.

Zelina Vega vs. Mickie James

The winner gets Asuka for the title on Sunday. Mickie promises to never give up on the Raw Women’s Title so Zelina better be ready. Zelina sends her into the corner to start but Mickie is back with a kick to the face for two. Back up and Zelina grabs a Black Widow before sending her into the corner.

A slow motion hurricanrana out of the corner gives Vega two and Mickie’s reversal into a sunset flip gets the same. Mickie is back with a spinning kick to the ribs and a running forearm. There’s the flapjack into a nipup, followed by the top rope Thesz Press for two on Vega. The MickieDT is countered though and Vega’s Backstabber is good for the clean pin at 4:13.

Rating: D+. The match was pretty rough, but what matters here is giving Vega a clean pin to set up the title match. I can’t imagine Vega actually wins the title on Sunday but they gave her a little momentum going into it and made her seem like someone who could be a bit more of a threat. Why it takes so long to do that is beyond me, but at least they did it here. Well done.

Retribution jumps the Hurt Business but they fight back and take out some of the Retribution goons.

Video on Bianca Belair out training various men at the Performance Center.

Earlier today, Akira Tozawa and a Ninja referee waited for R-Truth….in the ocean. R-Truth showed up with Little Jimmy and the 24/7 Title but Little Jimmy saw a shark’s fin in the water. Truth: “SHARKNADO!!!” Truth ran off and left the title in the water, before returning 20 minutes later with flippers and a snorkel. Little Jimmy is almost dragged off by the current but Truth makes the save.

Cedric Alexander vs. Apollo Crews

Lashley vs. Crews for the US Title is announced for Sunday. Before the match, MVP threatens violence against Retribution, with Cedric saying Crews is getting the same. He doesn’t care about Crews or Crews’ kids, so here are Crews and Ricochet to say this is about revenge. Crews starts fast and sends Alexander outside for a suicide dive as we take a break.

Back with Crews fighting out of a chinlock but getting kneed in the ribs. That means the chinlock can go back on with Alexander driving in elbows to the ribs this time. The Michinoku Driver gives Cedric two and he’s a little surprised at the kickout. Crews is back up with a crossbody and a toss Samoan drop gets two. Cedric is sent outside but avoids the moonsault, setting up Alexander’s suicide dive. Back in and Crews is fine enough to grab a rollup for the pin at 8:05.

Rating: C. Not bad here and I’m getting into this feud fairly well. There’s a personal issue between the guys and it’s becoming more and more interesting to watch. I’m not sure where it leads, but the Hurt Business has become a much better team over the last few months. It’s a nice story and the team has gotten more interesting, showing that WWE knows how to do this when they try.

Post match the Hurt Business comes out for a distraction and it’s a beatdown on Crews and Ricochet. Lashley gets the Hurt Lock on Crews to leave him laying.

It’s Raw Underground time with Dolph Ziggler vs. Arturo Ruas. Ziggler gets taken down but manages to block an armbar. A leglock is blocked again and it’s the sleeper to make Ruas tap.

Shane McMahon tries to talk to Braun Strowman but new Raw Underground interviewer Briana Brandy gets to do the interview. Braun doesn’t walk to talk and says Shane better have some better competition.

Here’s Seth Rollins for a chat. He thought it was over with Rey Mysterio, but then WWE.com put up a series of photos of the Mysterio Family. We see one of the photos, and Dominik towers over the rest of them. Rollins thinks something is amiss and has an envelope with results. He asks the Mysterios to come out here and find out the truth in person. The family comes out and Rey says they are tired of the mind games.

Seth says he has grown to respect them because they have overcome adversity together. That’s why they deserve the truth, which includes the result of a DNA test. Seth knows this has been done before and technology has advanced a lot since then. We need an answer to the question: is Rey really Dominik’s father? The results are clear: Rey is not the father. Rey goes on a rant about how we’re sick of this, but Seth realizes he made a mistake. This isn’t a test for Dominik, but rather Aliyah, who isn’t really Rey’s daughter. If that isn’t enough, Rollins has more proof.

We see a clip from last week where Aliyah checked on Murphy after Rollins jumped him. Rollins doesn’t think that was very Mysterio like, but Rey says keep his daughter’s name out of his mouth. Rey calls Aliyah naive for knowing nothing about their world, which sends Aliyah walking away. Angie goes with her as Rollins looks stunned.

Dominik and Rey go after the two of them, leaving Rollins to say he wasn’t trying to drive a wedge between the family. Rollins knows that other families have dealt with this before and apologizes. As he leaves. Rollins flashes an evil smile. Are they just trolling us with this story already? It wasn’t interesting in the first place and is coming up on five months. That’s Rusev/Lana/Lashley territory.

Shayna Baszler/Nia Jax vs. Lana/Natalya

Non-title and the Riott Squad is on commentary. Nia takes Lana down with ease to start and it’s off to Shayna for a gutwrench faceplant. The Kirifuda Clutch makes Lana tap at 1:00.

Post match Jax and Baszler go after the Squad, who smile at the champs. Lana gets planted through the announcers’ table in a loud crash.

Drew McIntyre is ready for Orton but has something to do tonight.

Rey tells Aliyah that he doesn’t want her to get hurt but Aliyah says she is just here for Dominik. But she’s just a naive 19 year old right? Aliyah leaves and Angie won’t let Rey go after her.

Back at Raw Underground, Erik and Riddick Moss fight with Moss knocking him out.

Dabba-Kato wants to see what Strowman is all about.

Asuka vs. Peyton Royce

Non-title and Billie Kay is at ringside. Asuka rolls her up to start and hits a sliding kick. They miss kicks to the face and Peyton is back with something close to the Widow’s Peak minute grabbing Asuka’s face. The Asuka Lock is countered so Peyton settles for a spinning kick to the face for two instead. Peyton goes up but gets pulled down into the Asuka Lock, only to have Zelina Vega run in and jump Asuka for the DQ at 2:16.

Post match Asuka fights back, with the threat of the spinning backfist sending Vega running.

Murphy comes up to Aliyah to say he’s sorry for what she has to go through. Aliyah looks more confused.

It’s back to Raw Underground for Strowman vs. Kato. They lock up to start and trade some body shots until Strowman takes him down for a choke. They fight to the floor for a bit before heading back to the stage, where Strowman hits a right hand and pounds away for the knockout win.

Clash Of Champions rundown.

Retribution vs. Hurt Business

Retribution is introduced as Slapjack, T-Bar and Mace (all in their half masks). MVP is the odd man out here and we start after a break. Lashley pulls Mace (Dio Madden) in and hammers away in the corner but it’s off to T-Bar (Dominik Dijakovic) to clothesline him to the floor. Cedric comes in to hammer away but gets taken into the corner for the tag off to Slapjack (possibly Shane Thorne).

Some shots to the back allow the tag to T-Bar, who sends Cedric flying. The Neuralizer staggers T-Bar so it’s off to Shelton to clean house. Mace gets in a distraction though and T-Bar scores with a kick to the face. It’s back to Mace for a double suplex but Shelton belly to back suplexes Mace for a breather. Slapjack gets backdropped as well and the hot tag brings in Lashley to clean house. The high angle spinebuster sets up the Hurt Lock but T-Bar hits Lashley in the eye from the apron for the DQ at 6:15.

Rating: D+. I’ll get to the issues with Retribution later but this was a pretty lame six man tag. The ending was horrible too as you have this chaotic and violent group and the best way to have them get disqualified is a poke to the eye from the apron? They couldn’t, I don’t know, triple team Lashley for a bit or do SOMETHING a little more violent? Granted that’s about the third biggest problem with the team so we’ll leave it for now.

Post match all of Retribution hits the ring for the beatdown. Cue Drew McIntyre with the rest of the locker room for the big brawl. Most of the ring is cleared and it’s Randy Orton with an RKO to McIntyre to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. I actually liked most of the show as they kept things moving and, aside from the endless Mysterio vs. Rollins deal, they didn’t linger on anything too long. They added three title matches to Sunday’s card and even built on some of the matches they already had. Throw in some nice Raw Underground stuff and the show was pretty good, assuming you ignore one boneheaded move with Retribution after another.

Where do you even start? We’ll start back in 1996 with the NWO, who terrorized WCW for a LONG time. They ran in, they attacked people, they messed with the production truck and they generally caused chaos. It took until Uncensored 1997, about nine months after they debuted, for them to win authority to do a bunch of stuff.

Here, about a month and a half after Retribution debuted, WWE just hands them contracts for no apparent reason. Ignoring the fact that they were all trained at the Performance Center and therefore would seem to be under contract already, why would WWE do that? I know we won’t get an answer, but I’d think one might be a bit helpful.

The whole point of Retribution is they’re a bunch of outsiders who are mad at WWE. If they hate the place so much, why would they accept contracts to work for them? Why would WWE offer them those contracts? Why would you take away the main core of their whole persona in one night? It doesn’t make sense from a kayfabe perspective or a writing perspective. Did WWE think that Retribution would just play nice now that they worked here after they didn’t play nice when they already worked there? That’s the logic we’re working with here?

Then they actually got in the ring, where their names sound like rejected Final Fight villains from 1994. I don’t know what they are going to call Mia Yim and Mercedes Martinez, but are we really supposed to not recognize some of these people? Thorne I can accept as he is average sized and wears a full face mask and MAYBE Madden as he never wrestled on TV, but Yim, Martinez and Dijakovic are kind of hard to hide, especially with half of their faces showing. Losing via DQ is fine enough, but they couldn’t wait ten seconds and have the rest of the team run in to end it?

If this is the best WWE can do with Retribution, the team is in more trouble than they seemed to be. This felt like someone completely new took over the story (which very well may be the case) and ignored everything that made it interesting or that made sense about it in the first place. I liked some of what I saw, but unless you turn the volume off and ignore some details, you might get a big headache in a hurry.

Results

Andrade/Angel Garza b. Humberto Carrillo/Dominik Mysterio b. Seth Rollins/Murphy – Wing Clipper to Murphy

Drew McIntyre b. Keith Lee via DQ when Randy Orton interfered

Zelina Vega b. Mickie James – Backstabber

Apollo Crews b. Cedric Alexander – Rollup

Shayna Baszler/Nia Jax b. Lana/Natalya – Kirifuda Clutch to Natalya

Hurt Business b. Retribution via DQ when T-Bar poked Lashley in the eye

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 17, 2006
Location: Savvis Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Attendance: 16,108
Commentators: Jonathan Coachman, Jerry Lawler, Joey Styles

We are less than two weeks away from Backlash and that means it’s probably time for another handicap match this week. The three way feud between Edge, John Cena and HHH continues, which makes it a lot easier to sit through than Vince McMahon/Shane McMahon vs. Shawn Michaels/God. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here is Vince McMahon to get things going. Vince: “The question is, will Mr. McMahon go to h***?” Vince was asked that last week by Shane and tonight he needs to set the record straight. The answer is no, because he was there this morning when his driver got lost and he wound up in east St. Louis. He respects all religions and tonight he is going to announce his own. That would be McMahonism, which is based on the principle that he is lord and master of all sports entertainment. Everyone involved with wrestling will worship him, whether you are in the ring or if you buy a ticket.

That makes McMahon wonder what would happen if McMahonism had been around at various points in history. We see a version of Michelangelo’s The Creation Of Adam with McMahon in the middle, with McMahon of course talking about his endowment. Then we have Moses coming down Mt. Cyanide carrying the Ten Commandments while McMahon has his Muscle and Fitness cover. There are some commandments of McMahonism as well. These include screw unto others, do not covet they neighbor’s wife unless she is really hot.

Back to the photos, with McMahon at the Last Supper. Or what if McMahonism went to Asia? That means a photo of him with a statue of Buddha. And another one at Shea Stadium with the Pope. The fans accurately describe this as boring so Vince talks about how we are in America where there are various freedoms. Tonight, Vince allows everyone to join his church.

Shawn Michaels certainly will not convert, but at Backlash, Shawn will worship at Vince’s feet. If he is lying, strike him down right here in this ring. Vince promises to beat Shawn tonight but here’s Shawn to superkick him and throw in a crotch chop for good measure. The joke went on WAY too long here, even though it wasn’t as long as some of the other opening segments. It wasn’t funny in the first place and then they just kept going with it, making things even worse.

Post break Vince yells at HHH for calling him an old man last week. Tonight, HHH vs. John Cena/Edge.

Rob Conway vs. Kane

Conway says he’s sick of being treated so badly and is then chokeslammed for the pin in less than a minute.

Post match Kane goes outside and grabs Lilian Garcia by the throat for mentioning May 19. Big Show, in workout pants for a weird look, comes out for the save. That means a chokeslam to Kane, who sits up and smiles.

We recap Chavo Guerrero failing to win the Intercontinental Title two weeks ago and quitting as a result.

Chavo has a sitdown interview with Jim Ross. Maybe he made a hasty decision, but the more he thinks about it, the less sure he is. He made a promise to his friends, family and to Eddie Guerrero. The loss summed everything up and JR asks if quitting is honoring Eddie’s memory. Chavo thinks Eddie would have been disgusted by his loss so maybe he should go get a real estate license. JR doesn’t buy this but Chavo says his career is at an end. They shake hands but JR doesn’t seem convinced.

Coach takes over as ring announcer as Lilian is traumatized.

Shelton Benjamin vs. ???

Non-title and if Benjamin wins, the Money in the Bank contract is on the line at Backlash but if Haas wins, the title is on the line. The mystery opponent is….the returning Charlie Haas, meaning Benjamin looks like he has seen a ghost. Charlie German suplexes the look off of his face and snaps off some armdrags to keep Shelton in trouble. A clothesline puts Shelton on the floor and Haas chops away against the apron. Charlie: “DID YOU FORGET ABOUT ME???” Well yeah kind of.

Back in and Shelton gets in a running clothesline to cut Haas down, followed by a hard whip into the steps. The chinlock goes on back inside but Haas fights up, only to miss a dropkick. A belly to back drops Haas again and Shelton does the Rob Van Dam finger point to set up his own Rolling Thunder. Shelton has to bail out of his own Five Star though and Haas grabs a rollup for the surprise pin.

Rating: C-. Haas was looking intense here and the match wasn’t bad at all, but it is rarely a good idea to have a champion lose clean, especially when he is heading into a big match against someone else. Throw in that Shelton doesn’t have the best record over the last few months and I wasn’t wild on the pin here. They certainly did have a surprise though and Haas looked good enough.

During the break, Maria held the Kiss Cam. That is all.

Armando Alejandro Estrada comes in to see Vince McMahon and, because he is a follower of McMahonism, he offers Umaga to face Shawn Michaels tonight. Vince says it’s next so Estrada leaves. Shelton Benjamin comes in to say he saw the light that led him straight to the office. Benjamin drops to a knee and says only McMahon can save him. Vince: “I do kind of like people on their knees before me.” Shelton looks a little unsure. And moving on, thank goodness.

Umaga vs. Shawn Michaels

We take a look back at the opening segment and we’re ready to go. Shawn sticks and moves to start until Umaga blasts him with a clothesline. A kick to the chest puts Shawn on the floor and here’s Vince to watch in person. More shots to the chest have Shawn sailing over the announcers’ table and a running knee drop crushes him again back inside. The falling headbutt makes it worse but Umaga charges into a boot in the corner.

Umaga knocks him straight back down but misses the running hip attack in the corner. The forearm puts Umaga down and there’s the nip up into the top rope elbow. Estrada breaks up Sweet Chin Music and Umaga sends Shawn into the Tree of Woe for the running headbutt. Another running headbutt connects and Umaga chokes away for the DQ.

Rating: C. They didn’t do anything wrong here as it advanced the story, kept Shawn from taking a loss and gave Umaga a dominant performance. It wouldn’t make a ton of sense for someone presented as a savage to care about a disqualification so the ending is as logical as they could have had. Good enough here, especially for such a short match.

Post match Umaga beats Shawn down some more but Vince calls him off from using the Samoan Spike. Vince wants to do this himself and ties Shawn in the ropes. He goes to grab a chair….and an explosion comes out of the ring post. Then another explosion comes out of another post, sending a worried Vince running. Another explosion goes off on the stage and now we have a wall of fire keeping Vince from the ring. We officially have divine intervention.

Vince sped away in the limo during the break.

This Week In Wrestling History, Rock held a funeral for Steve Austin and revealed that he still had the Smoking Skull Title. As a result, Austin crushed Rock’s Lincoln Continental with a monster truck.

Here’s Matt Striker for Striker’s Classroom. He says what we just saw from Austin and Rock is everything wrong with this nation today. Students at his school in New York couldn’t even tell him about the Bill Of Rights so imagine how bad it is here in St. Louis. Everyone is so obsessed with being cool and being like Nelly or whomever that is rather than learning about Nixon. Everyone here gets an F, but here is Carlito to interrupt. The fans are rather pleased to see Carlito, but he isn’t happy that Striker STOLE HIS APPLE.

Teachers didn’t get him back in the day and kept sending him to detention, so he spat the teacher’s apple in his face. Carlito thinks Striker looks like his old teacher so let’s do it again. Striker has an analogy for him (Carlito: “Anal what?”) and it involves giving Carlito a beating. The fight is on but here’s Chris Masters with the Masterlock to Carlito. I never cared for Carlito as a heel so maybe the face turn can help him a bit.

Rob Van Dam vs. Spirit Squad

The Money in the Bank briefcase has been spray painted for a change. Speaking of the Money in the Bank briefcase, it is on the line along with the Intercontinental Title at Backlash should Van Dam lose here. Van Dam tries to send the Squad outside as fast as he can but they finally get him down. The High Spirits (appropriate) set up the guillotine legdrop for the pin in just over a minute.

Trish Stratus, as Mickie James, has a surprise for the real Mickie James.

There is a big gift box in the ring for James (Where do you buy those things?) and here’s Trish (as Mickie, complete with entrance and outfit) to remind us of the time where Mickie gave Trish a present just before Wrestlemania. Since Trish is going to be challenging Mickie at Backlash, she has a gift for her this time around. Cue Mickie, as Trish, to sound rather nervous about what could be in the box.

Trish insists though and it’s….Trish’s boyfriend Jack, tied to a chair. Trish ungags him and he says that he thinks “both of you b****** are crazy.” With the gag put back in, Trish sits down on his lap (the fans seem to approve) and says if Mickie is really Trish, she’ll be worried right now, but if she’s really Mickie, this means nothing.

Trish: “Ya dig?” Mickie: “GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF MY BOYFRIEND!” Trish leaves so Mickie (seemingly with some issues of her top not holding up) helps Jack…who she accuses of cheating on her and kicks him in the head. That’s not how it played out when Mary Ann thought she was Ginger on Gilligan’s Island so I’m completely lost.

HHH comes up to Edge and Lita in the back with Edge promising to pin HHH tonight. HHH says it’s possible, unless John Cena does something about it. What has Edge done about Cena taking his title? Think about it.

Here’s the See No Evil trailer, plus some people in the crew talking about the movie. This isn’t on the Network of course.

We look back at Kane snapping on Lilian Garcia.

Backlash rundown, including Big Show vs. Kane.

John Cena/Edge vs. HHH

Lita is here as well. HHH jumps Cena to start and Edge is more than happy to start on the apron. Cena is back up with the whips into the corner and the release fisherman’s suplex for two. A back elbow cuts Cena off though and the fans are VERY pleased. HHH throws in a crotch chop before dropping the knee for two but Cena is back up with the clotheslines.

The Shuffle is countered with a spinebuster though and now Edge is willing to tag himself in. Edge gets in a shot to Cena but then walks into a spinebuster of his own. There’s the facebuster but Edge goes old school with a spinwheel kick. Cena is back in to suplex Edge and the referee gets bumped. HHH whips out the sledgehammer and lays out Cena but walks into the spear to give Edge the pin.

Rating: D+. Just like last week, the wrestling wasn’t the point here and that’s ok. I can go with everyone going for the mind games and getting the pins, as they at least have some bearing on what we will be seeing at Backlash. The falls don’t mean anything about elevating everyone and in this case, that’s an acceptable situation.

Overall Rating: C. The McMahonism stuff is going to be hit or miss for everyone and that’s understandable given the subject matter and how over the top it is. It is rather dumb, but Vince can make something like this work and is certainly trying to do so. Other than that though, Backlash is still a two match show, though Mickie vs. Trish is so goofy and borderline insane that I’m liking it more every week. They’re doing well enough for a show that is nothing but Wrestlemania fallout though and that’s a nice surprise.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 14, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Dolph Ziggler

We are less than two weeks away from Clash Of Champions but more importantly this is In Your Face Raw, which is no way their big show to counter the debut of Monday Night Football. Therefore, the question here is how far do they get blown back to the Stone Age in terms of the ratings and viewership. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Dolph Ziggler is on commentary for the opening preview.

Here’s Drew McIntyre to open things up, now with the sound of a sword being pulled out of a sheath because that’s a thing WWE loves. We see a long recap of the exchange of kicks to the head over the last few years. Back in the arena, McIntyre says that Orton should be lucky that his head is still on his head. McIntyre has been told that because of his fractured jaw, he needs to take some time off. However, that means vacating the WWE Championship so that isn’t going to be happening. After everything that has been happening, Drew has an idea for Clash Of Champions: let’s make it an ambulance match.

After we see the Claymore General Hospital (caricatures of people McIntyre has kicked in the face), McIntyre explains how the Claymore was invented, which was mainly due to a lack of underpants during a running big boot in leather pants. Cue Adam Pearce to say that Randy Orton might not be able to make Clash Of Champions, so if Keith Lee beats Drew tonight, Lee gets the title shot instead. Drew, as Pearce leaves: “Who put you in charge anyway?” Cue Lee to look at the title and slowly shake hands with Drew, but he doesn’t let go so soon.

Street Profits vs. Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura

Non-title and Cesaro and Nakamura promise to take the smoke before the match. Cesaro uppercuts Dawkins’ head off to start and it’s Nakamura coming in with a middle rope knee to the head into Cesaro’s gutwrench suplex for an early two. Dawkins drops Nakamura with a shot to the head of his own and it’s off to Ford for a heck of a dropkick. Ford is taken outside and dropped hard onto the barricade and we take a break.

Back with Ford avoiding Cesaro’s charge into the corner and diving over to bring in Dawkins. House is cleaned but Nakamura knocks Dawkins down, only to walk into the spinebuster. Ford’s crazy frog splash hits raised knees to give Nakamura two though and it’s the Swing into a running knee to the ribs for the same. Nakamura kicks Dawkins in the head and it’s Swiss Death to Ford for another near fall. Cesaro uppercuts away in the corner and hits a superplex but Dawkins tags himself in for the Cash Out and the pin at 9:28.

Rating: C+. It was certainly energetic and that’s what it needed to be. The Profits winning makes more sense as they have been champions for a lot longer and are a much more established team, but I’m still not wild on seeing the champs lose clean like this. Then again it isn’t like the Smackdown Tag Team Titles have any kind of long term value anyway.

Video on Mickie James. That’s a good idea as a lot of newer fans might not be overly familiar with the peak of her career.

Angel Garza talks to Lana, who can’t believe that Mickie James is getting a title shot before Natalya. Garza calls her passion for justice intoxicating. Cue Andrade and Zelina Vega, with the latter getting rid of Lana and then yelling at Garza for abandoning Andrade last week. Angel is tired of being blamed for everything and says Andrade was the one who lost last week. The men argue in Spanish but Zelina tells them to callate. She can’t do this anymore and walks off as the guys get in a fight.

Here’s the Hurt Business for a chat before their match. MVP says business is booming and Shelton Benjamin has moved up from the Gold Standard to Platinum Status. Then there is Cedric Alexander, who is officially part of the team. Cedric mocks fans yelling at him for turning his back on his friends. This is his job and no one knows what it is like to come to work every week and get beaten down by three men like these people. Now that he is in the Hurt Business….he can be cut off by Ricochet and Apollo Crews.

Apollo says Cedric turned on them and sold him out but Cedric says he took the beatings for Apollo when Crews was US Champion. Shelton says Cedric doesn’t owe them an explanation but Ricochet says no one was talking to him. Cedric was supposed to be their brother but they aren’t out here to say why Cedric why. Now, they’re coming for Cedric. This was a nice back and forth segment with Cedric explaining his actions and his former friends saying what you would expect them to say.

Cedric Alexander vs. Ricochet

The rest of the Hurt Business and Apollo Crews are here too. They don’t waste time in starting with Ricochet sending him outside for a kick to the face and a moonsault. Lashley and Crews get in a fight but here’s Erik to brawl with Lashley. They fight up the ramp and we take an early break. Back with Ricochet caught in a waistlock and getting kneed in the ribs to take him right back down. Ricochet scores with a dropkick and a German suplex for two but a Shelton distraction slows Ricochet down on the way to the top. The shooting star misses and Cedric grabs the Lumbar Check for the pin at 8:45.

Rating: C-. At least Cedric didn’t lose in his first singles match as part of the team. Cedric is a good addition to the story and offers something that the team has been needing: a personal story. Lashley vs. Crews was all about the title but now they have someone who is actually angry at them for something personal. That has been missing and it could help the team go a long way.

Post match Retribution pops up on screen to say they are seeing with eyes wide open. The people who sell their souls to a corrupt machine, you become garbage yourselves. One of the men (pretty clearly Dominick Dijakovic) talks about how they were all in the Performance Center being lied to and now they are the reality. They are Retribution. The Hurt Business waits on anyone to show up in the ring and no one ever arrives.

Mickie James talks about how how she has been around for a long time and with experience comes clarity. She knows this might be her last chance to win the Raw Women’s Title.

Adam Pearce yells at security for failing to stop Retribution but here’s the Hurt Business to say they’ll take over security. Just not for free.

Raw Women’s Title: Mickie James vs. Asuka

James is challenging and we get the Big Match Intros. They fight over a lockup to an early standoff before Mickie gets a few rollups for two each. Asuka shoulders her down but Mickie is back with a neckbreaker for two. A knee to the face gives Asuka two more and they’re both down for a bit. Asuka misses the running hip attack into the ropes and Mickie blasts her with a kick to the face as we take a break.

Back with the two of them fighting their way to their feet until Asuka charges into some shots in the corner. A hurricanrana out of the corner sends Asuka down but she’s right back with the hip attack. Mickie plants her again though and nips up into a little dance. Asuka catches Mickie on top but gets shoved down, setting up the top rope Thesz press for two. Mickie’s spinning kick to the face misses and Asuka hits some YES Kicks, somehow not breaking Mickie’s legs as she keeps falling backwards.

Mickie is back and grabs a half crab before hitting the kick to the face for two more. Asuka pulls her into the cross armbreaker until Mickie stacks her up for two. They trade rollups for two each but Asuka reverses into the Asuka Lock. Mickie flips around and lands on Asuka in what should be a cover but the referee stops it at 11:59, saying Mickie cannot continue, even though she is completely conscious.

Rating: B-. This was a nice hard hitting match but the ending was pretty confusing and seems to suggest some kind of actual injury. Either that or some kind of angle that isn’t getting off to a good start. Either way, Mickie can still go and gave Asuka a fight but didn’t have enough to take the title.

Post match here’s Zelina Vega to say Asuka has defended against everyone from yesterday but has forgotten about one of the best in the business today. Vega says she is ready for the title so Asuka yells at her, only to be slapped in the face. Asuka scares her off and I think we have the next title match.

Keith Lee is ready to go after the WWE Championship and he’ll do what he must, including taking advantage of McIntyre’s injured jaw.

Erik vs. Bobby Lashley

Non-title and MVP is on commentary. Erik knees him down to start but Lashley grabs a spinebuster. Lashley is back up with the spinning Dominator for two and then the Hurt Lock (full nelson and better than the Full Lashley) makes Erik tap at 2:08.

Kevin Owens is asked about Aleister Black, who might be mad because Hot Topic wouldn’t honor his coupon. Maybe he was mad that no one cared about him sitting in a dark room for months. Owens wants to hurt Black and inflict as much pain on him as possible. Owens walks away and Black pops up to glare at him.

The steel cage is being built. I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen one actually assembled on TV.

Braun Strowman shows up for Raw Underground and threatens to use Shane McMahon to open the door.

MVP seems to have replaced Ziggler on commentary for the rest of the show.

We recap the end of last week’s Raw where the Mysterios gang attacked Murphy.

Murphy tries to explain last week to Rollins but Seth gets it. He has forgiven Murphy and has a favor to ask of him: stay in the back so he can’t screw anything up. Rollins throws in some hard slaps to the face to prove his point.

R-Truth cuts a promo on a Kit Kat but Liv Morgan comes up and attacks it from behind.

Mandy Rose’s trade to Raw is announced.

The Mysterio Family is ready for Dominik to face Rollins in a cage. Rey thinks Dominik will show what he can do once the cage shuts.

Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio

In a cage. Rollins strikes away to start and for the first time, I can’t fathom how many camera cuts are made. They were changing in time with Rollins’ shots to the back. Dominik grabs a tornado DDT and goes for the escape but here’s Murphy to slide in a kendo stick. Rollins sends him into the cage and we take a break with Cole in mid-sentence. Back with Rollins raking Dominik’s face across the cage but Dominik reverses into a ram of his own.

There’s a headscissors to send Rollins into the cage and now Rey hands Dominik a stick of his own. Some rams into the cage set up a sitout spinebuster for two on Rollins. The go up top and both crotch themselves on the rope, with MVP giving Dominik credit for shaking the ropes and being crafty. Dominik goes for the door but Murphy jumps Rey and beats him onto the barricade.

Murphy climbs up to cut off Dominik but gets knocked down, giving us what sounded like a sound effect on the crash landing. Dominik hits a frog splash for two so he goes up again, only to get superplexed down into the Falcon Arrow to give Rollins two. Rollins hits the Stomp but stops to glare at the Mysterios instead of covering. That means a second Stomp to finish Dominik at 11:59.

Rating: B-. I very rarely notice this kind of thing but the camera cuts here were completely insane and some of the most annoying things I can remember seeing in years. It was every few other second and it became the thing I kept focusing on rather than the match itself. As for the match, it was more of the same as Dominik looked good but came up short in a match where he shouldn’t have won. It was good enough, but I don’t need to see any combination of the Mysterios and Rollins/Murphy for a long time.

Post match Murphy seems to humble himself before Rollins, who sends him into the cage anyway. Rollins asks how it feels and says Murphy sucks. With Rey in the ring, Rollins tells Rey’s wife that he hopes the daughter turns out better. Rey’s daughter Aaliyah checks on Murphy for a bit before getting inside to check on Dominik as well, as Dominik is holding his shoulder.

We go to Raw Underground where Dolph Ziggler elbows someone out. Riddick Moss gets up to face Ziggler next and he blocks Ziggler’s takedown attempts. That’s fine with Dolph as he tries a choke but gets elbowed in the face. Braun Strowman comes in and beats up both of them.

Drew McIntyre talks about how Keith Lee could have kicked out of the RKO last week and if Orton had hit him with one at Summerslam, he might not be champion today. Cue Keith lee to say he thought they were friends. Lee thinks Drew is saying Orton would have beaten him but the only match he didn’t interfere in is the one time Lee beat Orton. Maybe Drew thinks Lee can beat him and take the title. Lee slaps him on the shoulder so McIntyre slaps him in the face as the fight is on. Lee whips him into the anvil case but referees break it up.

Titus O’Neil heads into Raw Underground.

Braun Strowman is still destroying people, including a second try from Riddick Moss. Titus double legs Strowman and hammers away but Strowman chokes him out.

Aleister Black vs. Kevin Owens

Black jumps him from behind before the bell. We’re joined in progress after a break with Black beating him down and grabbing a half crab. Owens kicks him away though and drops him over the top for a crash onto the apron. Back in and Owens pokes him in the eye but Black grabs a kneebar. Black holds on for four before breaking but Owens is back up with the superkick. The lights go wacky and Owens uses the distraction to hit the Stunner for the pin at 4:35.

Rating: C. The match wasn’t something that had the chance to go very far and I’m glad that Retribution didn’t actually show up in the ending. That being said, it is another example of Retribution not actually doing anything, which is one of the worst things that has been working against them so far. Also, Black shouldn’t be losing this soon into his heel run but at least it wasn’t clean.

Owens and McIntyre are still fighting until Adam Pearce comes up to say break it up or no match.

Riott Squad vs. Lana/Natalya

Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler are on commentary. Lana and Liv start things off with Lana getting a quick rollup for two but it’s quick off to Riott. A Codebreaker from Liv into the Riott Kick finishes Lana at 1:13.

Post match Shayna and Nia beat up Lana and Natalya, including a Samoan drop to put Lana through the announcers’ table.

Back at Raw Underground, Moss tries his luck with Strowman one more time and Strowman can’t believe it. Strowman beats up Moss and Ziggler at the same time but Dabba Kato gets up for the real showdown. Shane McMahon cuts them off and says next week.

Keith Lee vs. Drew McIntyre

Non-title. Lee hammers away to start and gets in a shot to the bad jaw, setting up a charge over the top. Back from a break with McIntyre slugging away so Lee goes right back to the chops. The top rope chop gets two and McIntyre drops him with a clothesline. A suplex doesn’t work for McIntyre so Lee runs him over with a crossbody for two of his own. Lee puts him on top for the superplex back down and a delayed two. The Claymore and Spirit Bomb are both blocked so it’s stereo crossbodies for a double knockdown. They pull themselves up…and here’s Retribution for the no contest at we’ll say 9:45.

Rating: C+. They went with the two big men hitting each other really hard formula here and it worked well. Lee still doesn’t lose for a good detail, but you can also tell that he has lost a lot of sizzle in the last few weeks. Maybe helping to deal with Retribution can be a nice boost though, which he somehow already needs. Also, well done on not having Orton interfere here, which felt like the obvious ending.

Post match the beatdown stays on but here’s the Hurt Business to take off the jackets and go for the fight as well. McIntyre and Lee get up to hit the big stereo flip dives onto everyone to end the show, as somehow no one was unmasked in that whole thing.

Overall Rating: C+. The wild camera cuts during the Mysterio vs. Rollins match aside, there wasn’t much to complain about here. They focused on several stories and nothing was overly bad all night long. Retribution actually did something a little more important, though having them laid out to end the show doesn’t help them very much. This was a far easier watch than usual for the show and maybe they are starting to figure things out again. Emphasis on maybe.

Results

Street Profits b. Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura – Cash Out to Cesaro

Cedric Alexander b. Ricochet – Lumbar Check

Asuka b. Mickie James via referee stoppage

Bobby Lashley b. Erik – Hurt Lock

Seth Rollins b. Dominik Mysterio – Stomp

Kevin Owens b. Aleister Black – Stunner

Riott Squad b. Lana/Natalya – Riott Kick to Lana

Keith Lee vs. Drew McIntyre went to a no contest when Retribution interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: March 22, 1993
Location: Manhattan Center, New York City, New York
Attendance: 1,000
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Randy Savage, Rob Bartlett

Please no more Bartlett impressions. I don’t think I can handle it again after the Elvis and Vince stuff, which was neither funny nor anything of value, but I can’t imagine Bartlett sticks around that much longer. Other than that we are less than two weeks off from Wrestlemania, meaning it’s time for whatever we can get in the form of a final push in 1993. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a look at the WWF stars at something called the Michael Landon Awards. This is set to A Whole New World from Aladdin of all things. Apparently this is for children’s leukemia research and there is nothing wrong with that. Hulk Hogan gives a speech asking for leftovers for some reason before introducing a video about wrestlers’ charity work. This is feeling about as much like a fluff piece as you can get so far.

Now we get some clips from wrestlers telling us to not smoke or do drugs. Interestingly enough here, Vince is actually acknowledged as the president and CEO of the WWF for one of (if not the) first times ever. Back to the awards ceremony as Hogan talks about meeting a kid who died a few weeks later before introducing Vince who is receiving some award. Hogan sucks up to Vince for a bit, even calling him a hero.

Vince comes out to accept the award to a sped up version of Gonna Fly Now from Rocky. He talks about how great it is to make a kid feel good for just a few moments and how good it feels to give a dying kid a feeling like that and take their minds off their problems for just a few moments. Vince accepts the award on behalf of his superstars who really deserve it.

We are now a good chunk of the way into the show, with none of this being shown or mentioned on the Network due to the music.

Bushwhackers vs. Damien Demento/Repo Man

Was everyone else late getting to the show or something? The Bushwhackers comes through the crowd for reasons that aren’t exactly clear, nor do they seem to be known by the production team. Their entrance even takes them all the way through a break until it’s Demento vs. Butch to get things going. Demento drives him into the corner to start but everything breaks down in a hurry with the Bushwhackers biting both of them on the trunks.

That means a bunch of marching around the ring as the villains take a breather on the floor. Back in and Repo takes over on Luke, followed by Demento dropping a leg between the legs. Luke finally gets in a shot to the face and the hot tag (read as: no reaction in the slightest) brings in Butch to start cleaning house. Everything breaks down and Luke knocks Butch onto Demento. There’s no cover so Repo elbows Demento by mistake and it’s the Battering Ram to finish Repo at 5:27.

Rating: D-. Oh goodness no. The Bushwhackers were never the most serious team (and yes I know who the Sheepherders are before someone points it out) and this was bad even for them. It was a match that felt out of time and I still can’t fathom how long the team stayed around. Terrible stuff here, and an even worse choice to start the show.

Tatanka vs. Reno Riggins

Riggins jumps him to start but gets backdropped for his efforts. Back up and Riggins’ sleeper is quickly broken up so it’s an armdrag into an armbar. Riggins fights up and avoids a charge into the corner but a ram into the buckle sends Tatanka onto the war path. A powerslam into the Papoose To Go finishes Riggins at 3:31.

Rating: D+. I know Tatanka is one of the most stereotypical of all the stereotypical characters but he was good at what he did. It’s a good example of someone who took what he had and ran with it while managing to get it over. Tatanka would be quite the midcard star and while this wasn’t great, at least he did get a reaction.

There is going to be a WWF Hall Of Fame and we get one of the only choices for the first inductee with Andre The Giant. It’s always great to see some of these old clips.

Money Inc. vs. Scott Rich/Jeff Armstrong

Non-title. DiBiase starts with Rich, who looks like Lance Storm if he shrunk in the wash. A clothesline puts Rich on the floor in a hurry as Bartlett is flipping through the channels to see what else is on TV. For some reason I remember seeing that when it first aired and…yeah it’s kind of dumb. IRS comes in to take over on Armstrong and DiBiase elbows him in the face for a bonus. A powerslam from DiBiase sets up the Write Off (jumping clothesline) to finish Armstrong at 3:02.

Rating: D. The ‘watching the competition” deal was stupid but it’s not as bad as the impressions. What was kind of stupid was thinking that 1993 Ted DiBiase and IRS with the flying clothesline of pain was going to be enough to beat Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania. It would have been a stretch five years ago and we’re supposed to buy it here?

It’s time for the Wrestlemania Report as the show is almost here. It’s a double main event if you don’t get that idea yet and everyone is going to be wearing togas. Gene says his is rather small and….well I’ve seen him in trunks before so that’s a disturbing idea.

Kamala vs. Doink The Clown

Doink’s hair is looking especially big here and Slick is with Kamala. Doink has a present for Kamala, which is a bit I’ve seen on Coliseum Video before. Kamala goes for the present and gets taken down into an armbar. The armbar is broken up and Kamala chops him into the corner for the splash. We take a break and come back with Doink being chopped to the floor…where Doink hands him the present. Kamala opens it up to find nothing inside and it’s a countout at 7:10.

Rating: D-. Somehow the horrible Coliseum Video match was better, which doesn’t exactly say much. Doink was someone who had something interesting to him with all of the mind games but what in the world were they expecting out of this? Kamala as a face was such a weird idea and it went as well as you would expect here.

Post match Kamala chases him underneath the ring so Doink whips out a chair, only to have Kamala come out from the other side and chase Doink through the crowd.

And now, Rob Bartlett has a fan club. They’re the older Raw Ring Girls and Savage and Vince are really, REALLY unimpressed. Rob kisses one of them and this is still not funny.

We get a preview for Sunday’s March To Wrestlemania special to wrap it up.

Overall Rating: F. Horrible indeed, as the best match on the show a Tatanka squash. Wrestlemania is up next thank goodness, though I can’t bring myself to care about it whatsoever. It’s a completely two match show and this show barely covered Bret vs. Yokozuna in the main event. Money Inc. vs. the Mega Maniacs is being treated as the biggest match on the show and I can’t bring myself to care about Hogan in a tag match at Wrestlemania. This was the new low benchmark for Raw at the moment though, both for how bad it was on its own and then how little it made me want to see the important show.

There is no March 29 Raw so the next show is on April 5.  I have however done the March To Wrestlemania special and you can check it out right here if you’re interested:

https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2020/06/01/hidden-gems-15-for-the-complete-experience/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: March 15, 1993
Location: Mid Hudson Civic Center, Poughkeepsie, New York
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan, Rob Bartlett

It’s the first time the show has left the Manhattan Center, which is mainly due to a blizzard so it’s more along the lines of necessity rather than innovation. We have less than three weeks before Wrestlemania and that can’t come and go soon enough. Hopefully we get a little better build, or at least as much as there can still be. Let’s get to it.

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

Rob Bartlett is playing Vince McMahon, down to the tuxedo with red bow tie. Heenan thinks it’s really him and we get the show preview.

Opening sequence.

Razor Ramon vs. Russ Greenberg

After his traditional threat to the ring attendant, Ramon hammers away on Greenberg and sends him flying with the fall away slam. We hit the abdominal stretch with the slaps to the head before taking him down into something like a weak STF. Bartlett continues with a bad Vince impress (How hard is it to impersonate VINCE MCMAHON?) and there’s the chokeslam to plant Russ again. The belly to back superplex into the Razor’s Edge is good for the pin on Greenberg at 3:08.

Rating: D+. Nothing match, but you can see the superstar potential in Razor. He was still a heel here, but you can see the mega face in him waiting to break out. Ramon had all of the tools to be a star and while he certainly came close, it never felt like he got all the way to the heights he could have reached. The big turn is coming though and it should help a lot.

Typhoon vs. LA Gore

Gore looks like a great 90s impression of the 80s. Typhoon runs him over to start but has to shrug off the shoulders in the corner. There’s a back elbow to the face and a powerslam sets up the big splash to finish Gore at 2:57. For some reason, this was advertised as Typhoon vs. Bam Bam Bigelow last week but we got this instead. Probably blizzard related.

In between a break and Promotional Consideration, Bobby Heenan is having some issues with his cue in pure Heenan fashion.

Back from the ads and Heenan brings out Giant Gonzalez, with Harvey Wippleman, for a chat. Harvey talks about how everyone is scared of Gonzalez and promises to bury the Undertaker, who is the only one stupid enough to not be scared. Heenan thinks Harvey should knock out Paul Bearer and Gonzalez promises a giant surprise.

Papa Shango vs. Bob Backlund

This should be…I really don’t know actually. Bartlett keeps going with the Vince stuff as Backlund takes Shango down and does his weird dance. A test of strength goes to Shango Backlund reverses into a wristlock as Bartlett is now just rambling incoherently and making noise disguised as words.

Shango grabs a backbreaker as Gorilla and Heenan are clearly fed up with Bartlett, as they should be. There’s a headbutt between Backlund’s legs and we hit the chinlock. The chinlock goes on again as Bartlett reads ad copy and even THAT gets on Gorilla and Bobby’s nerves. Backlund fights up but gets clotheslined back down, only to grab a small package to finish Shango at 6:59.

Rating: C. Yeah it was actually ok with Shango doing his power thing and Backlund winning with the wrestling technique. That’s a nice preview for what is coming at Wrestlemania, which is often a good idea for a match on the way to the big one. The chinlocks took something away from it, but sweet goodness Bartlett is a nightmare with this Vince stuff.

It’s the Wrestlemania Report. Gene Okerlund is rather excited about the idea of the toga party. It’s on to the main event, starting with Yokozuna squashing a jobber.

Money Inc. is ready to destroy the Mega Maniacs and they’re making an armor piercing briefcase.

Paul Bearer and Undertaker are ready to take Giant Gonzalez to Undertaker’s personal graveyard.

Nasty Boys vs. Headshrinkers

Knobbs kisses the rather large Raw Ring Girl and Bartlett talks about human sacrifice. Some clotheslines put Samu down to start and there’s a backdrop for the same. A flying armbar takes Fatu down and it’s still a little weird to hear the Nasty Boys being cheered so loudly. The arm wringing continues and Sags comes back in to bite the arm.

We take a break and come back with Heenan telling wild stories of brawling involving the tables and stairs during the commercial. I’ve never known him to lie so I buy it. Fatu grabs a chinlock on Sags but Fatu misses a top rope headbutt. Knobbs comes in to start cleaning house, including a double DDT as everything breaks down. They fight over to a well placed concession stand and the match is thrown out at 10:54.

Rating: D+. This didn’t work so well, though a regular match wasn’t the best choice for something between these guys. Let the Nasty Boys do their kind of brawl that they would do with Harlem Heat in WCW. I’ve always liked the Headshrinkers but the Nasty Boys in a regular match wasn’t the best choice.

Video on the WWF’s charity work.

The preview for next week’s show wraps us up.

Overall Rating: D. I could take Bartlett as Elvis a few weeks back but this was an absolute nightmare with the Vince stuff not even being funny. Vince is one of the easiest people in the world to parody and for some reason we had Bartlett being….completely unfunny I guess would be the right term. Bad show, and mainly due to one person.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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