Monday Night Raw
Date: October 10, 2022
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Corey Graves, Kevin Patrick

It’s the season premiere and that means we should have a stacked show. WWE has a tendency to make these shows huge and that is the case again this week. We have a D-Generation X reunion, plus Bobby Lashley defending the United States Title against Seth Rollins. Let’s get to it.

Here is Extreme Rules if you need a recap.

Shawn Michaels, Road Dogg and X-Pac are in the back and talk to HHH, wearing a headset at the Gorilla position. HHH tells them to be nice so a bunch of swearing and penis jokes, complete with rubber chickens, ensues. This was perfectly amusing given the situation.

Opening sequence.

Kevin Patrick is introduced as the new lead play by play commentator.

Here’s the Bloodline to get things going. After we look at the Logan Paul/Bloodline Smackdown segment, Reigns talks about how he likes to move forward. This time though, he can’t move past last Friday, which has him thinking about something his dad once told him. His dad said the loudest in the room is also the weakest in the room, so he thinks that if you’re loud and in the Bloodline, you’re a fool. Reigns: “Jey! Are you a fool?”

Sami cuts him off (Heyman goes BALLISTIC for Sami daring to interrupt) and says that Reigns made Jey Sami’s responsibility so he has this. With the fans VERY behind him, Sami talks about how close he and Roman have gotten before talking about how great Solo Sikoa is. Jey asks if Reigns really believes this….and here is Matt Riddle to interrupt. Riddle wants one more shot at Reigns, who polls the audience. Reigns: “…..nah.”

Riddle asks if someone wants to step up to the plate and Jey volunteers Sami. Riddle says “yeet” (I think?), which Sami says is a Bloodline thing. Riddle: “Yeet.” Jey tells Sami to handle his business so the match is set for tonight. Sami’s pops continue to be insane and the eventual face turn, however it goes, is going to be incredible.

Long recap of Extreme Rules.

Austin Theory vs. Johnny Gargano

Gargano rather approves of the JOHNNY WRESTLING chants as he takes over to start, including the rolling kick to the head. The slingshot DDT to the apron is blocked though and Theory hits a suplex on said apron as we take a break. Back with Gargano hitting a slingshot spear for two but Theory drops him for the same.

A-Town Down is broken up so Theory puts him into the Gargano Escape. That’s broken up and Gargano’s Gargano Escape goes on instead. With that broken up as well, Theory hits a superkick for two and says it’s his time. The rolling something is cut off by Gargano’s suplex and a running diving DDT to the floor knocks Theory silly. One Final Beat gives Gargano the pin at 8:44.

Rating: C+. Theory’s downward spiral continues and that is still more than a little confusing. Theory has a long time to do something with the briefcase but it is hard to imagine that any kind of a successful cash-in means much for him at this point. I’m not sure why Theory is losing so often but that is what WWE continues to do for some reason. Gargano getting a win is nice, though I’m not sure about the cost.

Rey Mysterio vs. Chad Gable

Otis is in Gable’s corner. Gable goes after the arm to start but is easily taken to the mat and into an armbar. A headscissors puts Gable on the floor and a sliding sunset bomb sends him into the barricade….and here are Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio. We take a break and come back with Gable hitting a German suplex for two before grabbing the ankle lock. With that broken up, Rey hits a 619 and a slingshot splash for the fast pin at 7:45.

Rating: C. Well at least it wasn’t a distraction into the finish, which could have been a really annoying way to go. Rey getting the pin makes sense as he needs to rebuild himself and it isn’t like Gable can fall much further than he has already gone. In theory this is setting up Rey vs. Dominik in the near future, though I’m not sure how well such a match would actually go.

Post match Rey gets surrounded by Dominik and Rhea. Dominik demands Rey hit him until Dominik gets in a slap of his own. The rest of Judgment Day comes in so Rey fights them off, until Dominik saves Finn Balor from the 619. Dominik still demands Rey hit him but Rey goes to walk away. As a result, Rhea holds Rey’s hands and Dominik hits his own 619. They’re trying everything they can to make Rey vs. Dominik work and while it is doing better than it was before, it’s still hard to get into Dominik doing anything.

Post break, Judgment Day is still in the ring to brag about how great they are right now, with Finn Balor bragging quite a bit about making Edge say he quits. Balor on the other hand is “too legit to quit.” We see a recap of the I Quit match and Rhea Ripley is rather pleased with the Conchairto to Beth Phoenix. Dominik says the Conchairto did it for him, which brings Balor to AJ Styles. Tonight, it is an ultimatum, but here is Styles to cut him off.

Styles says he needs some friends to help him here, if not even family. He drops to a knee in front of Balor and shakes his hand….but that isn’t the family Styles meant. Cue the returning OC (Good Brothers, Karl Anderson/Luke Gallows, the former of which is the reigning New Japan Never Openweight Champion) for the brawl, with Judgment Day being cleared out.

Damage Ctrl is upset about Bianca Belair beating Bayley at Extreme Rules and promise that punishment is coming for Belair. Tonight, Bayley is going to beat up Candice LeRae.

Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman and Solo Sikoa are ready to hit the town in New York City (Heyman has set it up) but Jey Uso needs to talk. Reigns tells him to stay and make sure Sami Zayn wins, which gives Jey the reaction you might expect.

Bayley vs. Candice LeRae

Candice wisely goes after Bayley’s banged up ribs to start and a missile dropkick puts Bayley on the floor as we take a break. Back with Candice favoring her knee and Bayley staying right on it. The DDT to the knee keeps Candice down but the Rose Plant is countered into a cradle to give Candice the pin at 6:02. Not enough shown to rate but Bayley’s spiral continues while Candice gets a bit win.

Post match the rest of Damage Ctrl runs out to beat on LeRae so here is Bianca Belair for the save. That doesn’t quite work though and Damage Ctrl gets to stand tall.

Miz runs into Maryse in the back but he is worried about Dexter Lumis ruining it. She has a gift for him which is….a baseball bat.

It’s time for Miz’s birthday celebration, complete with balloons, gifts and an ice sculpture. Maryse introduces Miz and starts with the presents, including the bat signed by the best long ball hitter today: the Cleveland Guardians’ (who play the New York Yankees in the playoffs starting this week) Jose Ramirez (as a lifelong Cleveland fan, I have never been a bigger Miz fan)!

Maryse also gives him some massive red balls to go with the bat before having him open one more present. This one is still on the table and is rather heavy, so Miz pulls the box away to reveal…..Dexter Lumis’ head. Miz puts the box back on and beats it with the bat but Lumis pops out and chokes Miz. That’s enough for Miz to leave so Lumis is left alone with Maryse, who runs too. Then Lumis pulls out a knife, pops the balls, and eats cake.

DX gives two guys a pep talk as they are about to face Omos. Miz and Maryse come in and demand something be done about Dexter Lumis. Shawn Michaels thinks Miz did something to Lumis but Miz says he’ll do anything to get rid of Lumis. Therefore, Road Dogg suggests a match between them next week. If Miz wins, Lumis is gone, but if Lumis wins, he gets Miz’s stabbed balls and a WWE contract.

Omos vs. Robert Adams/Joseph Torres

Beating, throws, double chokeslam, Omos wins at 1:17.

We look at the full Bray Wyatt return from Extreme Rules.

Here is Bobby Lashley for a chat before his US Title defense against Seth Rollins. Lashley lists off some of the people he has defeated, including Drew McIntyre, Brock Lesnar….and here is Lesnar to interrupt. Lesnar walks around the ring, gets inside, says hi to Lashley, and gives him the F5. A German suplex, another F5 and the Kimura leave Lashley laying, with Lesnar putting his cowboy hat (with feather) back on.

Post break, Lashley is being checked on by referees and medics but here is Seth Rollins, with taped ribs, to say he wants his title match right now. Lashley doesn’t seem sure but Rollins says Lashley calls himself a soldier while he’s really a disgrace to his country. Those are fighting words.

US Title: Seth Rollins vs. Bobby Lashley

Lashley is defending and they’re both very banged up. An early spear attempt is countered into the Pedigree to give Rollins two and a frog splash gets the same. Lashley is back with a spear but Rollins hits a superkick. A kick to the bad arm sets up the stomp, with a second one giving Rollins the pin and the title at 2:38. They had to get the title off of Lashley somehow.

Post break, Lashley swears vengeance and wants Brock Lesnar here next week.

Bray Wyatt’s mask hacks the feed and tells us to revel in what we are.

Elias is back next week.

Matt Riddle vs. Sami Zayn

The Usos are here with Sami. Riddle kicks him in the chest to start and hits a running forearm for two. Sami is right back with a right hand and some rope choking where Jey is able to get in a boot to the face. That doesn’t work for Sami, who says he has this. That lets Riddle send Sami to the floor, where Sami switches places and hits an Arabian moonsault as we take a break.

Back with Riddle kicking him down and hitting the Broton for two. Zayn’s Michinoku Driver gets the same but Riddle is fine enough to knee him out of the air. Riddle knocks Zayn outside and hits the springboard Floating Bro as we take another break. Back again with Riddle hitting a jumping knee, followed by the rapid fire kicks to the chest. The RKO finishes Zayn at 15:55.

Rating: B-. The breaks hurt this one a bit but the match is going to be more about Jey not being able to do what Reigns ordered him to do. It continues to be the best story in wrestling too so this should be some fun fall out on Smackdown. Riddle continues his roll and now the question becomes where he can go from here. Good main event here, though I could have gone with seeing the rest of it minus the breaks.

As Riddle leaves, here is D-Generation X (on the tank/Jeep) for their big reunion appearance. X-Pac is glad to be here and gets in a quick shout out to Chyna (amen). Road Dogg does the New Age Outlaws intro and lets the fans do the Billy Gunn part (in a related story, commentary made a scissors joke).

HHH says it was 25 years ago when DX debuted and asks how many people were watching back then. HHH: “You all aren’t that old!” Shawn: “I feel better now!” We get the catchphrase before Shawn asks if the fans will put them out of their misery if they’re out here again in another 25 years….and that’s that. So yeah this was just “hey we’re still alive” and that’s it.

Overall Rating: B-. The wrestling wasn’t the greatest here but the best thing was that it felt like stuff happened. There were moments that made me interested in the future and that is one of the major differences between HHH and Vince McMahon. HHH feels more like he has planned these things out a bit further in advance and now that makes Raw feel a lot more important. Good show here, and for a special night, they did well enough.

Results
Johnny Gargano b. Austin Theory – One Final Beat
Rey Mysterio b. Chad Gable – Slingshot splash
Candice LeRae b. Bayley – Rollup
Omos b. Robert Adams/Joseph Torres – Chokeslam to Adams
Seth Rollins b. Bobby Lashley – Stomp
Matt Riddle b. Sami Zayn – RKO

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Extreme Rules 2022
Date: October 8, 2022
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re back with the violent pay per view and in this case the card might be able to live up to that hype. There is a different, or mostly different, gimmick to every match on the card and some of them could get rather violent. In addition, we find out who the White Rabbit is tonight and that could be a huge moment. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is narrated by Paul Heyman (of course) and features a boy in a spelling bee, trying to spell EXTREME. He asks for the definitions, with Heyman talking about what it means for tonight.

Imperium vs. Brawling Brutes

This is a Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook, meaning street fight with some props at ringside. It’s a brawl to start, as it should be, with everyone pairing off in and around the ring. Kaiser is tied in the Tree of Woe for a running dropkick but the rest of Imperium comes over for the save. Everyone goes for the weapons and Sheamus is sent into various things at ringside.

With Kaiser and Vinci holding Sheamus over a bar, Gunther chops away and hits the big boot before dropping him onto said bar. Back in and it’s Butch and Holland getting beaten up, including the double running dropkick to Butch in the corner. As Imperium poses, Sheamus fights up and it’s time to wreck Gunther’s minions.

Gunther tells Sheamus to bring it and the slugout is on. A release German suplex drops Sheamus but he’s right back up with a clothesline. Holland and Butch are back up to help with the beating until everyone knocks each other down. The teams get up and fight to the floor, with Butch hitting a heck of a moonsault off some barrels.

Gunther is back up and hits the shillelagh shot for two Sheamus. The rest of the Brutes get back in and beat down Gunther, allowing Sheamus to hit a heck of a shillelagh shot to knock Gunther silly. Gunther gets powerbombed through the announcers’ table, leaving Kaiser to get Brogue Kicked for the pin at 17:42.

Rating: A-. The good old fashioned part was right as these guys didn’t bother with anything more than what was advertised. They beat each other up for about eighteen minutes and you could feel a lot of the pain and violence they were showing off here. Sheamus getting the win was the right way to go and he can probably have a final showdown with Gunther. This was what I was looking for from this match and they delivered hard.

Miz isn’t happy about the idea of Dexter Lumis ruining his birthday tomorrow night. He’ll even talk about it with HHH….but something catches his eye. That would be Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty, who offers him a shirt. Miz throws it down and stomps on it, become the most despised man in the arena.

We recap Ronda Rousey vs. Liv Morgan for the Smackdown Women’s Women’s Title. Morgan escaped with the title over Rousey at Summerslam so tonight it’s Extreme Rules so Morgan can prove she can hang with Rousey with no rules.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Ronda Rousey vs. Liv Morgan

Morgan is defending and it’s Extreme Rules, meaning Morgan brings a baseball bat. That works fine for Rousey, who starts the brawl and takes it outside, with Morgan being knocked down. Rousey picks up the bat but takes too long, allowing Liv to blast her with a fire extinguisher. That’s not enough though as Rousey hits a Piper’s Pit on the floor, followed by a baseball bat to the ribs (with Rousey looking to the crowd to see how far that shot went for some good heeling).

Some more shots to the knee put Morgan down but she’s fine enough to hit an enziguri for a breather. Back up and Rousey gets in some shots with a bat to the knee but Morgan sends her into the steps. A table is set up in the corner inside but Rousey sends her face first into it a few times. The running knee sets up an armbar over the ropes but Morgan slips out and grabs a chair.

Said chair is wedged in the corner….and then falls out, meaning there is nothing for Rousey to hit when Morgan kicks her into the corner. Back in and Morgan hits some awful chair shots, followed by a Codebreaker to drive the chair into Rousey’s face for two. Rousey is put on the table for the top rope backsplash for two, followed by a pretty awful powerbomb onto the broken table. That’s enough for Rousey to pull her into some kind of a leg choke for the knockout win (with Liv smiling for some reason) at 12:17.

Rating: D+. I’m trying to be nice with this one because they were absolutely trying, but this just didn’t work. I don’t think there was any reason to believe that Morgan had a chance to win a fight against Rousey, weapons or no weapons, and there was no way around that. Now that being said, Rousey unloading on Morgan’s knee with a bat and having it do nothing is inexcusable and had me wondering who put this match together because they need to be fired. They were in a bad situation that didn’t suit them and then it was all downhill from there. Bad match, but they put the effort in and it got better by the end.

We recap Karrion Kross vs. Drew McIntyre. Kross debuted about a month and a half ago, saying he wants to reset the timeline, meaning taking McIntyre out. McIntyre isn’t down for that and is tired of Kross disappearing, so they’ve having a strap match.

Karrion Kross vs. Drew McIntyre

Strap match and Scarlet is here with Kross. Hold on though as Kross jumps him before the strap is tied, meaning the fight goes into the crowd. They fight through the arena and make it back down to ringside, where Kross can’t suplexes him onto the steps. They get back inside with McIntyre in control and tying the strap to Kross’ wrist to officially start the match.

Some LOUD whips have Kross in trouble but Scarlet offers a distraction so Kross can manage a posting. McIntyre’s bad shoulder is banged up again but he wants to keep going, even as Kross hammers away. A Downward Spiral onto the announcers’ table (which isn’t like a Futureshock Cole) knocks McIntyre silly and the Doomsday Saito gives Kross two back inside.

McIntyre gets fired up by the whipping and a jumping neckbreaker drops Kross. Back up and the whip the heck out of each other until Kross finally gets staggered. The Futureshock drops McIntyre so he loads up the Claymore, only to have Scarlet get in the way. Some pepper spray blinds McIntyre and the Krosshammer (running forearm to the back of the head) finishes for Kross at 10:19.

Rating: B. Much like the opener, you went into this one expecting violence and that is exactly what you got. This was about two big, strong men beating each other senseless with a weapon that was going to make people cringe and they did exactly that. The ending was one of the ways they could go and McIntyre keeps face, but Kross needed to go over here after a brutal match and that is what happened.

Miz is on the phone about his birthday again when Gritty interrupts. More yelling ensues.

We recap Bayley vs. Bianca Belair for the Raw Women’s Title. Bayley returned at Summerslam and wanted to take over the division, including with her Damage Ctrl teammates. That means she needs a title and by pinning Belair at Clash At The Castle, she earned the shot here in a ladder match.

Raw Women’s Title: Bianca Belair vs. Bayley

Belair is defending in a ladder match. After the Big Match Intros, they waste no time in going outside to grab a ladder each. Belair gets the better of things and goes up, only to have Bayley break it up without much trouble. After explaining to a fan that she is winning and therefore cannot suck, Bayley sends her into a ladder, with Belair using it for a quickly broken climb attempt.

Belair takes her down and hits the handspring moonsault onto Bayley onto the ladder but Belair is banged up too. A ladder is set up in the corner and a running sunset bomb sends Belair into the ladder for a big crash. Belair has to make another save so Bayley sends her outside and bridges a ladder between the steps and the barricade. The running elbow off the apron hits Belair on the ladder but Belair is back up with a ladder shot of her own.

Back in and Bayley knocks her down again, meaning it’s time to….break off a piece of her knee brace. The charge misses though and Belair grabs a KOD. Belair goes up but the rest of Damage Ctrl take her down, including a big shove off the ladder. That’s broken up with Belair hitting a double KOD (geez) but Bayley is back up to Roseplant Belair.

Bayley loads up the ladder over Belair….who presses it up to shove Bayley off for the insane power display save. It’s Bayley going up but Belair uses the braid to bring her back down. Bayley picks up a ladder but Belair picks up Bayley (and the ladder) and KODs them both, allowing Belair to pull the title down and retain at 16:38.

Rating: B-. I’m not sure on this one and a lot of that is due to how the ending of the match went. They did a good job of making Belair look like a monster, but this was Damage Ctrl slamming into a brick wall, as Bayley had worn her down and then the other two couldn’t finish it off. It made Belair look great but for the rest of the team, not so much. Other than that, this was a good ladder match with some creative enough spots, but there are so many of them these days that it’s hard to get overly excited about them anymore.

We recap Edge vs. Finn Balor. Edge formed Judgment day after Wrestlemania and then Balor turned on the team to take Edge’s place. Edge has since tried to destroy the team but can’t get rid of them no matter what he does. Tonight is his chance in an I Quit match.

Finn Balor vs. Edge

I Quit match and Edge starts fast with a neckbreaker. Edge drives him face first into the corner but Balor gets in a shot to the face to take over, including stomping Edge in the corner. It’s time to work on Edge’s knee and a leglock sets up a figure four. Edge isn’t about to quit but he can’t turn it over, meaning Balor can crank on it even more. With that not working, Balor takes it outside and ties Edge up in the ring skirt to keep up the beating.

Edge fights up and knocks him over the announcers’ table so they can fight into the crowd. They brawl around the arena and over by the Kickoff Show set, but Balor still won’t quit. Now it’s off to the concourse, where Balor is launched face first into the concrete overhead. The spear only results in Edge low blowing himself on a barricade though, with Balor bending Edge’s neck around said barricade.

They get back to ringside, where Balor can’t get Edge to quit so he wedges a chair in the corner instead. A Crossface has Edge in more trouble but he fights out and grabs the Edgecator for a bit of a flashback. Cue Damian Priest (Cole: “I was wondering when this idiot was going to show up.”) for the save, with Dominik Mysterio following, so Edge spears Balor through the ropes to take them all down. Back in and Rhea Ripley pops in to handcuff Edge to the top.

The three men of Judgment Day beat Edge down and Balor unloads with kendo stick shots to the back. Rey Mysterio FINALLY comes in with a chair (where the heck was he five minutes ago) and makes most of the save but Dominik knocks Rey off the apron. Cue Beth Phoenix to make the real save and beat the fire out of Balor with the kendo stick. Ripley gets up for the staredown so Beth beats her down as well and gets the key.

Edge is freed and spears down Priest, followed by three spears to Balor. Beth grabs the chair for Edge, who loads up the crossface but Ripley comes back in to blast Beth with brass knuckles. Judgment Day beats Edge down, including a bunch of Coup de Graces. Edge still won’t quit, so Beth is loaded into a Conchairto. That’s enough to make Edge quit at 29:53.

Rating: B. This did work and it did feel extreme, but they probably needed about five to seven minutes cut out to make it that much better. The ending was about the only way that they could go as you don’t want Edge quitting clean and it also makes him look like a hero for trying to save his wife. Balor and the team absolutely needed this win though and having them be all evil towards Beth made them look even better.

That being said, the Rey/Dominik stuff still isn’t working and still isn’t as interesting as WWE thinks it is. It’s also not as evil as Michael Cole would have you believe, as he was REALLY annoying on commentary, screaming like Dominik was blowing up a bus full of orphans when he hit Rey. Cole was going so far over the deep end that I wanted Rey to hit him instead of Dominik and I don’t think that’s the right idea. Other than that though, good, violent brawl.

They Conchairto her anyway. Panic ensues, because this time Beth is some helpless creature instead of the time when she’s a Hall of Famer and unstoppable force.

Charlotte is coming back at some point in the future.

Gritty gives Miz another shirt so Miz beats him up….but Dexter Lumis is behind Miz. The choke out ensues, followed by Lumis helping Gritty up. Gritty kicks Miz in the ribs and leaves with Lumis.

We recap Matt Riddle vs. Seth Rollins. They have been fighting for months and making it very personal, with both insulting the other’s family. Rollins beat Riddle at Clash At The Castle when Riddle let his anger get the better of him, so now it’s a match in the Fight Pit, which is Riddle’s style.

Seth Rollins vs. Matt Riddle

This is in the Fight Pit, which is a cage with no ropes and a platform around the top of the ring that they can walk on. You can only win by knockout or submission and UFC legend Daniel Cormier is referee for some extra flavor. The bell rings and the fans immediately want Bray Wyatt, but have to settle for Riddle walking the cage wall for a kick to the head.

Riddle hammers at the head and Cormier pulls him off, even accidentally sending Riddle into the cage. Rollins is back up to hammer away but Riddle flips out of a German suplex. More shots put Riddle down but Rollins shoves Cormier a bit, earning him a stiff lecture. A hard forearm to the back of the head drops Riddle and Rollins is getting cocky. A twisting frog splash rocks Riddle and a Stomp makes it worse, but Riddle beats the count.

Rollins isn’t exactly keen on fighting a ticked off Riddle so he climbs the cage and makes it to the platform. Riddle follows up and they fight near the edge, with Riddle grabbing a choke while holding onto a chain to avoid falling back to the ring. Rollins gets in a few more shots but Riddle catches him with an RKO, which is enough to send Rollins back down to the mat (not much of a fall when he grabs the edge and hangs from the platform before dropping).

Since he’s a bit nuts, Riddle drops a Broton from the platform to the mat (that looked good) for the huge crash. After taking some time to learn to breathe again, Riddle grabs a triangle choke so Rollins drives him into the cage over and over. That and a powerbomb aren’t enough to break it though and Rollins taps at 16:42.

Rating: C. What you have here is an idea that sounded good on paper but didn’t work out so well in execution. It was basically a cage match with room for some big bumps, but all that did was make me wonder why they didn’t just have a cage match. Yeah Riddle gets the big win, but he gets it in a match tailor made for him, which isn’t that impressive. The Broton looked excellent with the camera looking up, but other than that, this wasn’t the most memorable match and it didn’t exactly draw me in. I wouldn’t call it bad, though it’s nothing I need to see again.

Riddle goes to leave….and the lights go out, with the Fireflies coming up and Bray Wyatt’s voice singing He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands. We see real life versions of the Firefly Fun House creatures in the crowd, plus a Fiend mask on the stage. Then the Fiend pops up near the barricade and we cut to the stage, where there is a real life Firefly Fun House. A TV comes on with a monster saying something I can’t quite make out. Light comes from behind the door to the Fun House and it bursts open…..with someone holding a lantern coming out and wearing the mask from the TV.

The mask comes off and it’s Bray Wyatt. The lantern is blown out and a logo that looks like an upside down mutated butterfly comes up on screen to take us out. To say the place went coconuts for this would be an understatement as they lost it for every bit, but Bray has a long way to go to make up for the mess that was his last run with the company. I’m not saying he can’t, but he needs to be on a really, really short leash.

Overall Rating: B. As cliched as it sounds, this was a show where what was good was good but what was weak was weak. The best thing about this show was the fact that it had a variety of stuff and I was never bored watching it. The ending is the part that is going to have people talking, as it should, but the Donnybrook stole the night with one heck of a brawl. It’s a good show, even if it was a bunch of rematches with stories that need to be wrapped up already.

Results
Brawling Brutes b. Imperium – Brogue Kick to Vinci
Ronda Rousey b. Liv Morgan via referee stoppage
Karrion Kross b. Drew McIntyre – Krosshammer
Bianca Belair b. Bayley – Belair pulled down the title
Finn Balor b. Edge when Edge quit
Matt Riddle b. Seth Rollins – Triangle choke

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 3, 2022
Location: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

It’s the go home show for Extreme Rules and the show is mostly set. However, it still doesn’t feel like there is anything that stands out as a main event. I would assume it’s going to be the Fight Pit between Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle, but the card feels like it is lacking something even if there isn’t much room for anything else. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here is Judgment Day for a chat before their match. Finn Balor is ready to beat Edge so badly that Edge will quit right then and there. Damian Priest promises to take out anyone who comes for them. Dominik gets the mic and is greeted by a WHO’S YOUR DADDY chant. He hates Rey Mysterio and says he has a new family now, thanks to the Judgment Day. Balor says he could have taken Edge out last night, corrects himself to say last week, and offers one more olive branch. Cue AJ Styles to interrupt though and we’re ready to go.

Judgment Day vs. AJ Styles/Rey Mysterio

It’s a brawl before the bell with Judgment Day being cleared out and we take a break. We come back joined in progress with Priest sending Rey into the corner so Balor can hit Two Amigos, followed by the Eddie Dance, and a Third Amigo, because we can’t go more than a few weeks without an Eddie reference. A trip to the floor sees Rey get dropped onto the announcers’ table and Finn grabs a chinlock back inside. Rey slips away though and the tag brings in Styles to clean house. Balor low bridges Styles outside and we take a break.

Back with Priest escaping a Calf Crusher attempt but getting atomic dropped. Rhea pulls Rey off the apron though and Dominik gets in between them, with Dominik dropping to his knees in a funny bit. We cut away from Rhea hitting Rey, only to show it on a replay in what seems like a production gaffe. Back in and the Coup de Grace finishes Styles at 10:42.

Rating: C+. The Judgment Day story isn’t the most interesting but the talent involved in this match is enough to make it watchable. There is a good chance that they will be involved in WarGames (it’s either them or the Bloodline) but I’m not sure who could face them at the moment. For now though, they were a good way to use the first half hour of Raw.

Post match AJ blames Rey for not being there and shoves him down. Rey leaves and Judgment Day comes in to beat Styles up.

Bobby Lashley is happy to be US Champion for three months and he’s ready for anyone to come after the title next week. Cue Mustafa Ali of all people to say he wants a chance right now. Lashley blows him off so Ali spins him around and pokes at his chest. That’s enough for the opportunity.

Sami Zayn and Jimmy Uso/Solo Sikoa are in the back with Sami telling a story about a couch being on fire (it has a happy ending). Jey Uso comes in to be all serious and say they’re here to tell everyone that Roman Reigns will be here next week for the season premiere. They run into the Street Profits, who aren’t that impressed.

Bobby Lashley vs. Mustafa Ali

Non-title. Lashley throws him around to start and hits a running shoulder in the corner. The delayed vertical suplex connects but Ali slips out of a powerslam attempt. A superkick staggers Lashley and the tornado DDT sends him outside. Ali’s suicide dive sends Lashley into the announcers’ table but he blasts Ali hard as we take a break.

Back with Lashley sending him into the corner and hitting the Downward Spiral for two. Ali shoves him off the top though and hits a 450 onto Lashley’s arm to take a limb away. Lashley is fine enough to hit a one armed spinebuster for two and Ali is sent head first into the post. That works so well that Lashley does it again before sending him HARD over the barricade. A dive gets Ali back in at nine so Lashley spears him inside out. The Hurt Lock knocks Ali out (though he doesn’t tap) to give Lashley the win at 11:26.

Rating: C+. This felt like a way to make Ali feel like a tough guy, but there is little reason to believe that he is going to become a star again. For some reason WWE will bring him back, build him up for a week or two at best, and then drop him entirely. This was a good performance from Ali, but I have no reason to believe that it is going anywhere.

Post match Lashley seems to be going to help Ali up but Seth Rollins comes in for a Stomp. Another Stomp onto the title leaves Lashley laying. Rollins throws in a Stomp to Ali on the floor. Lashley vs. Rollins continuing could be interesting so this should work.

Post break, Rollins is still in the ring and we see a clip of his brawl with Matt Riddle after the show went off the air. He is ready for Riddle on Saturday and we see a video on the Fight Pit (a cage with a platform around the top where the wrestlers can walk/fight). With that out of the way, Rollins is ready to face Riddle right now.

They aren’t allowed to fight tonight but Riddle is ready to kill him on Saturday. They argue over whose side guest referee Daniel Cormier will be on before Rollins reminds Riddle that he can’t see his kids anymore. Rollins mentions child support but Riddle….insults his breath. We get more serious with Riddle bringing up Rollins’ lack of titles. Oh and he hasn’t main evented Wrestlemania (eh….), but his wife sure has. Cormier pops up on screen to introduce himself and say he respects them both. That aside though, he’s calling it down the line. Cormier didn’t get much of a reaction, but he is a good fit for the spot on Saturday.

Candice LeRae gets a pep talk from Asuka/Bianca Belair/Alexa Bliss. As they are talking, another QR code pops up.

Miz is on the phone and wants guarantees that Dexter Lumis is out next week because it’s his birthday celebration. Lumis opens the door behind him but Miz misses it. Oh and he’d also like to know where Tommaso Ciampa is.

Dakota Kai vs. Candice LeRae

The rest of Damage Ctrl is here with Kai. LeRae takes her down by the arm to start before a Hennig necksnap gets two. A basement kick to the chest sends Kai to the apron, where LeRae sends her into the buckle. Kai gets taken out with a quick dive and we take a break. Back with Kai kicking LeRae in the face, setting up the Kawada kicks to make it worse. A Scorpion kick staggers LeRae but she gets up a shot to the face out of the corner for a breather.

Something like a Black Widow has Kai in trouble but she drives LeRae into the corner to break it up. Kai goes up but gets caught with a German superplex (ouch) for two. That’s enough to draw Iyo Sky up for a distraction, allowing Bayley to drop LeRae right into Kai’s rollup for the in at 10:42.

Rating: C. I’m a bit surprised that the newcomer LeRae took a fall here until you realize that Kai is a newcomer as well. Yeah she has a title, but she has only been on the main roster and back in the company for a little over two months. The match was decent like you would expect from LeRae and Kai, but LeRae losing so soon is a little weird to see.

Johnny Gargano runs into Miz, out cold on an anvil case. Gargano pokes him in the side and Miz awakens….with a drawing of himself and Dexter Lumis on his chest. Miz runs off.

Bayley is excited to sign a contract with Bianca Belair tonight and implies bad things are coming.

Commentary acknowledges the passing of Antonio Inoki.

Otis vs. Johnny Gargano

Chad Gable is here with Otis and Austin Theory is on commentary. Gargano forearms away to start but gets dropped with a shot to the face. An over the shoulder backbreaker has Gargano in more trouble until he slips out and forearms away again. An enziguri rocks Otis but he’s right back with a t-bone suplex to drop Gargano in a hard landing.

The Vader Bomb misses so Gargano strikes away, setting up a heck of a DDT. A low superkick gets two on Otis, who rolls outside so Gargano hits a big dive. Then Gargano pauses to beat up Theory, followed by a tornado DDT off the apron. Theory gets in a briefcase shot though and a World’s Strongest Slam finishes for Otis at 5:32.

Rating: C+. Otis gets some serious protection around here, from being able to knock Braun Strowman down to beating Gargano. I can see the potential in him as a monster, but there is only so much you can do as the second of someone whose entire deal is being an obnoxious guy who makes annoying sounds. Good big vs. little match here, though the result is a bit weird.

Post match the beating is on but Braun Strowman runs in for the save and we ring the bell for Strowman vs. Gable (scheduled for tonight).

Braun Strowman vs. Chad Gable

Strowman throws Gable over the top to start and we take a break ten seconds in. Back with Strowman having been knocked over the announcers’ table during the break (by Otis, who was ejected) and then getting posted to make it worse. Gable manages a rather impressive German suplex for two as we see Omos and MVP watching in the back. A cross armbreaker over the ropes is broken up with straight power so Gable goes for the eye to break him up. A dropkick to the knee takes Strowman down again but Gable misses the moonsault. Strowman boots him in the face and hits the powerbomb for the pin at 7:04.

Rating: C. WWE has a very weird style of monstering with Strowman since he got back. He’s winning, but people are getting in a lot on him, including Gable and Otis in particular. It’s a weird way to go and feels like they don’t know which version of Strowman they want to use. Gable’s suplex looked good, but if he is only going to be a comedy goof, I’m not sure why they let him do it to someone like Strowman.

Bobby Lashley swears vengeance against Seth Rollins.

Corey Graves is in the ring to emcee the contract signing between Bayley and Bianca Belair. Bayley says that despite not having the rest of Damage Ctrl out here, she is having a great day. She signs and promises to make history on Saturday because the ladder is symbolic of her entire WWE career. Bayley has had to climb the ladder throughout her time in WWE and at one point, she was Belair. They even had the same ponytails! Once upon a time, those Bianca Belair signs were BAYLEY signs, but then thin*gs changed.

Belair finally cuts off the rant and signs as well (with the contract having a QR code on the back). Belair talks about how Bayley is showing the world the real her and how it took her a whole year to come up with a plan. You can plan on calling her champ after Extreme Rules, but Bayley points to the rest of Damage Ctrl being with her on Saturday.

We see Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai beating up Asuka and Alexa Bliss in the back, which is enough of a distraction for Bayley to get in a cheap shot. Belair fights her off and runs to the back, where Asuka has a chair wrapped around her leg and the glaring Bliss wants Sky tonight. Nice segment here as Belair was a lot more serious in a big moment.

Angelo Dawkins vs. Solo Sikoa

The rest of the Bloodline (minus Roman Reigns of course) is here with Sikoa and Montez Ford (whose foot/ankle is in a cast) is with Dawkins. They start fast with Dawkins sending him outside, where Sikoa grabs a chair. The rest of the Bloodline cuts him off and we take a break. Back with Dawkins fighting out of a nerve hold but walking into a Samoan drop.

Another Samoan drop gets two and the nerve hold goes on to keep Dawkins down. A belly to belly suplex plants Dawkins again and there’s the running Umaga attack in the corner. Dawkins is back up with a kick to the head to cut Sikoa off though and the comeback is on. There’s the running spinning splash in the corner and the Silencer drops Sikoa for two.

Sami Zayn and Jey Uso get on the apron for a distraction/argument though, meaning Sikoa’s superkick gets a VERY delayed two. Back up and Dawkins knocks Sikoa outside, where a big flip dive drops the Bloodline. Sikoa uses the distraction to hit the spinwheel kick and Spinning Solo for the pin at 12:07.

Rating: C. There was a lot going on here and Sikoa getting another win is a smart move. Sikoa needs to be established, but more importantly they continued with the issues between Jey Uso and Sami Zayn. That is one of the most interesting things going in WWE at the moment and I still want to see where the whole thing goes. For now though, hopefully Ford gets better soon, as the team is better than Dawkins on his own.

Austin Theory is happy with Otis and promises to take out Johnny Gargano on Smackdown. The banged up Chad Gable approves.

Edge says that since he has come back, he has basically been Adam as the veil of the character has been taken away. He was told that he could never wrestle again and it was not his choice. Now he has decided to make it his choice but now he is 46 years old and this is taking its toll on his whole family. He didn’t have a family before and now his daughters can see how tough it is on him.

That brings him to Judgment Day, who keeps coming back no matter how often he beats them. His back is against the wall and that makes him dangerous. You can ask Foley, Taker and Orton what that means, because he is coming out swinging. Finn Balor better be ready for war, because Edge is. This was a “look at the camera and talk” promo and it worked very well.

Alexa Bliss vs. Iyo Sky

Bianca Belair, Dakota Kai and Bayley are here too. Bliss starts fast and hammers away before but gets taken down with a dragon screw legwhip. Back up and Bliss kicks her down, setting up a flip splash for two. Kai manages to get in a throat snap across the ropes though and a running dropkick on the floor drops Bliss as we take a break.

Back with Kai in trouble but managing to hit a quick butterfly backbreaker. The moonsault misses though and Bliss grabs a DDT. Twisted Bliss connects so Bayley distracts the referee, drawing Belair over for the fight. Belair gets sent into the steps but it’s a big dive from Bliss to take them all down. Back in and Sky runs Bliss over, setting up the moonsault for the pin at 9:14.

Rating: C+. I liked it well enough, but they have been putting the women in the final spot of the show for a long time now and it doesn’t feel like it is because they are the biggest deal on the show. It was a nice match with Bliss being aggressive and the numbers game costing her though, and Sky hitting that moonsault is always nice to see.

Post match the beatdown is on but Asuka, with a kendo stick, limps down for the failed save attempt. The ladder is brought in and crushed around Bliss’ ribs and the long form beatdown is on. Damage Ctrl climbs the ladder and poses with the titles.

Quick Extreme Rules rundown.

Damage Ctrl is still posing to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This was one of the most “right in the middle” shows I can remember from any promotion in a long time. All of the matches were in the same range and while there were some good promos, Extreme Rules just isn’t feeling big. The fact that I’m only somewhat sure of what the main event is going to be should tell you a lot about the pay per view. This show didn’t make me want to see it that much more, and while it was completely ok, there was nothing on here that you really need to see.

Results
Judgment Day b. AJ Styles/Rey Mysterio – Coup de Grace to Styles
Bobby Lashley b. Mustafa Ali – Hurt Lock
Dakota Kai b. Candice LeRae – Rollup
Otis b. Johnny Gargano – World’s Strongest Slam
Braun Strowman b. Chad Gable – Powerbomb
Solo Sikoa b. Angelo Dawkins – Spinning Solo
Iyo Sky b. Alexa Bliss – Moonsault

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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Monday Night Raw
Date: September 26, 2022
Location: Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

We are less than two weeks away from Extreme Rules and the card could use some work. There are some more matches that could be added to the card and the show could use some more extreme. That shouldn’t be difficult to figure out and I’m curious to see what they do. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here are Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss and Asuka for a chat. Belair would call out Bayley right now but she knows it wouldn’t be a fair fight. Last week, Bayley should have fought Bliss one on one but that wasn’t the case. Cue Damage Ctrl, with Bayley saying she is taking over WWE and that means getting the title back. Belair says Bayley was great but then she got hurt and now someone new is here. Bayley wants the title and she’ll take it in a ladder match at Extreme Rules (of course she will). For now though, we need a match.

Bianca Belair vs. Iyo Sky

Non-title. Belair knocks her outside and we take an early break. Back with….Sami Zayn and Solo Sikoa arriving, followed by a return to the match that absolutely had to start before the break. Belair blocks a headscissors with a backbreaker for two but Sky hits the slingshot knees in the corner for two.

Belair is back up with some right hands in the corner but they head outside, where Sky gets in a posting as we take a break. Back with Belair sending her into the corner again and suplexing her into a delayed vertical suplex for two. Sky kicks her down again though and steps on Sky’s hair. That doesn’t last all that long as Belair is back up for an exchange of missed moonsaults.

The handspring moonsault gives Belair two and she easily pulls a diving Sky out of the air. The fall away slam gets two but Sky knocks her off the top. Belair evens that up by shaving Sky off the top as well, setting up a slingshot dive to the rest of Damage Ctrl. Back in and the KOD finishes Sky at 17:49.

Rating: B-. This took some time to get going but eventually they were able to get something going. Belair and Sky can do some very good things in the ring and they had the time to make it work here. The bad sign here is Damage Ctrl losing again, but that is all forgiven if Bayley wins the title at the pay per view.

Rey Mysterio talks about what it means to be a father, but tonight, he is focused on Seth Rollins.

Miz talks to his security force, promising them a variety of things and talking about how they are here to be stealthy. They are dubbed the Miz Force and sent off to find Dexter Lumis.

Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins

Before the match, Rollins talks about how Matt Riddle cost him the US Title last week. That means Rollins has to get his revenge in the Fight Pit, which isn’t his type of match. No worries though because he is Seth Freaking Rollins baby! All Rollins does is win so he’ll do it again there. As for now, he’ll give Rey the beating Rey’s son deserves.

We get to the match, with Rey dropkicking him to the floor before the bell and it’s off to a break. We’re joined in progress with Rolling having been busted open off a posting during the break but being fine enough for a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Rollins misses a charge into the corner though and a drop toehold sends him into another buckle.

Back up and a heck of a gutbuster drops Rey and Rollins sends him face first onto the floor for a bonus. Cue Dominik Mysterio with a chair to approve of Rollins’ actions as we take a break. We come back with Rollins kicking him in the head as Dominik watches from ringside. Rey manages a quick DDT for a breather before countering the Buckle Bomb. Rollins buckle bombs him on the second attempt, setting up Michinoku Driver for two. Back up and a hurricanrana sends Seth to the floor, allowing Rey to hit his sliding splash outside.

Rey takes him back inside where the 619 is broken up, leaving Rey to setting for a top rope hurricanrana. Now the 619 connects and sends Rollins outside. With Rollins down, Dominik loads up the chair and tells Rey to hit him with it. The distraction lets Rhea Ripley come in for a chair shot of her own. Back in and the Stomp sets up a choke to finish Rey at 17:10.

Rating: B-. Similar to the opener, this was a match where talented people were allowed to do their thing for a good while and the match worked as a result. These two had one of the most dragged out feuds in recent memory a few years ago but a match like this shows you what they can do under less pressure. Another good match here, which shouldn’t be a surprise.

Bobby Lashley wishes Matt Riddle good luck about tonight’s match against Damian Priest. Oh and don’t ever interrupt one of his matches again. As for the Fight Pit, knock Rollins’ teeth out.

Johnny Gargano/Kevin Owens vs. Alpha Academy

Gargano grabs a running hurricanrana on Gable to start before it’s off to Owens. Gable gets taken down and crushed for two but Otis gets the blind tag. That means the real beating can ensue, including a gorilla press World’s Strongest Slam for two. We take a break and come back wit Gargano still in trouble in the corner.

Some backdrops get Gargano towards the middle of the ring but he has to kick Gable in the face first. NOW the hot tag can bring in Owens to clean house, including a Cannonball into s sharpshooter. Gable grabs the rope so Owens hits a Swanton for two more. It’s off to Gargano, who gets suplexed down, setting up a Steiner Bulldog of all things for two.

Everything breaks down and Otis clotheslines Owens on the floor. Otis loads up the announcers’ table but gets superkicked onto it, setting up an elbow from the barricade to put Otis through the table. Cue Austin Theory to distract Gargano, allowing Gable to hit a Dominator DDT for two more. Gargano superkicks Theory and One Final Beat is enough to finish Gable at 12:50.

Rating: C+. Owens and Gargano may not be Owens and Zayn but they are working well in the short term. As usual, one of the best things that can be done is to throw together a few talented people and let them see what they can do. That is what we are getting to see here and it was nice to see Alpha Academy getting to wrestle without talking for a change.

AJ Styles talks about why he turned down Judgment Day when Finn Balor comes in. Balor hypes up the team some more ans wants AJ to keep thinking about it.

Chad Gable defends Otis’ loss to Austin Theory, who thought they could take out Johnny Gargano. Then Theory gets a phone call from Braun Strowman, who says he wants to face Gable next week.

Omos vs. Greg Lester/Joe Gibson

MVP is on commentary. Omos throws them outside to start, beats them up on the floor, beats them up back inside, and hits a chokebomb to set up the double pin at 1:40. MVP talked about Braun Strowman a good bit during the match so there might be a showdown looming.

Post match, Omos stacks them up on the announcers’ table and poses over them.

Miz finds his security force knocked out, plus Dexter Lumis dressed as a hockey statue. Lumis knocks Miz out and cradles his head for a bonus.

Nikki Ash vs. Candice LeRae

LeRae is making her return to the company and main roster debut. LeRae knocks her to the floor to start but a baseball slide is caught in the ring skirt so Ash can pound away. Back in and Candice hammers away, setting up a Backstabber. Ash catches her on top, but it’s Mrs. LeRae’s Wild Ride (middle rope swinging neckbreaker) for the pin at 1:40.

Video on Logan Paul vs. Roman Reigns.

Damian Priest isn’t worried about Matt Riddle tonight because he has his family with him.

AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn

Solo Sikoa is at ringside too. Sami grabs a headlock to start and then runs him over, meaning he can throw up the one. A backbreaker puts Zayn down for a change but he’s back up with an elbow to the head for two. Styles gets knocked outside but comes right back in to slug away. The fireman’s carry neckbreaker looks to set up the Styles Clash, which doesn’t work so soon.

Instead Styles settles for the torture rack neckbreaker for two and Zayn is sent outside for a change. The slingshot forearm connects and we take a break. Back with Styles being sent hard into the corner but managing to counter the exploder suplex into a rollup for two. Sami is right back with a boot to the face and the Blue Thunder Bomb for two of his own and frustration is setting in.

Styles is sent outside and knocked into the timekeeper’s area, leaving him to dive back in to beat the count. They slug it out again and exchange kicks to the head for a double knockdown. We take another break and come back again with Zayn having to fight out of the Styles Clash. Instead, Zayn grabs the exploder suplex into the corner for a breather. The Calf rusher sends Sami bailing to the ropes, followed by a jawbreaker to stagger Styles. Sami sends him outside, where Sikoa grabs a Rock Bottom onto the apron. Back in and the Helluva Kick finishes for Sami at 20:01.

Rating: B-. Zayn continues to be the most interesting person in WWE and it is great to see him getting some in-ring time to back it up. Sikoa and Zayn as a mini piece of the Bloodline could have some potential too and it should be great to see where this is going. At the same time, Styles kind of floats around, but he could be great as part of Team Guys Roman Reigns Hasn’t Beaten Yet against the Bloodline.

Post match here is the Judgment Day, who offer Styles a spot on the team again. Styles flips them off and gets beaten down, with Finn Balor loading up the chair around his neck. Pillmanizing is loaded up but Balor cuts himself off, saying that’s not what friends do.

Candice LeRae doesn’t think much of Damage Ctrl, but she and Bayley can fight later.

Matt Riddle vs. Damian Priest

The rest of Judgment Day is here too as Priest shoves Riddle down to start. Riddle counters a suplex into a choke, which doesn’t last long. They trade missed kicks to the head and that’s good for an early standoff. Priest gets dropped and the Broton gives Riddle two. Back up and Priest kicks him HARD in the face but Riddle manages to pull him outside.

Finn Balor takes the running kick on the apron for Priest, leaving him to suplex slam Riddle HARD onto the barricade as we take a break. Back with Riddle fighting out of a double arm crank and striking away, including a big shot to knock Priest outside. Now the apron kick can connect, setting up the springboard Floating Bro for a knockdown.

Back in and a knee to the face drops Priest again but he is right back up to shove Riddle off the top for a huge crash. Priest drops him hard again and we take a break. We come back again with Riddle hitting a superplex for two and they’re both down. A slugout from their knees goes to Riddle, who hits Bro Derek for two.

Back up and a Ripley distraction lets Priest hit something like a swinging Downward Spiral for two. Riddle flips out of a chokeslam but the RKO is blocked. Instead it’s a jumping knee to the face, which draws Balor up for the distraction. Another chokeslam is loaded up but Riddle reverses into a cradle for the pin at 18:51.

Rating: B. This was a good way to build Riddle back up and Priest getting to main event the show helps too. What matters here is Riddle getting back on track after some losses as his huge match (which will likely headline the show) with Rollins on the way. Good stuff here again, and I liked the non-finisher ending for a change.

Post match the beatdown is on but here is Edge for the save. Edge clears the ring and says he is tired of dealing with Judgment Day. That’s why at Extreme Rules, Edge wants Balor in an I Quit match. Balor stares up at Edge to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. Yeah this was pretty awesome, with one long/good match after another. That has been more of the norm in recent weeks, which has left little room for a bunch of the stupid stuff that has plagued WWE for years. Extreme Rules looks a lot more extreme than it did just a few hours ago, meaning they covered the short and long term here. Great show, with all kinds of solid wrestling.

Results
Bianca Belair b. Iyo Sky – KOD
Seth Rollins b. Rey Mysterio – Choke
Kevin Owens/Johnny Gargano b. Alpha Academy – One Final Beat to Gable
Omos b. Joe Gibson/Greg Lester – Double pin
Candice LeRae b. Nikki Ash – Mrs. LeRae’s Wild Ride
Sami Zayn b. AJ Styles – Helluva Kick
Riddle b. Damian Priest – Rollup

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 19, 2022
Location: SAP Center, San Jose, California
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

We are less than three weeks away from Extreme Rules and much like we have seen in recent weeks, there is a title match as Bobby Lashley is defending the United States Title. Other than that, we should be getting some build to the pay per view, which is needing some matches added. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

United States Title: Seth Rollins vs. Bobby Lashley

Lashley is defending and we get some Big Match Intros. They take their time to start with Rollins having to slip away from the power. The threat of a spear sends Rollins outside but he switches places and tries a dive. That gets pulled out of the air but Rollins avoids the posting. Back in and Rollins kicks away, only to have Lashley block the stomp by putting his hands on the mat (that was cool) and knock him outside.

We take a break and come back with Rollins working on the arm, which went into the post while we were away. The Sling Blade gives Rollins two and the armbar goes on. With that not working, Rollins hits a springboard knee to the head to put Lashley down again before going right back to the arm. The short armscissors is countered with the powerbomb but Lashley misses a charge to the floor. Now the suicide dive can connect and the second makes it even worse. Lashley is right back up with the fireman’s carry posting though and we take a break.

Back with Lashley elbowing away in the corner and hitting his own knee for two. They go up top with Rollins escaping the superplex and hitting the running buckle bomb. A frog splash gives Rollins two and the crossface goes back to the arm. Lashley powers out and manages a one arm powerslam but the spear is countered into a Pedigree for a rather near fall. Rollins misses the phoenix splash so he tries another Stomp, which is pulled into the Hurt Lock. The referee gets staggered so Rollins kicks Lashley low to escape. The Stomp is loaded up but cue Riddle for a distraction, allowing Lashley to hit the spear to retain at 20:08.

Rating: B+. This was a situation where the interference was the right way to go. It plays into what they have been doing in recent weeks and I could go for whatever big match they are going to have at Extreme Rules. As for the match itself, you had Rollins trying to pick apart the monster and go with the speed against the power. That was enough to carry things but the action itself was quite awesome and this was a heck of a match.

Austin Theory is warming up for his match and we see a QR code. A quick check says it leads to another White Rabbit thing, asking “Who Killed The World” and a hangman game showing the date of this Friday’s Smackdown.

We look back at Damage Ctrl winning the Women’s Tag Team Titles last week.

Here is Damage Ctrl to celebrate their Women’s Tag Team Title win last week, meaning balloons are out and streamers fall. Bayley, the hometown girl, brags about winning the titles and making this city a real champion, unlike the San Jose Sharks. Iyo Sky rants in Japanese and Dakota Kai doesn’t think much of Alexa Bliss/Asuka. Bayley brags some more until Bianca Belair/Bliss/Asuka interrupt.

Belair says they weren’t going to interrupt but they didn’t like the running of the mouths. Bayley isn’t impressed and mocks Lillie, so Bliss gets straight to the point by saying she wants to fight Bayley tonight. Bliss backs Bayley down and then drops her with a right hand to send the villains out to the floor. Well that was abrupt.

Kevin Owens vs. Austin Theory

Theory jumps Owens before the bell and gets in a shot to the knee. Owens says ring the bell and takes Theory down for the right hands to start. More hard shots knock Theory into the corner but it’s too early for the Cannonball. They head to the floor with Theory sending him into the announcers’ table but Owens sends him into it as well. The apron splash takes too long though and Theory knocks him down to the floor.

We take a break and come back with Theory grabbing a chinlock to keep Owens in trouble. Owens fights up and grabs a DDT, setting up a hard clothesline. Another big clothesline gets two and a superkick drops Theory again. The Swanton gives Owens two but Theory is back up to crotch him on top.

Theory tries the superplex (Graves: “You can’t superplex Kevin Owens. It’s like trying to headbutt a Samoan.”) but gets knocked down, where he avoids the moonsault. A bunch of covers give Theory a bunch of near falls so it’s time to go for the briefcase….which is stolen by Johnny Gargano. Owens gets up and hits a Pop Up Powerbomb for the pin at 13:11.

Rating: C+. Owens’ rise continues and again there was something there to protect Theory in his loss. Theory has fallen fairly far from his peak but at least he is seeming to get a little bit of it back. Owens is continuing his rise as well and I’m wondering just how far WWE is going to let him go this time.

Post match Gargano drops the briefcase on Theory.

We recap Matt Riddle turning down Judgment Day last week, getting beaten by Finn Balor and then getting Stomped by Seth Rollins.

Riddle is happy with costing Seth Rollins the US Title earlier tonight and is ready to team with Rey Mysterio against Judgment Day tonight.

Long recap of Logan Paul getting into it with Roman Reigns, setting up a trip to Smackdown and then a World Title match against Reigns at Crown Jewel.

Here are the Brawling Brutes to promise that they will win the Tag Team Titles on Friday. Cue the Street Profits to interrupt, saying the Brutes beat three teams but didn’t beat them. Let’s do it.

Brawling Brutes vs. Street Profits

Holland starts fast by grabbing a nerve hold on Dawkins before running him over with a shoulder. A blind tag brings in Ford for a crossbody so Butch comes in to work on the fingers. Ford dropkicks his way out of trouble and it’s back to Dawkins, who gets his fingers cranked back as well.

Holland comes in and gets punched in the face, allowing Ford to come in with a high crossbody. That doesn’t last long though as Holland gets him over into the corner so Dunn cane come in and hammer on Ford a bit. The Brutes do a Sheamus impression with the forearms to the chest and we take a break.

Back with Butch still working on the fingers but Ford fights up and hits a DDT. Dawkins comes in off the hot tag and gets to clean house, with the Silencer getting two on Holland. House is cleaned for a bit until Butch comes in off a blind tag and kicks Dawkins in the face. That doesn’t keep him down long as it’s back to Ford off another blind tag so the Doomsday Blockbuster can hit Butch. The big running flip dive to the floor hits the Brutes and Ford is fired up. Another Doomsday Blockbuster is broken up and it’s a kick to the head/Northern Grit combination to finish Ford a 14:27.

Rating: C+. It wasn’t quite the great match we saw on Smackdown but it was a different setup. The Brutes aren’t likely to take the titles from the Usos on Friday but they are fresh challengers who feel like they are getting some momentum. Beating the Profits still means something and we could be in for a good match for the titles later this week.

We recap Judgment Day taking out Edge last week.

Rey Mysterio loves Dominik and everything he has ever done has been to make it better for his son. Not so much for the rest of Judgment Day so here is Matt Riddle to say it’s time to take them out.

The Alpha Academy doesn’t think much of Johnny Gargano costing Austin Theory a match. Kevin Owens comes in and a tag match is made, albeit after a lot of yelling and shushing. The Academy continue to become lamer and lamer every week.

Here is Judgment Day for a chat. The team is very proud of Dominik Mysterio for standing up to his father and fight his own battles. They are so happy with him and we need to commemorate this with a family photo. A ringside photographer obliges but it’s time for the interruption.

Judgment Day vs. Matt Riddle/Rey Mysterio

Finn Balor and Damian Priest for the team here and it’s Balor taking Riddle into the corner to start. The alternating stomps are on until Riddle kicks Balor in the chest. The rolling gutwrench suplexes allow Rey to come in for a double legdrop but Priest gets the tag without much trouble. A hard clothesline takes Rey’s head off and Balor hits a slingshot legdrop for two.

Balor grabs a chinlock, followed by Snake Eyes, and another chinlock. Rey fights up and hits an enziguri, allowing the hot tag to Riddle. A German suplex out of the corner drops Priest and there’s the running Broton for two on Balor. Everything breaks down and Priest chokeslams Riddle onto the apron as we take a break.

Back with Balor sending Riddle outside, where Ripley suplexes him on the floor. They get back in for a backbreaker/jumping legdrop combination for two and the trouble continues. Riddle fights up and gets in a shot of his own though, setting up the big tag to Rey. House is cleaned, at least until Rey stops to glare at Dominik, allowing Balor to get in a cheap shot. Rey wheelbarrows him into 619 position but Priest break it up.

Riddle Floating Bros Priest and there’s the 619 to Priest. Cue Seth Rollins to take Riddle down so Rey chases him off with a chair, leaving him to have the standoff with Dominik. This includes Dominik dropping to his knees to offer Rey a free shot but Rey gets inside instead. A chokeslam sets up the Coup de Grace to finish Rey at 16:09.

Rating: B-. The time helped here and they continued the build towards Rollins vs. Riddle. At the same time, it seems that they are likely getting ready for Rey vs. Dominik, even if Dominik still isn’t all that interesting. The match did give Judgment Day some extra momentum, which they have absolutely been needing in recent…well since their debut really, so if WWE wants to keep the team going, they’re doing it in the right way.

We recap Dexter Lumis invading Miz’s house last week.

Matt Riddle and Seth Rollins have to be held apart. Rollins shouts out a challenge and Riddle says in the Fight Pit at Extreme Rules. Game on.

It’s time for MizTV with Tommaso Ciampa in Miz’s corner. Miz wants to know what Dexter Lumis was thinking when he invaded Miz’s home last week. Miz was celebrating his daughter’s third birthday with a Minions party but he punched one of the Minions because he thought it was Lumis. This has to end so Miz wants Lumis out here right now. A knife pops up through the mat and cuts a hole, with Lumis climbing out of it and grabbing Miz’s leg. Ciampa makes the save and knocks Lumis back into the hole, only to have him pop up again. This time Lumis drops back down on his own. I’m getting more intrigued by this story.

Judgment Day is proud of their win and are ready to go out celebrating. The team sees AJ Styles though and Finn Balor goes up to him. Styles doesn’t like what Balor has become and a fight is teased, but Balor hugs him. Styles just glares at him though and doesn’t seem happy.

Video on Alexa Bliss.

Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss

Everyone else is at ringside too. Bliss starts fast by taking her down by the arm and working it over. Some arm snaps keep Bayley down but she’s right back up with a shot of her own and Bliss is in trouble for a change. The chinlock is broken up and a headscissors sends Bayley into the ropes for the running knees to the back. Bayley kicks her to the apron though and knocks it outside. Bliss’ leg is rammed into the announcers’ table but she is fine enough to hit a flip dive as we take a break.

Back with Bliss fighting out of a leglock and managing a standing moonsault (erg) for two. An exchange of rollups get two each and the Bayley To Belly gives Bayley two more. Bliss’ sunset flip out of the corner gets the same and it’s time for the others to brawl on the floor. Dakota Kai offers a distraction and it’s the Rose Plant to finish Bliss at 14:36.

Rating: C. Not a bad match but there was no chance that Bayley was going to lose to Bliss here. Bayley seems primed to become the next Women’s Champion and Bliss was just the next one she needed to take down on the way there. The two teams feuding is starting to lose some steam though and I’m not sure what they can do to have a finale between the sides.

Post match Damage Ctrl clean house, including a Rose Plant to Bianca Belair. Bayley says she wants the Raw Women’s Title at Extreme Rules.

Overall Rating: B+. This was one of the wrestling heavy shows and every match got a rather good bit of time. That made the show fly by, but what made it really work was that the matches were all good to very good. Matches were made for Extreme Rules, which is what needed to be done, especially with so many stories already having been all but made official. Awesome show this week, as they had a focus and made it work.

Results
Bobby Lashley b. Seth Rollins – Spear
Kevin Owens b. Theory – Pop Up powerbomb
Brawling Brutes b. Street Profits – Kick to the head/Northern Grit combination to Ford
Judgment Day b. Rey Mysterio/Matt Riddle – Coup de Grace to Mysterio
Bayley b. Alexa Bliss – Rose Plant

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Smackdown
Date: September 16, 2022
Location: Honda Center, Anaheim, California
Commentators: Corey Graves, Michael Cole

As has been said multiple times lately, and then everything changed. Over the course of the week, Roman Reigns started focusing on Logan Paul, which seems to be a likely Crown Jewel main event. That is the kind of thing that seems hard to fathom, but here we are with a big segment needed to make it work. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is Logan Paul to get things going. After commentary recaps Paul’s issues with Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman this week (Reigns went on Paul’s podcast and had an interview, then after Reigns left, Paul said he could beat him), Paul says he has done it again, meaning he has made someone mad.

We get some hardcore WHATing before Paul talks about how he has challenged people like Floyd Mayweather before, so tomorrow there is going to be a press conference in Las Vegas. If Reigns is man enough, he can show up and meet him face to face. Cue the Bloodline, minus Reigns, with the returning Paul Heyman getting to say exactly what you would expect. Heyman gets inside, as per Logan’s invitation, and tells the team that he has this. He sees Logan as one of the few non-WWE guys who could be a Paul Heyman Guy. Logan is the one who stood up to fight Mayweather and never went down.

Logan asks what Heyman is getting at so Heyman praises the Paul Brothers’ fighting abilities before suggesting that Logan is in over his head. That doesn’t shake Logan, who asks what Heyman is afraid of with a press conference. Yeah Reigns would probably smash him, but what if Logan hit that one lucky shot and won the Undisputed Universal Title? That makes Heyman back up a bit, so he has Solo Sikoa get in the ring.

Logan thinks he could knock Heyman out before Solo could get in the ring, so Sami slides in first. Sami thinks Reigns should have let him handle things, so Heyman throws the mic down and says do it. Logan drops him with one shot, drawing in the Usos and Sikoa to chase him off. Cue Ricochet for his scheduled match. Logan vs. Reigns is an out of nowhere match that needed to be set up fast. They did what they could here but there are only so many ways to make it work and I don’t think it quite came together, especially with all the focus on the boxing stuff.

Ricochet vs. Sami Zayn

Sami works on the arm to start and wristlocks him to the mat. The chinlock is quickly reversed into a headlock as Cole actually name drops Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Ricochet fights up and knocks him to the floor but Sami is right back in with a shot to the face. A middle rope elbow to the head sets up a chinlock but Ricochet fights back up again. What looked like a springboard is broken up, sending Ricochet ribs first as we take a break.

Back with Sami going up top but getting dropkicked out of the air for a crash. Ricochet starts kicking away and hits a running hurricanrana into a high crossbody for two. The Recoil is blocked and Ricochet’s standing moonsault hits knees, causing Heyman to make a mess of the announcers’ table. A superkick looks to set up the frog splash but Jimmy Uso offers a distraction, allowing Zayn to hit the Blue Thunder Bomb for….nothing due to Logan Paul.

The Benedryller is broken up but Ricochet knocks Jey Uso off the apron again. Sami snaps off a half and half suplex but Jey’s angry charge distracts the referee. That’s enough for Zayn to yell at the Usos, allowing Ricochet to hit a big dive onto them. Back in and the shooting star press finishes Zayn at 13:06.

Rating: C+. These two know what they’re doing and as usual, it is always nice to see Ricochet getting a win where he can. That hasn’t happened often enough for a very long time but it’s working more in recent weeks. Throw in Zayn getting to do some more stuff and this was rather nice to see, especially with the time they had.

Post match the Bloodline looks ready to strike but Madcap Moss runs down with a chair to cut it off.

Karrion Kross and Scarlett are looking forward to choking out Drew McIntyre so he’ll stay down. McIntyre fought, but like everyone else, he eventually went down. Kross is going to leave him in an endless loop of suffering.

The Dupris introduce the Maximum Male Models with their Back To School Collection, but Braun Strowman runs in to take them apart (with Mace giving a great OH NO look when the music hit). The powerbomb plants Mansoor hard but cue the Alpha Academy to go after Strowman. Otis manages a World’s Strongest Slam but Strowman pops back up. The Academy wisely runs.

Here is Damage Ctrl for a chat. Bayley laughs about being back and introduces the rest of the team as the new Women’s Tag Team Champions. That means they can go anywhere they want, which Bayley describes as power. They took the titles and put Aliyah on the shelf. Cue Raquel Rodriguez to call them powerless bullies.

Bayley vs. Raquel Rodriguez

The rest of Damage Ctrl is here so Rodriguez goes outside to throw Kai into Sky. The distraction lets Bayley get in some shows of her own though and the stomping ensues outside. Back in and Bayley is knocked into the corner, setting up a big boot to drop Bayley again. The Vader Bomb elbow is broken up via a distraction though and Bayley ties Rodriguez’s leg in the ropes.

A running knee to the tied up knee gives Bayley two and a running clothesline to the back of the head gets the same. Rodriguez fights back up with some fall away slams so the rest of the team offers another distraction. That’s fine with Rodriguez, who slams Kai onto Bayley to set up the corkscrew Vader Bomb elbow. Sky rakes the eyes though and it’s the Rose Plant for the pin at 6:26.

Rating: C. It’s weird to see Rodriguez lose but it did take three people and a bunch of cheating. That’s a good enough way to protect her, which is a good idea given what kind of a force she has been lately. Bayley seems set to go after Bianca Belair so Rodriguez is going to need a partner not named Aliyah to go after the Tag Team Titles, at least in theory.

Post match the beatdown is on until Shotzi runs in for the save.

We get a sitdown interview with Ronda Rousey, who wasn’t worried about Liv Morgan last time and still isn’t this time. Liv comes in and sits down, where she says that Rousey uses more useless words than anyone else. Rousey doesn’t buy it but Liv says she is the only person to beat her twice. Liv is used to the lack of respect and knows she has to do it again, so let’s make it an Extreme Rules match. Rousey says it’s Morgan’s funeral and leaves. I’ll take it over a straight match.

Drew McIntyre is on the commentary table to say Karrion Kross has his attention. It seems that if Kross isn’t jumping him from behind, he won’t face McIntyre like a man. McIntyre says the only countdown Kross needs to worry about is 3, 2, 1, lights out. It was short and to the point, but having McIntyre pop up and stand on the table made it feel more spontaneous, or at least different.

The Usos fire up Solo Sikoa, but he says he has this because Jey Uso was off earlier. Sami Zayn can come though.

NXT North American Title: Solo Sikoa vs. Madcap Moss

Sikoa, with Sami Zayn, is defending. Feeling out process to start until an elbow to the face drops Moss. Back up and Moss runs him over as well, setting up a running clothesline to put Sikoa on the floor. Sami offers a distraction though and Sikoa whips Moss into the barricade to take over. They get back inside where Sikoa can hit a spinwheel kick, followed by some glaring.

A belly to belly plants Moss again and the running hip attack connects, but Moss fights up and hits his forearms to the face. Something like a Rock Bottom gives Moss two, followed by Sikoa’s Samoan drop for the same. Moss grabs a fall away slam but Sami pulls Sikoa to the floor. The chase is on, allowing Sikoa to hit a superkick into a swinging Rock Bottom for the pin at 10:51.

Rating: C-. This picked up a bit near the end but it was clear that neither was ready to lead a match. They’re both athletic and can do the moves, but they don’t quite seem to know when or where to do them. It was disjointed rather than bad and that often shows just as much if not more, which was the case here.

Hit Row vs. New Day vs. Brawling Brutes vs. Imperium

For the #1 contendership with B Fab, Gunther and Sheamus at ringside.. During the entrances, we’re told that Erik of the Viking Raiders has suffered a foot injury, hence the team’s absence. Butch and Kaiser slug it out to start before going outside for the brawl. Top Dolla throws Ashante Adonis onto the two of them, setting up back to back flip dives from New Day to send us to a break.

Back with Kaiser putting Butch in a neck crank but Butch escapes and starts twisting on the fingers. Holland comes in but gets caught in Imperium’s corner, with Vinci armdragging him into an armbar. That’s broken up though and Dolla comes in to suplex Holland. Adonis comes in for an assisted splash and we hit the chinlock. Holland fights up so Kofi tags himself into pick up the pace. Everything breaks down and Imperium hits their double dropkick in the corner as we take another break.

Back again with Holland fighting out of trouble, allowing the hot tag to Woods to clear out Imperium. Holland is back in to clothesline Woods but Butch tags himself in and gets to clean house as well. Dolla kicks him down before putting Butch and Woods on his shoulders, plus catching Kofi in a World’s Strongest Slam at the same time.

All three are planted but Holland comes in with an Alabama Slam for two. Kofi hits a heck of a suicide dive onto Dolla, leaving Kofi to hit the top rope splash to Adonis’ back, with Butch having to make a save. Imperium breaks that up and drops Kofi with the Imperial Bomb but Holland tags himself in to steal the pin at 18:55.

Rating: B. This was the kind of insanity that you are supposed to get with a match like this and that was a good thing. It felt like there were multiple times where any team could win and it’s nice to have that kind of drama. The Brutes winning is a surprise and while I can’t imagine them taking the titles, they’re fresh challengers for the Usos so it’s a step up.

Overall Rating: C+. The main event helped and while I wasn’t wild on the Logan Paul stuff, it is something different as they take a side tour on the road to Extreme Rules. This was an easy to watch show save for maybe Moss vs. Sikoa, which wasn’t even that bad. The main thing continues to be a slightly different way of presenting the show and that is what WWE has been needing for far too long now.

Results
Ricochet b. Sami Zayn – Shooting start press
Bayley b. Raquel Rodriguez – Rose Plant
Solo Sikoa b. Madcap Moss – Swinging Rock Bottom
Brawling Brutes b. Imperium, New Day and Hit Row – Imperial Bomb to Kingston

Remember to check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Monday Night Raw
Date: September 12, 2022
Location: Moda Center, Portland, Oregon
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Jimmy Smith

We are less than a month away from Extreme Rules and Raw could use some matches on the card. There are already some feuds going here and we should have a few things ready to go sooner than later. As for tonight though, this is all about the Edge/Rey Mysterio vs. the Judgment Day, because this story is still going. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is Seth Rollins to get things going and the fans seem to approve. Rollins dubs himself the host for the evening and talks about how he is in Riddle’s head. Now Riddle wants a rematch, but since Rollins isn’t interested, it’s time to move on. Rollins hasn’t been a champion in far too long, but here is Riddle to start the fight fast. They fight into the crowd with Rollins managing a rake to the eyes and run off.

Riddle gives chase but here is Judgment Day to interrupt. Damian Priest says he, Rhea Ripley and Riddle go way back. They talk about how Riddle has never gotten his chance before and think he would fit in well on the team. Riddle appreciates the offer but passes, earning a threat from Balor. The fight is on and we’ll do this after the break.

Finn Balor vs. Riddle

Joined in progress with Riddle rolling some gutwrench suplexes and hitting a Broton. Balor starts going after the knee, including pulling it off the middle rope to send Riddle’s head into the buckle. The chinlock doesn’t last long but Balor neckbreakers him right back down to cut off the comeback. They fight to the apron with the reverse DDT planning Riddle as we take a break. Back with Riddle hitting a release fisherman’s suplex for a much needed breather. Riddle sends him outside and hits the kick to Balor’s chest, setting up the springboard Floating Bro onto Balor and Priest.

Back in and Priest offers a distraction so Balor can hit the Nightmare On Helm Street. Cue Rey Mysterio to post Priest and fight with him into the crowd so things are even again. A Bro To Sleep into a German suplex gives Riddle two but the Floating Bro hits knees. Balor misses the Coup de Grace and Riddle is back with the hanging DDT. Cue Rollins for a distraction, allowing Balor to hit 1916 and the Coup de Grace for the pin at 13:33.

Rating: C+. There was some interference, but Riddle needs to win a match of note sometime soon before he falls even further. The good thing is that very well could be at Extreme Rules, as you can all but pencil in Riddle vs. Rollins II in some kind of a big violent match. Other than that, Balor is probably heading for a showdown with Edge and that should work well when we finally get there.

Post match Rollins comes in for a Stomp to leave Riddle laying.

Bayley and Damage Ctrl aren’t happy with Bianca Belair, Raquel Rodriquez and Aliyah, but all will be made right tonight.

Dominik Mysterio is tired of just being Re Mysterio’s son and says Edge got what he deserved. Tonight, he’ll finish Edge for good, because he’s tired of living in Rey’s shadow. Rhea Ripley pops up to whisper in his ear, causing Dominik to say he isn’t a little boy anymore, but rather a man. Ripley smiles.

Video on Johnny Gargano.

Austin Theory doesn’t think much of Gargano and is looking forward to Chad Gable beating Gargano tonight. Gable comes in to say after tonight, it’s Johnny SHUSH!

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Damage Ctrl vs. Aliyah/Raquel Rodriguez

Aliyah/Rodriguez are defending and Bayley is here too. Rodriguez and Kai start things off with Rodriguez using the power to take over. Aliyah comes in for a clothesline and splash in the corner before it’s back to Rodriguez to run Kai over for two. Rodriguez launches Aliyah over the top and onto both champs as we take a break.

Back with Aliyah coming in and hiptossing Sky as Bayley isn’t pleased at ringside. Aliyah gets sent into the corner for the running boot to the face and seems to be favoring her arm. Kai comes back in to pull on both arms as Bayley says stick to the plan. Aliyah fights up and hits a double neckbreaker to get herself out of trouble.

The hot tag brings in Rodriguez to clean house but Aliyah is right back in. Sky hurricanranas Rodriguez outside, leaving Aliyah to hit a springboard X Factor for two on Kai, with Bayley putting the foot on the ropes. Rodriguez goes after Bayley, leaving Sky to moonsault down onto her. The Kairppractor finishes Aliyah for the pin and the titles at 12:09.

Rating: C. They more or less telegraphed this ending the second Aliyah and Rodriguez won the titles in the first place. Rodriguez more or less was the team as Aliyah can’t do much of anything on her own, so getting rid of Rodriguez pretty much guaranteed new champions. Damage Ctrl should have been the champions in the first place but at least we only had to wait for two weeks.

Rey Mysterio tries to talk Dominik Mysterio out of his match with Edge because it is a point of no return. They can still be family and fox all of this but Dominik won’t say anything. Rhea Ripley pops up to say Dominik is a man and doing what he wants, leaving Rey distraught.

Johnny Gargano vs. Chad Gable

Otis is in Gable’s corner. They go to the mat to start with a grapple off going nowhere. Gable takes him down by the arm but gets reversed into a headlock. Back up and a running hurricanrana into a crucifix gives Gargano two, setting up a front facelock. Gable gets up and hits Gargano in the face to take over, setting up a waistlock. Gargano knocks him to the floor though and hits the running dive to take Gable down again as we take a break.

Back with Gable working on the leg, which he banged up during the break. Gargano manages to send him to the corner though and the slingshot spear gets two. Gable is fine enough to pull him into the ankle lock though, followed by something like a Razor’s Edge Dominator for two. The moonsault misses so Gable settles for a nasty wheelbarrow suplex for two more.

What looked to be a top rope headbutt misses though and Gargano pulls him into the Gargano Escape. That’s reversed into another ankle lock, which Gargano breaks up as well. The American Automatic gets two and Gargano is back up with a discus lariat to leave them both down. Gargano sends him outside for a dive onto Gable and Otis, setting up One Final Beat (slingshot DDT) for the pin at 13:50.

Rating: B-. Gargano is back and that’s a good thing, though he wasn’t quite as sharp as he was at his best in NXT. That being said, he’s going to be fine as he has the Theory match all but guaranteed for down the road. Then you have Gable, and my goodness he better be grateful that he is this good in the ring. The SHUSH thing has turned him into another joke character, but it does get better when he’s in the ring and gets to show what he can do. And it’s still better than being called Shorty G.

Post match Otis goes after Gargano, who hits two superkicks and runs off. Theory pops up with a briefcase shot to drop Gargano though, meaning it’s selfie time.

Post break Theory is in the ring to ask if he disappointed the fans. Gargano needed someone to show him how this works but here is Kevin Owens to interrupt. Before Owens can say anything, Theory cuts him off and says he is sick of people interrupting him. He is too good to have this keep happening and he is going to take over this entire industry. Theory says he has done more in a few months than Owens has done in five years, but that’s too far for Owens.

That doesn’t work for Owens, who points out that Theory has had everything handed to him. Sure Owens’ Universal Title was handed to him, but that’s the only similarity between them and thank goodness for that. Owens says there have been a lot of guys like Theory to come along and a lot of them have failed. Then you have people like Owens and Gargano who have come along and you can count their success on one hand. They are the heart and soul of this business but people like Theory are the appendix of this business: completely disposable.

Owens doesn’t see it in Theory but begs him to prove him wrong. Theory needs to let his passion loose and get better every time he is in front of these people. That is how you prove him wrong and become the face of WWE. Theory says he’s just better than Owens, who decides to hit him in the face to get the point across. The brawl is on and referees/agents have to fail at keeping them apart. Theory, with his forehead and nose busted, gets away, with Owens saying that was just the beginning. This was a heck of a segment with Owens speaking from the heart as only he can.

Here is Bianca Belair for an open challenge. She announces said challenge, even though it was made clear before the break. Cue Sonya Deville to say she remembers what Belair did to her and that is why she isn’t Raw Women’s Champion. Belair: “This is an open challenge, not an open mic.” She wants a referee down here.

Raw Women’s Title: Sonya Deville vs. Bianca Belair

Belair is defending. They go with the grappling to start until Deville takes her into the corner and fires off the kicks to the ribs. A clothesline out of the corner gets Belair out of trouble and a suplex into a handspring moonsault gives her two. Sonya is sent outside and avoids a moonsault, setting up a heck of a clothesline as we take a break.

Back with Deville being sent into the corner, setting up the chinlock. Belair is sent outside and into the announcers’ table, setting up another chinlock back inside. A rollup gives Belair two but Sonya is back up with I think a middle rope knee for two of her own. Belair powers up and uses the corner to flip out of a dragon sleeper. The KOD retains the title at 12:07.

Rating: C. Well, at least it wasn’t a returning Carmella. Belair vs. Bayley is another match that is all but locked in already so there isn’t much of a reason to get worried about Belair possibly losing her title. Bayley should be all but ready to win the thing as Belair has gotten her two big Wrestlemania wins and is pretty much set for the rest of her career. Let the best woman in WWE get back to the top where she belongs.

Post match here is Bayley to say Belair has a big fat ego. Bayley says the match can happen later, but here are Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai to surround Belair. The brawl is on but Alexa Bliss and Asuka run in for the save. Well good thing Damage Ctrl got to win earlier, because they looked pretty lame here.

Omos vs. Cash Morazi/Ryan Tombs

Graves wants to call them Thing 1 and Thing 2 as the destruction is on. A double shoulder drops them and something like a cobra clutch has Morazi flailing. For some reason Tombs makes the save so Omos beats them up again. Two chokeslams set up the double pin at 1:38. It’s as good as any other way to keep Omos on TV.

Rey Mysterio tries to talk Edge out of the match but Edge says this has to happen.

We look back at Seth Rollins and Riddle earlier tonight.

Rollins declares himself the face of the show but Bobby Lashley comes in to say not so fast. Lashley mocks Rollins’ colorful gear but doesn’t see any gold, which determines the power around here. The title match is set for next week. Now there’s a fresh match that feels big and hasn’t been run into the ground before.

We get a special interview with Miz and Maryse at their home, with the kids running in for a cameo. Maryse comes in and mocks Miz for being scared about Dexter Lumis, who she guarantees will never be here. With Maryse gone, Miz refuses to talk about Lumis and refuses to talk about what Lumis did to him. Miz and Maryse leave to go to a premiere and Lumis is in their house, where he draws a picture of Miz and Maryse with their daughters. And Lumis is the good guy in this right?

Dominik Mysterio vs. Edge

Rhea Ripley is here with Dominik. Edge knocks him into the corner to start and this a headbutt as Dominik is in early trouble. Dominik is sent outside for a pep talk with Ripley, which goes badly for him as well. Some forearms do nothing for Dominik as Edge throws him back inside, only to have Ripley trip Edge down. Dominik sends him into the steps and we take a break.

Back with Dominik working on the knee, setting up the Three Amigos (which do not go very well. Dominik goes up top, does the Eddie dance, knocks Edge off, and hits the frog splash for two. Edge sends him shoulder/head first into the post and the comeback is on, including the Edge-O-Matic for two. The spear is loaded up but gets reversed into the half crab. That’s broken up and Edge ties him in the ropes and hammers away, only to have Rey run in and cut off the spear attempt. Edge shoves him away so here is Damian Priest to pull Rey outside. With Rey thrown over the announcers’ table, Finn Balor runs in for the DQ at 15:03.

Rating: D+. This was a rough sit and it made me feel sorry for Dominik all over again. Dominik is far from some colossal disaster in the ring and he can do his moves (well most of them at least) decently enough. The problem is that is the end of his talents. He doesn’t have charisma, he doesn’t show much fire, and most of what he does in the ring is flat out copying Rey or Eddie. I don’t want to see him in the ring and I have no interest in his issues with Rey and Edge. Making this the main event was a rough watch and odds are it is going to continue for whatever reason.

Dominik isn’t horrible at what he does, but he needs to get FAR away from Rey and wrestle on a show where he can get experience at a lower level. Throwing him straight into the WWE fire didn’t help him and while the Tag Team Title win with Rey was a genuinely nice moment, there is nothing there for him to make something like this work. Let him go somewhere else and find his own way, because this is crippling his career.

Post match the big beatdown is on, with a bunch of chair shots to Edge’s leg and the Coup de Grace to make it worse. Judgment Day poses to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. I’m not sure what to make of this show, as WAY too much of it was focusing on Edge/Rey vs. Judgment Day, which hasn’t been interesting in a long time. Rollins vs. Riddle seems set for Extreme Rules and odds are Riddle costs him the match with Lashley next week. Other than that, there wasn’t much to see here and some of the momentum is starting to slip. Certainly better than the Vince shows, but they need to move on from this Dominik obsession fast because it’s dragging everything else down.

Results
Finn Balor b. Riddle – Coup de Grace
Damage Ctrl b. Raquel Rodriguez/Aliyah – Kairopractor to Aliyah
Johnny Gargano b. Chad Gable – One Final Beat
Bianca Belair b. Sonya Deville – KOD
Omos b. Cash Morazi/Ryan Tombs – Double pin
Edge b. Dominik Mysterio via DQ when Finn Balor interfered

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