IMG Credit: WWE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Seth Rollins/Murphy vs. Humberto Carrillo/Dominik Mysterio

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

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

Murphy storms off on his own.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Video on Braun Strowman.

Keith Lee vs. Braun Strowman

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

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

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

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

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

Ricochet/Apollo Crews vs. Hurt Business

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MVP vs. Mustafa Ali

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

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

Video on the Draft.

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

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

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

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

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

Results

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

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

Keith Lee vs. Braun Strowman went to a double countout

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Raw Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Zelina Vega

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

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

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

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

Andrade vs. Keith Lee

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mandy Rose/Dana Brooke vs. Lana/Natalya

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

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

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

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

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

Kevin Owens vs. Aleister Black

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

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

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

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

Post match Owens gives Black a Stunner.

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

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

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

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

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

Dominik Mysterio vs. Murphy

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

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

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

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

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

Hurt Business vs. Ricochet/Apollo Crews/Mustafa Ali

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

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

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

Ric Flair keeps winning at poker.

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

Video on Retribution.

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

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Robert Roode

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results

Asuka b. Zelina Vega – Asuka Lock

Keith Lee b. Andrade – Spirit Bomb

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

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

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

Murphy b. Dominik Mysterio – Rollup with tights

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

Drew McIntyre b. Robert Roode – Claymore

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: September 17, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton

We’re back with another recap special, likely featuring the wrestlers who are either way too good for this show or not good enough to make the rather large Raw every week. In other words, this show tends to be all over the place, even though it should be the easiest thing in the world to book. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Michael Cole on Main Event? Never say never I guess.

Bianca Belair vs. Billie Kay

Belair grabs a headlock to start and isn’t having any of this countering. A sunset flip is blocked as well but Billie sloppily spins around into an Octopus. That’s broken up and Belair rolls away, setting up a running shoulder to take her down. A running dropkick sets up the running splash for two on Kay and they head out to the apron.

Kay kicks her in the face for two and some shots to the ribs keep Belair down. The chinlock goes on for a bit, followed by a hard whip into the corner to drop Belair again. That’s enough of being on defense as Belair fights up and sends her face first into the corner. The handspring splash gets two and the KOD gives Belair the pin at 5:42.

Rating: C. Perfectly fine match here as Billie didn’t get destroyed and Belair looked awesome as usual. What helped here a lot though was Cole on commentary. I know a lot of people don’t care for him all that much and fair enough, but he is the biggest name commentator today and that is the kind of addition who can add a lot, as he did here.

We look back at Jey Uso becoming #1 contender.

From Smackdown.

Jey Uso/Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin/Sheamus

There is no Reigns to start so Corbin punches Uso down, allowing Sheamus to hit the ten forearms to the chest. Jey manages a Samoan drop to Corbin to set up the running Umaga Attack but Corbin rolls away. Sheamus comes in for White Noise (with commentary arguing over what the move is called). The Brogue Kick is loaded up but here’s Reigns, with the distraction letting Uso hit a superkick to Sheamus. There’s a suicide dive to Corbin and a superkick to Sheamus sets up the Superfly Splash. Reigns tags himself in and spears Sheamus for the pin at 4:02.

Rating: C-. There’s something awesome about this Reigns showing up and doing almost nothing to get a win. It’s such an obnoxious thing to do and suits him so well, including the subtle things like Reigns telling Uso to get out of the way so he can hit the spear. This has worked crazy well and Reigns has barely done anything since joining Heyman.

Post match Jey holds up Reigns’ hand, with the Universal Title, as Reigns stares at him to end the show.

We look back at the Mysterio Family attacking Murphy.

From Raw.

Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio

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

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

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

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

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

Humberto Carrillo vs. Mustafa Ali

Carrillo spins out of a wristlock to start and he takes Ali down for a quick standoff. The high angle springboard armdrag sends a frustrated Ali to the floor but he’s back in with a kick to the face. Carrillo is sent outside for a hard ram into the barricade and we take a break. Back with Ali grabbing a neckbreaker and blasting him with a forearm to the face. They slug it out until Ali Russian legsweeps him hard into the corner.

Carrillo is right back up with a springboard kick to the face and a running hurricanrana drops Ali again. Ali gets sent into the corner but Carrillo misses a charge. The rolling X Factor is countered into a sitout powerbomb for two. Ali is right back up with the middle rope tornado DDT for two of his own and it’s time to stomp away. The 450 misses though and Carrillo is back up with a Spanish Fly for two more. Ali doesn’t even have to get back to his feet before grabbing the Koji Clutch to make Carrillo tap at 9:02.

Rating: C+. Now this was interesting as they focused on Ali showing some heel tendencies, which isn’t something you see too often on Main Event. Ali as a more aggressive and frustrated guy who turns heel as a result could be interesting, though I don’t know if I can give WWE the credit to pull it off. For now, we have to rely on Main Event to work for us…which is probably the first time that has ever been said.

From Smackdown.

Here’s Bayley, with the chair she used to destroy Banks, for a chat. We look at the beatdown and Bayley says of course she loved every second of it. Bayley knows everyone wants answers but she is full of questions. Banks is watching so did she really think Bayley wasn’t going to be her next target?

Sasha wanted to be Two Belts Banks again and was just using Bayley the whole time. She knows it because Bayley was using her the whole time. Bayley used her to become Bayley Dos Straps and is now the longest reigning Smackdown Women’s Champion in history. After last night though, Banks is nothing to her. Good promo here, and the explanation is a nice twist on the usual formula.

Video on Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton.

From Raw.

Keith Lee vs. Drew McIntyre

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

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

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

Overall Rating: C+. This worked out rather well as things are starting to pick up a bit on the way to Clash Of Champions. We still have a little way to go before we get there though and some of this stuff was a nice way to fill in some time. I’m not sure what else they can do to build up the show, but they have a few more title matches to set. That’s for next week though, so for now we have to settle for this one being pretty good.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Retribution is ready to beat up the Hurt Business tonight.

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

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

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

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

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

Keith Lee vs. Drew McIntyre

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Zelina Vega vs. Mickie James

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cedric Alexander vs. Apollo Crews

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shayna Baszler/Nia Jax vs. Lana/Natalya

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

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

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

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

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

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

Asuka vs. Peyton Royce

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

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

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

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

Clash Of Champions rundown.

Retribution vs. Hurt Business

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results

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

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

Zelina Vega b. Mickie James – Backstabber

Apollo Crews b. Cedric Alexander – Rollup

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

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

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

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

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

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

Opening sequence.

Dolph Ziggler is on commentary for the opening preview.

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

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

Street Profits vs. Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cedric Alexander vs. Ricochet

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

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

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

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

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

Raw Women’s Title: Mickie James vs. Asuka

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

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

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

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

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

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

Erik vs. Bobby Lashley

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mandy Rose’s trade to Raw is announced.

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

Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Titus O’Neil heads into Raw Underground.

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

Aleister Black vs. Kevin Owens

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

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

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

Riott Squad vs. Lana/Natalya

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

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

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

Keith Lee vs. Drew McIntyre

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

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

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

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

Results

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

Cedric Alexander b. Ricochet – Lumbar Check

Asuka b. Mickie James via referee stoppage

Bobby Lashley b. Erik – Hurt Lock

Seth Rollins b. Dominik Mysterio – Stomp

Kevin Owens b. Aleister Black – Stunner

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

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

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: September 10, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton

Things have been getting a little bit better around WWE as of late and maybe we can see something better on this show as a result. Last week’s was pretty good and I’m curious to see what they can put together again. I have no reason for it to go anywhere, but maybe I can have a little hope. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Mustafa Ali vs. Akira Tozawa

The Ninjas are here too. Tozawa talks about ninja power to start so Ali headlocks him. An armdrag into an armbar has Tozawa in more trouble and a clothesline puts him on the floor. The Ninjas surround him and Tozawa dons a mask, meaning the Ninjas can surround the ring in secrecy. A Ninja, presumably Tozawa, comes back in and takes over before unmasking to reveal…well of course it’s Tozawa.

Ali gets knocked down to set up the chinlock and a neckbreaker gets two. Some elbows to the neck set up an abdominal stretch and Ali is sent into the corner. The ninja shouting earns Tozawa a DDT and there’s the rolling X Factor. The Ninjas offer a distraction to break up the 450 so Ali superkicks Tozawa down and hits a Michinoku Driver for the pin at 5:36.

Rating: C. I can always go for someone mixing up their finishers a bit, especially when they are mainly a high flier. You need to keep those things fresh and there is only so much that can be done when they are used time after time. As for the rest of the match, I can appreciate them trying to do something a little different with the Ninjas, because having the same match over and over again is going to get boring in a hurry.

We look at Roman Reigns joining forces with Paul Heyman and winning the Universal Title.

From Smackdown.

Here are Reigns and Heyman to get things going. Heyman says as soon as you thought he was out, Reigns pulled him back in. Reigns is the one corrupting him and pulled Heyman back in from the ocean of obscurity. Now he is back on the island of relevancy because they did the same thing to Heyman that they did to Reigns. What happened to the thank yous and the appreciation?

Reigns over delivered during his life threatening illness and no one offered him any thanks. When Reigns needed some time off, they made him give up his title. A Fiend or a monster isn’t born to reign. Imagine turning on Fox News and seeing an interview with a growling man as champion. Roman’s reign as your champion has always been defined as what WWE wants you to like: family, tradition and legacy. Tonight there is a four way to crown a new sacrificial lamb.

Heyman isn’t going to say their names because he’ll let Anderson Cooper and Carmella’s latest boyfriend handle that. Heyman is outside council to your Undisputed Universal Champion, Roman Reigns. Roman says he is a man of his word and did exactly what he said he was going to do: he signed the contract, wrecked the other two and left as Universal Heavyweight Champion. He’ll face whoever wins tonight and all he has to do is show up and win. Really, really good stuff here as Heyman sounded ticked off and Reigns sounded like the serious monster that he has needed to be for years now.

From Smackdown.

Matt Riddle vs. King Corbin vs. Sheamus vs. Jey Uso

For the shot at Clash and we’re finally ready to go about ten minutes after Riddle’s entrance. It’s a brawl to start with Jey superkicking Corbin to the floor and Sheamus hitting a backbreaker on Riddle. Jey comes back in for the save but gets knocked down, leaving the big guys to brawl. Riddle gets in as well and it’s a double charge in the corner to Sheamus and Corbin.

They come back with the Irish Curse and Deep Six for a double two, followed by Sheamus running Corbin over. We take a break and come back with Sheamus hitting the forearms to Jey’s chest but Riddle is back up with strikes of his own. An exploder suplex into the Broton has Sheamus in trouble but he pulls Riddle into the Cloverleaf. Jey makes the save and hits some running Umaga Attacks to both of them in the corner.

Corbin gets in a cheap shot on Jey but Riddle and Sheamus throw Corbin over the barricade. Jey dives onto Sheamus and Riddle for the double knockdown but Corbin is back up to throw Uso into the video screens. The other three get back in and Sheamus Brogue Kicks Corbin. The Bro To Sleep sends Sheamus outside and it’s the Floating Bro to Corbin. Jey comes back in with the Superfly Splash to Riddle for the pin at 13:18.

Rating: C. Well it wasn’t expected. I’m not exactly going to believe that Jey Uso is actually getting the title shot until I hear the bell ring and I’m also not sure that the match is going to last more than about fifteen seconds if it does take place. The match was good enough and the ending was a surprise, though I’m not entirely convinced that it’s lasting, which is fine too. That being said, you have Riddle, Sheamus and Corbin in there and Riddle takes the fall?

Post match Jey says he made the family proud too and is ready to take Roman to the Uso Penitentiary.

From Raw.

Here’s Randy Orton to get things going. Orton talks about earning the Clash Of Champions title shot last week and tonight, he’s ready to kick Lee in the head. We could list off everyone Orton has Punted over the years but Raw is only three hours. Last week, Orton earned the shot against Drew McIntyre but that’s assuming Drew can wrestle. We look at the three Punts to McIntyre and Orton asks what McIntyre should do. Maybe he should just forfeit the title…and here’s an ambulance. Of course McIntyre is driving and he gets straight in the ring for the Claymore.

From Raw.

Keith Lee vs. Randy Orton

Orton stalls on the floor to start and holds his jaw from the Claymore earlier tonight. Lee gets tired of waiting but gets his throat snapped across the top rope. Back in and Orton goes to the eye but Lee calmly blocks the RKO with straight power. Orton isn’t sure what to do so he goes outside and sends Lee into the steps. Back in and Orton grabs the chinlock, complete with a bodyscissors this time. Lee fights up again and shoves off another RKO attempt, setting up a powerslam for two. The powerbomb is loaded up but Orton slips out and hits the RKO…but turns into the Claymore from Drew McIntyre for the DQ at 6:24.

Rating: C. Lee got in some spots here but you could feel a lot of the energy going away, mainly because he felt like an obstacle for Orton rather than someone doing something for himself. However, an important note to this (though it might have been unintentional): Lee rolled to the ropes after the RKO instead of just laying there, giving them a small out to make it look a little unclear if he would have been pinned. That’s better than some people get, even if it might have been just so McIntyre could have somewhere to land.

From Raw.

Orton is very slowly leaving as he holds his jaw. Cue McIntyre to jump him again and send him into the spare ring backstage. The third Claymore leaves Orton laying one more time.

Humberto Carrillo vs. Riddick Moss

They go for the grappling to start with Moss using the power to get the better of things. Carrillo switches to the wristlock but Moss headlocks him over. That takes us to a standoff and trash talk until Carrillo works on the arm some more. A drop toehold into the springboard wristdrag sends Moss outside and the triangle dropkick puts him down again. We take a break and come back with Moss hitting a suplex and unloading in the corner.

Moss muscles him out of the corner and plants Carrillo for two more. The chinlock with a knee in the back goes on, followed by some hard right hands to the head. We hit the abdominal stretch (Joe: “Nothing like an abdominal stretch.”) and Carrillo’s back is too banged up to hiptoss his way to freedom.

Moss shouts to Joe that Carrillo doesn’t have what he has but Carrillo is back up with a springboard elbow to the face. There’s a spinning kick to the head for two on Moss but he rolls away before the moonsault can launch. Moss forearms him on the apron and drops him throat first onto the rope. The neckbreaker finishes Carrillo at 8:04.

Rating: C. Power vs. speed is the classic wrestling formula and it worked out well enough here. For the life of me though I don’t get why they aren’t putting Moss on regular Raw again. He was there before everything went nuts and now the best he can do is get an appearance on Raw Underground. They see something in him, so why just leave him on the nothing shows like this?

From Smackdown, after Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler retained the Women’s Tag Team Titles over Bayley and Sasha Banks.

Post break medics are checking on Banks…and Bayley kicks her in the head. Bayley sends her into the steps and then stomps the bad leg on the steps. Banks goes into the barricade and then back in to keep up the beating, including more kicks to the leg. Bayley yells at her a lot and then wraps a chair around the leg. Banks gets in some kicks but Bayley blasts her again and adds a bulldog driver. With Banks out cold, Bayley wraps the chair around Banks’ neck and Pillmanizes her, probably putting Banks out all the way until Clash Of Champions.

From Raw.

Murphy vs. Dominik Mysterio

The rest of the Mysterios are at ringside and it’s a street fight so Dominik has a kendo stick. Murphy knees him in the face to start though and Dominik is in trouble early. They head outside with Dominik getting in some shots to the face and they head up near the stage. Dominik climbs onto the video screens and hits a big dive to take Murphy down as we take a break.

Back with Dominik slugging away until they brawl up towards the stage. That goes nowhere so they wind up back at ringside with Murphy ramming Dominik head first into the ramp. Dominik is fine enough to block the eye into the steps but gets dropped ribs first onto the barricade. Some chairs to the back have Dominik in more trouble and we hit the seated abdominal stretch.

That’s broken up with a hiptoss to the floor but Murphy is right back in to tie Dominik in the ropes. It’s time for the kendo stick but Rey pulls it away. Angie and Aliyah get Dominik free and he hits a sunset bomb through a table at ringside. Now it’s Murphy being tied up in the ropes and all four of the Mysterios beat on him with the kendo sticks until Murphy quits at 14:12.

Rating: D+. They were having a pretty watchable match but then they had to get into the Mysterio Family stuff again and it’s really hard to care that much. This feud has been going on for about four months now and there have been multiple times where it could have been blown off. Somehow it’s still going though, and while it might be shifting towards Murphy vs. Rollins, seeing these Mysterio Family Values moments doesn’t exactly inspire me. Four people just beat up one guy. What a great moment that makes me want to cheer for all of them.

Post match the beating continues to end the show. Your heroes everyone.

Overall Rating: C-. It’s kind of amazing how much better Smackdown is than Raw at the moment. Their stories are better and it feels like they are taking some chances instead of staying in the holding pattern that has dominated the summer. The original stuff here was fine by Main Event standards, but stay away from the Raw stuff for your own sanity. As usual.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 7, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton, Michael Cole

Last week, we set up the main event of Clash Of Champions so tonight it’s time to get a lot more stuff done. I’m not sure what that is going to entail but there are a lot of titles that are going to need to be defended. That could make for an interesting show, but that has never stopped WWE before. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Randy Orton to get things going. Orton talks about earning the Clash Of Champions title shot last week and tonight, he’s ready to kick Lee in the head. We could list off everyone Orton has Punted over the years but Raw is only three hours. Last week, Orton earned the shot against Drew McIntyre but that’s assuming Drew can wrestle. We look at the three Punts to McIntyre and Orton asks what McIntyre should do. Maybe he should just forfeit the title…and here’s an ambulance. Of course McIntyre is driving and he gets straight in the ring for the Claymore.

Earlier today, the Hurt Business beat up a janitor for allegedly saying something about Shelton Benjamin’s mama. Now that could be a nice reference to days past, but I doubt anyone remembered it when they said something.

McIntyre says he’s going to be at Clash no matter what. Adam Pearce says he can’t risk another injury so he needs McIntyre to leave. McIntyre does just that and Pearce sends security to be on guard against Retribution.

Hurt Business vs. Cedric Alexander/Ricochet/Apollo Crews

The Hurt Business jumps Cedric on the stage before the bell and the beatdown is on until Ricochet and Crews make the save. Cedric gets on the apron as Shelton clotheslines Crews down to start. Lashley hammers him down in the corner and MVP adds the running big boot for two. It’s back to Lashley for the chinlock…and Cedric jumps Ricochet to beat him down. Crews gets a Lumbar Check and Shelton hits Paydirt for the pin at 4:28.

Rating: C-. They had to do something with this story at some point and Cedric accepting the team’s offer, or at least rebelling, instead of getting beaten down week after week makes sense. If nothing else it gives us some fresh matches as there are only so many ways you can have the same match over and over. I’m liking this idea and Cedric vs. Ricochet and/or Crews sounds interesting.

Post match Cedric looks up at the team and smiles, though he doesn’t stand with them.

Street Profits vs. Angel Garza/Andrade

Non-title, Zelina Vega is here with Garza/Andrade and speaking of matches we don’t need to see anymore. Garza starts with Ford and TAKES OFF HIS PANTS. Ford picks up the speed early on and Vega isn’t pleased with him getting taken down early on. Yelling ensues on the floor and it’s off to Andrade, who is knocked down into the frog splash for the pin at 2:03.

Post match Garza walks off, because we’re doing this again. Hold on though as here are Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura for a staredown with the Street Profits. Post break Cesaro says they were surprised to find out that the Street Profits are the longest reigning Raw Tag Team Champions in years. Usually people think of people never defending their titles when they think of the Street Profits. That’s why next week, thanks to the quarterly brand vs. brand invitational (Huh?), they want a champions vs. champions match.

Nakamura holds up a red cup and says they want the….but Dawkins calls him out for copyright infringement. Ford isn’t happy with the Bar 2.0 coming here and suggests Cesaro get an STD test from having so many partners. Anyway, the match is on, with Nakamura getting to say SMOKE.

Earlier today, R-Truth was at a restaurant when dessert was served. A Ninja popped up through the table though, with Truth shouting that he did not order a Ninja. Akira Tozawa shows up so Truth throws the title to Little Jimmy, who must have gotten out of the juvenile facility. Jimmy drops the title but Truth picks it up and runs away. He even steals the card and says that the restaurant will never get on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives while serving Ninja!

Billie Kay vs. Peyton Royce

Kay is no the Femme Fatal. They slap it out to start and Peyton loads up a Widow’s Peak. That’s broken up and Kay misses an elbow, allowing Peyton to grab a waistlock. The chinlock goes on but Billie gets up and drives her into the corner for the shoulders to the ribs. Royce is right back with a neckbreaker for the pin at 2:40.

Post match Peyton helps her up.

We look back at Murphy accidentally kicking Seth Rollins in the head at Payback and ultimately costing them the match. Then last week, Rollins beat Dominik Mysterio and left him laying. Tonight, it’s Murphy vs. Dominik.

Here are the Mysterios (Rey/Dominik/Aliyah/Angie) for an in-ring chat. Rey doesn’t have a timetable for his return from the tricep injury but he’s very proud of his son. Before Dominik can say anything, Murphy pops up on screen and says Rollins picked him up when no one else would. As for tonight, let’s make it a street fight. Dominik agrees to embarrass Murphy in front of his messiah, because a simple “you’re on” is too basic for a WWE promo.

Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax aren’t happy with having a handicap match each against the Riott Squad. Drew McIntyre walks by and Adam Pearce isn’t happy.

Asuka/Mickie James vs. Lana/Natalya

Mickie gets a shot at Asuka next week. Natalya gets double teamed to start so it’s quickly off to Lana, who is backed into the ropes. A kick to the ribs doesn’t work on Asuka, who shows Lana how it’s done. Asuka misses the running hip attack in the ropes so Mickie slaps her on said hips for the tag.

Natalya comes in to whip Mickie into the corner but Mickie grabs a quick rollup for two. Lana plants Mickie for two more, with Asuka having to make a save. Everything breaks down and Mickie hits a neckbreaker on Lana…but there is no Asuka. Instead Mickie goes up ans Asuka tags herself in for the Asuka Lock on Lana for the tap at 4:51.

Rating: D. Even without a crowd in person, you could feel how ice cold this was. Using Natalya and Lana to set up anything is a bad idea and that was on full display here. Mickie vs. Asuka isn’t the best match in the world but for a one off match, it works out well enough. Just don’t have Lana and Natalya do anything but be the replacement IIconics though, because it won’t end well.

Cedric Alexander says he’s ready to make this official with the Hurt Business, but Shelton Benjamin says he better be serious, or it won’t go well.

It’s time for the VIP Lounge with the Hurt Business and Cedric Alexander as the guests. MVP officially welcomes Cedric to the team and they hand him the shirt, which goes over his shoulder. Just one question: what made Cedric change his mind? Shelton wants to know as well, but Cedric says he is tired of taking beatings and going broke with Ricochet and Apollo Crews. Cue the Viking Raiders and Crews/Ricochet to storm the ring and the fight is on in a hurry.

Hurt Business vs. Ricochet/Apollo Crews/Viking Raiders

Benjamin suplexes Ricochet to start before charging into a raised boot. Ricochet kicks him down and Crews comes in for a standing moonsault. It’s off to Erik to knee MVP in the face and fire off more knees up against the ropes. Ivar adds a crossbody for two and it’s back to Crews, who gets taken into the wrong corner. The spinning Dominator doesn’t work and it’s Erik coming back in to ram into Lashley a few times. The shotgun knees send Lashley into the corner and Benjamin gets suplexed.

Lashley is right back with the spear though and Erik is down in a hurry. A series of slams put Erick down and Shelton suplexes him for two. We hit the chinlock for a bit before MVP comes in for a running boot in the corner. Cedric gets the tag, yells at his former friends, and chokes away on Erik in the corner. Erik gets up and brings in Ricochet to clean house as the pace picks up. A moonsault hits MVP but Cedric comes in to glare at Ricochet for the distraction.

MVP gets in a shot to the back of the head for two and Cedric adds the Neuralizer for two of his own. Ricochet fights up for the slugout and nails a superkick. A nasty looking dragon suplex causes everything to break down with Ivar hitting a dive onto everyone but Cedric. Back in and Ricochet misses the 630, allowing Cedric to grab the Michinoku Driver for the pin at 10:16, even though Ricochet was very clearly up at two (Cole: “Cover, kickout! He didn’t kick out!”).

Rating: C-. Everything after that dragon suplex looked off, with Ricochet looking like he was supposed to bridge but not even getting one, Ivar slamming his wrists together in an X after the landing (that might mean nothing but it was hard to ignore) and the weird timing on the pin. I’m not sure what happened in there but it was pretty awkward for the last minute or so. At least Cedric got the pin though, or at least close to one.

Post match the replay shows that Ricochet did indeed kick out. Medics come out to check on Ivar so yeah that X was very intentional.

Drew McIntyre is still here as he just happened to grab the wrong phone and can’t find the exit.

We recap Aleister Black attacking Kevin Owens.

Owens heads into Raw Underground to face Black, but does mention that he still doesn’t like Shane McMahon. Now is that little bit of continuity too much to ask for elsewhere?

Keith Lee vs. Randy Orton

Orton stalls on the floor to start and holds his jaw from the Claymore earlier tonight. Lee gets tired of waiting but gets his throat snapped across the top rope. Back in and Orton goes to the eye but Lee calmly blocks the RKO with straight power. Orton isn’t sure what to do so he goes outside and sends Lee into the steps. Back in and Orton grabs the chinlock, complete with a bodyscissors this time. Lee fights up again and shoves off another RKO attempt, setting up a powerslam for two. The powerbomb is loaded up but Orton slips out and hits the RKO…but turns into the Claymore from Drew McIntyre for the DQ at 6:24.

Rating: C. Lee got in some spots here but you could feel a lot of the energy going away, mainly because he felt like an obstacle for Orton rather than someone doing something for himself. However, an important note to this (though it might have been unintentional): Lee rolled to the ropes after the RKO instead of just laying there, giving them a small out to make it look a little unclear if he would have been pinned. That’s better than some people get, even if it might have been just so McIntyre could have somewhere to land.

Post match Adam Pearce comes out to yell at Drew McIntyre. I think we have a future General Manager on our hands, which isn’t the worst idea. McIntyre leaves and referees are sent to check on Orton, who is holding his jaw.

We go to Raw Underground, where Aleister Black destroys an unknown before Kevin Owens comes in for the fight (So where was he for the last ten minutes?). The fight is on and they fall to the floor for a double knockdown as we take a break.

Orton yells at Pearce and says his word means nothing to him.

Shayna Baszler vs. Riott Squad

Handicap match and Nia Jax is in Shayna’s corner. Ruby gets taken down to start but grabs an armdrag, only to have Shayna grab her arm. The armbar goes on on the mat and Ruby can’t roll her way out of it early on. Ruby manages to get out and brings in Liv, who is knocked to the floor in a hurry. Ruby’s distraction lets Liv get in some knees to the back but Baszler knees her in the face. The arm stomp is loaded up but Jax says she could do better. Baszler doesn’t stomp on the arm, allowing Morgan to grab a sunset flip for the pin at 2:33.

Owens and Black are still fighting at Raw Underground, with Black grabbing an armbar. Owens gets him off the stage though and hits a powerbomb to the floor to knock Black silly.

Nia Jax vs. Riott Squad

Shayna is at ringside. Liv can’t get a sunset flip so Nia sends her into the corner, with Ruby adding a running crossbody. Back up and a clothesline rocks Riott so hard that even Shayna is impressed. The chinlock goes on for a bit before Nia runs her over again. Riott avoids the arm stomp though and Liv tags herself in. The Riott Kick sets up Oblivion for two…as the lights go out for the no contest at we’ll say 2:55.

The Retribution logo comes up on screen and three people in black appear on screen. One of them talks about how the Thunder Dome has changed nothing. They have been forgotten and left to pick at what they can. Another person says they are here like locusts to feed on what they can. Their darkness is coming and they are Retribution.

The Mysterios will be at ringside and Rey tells Seth Rollins to stay out of this.

Black and Owens are STILL fighting until Dabba Kato interferes and wipes them both out.

Orton is very slowly leaving as he holds his jaw. Cue McIntyre to jump him again and send him into the spare ring backstage. The third Claymore leaves Orton laying one more time.

We recap the parade of Claymores.

Orton is taken away in an ambulance.

Murphy vs. Dominik Mysterio

The rest of the Mysterios are at ringside and it’s a street fight so Dominik has a kendo stick. Murphy knees him in the face to start though and Dominik is in trouble early. They head outside with Dominik getting in some shots to the face and they head up near the stage. Dominik climbs onto the video screens and hits a big dive to take Murphy down as we take a break.

Back with Dominik slugging away until they brawl up towards the stage. That goes nowhere so they wind up back at ringside with Murphy ramming Dominik head first into the ramp. Dominik is fine enough to block the eye into the steps but gets dropped ribs first onto the barricade. Some chairs to the back have Dominik in more trouble and we hit the seated abdominal stretch.

That’s broken up with a hiptoss to the floor but Murphy is right back in to tie Dominik in the ropes. It’s time for the kendo stick but Rey pulls it away. Angie and Aliyah get Dominik free and he hits a sunset bomb through a table at ringside. Now it’s Murphy being tied up in the ropes and all four of the Mysterios beat on him with the kendo sticks until Murphy quits at 14:12.

Rating: D+. They were having a pretty watchable match but then they had to get into the Mysterio Family stuff again and it’s really hard to care that much. This feud has been going on for about four months now and there have been multiple times where it could have been blown off. Somehow it’s still going though, and while it might be shifting towards Murphy vs. Rollins, seeing these Mysterio Family Values moments doesn’t exactly inspire me. Four people just beat up one guy. What a great moment that makes me want to cheer for all of them.

Post match the beating continues to end the show. Your heroes everyone.

Overall Rating: C-. I’m split on this show as it has some positives and negatives. The bad part part is that there weren’t very many interesting things going on. Cedric joining the Hurt Business worked well and Black vs. Owens could go well, plus the World Title feud is getting better. That might be the end of the good parts though and that’s not enough for a three hour show.

The important part of the show was something even better though: stuff happened. One of the bigger problems of WWE TV over the last few months has been the feeling that stories just keep going with nothing of note happening. That has changed over the last few weeks, with a different energy to the show which has made it seem like things are happening on the show. That makes things so, so much easier to watch every week and that was the case here. It might not be good, but it’s not terrible either and that’s a big step in the right direction.

Results

Hurt Business b. Cedric Alexander/Ricochet/Apollo Crews – Paydirt to Crews

Street Profits b. Andrade/Angel Garza – Frog splash to Andrade

Peyton Royce b. Billie Kay – Neckbreaker

Asuka/Mickie James b. Lana/Natalya – Asuka Lock to Lana

Hurt Business b. Ricochet/Apollo Crews/Viking Raiders – Michinoku Driver to Ricochet

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

Riott Squad b. Shayna Baszler – Sunset flip

Riott Squad vs. Nia Jax went to a no contest when Retribution interfered

Dominik Mysterio b. Murphy when the Mysterios beat him with kendo sticks

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: September 3, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

It’s the second week in the Thunder Dome and they’re coming off a good start with a solid show last week. Last week’s show had a pair of higher than usual quality original matches but that has no bearing on this show whatsoever. That has always been a big part of Main Event’s problems, as you never know what you might be getting here. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Humberto Carrillo vs. Akira Tozawa

The Ninjas are here with Tozawa, who shouts about NINJA POWER to start. Tozawa is sent to the apron where he can’t suplex Carrillo out but can get superkicked, right onto the pile of Ninjas for the save. Back in and Tozawa kicks Carrillo down but misses a middle rope spinning crossbody.

Carrillo grabs a snap suplex but it’s too early for the moonsault as Tozawa crotches him down. There’s the standing backsplash for two on Carrillo and we hit the double arm crank. Back up and Tozawa flips out of a German suplex attempt but gets chopped down. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker plants Tozawa and a torture rack face plant gives Carrillo the pin at 5:38.

Rating: C. Carrillo mixing it up a bit is one of the best things that he can do as there is only so much you can get out of his limited promo skills/charisma. Then you have Tozawa, who has enough charisma that he could probably loan some of it out to other wrestlers. Tozawa is someone I have wanted to see more from for a long time now and the Ninjas deal is about as good as he has had in a good while. It’s better than nothing, though not that much.

Quick look at Keith Lee beating Randy Orton at Payback.

From Raw.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Keith Lee

The first of the three qualifying matches. The bell rings after the break and Lee cranks on the arm, including lifting Ziggler up by the hand. A hard catapult sends Ziggler face first into the buckle and Ziggler needs a breather on the floor. Back in and Ziggler takes him down by the knee and grabs a chinlock. That doesn’t last long as Lee gets up and runs Ziggler over as we take a break.

Back with Lee hitting Grizzly Magnum and throwing Ziggler into the corner. Ziggler hits a quick Fameasser for two and a neckbreaker into the jumping elbow gets the same. Lee gets up again and slugs away, followed by a pop up face plant. Ziggler tries to fight back but walks into the Spirit Bomb for the pin at 9:53.

Rating: C. Might have been a bit longer than it needed to be but Lee getting another win is a good sign. If nothing else you can put him in the triple threat later and have someone else take the fall to (probably) send Orton on to Clash. They’ve given Lee two big wins early on so the foundation is being set. Just don’t screw it up from here.

Quick look at Randy Orton beating Kevin Owens in seconds thanks to Aleister Black.

Video on Seth Rollins/Murphy vs. Dominik Mysterio/Rey Mysterio.

From Raw.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins

The third of three triple threat qualifying matches. Mysterio goes straight at him to start but gets sent to the floor. Back in and Seth stomps away but gets kicked in the face. They head outside with Dominik sending him into the announcers’ table and then diving off of it as we take a break.

Back with Dominik fighting out of an abdominal stretch but getting pulled down into a bodyscissors. That’s switched to a waistlock instead but Dominik fights up and counters a buckle bomb with a hurricanrana into the corner. The tornado DDT out of the corner into a standing moonsault gets two on Rollins and he rolls outside. That means a big dive from Dominik as the rest of the Mysterios are watching in the back. The 619 sets up the frog splash but Rollins rolls away, setting up the Stomp for the pin at 10:03.

Rating: C. Dominik is doing a lot better in the ring than probably would have been expected of him and to be fair they didn’t do something crazy here. I still don’t really care to see him in the ring, but at least they aren’t going completely overboard with someone who looks lost out there. The match was fine enough and the right person won in short enough order so I can’t get that upset. I’m curious about what Rey’s injury means for Dominik though, as there isn’t much else for him to do other than stuff with his dad.

Post match Rollins hits another Stomp as the Mysterios are devastated.

We look at Roman Reigns winning the Universal Title back at Payback.

Ricochet vs. Mustafa Ali

Works for me. Maybe not so much for them though but I’ll take what I can get. Ali armdrags his way out of a wristlock to start but Ricochet flips him back down for a standoff. A headlock doesn’t get Ricochet very far and a shoulder gets one. Back up and Ali drives him into the corner, including an elbow to the face as some frustration is setting in. Ricochet gets sent to the apron and Ali punches him down, setting up a neckbreaker for two as we take a break.

We come back with Ali hitting another neckbreaker for another two and shouting a lot. A third neckbreaker is broken up so Ricochet hits a big clothesline. Ali’s tornado DDT is countered into a northern lights suplex and then a brainbuster for two. Ali tries a sunset flip but has to roll through into a sitout powerbomb for two instead. The 450 misses though and Ricochet hits a poisonrana into the Recoil for the pin at 10:53.

Rating: C+. Yeah like this was going to be anything but good. They did their thing that they have done dozens of times and since they are such talented people, it worked out as well as anything else could have. These two are still WAY too good for this show and that is very apparent every time they are out there. Ali working a lot more heelish here was weird, though I’m not sure how much I’d like to see it full time.

Post match respect is shown and everything is cool.

From Raw.

Randy Orton vs. Keith Lee vs. Seth Rollins

The winner gets McIntyre at Clash of Champions. Rollins pitches the alliance with Orton, who immediately drops down to the floor. Then Rollins rolls out to yell at him but Orton says he changed his mind. Lee grabs Rollins by the hair (Rollins: “OW!!!”) and pulls him inside where Rollins’ headlock doesn’t work very well. Orton comes back in and gets splashed in the corner but Rollins is back up with ax handles to Lee. They send Lee to the apron so Lee slingshots in with a crossbody to both of them as we take a break.

Back with Lee getting knocked out of the air and sent to the floor for a drop onto the announcers’ table. There’s a whip into the steps to put Lee down even more but they carry him back to the apron in a rather questionable move. Orton turns on Rollins with the hanging DDT for two but Rollins is right back with the Falcon Arrow for the same.

Lee rises up though and throws Rollins into Orton for the big crash. Orton heads outside where Lee Pounces him into the barricade before catching Rollins’ suicide dive and tossing him into the announcers’ table. Back in and Rollins enziguris Lee and kicks him in the head again to knock him down. The Stomp is countered into the Spirit Bomb but Orton comes back in for the RKO to Lee and pins Rollins at 11:05.

Rating: C+. That was about all they could do here and that’s the right call. Lee looked dominant and didn’t get pinned, which is what matters most in this. Orton gets back into the title match as well, which isn’t quite surprising and it’s not like Rollins is going to be hurt by taking a fall. Good enough here, but more importantly it wasn’t stupid and that’s an improvement.

Overall Rating: C+. I know it’s a very low bar to clear but WWE is on a bit of a roll as of late. There has definitely been an extra energy since Summerslam and they kept it up with a nicer than usual Main Event. The Thunder Dome has been a big help and you can feel how much better things have been since it debuted. I have zero confidence in it continuing, but at least it’s there for now.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: August 27, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

We’re off to the Thunder Dome for the show and I’m not exactly expecting it to make that much of a difference. It’s also the last show before Payback, meaning we will be building to a show and recovering from another one at the same time. That could mean a few different things around here, though none of them are exactly thrilling. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Mustafa Ali vs. Arturo Ruas

Ali has to duck from an early kick to the head but a knee puts him down. Ruas kicks him in the arm to keep Ali in trouble and the martial arts are on full display. We hit the armbar on the mat but Ali gets in a few rollups for two each. Another shot to the arm cuts Ali off though and it’s off to an armbar to send Ali over to the ropes.

Ali comes back with a rolling…Codebreaker to the arm instead of the X Factor actually. A Crossface sends Ruas over to the rope for a change and Ruas’ missed charge goes into the post. Ruas tries a cross armbreaker but gets rolled up for two, followed by an Oklahoma roll to give Ali the pin at 5:39.

Rating: C. Now THIS is what Main Event could be as Ruas got in a lot and looked good instead of just getting squashed. They had me believing that the upset could be happening and that’s a hard thing to pull off, especially on a show like this. Not too bad, but then again that could just be Ali being his usual awesome self.

We look at Drew McIntyre retaining the Raw World Title against Randy Orton at Summerslam, plus Orton attacking him the following night on Raw.

From Raw.

Here’s Orton for a chat. Orton talks about doing whatever he wants to whomever he wants but that wasn’t the case last night. He promised everyone that he was going to RKO McIntyre and then kick him in the skull to take the title…but he didn’t. Orton is a lot of things and he has proven that he will always be the Legend Killer. He has killed a lot of legends recently and that’s what he was doing earlier when he kicked McIntyre twice in a row. Earlier tonight, Drew came out here and offered him a rematch out of pity. Does McIntyre know who he is?

He is Randy Orton….and here’s Keith Lee. Orton isn’t sure what to think of this so Lee says Orton looks perplexed. Lee: “Greetings and salutations Mr. Orton.” Lee thought Orton might want to take this chance to bask in his glory. Orton has been called a lot of things over the years, as has Lee, but the only thing that is true is that Lee is limitless. The challenge is issued for right now and Orton says….maybe later. I can go for more of Lee and I’ll take this over squashing some jobber.

From Raw.

Randy Orton vs. Keith Lee

Lee shoves him away to start and gets in a leapfrog, followed by a big shove out to the floor. Back in and Orton’s right hand is caught, allowing Lee to hit a standing overhead belly to belly. Orton bails to the floor again and this time Lee follows for a…failed posting attempt as Orton sends him shoulder first in instead. Orton stomps away back inside and covers, with Lee firing him off with the kickout.

The chinlock into a sleeper goes on but Lee drives him into the corner for the quick break. Lee hits the running corner splash and a crossbody takes Orton down again. Orton gets knocked outside again but Lee throws him back inside this time, only to get kicked in the face to set up the hanging DDT. Orton loads up the RKO but here’s McIntyre for the DQ at 4:47.

Rating: C. I’m not sure on this one as Lee got in a good about of impressive stuff and wasn’t beaten when McIntyre interfered, but the match ended with Lee down and Orton loading up his finisher. Lee didn’t need to pin Orton here, but it could have had a little better ending. Like Orton walking out for a countout or something, as the McIntyre match is all but already set.

Later in the night, Orton Punted McIntyre for a third time.

We look at Asuka winning the Raw Women’s Title at Summerslam.

From Raw.

Raw Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Sasha Banks

Asuka is defending in a lumberjack match. Banks is sent outside in a hurry and a hip attack knocks her off the apron again. Baszler stares Bayley down for daring to help Banks up and we take a break. Back with Banks kicking Asuka down but getting reversed into the ankle lock. Asuka is kicked out to the floor though and Banks dives at her, only to hit the Riott Squad by mistake.

That lets Asuka get up and hit a sliding shot off the apron to take Banks down again. Asuka goes after Bayley, who throws lumberjacks at her to avoid a bad case of death. Banks gets in a cheap shot from behind and nails the frog splash for two back inside. Bayley tries to throw in a chair but Baszler makes the save, leaving Banks to get Asuka Locked for the tap at 7:41.

Rating: C+. There was too much going on here and it was a far cry from what they did last night. The bigger problem though is having the same people face each other so often. They have a lot of talented people in the division but it is rare to see someone new getting into the title picture. Banks, Bayley and Asuka (and Becky Lynch and Charlotte) have been the divisions for a long time now and they need to do something different. Look around the ring and pick someone. Who isn’t Nia Jax.

Video on the Fiend becoming Universal Champion and Roman Reigns returning at the end of Summerslam.

Ricochet vs. vs. Humberto Carrillo

This could be fun. After a slap of hands, they fight over wristlocks to start with Ricochet taking him down to work on the arm. Back up and a running hurricanrana sends Carrillo to the floor, setting up the backflip into the superhero pose. More respect is shown before Carrillo headscissors him out to the floor and strikes his own pose. That means more respect, which is broken up as Ricochet superkicks him to the floor.

Back from a break with both guys escaping suplexes and Carrillo grabbing a rollup for two. A jumping spinning kick to the head drops Ricochet and a dropkick puts him down again. Carrillo’s missile dropkick gets two but Ricochet rolls to the apron before the moonsault. Ricochet rolls through a high crossbody and a quick Recoil finishes Carrillo at 9:52.

Rating: C+. Let two talented high fliers have a high flying match for a few minutes. It’s an idea that has worked forever so why not do it again here? This worked out rather well and while I would rather Ricochet be doing something on Raw, I’ll take what I can get in the situation. At least it got some time too.

We look at Dominik Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins from Summerslam.

From Raw.

Rey Mysterio/Dominik Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins/Buddy Murphy

The Mysterios jump them on the floor before the bell and the fight is on in a hurry. Dominik and Murphy start things off with Dominik dropkicking him to the floor and knocking Rollins into the announcers’ table. A backdrop puts Murphy on the floor again and Rey hits a….something that the camera misses to send Rollins into the barricade. Rollins is left alone in the ring and it’s a dropkick into a failed 619 attempt from Rey. Dominik dives onto both of them and we take a break.

Back with Rollins mocking Rey for not being able to make the tag but Rey scores with the sitout bulldog. Murphy cuts off the tag to Dominik but Rey scores with an enziguri, allowing the hot tag. A springboard crossbody gets two on Murphy and Dominik sends him into the corner. The tornado DDT gives Dominik two but he has to slip out of the buckle bomb. Rey comes in off the hot tag and it’s a double 619 to Murphy. Dominik goes up….and it’s Retribution to destroy the Mysterios for the DQ at 10:00.

Rating: C. While I didn’t need to see any combination of these four again, above all else they kept it WAY shorter than last night and that’s a big improvement. Dominik has the skills to hang in there in short bursts but there is only so much that you can do in a match that goes on that long. Retribution showing up suggests that things may be finally moving on, but dang it took some time to get us here.

Post match the beatdown is on with Rollins and Murphy watching from the stage as Retribution (six of them this time) leave the Mysterios laying to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Not too shabby here with a pair of matches featuring people I like so I can’t complain all that much. There was no point in focusing on Smackdown whatsoever as it came before Summerslam and nothing mattered at that point. There wasn’t much focus on Payback here, but that could be because there was nothing set up for the show when the Main Event stuff was filmed. If that is true (and it might not be), should tell you a lot about the problems with the company at the moment.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 31, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton

We’re done with pay per view for a bit but now it is time to start getting ready for Clash of Champions. Already announced for the show is a series of matches to set up a triple threat later in the night for the shot at Drew McIntyre, so at least they’re going quickly. There isn’t a ton of fallout to deal with from last night so the slate might be a bit more open. Let’s get to it.

Here is Payback if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Here’s a ticked off Randy Orton to open things up and talk about how Drew McIntyre deserves to be in pain. McIntyre has been promising to kick Orton’s head off but Orton is doing the kicking around here. Orton talks about all the people he has kicked in the head and laughs at McIntyre thinking he is entitled. He takes out everyone he faces and we see a graphic of all of the legends he has hurt in hospital beds (including Shawn with a bag of ice on his head).

Orton’s laugh is cut off by Keith Lee, who talks about how he beat Orton last night, which makes him wonder why Orton is talking about title shots. Maybe beating a legend killer means Lee should be getting that title shot. Lee considers Drew McIntyre a friend but here’s Dolph Ziggler, his opponent in one of the singles matches tonight, to jump him from behind.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Keith Lee

The first of the three qualifying matches. The bell rings after the break and Lee cranks on the arm, including lifting Ziggler up by the hand. A hard catapult sends Ziggler face first into the buckle and Ziggler needs a breather on the floor. Back in and Ziggler takes him down by the knee and grabs a chinlock. That doesn’t last long as Lee gets up and runs Ziggler over as we take a break.

Back with Lee hitting Grizzly Magnum and throwing Ziggler into the corner. Ziggler hits a quick Fameasser for two and a neckbreaker into the jumping elbow gets the same. Lee gets up again and slugs away, followed by a pop up face plant. Ziggler tries to fight back but walks into the Spirit Bomb for the pin at 9:53.

Rating: C. Might have been a bit longer than it needed to be but Lee getting another win is a good sign. If nothing else you can put him in the triple threat later and have someone else take the fall to (probably) send Orton on to Clash. They’ve given Lee two big wins early on so the foundation is being set. Just don’t screw it up from here.

Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler bicker about who is responsible for winning the Tag Team Titles last night. Asuka comes in to interrupt and the other champs aren’t cool with that. Shayna is shoved away and a big staredown ensues.

Adam Pearce wants security on extra watch for Retribution.

Here’s Asuka for an in-ring chat. She talks about all of the women she has beaten and now she needs a new challenger. It doesn’t matter who is ready for Asuka because Asuka is ready for anything. Cue Mickie James to say Asuka is awesome but she’s coming for the title. Cue Natalya and Lana, both in gear for a change, to say Mickie isn’t jumping the line like that. Lana talks about being a fashion influencer and if Mickie wants to face Natalya, you have to go through her. Asuka is ready for all three of them so Lana and Natalya jump the two of them but Mickie and Asuka clear the ring in a hurry.

Connor’s Cure video.

We look back at the Hurt Business cleaning house in Raw Underground last week.

The Viking Raiders and Cedric Alexander are ready for a match tonight. Demi from the Bachelor thinks it’s great that Cedric turned down the Hurt Business and kisses Ivar on the cheek. They all leave and Andrade pops up with a rose. Again, WHY IS DEMI HERE???

Lana vs. Mickie James

Natalya is at ringside and Asuka is on commentary but it takes a bit to get her headset working. Lana chokes in the corner and snaps off a suplex for two before the chinlock goes on. Mickie fights back and hammers away with some clotheslines but Lana slips out of the MickDT. Instead it’s the Mick Kick to finish Lana at 2:39.

Mickie and Asuka stare each other down post match.

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

Randy Orton leaves Black’s dressing room.

The IIconics are ready for their match against the Riott Squad where the losers have to split up. They have known each other since high school and sacrificed a lot to get here. The Riott Squad isn’t breaking them up and their win will be iconic.

Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton

The second triple threat qualifying match. Hold on though as Black comes out to jump Owens before the bell and even hits Black Mass on the floor. Saxton: “Is this why we saw Randy Orton leaving Aleister Black’s locker room?” Joe: “OF COURSE IT IS BYRON!” Owens gets inside and says ring the bell and it’s an RKO for the pin at 15 seconds.

Rey Mysterio is not cleared to compete tonight but Dominik will be taking his place in the triple threat qualifying match. Dominik knows he is an underdog but he is ready to make his family proud.

Here are MVP and Shelton Benjamin for the VIP Lounge. MVP hypes up the guest and brings out Bobby Lashley for the big celebration. MVP talks about how he has seen a lot of young people getting in trouble over youthful exuberance and Apollo Crews did it too. There are three things you can guarantee in life: death, taxes and Bobby Lashley. Speaking of Lashley, he promises to get some revenge on Crews for jumping him after last night’s match. Shelton promises to do the same to Crews in Raw Underground but MVP is ready for the six man tag they have coming up.

MVP walks to talk about Cedric Alexander but here’s Cedric to interrupt in person. The Hurt Business goes to meet him in the aisle and MVP asks if Cedric has had a change of heart. That’s a no, and he didn’t come alone. Cue the Viking Raiders to start the brawl before their match.

Hurt Business vs. Viking Raiders/Cedric Alexander

Lashley stomps away at Erik in the corner but a forearm to the face cuts that off. A running shoulder in the corner has Erik in trouble again though and it’s off to MVP for the rights and lefts. It’s off to Ivar who knocks Shelton into a knee from Erik and Cedric comes in to hammer away in the corner. Shelton busts Erik’s spine but it’s back to Cedric, who is dropped with a faceplant.

That means Cedric is choked down in the corner and MVP’s running boot to the jaw connects. The armbar goes on but Cedric fights up and tries for the tag but the Vikings are pulled outside. That’s fine with Cedric, who grabs a rollup (and some tights) for the quick pin at 6:20.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here, but Cedric getting a win is a good bonus. The tights on the rollup could go a little somewhere as it’s not like this story has been going anywhere for the time they have put into it so far. The Hurt Business does tend to lose quite a bit, but at least they have the US Title and the champ didn’t take the fall.

MVP seems rather pleased with Cedric and calls off the Hurt Business from destroying him.

Post break, the Hurt Business jumps Cedric in the back. Apollo Crews and Ricochet make the save.

IIconics vs. Riott Squad

The winners get a Women’s Tag Team Title shot and the losers are forced to disband. Kay jumps Riott to start and Peyton bulldogs her onto Kay’s knee. We’re already in the chinlock but Ruby fights up in a hurry and brings in Liv to clean house. A dropkick to the back gets two on Peyton but Billie gets the same off a suplex. Liv gets in a shot to the face and the hot tag brings in Riott as everything breaks down. Peyton and Liv fight to the floor, leaving Riott and Kay to trade rollups until Ruby gets the pin at 3:29.

Rating: C-. The match was the fast paced formula stuff with the right team winning, but I really don’t get the need to split up the IIconics so soon. Unless there is some reason for one of them to lose, I don’t think either of them is ready to hang on their own. A story where they need each other could work out well, but I’m going to need to see how they make this work.

Post match the IIconics freak out and hug each other. Hopefully there is more to this.

Shane McMahon is ready for Raw Underground.

Commentary announces that Rey Mysterio has a torn tricep. Well that’s neither good nor surprising.

Video on Seth Rollins/Murphy vs. the Mysterios.

Here are Rollins and Murphy for Rollins’ match against Dominik, but Rollins isn’t happy. He yells at Murphy for costing them the match last night by kicking him in the head and then getting pinned by DOMINIK MYSTERIO. Rollins has a big chance tonight and can’t have Murphy screwing it up for him. Murphy is sent to the back and out of Rollins’ sight. Rollins does not want to see him until Murphy figures out what he stands for. Murphy slowly leaves and gets jumped by Dominik on the way to the back.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins

The third of three triple threat qualifying matches. Mysterio goes straight at him to start but gets sent to the floor. Back in and Seth stomps away but gets kicked in the face. They head outside with Dominik sending him into the announcers’ table and then diving off of it as we take a break.

Back with Dominik fighting out of an abdominal stretch but getting pulled down into a bodyscissors. That’s switched to a waistlock instead but Dominik fights up and counters a buckle bomb with a hurricanrana into the corner. The tornado DDT out of the corner into a standing moonsault gets two on Rollins and he rolls outside. That means a big dive from Dominik as the rest of the Mysterios are watching in the back. The 619 sets up the frog splash but Rollins rolls away, setting up the Stomp for the pin at 10:03.

Rating: C. Dominik is doing a lot better in the ring than probably would have been expected of him and to be fair they didn’t do something crazy here. I still don’t really care to see him in the ring, but at least they aren’t going completely overboard with someone who looks lost out there. The match was fine enough and the right person won in short enough order so I can’t get that upset. I’m curious about what Rey’s injury means for Dominik though, as there isn’t much else for him to do other than stuff with his dad.

Post match Seth hits another Stomp as the Mysterios are devastated.

We’re off to Raw Underground where Titus O’Neil is beating people up. Riddick Moss comes in and the fight goes off the stage. Someone distracts Titus though and Moss takes him down for the knockout win. More later.

The Street Profits have a scouting report on Zelina Vega and company. Zelina’s details include “poisons people” and “amusement parks” because she’s too short to ride roller coasters.

Earlier today, Akira Tozawa tried to come into the building but his name wasn’t on the list. Tozawa got out of the car, found out that the list was blank, and was rolled up by R-Truth for the 24/7 Title. Of course the security guard was the referee, so Tozawa kidnapped him and chased after Truth. He was in such a rush that one of the Ninjas had to walk all the way into the building.

Street Profits vs. Andrade/Angel Garza

Non-title tornado rules with Zelina Vega and Demi at ringside. The match starts fast as expected with Dawkins turning a double superplex into a Tower of Doom as we take a break (again with no pitch to the break, which has been a trend tonight). Back with Ford on the floor and Dawkins being chopped to the mat. A middle rope dropkick to the side of the head gets a delayed two on Dawkins and the armbar over the ropes makes it even worse. Dawkins fights back to clean house though and a bulldog gets two on Andrade.

Another shot to the head puts Dawkins down again but Ford hits a BIG dive for the save. The pace picks up and a running Blockbuster into an enziguri hits Andrade….and there go the lights. The referee bails and Angel leaves with Demi. Ford covers Andrade but here’s Retribution over the barricade. Commentary bails and even Zelina starts fighting three of the members at ringside. That goes as badly as you would expect and it’s a big beatdown on Andrade and the Profits. We’ll say it’s a no contest at about 9:00.

Rating: C-. This was a weird one even before the ending and that didn’t do it any favors. It doesn’t help that there is no one else to challenge the Profits for the titles at the moment so this is the best we can get. They have held the belts for over six months now and that doesn’t exactly make it easier to keep the division fresh. Retribution being back is a bit of a relief though as they weren’t on either Smackdown or Payback. That doesn’t seem very long, but it is almost enough to make you believe WWE was dropping a story.

Back with commentary sounding perfectly calm and calling the replay, despite the three of them running for their lives five minutes ago. Samoa Joe is not someone who is going to have a bunch of masked guys interfere and chase him off and be fine with it. That’s completely out of character for him and I doubt WWE cares.

Adam Pearce yells at security.

The IIconics are at Raw Underground as Jessamyn Duke destroys Avery Taylor. Another woman gets up and yells at Duke so Marina Shafir, in street clothes, gets up and massacres the other woman in about ten seconds. The IIconics tease getting in but Peyton stays on the floor, leaving Billie to get beaten up.

We look at Cedric Alexander pinning MVP and then getting beaten up by the Hurt Business.

Apollo Crews is ready to fight Shelton Benjamin in Raw Underground and has Cedric Alexander and Ricochet with him.

Post break, the Hurt Business arrives at Raw Underground and it’s Crews vs. Benjamin. Shelton takes him down but Crews gets in a Kimura. That’s broken up and they fight off the stage, meaning the brawl is on with the other four. All six wind up on the platform and the Hurt Business knock/choke them all out in a hurry. Well that was one sided.

Demi is scared of Retribution but Angel Garza has this covered. Retribution charges in and beats up security so Garza runs off. The women of Retribution step forward and Demi runs off. So to recap: WWE showed Garza getting engaged to his longtime girlfriend, then made him a womanizer, then brings in a woman from the Bachelor to play his second on-screen love interest for months. There was NO ONE else in WWE who could have played her role? Or his role for that matter?

Randy Orton vs. Keith Lee vs. Seth Rollins

The winner gets McIntyre at Clash of Champions. Rollins pitches the alliance with Orton, who immediately drops down to the floor. Then Rollins rolls out to yell at him but Orton says he changed his mind. Lee grabs Rollins by the hair (Rollins: “OW!!!”) and pulls him inside where Rollins’ headlock doesn’t work very well. Orton comes back in and gets splashed in the corner but Rollins is back up with ax handles to Lee. They send Lee to the apron so Lee slingshots in with a crossbody to both of them as we take a break.

Back with Lee getting knocked out of the air and sent to the floor for a drop onto the announcers’ table. There’s a whip into the steps to put Lee down even more but they carry him back to the apron in a rather questionable move. Orton turns on Rollins with the hanging DDT for two but Rollins is right back with the Falcon Arrow for the same.

Lee rises up though and throws Rollins into Orton for the big crash. Orton heads outside where Lee Pounces him into the barricade before catching Rollins’ suicide dive and tossing him into the announcers’ table. Back in and Rollins enziguris Lee and kicks him in the head again to knock him down. The Stomp is countered into the Spirit Bomb but Orton comes back in for the RKO to Lee and pins Rollins at 11:05.

Rating: C+. That was about all they could do here and that’s the right call. Lee looked dominant and didn’t get pinned, which is what matters most in this. Orton gets back into the title match as well, which isn’t quite surprising and it’s not like Rollins is going to be hurt by taking a fall. Good enough here, but more importantly it wasn’t stupid and that’s an improvement.

Overall Rating: C. The best thing here was that they didn’t do anything incredibly stupid. I know that might be a pretty low bar to clear, but in WWE’s world, it is at the top of the priorities list. They set up or moved things towards Clash while keeping things moving well enough. I liked what we got here and while nothing is worth seeing, they didn’t ruin Lee (yet) and I could see myself being interested in where some of these things go. Good enough show here, which is quite the upgrade over what they had been doing in recent months.

Results

Keith Lee b. Dolph Ziggler – Spirit Bomb

Mickie James b. Lana – Mick Kick

Randy Orton b. Kevin Owens – RKO

Cedric Alexander/Viking Raiders b. Hurt Business – Rollup with tights to MVP

Riott Squad b. IIconics – Rollup to Kay

Seth Rollins b. Dominik Mysterio – Stomp

Street Profits vs. Andrade/Angel Garza went to a no contest when Retribution interfered

Randy Orton b. Keith Lee and Seth Rollins – Orton pinned Rollins after a Spirit Bomb from Lee

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

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

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

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