Main Event – September 17, 2020: Main Event Can Save Us

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.

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:

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Monday Night Raw – September 21, 2020: It Worked While It Lasted

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

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:

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Monday Night Raw – September 14, 2020: Emphasis On Maybe

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

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

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

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

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Main Event – September 10, 2020: They’re Almost Onto Something

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

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.

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.

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.

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Monday Night Raw – September 7, 2020: The Extra Important Part

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

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

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

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

Main Event – August 20, 2020: Yeah This

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: August 20, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

It’s the final show of any series in the Performance Center despite this being the show that needs to be in the place. I would say that I don’t know is going on here but you can pretty much guarantee what you’re going to be seeing. It helps that this is the go home show for Summerslam so they’re going to have a focus at least. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Bianca Belair vs. Billie Kay

Peyton Royce is here with Kay. Belair drives her into the corner for an early clean break before taking it to the mat with no real effort. Kay can’t get a single leg as Belair blocks her with straight power and the hiptoss connects. Belair bounces around a bit but Peyton’s distraction lets Kay connect with Shades of Kay for two. We hit the seated abdominal stretch but Belair powers up and takes her into the corner. Belair hits a dropkick into a nip up and she heads up top. After kicking Peyton away and having to dive over a charging Kay, it’s the KOD for the pin at 6:20.

Rating: D+. How many times can Belair beat these two up? It feels like something she does when she’s bored, which is rather often as she doesn’t exactly do anything outside of yelling at the Street Profits. I could go for Belair doing something else on a bigger stage, but for now this is about all she’s going to be asked to do.

From Smackdown.

Post break Strowman says Fiend knows what he’s getting at Summerslam so get out here and face your fears. Strowman is going to eviscerate him and consume his entrails…but here’s Alexa Bliss instead. She says they need to talk but Strowman says she used him. He’s like a pawn that she used to get him to sing songs in her stupid car. Bliss wants to know what is going on, so Strowman explains that the Fiend changes everyone, including her. So get out of here, because he wants the Fiend.

Bliss tells him to be careful what he wishes for and offers to slap some sense into him. She demands he look at her and hits a heck of a slap before doing it over and over. Strowman picks her up in a gorilla press…and there go the lights. Strowman shouts for the Fiend and slams Bliss down as the lights go completely out. They come back in red with Fiend having replaced Strowman. Strowman appears on the screen and laughs, with Fiend doing the same, to end the show.

The Bliss stuff is a little more interesting but when you have Strowman reading what sounds like the results you get from looking up your promo in a thesaurus, you can only take it so seriously. Strowman still can’t talk and since his entire character is built around being really strong, he doesn’t have the emotional depth to make something like this work out. Also it has been about three months now and they need to wrap it up already.

We look at Seth Rollins and Murphy injuring Dominik Mysterio.

From Raw.

Summerslam rundown.

Humberto Carrillo vs. Murphy

They fight over a lockup to start until Murphy takes him down with an armbar. Carrillo fights up with some chops into a headlock but they start running the ropes. A running hurricanrana takes Murphy to the floor and we take a break. Back with Murphy stomping away in the corner and hitting some forearms to the spine. A kick to the same place gets two and Carrillo is sent outside for a slingshot dropkick.

Back in and Murphy asks where these fans were when Aleister Black and Dominik were hurt. Murphy whips him hard into the corner and the referee even asks Carrillo if he wants to continue. A missed charge lets Carrillo unload in the same corner and a missile dropkick to the back gives Carrillo two. Back up and Murphy blasts him with a running knee for the sudden pin at 10:09.

Rating: C-. Carrillo has fallen pretty far in a hurry and I can’t say I’m all that surprised. Ignoring the fact that Carrillo has basically been replaced by Dominik Mysterio as Rey’s little buddy, there is only so much you can expect from him. He can do things in the ring but has no personality to speak of, so how far could he be expected to go? Murphy is his usual self: talented but stuck as a lackey instead of his own man.

Long video on Retribution.

From Raw.

Here’s Shawn Michaels to show us what happened to Ric Flair again. Shawn talks about how the 31 days Flair spent on his death bed were some of the hardest days of all of our lives (uh….). Without Flair, there would be no Shawn, HHH, Edge, Christian, Big Show or Drew McIntyre (UH…….). Randy Orton is on that list as well and then he had the nerve to take out Flair last week. Shawn doesn’t know how it is going to happen but it is going to happen at Summerslam. Maybe it’s from Sweet Chin Music or the Claymore, but someone is going to give Randy what he deserves. Whatever it is, Orton is going to see it coming.

Shawn goes to leave and there’s the RKO into the Punt. McIntyre runs in to run Orton off and a referee comes out to check on Shawn. Orton comes back and McIntyre beats the heck out of him, including throwing him over the announcers’ table. McIntyre checks on Shawn but Orton comes back in again for the RKO as Shawn can’t get up to end the show. This was as expected, including the over the top praise of Ric Flair, because Shawn and HHH still haven’t officially opened their eternal shrine to him.

Overall Rating: D+. Totally run of the mill Main Event here and that’s not a good thing to say. It’s not a show that has any real life to it and I don’t think that is going to change in the near future. Maybe the Thunderdome aspect can help things, but dang man. You can’t use this place for some character development with maybe a promo or two? Just try to do something with the resources you have. Why is that so much to ask?

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

Monday Night Raw – August 24, 2020: Triple Threat

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 24, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Samoa Joe

It’s a triple threat tonight, but mainly because of WWE’s weird scheduling. Tonight is the Raw debut of the Thunderdome, the fallout show from Summerslam and the go home show for Payback. Since we have less than six days to get ready for the pay per view, expect a lot of matches to be announced in a hurry. Let’s get to it.

Here is Summerslam if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Here’s what’s coming on the show.

Commentary talks about Roman Reigns’ return. At Payback, it’s Reigns vs. Strowman vs. the Fiend in a No Holds Barred triple threat match for the title.

Here’s WWE Champion Drew McIntyre for a chat (including a bunch of pyro in the stands, seemingly lighting a lot of people on fire). After a long video on his successful title defense over Randy Orton last night, Drew asks for a thumbs up from all of the fans in the Thunderdome. McIntyre thinks that’s cool and says retaining the title was cool too. He knows what it’s like to have to climb up to the top of the mountain and become WWE Champion.

Orton has been one of the best for a long time now but last night, Drew was that much better. Drew remembers Orton winning a match called the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever but then Drew beat him, so what does that mean? Anyway, Drew can’t wait for his next challenger and if that’s Orton, so be it, because he’d love to take Orton to Claymore Country. Drew goes to leave but Orton jumps him from behind and they fight into the gorilla position. Orton rakes the eyes and send him into a wall, followed by the Punt. Referees and agents come in but Orton manages another Punt to leave McIntyre cold.

Post break McIntyre is being helped up but shoves everyone away, insisting that he is fine.

Video on Keith Lee.

Nia Jax doesn’t like a question about how she’s still here but it was easy to get around her suspension. All she had to do was get Pat Buck alone and….apologize of course. Get your mind out of the gutter. Shayna Baszler pops up to say it’s a matter of time before Nia gets suspended again. She makes a Haystacks Calhoun reference (Shayna: “Oh sorry. At least he was good looking.”) so Nia says Shayna looks like something out of the Addams Family. So we have a guy who passed away 31 years ago and a television series that has been off the air for about 55 years. And they wonder why they can’t get younger fans to watch.

Bayley vs. Shayna Baszler

Sasha Banks is with Bayley and here’s Nia Jax to watch, with a break coming before the bell. Shayna knocks her into the corner to start and Bayley is taken to the mat for some arm cranking. Bayley fights up and is quickly forearmed down, setting up a running knee in the corner. A triangle choke goes on so Sasha teases coming in to get Bayley out of trouble. Bayley finally sends Baszler outside and Nia jumps Baszler for the DQ at 5:31.

Rating: C-. This didn’t get to go anywhere but hey, at least we’re getting more from Nia Jax, because it has been a good while since she got to do her….whatever it is that she does. Something about being the Rock’s cousin or something I’m sure, because that’s enough of an excuse to have her come out there and do the same thing over and over and over and over.

Post match the beating is on with Banks and Bayley’s encouragement….until Baszler and Jax stop to glare at them. So there’s Payback, because we’re so lucky that way.

Kevin Owens goes to see Aleister Black before the Kevin Owens Show later. Owens opens the dressing room door and talks to Black, who doesn’t actually say anything or appear, though his hand does pull the door closed after Owens leaves.

Here’s Owens for the Kevin Owens Show and he finds the fans wonderful. He wastes no time in bringing out Aleister Black, who has a wrap around his right eye thanks to Buddy Murphy attacking him last month. Black looks at the steps but hesitates and comes in underneath the middle of the ropes instead. Owens isn’t sure what to talk about so Black says let’s just show the clip of him getting his eye taken out.

Back with Owens talking about how Seth can get under your skin….and Black starts grabbing his eye and falling to a knee. Owens wants medics out here but Black pops up with Black Mass to take him down and leave. The heel turn is a fine idea as brooding Black with the deadly finisher could go a long way.

Bayley and Banks are ready to retain Banks’ title and then deal with Jax and Baszler.

24/7 Title: R-Truth vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Cedric Alexander vs. Shelton Benjamin

Shelton is defending and Truth is the only one to get an entrance. Everyone goes for rollups to start until Alexander unloads on Benjamin. The anklescissors sends Benjamin into the corner but Alexander’s springboard is broken up with a knee to the face. Truth’s ax kick misses Shelton but he has to powerbomb Tozawa onto the Ninjas. Tozawa throws Truth outside as well though and rolls Truth up for the pin and the title at 1:37.

Post match Benjamin beats up the Ninjas while Tozawa runs away.

Randy Orton cares about what McIntyre said about him.

We look back at Orton attacking McIntyre.

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.

Charly Caruso talks about what we just saw and Drew McIntyre but overhears Zelina Vega, Angel Garza and Demi (Did WWE ever bother to say why she’s here every week? I get that she’s part of the story now but why was she even here in the first place?). Charly asks if Vega is ready to admit that she poisoned Montez Ford but Vega yells about how the footage proves nothing. She leaves and Angel invites Demi to the ring with her for his match. Charly is invited too but seems disgusted.

Montez Ford vs. Angel Garza

Andrade, Demi and Dawkins are all here. Before the match, the Street Profits say they want the smoke. Dawkins tries to take his pants off ala Garza but Ford puts a stop to that. Red cups drop from the ceiling during the Profits’ entrance for a nice touch. Ford takes him into the corner to start and does the Ultimate Warrior rope shake.

Something off the top is dropkicked out of the air and Angel TAKES OFF HIS PANTS. Ford can’t hit a neckbreaker or an enziguri but here’s Ivar to offer Demi….a turkey leg. They leave together and Angel is so furious that Ford kicks him in the head. Angel catches him on top but gets knocked down, setting up the twisting frog splash for the pin at 4:09.

Rating: D+. This was more about Ivar, a woman from the Bachelor and a turkey leg, because that’s what the Tag Team Titles are now about. We’ve seen the same stuff for weeks now, but at the same time, I’m not sure what else they can actually do with the titles at the moment. Are there even four teams on the show?

It’s time for Nia Jax segment 3 as she comes up to Shayna and says they can win the Women’s Tag Team Titles. Shayna says if she helps with that, Nia gets off her back. Nia says Shayna can follow her lead and gives her a mock punch to the jaw. Shayna slaps her and walks away.

As they leave, Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan come in with Bianca Belair come in to mock the IIconics.

Bianca Belair/Riott Squad vs. IIconics/Zelina Vega

Kay sends Liv into the corner to start but Liv escapes for the tag off to Ruby. Peyton grabs a waistlock on Ruby and feeds her into Shades of Kay for two. Vega comes in for a kick to the head in the corner and a dragon sleeper (with the behind her back grip ala Aleister Black) goes on. That’s released so Vega can laugh at Belair, allowing Riott to get over for the tag to Belair. That means the beatdown is on in a hurry with Belair hitting a release Glam Slam to Vega with the IIconics making the save. The Squad takes care of the IIconics and the KOD finishes Vega at 3:27.

Rating: D+. Just a quick six man here as we continue to wait on Belair to destroy Vega (again). In theory the feud should be over but a rematch for the Tag Team Titles at Payback wouldn’t surprise me. I do like the Riott Squad winning again, but it would be nice if these people had something to go after instead of being stuck in the second tier of the division.

Cedric Alexander beats Ricochet at arm wrestling with Mark Henry (here to officiate another arm wrestling contest) coming in to offer a shot at the winner. That’s not going to happen so Henry has the table moved to the ring. MVP comes in and asks why Cedric is wasting his time with someone like Ricochet. Cedric doesn’t seem impressed but MVP says he’s off to deal with some US Title work for the Hurt Business. He’ll see Cedric later.

Here’s Mark Henry to say we’re coming up on Payback, where these two will be facing off for the US Title. This brings out Bobby Lashley (on his own) and Apollo Crews for some arm wrestling. Lashley wants to get this over with so he can beat Apollo up tonight and then do it again on Sunday for the US Title. Crews doesn’t think so and is ready to go. Lashley takes his time starting…and loses in a very quick match as Crews steps on his foot. Post match Crews loads up the Toss Powerbomb but settles for a pump kick to put Lashley on the floor. The rest of the Hurt Business comes out so Crews dives on them and runs away.

We look at Seth Rollins beating Dominik Mysterio last night and still trying for the big emotional moment.

The Mysterios are ready for their tag match tonight and Rey is proud of Dominik no matter what. Dominik says his family gives him the strength, and Rey is looking forward to Rollins having his own family to see what he has done to them. Rey keeps talking about how proud he is to share the ring with his son and they’re ready for Rollins. If they’re going this way, they’re doing a great job of setting up a possible Dominik heel turn.

Here are Natalya and Liv Morgan to induct a special woman into the Hall of Fame. Natalya knows she is going to get her own induction one day because she is the hashtag boat tonight tonight they are here to honor Mickie James. We get a video package on James, as made by Natalya, showing…..nothing because she has no career highlights. Cue Mickie to shove Natalya down and kick Lana in the head.

Lashley, with the Hurt Business, wants to fight in Raw Underground tonight so Shane McMahon tells him to come right on in.

Off to Raw Underground where Lashley chokes someone out and throws him off the platform. Dolph Ziggler gets up to try his hand with Lashley and takes him down but Lashley kicks him in the back. Ziggler manages a kick to the head and the sleeper, with Lashley not being able to roll out. He can however flip Ziggler over and Pounce him off the stage and into a post. MVP and Shelton Benjamin throw in another nameless guy who is knocked out with a single kick to the arm.

Two things. First of all, they’ve done a good job of keeping these things quick. They aren’t taking five to ten minutes straight every week and that has helped a lot. I know they’re not for everyone, but they’re in and out in a hurry, which is the best move. Second: did the Hurt Business drive over to the Performance Center or has the whole thing moved to the Amway Center and just happens to look completely identical when there isn’t much of a set?

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.

We look at the Fiend winning the Universal Title and Roman Reigns returning.

Drew McIntyre is mad at Randy Orton and promises vengeance. Cue Orton to jump him from behind and hit a THIRD Punt.

Post break, Drew might have a skull fracture. Just wrap a bandage around his head and he’ll be fine.

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.

McIntyre is taken away in the ambulance and Keith Lee pops up. While he would like to tell Drew to stay out of his match, he knows that McIntyre is tough enough to be fine. Lee can’t say the same thing about Randy Orton.

Back to Raw Underground where Lashley beats up Cedric Alexander. Has he just been destroying people for the last half hour or so? Kind of a cool thought actually. Ivar jumps Lashley, drawing in the rest of the Hurt Business and Erik for the big brawl. The Viking Raiders are destroyed and that seemed to be a regular match. Shane McMahon says we’ll see you next week.

Also for Payback: Keith Lee vs. Randy Orton.

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. I liked this one more than I expected to as they weren’t wasting time (mostly) this week. They were zipping through the show and set up as much of Payback as they could in one night. Lee vs. Orton is interesting, but I’m not sure I like the potential result. The match was set up well though and hopefully it works in execution. What mattered here was Payback though and they got things ready fast, as they should have.

Results

Shayna Baszler b. Bayley via DQ when Nia Jax interfered

Akira Tozawa b. Shelton Benjamin, R-Truth and Cedric Alexander – Rollup to R-Truth

Montez Ford b. Angel Garza – Frog splash

Bianca Belair/Riott Squad b. Zelina Vega/IIconics – KOD to Vega

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

Asuka b. Sasha Banks – Asuka Lock

Rey Mysterio/Dominik Mysterio b. Seth Rollins/Buddy Murphy via DQ when Retribution interfered

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

Summerslam 2020: I Didn’t See That Coming

IMG Credit: WWE

Summerslam 2020
Date: August 23, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe

It’s finally time to try this out and yes it’s another Thunder Dome show, which may or may not mean anything to you if you’re reading this in 2273. Basically there are no fans live in the arena, but there are pictures of several of them scared to move because of all of the conditions WWE has included to allow them to be shown on screen. Other than that, we have two World Title matches and something we’ll never see coming, which kind of negates the idea of a surprise. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: US Title: MVP vs. Apollo Crews

Crews is defending and the rest of the Hurt Business is banned from ringside. A quick sunset flip gives Crews two and MVP wants a breather on the floor. Back in and MVP uses a distracted referee to get in a cheap shot but Crews is right back with a dropkick. MVP is ready for a charge in the corner though and sends Crews over the top and face first onto the steps for a nasty crash.

Back in and MVP misses a big running boot in the corner but he’s fine enough to crotch Crews on top. A superplex brings Crews back down with MVP slipping a bit on the fall before getting two. Crews is fine enough to clothesline MVP to the floor and that means a big running flip dive, which seems to hurt Crews’ back again. Back in and Crews wins a slugout before ripping off MVP’s nasal strip. That sets MVP off enough that he tries the Playmaker but Crews reverses into the Toss Powerbomb to retain at 6:35.

Rating: C. This could have been on any given Raw and that isn’t the most surprising thing. The bigger story here would seem to be Crews vs. Bobby Lashley down the line and letting Crews get the Summerslam win on the way there is a nice boost for him. Other than that, there isn’t much to see here, but it was just a Kickoff Show match.

Post match Lashley and Shelton Benjamin run out for the beatdown but Crews slips away.

The opening video presents Summerslam as a huge production, including the lights, camera action line. Each match gets a quick look as well.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Bayley

Bayley is defending and has Sasha Banks in her corner. Asuka forearms Bayley in the shoulder to start and hits a running dropkick. The sliding dropkick misses but Asuka can get a seated Octopus hold. Thankfully this cuts off Cole’s explanation that the big difference between their careers is Asuka has won the Women’s Royal Rumble. Not that Asuka has never lost a singles match to Bayley, including beating her twice in the last month and a half, but their Women’s Royal Rumble record.

The hip attack sends Bayley to the floor and Asuka hits a jumping DDT from the steps to knock Bayley silly again. Back in and Bayley grabs a quick suplex for a breather and the stomping is on in the ropes. The Bayley to Belly gets two more so Asuka kicks Bayley in the head for the double knockdown. Another hip attack rocks Bayley and there’s the release German suplex to send Bayley flying. They head to the apron with Bayley dropping Asuka knees first, much to Banks’ delight.

Back in and Bayley gets two off a chop block, followed by something like an Indian Deathlock. That’s broken up so Bayley grabs another leglock with Asuka going to the ropes this time. Bayley goes up for the top rope elbow but Asuka pulls her into the cross armbreaker instead. Asuka lets go to kick at the screaming Banks though and they head outside with Asuka hitting Bayley in the face. Back in and Bayley grabs a rollup for a close two but Asuka’s running hip attack hits Banks by mistake. That’s enough for Bayley to small package Asuka to retain at 11:21.

Rating: B-. It was good for Bayley to win, even if it has no bearing on her Royal Rumble history. Bayley retaining again is interesting, though that would give you more of a reason to believe that Asuka is taking the other title later. Either way, they had a solid match here as they tend to do, as Asuka can have good matches with almost anyone. It was a good effort here and they even helped set up the other title match later.

Post match Bayley and Banks lay out Asuka again.

Dominik Mysterio asks Rey Mysterio to let him do this himself against Seth Rollins and not get involved. Rey agrees and they hug.

Recap of Retribution’s carnage.

Kevin Owens comes out for commentary, complete with a red tie. He also waves to his wife watching in the crowd.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Angel Garza/Andrade vs. Street Profits

The Profits are defending and Zelina Vega is here with the challengers. Ford flips over Andrade to start and hits a jumping clothesline. A jumping hurricanrana off the top freaks Vega out and Andrade is sent outside. Dawkins comes in for a double flapjack to Garza but Ford’s running flip dive to the floor is countered into a double powerbomb. Back in and Ford gets sent into the corner, allowing Garza to TAKE OFF HIS PANTS!

Andrade armbars Ford over the ropes, setting up the Alberto double stomp for two more. Ford avoids a charge and brings in Dawkins to clean house, including a spear to Andrade. It’s back to Ford, who is grazed by the basement dropkick to the head for two. Zelina gets on the apron but is knocked down in a hurry, leaving Ford to escape the Wing Clipper. The Cash Out into the (spinning) frog splash pins Garza to retain the titles at 7:49.

Rating: C. Another Raw level match here, though maybe a little bit better than that. I doubt this is over between the teams, because it’s not like there is anyone else for the Profits to defend against at the moment. The Owens inclusion was a little odd but he has enough of a story history with Vega and company to make it work.

Post match Owens congratulates the champs and announces the return of the KO Show tomorrow night, with Aleister Black as his guest.

Bayley and Sasha Banks don’t like Kayla Braxton’s questions. Banks knows she can beat Asuka, and Bayley knows it too. Tonight Asuka is tapping out and then next week they’re retaining the Tag Team Titles.

We recap Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville. They used to be best friends and then Sonya got sick of Mandy getting all of the attention and turned on her. Then Sonya cut her hair and challenged her to a hair vs. hair match, which was seemingly derailed by someone wanting to actually murder Sonya, so instead it’s No DQ, Loser Leaves WWE.

Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville

No DQ, Loser Leaves WWE. Mandy punches her in the face for an early knockdown and they head outside with Sonya being whipped into various things. A suplex onto the ramp drops Sonya again and Mandy dives off the announcers’ table with a clothesline. Mandy grabs a table but Sonya gets in a shot and takes it inside. Back in and Mandy misses a running knee, allowing Sonya to slap on a dragon sleeper.

Sonya grabs a triangle choke but Mandy is smart enough to stack her up for two to force the break. The trash talk is on but only causes Mandy to slap away. Now the knee gives Mandy two and they head back outside, with Mandy shouting about being the soccer mom. Mandy throws the chairs at Sonya’s head but walks into a pump kick instead. Back in and Mandy hits a pair of knees, followed by a third as she goes half Kenny Omega. Angel’s Wings plants Sonya and a fourth knee to the face finishes her off at 10:00.

Rating: D+. Yeah believe it or not, I’m not exactly getting behind the idea of a blonde bombshell who got all of the attention being called out for getting all of the attention. Sonya stole the show in the entire feud and while things got turned upside down this week (completely fair enough), I was really wanting to see how far Sonya can go after everything she has been doing lately. Or to see Mandy bald for some reason. The No DQ stuff changed almost nothing here.

Post match Sonya is devastated as Otis comes out to celebrate. He does the Caterpillar and Mandy fails completely in her attempt.

We recap Dominik Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins, which is fallout from Rollins going after Rey Mysterio, including taking his eye out twice. Dominik is here to fight for his dad’s honor in his debut. They’re making it a street fight to help Dominik out a little bit.

Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio

Street fight and Rollins, with Murphy, is in Rey Mysterio WCW inspired ring gear. Rey is here with Dominik to even things out. Dominik looks nervous to start and Rollins seems more interested in toying with him. Rollins even sticks his head out so Dominik can grab a headlock. Instead of punching Rollins in the face, Dominik grabs a headlock and is shoved down almost immediately. Some armdrags into a front flip have Rollins a little staggered so he slams Dominik down.

Rollins demands and receives a kendo stick from Murphy but Dominik is up with a dropkick. That means Rollins has to run from the kendo stick until Rollins catches him with some stomping back inside. The neck cranking goes on but Rollins lets go to yell at Rey. Dominik’s feeble comeback is cut off with the Sling Blade and Rollins puts the knee on his face. The chair is set up inside and Rollins tells “Papa” to come on. Dominik reverses the buckle bomb and grabs a tornado DDT for two.

The kendo stick shots have Rollins in trouble for a change but he crotches Dominik on top. That means the superplex into the Falcon Arrow for two and Rollins wants his own stick. Dominik gets beaten down and Rollins calls for a table from Murphy. Rollins loads up said table in the corner but takes too long going up, allowing Dominik to hit a super Russian legsweep through the table for two. Dominik’s frog slash gets the same, plus a million versions of the same jokes about Eddie being his dad.

Dominik takes too long getting a chair and walks into a superkick, followed by a powerbomb. A bunch of kendo stick shots have Rey clutching his own chest and now we go old school with handcuffs. Before they go on, cue Rey’s wife to try to call this off but Rey stops her. Murphy comes in for the knee to Dominik and tries to take the eye out, finally drawing Rey in for the save.

Rollins and Murphy double team Rey and handcuff him to the middle rope. They both grab kendo sticks but turn to look at Rey’s wife instead. Since she’s on the stage and Rollins is at ringside (and since she can’t MOVE), Dominik makes the save. Something like a 619 sends Rollins into the barricade and there’s the regular version. Another frog splash hits knees though and Rollins makes Rey watch as he….just kind of holds Dominik. The Stomp finishes Dominik at 22:35.

Rating: D+. I’m not sure what to think here, other than it went WAY too long. The match itself was ok enough as Dominik has some skill and has clearly been trained well, but that doesn’t mean I want to watch this for twenty two minutes. It felt like a lot more of the same, with Rollins trying to be vicious but coming off as a heel wrestler instead of anything especially violent. This feud has gone on way too long and odds are we get a tag match next so they can keep trying to get the big emotional moment which hasn’t come yet. Dominik looked pretty good (all things considered), but not ready for Summerslam good.

Post match Rollins leaves the keys with Dominik and watches as he has to crawl over and free Mysterio.

Raw Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Sasha Banks

Banks, with Bayley in her corner, is defending. Asuka has a bad knee coming in and Banks goes straight for it in a smart move. Back up and Asuka hits a weakened version of the sliding forearm to put Banks on the floor. That means a leglock on the floor to even up the knees a bit, followed by a kick to the back for two on the champ. Asuka heads to the apron and Banks grabs a spinning powerbomb to the floor, freaking Bayley out in the process.

That’s good for nine so Banks kicks her in the chest for two more. Asuka pulls her down into an ankle lock but Banks rolls out in a hurry, sending Asuka onto the middle rope. That’s fine with Asuka, who hits a middle rope DDT for the slightly delayed two. The missile dropkick gets the same and Banks falls into the corner. Asuka tries to pull her out but Banks grabs a Codebreaker for two in a cool counter.

Banks misses her own frog splash and the Asuka Lock goes on but Banks flips backwards for two. Asuka has to let go and Banks gets the Bank Statement. She tries to flip into the center and gets switched into the Asuka Lock, which is broken again. Bayley gets on the apron and gets elbowed down, allowing Banks to try a rollup ala Bayley earlier. This time Asuka reverses into the Asuka Lock for the title at 11:31.

Rating: B. Better than the first match and I can always go with someone who learns from an earlier match. This made good sense after earlier and they had to do something to get some of the gold away from Bayley and Banks. The action was pretty hard hitting here and Banks works with Asuka better than Bayley, so this was a nice improvement over the opener and the best match of the night so far.

Banks is distraught post match and Bayley doesn’t know what to do.

We recap Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton for the Raw World Title. McIntyre won the title back at Wrestlemania and Orton has been on a roll in the last few months. This of course meant we needed Ric Flair to be involved because he has to be in on a big story a year. Anyway, McIntyre has worked his way to the top and doesn’t think much of Orton skating by on talent over the years. Orton on the other hand doesn’t think much of McIntyre at all and is taking the title because he can. Oh and he Punted Flair because it’s Flair.

Raw World Title: Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre

Drew is defending and Orton bails to the floor at the bell. After the stalling ensues, Orton goes back in, gets punched once, and heads outside again. The chase is on this time and Orton stomps away as Drew gets back in. Orton misses a pair of RKO attempts but the second one sends Drew outside for a breather. The champ gets back in again and unloads on Orton in the corner. Orton can’t hit the RKO for a third time but he can avoid a charge to send McIntyre shoulder first into the post.

McIntyre falls outside and Orton drops him hard onto the announcers’ table for a big crash. He does it again to make McIntyre’s back even worse and there’s a suplex off the table. That’s good for one back inside and we hit the chinlock. Orton starts stomping away at the ankle and leg but McIntyre gets in something like a Stunner to Orton’s knee. As a fan holding up a Twitter sign is replaced, Drew puts on a Figure Four in the middle of the ring.

Orton is in trouble but gets smart by pulling the referee in and poking McIntyre’s eye for the break. They get back up and slug it out with Orton still not being able to hit the RKO. McIntyre snaps off an overhead belly to belly and then does it a second time. A top rope clothesline drops Orton and McIntyre is fired up. McIntyre loads up a top rope superplex but gets dropped down into the Tree of Woe.

That doesn’t slow McIntyre down that much as he pulls himself up for a choke throw to put Orton back down. The Futureshock gets two and Orton’s head is busted open. McIntyre goes up top but misses a shot to the head, allowing Orton to hit the powerslam for two. The hanging DDT is countered and McIntyre hits the Glasgow Kiss.

They fall out to the floor together and Orton hits the hanging DDT on the way back in. Orton loads up the Punt but walks into a powerbomb. The Claymore is loaded up but Orton ducks, only to miss the RKO again. McIntyre grabs a backslide for the pin to retain at 24:38. Phillips: “Orton never saw it coming!”

Rating: B+. They took their time here and I got into it pretty quickly. I like the idea of having McIntyre win without some kind of a screwy ending and if that’s the only thing we didn’t see coming, it might be quite the upgrade. It was a very nice back and forth match and Summerslam main event worthy, so well done on living up to the hype.

Tomorrow: Keith Lee is on Raw.

We recap Braun Strowman vs. the Fiend. They have been feuding for months now with the Fiend reemerging from the swamp at Extreme Rules. During their fight, Alexa Bliss appeared and tried to convince Strowman to join Bray Wyatt again. Strowman said no, but it became clear that Strowman still thought something of Bliss, and maybe vice versa. Strowman said she meant nothing to him though and he even gorilla press slammed her on Smackdown. Strowman has had it with Wyatt and the Fiend in particular so it is time for the big fight.

Smackdown World Title: The Fiend vs. Braun Strowman

Strowman is defending and falls count anywhere. Fiend is knocked down to start but comes right back with a release Rock Bottom. They head outside with Fiend sending him into various things and hitting Strowman in the ribs with a toolbox. Fiend loads up the announcers’ table but gets chokeslammed onto it for his efforts. A spear sends Fiend through the barricade and a shot with the steps makes it worse.

Back in and the running powerslam gives Strowman two, meaning it’s time to fight up the ramp. They go into the gorilla position with Fiend hitting Sister Abigail for two. Fiend pokes the eyes and takes it back to the stage, where he slithers over to Strowman. The Mandible Claw goes on near ringside but Strowman shoves him into the LED ring skirt.

Another running powerslam gives Strowman two back inside and frustration is setting in. Strowman goes to the toolbox and pulls out a box cutter so he can cut up the mat. Some of the wood is exposed but Fiend gets up and hits another Rock Bottom. Two Sister Abigails onto the wood makes Fiend champion again at 12:01.

Rating: C+. This was feeling big to start and then wound up being Strowman losing because he was stupid and took forever to set up….something while the supernatural monster was left laying there. Fiend winning was the only possible outcome here as there was nothing left for Strowman to do as the failed champion. Either way, it was better than I was expecting, but it still wasn’t great.

Post match ROMAN REIGNS returns and hits a spear to take Fiend down and hammer away. Reigns spears Strowman down too and shouts that Strowman isn’t a monster without him. He unloads on Strowman with chair shots and spears Fiend down again before shouting that the title was always his. I know supervillains are supposed to have weaknesses, but football players who played college ball in Georgia and use spears is as specific as I’ve ever heard. Also, Reigns was WAY more aggressive than usual here and felt as close to a heel as he’s been since the original Shield run. He might not have turned, but it wasn’t far off.

Overall Rating: C. This show was looking outright dreadful until Banks vs. Asuka (though I could see people liking Rollins vs. Mysterio) and the rest of the show bailed the first half out as much as it could have. Reigns being back is a great thing as Smackdown (and Raw for that matter) needs all of the star power it can get. It’s not a great show, but it jumps up in quality in the second half and that saved it from being a nightmare.

Results

Bayley b. Asuka – Small package

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

Mandy Rose b. Sonya Deville – Running knee

Seth Rollins b. Dominik Mysterio – Stomp

Asuka b. Sasha Banks – Asuka Lock

Drew McIntyre b. Randy Orton – Backslide

The Fiend b. Braun Strowman – Sister Abigail onto exposed ring boards

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Summerslam 2020 Preview

IMG Credit: WWE

It’s that time of year again. WWE has a long history of pay per views and it is time for one of the biggest on the calendar. This Sunday, WWE will present Summerslam from the Thunder Dome in Orlando, which could make things a lot better or a lot more headache inducing, depending on your taste and eyesight. I’m not entirely sold on this one but Summerslam has the ability to surprise you. Let’s get to it.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins

Let’s get this one out of the way before I fall asleep thinking about it. This is the next step in a feud that has gone on for months and feels like it has gone on for years. I’m not sure what WWE sees in this but maybe now that Rey Mysterio has signed a new contract, we can wrap it up and let them get on to something more interesting. It isn’t the worst feud, but I can’t bring myself to care about it whatsoever.

I don’t see a reason for Dominik to win in his debut against a name like Rollins, so I’ll go with Rollins to win here. Rey will be there and the match is a street fight to even things out a bit, but I’m not sure how good the match can be. The biggest problem is that I don’t care enough to get interested and that is going to be a problem with such a big match on this stage.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Street Profits vs. Andrade/Angel Garza

This is the match where they included another illegal action to set the story up, but in this case the poisoning (yes poisoning) was dropped for the sake of….well maybe better taste. The Street Profits have held the titles for about six months now, which is the longest reign since the New Day’s record reign by a wide margin. That would suggest it is about time to finish and it might be the case here.

That’s what I’ll go with here, as not only have the Profits held the titles for a long time now but Andrade and Garza need to actually win something at some point. They have been a team for a long time now and have yet to actually accomplish much of anything, so winning the titles here could be a nice step. The Profits are long past the point where they need the titles and can get them back later if they need to, so hopefully the titles change here.

US Title: Apollo Crews(c) vs. MVP

This is another feud that has been going on for a little while now but this time around they have me wondering where things are going to go. The interesting thing for me here is that it doesn’t seem to be the final blowoff of the whole story. Instead it seems that we are setting up Bobby Lashley as the final boss for Crews, which unfortunately doesn’t exactly leave this as the biggest mystery.

As you might have guessed, I’m taking Crews to retain here. Crews has gotten something out of this title reign, including an improvement in his promo skills. I could go for some more of him as champion, but I’m not sure where he goes after the title reign. It gets to continue here though, as MVP isn’t someone who needs to be US Champion again at this point in his career.

Sonya Deville vs. Mandy Rose

We need to get to some Smackdown stuff on here and that’s where this one comes in. I was really curious to see how they were going to have the hair vs. hair match play out, but now things have changed to a No DQ, Loser Leaves WWE match. It wouldn’t surprise me to see this be due to some real life issues and now I’m not sure how much drama there is with the match.

In theory, this is a pretty big layup with Rose winning so Deville can go deal with the fact that someone wanted to murder her a few days ago. I can’t bring myself to complain about this one of course, as that’s about as serious as you can get. It is kind of a shame though as Deville has turned into one of the best characters, especially with her talking, in all of WWE’s women’s division as of late. I’m sure she’ll be back, but it’s a shame that her roll slowed down for now.

SmackDown Women’s Title: Bayley(c) vs. Asuka

Now we begin our fairly strange two part portion of the evening, with Asuka getting a pair of singles title shows. There are a few different combinations for this and she gets Bayley to start things off. I’m not sure what to expect this time around, but Bayley has been losing more than she should be as of late. That doesn’t bode well for her, but WWE can be a strange place in something like this.

I’ll take Asuka to win the title here, as they seem to be moving towards turning the tables with Bayley and Sasha Banks. In this case that would mean Banks succeeding where Bayley doesn’t and that could make for something interesting as we move forward. Bayley has to lose the title here though and Asuka taking it would certainly be something that would work, even if it is another blow to the Raw women’s division.

Raw Women’s Title: Sasha Banks(c) vs. Asuka

So that leaves us with this, because for some reason this is the kind of idea that WWE loves to run with as of late. There is some kind of an idea about having a small number of people dominating a division and the women’s division is getting that condition now. It is Asuka, Bayley and Banks at the moment, but the question is whether Banks leaves this show with a title of her own.

I’m going to say that she does, and that means I’m likely to be wrong as there is little reason to believe that Bayley vs. Banks is EVER going to take place at this point. Fifty years from now our grandchildren are going to be waiting on them to fight in their retirement community and odds are it’s going to be any month now. Have I mentioned I’m tired of hearing about that feud being any day now?

Smackdown World Title: Braun Strowman(c) vs. The Fiend

This is now Falls Count Anywhere and hopefully that means they can wrap it up sooner rather than later. I know the Fiend might not be the best choice for World Champion but MY GOODNESS he is better than Strowman. I don’t know how much more of Strowman I can take at this point as the guy is one of the least interesting champions in recent or long term memory. I’m not sure why we need to see it last this time, but hopefully it finishes here.

In other words, for the love of all things good and holy, PLEASE let the Fiend win here. There is no need for Strowman to stick around here and I really don’t want to see them have a fourth match here because there is no need for any of this to continue again. It has been downright horrible and they need to just drop the whole thing with Fiend ending Strowman. Say by beating him with bowling pins and serving him as sandwiches at a James Bond themed dinner party.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre(c) vs. Randy Orton

And then we have this, which is one of the most interesting things on the card. I’m not sure what this is going to bring, but sweet goodness it actually feels like they have set up something where you could see either guy could win and be ok with it. However there is one thing that I think is hanging over the whole match and it is going to play into the ending: the show’s tagline of “You’ll Never See It Coming.”

My guess is that comes into play here with one of two ideas, and both of them end with Orton winning the title. First up, Retribution could cost McIntyre the title after he called them out on Raw earlier this week. That could set up him getting some payback at Payback, either against Orton or part of Retribution. The other, and more likely option? Flair was never Punted (remember the lights flickered) and you’ll never see it coming when he shows up to help Orton win the title. Either way, the tagline doesn’t exactly help that they’re basically telegraphing a surprise, thereby negating the concept of a SURPRISE.

Overall Thoughts

Call me crazy, but I think we might be in for a decent show here. I know the TV hasn’t been great for the last few months, but there is something about this card that is giving me hope. Summerslam has been going fairly well over most of the last few years and if they can keep that trend going, maybe they can go somewhere. I mean I don’t believe they will, but you have to have some hope somewhere. Maybe they can have some good TV as a result. You would never see that coming would you?

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Monday Night Raw – August 17, 2020: May Badgers Bury Her In The Desert

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 17, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton

It’s the last night in the Performance Center and that means we are also less than a week away from Summerslam. This week’s show gets to deal with the big fallout from the Punt last week as Randy Orton kicked Ric Flair in the head. Since it’s a Flair story, we need the combined forces of Shawn Michaels and likely HHH down the line to tell us how great Flair is all over again. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

Here’s Drew McIntyre for an opening chat. After a long video on what happened to Flair last week, McIntyre talks about how Flair is a 71 year old legend with a tear in his eye and Orton kicked him in the head. McIntyre is ready to do whatever he has to do at Summerslam..and the video goes nuts as Retribution has struck again. We cut to the truck where they are wrecking everything in sight and we jump to a commercial with McIntyre still talking.

Post break, the locker room wants to know what’s going on. Drew McIntyre comes in and says he doesn’t like being disrespected like this and wants them to ban together to stomp them out. Seth Rollins and Murphy come in to talk about being the Messiah, meaning that the roster already has a leader. Rollins should be getting a title shot but Ricochet brings up Rey Mysterio returning tonight. No Rollins isn’t scared and asks for a match with McIntyre instead. They have to be separated and a match seems likely.

Here’s the Hurt Business, with the cameras staying on a wide shot for a good while and the graphics taking their time to start up. Still on the wide shot, MVP rants about Retribution and calls them out. He has been following the money, which takes you to catering, where you find Apollo Crews and his merry band of pranksters. Retribution showed up around the time that MVP faced Crews for the US Title.

Cue Apollo to laugh off the allegations and accuse MVP of trying to throw out some distractions before Crews beats him at Summerslam. MVP says Crews has had more starts and stops to his career than a bad car, and it’s back to catering as soon as he loses the title. Crews says he knows that’s why MVP wanted him in the Hurt Business, so maybe they can do some business right now. He can face Shelton Benjamin right now and if he wins, Lashley and Benjamin aren’t at ringside at Summerslam. Let’s go.

Shelton Benjamin vs. Apollo Crews

Non-title. Joined in progress with Shelton stomping away and unloading on Crews in the corner. Crews gets beaten down even more and here’s R-Truth, as chased by Ninjas. The distraction lets Crews get in a rollup for the pin at 2:03. They really needed to pin Shelton for that?

Post match the Hurt Business keeps up the beating but Cedric Alexander, Ricochet and Mustafa Ali make the save. Lashley gets the Full Lashley on Cedric but the numbers game gets the better of Lashley and sends him outside. R-Truth comes running back and gets kicked in the face by Shelton, who wins the 24/7 Title. MVP says this isn’t happening so let’s do a six man elimination later. Just give the title back to Truth already.

Angel Garza hits on Demi from the Bachelor again when Ivar comes in to hit on her instead. Demi is invited to join the hunt tonight and Ivar accuses Garza of poisoning Montez Ford. That’s not true, so Ivar eats a drumstick and is ready for their match tonight.

Ivar vs. Angel Garza

Ivar’s early spinning kick to the face is cut off and Garza sends him face first into the mat by the beard. Garza TAKES OFF HIS PANTS as Angelo Dawkins is hitting on Demi in the back. Ivar hits a running crossbody to crush Garza, followed by some running clotheslines in the corner. A backsplash gives Ivar two and Garza heads outside, only to have Zelina Vega block the dive. Back in and Garza gets in a neck snap and the low dropkick finishes Ivar at 3:54.

Rating: C-. Just a match here which wasn’t all that bad but it did well enough. I’m not sure why we can’t have the #1 contenders to the Tag Team Titles in a singles match before their Summerslam title shot but I’m guessing Erik’s Raw Underground match is a little more important. Not a bad match, but they haven’t done the best job of hyping this up.

Post match Dawkins pops up and suggests they ask Charly Caruso a little more about Garza. That’s shouted down so Dawkins says he has a tape. Garza goes running off, with Vega asking Samoa Joe what is going on. Naturally Joe knows, and talks about all of the extra security around here to deal with Retribution. The tape is going to show how far someone is willing to go around here. Vega leaves and isn’t happy.

We look at what Seth Rollins and Murphy did to Dominik Mysterio last week.

Natalya vs. Mickie James

Lana is here with Natalya. This is Mickie’s first match in over a year and it was hyped up on WWE’s preview, so naturally she doesn’t get an entrance. Natalya takes her into the corner so Lana can film things before Mickie fights back and grabs a headlock. Mickie goes over to shout at Lana but the MickDT is countered.

A double clothesline gives is a double knockdown and here are Rollins and Murphy to yell at Joe. Rollins wants to know why Joe thinks Mysterio is going to be here as Mickie snaps off a hurricanrana out of the corner. A neckbreaker puts Natalya down again but Natalya knocks her off the top. The camera mainly stays on the argument as Mickie is counted out at 3:13.

Rating: D. This had me thinking of the opening scene to Guardians of the Galaxy 2 where the focus is on Groot while the battle is going on in the back. Picture that, but not entertaining or funny in any way. That being said, there is something funny about Natalya and Lana literally being downgraded to background noise during something else.

Post match Rollins threatens Joe and says he’ll take care of the Mysterios.

Sasha Banks/Bayley vs. Asuka/Shayna Baszler

Non-title. Before the match, Sasha and Bayley friendly bicker about who faces Asuka first at Summerslam. Either way, they’ll laugh all the way to Payback and their Tag Team Title defense. Cue Shayna to say she has the next shot at the Raw Women’s Title but here’s Asuka to say they have to fight together before Shayna can fight her. Asuka and Shayna charge the ring to start things off and it’s a Codebreaker to put Sasha down.

As Asuka goes after Sasha, it’s Nia Jax knocking the Plexiglas down to take Shayna out. Pat Buck and some referees come out to take care of her but Shayna starts the brawl into the stands. Asuka hits the hip attack on Sasha and we take a break. Back with Bayley working on Asuka’s back and handing it off to Sasha for two off the Meteora. Bayley comes back in to clothesline Asuka down for two more but the big elbow hits raised boots. Asuka fights back but gets caught in the Bank Statement.

Cue Shayna for the save and Asuka brings her in off the hot tag. Shayna’s stomp to the arm is countered with a rollup for two but Bayley has to break up the Kirifuda Clutch. Banks has to save Bayley from the same and the Bayley to Belly gets two more. Asuka pulls Banks to the floor for the Asuka Lock and Baszler Clutches Bayley for the tap (two in two weeks for Bayley) at 11:58.

Rating: C-. Let’s see: champ loses via tap out for the second week in a row, they set up the Payback Tag Team Title match, Nia is back (making me sigh heavily), Shayna now looks like she should be challenging Bayley on the other show and Asuka only looks like a threat to one champion. Did I miss anything here or did they pack in another five stories into one match while I turned my head for a second? And can we get a match without some kind of shenanigans?

Video on Dominik being attacked last week.

Apollo Crews and company are ready and walk off. Randy Orton comes in and seems to be pondering things.

Shawn Michaels comes up to see Drew McIntyre and they talk about all of the bad things Randy Orton has done. Shawn talks about how Drew drove five hours to watch film with him every day while he was healing up and knows he can deal with Orton. As for tonight though, Shawn needs to handle Orton so give him his space.

The IIconics and the Riott Squad argue about who is winning their singles matches tonight. The camera pans over to show Shayna Baszler talking to Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke in their Raw debuts.

Long video on Retribution.

Ruby Riott vs. Peyton Royce

They fight to the floor early on before Peyton blocks an O’Connor Roll back inside. A knee to the head gets two on Riott but she fights back with a running elbow in the corner. Peyton is sent outside for an apron crossbody but Billie Kay and Liv Morgan get in an argument. That lets Peyton shove them into each other and throw Ruby back in for the Deja Vu and the pin at 2:54. This was nothing.

Shane McMahon is ready for Raw Underground.

We join Raw Underground in progress with Erik mauling an unknown. Dolph Ziggler gives it a 4/10 so Erik calls him out for a fight. Ziggler gets on the stage and we have our first name vs. name match. Ziggler goes for a leg but Erik blasts him in the face with a left hand. A suplex drops Ziggler again but he keeps a grip on Erik. They trade hard shots with Erik getting the better of it and picking him up by the leg. Ziggler grabs a sleeper though and adds a thumb to the eye as Erik is out. After the bell, Ivar knocks Ziggler onto a bunch of people.

MVP sits down next to Cedric Alexander and asks why he isn’t in the six man tonight. He brings up Cedric being caught in the full nelson (because he’s already forgotten that he named it the Full Lashley an hour and a half ago) and offers Cedric a spot on the team again. MVP leaves and Cedric is frustrated.

Back on Raw Underground, Riddick Moss and Arturo Ruas beat the heck out of each other and fall off the stage. They fight with security and the match is deemed a draw.

Hurt Business vs. Ricochet/Apollo Crews/Mustafa Ali

Elimination rules. Ricochet kicks Benjamin down for two to start but it’s off to Lashley, who runs over the legal Ali. The spinning Dominator gets rid of Ali at 1:35 and it’s 3-2. A big spinebuster plants Ricochet and Paydirt gets rid of him at 2:15, leaving Crews all alone. Crews comes in and hits the Toss Powerbomb to get rid of Shelton at 2:55 to even things up a bit. Cue Cedric Alexander to roll Shelton up for the pin and the 24/7 Title as we take a break.

Back with MVP stomping away in the corner and throwing Crews outside. MVP misses a charge in the corner though and Crews hits the Toss Powerbomb to finish him off at 9:29. Lashley comes straight in to knee Crews down but Crews hits some kicks to the head. The standing moonsault gets two but Lashley spears him down for the pin at 10:50.

Rating: C-. I’m still not sure why it isn’t Crews vs. Lashley for the title at Summerslam but maybe that’s what we have for Payback. There isn’t much shame in having Crews lose a glorified gauntlet match and this goes a long way to give MVP a chance on Sunday. Not a good match or anything, but it did its job well enough.

Summerslam rundown.

24/7 Title: Akira Tozawa vs. Cedric Alexander

Cedric is defending and knocks Tozawa to the floor early on, sending him crashing into the Ninjas. Tozawa comes back in with a spinning kick to the head but has to bail out of the top rope backsplash. The Neuralizer into the Lumbar Check retains the title at 1:22.

Shelton Benjamin runs in with Paydirt to win the title back.

Back at Raw Underground, Marina Shafir destroys a woman for the win. Nia Jax runs in and takes out Shafir and Duke. Shayna pops up for the fight and Jax bails. ENOUGH WITH NIA JAX ALREADY!!!!

Montez Ford vs. Andrade

Ford starts fast and sends Andrade outside for the big flip dive. Back in and Ford gets crotched on top, allowing Andrade to hit a superplex for two. We hit the chinlock for a bit until Ford fights back and hits a standing moonsault for his own near fall. Andrade goes up and gets hurricanranaed right back down. Zelina Vega offers a distraction so Andrade can break up the frog splash. Vega dives at an invading Bianca Belair but gets slammed down, allowing Ford to grab a rollup for the pin at 3:08.

Rating: D+. Another match that was energetic while it lasted, though I’m a bit surprised that they had Ford get back in the ring before Summerslam. They did an angle with him getting poisoned and he’s just back two weeks later? I guess it wasn’t all that important, but it would have been nice to see them hold out until the pay per view to add a little something to the match.

Overall Rating: D+. There’s quite a bit to unpack here. First of all, you can’t really say the show was boring, because it didn’t stop moving all night long. Now that being said, there were a lot of highlight packages (often different versions of the same one) and a lot of them made you feel like they were just filling in time. There wasn’t much on here that you needed to see and last week’s show felt a lot more like the go home show for Summerslam. It also doesn’t help that Thunderdome is coming and that means this show was little more than a placeholder.

Results

Apollo Crews b. Shelton Benjamin – Rollup

Angel Garza b. Ivar – Low dropkick

Natalya b. Mickie James via countout

Asuka/Shayna Baszler b. Sasha Banks/Bayley – Kirifuda Clutch to Bayley

Peyton Royce b. Ruby Riott – Deja Vu

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

Cedric Alexander b. Akira Tozawa – Lumbar Check

Montez Ford b. Andrade – Rollup

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