The Labor Day episode of WWE Monday Night Raw featured three pre-announced matches with Lee taking on Orton, Murphy trying to get on the good side of Rollins again by taking on Dominik, and Black vs Owens on Raw Underground.
SPOILERS: Besides the advertised segments, the show included a heel turn, a cameo from the SmackDown Tag Team Champions, the returning WWE Champion punishing The Viper, and more.
WWE Champion Returns
Just three weeks away from his rematch for the WWE Championship at Clash of Champions, after he failed to lift the title back at SummerSlam, Randy Orton kicked off this week’s episode of Raw.
The Viper asked McIntyre to hand him the WWE Championship since he was unable to perform at Clash of Champions after he hit him with three Punt Kicks a few weeks ago.
This led to the WWE Champion making his return, driving an ambulance, and ambushed The Legend Killer with a Claymore Kick.
Backstage: Adam Pearce told Drew McIntyre that he wasn’t medically cleared to be there and asked him to leave. He said he would be at Clash of Champions with or without a fractured jaw.
Cedric Alexander Turns Heel
The Hurt Business def. Apollo Crews, Ricochet, and Cedric Alexander: Apollo Crews was in the ring and needed to tag in Ricochet, but as he tried to tag in, Alexander pulled him off the apron and assaulted The One and Only against the barricade.
This allowed The Hurt Business to pick up the victory and it was teased that Alexander could be joining the trio, but there was no official confirmation.
The Street Profits def. Angel Garza and Andrade
The Raw tag team champions took on Andrade and Angel Garza as the issues between these two teams continued, but this time around the match was a short one.
Just as Garza stepped back through the curtain, after abandoning his teammate, SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura made their way out to the ring and confirmed that they would be facing The Street Profits in a champions vs champions match next week on Raw as part of the Brand to Brand invitational.
Backstage: R-Truth was able to defend his 24/7 Championship by bringing in Little Jimmy when Akira Tozawa and the ninjas looked to pounce.
Peyton Royce def. Billie Kay
After being forced to split last week on Raw, Peyton Royce and Billie Kay collided in a one on one match.
The two women boasted new entrance music and obvious new personas before they put on an interesting match that later ended with Royce hitting her neckbreaker finisher.
Despite Royce feeding Kay to Jessamyn Duke last week on Raw Underground, the two women hugged following the match and made it clear that they were still friends.
Murphy Interrupts The Mysterio Family
Rey Mysterio, his wife Angie, Dominik Mysterio and his sister Aliyah all made their way to the ring to talk to Charly Caruso.
The interview was interrupted by Murphy who blamed Mysterio for causing issues between him and Seth Rollins. Murphy then challenged Dominik to a street fight for later in the night, which he accepted.
Asuka and Mickie James def. Natalya and Lana
Ahead of this tag team match, it was announced that Mickie James would challenge Asuka for the Raw Women’s Championship next week on Raw. This will be the first title match between the two women since NXT Takeover: Toronto back in 2016.
Mickie and Asuka picked up the win after Asuka forced Lana to tap to the Asuka Lock whilst Mickie hit the Mick Kick to Natalya on the outside.
The VIP Lounge: Cedric Joins The Hurt Business
Alexander confirmed that he joined The Hurt Business whilst appearing on The VIP Lounge because he wanted to learn and earn rather than being broke with Ricochet and Apollo Crews.
This led to a brawl as The Viking Raiders, Ricochet and Apollo Crews all made their way to the ring and attacked.
The Hurt Business def. The Viking Raiders, Ricochet, and Apollo Crews
Cedric Alexander changed his gear to match The Hurt Business in an interesting mid-how switch. The heels picked up a controversial win since Ricochet actually kicked put of the pin.
Interestingly, it appears that Ivar was injured as he dived through the ropes on the outside and medical staff needed to work on the former Champion.
WWE later confirmed that Ivar suffered a cervical injury on a Viking Dive to the floor. As a precaution, he was transported to a local hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.
Randy Orton def. Keith Lee via DQ
After Keith Lee defeated Randy Orton at Payback, the two men went one-on-one for the second time in two weeks.
Orton was about to pick up the victory before Drew McIntyre invaded and delivered a Claymore, which led to a DQ win for the Viper.
Raw Underground: Aleister Black vs Kevin Owens
It was a strange match where a winner wasn’t even announced as the two former friends just brawled into an ad break.
Dabba-Kato had finally seen enough and attacked both men to end their match.
Handicap Match: The Riott Squad vs. Tag Team Champions
The Riott Squad def. Shayna Baszler: Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott are the number one contenders to the Women’s Tag Team Championships, but ahead of their Championship match, the two women were handed an opportunity to face the Champions in two separate handicap matches.
Nia Jax distracted Shayna Baszler from ringside and she was then rolled up by Liv Morgan as she attempted to go for a Samoan Drop to mock her tag team partner.
The Riott Squad vs Nia Jax: Liv Morgan was about to pick up the victory over Nia Jax but as she pinned the Champion, the lights went off and RETRIBUTION cut an interesting promo that put the WWE roster on notice.
Michael Cole later recalled that they “will seep into the pores of the WWE superstars and the WWE Universe.”
Backstage: Drew McIntyre still hadn’t left the building and returned to assault The Viper backstage where he delivered another Claymore. Orton then left the arena in an ambulance.
Street Fight: Dominik def. Murphy
Dominik Mysterio delivered an incredible Sunset Flip Bomb through a table followed by a frog splash before Rey Mysterio and his family all attacked Murphy with kendo sticks to send a message to Seth Rollins who was absent from Raw.
Murphy then quit since he was tied in the ropes and being assaulted from all angles, but after the bell, Mysterio and his family continued to beat down Murphy as the show went off air.
