Event: Monday Night Raw
Date: September 23, 2019
Location: San Francisco, CA
WWE Raw Results & Highlights
This week’s Raw kicked off with Seth Rollins cutting a promo hyping his Universal Championship match against ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt at Hell in a Cell. He said he will survive and prevail just like how he did against Braun Strowman at Clash of Champions. Strowman interrupted Rollins and a match was set for later in the night.
Viking Raiders defeated The OC in tag team action: AJ Styles tried to interfere in the match but was sent away by the referee and got attacked by Cedric Alexander on the way. The OC got a near-fall after delivering Boot of Doom to Eric. They went for the Magik Killer but Eric managed to tag Ivar and delivered the Viking Experience to Anderson for the win.
Rusev defeated EC3 via submission in a short match after the Bulgarian Brute delivered a Machka Kick and went for the Accolade.
Sasha Banks defeated Nikki Cross via submission in a long and impressive women’s singles match. With Bayley and Alexa Bliss at ring side, Cross went for the cross body from the top rope but Banks countered it to apply the Banks Statement for the win. Post-match, Banks hit a back stabber and applied the submission hold on Bliss before walking away.
Backstage: The Miz announced that Maryse has delivered a baby girl. He also announced that Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair will be on a special episode of Miz TV next week
Lacey Evans defeated Ember Moon via submission after applying a Sharp Shooter.
R-Truth and Carmella came down to ring followed by a bunch of other superstars eyeing the 24/7 Title. Carmella said that she is tired of being chased and wants to put an end to it. The Princess of Staten Island double crossed Truth and pinned him in the ring to become the new WWE 24/7 Champion. Truth seemed to happy about it but they had to run away as the women’s roster is now behind the new champion.
Chad Gable defeated King Baron Corbin via disqualification: Gable almost made Corbin tap out to the Ankle Lock but Corbin hit Gable with the scepter to cause the disqualification.
AOP cut a promo backstage and randomly attacked Heath Slater and No Way Jose to show that no one is tough enough to fight them.
Fatal-5-Way-Elimination-Match: Winner to face Seth Rollins for the Universal Title next week on the season premiere of Raw.
– Shinsuke Nakamura eliminated Ricochet with a Kinshasa
– AJ Styles eliminated Nakamura with a Phenomenal Forearm
– Robert Roode eliminated Styles with a Glorious DDT
– Rey Mysterio eliminated Roode with a 619 and a splash
Rey is now the #1 contender for the Universal Championship.
Raw Main Event: The non-title match between Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman ended in a no-contest after they were interrupted by The Fiend who attacked Strowman with the Mandible Claw. The Fiend again stared down Rollins as the arena went dark and the laughter of Bray Wyatt filled the auditorium to close the show.
Takeaways from Monday Night Raw
1. The Strowman Redemption
Braun Strowman’s inconsistent booking has been a major concern for WWE fans in recent times. After his seventh consecutive defeat in a Universal Championship match last week, many wondered how he’ll bounce back. However, the whole show tonight was a great representation of Braun’s character.
The Fiend attacked Strowman, and in contrast to his previous attacks, Strowman proved a difficult man to take down. A strong showing by Strowman will be brilliant thing going forward for the Monster Among Men.
2. Baffling Booking of EC3 Continues
EC3 was one of the top prospects when he first arrived in WWE, and he was deemed as everything Vince McMahon wants in a superstar. However, barring a victory over Dean Ambrose in his first appearance, he has been relegated to the lower card and is essentially a jobber at this point.
Another superstar who is booked quite inconsistently, Rusev, squashed EC3 on RAW this week, thus, continuing the miserable run for former TNA Heavyweight Champion.
3. A Season Premiere To Look Forward To
WWE usually has ‘season premieres’ every year during the start of TV season but those episodes don’t have anything noteworthy. However, WWE is putting more efforts than usual this time around, and will apparently bring a new look to Raw next week.
Lesnar returns to RAW while Seth Rollins defends his championship against Rey Mysterio, in what will undoubtedly be a dream match for the WWE Universe. Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan will appear on the Miz TV, which will take place just three days before the debut of SmackDown on Fox. WWE is going all out next week, and it could be due to AEW’s inaugural episode on TNT next week.
4. Tag Team Division In a Better Shape
The Viking Raiders and The Authors of Pain are being used in a better way in recent weeks, which has given a boost to the faltering RAW Tag Team Division. More time for Gallows and Anderson is also a welcome move, as they were down in the lower card before their reunion with AJ Styles.
The imminent return of Usos, who are currently listed as Raw superstars, will make sure that the quality of the shows is at the highest level. With WWE’s ‘competition’, AEW featuring quality tag team action on a regular basis, WWE should continue these efforts to boost the division.
