Last Raw before the Draft, live from Bakersfield, California!
The Headliner(s)
In the main event of Hell in a Cell last night (Sun., Oct. 6) in Sacramento, WWE did the thing we’ve used this space to suggest they not for the last several weeks.
The company could have made Bray Wyatt’s second PPV match since debuting his Firefly Fun House/The Fiend act against Braun Strowman, or almost anyone except Universal champ Seth Rollins. They could have taken the belt of Rollins, made his encounter with Wyatt non-title, or let Bray beat someone else for the strap. WWE could have booked the assault which came after the (non) finish for before the match started. They could have turned the lights on. They might have...
You get the idea. My boss explained it much better here.
But here we are. They did the extended Fiend-no-sells-until-he-sells-but-was-only-playing-possum disqualification/referee stoppage thing that they did, and the live crowd & most of the internet hated it. So now what?
For those of us who aren’t cancelling our Network subscriptions and exclusively watching wrestling on nights other than Monday & Friday from now on, the longest running episodic blahblahblah is back on TV tonight. Rollins is still the champ, and Wyatt is still the act they’ve spent the last month building entire three hour shows around.
The biggest issue for Bray is his pre-Fiend/Fun House history. Last night reminded everyone how the cult leader version of his character went from bad ass to punchline. But a clever meta vignette from the demented kids’ show set with the host explaining to the Devil Vince character how it’s more important to The Fiend to break those who’ve wronged him than to hold titles (or something along those lines) will probably get most of us to give him another chance.
Then they need to never book a match like last night’s again.
I’m not sure Seth can recover, though. At least not as the top babyface. He’s already persisted through a few patches of bad booking, and some self-inflicted Twitter wounds. Plus, he’s never had the passionate defenders someone like Roman Reigns does. His detractors aren’t even that energetic. The backlash against Sunday’s final match will add fuel to the “anyone but Seth” movement’s fire, though.
Bullshit and AEW chant but got the best one right here. pic.twitter.com/2E74kyMm0D
— JohnLooseCannon (@KiddCage415) October 7, 2019
In addition to that, the story they seem to think they’re telling with Rollins is how he’s more the guy who betrayed his brothers in The Shield than the one who tried to atone for that by, among other things, prying Raw’s top prize away from Brock Lesnar. A fall from grace for Seth is also key to ensuring last night doesn’t completely derail Bray’s rise.
A lot has been invested in The Beastslayer, but all that investment didn’t earn him or the company any goodwill in Sacramento. Whether they plow ahead as if nothing happened or listen to fans, and tell a more interesting story as a result, will determine what they can salvage from Hell in a Cell.
The title scene
Somewhat overshadowed by the fury about Wyatt/Rollins was confusion about the apparent decision to not include a championship reign as part of Sasha Banks’ post-SummerSlam heel return. The Raw Women’s title still belongs to Becky Lynch after she made The Boss tap, and with the Draft coming in the next week, there’s no guarantee Banks will get another shot at The Man any time soon.
The Monster Among Men seems to be written out of The Fiend’s story, but he did punch United States champion AJ Styles out of mid-air last night. But Strowman looks to be busy with other things we’ll discuss in a moment, so The Phenomenal One likely needs a new challenger.
We’ve got new Women’s Tag champs... the mist-spewing, new attitude-having Kabuki Warriors. Not sure what brand they’re on, or if these belts will still float between shows in the Fox era, but keep your eyes on Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross’ relationship if they end up exiting this scene.
The ladies were on the PPV, which is more than Raw Tag Team titleholders Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler can say. They did retain over Heavy Machinery last Monday, before being on the losing side of an eight man against them Friday. Viking Raiders picked up yet another win at Hell in a Cell, and seem primed to get a title shot at some point.
If you’re still keeping track, the 24/7 title once agains belongs to R-Truth.
Other stuff to keep an eye on
No official preview from WWE as of this writing, which isn’t too surprising considering they dropped half the PPV card an hour before doors opened yesterday. But we do know about a couple of things...
- Lineal heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury will get an open mic to air his grievances against Braun. They squared up while Fury was at SmackDown, then the big Brit tried to jump the barricade after Dolph bumped the Monster into him.
- The Natalya/Lacey Evans feud will be resolved, for real this time, by a Last Woman Standing match on tonight’s episode.
- Oh, and Bobby Lashley is still banging Rusev’s wife.
It’s the Hell in a Cell fallout show!
What will you be looking for on Raw tonight?