Holy crap.
This was the best moment of the show.
The Fiend’s music played and Alexa Bliss was in the turnbuckle as Andrade and Zelina Vega slowly backed away.
They met the Fiend behind them. Fiend grabbed Andrade, and then Alexa grabbed Zelina. Double Sister Abigail! It was brilliant!
I am super excited to see more of this in any capacity. Against Andrade and Zelina, two random people, anyone.
Versus Randy for the title after Hell in a Cell? I don’t know about that one. I’d like to see The Fiend and Alexa do some mixed tag stuff first.
Farewell
Rollins came out to say goodbye to the Raw audience, and said there’s no one who can really step up and be their leader.
New Raw signee Jeff Hardy interrupted, and said Raw’s ring is his now after Rollins told him to get out. And then AJ Styles interrupted laughing at Rollins and he took exception, Hardy kicked them both, and then said they’d all have a “triple threat tag team match.”
This was a great match!
The side Russian leg sweep pin attempt by Hardy ruled. The dynamic between all three men worked really well, and it was particularly nice to see Seth Rollins in the ring with someone who doesn’t have Mysterio as a last name. Sadly, neither of these men are returning to SmackDown long term, so this was just a one and done. Elias blasted Hardy in the back with his guitar and Styles took advantage.
The return of Elias is quite intriguing, as it seems he’ll be returning to his heel roots. I liked him as a babyface, but Corbin ruined that. Then he went away after Sheamus hit him with a car and framed Hardy… oooohhhhh. Huh. That’s interesting.
Well, back to our regularly scheduled Rollins/Mysterio feud on Fridays!
Too generic
Orton said he’s going to be locked in a cell with Drew McIntyre and he’s gonna take the title away from him. McIntyre interrupted the three most dangerous letters and said the beating he gave him at Clash was for the people he hurt, but Hell in a Cell is for him.
I’ve enjoyed both Orton’s promos and the program between him and McIntyre, however these generic “At (pay-per-view) I will win your (championship name) and blah blah blah” doesn’t cut it for me. Similarly, the champion’s generic promo retort to the generic challenger’s promo equally doesn’t cut it for me. Just… fight. I don’t need to be reminded that Drew will attack Randy every time he sees him. Just do it! (ShiaLaBeouf.gif)
I know we have to get the talking in, and Raw does love its talking. WWE’s refusal to allow their audience to put the pieces together makes these segments less than exciting.
Certain things need to be said. Not everything.
Draft day part 2
The Fiend and Alexa coming over to Raw was the big move of the night. I’m very eager to see where this goes. A first program with Andrade and Zelina would be neat! I also like that they brought Nikki Cross over so that those two can finally end their relationship.
I also really like that Apollo Crews was drafted to SmackDown, because of two reasons. One, he’s finally away from the Hurt Business, and two, he’s back on Paul Heyman’s brand. Heyman may not be in charge, but hopefully he still has some ways to help Crews out.
The worst part about both drafts - two Raw feuds that were not necessary to continue were just moved over to SmackDown. All of Rollins/Murphy/Mysterio and now Kevin Owens and Aleister Black. For some reason, WWE decided not to continue the Fiend and Owens and drafted them to separate brands. Rollins will be an interesting dynamic with his former Shield brethren at the head of the table, and now both of them are heels. An interaction between the two, maybe?
The Rest
Lana is the best! Lana #1! - Nia Jax eliminated people and then Shayna helped the group eliminate her. To retaliate - Lana got put through a table for the third straight week. But, they accomplished what they set out to do by doing that! With me, at least. The “final” two were Natalya and Lacey Evans and Natalya took Lacey out and started to celebrate, and I was just like… yeah okay. Either woman winning wasn’t going to wow me, but I accepted it.
And then the swerve. Lana kicked Natalya right off the apron and won the whole thing. I popped when that happened. Thinking about it after the show, it’s fine. Let her have what I believe will be a squash match with Asuka and call it a day. That’ll show Miro!
New Day def. Roode and Ziggler - Xavier Woods was awesome to watch in this match! He was flipping around and bouncing off the ropes. The slingshot dropkick and then Ziggler had a counter and I almost thought they’d do the switch here and go with the unification on SmackDown. They didn’t. I’m fine with being wrong.
Ricochet def. Cedric Alexander - I loved the stipulation for this match. If Ricochet won, Hurt Business leaves him alone, and if he lost, he joins them. I almost wanted him to lose but the ending was great. Ric pulled a Guerrero and pretended to get hit by the chair MVP slid into the ring while the ref was down. I loved it! Though because he won in that way, I could see this feud continuing. We’ll see.
Kevin Owens def. Aleister Black - Really enjoyed the finish! I’ve questioned most of this little feud because Aleister never really made his intentions as to why Owens is such a bastard clear, especially since his heel turn came from concern and worry for his health and well-being on that KO Show last month. Aleister loses more from this to be honest, and that’s mainly because he’s going to be saddled with this new “pirate” gimmick.
Angel Garza def. Andrade - Zelina was out for commentary, and said that both men’s egos got in the way while she was managing them, and she was fed up. Garza won pretty quickly, but what happened afterward, as I mentioned above, was the true highlight. I will say, it seems like both Zelina and Andrade getting double Sister Abigail could lead to them teaming up again.
Miz TV - is awful. Miz and Morrison together are awful. Use Miz throwing Morrison to Lars Sullivan to split them up. My god.
Rose and Brooke def. Natalya and Lana - Natalya and Lana are finally done. Don’t expect much to happen with Lana at this point, but I know she’ll never pick up a win for the rest of her time in WWE. She’s the only one allowed to be pinned in matches involving her, after all. But she gets to face Asuka for the title now, so what do I know?
Raw was a decent show, but a number of things dragged out. Miz TV getting two segments was awful. I did not like the women’s battle royal main event getting interrupted twice by Orton and McIntyre. The wrestling on the show was pretty good though, with some great finishes.
I’m really upset that Ali never got to talk about RETRIBUTION and his role in it on this show, after he was advertised. I wonder what happened there.
Grade: C+
What were your thoughts, Cagesiders?