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WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Sept. 21, 2020) from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, with all the latest build to the upcoming Clash of Champions pay-per-view (PPV) scheduled for this coming Sunday night at the very same venue.
Advertised for tonight: Drew McIntyre vs. Keith Lee in a match with possible implications for the pay-per-view show, Seth Rollins and Murphy vs. Humberto Carrillo and Dominik Mysterio vs. Andrade and Angel Garza in a number one contender triple threat tag team match, Braun Strowman vs. Dabba-Kato in a Raw Underground fight, and more!
Come right back here at 8 p.m. ET when the Raw live blog kicks off once the show starts on USA. It will be below this line here. (REMINDER: NO GIFS OR PICS ARE ALLOWED IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. OFFENDERS WILL BE BANNED.)
WWE RAW RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR SEPT. 21
You say, “Why does everything revolve around you?” You say, “Why does everything I do confound you?” You say that I pulled the world from under you, you can’t go through it this time, but me? I have to liveblog this here pro wrestling show for these folks.
The opening signature scrambles and distorts and the show opens with Retribution storming the ringside area and taking control of the ring.
Commentary informs us they’ve signed a contract and they get in the ring. Clearly among them are Mia Yim and Mercedes Martinez, as well as Brennan Williams, Donovan Dijak, and a third man whose identity I have no clue because he’s got a full face mask. (My man Henry T. Casey says that’s Shane Thorne, and I’m inclined to believe him.)
Yim cuts a promo about how contracts won’t save WWE, and Dijak adds that WWE is infested with a sickness and they’re judge, jury, and executioners.
Enter the Hurt Business.
They head into the ring and Retribution run away. Montel Vontavious Porter gets on the mic and says Retribution aren’t so tough when they don’t have their chainsaws, but since they’re still running their mouths, they’ll get an opportunity tonight to be on the business end of some hurt. Bobby Lashley says they’re not kids hiding behind maskes.
A bunch of generic Retribution goons swarm the ring and attack! The Hurt Business make a valiant effort but Williams and Dijak lay Lashley out and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a recap of what we just saw, because Raw is three hours long. (Three hours long.)
Backstage, the Mysterio family is interviewed about Dominik being in the tag title #1 contender’s match tonight.
Rey says it’s very special to see his son follow in his footstep.
Street Profits make their entrance to observe the #1 contender’s match.
We get all the entrances for the match and then go to break.
Andrade “Cien” Almas & Angel Garza vs. Buddy Murphy & Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio & Humberto Carrillo (WWE Raw Tag Team #1 Contender’s Match)
Murphy, Garza, and Carrillo to start, Angel tears his pants off and immediately tags out. Almas keeping his distance, he bails and leaves Buddy and Humberto to get to it. Murphy in control early, staying on Carrillo with a wristlock only to get arm dragged out of the ring. Andrade comes in and cuts Humberto off, getting him in the corner for quick tags and a heat segment.
Tranquilo in the ropes, impromptu alliance with Buddy, soon enough Mysterio gets the tag and the babyfaces do stereo dives! Back in the ring, Dominik with a Yoshi Tonic but Garza breaks it up! Angel dumps Mysterio out of the ring, the match breaks down, brawling between Murphy and Almas! Andrade off the ropes and right into a high knee but Buddy can’t capitalize!
Rollins walks out, Murphy fights valiantly but eats a hard back elbow from Almas, tag made, underhooks...
Andrade “Cien” Almas & Angel Garza win by pinfall with Wing Clipper from Garza on Buddy Murphy to become #1 contenders to the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship.
We get a recap of last week’s Raw Underground with Braun Strowman cutting a swathe through the competition until he ran into Dabba-Kato.
We see Shane McMahon leaving Raw Underground and chatting about tonight’s show with the doorman, and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Retribution get a promo.
Dijak says the Hurt Business could have been part of the solution but instead they’re part of the problem, lining their pockets with WWE’s money to pay for their thousand dollar suits. They asked for this opportunity out of greed, and their payment will come in the form of a match where they get paid in Retribution.
Kevin Owens makes his entrance and welcomes us to the Kevin Owens Show.
Tonight’s episode is a whole new level of special because he never thought he’d invite his guest and give him this kind of platform.
His guest tonight, of course, is Shane McMahon.
They talk about their history together, which Owens says is all water under the bridge and tonight is about what McMahon does best, promoting. Shane talks up Dabba-Kato vs. Braun Strowman and introduces Dabba-Kato. McMahon stands up next to him to really sell the erstwhile Babatunde’s size, and KO admits that he doesn’t really care about tonight’s Raw Underground.
He’s interested in Raw Underground from two weeks ago, and he gets in Dabba-Kato’s face and says he needs him to know that they’re going to do this at some point. But for now, he’s got something for him to chew on, and he slaps Kato across the face! McMahon has to hold his man back and Owens says he’s got to introduce his second guest...
Enter Braun Strowman!
Shane plays peacemaker and warns them that if they fight right now they won’t have their match later, and just as he’s got things cooled down Aleister Black trips KO from outside the ring and pulls him groin-first into the post repeatedly!
We get a recap of last week’s main event and closing angle.
Drew McIntyre runs into an interview backstage.
He says he’s concerned about competing with his broken jaw and things got heated between him and Keith Lee last week, but it’s business and it’s not personal. He’s sure they’ll laugh about it sometime, but tonight, right now, they’re gonna beat the hell out of each other.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, Retribution are backstage beating down various Raw superstars including Humberto Carrillo and Titus O’Neil.
Drew McIntyre vs. Keith Lee
Lee with a side headlock, block the shoot off, reversed, McIntyre really wrenching it in hard, shot off, up and over, off the ropes, duck lariat, Keith with a big man crossbody that sends Drew clattering to the floor! Stalking out after him, McIntyre punches Lee back into the ring only for Keith to roll right back out.
More punches and chops, Grizzly Magnum lands true but Drew back suplexes Lee into the announce table to send us to break!
Back from commercial, Lee hammering McIntyre with strikes, Stinger Splash, Drew gets him up in a fireman’s carry but Keith slips out! Pop him up, McIntyre counters the Spirit Bomb into a Frankensteiner and hits a spinning spinebuster, jackknife pin... NOPE! Drew with a jumping neckbreaker for another two count, underhooks but Keith counters Future Shock by ramming him into the corner!
The Limitless One fired up but McIntyre gets a boot up! Charging in... HUGE thrust spinebuster almost puts Drew away! Laying his shots in, off the ropes, lariat connects and lays McIntyre out for nearfall! Powerbomb lift, Drew slips out and hits the Claymore but Randy Orton is right behind him with a steel chair!
Drew McIntyre wins by unannounced disqualification.
Post-match, Orton grinds the edge of the chair into Drew’s broken jaw! HE PUNTS KEITH LEE!
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a recap of what we just saw because... you know the deal.
Randy Orton gets on the mic and shames the crowd for doubting him for even a second. He says his track record speaks for itself with twenty years in WWE. But his title match at Clash of Champions isn’t exactly a normal match, is it? He talks about the ambulance ride he took a few weeks ago after eating three Claymores.
He talks about how he must have felt the same way he makes people feel when he takes them out, and it made him smile as he remembered exactly what it takes to become WWE Champion. The ambulance represents his fourteenth WWE Championship.
Backstage, Asuka is interviewed.
She speaks Japanese and gets interrupted by Billie Kay, who did a “spot-on” impression of her by saying that she’s giving title matches away. Peyton Royce rolls up and says she could get an opportunity too, and Asuka asks if they’re still friends, which they say they are. Peyton gets in Asuka’s face and she says no one will be ready for her at Clash of Champions, but tonight she’s ready for Royce.
Zelina Vega makes her entrance, she’ll be in action after the break.
Back from commercial, Mickie James gets an inset promo where she says she didn’t give up last week and she never will give up.
Mickie James vs. Zelina Vega (WWE Raw Women’s Championship #1 Contender’s Match)
Vega with an axe kick, smashing James into the corner and putting boots to her, choking her with a boot, Mickie shoves her away and hits a mat slam! Hair pull swing, Zelina from behind with a sleeper hold but James counters with a snapmare and a running kick for two! Suplex countered into a small package, off hte ropes, duck the lariat, Vega with an octopus hold!
Mickie flagging but not failing, standing up straight and ramming Zelina into the turnbuckles headfirst to counter! Put her into the corner, Vega with a step-up kick, second try countered and James goes for a powerbomb! Reversed, no dice, trading pins, a short mat slam from Zelina! Mickie shoves her off but she hits a Tiger feint kick into a crucifix neck crank in the ropes!
Breaking at referee Shawn Bennett’s five count, up in the corner, James throws her aside and hits a lariat. Crescent kick, rising knee, back elbow, flapjack into a kip-up! Fired up, Mickie off the top with a seated senton into a cover... NOPE! Front kick, DDT blocked and Vega whips her hard into the ropes!
Rear chinlock applied...
Zelina Vega wins by pinfall with a rear chinlock lungblower to become #1 contender to the WWE Raw Women’s Championship.
We go backstage where the Hurt Business are beating up Retribution’s faceless goons to send us to break.
Back from commercial, we get a Bianca Belair vignette where she easily outpaces some dude who is working out at the gym.
We get a 24/7 Championship video package of Akira Tozawa and a ninja hiding in the ocean as R-Truth approaches. There’s a shark, everyone panics, Truth drops the title belt and we get a cut to twenty minutes later as he looks to get his belt back from the ocean. Truth recovers the belt and also a scrap of cloth.
I am not sure if we’re meant to think that either Tozawa or the ninja are dead.
Cedric Alexander and Montel Vontavious Porter make their entrance.
MVP calls Retribution out and says they will definitively come to know why they’re the Hurt Business. They can call themselves judge and jury all they want, but make no mistake, the Hurt Business are the executioners. Cedric agrees and calls Apollo Crews out for using him for months, pledging that he’s gonna show him that he doesn’t give a damn about him or his kids.
Apollo Crews makes his entrance and says the only thing he cares about is punching him in the face, and he tells Bobby Lashley that he hasn’t forgotten about the United States Championship, pledging to regain the title.
Apollo Crews vs. Cedric Alexander
Crews in hot, MVP looking out for his boy but Apollo dives on him and gets in Porter’s face as we go to break.
Back from commercial, Alexander with a knee lift, snapmare into a dropkick, three-quarter nelson applied. Raining elbows down, into a reverse chinlock, big back elbows to break but Cedric keeps his wits about him and hits a Michinoku Driver for a tight two count! Corner enzuigiri, diving crossbody, Crews putting it together!
Back elbows, ram Alexander into the corner, shoulder thrusts, Stinger Splash! Fallaway slam... NOPE! Cedric to the floor, slingshoot into a moonsault, nobody home, land on his feet, Alexander dives on him! He gets in Ricochet’s face on his way back in, Apollo is ready...
Apollo Crews wins by pinfall with an Oklahoma roll.
Post-match, MVP pulls his man to his feet and gives him a pep talk while the babyfaces celebrate. The Hurt Business music plays and gives Cedric a chance to attack as Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin come to ringside to join in the brawl! Bob chokes Crews out in the Hurt Lock!
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, we go to Raw Undergroud where Arturo Ruas and Dolph Ziggler are fighting.
Keeping their distance, jockeying for position, Ziggler narrowly dodges a pair of kicks before going in for a single leg! Ruas keeps control of his head and takes him ass over teakettle with knee lift before rolling him over into an armbar! Shift to an omoplata but Dolph keeps fighting and rains punches down from mount!
Back to their feet, sleeper hold applied, Arturo counters with a slam! Looking for a heel hook, he crosses the legs into the Volk Hold double heel hook! Ziggler breaks with a punch to the face, sleeper applied, it’s over!
Braun Strowman is interviewed at ringside and he hopes they have dental insurance because he’s sending everybody home to their mommies without teeth.
Seth Rollins makes his entrance with a manila envelope in hand.
He gets in the ring and on the mic. He says he’s had the Mysterio family’s number for a long time now and he thought he was free of the torment but something’s been bothering him about them. He was inspired to look into it because of a series of photographs posted on WWE.com this week, and the world has to know the truth.
It’s hard for him to do it justice with just words and he wants the photograph in question up on the tron. It’s a picture of the Mysterio family, and he points out how much taller Dominik is than Rey. He says we desrve the truth and he had some people do some digging, and he has the results in the envelope in his hands.
But before he delivers it to us, he’d like to extend the courtesy to the Mysterios off letting them come down to ringside to hear the truth in person.
They make their entrance and Rey gets on the mic. He says they’re all tired of Seth’s mindgames and they’re gonna give him a beating for this. Rollins begs off and says he finds them inspiring. He says he’s got a DNA test and times have changed and technology has advanced a lot, so he says they need an answer to the question of whether Rey is really Dominik’s father.
Mysterio is none too pleased but Seth forges ahead and pulls the paper out of the envelope. The truth is, he says, that the DNA test is conclusive— Rey Mysterio is NOT Dominik’s father! Rey says this didn’t work then and it won’t work now, so why not stop running the family name through the mud? Seth says maybe he’s on to something, maybe he made a mistake, and maybe it isn’t Dominik that isn’t his son.
Maybe Aliyah isn’t his daughter, and if this test isn’t proof enough of that, he’s got some concrete evidence to back it up. He rolls footage of Aliyah checking on Buddy Murphy briefly after the steel cage match and asks her what happened there. Rey says his daughter and he already spoke about that and he raised her to be caring and compassionate.
So keep his daughter’s name out of your filthy mouth, because she’s just 19 and doesn’t know anything about their world. Aliyah storms off and Rey nods to Angie to follow after her before going back with her himself. Dom lingers a beat longer and stares Seth down before joining the rest of his family backstage.
Rollins apologizes and says he just came out here to inform, not to drive a wedge in the family.
We get a hype reel for Connor’s Cure and go to break.
Lana & Natalya vs. Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler
Lana in control on Jax early but she shrugs her off and tags Baszler in. Karelin Lift and a hard knee...
Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler win by submission with the Kirifuda Clutch from Baszler on Lana.
Post-match, the champions attack the Riott Squad, who were on commentary, briefly before Samoan Dropping Lana into the announce table to make a point!
We get a recap of the Orton/McIntyre business from earlier in the show.
We go backstage where Drew McIntyre, where he’s icing his jaw and promising to beat the piss out of Orton on Sunday. But tonight, he’s gonna go pick a fight, and we’re gonna go to break.
Back from commercial, the Mysterio family are backstage bickering over what happened, and Aliyah storms out over being treated like a child.
We go to Raw Underground, where Riddick Moss and Erik are fighting. The Viking gets a big headlock takeover into mounted punches but Riddick won’t stay down! Windmill punches from both men, Moss knocks Erik out and wins the match!
Dabba-Kato is interviewed at ringside, and he says talk is cheap and Braun will feel what he’s all about.
Asuka makes her entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a hype reel for Mandy Rose’s return to Raw.
Asuka vs. Peyton Royce
Collar and elbow, Royce backs her into the corner and scrapes her face with a forearm. Boot up in the corner, schoolboy for two, Alarm Clock knee strike sets up the running hip attack! German suplex, sliding kick... NOPE! Peyton catches a kick but Asuka counters, duck the roundhouse, solebutt connects, off the ropes, Royce with the Widow’s Peak for two!
Asuka Lock countered into a victory roll, Peyton with a reverse roundhouse kick, again just a two count! Up top, Asuka cuts her off, jockeying for position and a reverse roundhouse kick knocks Royce to the mat! Roll-through, struggling, Zelina Vega is in the ring and attacks the champion!
Asuka wins by unannounced disqualification.
Post-match, Vega keeps the beatdown running until Asuka recovers, and then she beats a hasty retreat, barely dodging a Uraken on her way out.
Aliyah is hanging out backstage when Buddy Murphy rolls up.
He begs off, saying he didn’t come to hurt her, just to apologize. This whole thing’s gotten out of hand, and if he did anything to hurt her, he just wanted to say he’s sorry. She says nothing, he leaves, and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get some hype for tonight’s edition of Raw Talk.
We go back to Raw Underground for Braun Strowman vs. Dabba-Kato.
Big men start off throwing punches, cautious and dodging, into the collar and elbow, and they stalemate. Strowman with a front chancery, riding him, taking his back and looking for the arm triangle. No dice, break away, regroup, dive on him and he knocks Dabba-Kato out with mounted punches!
Commentary hypes Clash of Champions up for us.
Retribution (who have been given new names that I didn’t catch) and the Hurt Business make their entrance to send us to break.
Retribution (Dio Maddin, Dominik Dijakovic, & Shane Thorne) vs. the Hurt Business (Bobby Lashley, Cedric Alexander, & Shelton Benjamin)
Back from commercial, the match is in progress and Lashley suplexes Thorne! Tag to Maddin, who is being called Mace, and he hits mounted punches in the corner. Sidestep the charge, off the ropes, tag made and Dijak comes in, now called T-Bar. (Which means that Shane Thorne is Slapjack. Sure. Whatever.)
Isolating T-Bar, but he recovers and clubs Alexander down. Quick tags, working Cedric over, but he gets Neuralyzer and staggers T-Bar! Tag to Benjamin, cleaning house, trading forearms, a big knee, but Mace gets involved and T-Bar boots him down! Mace tags in, double suplex, and they work the Gold Standard over in their corner.
Lashley tags in and destroys Slapjack with an overhead exploder, whip to the corner, big thrust spinebuster! Hurt Lock applied, but T-Bar breaks it up and referee Shaun Bennett calls for the bell.
The Hurt Business win by disqualification, presumably.
Post-match, Retribution’s faceless goons swarm the ring and beat the Hurt Business down.
Drew McIntyre leads the men of Raw to make the save! They clear house but Randy Orton hits the RKO outta nowhere on the champion!
He stands tall over Drew.
That’s the show, folks.