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WWE RAW PRIMER 9/10: Renee makes it permanent, Rousey & Natalya vs. Bliss & Fox, Status of the Shield, Triple H response, Foley’s Hell in a Cell thoughts 

By Frank Peteani, PWTorch Specialist

September 10, 2018

Mick Foley talks CM Punk
Mick Foley (art credit Travis Beaven © PWTorch)
SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER
SEPTEMBER 10, 2018
NEW ORLEANS, LA. AT THE SMOOTHIE KING CENTER
AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 P.M. EDT
BY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Arena / Last Week’s Recap

Tonight, WWE returns to the Smoothie King Center for Raw five months following its last appearance on the night after WrestleMania.  We’ll wrap things up from the Raw side in terms of the build towards Hell in a Cell, which takes place this coming Sunday September 16 from San Antonio, Tex.

Last week the Shield were arrested like they were “Stone Cold” Steve Austin from 1998.  Following their release, they were treated to a beatdown by practically the entire Raw heel roster lead by the new nameless faction of Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, and Drew McIntyre.  Ziggler and McIntyre had won the Raw Tag Team Championship earlier in the evening from the B-Team.  Alexa Bliss, flanked by Alicia Fox, defeated Natalya, flanked by Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey in her hometown of Columbus, OH.  WWE Hall of Famer “Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels weighed in on the upcoming match between Triple H and the Undertaker at the Super Showdown taking place October 6, 2018.  We were treated to a return of the Undertaker, who went back and forth with Michaels regarding the match but also their history.  We learned that another Hall of Famer, Mick Foley, would return tonight to discuss the 20th anniversary of his infamous HIAC match with the Undertaker.  According to WWE.com these are the points of emphasis for tonight along with an announced women’s tag team match.

Renee Young Full-Time Commentator

WWE.com announced just today that Renee Young will join the commentary team full time and replace Jonathan Coachman.  Coachman, or “Coach” as he is known, will assume Renee’s former duties of running the PPV kickoff shows.  Here are some tweets congratulating Renee on this accomplishment:

https://twitter.com/ReneeYoungWWE/status/1039184695748124672

Frank’s Thoughts:  I could not be happier for Renee.  She is a fan at heart and loves WWE, and truly deserves this position.  You can see she is genuinely happy to do her job.  It will be interesting to see the dynamics between Renee, Michael Cole, and Corey Graves.  I can’t imagine Graves bullying Renee the way he did to Coach and Booker T, but I could see her putting him in his place more often than not.  This makes me personally want to pay attention to announcing again.  Coach never fit in the broadcast booth when he was first here and this recent stint was no exception.  The kickoff show is a better role for him.  This is a smart move by WWE.

Ronda Rousey & Natalya vs. Alexa Bliss & Alicia Fox

As I talked about in last week’s primer, there was the possibility of getting some sort of “flavor” of the upcoming Raw Women’s Championship match at Hell in a Cell between Ronda Rousey & Alexa Bliss.  Tonight, Ronda teams with her friend and training partner Natalya to take on Alexa & Alicia Fox.  This will be Ronda’s second televised match and first tag match with her friend Natalya.

As I talked about earlier, Alexa defeated Natalya.  She did so via submission, utilizing Ronda’s signature armbar.  Prior to the match, Elias was in the ring performing for the Columbus, OH crowd when their own Alexa came out with Fox.  She praised how she grew up here and did an Ohio chant before she turned on the crowd and said how she couldn’t wait to get out Columbus.  Following the match there was physicality between Ronda, Fox, and Alexa while Natalya was recovering from the match.  Later on, Ronda was having a conversation with Natalya.  Natalya revealed she wasn’t herself and walked out.  In came the Bella Twins, who offered their services to Ronda if they ever needed help.  Ronda initially rejected but thanked them for the offer.  The tag team match was announced later on in the evening.

Frank’s Thoughts: Excuse me for being sarcastic but I could have done without the 5,476th time Alexa played the crowd.  I get that it works and perhaps last week was the right time for it being in her hometown.  The problem is it’s been so many times before that when it’s actually done at the right time, I still roll my eyes.  With that aside, I’m looking forward to this match and in particular the dynamics between Ronda and Natalya.  It’s been rumored that they will have a match at some point and maybe even perhaps at Evolution.  The seeds could be planted for that tonight although I don’t expect anything definitive until after Hell in a Cell.  Last week I also discussed the possibility of Ronda vs. Nikki Bella at Evolution.  The exchange between the Bellas and Ronda last week could be weaved into tonight in some way, perhaps with Nikki on commentary or in Ronda & Natalya’s corner.  In would make sense especially if Mickie James is in Alexa and Fox’s corner.  If they are going to Ronda vs. Nikki at Evolution, I don’t expect anything definitive until after the Super Showdown.  Ronda is to team with the Bella Twins to face the Riott Squad.

Status of The Shield

Last week, the Shield were laid to waste at the end of Raw by just about the entire heel Raw roster lead by Braun Strowman and the new Raw Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre.  This followed their release from policy custody on their own recognizance after posting bail (yes, that happened and all on Labor Day when the courts are closed).  The arrest followed their pursuit of Strowman, Ziggler, McIntyre, and most of the Raw roster at the onset of the show.  Strowman explained his motivation for turning on Roman Reigns the week prior, stating that all Roman needed to do was take his beating following Strowman’s attempted MITB cash-in following SummerSlam.  That attempt was foiled by the rest of the Shield, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose.  Following Strowman’s words Ziggler and McIntyre stated that they want to be the new dominant force in WWE and the Shield’s time had passed.  Tonight, we will find out the status of the Shield and what is next.  Roman gets ready to defend this Universal Championship against Strowman in a Hell in a Cell match at HIAC, while the Shield as a whole will take on Strowman, Ziggler, and McIntyre at Super Showdown.

Here’s some words from Strowman on Twitter:

In case there’s any doubt as to the Shield’s status, here’s a tweet showing Ambrose and Rollins two days after Raw at a house show in Shanghai, China:

Frank’s Take:  We knew the Shield would be fine.  If you truly want to put doubt in people’s minds at least from a storyline standpoint, there should be a moratorium on tweets from any of them until at least the next Raw.  That would truly sell the beatdown of the Shield that took place at the end of the show.  Also, while I don’t want to make a big deal of how things were done last week, giving us updates throughout the show and telling us the Shield were released ruined the mystery of the story.  While we pretty much figured they would return at the end of the show (Stone Cold always did during the Attitude Era following his “arrests”), at least give us some suspense.  I also didn’t need them to pull up in a police vehicle.  I don’t see Detroit PD loaning it to them and it made the return quite cheese.  Play the Shield music, let them come through the crowd, and I guarantee you that place would have exploded.  With that said, this looks to be the rivalry that should carry through for the next month or two.  As far as how they did get Strowman re-acclimated to the heel role I thought it was done well mechanically, but his promo didn’t scream “heel” to me.  He re-emphasized how he wanted to cash in his MITB contract face to face which is clearly a babyface move.  If anything, the Shield were the heels foiling the cash-in the night after SummerSlam.  Speaking of heels there is talk of an Ambrose turn, which was expected last year.  It would be a mistake to do that too soon as the Shield should be more firmly re-established before that happens.  I would imagine that is why he has barely said anything since his return except for a wasted segment with Jinder Mahal.

Triple H Response

Last week, WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels made his return to Raw and gave his take on the upcoming match at the Super Showdown between “The Dead Man” the Undertaker and his best friend, “The Cerebral Assassin” Triple H.  In short, he claimed Triple H had a lot more in the tank than the Undertaker and Triple H would “cerebrally assassinate” the Undertaker.  Before Michaels could go any further, the Dead Man surprised us all with his presence and had a verbal exchange with Michaels.  They discussed their history and before long, Michaels’ retirement was addressed.  For those who don’t know, Michaels lost a career ending match to the Undertaker at WrestleMania in 2010.  The match was dubbed “The Career vs. The Streak.”  The Undertaker had been unbeaten at WrestleMania, which of course ended in 2014 with a loss to Brock Lesnar.  Michaels has not wrestled since.  He told Undertaker he stayed retired because he’s a man of his word, but mostly out of respect for him.  The Undertaker seemed to appreciate those words, but he questioned it wondering if it was really out of fear.  By the end of the promo, Undertaker said he would put Triple H down and there was quite a stare down between Undertaker and Michaels.  Tonight, Triple H returns to Raw with a response.

Frank’s Thoughts:  I tweeted out watching this that I felt like I was sent back to 2009-2010, when Michaels and Undertaker had their WrestleMania matches.  While they were there to plug the match with Triple H, and they certainly did that, I think they couldn’t help themselves but get into their rivalry.  It’s easy given how much was on the line when they worked together years ago.  For those who don’t know, their history runs deeper.  Michaels was forced into a retirement from 1998-2002 after injuring his back in a match with the Undertaker when Michaels was WWE (then WWF) Champion at the Royal Rumble in 1998.  While I’m certain Michaels doesn’t hold that personally against the Undertaker, it’s always a big deal when these two are around each other.  For the first time in over eight years, I feel like Michaels could seriously be considering a comeback.  Whether or not that takes place in a one-on-one against the Undertaker that remains to be seen, but they certainly steered us in that direction.  It’s possible Michaels and Triple H tag up somewhere along the line against the Undertaker and a partner of his choosing.  

Mick Foley Discusses Hell in a Cell

A little over twenty years ago, WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley faced the Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match at the King of the Ring PPV.  For those who may have missed it, Foley took one of the most infamous bumps in the history of WWE.  He was thrown off the top of the Hell in a Cell cage by the Undertaker and onto to announce table.  Jim Ross, announcing the event with Jerry “The King” Lawler famously said, “as God as my witness, he is broken in half!”  Tonight, with the Hell in a Cell PPV looming this coming Sunday, Foley returns to give his thoughts on that infamous night and perhaps weigh in on Sunday’s upcoming festivities.

Frank’s Thoughts:  As much as I love that moment in WWE history, it has set a bad precedent especially in these Hell in a Cell matches.  We’ve seen Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens recently take ridiculous similar bumps mostly for the sake of getting a reaction or a “this is awesome” chant while putting the wrestlers at risk.  I’m sure with Jeff Hardy facing Randy Orton from the Smackdown side in a HIAC match, we can anticipate some risky maneuvers.  With all of that said, it’s always good to see Mick Foley since he was relieved of his Raw general manager duties prior to WrestleMania in 2017.  I doubt this, but with Triple H also appearing tonight there’s a remote chance of words between them as Triple H had a hand in Foley’s firing by his wife, Stephanie McMahon.

Other Items

• Bobby Roode teamed with Chad Gable for the first time and defeated the Ascension.  Gable tried to do the Glorious entrance with Roode.  It’s bad enough Roode does it, now we have to have Gable do it?  It’s possible this a bridge to Roode’s heel turn.

• The Bella Twins, Nikki and Brie, teamed up for the first time on Raw in quite some time and defeated Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan of the Riott Squad.  Brie failed on two suicide dives.  I certainly hope she scratches this maneuver from her repertoire as she gets ready for a mixed tag match with her husband, Daniel Bryan, against the Miz & Maryse from Smackdown at Hell in a Cell.

• As I talked about, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre captured the Raw Tag Team Championship from the B-Team.  The Revival were supposed to challenge the B-Team but were assaulted by Ziggler and McIntyre during a pre-match interview.  The assault was telegraphed when they were discussing how they wanted to be in the championship match with interim G.M. Baron Corbin.  Wasn’t the Shield arrested earlier in the evening for pursuing people trying to assault them?

• Speaking of Corbin, he was to face Finn Balor in the main event.  Due to issues with the Shield, talking to the authorities, “paperwork,” and perhaps a desire to not bore us to death he told Balor he couldn’t work the match.  He instead put Balor in a match with Braun Strowman.  Strowman defeated Balor, and following that match came the beatdown of the Shield.

• The Authors of Pain came out with their new manager, Drake Maverick.  Drake is also the G.M. of 205Live, which airs Tuesday night on the WWE Network following Smackdown.  They defeated their jobber opponents and Drake discussed how he would lead AOP to the tag team championship.

Start Time/Matches Advertised

The arena’s website is advertising a start time of 6:30 p.m. local time with doors opening at 5:00 p.m.  They do advertise Foley and Triple H appearing on Raw.  They also show a six-man tag involving the Shield vs. Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, and Drew McIntyre.  This was advertised for last week’s Raw and could be a dark match, although this is certainly subject to change considering the match will take place at the Super Showdown.  Various other wrestlers are advertised as well.

Follow me on Twitter @FrankPeteani and ask any question you may have.  Thank you for reading!

NOW CATCH UP ON LAST WEEK’S SHOW: HEYDORN’S WWE RAW REPORT 9/3: Alt Perspective coverage of the live show including the return of Shawn Michaels, The Bellas in tag team action, Balor vs. Strowman, and more

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