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WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER
SEPTEMBER 17, 2018
DALLAS, TEX. AT THE AMERICAN AIRLINES ARENA
AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00PM EDT
BY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Arena / Hell in a Cell Recap
WWE returns to the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Tex. tonight for Raw for the second time this year. The show last emanated from this arena in March in the runup to WrestleMania. Hell in a Cell is now behind us and thus we begin to turn our attention in a couple of directions. The Super Showdown takes place on Saturday, Oct. 6 and Evolution, the first WWE all-women PPV will unfold on Oct. 28.
Brock Lesnar inserted himself into the HIAC Universal Championship match. Bear in mind this was HIAC where nobody gets in or out. I apologize for the early sarcasm, but WWE completely trashed the concept of this match as they’ve done before. I’m also cranky since the Giants dropped to 0-2 losing to the Cowboys so bear with me. The match featured Universal Champion Roman Reigns, challenger Braun Strowman, and eventually Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. Both the Raw women’s championship (Ronda Rousey) and tag team championship (Ziggler and McIntyre) stayed put. Tonight, WWE follows up on these items as well as welcoming back a legend and sure-fire Hall of Famer, the Undertaker.
The Undertaker Addresses Triple H
The Undertaker returns tonight to address “The Game” Triple H, who was on Raw last week discussing their upcoming match at the Super Showdown coming from Melbourne, Australia. Last week, Triple H claimed the series of matches with Shawn Michaels (2009-2010) and himself (2011-2012) changed Undertaker forever and he lost his aura or mystique. He said the Undertaker was never the same, lost “the streak” as a result, and at this point is just a reputation. Tonight, the Undertaker returns to rebut these claims by “The Game.”
Frank’s Analysis: Some loved this promo, I didn’t. I will say it was delivered with more gravitas, but the content is what bothered me. Triple H forgets that Undertaker had the best match of WrestleMania 29 in 2013 with CM Punk, the year following their epic encounter. Of course, I don’t expect him or WWE to acknowledge that but what about Brock Lesnar ending the streak at ‘Mania in New Orleans the following year? What about age and declining health? I understand they want to play off of their history, but this is another case of WWE and Triple H wanting to rewrite things, all to sell a one-off match that will come nowhere near their epic Hell in a Cell match from ‘Mania in 2012.
Universal Championship Picture
Towards the end of last night’s Universal Championship match inside HIAC between champ Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman, Brock Lesnar made his return to WWE for the first time since dropping the Universal Championship at SummerSlam. With both Reigns and Strowman laid out in the middle of the ring inside the cell (for an inexplicably long amount of time), Lesnar’s music hit. Out came Lesnar with his advocate Paul Heyman. Heyman sprayed special guest referee Micky Foley in the eyes while Lesnar kicked down the panel of the cell which had been padlocked (probably by a store-brand lock). Lesnar proceeded to give both Strowman and Reigns F5s and hit them both with pieces of a broken table. The match was ruled a no-contest. Tonight, we find out the ramifications of this interference and what it means to the Universal Championships picture.
Frank’s Take: I was a caller on Greg Parks’ Wrestling Night in America show following Hell in a Cell and we discussed this matter at length. First of all, WWE can’t sell us on HIAC being a match where nobody gets in or out. I understand Lesnar’s a beast, but the concept at this point means nothing when somebody can get into the cell. With that said without Lesnar having a UFC match on the books, one can only assume that there is still mileage on his WWE tires. A triple threat match between Lesnar, Strowman, and Reigns is certainly possible either at the upcoming show in Saudi Arabia or Survivor Series. It’s not crazy to see another one-on-one with Lesnar and Reigns although if I were WWE I’d give that a rest. There’s also the issue of Strowman and Lesnar. Last year, Lesnar made short work of Strowman in their Universal Championship match and I’m not sure people have gotten past that. If Strowman is to take that next step, a victory over Lesnar or at least a more competitive match would go a long way towards that goal. Either way, a lot more questions were raised with this situation and we will certainly need to see how things play out.
The Shield and the “Dogs of War”
Tied into the Universal Championship match were the Raw tag team champions Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre (together with Strowman they are unofficially the “Dogs of War”) and the rest of the Shield, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose.
Earlier in the evening, Ziggler and McIntyre retained their championship over Rollins and Ambrose in a hard fought twenty-three-minute match that I would call the best match of the night. They attempted to interfere to help Strowman only to be foiled by Rollins and Ambrose. All four men went back and forth on the floor and eventually the top of the cell. Ambrose and McIntyre ended up knocking each other out with clotheslines while Rollins and Ziggler took table bumps off the side of the cell. Tonight, WWE will follow up on this situation.
Frank’s Analysis: I’m personally getting a headache talking about this, as there were SO MANY moving parts to this HIAC match. The problem is, it all comes back to MRLG (Make Roman Look Good), a mission WWE has been on for four years. I’m not sure how all of these parts help the situation. I am sure it continues to expose the issue that Roman is not over as the top babyface. As far as Ziggler/McIntyre and Rollins/Ambrose, their rivalry should continue. There continues to be talk of an Ambrose heel turn, of which we’ve seen no evidence. That should make the turn quite effective.
Raw Women’s Championship Picture
Last night, Ronda Rousey retained the Raw Women’s Championship over former champion Alexa Bliss. Ronda had her good friend Natalya in her corner while Alexa had Alicia Fox and Mickie James at her side. The match went about twelve minutes and featured outside interference by all parties, and also Rousey fighting through a “rib injury” she suffered on Raw last week. Tonight, we’ll start to learn where WWE goes with the title picture especially with Evolution around the corner next month.
Frank’s Take: I thought WWE handled this match perfectly. You don’t want another squash match, and thus the outside interference and Ronda’s rib injury were perfect to “dress it up” if you will. Ronda and Alexa played their parts to the letter, which is key as Ronda will move on to another challenger while Alexa gets ready for Hall of Famer Trish Stratus at Evolution. This is speculation on my part, but a match with Stratus could put Alexa on course for a babyface turn. That wouldn’t be a terrible idea after being a heel for over two years. The problem is the lack of credible heel opponents on Raw outside of Mickie James and Ruby Riott. Ronda is likely moving towards working with Nikki Bella at Evolution. I don’t see Nikki getting another championship run, thus this is a way to build up Ronda while stretching out her run at this point.
Other Items from Last Week’s Raw
- Bobby Roode teamed with Chad Gable again and defeated the Ascension. Again, I hope this is a path to a Roode heel turn although I don’t know how much gravitas it would have turning on Chad Gable.
- The Authors of Pain won another squash match with their new manager, Drake Maverick at ringside. There was little to no reaction.
- Bobby Lashley was shown working out when 205Live’s Lio Rush appeared. He told Bobby he was there to motivate him. Okay, wasn’t it the week prior where he was ordered by G.M. Baron Corbin to take meditation from Jinder Mahal for his anger issues? Now he lacks motivation. I don’t get it. I almost wish Lashley never left Impact.
- Kevin Owens returned to WWE after quitting for well, never. He claimed he has not been the same since Bobby Lashley took out his best friend Sami Zayn over two months ago. (Hmm, perhaps that’s why he was trying to align with Braun Strowman). G.M. Corbin apparently wanted him back in WWE, but Owens only agreed to return if he was able to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted and it’s all Lashley’s fault. I’m glad Owens finally admitted this issue after two months, but my question is didn’t he previously admit he hasn’t been the same since he lost the Universal Championship to Goldberg last year?
- In her first singles match on Raw in quite some time, Nikki Bella defeated Ruby Riott.
Start Time and Matches Advertised
The arena’s website is advertising a start time of 6:30 p.m. local time but doesn’t say when doors will open. Once again, an eight-man tag match is advertised which seems to be standard operating procedure (SOP as we say in the airlines). This version shows Reigns, Strowman, Rollins and Balor vs. Ziggler, McIntyre, Corbin, and Owens. Unless Strowman turned back into a babyface following the attack by Brock Lesnar last night I don’t see how this match takes place. For me it’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but some people do buy tickets based on what the arena is advertising. WWE can talk about the card being subject to change all they want, but they should examine their process of deciding what is advertised.
Follow me on Twitter @FrankPeteani and ask any question you may have. Thank you for reading!
NOW CATCH UP ON LAST WEEK’S RAW: TOP 3 DEVELOPMENTS – RAW 9/10: Roman Gets the Upper Hand, More Build for Triple H vs Taker, Kevin Owens Reboot
No one ever buys tickets to Raw based on the matches that the venue is advertising. It’s always some crappy 6 to 8 man tag match that doesn’t even happen half the time.