The John Report: The WWE Raw Deal 10/03/22 Review
This week’s WWE Raw featured The Judgment Day in action against Rey Mysterio & AJ Styles, Bianca Belair-Bayley signing a contract and more on the last Raw before Extreme Rules.
Before I begin the review, we have an informative review of the QR Codes teased during Raw, so if I don’t go into details about what it leads to, that’s why. I think it’s for a returning Bray Wyatt at Extreme Rules on Saturday.
This is the Raw Deal for episode #1532 of Monday Night Raw. It’s taking place at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. Let’s get to it.
The Raw intro video aired to start the show. Since next week’s Raw is the “season premiere” how about a new opening song? I think Raw needs it.
The Judgment Day group consisting of Finn Balor, Damian Priest, Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio made their entrance. The commentary team was Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves and Byron Saxton as usual. They went over some of the things coming up on Raw this week. They showed what happened last week on Raw when Edge challenged Balor to an “I Quit” Match at Extreme Rules, which is now official
Let’s Hear from The Judgment Day
Finn Balor mentioned that 11 years ago, Edge was forced to quit, but against all odds, he returned to do what he loves most – competing in this ring for the fans. Balor said you can only outrun fate for so long because judgment catches up to all of us. Balor said he’s going to remind Edge that he doesn’t belong near a ring that Balor is standing in. Balor called himself a nice guy saying he’ll beat Edge so bad that he’s going to force Edge to utter the words “I Quit.”
Damian Priest told Balor he’s excited to see Balor force Edge to say the words “I Quit.” Priest said that The Judgment Day will always rise and that goes especially for their opponents tonight: AJ Styles and Rey Mysterio.
Rhea Ripley whispered in Dominik’s ear as the fans chanted “who’s your daddy.” Dominik said that his daddy is not Rey Mysterio. Dominik said “I hate you, I hate you so much” and told Rey that he lied to Dom his whole life. Dominik said he has a new family thanks to The Judgment Day. Balor said he could have ended AJ Styles’ career last week, but he didn’t do it because AJ is still Balor’s friend. Balor told Styles to not make him do bad things.
AJ Styles made his entrance for the opening match followed by Rey Mysterio. Good pops for those babyface legends.
Analysis: The promo from The Judgment Day was their basic heel promo. Dominik didn’t say much, but what he said was strong since he said he hated his own father Rey Mysterio. Balor got a lot of promo time, so he’s standing out as the leader of the group although they aren’t really saying that.
Styles and Rey were aggressive before the match as Rey took down Balor with a headscissors while Styles knocked Priest down with a forearm. The match started after a break.
Next Monday on Raw in Brooklyn: Degeneration X’s Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Road Dogg & X-Pac celebrates 25 years, plus Roman Reigns and The Bloodline return to Raw. It’s the season premiere of Raw.
(Commercial)
AJ Styles & Rey Mysterio vs. The Judgment Day (Finn Balor & Damian Priest) (w/Dominik Mysterio & Rhea Ripley)
Rey with a headscissors on Balor, a seated senton off the top and another headscissors. Priest tagged in, Rey went for a springboard cross body block, Priest moved and Rey hit the mat. Priest with a kick followed by a corner back elbow. Balor hit the Three Amigos suplexes like Eddie Guerrero, which drew boos from the crowd. Balor sent Rey sliding under the bottom rope to the floor. Priest was legal and sent Rey into the ring apron. Rey did his bulldog counter on Balor to break free leading to Styles tagging in against Priest. Styles with a series of strikes, then a forearm, clothesline and a Pele Kick on Priest. Styles wanted another move, but Priest shoved Styles to the ropes, Balor had the ropes open and Styles went crashing to the floor.
(Commercial)
Priest hit Styles with a leg drop while Balor held Styles so that led to a two count. Styles kicked Balor in the head to break free. Ripley pulled Rey off the apron (the referee didn’t see it) to prevent a tag leading to Priest hitting a clothesline on Styles. Balor tagged in and Styles managed to get a double DDT on both guys. Out on the floor, Dominik dared his father Rey to hit him, Rey wouldn’t do it and Ripley hit Rey with a clothesline on the floor. Styles was looking at the floor, so Balor hit a dropkick into the corner. Balor went up top and hit the Coup de Grace double foot stomp for the pinfall win after 11 minutes.
Winners by pinfall: The Judgment Day (Finn Balor & Damian Priest)
Analysis: ***1/4 A pretty good tag team match. Balor is the only guy in this match that’s in a match at Extreme Rules, so he was the right guy to get a win. It feels like Styles and Mysterio lose nearly every match they are in, but I get why WWE wants to put over Judgment Day to further establish them as a strong group. The finish was a bit weak with Styles being distracted by what was happening on the floor and that cost him the match.
Post match, Rey went into the ring to check on Styles. Rey said he was sorry. Styles said he needed him. Rey kept on saying he was sorry, Styles said it was his fault and Styles shoved Rey on his ass. Rey left on his own as the fans booed Styles shoving Rey. When Styles was alone in the ring, The Judgment Day attacked Styles from behind. Balor punched Styles repeatedly saying he was AJ’s friend and AJ has no one else. Balor hit Styles with the South of Heaven Chokeslam.
Analysis: They continue to tease that Styles might go heel by joining The Judgment Day. Styles shoving Rey was justified by AJ because Rey wasn’t there to make the tag and Styles got beat. Balor has repeatedly told Styles that he’s his friend that is there for him. I don’t know if Styles should join this group, but they are teasing it.
It was mentioned that UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier will be the referee of the Fight Pit Match at Extreme Rules. We covered that here on TJRWrestling.
The US Champion Bobby Lashley was shown arriving earlier in the day with Kevin Patrick mentioning Lashley has been a dominant champion for three months. Lashley said it’s the man that makes the title. Lashley talked about beating the best in the industry like Drew McIntyre, Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins, so Bobby wants to face somebody with the same desire that he has. Mustafa Ali walked up saying he’s done waiting because he wants to step up to the front of the line. Lashley told Ali to keep working hard. Ali said he’s not asking for it, he wants his opportunity and Lashley said he’ll get his opportunity.
This Tuesday NXT: The Toxic Attraction trio faces off against Alba Fyre, Nikkita Lyons & Zoey Stark, plus two more qualifiers for the NXT North American Title Ladder Match at Halloween Havoc.
(Commercial)
Sami Zayn was shown backstage with Tag Team Champion Jey Uso and Solo Sikoa. Zayn told some corny joke, Jimmy was laughing and Solo was lightly laughing. Jey Uso walked in looking serious as usual since he doesn’t like Zayn. Jimmy said that they are supposed to be handling business. Jey reminded everybody that The Tribal Chief that he’s rolling up to the Season Premiere of Raw next week. The Street Profits were standing there, so The Bloodline walked up to them. Zayn told The Street Profits to acknowledge The Bloodline and The Tribal Chief next week. Montez Ford trash talked Zayn, Dawkins fired back threatening Jey and they showed Ford’s right foot was in a boot due to some injury. Solo stepped up to Dawkins, so they agreed to a match.
Analysis: That’s a fresh match with Solo facing Dawkins. Hopefully Ford is okay with the right foot injury.
The “All Mighty” Bobby Lashley made his entrance as the US Champion for this non-title match. Mustafa Ali was the opponent. Ali’s got a new hairstyle with his hair braided.
Bobby Lashley vs. Mustafa Ali
Ali went for a dropkick, Lashley avoided it and Lashley suplexed Ali across the ring. Lashley with a neckbreaker followed by a delayed vertical suplex. Lashley charged, Ali got a boot up and Ali managed to hit an impressive Tornado DDT sending Lashley out of the ring. Ali hit a suicide dive on Lashley on the floor. After Ali went into the ring, Lashley pulled him back out to the floor and Lashley hit a clothesline.
(Commercial)
Lashley gave Ali a hard whip into the turnbuckle two times in a row followed by a flatliner for two. Ali was on the turnbuckle, he knocked Lashley down and Ali hit a 450 splash onto Lashley’s left arm. Ali dropkicked Lashley into the turnbuckle. Lashley came back with a huge spinebuster for two. Lashley with a slam off the shoulders for a two count. Lashley told Ali to stay down, Ali slapped Lashley in the face and Lashley sent Ali out of the ring. Lashley put Ali on his shoulders leading to Lashley running Ali into the ring post. Lashley did it twice. Lashley did a press slam where he tossed Ali over the barricade onto the floor. Ali crawled back into the ring before the ten count. Lashley hit Ali with a Spear. Lashley applied the Hurt Lock submission, Ali kept saying “no” to the referee that asked if he wanted to quit, but then Ali sold it like was passing out, so the referee called for the bell. It went 11 minutes.
Winner by submission: Bobby Lashley
Analysis: ***1/4 Lashley continues to have good matches as the US Champion. It was a competitive match with Ali putting up a fight, but I doubt anybody thought Ali was going to win. The 450 Splash on the left arm of Lashley was a unique spot although Lashley didn’t sell it much. I like Ali a lot, he’s really talented in the ring and if he got a push of any kind then I’d like to see it. However, it’s tough to use everybody on the roster. It was an entertaining match overall with Ali showing a lot of heart as a fighting babyface.
Post match, Lashley tried to pick up Ali, but Seth “Freakin” Rollins attacked Lashley from behind. Rollins hit Lashley with a forearm to the back. Rollins hit The Stomp on Lashley. Rollins hit The Stomp on Lashley again, this time stomping Lashley’s face on the US Title. Rollins hit Ali with The Stomp on the floor.
Analysis: That Rollins attack on Lashley led to a US Title match being announced for next week. The Stomp cheap attacks also get a lot of heat on Rollins just for being a jerk.
(Commercial)
Seth Rollins was in the ring. They showed a video from last week’s Raw after the show with Rollins and Matt Riddle getting into a brawl. It’s Rollins vs. Riddle in a Fight Pit Match with Daniel Cormier as the referee.
Face To Face: Seth “Freakin” Rollins and Matt Riddle
Seth “Freakin” Rollins mocked Bobby “Trashley” and welcomed us to Monday Night Rollins. Seth went over his nicknames about being a Visionary, Revolution and said he was “Seth Freakin’ Rollins” with the crowd chanting it. Rollins said that this Saturday at Extreme Rules he goes one on one with Matt Riddle in a match that will be synonymous with Seth’s name – the Fight Pit.
A video package aired about The Fight Pit talking about how there are no ring ropes, only steel and the only way to win is by submission or knockout. They showed highlights of the NXT Fight Pit matches. It’s the first Fight Pit match on the main roster.
Rollins said he’ll show Riddle what he’s shown Lashley and Cody Rhodes – that Seth is the most dangerous man in the history of this industry. Rollins said he’s scheduled to go Face to Face with Riddle, so he called Riddle to “scoot his annoying face out there” and here comes Riddle…bro.
Matt Riddle made his entrance walking to the ring in a “420 BRO” with Seth telling him to pay his respects to the king of the Fight Pit. Rollins reminded Riddle that they have a “no contact clause” meaning that if they touch eachother then the match is off. Riddle said he’s not going to hurt him or beat him, he’ll kill Rollins. That’s a bit much. Riddle said that the fans won’t be singing Riddle’s song, they’ll be singing “bro” leading to Riddle singing it while the fans did it. Rollins said that Daniel Cormier is a fan of Seth “Freakin” Rollins. Rollins asked if Riddle sings his kids to sleep any night, then told Riddle that he’s not allowed to see his kids and the fans booed. Rollins told Riddle he can’t hit Seth because it was a big money match, so Riddle needs the match because child support is expensive these days. Good line. Riddle told Rollins to back up while mocking his breath. Riddle asked Rollins when was the last time he held a championship? Riddle said that Rollins got his ass choked out by Reigns. (Rollins actually won that match by DQ, but that wasn’t mentioned.) Riddle asked when was the last time Rollins main evented WrestleMania, then said that Seth hasn’t done that, but his wife Becky (Lynch) has. The fans let out an “ooohhh” response to that. Riddle said that Rollins has come up second to Roman, second to Becky and this Saturday Seth will come up second to Riddle. Rollins got in Riddle’s face saying he was going to knock him out.
Daniel Cormier interrupted with a pre-tape promo from home. Cormier said he’s one of the greatest fighters of all time and he was a double champion. Cormier respected Riddle as a former UFC fighter and he told Rollins he was there in Santa Clara (at WrestleMania 31) when Rollins won his first World Championship and Cormier was celebrating. Cormier said that he is fed up with them fighting. Cormier said he’s into the Fight Pit Match because he lived in the cage. Cormier said that he was going to lay down the law to make sure only one of them walks out of the match as the winner. Cormier said he’ll see both of them this Saturday in Philadelphia.
Rollins and Riddle went face to face. Rollins knocked Riddle’s hat off and left.
Analysis: That was a great promo segment to build up their match on Saturday. Rollins made it personal mentioning that Riddle can’t even see his kids after his divorce. Riddle also took a personal shot saying Seth hasn’t main evented a WrestleMania (he sort of did at WM31 with the Money in the Bank cash-in) while his wife Becky Lynch has, so that made Rollins angry. The pre-tape promo from Cormier was fine. Cormier is a legit WWE fan that is also a great talker, so he knows how to get the story over. I’m probably going to pick Riddle to beat Rollins in the Fight Pit Match and I think Rollins could win the US Title on the following Raw.
Candice LeRae was shown walking backstage where she went up to Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss and Asuka. The QR Code appeared as the girls wished Candice good luck in her match.
(Commercial)
The Miz was shown talking on the phone in the locker room and he was speaking to Maryse. Miz wondered where Tommaso Ciampa is because Miz hasn’t seen him in weeks. Miz said next week will be his birthday bash on Raw in Brooklyn. Dexter Lumis appeared behind him, but Miz didn’t notice it and Miz ended his phone call.
Candice LeRae vs. Dakota Kai (w/Bayley & IYO SKY)
LeRae got an armdrag takedown into an armbar. Kai sent LeRae into the turnbuckle, LeRae came back with a knockdown into a neckbreaker. LeRae with a kick and then she sent Kai into the turnbuckle. Kai was on the floor, she avoided a running attack and LeRae managed to kick Kai to knock her down. LeRae hit a springboard cross body block onto Kai on the floor.
(Commercial)
The match returned with LeRae hitting a back elbow, but Kai came back with a hard pump kick to the face. Kai with a Scorpion Kick. Kai charged and LeRae hit her with a kick. LeRae with forearms, chops and punches Kai against the turnbuckle. LeRae hit a running back splash on the corner along with a senton splash on the back for two. LeRae applied a submission on the leg/arm and Kai drove LeRae into the turnbuckle. LeRae kicked Kai down, but Kai came back with a running kick to stun LeRae on the top rope. They did a spot off the turnbuckle where LeRae managed to hit Kai with a German Suplex off the ropes. Sky was on the apron to distract, so Bayley tripped up LeRae on the ropes and Kai got a ROLLUP OF DEATH~! with her full body on top for the pinfall win after 11 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Dakota Kai
Analysis: **3/4 This was a solid match with a common finish in WWE these days since Kai got some help from her friends at ringside. They book a lot of finishes to TV matches with the “numbers game” being a big factor. I thought Candice might win since she was in her second match on Raw, but Kai winning because of her friends at ringside made sense.
Johnny Gargano, who is married to Candice, was shown walking backstage. Gargano walked by as Dexter Lumis was cradling Miz in his arms. When Gargano turned around, Lumis was gone while Miz was laying on top of some container. Gargano touched Miz, who woke up from a nap and there was a drawing of Lumis with Miz. That led to Miz getting freaked out, Gargano said that wasn’t good and Miz ran away.
This Friday on Smackdown: Roman Reigns and Logan Paul are face to face in the ring. Plus, GUNTHER defends the Intercontinental Title against Sheamus. That should be amazing.
(Commercial)
The Damage CTRL trio of Bayley, Dakota Kai & IYO SKY were interviewed by Sarah Schreiber backstage. Bayley said she’ll do Bianca Belair a favor tonight because their contract signing will be just the two of them. Bayley said that Belair asked for this and laughed.
The announcers talked about the death of Japanese legend Antonio Inoki, who passed away at age 79 on Friday. A graphic was shown of Inoki just like they showed on Smackdown.
Otis made his entrance with Johnny Gargano and Austin Theory. They showed a Twitter promo from Gargano talking about how he was Braun Strowman’s first match, he’s been studying him and he’s going to slay “The Monster” Strowman. Johnny Gargano was next as the opponent.
Otis (w/Chad Gable & Austin Theory) vs. Johnny Gargano
Theory was on commentary. Otis drove Gargano into the turnbuckle followed by a slap to the face. Otis bounced off the ropes with a back elbow knocking Gargano down. Otis with a body slam. Otis held Gargano on his shoulders in a backbreaker submission. Gargano broke free, he got a boot to the face, then he sent Otis into the turnbuckle and hit two clotheslines that had no effect on Otis. Gargano hit an enziguri kick, then a corner splash and Otis caught a charging Gargano leading to Otis hitting an overhead suplex across the ring. Otis went for a Vader Bomb splash off the ropes, Gargano avoided it and hit two superkicks. Otis with a clothesline, but Gargano countered a power move into a DDT. Gargano with a superkick for two. Otis was on the floor, so Gargano hit him with a suicide dive. Gargano also punched Theory a bit on the floor. Gargano jumped off the apron to hit Otis with a DDT on the floor. Gable distracted the referee, so Theory hit Gargano in the back with the MITB briefcase. Otis hit a World’s Strongest Slam for the pinfall win after six minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Otis
Analysis: **1/2 A shorter match to give Otis a rare singles win to make Otis look like a threat. I think most people watching this assumed that Gargano would win, so it’s a bit of a surprising result. It was yet another match finish that was done where the heel got an assist from his fans. You could say that Theory was justified in what he did because Gargano attacked him first.
After the match, Theory was attacking Gargano, so Braun Strowman made the save. Strowman ran over Otis with a shoulder tackle. Strowman got a hold of Gable and tossed him into the ring to start their match.
Braun Strowman vs. Chad Gable
Strowman launched Gable over the top onto Otis on the floor.
(Commercial)
Strowman was on the floor by the commentary table, so Gable hit Strowman with a flying knee to the back to send Strowman into the ring. They showed during the break when Otis threw Strowman onto the commentary table and Otis was ejected from ringside. Back in the ring, Gable managed to send Strowman into the ropes leading to a bridging German Suplex for two. That was impressive. They showed Omos and MVP watching the match. Strowman picked up Gable to put him on the turnbuckle, but Gable got an armbar. Gable ran the ropes leading to a dropkick to the knee. Gable went up top and hit a dropkick to the chest. Gable went for a moonsault off the top, but Strowman avoided it leading to a boot to the face. Strowman hit the Monster Bomb (powerbomb) for the pinfall win after seven minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Braun Strowman
Analysis: ** It was more competitive than I expected it to be. Gable also got more offense than I thought he would get. That German Suplex by Gable was very impressive. It only took two moves for Strowman to get the win. Strowman continues to look dominant.
Bianca Belair, the Raw Women’s Champion, was shown walking backstage for the contract signing.
(Commercial)
There was a plug for Royal Rumble tickets on sale while mentioning that they sold the most tickets in the first day in Rumble history.
Bobby Lashley was interviewed in the trainer’s room. Lashley said he’s going to crush Seth Rollins’ throat. Lashley said that next week on Raw, he’s putting his US Title on the line against Rollins and he’ll make him pass out in the Hurt Lock.
Analysis: I think it’s time for a title change with Rollins getting that US Title next week on Raw.
Contract Signing for Extreme Rules Ladder Match
Corey Graves moderated the contract signing for the first-ever Ladder Match for a women’s championship in WWE history. The ring had a table, two chairs, the black carpet, the contract on the table and some ladders in there as well. Bayley made her entrance first as the challenger. Bianca Belair was up next as the Raw Women’s Champion with the fans cheering her.
Bayley said it’s just the two of them like Belair asked. Bayley said she felt pretty good because every single thing about her plan has been going well. Bayley mocked Belair for being dumb enough to accept the Ladder Match as Bayley signed the contract. Bayley said she was thinking big picture for this match. Bayley said that the ladder is symbolic for her entire WWE career because unlike Belair, she had to climb to get to the top. Bayley said that she was like Belair in the ponytails, she said that the signs used to say “Bayley” and have headbands along with ponytails to the side. Bayley said those cheers started to fade because the fans stopped caring. Bayley ranted about how she had to do something to climb her way to the top.
Belair told Bayley to “shut up” and signed the contract. Graves wished them good luck. There was a QR Code on the back of the contract folder. Belair said that it might be hard for Bayley to see Belair have everything Bayley wants. Belair told Bayley she’ll never be like Belair or do it better than Belair. Belair said that Bayley was pretending to be somebody that she was not. Belair said that this is the real her, the authentic her and that is why they connect to her. Belair said that this is the real Bayley showing everybody her real colors. Belair talked about how she stays ready so she doesn’t have to get ready. Belair told Bayley that if she likes planning then she can plan on calling Belair the Raw Women’s Champion at Extreme Rules. Bayley said that her girls are going to be by her side. Bayley mentioned her girls, so they showed IYO SKY and Dakota Kai beating up Alexa Bliss and Asuka backstage. Bayley did a cheapshot on Belair and sent her over the table. Belair tried to leave, Bayley went after her and Belair sent Bayley into the side of the ring apron. Belair ran to the back where Asuka was in a lot of pain holding her right leg that was in between the chair. Bliss said this isn’t over and said she’s going to face IYO SKY later tonight.
Analysis: It was okay for a contract signing. I’m not really a fan of these long-winded contract signing segments, but when you have three hours on a show you need some longer segments to fill time and it can’t always be matches. I liked Bayley’s promo about her journey while Belair does a nice job showing confidence as the babyface champion. The cheap attack was fitting for the heels.
(Commercial)
The announcers went over the Extreme Rules card:
“I Quit” Match: Edge vs. Finn Balor
Six-Man Tag Team Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook Match: The Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Butch & Ridge Holland) vs. Imperium (GUNTHER, Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci)
Extreme Rules Match for the Smackdown Women’s Championship: Liv Morgan (c) vs. Ronda Rousey
Fight Pit Match: Matt Riddle vs. Seth Rollins (Daniel Cormier is the referee)
Strap Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Karrion Kross
Ladder Match for the Raw Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair (c) vs. Bayley
It looks like that is the final card with six matches. I don’t know what match is going on last. I think the Ladder Match might be the main event.
Solo Sikoa (w/Sami Zayn, Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso) vs. Angelo Dawkins (w/Montez Ford)
Montez Ford had a boot on his right foot as I mentioned earlier. There was a guy walking in the crowd with a sign that said “WYYT Rabat” so it’s like “White Rabbit” but spelled differently. Dawkins ran the ropes with a shoulder tackle, Dawkins jumped over Solo and hit a dropkick to knock Solo out of the ring. Dawkins punched Solo to knock Solo off the apron to the floor. Sami and Jey argued on the floor as Jey talked to his brother Solo.
(Commercial)
Solo squeezed on the trapezius of Dawkins, then Dawkins broke free and Solo hit a Samoan Drop. Solo sent Dawkins into the ropes leading to another Samoan Drop for two. Solo yelled at Dawkins about how he’s the “Enforcer” leading to Solo whipping Dawkins hard into the turnbuckle. Solo hit a belly-to-belly suplex. Solo hit the running hip attack on Dawkins in the corner. Solo took a long time to run again, so Dawkins jumped up with a kick to the head. Dawkins ran the ropes, jumped over Solo and hit a jumping back elbow. Dawkins hit a corner splash, kick to the head and a suplex got two. Sami and Jey were arguing on the ring apron, Dawkins was distracted and Solo hit a superkick for two because the referee was distracted by the guys on the apron. Dawkins got a rollup for two. Dawkins hit a Pounce knocking Solo out of the ring to the floor. Zayn encouraged Solo on the floor, then Jey pulled Zayn off and said that he will talk to his brother. Dawkins ran the ropes leading to a somersault dive over the top onto The Usos on the floor. Zayn yelled at Dawkins, so Dawkins punched Zayn. Back in the ring, Solo used the distraction to hit a spin kick. Solo hit the Spinning Solo uranage slam for the pinfall win after about 12 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Solo Sikoa
Analysis: *** A good match to put over Solo again as he continues to pick up victories. Since Solo had more allies at ringside, that played a factor in the finish. I liked the way that Zayn-Jey further their issues by arguing a lot at ringside.
Austin Theory was backstage with Otis and Chad Gable, who said he “almost” had Braun Strowman. That was funny. Theory said that next week on Raw he’ll face Johnny Gargano, so he’ll put him down and it will be A-Town Down.
Analysis: I was hoping Gargano-Theory would be added to Extreme Rules, but it looks like WWE is keeping ERules to just six matches. That should be a good match on Raw.
They announced Alexa Bliss vs. IYO SKY later on Raw.
(Commercial)
IYO SKY made her entrance joined by her fellow Women’s Tag Team Champion Dakota Kai and Bayley.
Alexa Bliss (w/Bianca Belair) vs. IYO SKY (w/Bayley & Dakota Kai)
Sky started with a dropkick or a knee to the face. Bliss tackled Sky followed by some punches. Sky got a dragon screw leg whip takedown followed by a knee drop. Bliss knocked down Sky with a kick followed by Bliss stomping on the back against the ropes. Bliss hit double knees to the ribs along with a senton splash for two. The screen went pink for a brief moment for some reason (more mystery teases) followed by Bliss hitting a suplex. Sky managed to send Bliss out of the ring leading to a dropkick on the floor.
(Commercial)
Bliss got a takedown after a trip followed by a knee to the face for two. Sky did a double underhook into a backbreaker. Sky hit a running double knee attack in the corner, then Sky went up top and jumped off with a moonsault, but Bliss avoided it. Bliss hit a DDT. Bliss went up top and jumped off with Twisted Bliss. Bayley caused a distraction, so Belair went after her. Bayley and Kai sent Belair into the steel steps. Bliss hit a dive onto Bayley/Kai on the floor. Bliss went up top again, but Sky caught her with an Air Raid Crash slam. Sky went up top and hit the Over the Moonsault off the top for the pinfall win after nine minutes.
Winners by pinfall: IYO SKY
Analysis: **3/4 I like both women, but it didn’t feel like a Raw main event match to me. It was also a finish that felt like a popular one on this show with another distraction leading to a heel winning a match. Sky winning is fine with me, but it didn’t really matter that much who won this match. Bliss did okay.
There were still a few minutes left so the Damage CTRL trio did a cheap attack with Bayley beating up Bliss, then Belair made the save, so Kai/Sky hit Belair with a ladder. Asuka limped down to the ring selling the right knee injury. Asuka had a kendo stick with her. Asuka hit Kai with the kendo stick, but Sky kicked Asuka to knock her down. Sky and Kai slammed a ladder on Asuka’s back to keep her down. Bliss was placed in between a ladder, so Kai & Sky kicked the ladder to hit Bliss with it. Bayley hit the Roseplant finisher on Belair and Bliss. The ladder was set up over the top of Belair’s body, Bayley climbed the ladder and had the Raw Women’s Title in her hand while Sky & Kai had their Women’s Tag Team Titles. Bayley’s Damage CTRL group was booed as they posed on the ladder.
Analysis: A simple segment to get some heat on the heels. It seemed like they were killing time a bit.
There were graphics shown plugging Extreme Rules on Saturday as well as next week’s Raw with The Bloodline on the show. Damage CTRL posed on the ladder to end the show.
Three Stars of the Show
- The Judgment Day – Finn Balor & Damian Priest
- Damage CTRL – Bayley, IYO SKY & Dakota Kai
- Bobby Lashley/Seth Rollins
The Scoreboard
7 out of 10
Last week: 8.5
Final Thoughts
It was a solid Raw for the most part although there have been better episodes in the build to Extreme Rules. They book a lot of distraction finishes since the heels have the “numbers game” advantage in so many matches, so that led to a lot of heel wins. There were four matches with distraction finishes that the heels won. The two babyfaces that won were Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman, who are two of the strongest booked guys. One or two distraction finishes on a show is fine, but four of them? That’s too much for me.
I thought they did a nice job of building most of the Extreme Rules matches for people that were on the show. A lot of attention was on the Belair-Bayley Ladder Match with a contract signing, plus the main event segment devoted to them as well. Doing Bliss-SKY as the main event was not really a strong match in that spot.
The promo exchange between Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle was really good to build up the Fight Pit Match. That’s a rivalry that feels personal and should lead to a great match at Extreme Rules. We’ll have our preview up for Extreme Rules on Friday.
The next WWE Premium Live Event is Extreme Rules from Philadelphia on Saturday, October 8th. Here’s what we know so far.
Strap Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Karrion Kross
Fight Pit Match: Matt Riddle vs. Seth Rollins (Daniel Cormier is the referee)
Extreme Rules Match for the Smackdown Women’s Championship: Liv Morgan (c) vs. Ronda Rousey
Ladder Match for the Raw Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair (c) vs. Bayley
“I Quit” Match: Edge vs. Finn Balor
Six-Man Tag Team Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook Match: The Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Butch & Ridge Holland) vs. Imperium (GUNTHER, Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci)
You can watch WWE Extreme Rules on Saturday, Oct. 8, at 8 ET/5 PT, streaming live on Peacock in the United States and on WWE Network everywhere else.
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John Canton
Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter: @johnreport