TJR: The WWE Raw Deal 10/05/20 Review
Welcome to the WWE Raw Deal review on TJRWrestling. Check out my WWE NXT Takeover 31 Review right here in case you missed it.
I’m going to try a different format this week where I don’t do play by play for the matches and provide less details for the promos too. It’s my way of keeping my sanity because writing 7,000+ word reviews about Raw every week is too much. I want to try a condensed format, see how I like it and maybe make it a more regular format when I don’t do a live review. I’ll still have the star ratings and analysis for everything as usual.
From the WWE ThunderDome at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, this is the Raw Deal for episode #1428 of Monday Night Raw. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. Please visit TJRWrestling.net daily for our regular updates on the wrestling business featuring WWE news coverage, insightful columns from our team along with reviews about wrestling’s past and present. Let’s roll.
The WWE ThunderDome was ready to go for Raw as the announce team did a rundown of what’s coming up this week. The announce team was the usual trio of Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe and Byron Saxton.
Randy Orton was seated in a chair in a room saying he should have left Clash of Champions with the WWE Champion, but instead, he left in an ambulance. Orton mentioned Big Show, Christian and Shawn Michaels helping Drew McIntyre beat him while Ric Flair drove the ambulance away. Orton spoke slowly about how it made him angry and gave them a re-introduction to the Legend Killer. Orton talked about his attack on those four men last week with the lights off. Orton said his rivalry with McIntyre isn’t over until he says it is over. Orton challenged McIntyre to a WWE Championship Match inside Hell in a Cell. McIntyre showed up in the room, which is the same room where the Legends Lounge was last week, and beat on Orton with punches. Some WWE officials showed up to pull McIntyre off Orton and Randy left the room to end the segment.
Analysis: It was a show opening promo that was at least a little different from the usual because Orton was backstage in a room instead of in the ring. It was a nice touch to have Orton in the same room where he beat up the legends last week. Orton challenging McIntyre to a WWE Title match at Hell in a Cell was not a surprise.
(Commercial)
Zelina Vega was in the ring to lose another match. The good thing for her is Lana was on her team, so you know Lana is the one that would be pinned.
Asuka, Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose vs. Natalya, Lana and Zelina Vega
Natalya used her power to knock down Brooke with a shoulder tackle and got a two count shortly after that. Brooke did a headscissors with Natalya really helping her do it by holding onto the legs tight. Brooke and Rose did a double team suplex on Natalya. Vega pulled Asuka off the apron to prevent a tag and Natalya took advantage to slam Rose down by the hair. Vega worked over Rose for a bit with a submission pulling on the arm and Vega knocked Asuka down again. Lana tagged in with a running kick on Rose for two. Natalya was back in for a bit, Asuka tagged in against Lana and Asuka cleaned house with kicks and a knee to the face of Lana. Asuka with a sliding knee on Lana got two as Natalya broke up the pin. Rose tagged in, Asuka with an elbow to Lana and Rose hit a pump knee on Lana for the pinfall win after five minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Asuka, Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose
Analysis: *1/2 A basic tag team match with Rose and Brooke continuing their positive momentum with a win while Asuka was a part of it because they have nothing else for her right now. The team of Natalya and Lana lose every match with Lana getting pinned, so I can’t imagine the audience at home having any interest in any match Lana is in.
After the match, Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler went down to ringside. Zelina Vega ran away. Natalya tried to fight off Jax, but Jax got a hold of her and Lana pulled Natalya to freedom. That led to Jax grabbing Lana and giving her a Samoan Drop through the announce table. It is the third time that has happened to Lana.
Analysis: I don’t think the goal is to make Lana a face, but I do feel sorry for her being put through tables. I have had people guess that this is happening because her husband doesn’t work for WWE anymore, but I have my doubts about that being a reason. Lana is there to put people over, so that’s what she did.
(Commercial)
R-Truth was backstage with a WWE Mock Draft on a whiteboard. He had Little Jimmy going third to Smackdown. Ninja #2 was the first pick to Raw. A custodian tried to attack, Truth slipped over a wet flower and the custodian pinned Truth to win the 24/7 Title. It was Drew Gulak dressed as the custodian.
Winner by pinfall AND NEW 24/7 Champion: Drew Gulak
Analysis: At least it wasn’t a ROLLUP OF DEATH~! That’s all I have for this comedic title change. Are there people that book this and think “oh he can slip on the floor and lose the title” is a creative thing? It’s terrible.
Montel Vontavious Porter walked up to Mustafa Ali, Apollo Crews and Ricochet. MVP said Apollo became a US Champion on Raw after doing nothing on Smackdown. MVP said for one night only, there’s an opening in the Hurt Business, but Cedric Alexander said no, he came around and look at him now. MVP left while the guys left and Ricochet paused to think about it.
Seth Rollins and Murphy entered for a tag team match.
(Commercial)
Rollins and Murphy were in the ring for their match. They were introduced for the match and then there was a long video summarizing their story with the Mysterio Family.
Murphy told Rollins that if he wants Murphy to be his Disciple then Rollins has to apologize. Murphy wanted Rollins to apologize to Aalyah Mysterio. Rollins said he went easy on her and he could have very easily exposed all of the DMs that she shared with Murphy. Rollins mentioned Aalyah telling Murphy that people act like Dominik is the Chosen One and he didn’t choose to put that out there. Rollins reminded Murphy he’s the Disciple while Rollins is the Disciple.
Analysis: The problems and the drama continues.
Dominik Mysterio and Humberto Carrillo entered for a tag team match. They knocked down both heels out of the ring. Carrillo hit a suicide dive while Dominik hit a cross body block off the top and that led to a break when the match will begin.
(Commercial)
Dominik Mysterio and Humberto Carrillo vs. Seth Rollins and Murphy
It would be nice if Dominik could have a match that doesn’t involve Rollins or Murphy since he has faced them so many times in the last two months, but WWE loves repeating things. Dominik was isolated in the heel corner for a couple of minutes with Rollins scoring a nearfall after a gutbuster into the knee. There was a spot where Murphy tagged himself in, so Rollins argued with him about it. Carrillo tagged in with a back elbow on Murphy, a boot to Rollins Carrillo hit a missile dropkick on Murphy for two. Murphy came back with a DDT. Dominik sent Rollins into the barricade, but Murphy sent Dominik over the barricade and Carrillo hit a dive onto both heels on the floor. Carrillo went up top, Murphy blocked his attack with a rising knee to the face for the pinfall win after about five minutes. Joe put over the unbelievable accuracy on the knee strike that Murphy used to win the match. Well said by Joe.
Winners by pinfall: Seth Rollins and Murphy
Analysis: ** A shorter match to put over Rollins and Murphy even though they continue to have issues getting along. I don’t think the result matters that much, but if you want to build Dominik and Humberto as a young face team then they could use some wins. Murphy’s rising knee for the finish was impressive. Rollins told Murphy he didn’t need him, yet Murphy was the star of the match for his team.
Post match, Murphy walked to the back alone while Rollins was mad about it.
There was a shot of WWE Official Adam Pearce talking on the phone with Braun Strowman walking up to him. Braun said that he knows there is no Raw Underground, but he’s there for a fight. Pearce said that he can’t give Braun an official match because Braun is on Smackdown, but he can give him an exhibition. Pearce said that’s a match that is not sanctioned. Braun is alright with it because it means somebody will get these hands. Braun left and Keith Lee walked in the picture to tell Pearce to sign him up.
Analysis: The logic problems by WWE’s creative team continue. They had Pearce say he couldn’t book Strowman in a match since Strowman is a Smackdown superstar. Drew Gulak is on Smackdown and he’s on Raw winning the 24/7 Title. In addition to that, Kevin Owens from Raw is wrestling The Fiend on Smackdown this week. There are times where WWE will throw out the “brand to brand invitational” stuff to explain these things and other times they try other things to get around it. I just want consistency and a better job by the creative team. It’s lazy by them. I also realize it could just be Vince McMahon’s fault. If it is then he has to be better too.
Kevin Owens entered for his talk show.
(Commercial)
There was a backstage scene with Seth Rollins telling Murphy that he apologizes for nothing. Rollins told Murphy to apologize to him by 10pm or there will be hell to pay.
KO Show with Bray Wyatt as the Guest
Kevin Owens talked about how he was attacked by “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt attacked him on Smackdown and note that it does change people. They showed a clip of what happened on Smackdown when The Fiend attacked Owens after KO’s interview with Alexa Bliss, who said she was cleansed by him.
Owens said that it’s hard to explain the words of how that felt when The Fiend ripped the breath out of him. Owens said he doesn’t know what it is with these dark tortured souls coming after him like Aleister Black, Bray Wyatt and what’s next, The Brood (yes!) or Ministry of Darkness (yes!). Owens called for Bray Wyatt to come down there to have a nice chat.
Bray Wyatt was shown on the Firefly Funhouse set with his red sweater, which is fitting for Raw. Wyatt told Owens that he is Bray’s new friend. Bray told his puppets that friends stick together no matter what brand they are on. Bray sang a bad song about “Friends” with his puppets where Mercy the Buzzard ate Ramblin’ Rabbit, so that was funny.
Owens clarified that they are not friends since Bray attacked him on Friday. Owens said that Bray won’t be able to brainwash him like he did to Alexa Bliss and Owens wanted Bray to get in the ring so he doesn’t have to wait until Friday to get into the ring with him. Wyatt said that Miss Bliss’ actions are between “her” and “him” while warning Owens that this Friday on Smackdown, Kevin will know what he got himself into (images of The Fiend were shown). Wyatt said bye to Raw.
Owens said he’s going to get Wyatt. Owens walked up the ramp, but Aleister Black attacked him from behind. Black hit Owens with a Black Mass kick and Black sat on the ramp.
Analysis: Poor Kevin Owens. He got his ass kicked on Smackdown and once again Aleister Black was here to attack him with a cheap shot again. The Black Mass kick looked great while KO’s sell was exactly how it should be by making it look like a knockout.
(Commercial)
Drew McIntyre, the WWE Champion, was interviewed by Charly Caruso in the backstage area. McIntyre said that every time he sees Randy Orton, he’s going to kick the crap out of him and he’ll do it in the main event. McIntyre accepted Randy Orton’s challenge for the Hell in a Cell match at Hell in a Cell for the WWE Championship. Drew said he’s not sending him to purgatory, he’s sending him to hell.
A video aired about Braun Strowman, who is not on Raw (so they say while he hasn’t been on Smackdown in over one month), yet here’s a video about him…sponsored by Burger King.
Exhibition Match: Braun Strowman vs. Keith Lee
I only put “Exhibition Match” because that’s what WWE is calling it. Phillips said that it’s the same thing as a regular match, but it doesn’t count for the win/loss record as if those matter in WWE. Strowman with a shoulder tackle. They ran the ropes and Strowman hit a dropkick to knock Lee on the floor. They fought on the floor with Strowman whipping Lee into the steel stairs and the referee John Cone counted them out. The match was under two minutes.
Match Result: Double Countout
Analysis: 1/2* Just a fight between two big guys that kept on going after the match. WWE continues to find ways to not book proper finishes in Keith Lee matches where he doesn’t get the win.
Strowman yelled at the referee about the countout. Strowman ran over Lee with a running shoulder tackle through the barricade. After replays, Lee got back up and they faced off with Lee hitting a running shoulder tackle. There were WWE Officials like Jamie Noble, Pat Buck and some referees. Lee whipped Strowman into the LED boards on the ramp. Lee tackled Strowman off the stage onto some conveniently placed mats with tables that the two big men went through. There were officials that checked on both guys.
Analysis: Huge bump there! That was cool. It was a good brawl and I like it as a new rivalry because it feels fresh. It seems obvious that they will be part of the same show after the WWE Draft so that they can continue this rivalry. As I noted earlier, at least it feels fresh and I hope it works out well for both guys.
(Commercial)
There was a video of Bianca Belair sitting around with some friends as they played a game where she showed off how smart she is. We saw how athletic she was in the past, so now we see she’s the SMARTEST since she’s the EST of WWE.
Drew Gulak was still dressed up as a custodian, he bumped into a garbage can that Akira Tozawa was in and R-Truth gave Gulak a back body drop into a bigger garbage can. We couldn’t see the pin attempt, but the referee counted and R-Truth left with the 24/7 Title again.
Winner by pinfall AND NEW WWE 24/7 Champion (again)…R-Truth
Analysis: Congrats to R-Truth on his 42nd reign as the 24/7 Champion. Thrilling.
Bobby Lashley, the United States Champion, and Shelton Benjamin of The Hurt Business entered for a tag team match.
(Commercial)
There was a promo from MVP of The Hurt Business with Lashley and Benjamin by his side. MVP said that they were not beaten last week while noting Ali, Crews and Ricochet can beat them in a match, but The Hurt Business is not defeated. MVP put Retribution on notice telling “T-Bag” (or T-Bar) that they should prepare to fold. MVP said that their group are what nightmares are made of.
Ricochet, Apollo Crews and Mustafa Ali made their entrance. Ali said that MVP lost last week because they pushed Ali and Ali pushed back. Ricochet spoke up to say he will pass on joining on The Hurt Business. MVP threatened Ricochet, who said he hasn’t run away in the past and he’s not running tonight. MVP told his guys to put a special emphasis on punishing Ricochet.
Apollo Crews and Ricochet (w/Mustafa Ali) vs. The Hurt Business – Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin (w/MVP)
Benjamin started with Ricochet for about one team. The face team of Crews and Ricochet cleared the ring with a double clothesline on Lashley leading to a break.
(Commercial)
Lashley was in control of Ricochet with a delayed vertical suplex. Ricochet punched MVP in the face when MVP got too close and Lashley hit Ricochet with a flatliner for two. Ricochet hit a spin kick on Benjamin to set up Crews with the hot tag. Crews with a spinebuster on Benjamin and a standing moonsault for two. Ricochet hit two superkicks on Lashley to stun the big man but Lashley hit a slam off the shoulders. Benjamin came back with a German Suplex on Crews. Lashley tagged back in, Crews with a leaping kick to the head and Lashley hit a huge lifting spinebuster and Lashley slapped on the Hurt Lock (Full Nelson) on Crews, who tapped out. It went about ten minutes.
Winners by submission: The Hurt Business – Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin
Analysis: **1/2 It was an average tag team match that felt like a replay of matches they have had in the past. Lashley making Crews tap out to the Hurt Lock has happened several times in the last few months. I’m ready for these guys to stop wrestling eachother. I don’t mind any of these wrestlers at all, but it feels like we are seeing the same match every week.
Murphy walked up to Aalyah Mysterio in the backstage area. Murphy said this whole thing has gotten way out of hand. She asked if Murphy was still considering an apology to Seth and he didn’t know as he left.
(Commercial)
A commercial aired for the WWE Draft beginning this Friday on Smackdown and continuing next Monday on Raw. They showed this commercial a few times during the show.
The Hurt Business group of MVP, Lashley and Benjamin were walking together. Ali trash-talked MVP about their match tonight, then said he wanted Lashley and Benjamin there as well because he’ll take care of them too. Well done in terms of foreshadowing what was to come.
Let’s Hear from Seth Rollins and Murphy
It was the top of hour three for promo time. Seth Rollins entered the ring alone to say that he awaits Murphy’s apology. That led to Murphy making his slow walk entrance to the ring.
Rollins told Murphy all he had to do was apologize so they can move forward and serve the greater good. Murphy was reluctant to do it. Rollins said that they have been through so much together since Seth plucked him from obscurity and made Murphy the man he is right now. Rollins kept on telling to apologize, then he grabbed his bear and yelled at him.
Murphy took down Rollins with a double leg takedown and beat on him with punches. They left the ring with Murphy tackling Rollins over the announce table. Rollins managed to grab a kendo stick from under the ring, but Murphy got a hold of it and hit Rollins twice. Murphy hit Rollins with two more kendo sticks, Murphy told him to apologize and Rollins apologized to Aalyah, who wasn’t out there. Rollins wanted him to stop.
When Murphy let up, Rollins attacked with some eye-gouging and Rollins got the kendo stick. Rollins attacked Murphy with repeated kendo stick shots to the upper body. Rollins grabbed a chair from ringside, but when he went back to the ring, Aalyah was there to protect Murphy and tell Rollins to stop. That led to Dominik, Rey and Angie to show up to ask Aalyah what she was doing. Rey and Dominik helped Aalyah out of the ring while Murphy was down in the ring. Rollins was backstage watching on a TV monitor and smiling about it. Dominik reminded his sister what Rollins and Murphy did to them including Rey’s eye. They went to the back.
Analysis: There’s the Rollins/Murphy fight that we have all been expecting for several months. Just when Rollins was about to finish off Murphy, Aalyah was the one that saved Murphy. It continues the love story of Aalyah and Murphy that could have plenty more twists and turns along the way. It would be easy to poke holes in this by noting that often times when people brawl on this show, there is security out there to try to break it up, yet these guys went on for several minutes with no attempts to end it.
Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax were shown backstage ahead of their match after the break.
(Commercial)
The entrances took place for Women’s Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax. The challengers were the Riott Squad.
Women’s Tag Team Championships: Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler vs. Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan
This match was originally scheduled for eight days earlier at Clash of Champions, but it got canceled due to COVID-19 precautions. Jax used her power early on as she set up Riott against the turnbuckle and hit a running splash. Baszler stomped on the left elbow of Riott, who was writhing in pain. Baszler continued to bend back the left arm of Riott. Jax tagged in while Riott was on the floor and Jax whipped Riott into the apron.
(Commercial)
The match returned with Riott getting away from Baszler and Morgan got the tag. Morgan sent Jax into the turnbuckle, Morgan hit two running splashes and the momentum stopped when Jax decked Morgan with a clothesline. Jax decked Morgan with a headbutt. Riott tagged back in with a running kick on Baszler, who was legal for her team. Riott hit a DDT off the ropes on Baszler and Morgan did a double stomp for a two count. Jax went in to knock down Morgan while Riott was legal and Baszler rocked Riott with a knee to the face. Baszler slapped on the Kirifuda Clutch submission while Jax went after Morgan and Riott tapped out. It went about 10 minutes.
Winners by submission: Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler
Analysis: **1/4 The champs retain in a competitive match that had some decent action. Some of it was boring while also not really making Riott and Morgan look good since they got beat up from the moments the match began. Baszler was dominant the whole match while working on the left arm of Riott and Jax got her power spots. I don’t know when Jax and Baszler will lose or to who. They are booked in such a dominant way as a team that doesn’t get along, yet they find ways to win.
The Street Profits did a promo about their six-man tag team match main event. Drew McIntyre walked up to them to let them know he would kick the crap out of Randy Orton. They walked away together.
(Commercial)
The Hurt Business trio entered for another match. They didn’t explain where Cedric Alexander was last week or this week. Mustafa Ali entered alone for singles action.
Analysis: I saw this part live because it was halftime of the NFL game, so I assume that’s why WWE put this match in this spot. It was a big angle as we would soon find out.
Mustafa Ali vs. Montel Vontavious Porter (w/Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin)
MVP whipped Ali into the corner leading to a clothesline with Ali doing a flip bump. Ali came back with a dropkick that sent MVP out of the ring. MVP called for Lashley and Benjamin to join him in the ring. The lights went out in the building leading to Retribution logos on the screen, so Retribution showed up around the ring. Let’s call the match a No Contest after two minutes.
Match Result: No Contest
MVP asked Ali if he would fight with them and Ali said he was in. Ali left the ring where T-Bar and Mace were standing. Ali got in the faces of the two big men, they stared at him, Hurt Business were happy about it and then Ali turned to face them with a smirk on his face. Ali told Retribution to get The Hurt Business, so Retribution attacked. It means Ali is now a heel and the leader of Retribution!
The Retribution group beat up Hurt Business as they went MVP into the barricade and Benjamin into the steel steps. T-Bar drove Lashley back first into the ring post and then they sent Lashley face first into the steel steps.
Retribution went into the ring where they joined by Ali with Samoa Joe wondering how long Ali has been a part of this. Ali stood in the ring to face the hard camera with the other Retribution guys joining him and standing behind him. Ali stared into the hard camera, stuck out his open palm as usual and this time made a fist, which led to a break.
Analysis: That was really well done as a heel turn by Ali to reveal that he’s the leader of Retribution. There is a lot of backstory they can bring up since there was the stalker angle on Smackdown that ended with no reveal, so they could easily say Ali was the cause of that. You could also go back to early 2019 when Ali was in the WWE Title picture, suffered a minor injury, taken out and Kofi Kingston went in his place with Kofi becoming the WWE Champion. When Ali came back, he wasn’t featured much, he didn’t do much on Smackdown this year and he’s barely been doing anything on Raw. Now Ali is going to be in a major spot. I like that a lot for him since he’s a very good worker and I think he can succeed as a talker. I don’t love Retribution as a group and the way they have been presented, but having a talented wrestler like Ali as a part of the group is great to see. I think it can be the boost needed to get Retribution some positive momentum. If this was the show ending angle then it would have worked even better, but it’s okay that it didn’t end Raw.
(Commercial)
The guests on Raw Talk this week on WWE Network were: Asuka, Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. The show is hosted by Charly Caruso and R-Truth.
There were replays shown of Ali’s heel turn where he led Retribution against The Hurt Business. The announcers talked about it with Saxton making the point that Ali has been in charge of Retribution.
Analysis: The other part of this story is what does this mean for The Hurt Business? Should they be faces now? I think that they work so well as heels, but whoever is against Retribution should be considered faces. Anyway, it’s not clear for now.
There was another video promoting the WWE Draft beginning on Smackdown this Friday and continuing on Raw next Monday. No details have been provided by WWE in terms of the format.
It was main event time on Raw with Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode as the heel side of this match. The heel side are all in their 40s. Just saying. The Street Profits were next as the Raw Tag Team Champions while WWE Champion Drew McIntyre was up last. The introductions for this match went longer than some matches on this show.
Drew McIntyre and The Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) vs. Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode
I’ll go play by play for this match. Orton distracted McIntyre, so Roode attacked McIntyre with some punches. Ziggler missed a corner charge when McIntyre moved and McIntyre hit a clothesline. Orton tried a cheap RKO, but McIntyre shoved him off. McIntyre sent Roode out of the ring. Ford ran the ropes leading to a somersault dive onto Ziggler and Roode on the floor. That led to a break.
(Commercial)
The match continued with Dawkins decking Ziggler with a punch. Ford got the tag with a leaping clothesline on Ziggler and a dropkick on Roode. Ford with a belly to back suplex on Ziggler leading to a standing moonsault for two. Orton grabbed Ford’s foot, which led to the heels taking over with Roode hitting a spinebuster on Ford for two. Orton tagged in, Roode sent Ford to the floor and Orton hit a belly to back slam onto Ford on the announce table, which was rebuilt after being broken earlier in the night. Orton slammed Ford down while staring at McIntyre, who waited on the apron. Ford hit a kick to the gut followed by a DDT on Orton. McIntyre got the tag against Ziggler with Drew launching Dolph across the ring with multiple belly to belly suplex. McIntyre sent Orton into the turnbuckle along with punches, but Roode and Ziggler saved Orton. Dawkins made the tag as McIntyre hit a headbutt on Roode and Ziggler hit a superkick on McIntyre. Dawkins got a rollup on Ziggler, but then Ziggler hit a jumping DDT. Orton tagged back in with a draping DDT off the ropes on Dawkins. Dawkins came back with a spinebuster and Ford got the tag with a huge Frog Splash off the top rope. Ford covered Orton for two but Roode and Ziggler broke up the pin. Roode and Dawkins were sent out of the ring. McIntyre got the tag, Ziggler with a Fameasser to Ford and McIntyre hit a Claymore Kick on Ziggler to send him over the top to the floor. Awesome bump by Ziggler as usual. McIntyre was the legal man against Orton, Roode ran into the ring and McIntyre decked him with a Claymore Kick. When McIntyre did a kip up after the Claymore Kick, Orton was right there with an RKO for the pinfall win. The match went 10 minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode
Analysis: ***1/2 It was a very good match that was the usual WWE main event tag with a lot of action towards the finish that got a decent amount of time. The significant thing about Orton pinning McIntyre is that it was the first time since McIntyre has lost a match this year. I didn’t expect Drew to be the one to take the pin here, but I like it just to give Orton some of that positive momentum heading into the Hell in a Cell match for the WWE Title. The last few minutes of this match were really awesome and booked well. I’m not surprised based on the wrestlers in the match because they’re all very capable out there. It would make sense for Ziggler/Roode to continue teaming up to possibly go after Street Profits as long as they remain on the same show. Nice ending to the match with Orton beating McIntyre to win for his team.
Post match, Orton left the ring to stare down McIntyre from the ramp while McIntyre was down in the ring selling the RKO that he received. End show.
Analysis: I picked Randy Orton to beat Drew McIntyre at SummerSlam. It didn’t happen. I picked Randy Orton to beat Drew McIntyre at Clash of Champions. It didn’t happen there either. I am probably picking Orton to beat McIntyre for the WWE Title at Hell in a Cell as well because I think it should happen. Orton has already lost three PPV matches in a row (two to McIntyre and to Keith Lee at Payback), so I doubt Orton will have four straight PPV losses. Then again, I may change my mind.
Three Stars of the Show
- Mustafa Ali
- Drew McIntyre
- Randy Orton
The Scoreboard
6 out of 10
Last week: 5.75
2020 Average: 6.24
Final Thoughts
This was just an average show. The best thing was Mustafa Ali’s heel turn to show that he was the leader of the Retribution or at least that’s what we’re supposed to think for now. I’m genuinely excited for Ali being put in a big spot that can hopefully lead to great things for him. Then again, it could be terrible. We’ll see how it goes. I just try to be optimistic. There was also the split of Rollins and Murphy with Murphy standing up for himself and I thought they had a good brawl. Speaking of brawling, I also enjoyed the Braun Strowman battle with Keith Lee as well. They will probably be on the same show after the WWE Draft to continue that new rivalry.
A lot of the matches were shorter, so I was disappointed in that aspect of the show. I thought the main event was well done with Randy Orton beating Drew McIntyre in the six-man tag team main event. It was Drew’s first loss this year, so that was significant in terms of saying that Orton might finally be able to beat him.
There are a lot of things that are going to change from this Raw to next week due to the WWE Draft on Smackdown and Raw next week. I am really hoping for fresh matchups because Raw has too many repeated feuds. It’s time for some changes.
(The word count was about 2000 words less than usual and I don’t think most people are going to notice that.)
The next WWE pay-per-view is Hell in a Cell on Sunday, October 25. Here’s what we know so far.
WWE Championship Hell in a Cell Match: Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Randy Orton
WWE Universal Championship Hell in a Cell Match: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Jey Uso
—
You can contact me using any of the methods below. Go Los Angeles Rams. Be safe and smart out there.
Thanks for reading.
John Canton
Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter: @johnreport