Monday Night Raw Review - October 1, 2018

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Braun Strowman def. Dean Ambrose by Disqualification

​I like the renewed focus on Ambrose since he was quietly becoming an afterthought again after the reformation of The Shield, even though it's hard to buy into the idea that he'll be turning on Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns so soon. Ambrose choosing his opponent for the night was compelling, but Baron Corbin ended up doing that for him. The subsequent match between Ambrose and Strowman was solid and the non-finish was smart in order to protect both guys.

Universal Champion Roman Reigns def. Raw Tag Team Champion Dolph Ziggler (Non-title)

Apparently Corbin's idea of punishing Reigns is forcing him to not defend his title until Crown Jewel. I understand Stephanie McMahon reprimanded Corbin last week for granting too many title shots, but it's still stupid. At any rate, this was a very good match from Reigns and Ziggler. Sure, I never thought for a second that Ziggler would actually beat Reigns (even in non-title action), but I enjoyed this for what it was, nonetheless.

Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey def. Ruby Riott (Non-title)

Rousey has been extremely dominant in most of her matches up to this point, so I appreciated that Riott scored as much offense over Rousey as she did before being beaten. It was a nice little match and I'm glad Riott wasn't defeated within a minute or two, but a non-finish would have been better, if only because it would have allowed WWE to go back to this bout down the road during a full-fledged feud.

Konnor def. Bobby Roode

It's amazing how much can change in a year. Roode went from going undefeated on NXT as the brand's top champion to losing to Konnor of The Ascension. This was total throwaway and served as a sad reminder as to how far Roode as fallen. On the bright side, a heel turn for Roode is only inevitable, but that doesn't take away from how he lost to Konnor of all people. Nothing can change that.

The B-Team def. The Revival

I had hope The Revival's awesome performance against Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre last week had turned some heads in the back and would lead to some sort of a push for them, but apparently not. The match itself was nothing special and was merely designed to give The B-Team a victory ahead of their eventual loss to AOP, which is why they were attacked by the former NXT Tag Team Champions afterward.

Raw Tag Team Champion Drew McIntyre def. Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins (Non-title)

These two have had a handful of matches against each other over the last number of months, so although we've seen this before, their chemistry together is so strong that I'll never get tired of it. Plus, it was easily the best of the three singles matches featuring the six Superstars on this show and I'd assume McIntyre pinning Rollins sets him up for a future Intercontinental Championship opportunity. The heels laying out The Shield post-match made sense in order to put heat on the heels before WWE Super Show-Down.

Kevin Owens def. Bobby Lashley

I still couldn't care less about Owens and Elias vs. Lashley and John Cena at Super Show-Down since it likely will turn out to be meaningless, but the pre-match promos from Owens and Elias hyping up the bout were well done and generated more heat than anyone could have ever imagined. Man, that reaction from the Seattle crowd was insane! Lashley vs. Owens was well-wrestled and the result was what it needed to be to make it seem like the heels having a chance of winning in Australia, even though they don't.

Bayley def. Alicia Fox

With nothing at stake in the Mixed Match Challenge this season (as far as I know), there's no reason to give a crap about Season 2 at all or these matches involving the competitors. Finn Balor and Bayley will face Fox and Jinder Mahal on Tuesday night's episode and I can't say I'm looking forward to it. This was filler at its finest and it's such a shame Balor and Bayley are treading water right now.

The Undertaker and Kane Attacked Triple H and Shawn Michaels

You had to know a straight-up promo from Michaels was not what was going to end this episode. Thus, The Undertaker, Kane and Triple H showing up and trading blows (probably for the first time in over a decade, if not ever) made for a cool moment that the crowd was red-hot for. Regardless of who wins on Saturday, I'm banking on a tag team match with these four at Crown Jewel (and yes, Michaels coming out of retirement is all but guaranteed).

Overall Show

All eyes are on Super Show-Down, and although I have a sneaking suspicion it will wind up being a glorified house show, it has some promise on paper, not to mention that the build has been relatively well done. The show-closing angle was excellent and the three matches with The Shield in them were above-average, but everything else was decent at best. I've seen worse editions of Raw lately, but this didn't do much to move to needle when it came to selling me on Super Show-Down this Saturday.