Monday Night Raw Review - September 16, 2019

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Bray Wyatt Interrupted Universal Champion Seth Rollins

Rollins didn't really say much of note during his promo, but I was anxiously awaiting Wyatt and the Firefly Fun House to interrupt him and it did not disappoint. This is so different than anything else in WWE right now because it's not like Wyatt is going down to the ring to stand face-to-face with Rollins and engage in a war of words with him. This is so much better and the rest of this feud should be terrific, assuming WWE doesn't drop the ball with it.

Braun Strowman Attacked Raw Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode and SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Revival

Ziggler, Roode and The Revival were supposed to hold a "Tag Team Summit" before they were rudely interrupted by Strowman, who proceeded to lay waste to them all. Actually, Roode narrowly dodged Strowman's assault (which was wise because he competed in the main event later on in the night), but everyone else wasn't as fortunate. This was a total waste of a segment. If you didn't already know that WWE couldn't give two shits about tag team wrestling, well, now you know.

The O.C. def. Cedric Alexander and The Viking Raiders

This was a logical match to do after Viking Raiders saved Alexander from The O.C. last week on Raw. It was fun while it lasted and I enjoyed any interaction AJ Styles and Alexander had. Unfortunately, Styles once again decisively defeated Alexander here and beat him up afterward to boot. He was on quite the hot streak before Sunday, but between what happened here and at Clash of Champions, his push appears to be over as quickly as it started. I really hope I'm wrong, though.

Baron Corbin def. Chad Gable to Win the 2019 King of the Ring Tournament

It's funny, Gable and Corbin have never wrestled a proper singles match against each other before yet I had high hopes for this encounter because of the chemistry they had in that tag team matchup from NXT TakeOver: Respect almost four years ago. I was specifically looking for them to recreate that incredible End of Days spot (and they did), but they gave us much more than that. It says a lot that the crowd was quiet early on but eventually got invested in the action down the stretch. They so badly wanted Gable to win, but it wasn't meant to be. Now the key is in the followup. Corbin can't be booked like crap like the last few King of the Ring winners, and Gable deserves to build off this momentum going forward.

Ricochet def. Mike Kanellis; Rusev def. Kanellis

I thought we were finally done with the nonsense involving Mike and Maria Kanellis, but apparently not. If this Paul Heyman's doing, then no thanks. The entire angle has been atrocious and has simply made for terrible television. This was no exception. Maria claimed Ricochet was the father of her unborn child (which he wasn't, obviously), Ricochet beat Mike in a nothing match, and then Rusev returned (without Lana) and was revealed to be the true baby daddy before promptly squashing Mike. I'm glad Rusev is back on WWE TV after a few months away, but this was awful all around.

Rey Mysterio def. Cesaro

This comeback story for Mysterio has the potential to be awesome if Mysterio continues to contest great matches such as this one. I realize he's super injury-prone, but he can still go out there and kill it with the best of them even in the twilight of his career. Cesaro has been the ultimate stepping stone for a while now (and needs a fresh start more than anyone), but he helped Mysterio look good here. I can watch these two go at it for hours and never get bored.

Sasha Banks and SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley def. WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Alexa bliss and Nikki Cross (Non-Title)

If I had to take a guess, I'd say Bliss and Cross are babyfaces based off how they've been booked in recent weeks. Bliss getting "injured" halfway through was smart because it allowed Cross to shine in the second half of this bout and nearly fend off Bayley and Banks before eating defeat. I don't think Banks and Bayley will ultimately win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, but this should set up a title match for an upcoming episode of Raw or SmackDown Live. It was confirmed afterward that it will be Banks vs. Lynch again at Hell in a Cell in three weeks, this time inside Satan's Structure.

Lacey Evans def. Dana Brooke

I briefly thought I was watching an episode of Main Event by accident when I realized Evans was facing Brooke. They've faced off on Main Event before and it wasn't very good. This wasn't that bad, but it merely served to give Evans a win after losing to Natalya last week. She beat Brooke with the Sharpshooter, so clearly that rivalry isn't over yet. Although I couldn't care less about it, I give WWE props for at least attempting to book a feud for the women outside of the Raw Women's Championship picture.

Universal Champion Seth Rollins def. Raw Tag Team Champion Robert Roode by Disqualification (Non-Title)

I was happy WWE didn't forget about Roode pinning Rollins in the Raw Tag Team Championship match at Clash of Champions and it was interesting that Rollins didn't straight up avenge that loss here. It was a competitive and well-wrestled main event that ended in a disqualification loss for Roode, so it looks like Roode is being heavily protected after all. The post-match angle was excellently executed with Kane making his grand return in his native Tennessee to take out Roode, Ziggler and The O.C. before being laid out by The Fiend. It was the perfect way for the show to close and the crowd ate it up.

Overall Show

I've seen quite a bit of hate for this show online, and I'm not sure why. Yes, the stuff involving the Kanellis couple was downright deplorable, but everything else held my interest (except for maybe Evans vs. Brooke). This was the most we've gotten of Wyatt/The Fiend on an episode of Raw yet and I thought the payoff was wonderful. Plus, the King of the Ring finals were fantastic, a few of the other matches were entertaining, and WWE has already begun to build to Hell in a Cell in three weeks. Similar to Sunday's Clash of Champions pay-per-view, I came away from this show satisfied and excited for the immediate future of WWE.