Monday Night Raw Review - September 27, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

WWE Champion Big E vs. Bobby Lashley Ended in a No Contest

The six-man tag team match that opened Extreme Rules was what set this match up. I was skeptical of it starting the show, but it was ultimately the best decision they could have given how it ended. It was a hot match that the crowd was into and I'm all for action actually kicking off Raw. That should be commonplace, of course, but it just isn't and hasn't been for years. Here's hoping we're getting a Hurt Business reunion because it was stupid for WWE to break them up in the first place.

Angel Garza def. Erik

Garza and Humberto Carrillo beat Mansoor and Mustafa Ali in their Raw tag team debut last week, so it was weird that Garza faced one of The Viking Raiders this week. It was a perfectly competent match but didn't get enough time to be anything special. Carrillo and Garza are off to a good start as a team. Meanwhile, I think Viking Raiders would benefit from a move to SmackDown, a brand they haven't been a part of yet.

24/7 Champion Reggie vs. Ricochet Ended in a No Contest

Having two matches end in no contest within 30 minutes of each other? Sounds like a Raw thing to do to me. Seeing Ricochet challenge for the 24/7 Championship hurt my heart, but for as bad as this was, nothing will beat when he lost to Riddick Moss in a match for the 24/7 Championship last year. This was basically a spot-fest for as long as it lasted. The stuff with the 24/7 title continues to be a waste of time. Anyone know when Ricochet's contract expires?

Keith "Bearcat" Lee def. Akira Tozawa

We've heard for weeks that WWE was planning to repackage Lee in some way in addition to turning him heel. The nickname "Bearcat" was also being batted around, and he officially debuted that nickname here. The nickname itself is fine, but putting it in the middle of his name sounds silly. He didn't come off like a total heel in this match, but time will tell. On the bright side, he decimated Tozawa and won with ease. Whatever gets him back on TV in a regular role, I'm game for.

United States Champion Damian Priest def. Sheamus in a No Disqualification, No Count-Out Match

As much as I enjoyed the Triple Threat from Extreme Rules, this was what I wanted to see at the pay-per-view. Hell, this was more extreme than anything we got at the actual event. They beat the hell out of each other with whatever they could find and it was extremely entertaining. Sheamus hasn't gotten one over on Priest at all throughout this feud, but I appreciate that WWE has put Priest over strong. This was a great way to blow off their rivalry.

Jinder Mahal, Veer and Shanky def. Jeff Hardy, Mansoor and Mustafa Ali

You know the Draft is right around the corner when you get matches like this. Seriously, this was the definition of filler. It felt like the backstage promo beforehand from the babyfaces lasted longer than the match itself did. I was somewhat optimistic that Hardy would get more meaningful television time coming out of his strong showing at Extreme Rules, but apparently not. I believe this marked the first win for Mahal's trio since they came together earlier this year.

Karrion Kross def. Jaxson Ryker

Kross' Raw debut still makes zero sense in retrospect, but at least he's been booking to look dominant for the last month or so by squashing everyone he's been put in the ring with. This was as one-sided as it gets and I have no complaints because Ryker is absolutely abysmal. Get him the hell of the show and get Kross into a legitimate storyline sooner rather than later. I'd say he'll run out of opponents to beat eventually, but I'm sure the Draft will bring a few new jobbers to the show (assuming he stays on Raw).

AJ Styles def. Raw Tag Team Champion Riddle

Unless switches shows in the Draft, it looks like WWE is building to Styles and Omos getting a rematch for the Raw Tag Team Championship against RK-Bro. The funny thing is that Lashley and MVP won that Tag Team Turmoil match a few weeks ago to become the number one contenders and never got their shot. Obviously, Styles and Omos should have won if WWE was always going to continue this feud no matter what. With all of that being said, this was an excellent match, as you could only expect from these two. It was perfectly paced and everything they did was so smooth. The finishing sequence in particular was terrific. By the way, where does Orton keep running off to?

Raw Women's Champion Charlotte Flair def. Doudrop

This was originally billed as an open challenge for the Raw Women's Championship until Doudrop asked Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville about getting the shot. That was underwhelming. The more Doudrop dances around like a fool, the more her character annoys me. Why can't they book her like the badass she was in NXT UK? The match was equally underwhelming because it was over under two minutes. The distraction finish with Eva Marie was lame as hell considering Doudrop already beat her twice.

Goldberg Addressed Bobby Lashley

This was filmed via satellite. I completely forgot about this feud until the Goldberg graphic was shown earlier in the evening, and then I was reminded that they're almost definitely facing each other at Crown Jewel. Ugh. Goldberg basically threatening Lashley's life was quite the line and nothing he said here got me excited for that match. Lashley has lost enough lately, so him enduring yet another loss at the hands of someone who doesn't need it is depressing.

Shayna Baszler Attacked Eva Marie

Eva stuck around after getting beat up by Flair in the previous segment (prior to the Goldberg interview, obviously) and claimed she could beat anyone in the locker room, which brought out Baszler. After taking Nia Jax out of action last week, I was happy to see Baszler viciously attack Eva this week. Whether this means Eva will be out indefinitely remains to be seen, but I hope so because her latest run with the company has been a bust so far. As for Baszler, regardless of whether she's a heel or babyface, and regardless of what show she ends up on, I am praying she gets a genuine push post-Draft. It's long overdue.

WWE Champion Big E def. Bobby Lashley in a Steel Cage Match

The hilarious part about Steel Cage matches in WWE (and even some other companies to a certain extent) is that they never do their job of preventing interference. If anything, interference is encouraged. Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin scaled the cage at one point and made sure Big E couldn't climb out, but at least Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods brawled with them to the back. All in all, this was a top-notch main event with both men giving it a great effort. Had this closed out Extreme Rules instead of what we got, I don't think as many people would be complaining. Drew McIntyre emerging to face off with Big E was intriguing and sets the stage for a possible championship clash at Crown Jewel.

Overall Show

it's amazing how inconsistent WWE can be with their weekly television shows and how they can all of a sudden put on better shows when they want to. My guess is that football being back in addition to AEW's recent momentum motivated the company to put more effort into making Raw a stronger show and I thought this episode reflected that. The three hours still dragged because they threw a lot at us in those three hours, but it was one of the better overall editions in recent memory. The WWE Championship picture bookended the show nicely, we got two above-average matches, Lee was reintroduced, and feuds were blown off ahead of the Draft. And no, it was not lost on me that this show was more "extreme" than the pay-per-view called Extreme Rules on Sunday night. I don't know what the roster is going to look like after next week, but the creative direction improving has to be a top priority no matter what.

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