WrestleRant
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Store
  • About
  • Contact
Picture

Monday Night Raw Review - September 30, 2019

9/30/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Brock Lesnar Attacked Rey Mysterio and Dominick

Dominick has basically been a regular on WWE TV since the beginning of Mysterio's feud with Samoa Joe before WrestleMania 35. I was shocked at the time that Joe never once got physical with Dominick, but hey, I'd argue Dominick getting his ass kicked was worth the wait. It didn't come at the hands of Joe, mind you, but Lesnar was an even better choice to do the deed. Props to Dominick, who sold the beating like a champ. Both he and Mysterio came across as incredibly sympathetic while Lesnar scored a ton of heat for the ruthless assault. Mission accomplished. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that this planted the seeds for a future face-off between Lesnar and Mysterio, possibly over the WWE  Championship post-Draft.

Sasha Banks def. WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Alexa Bliss

Banks vs. Bliss is hardly a rivalry I was excited to see revisited, but this was solid enough, so I can't knock it. It was hardly memorable for the four minutes it got, but I liked that there wasn't any outside interference from Nikki Cross or Bayley. Instead, Becky Lynch (who sat in on commentary) ran down to the ring afterward and forced Banks to flee. Her promo didn't light the world on fire, but thankfully, I was already sold on their Hell in a Cell clash this Sunday.
Picture

Raw Tag Team Champions Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler def. Heavy Machinery

I realize Heavy Machinery has been on a bit of a winning streak on SmackDown Live lately, but this match came completely out of nowhere. They weren't feuding coming into this contest, so fans had zero reason to believe that Heavy Machinery could capture the belts. I'd say that a SmackDown team winning Raw's tag titles is ridiculous, but then again, The Revival (who are Raw wrestlers) are the current SmackDown Tag Team Champions. Nevertheless, this was a nice little match with the heels winning clean (and Roode once again picking up the win for him and Ziggler).

Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair Announced Team Hogan vs. Team Flair on Miz TV

If you haven't heard already, the critically-acclaimed WWE Crown Jewel pay-per-view (and I say that sarcastically, of course) will be making its return to Saudi Arabia, this year on Halloween. I actually appreciated that this wasn't another pointless segment with the legends doing their usual shticks. Rather, it set the stage for Team Hogan vs. Team Flair at the event. I was worried for a second that they'd be wrestling on the show (which wouldn't surprise me considering it'll emanate from Saudi Arabia), but they'll instead be acting as coaches for their teams. Seth Rollins will the captain of Team Hogan (apparently alongside Rusev) and Randy Orton will captain Team Flair (with King Corbin joining him as well).

The Viking Raiders def. The O.C.

I really liked the match these two tandems had last week. This wasn't quite as strong in my opinion, but there's no denying they have quality chemistry together. Unfortunately, the crowd was quiet and didn't pop for Viking Raiders winning as loudly as they did last week. On the bright side, Viking Raiders remain undefeated. If they aren't contending for the Raw Tag Team Championship in the near future, something is seriously wrong.

Ricochet def. Cesaro

This bout came about after Cesaro disrespected Mysterio during a backstage interview, leading to Ricochet standing up for him and challenging Cesaro to an impromptu match. If you can recall, these two feuded for a few weeks on Raw earlier in the summer, so it's been established that they can produce fun matches against each other. That was once again the case here, even though it didn't last long, and the finish looked awesome. I realize it's a long shot, but Cesaro should be drafted to NXT or NXT UK in the upcoming WWE Draft. At least he'd actually be utilized to his full potential on either one of those shows.

United States Champion AJ Styles def. Cedric Alexander

I was disappointed that their encounter at Clash of Champions was barely five minutes in length (let alone how it was placed on the Kickoff show), so I was happy that they were given some more time here to go out and kill it like only they can. Both men brought the intensity, kept the action exciting throughout, and had the crowd hanging on their every nearfall down the stretch. Selfishly, I was pulling for an Alexander title win, but Styles was able to steal the victory yet again. Here's hoping Alexander can maintain momentum despite definitely being removed from the title picture following his latest loss.

Lacey Evans def. Natalya

Isn't it funny how anything involving Evans and Natalya in recent weeks has been put in the third hour of Raw just before the main event? Okay, it's not really that funny, but WWE is well aware that it's filler and how no one cares. As I've said before, it's nice WWE is booking a program for the women on Raw outside of the title picture, but Natalya has bored me to tears for years and Evans is still improving. This match was as basic as it gets. Please let Evans' win mean that we can move on from this once and for all.

Universal Champion Seth Rollins vs. Rusev Ended in a No Contest

I hate to sound negative, but almost everything about this was trash. First and foremost, Rollins vs. Rusev was a significant step down from what we were supposed to get (Rollins vs. Mysterio) before the segment that started the show. It was obvious it was going to be less about the match and more about who'd be revealed as emerging from the limo. Sure enough, it was the returning Bobby Lashley and Lana, who are apparently an item now (based off how they made out on the stage while Rusev looked on from the ring). Why didn't Rusev react? Why was Rollins out for so long at ringside? Why would such an atrocious angle close out the show? "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt attacking Rollins was well done, but the rest of this was... uh, something else, to say the least.

Overall Show

As a "season premiere" of Raw (which will forever sound dumb to me because this show doesn't have seasons like normal television shows do), this was decent. It peaked early with that amazing opening segment, but the rest of the three hours were largely enjoyable between the United States Championship and Raw Tag Team Championship matches and Miz TV. More importantly, the updated graphics, entrance theme, commentary team and set (in addition to the return of pyro) were a needed change and made the show feel fresher than it has in years. As a go-home show for Hell in a Cell, however, this was lousy and featured too much filler. How the hell was there for more build for Crown Jewel in a month than Hell in a Cell this Sunday? I'm not joking when I say that there are only three matchups advertised for the card as of this writing. I doubt many more will be added on the SmackDown premiere on FOX given that the focus will be on everything else going on that night. It's almost as if WWE forgot they're having a pay-per-view this weekend and are choosing to deal with it when the time comes as opposed to announcing anything else in advance aside from the main matches. That's alarming.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    Categories

    All
    #AskGSM
    Battle Of The Belts
    Cruiserweight Classic
    Halftime Heat
    Hidden Gems
    Interviews
    Lists/Rankings
    Mae Young Classic
    Mixed Match Challenge
    News
    NJPW
    NWA Shockwave
    NXT PLEs
    Opinion
    Previews
    Retro Reviews
    Reviews
    RJ's Two Cents
    Satire
    Slammy Awards
    SNME
    SummerSlam Recall
    The Deadly Draw
    The World Is A Vampire
    Tribute To The Troops
    Women's Eliminator
    Worlds Collide
    WrestleMania Recall
    WWE Draft
    WWE Network Specials
    WWE PLEs
    WWE Starrcade


    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    RSS Feed

©2025 WrestleRant. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Store
  • About
  • Contact