RAW Results and Recap: Taking Care of Business
Happy birthday, Stephanie McMahon! Baron Corbin is perfectly willing to kick off Monday Night RAW by singing “Happy Birthday” to the RAW Commissioner—quite poorly—but his—again, rather poor—singing is cut short by the reveal that Triple H is also present for tonight’s show. Triple H is here tonight for Connor’s Cure-related purposes, but Stephanie is definitely aware of the current RAW situation between Acting General Manager Baron Corbin and the members of The Shield… and like Anna Faris’ Samantha James in Just Friends, she’s not happy.
Like a poor little rich kid who’s afraid they’re about to be cut off, Corbin immediately pins the blame for any of RAW’s problems on somebody else. “Roman and his buddies … keep provoking me.” God, what a dweeb. And even Stephanie calls that out for the excuse it very much is. She also basically tells him to grow up, in the form of getting two tag team partners and facing The Shield in a six-man tag team match tonight. (From here, one can assume the partners aren’t Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre because while they’d be the best choice, they’re already Braun Strowman’s tag team partners against The Shield at Super Show-Down. Giving away about two-thirds of that match just a week away would be absurd.) Stephanie also makes clear that Corbin needs to take control of the show—and take care of his business—or Kurt Angle might be coming back his vacation a little sooner than expected.
Now, the show can really begin. As promised, The Shield officially kick off Monday Night RAW, coming down from the crowd with their gold and their tactical gear. The Denver crowd loves them so much—and this is a crowd that goes crazy all throughout the night—that it actually takes a moment before these men can speak. But when they do, the let the WWE Universe know once more: They are the “three workhorses” of the WWE. And while they may sometimes lose the battle, they never lose a war—after all, they ended RAW last week standing in the center of the ring, together, while Corbin and Braun Strowman’s Dogs of War retreated.
As into The Shield that the Denver crowd, it is pretty funny that they’re all on the same page when it comes to booing Roman Reigns’ turn to speak. But at least he—and Seth Rollins—can show off his championship proudly, another thing Corbin and company can’t do. According to Reigns, “everybody should want these” titles, and just look at how even Brock Lesnar is acting because of how much he wants the gold. “Because these will change your life.” And as Rollins chimes in, having these titles proves what they’ve been saying all along, that The Shield is “about being the best.” As opposed to Strowman, with his “pack of jackasses,” and Corbin, aka “the world’s largest substitute teacher.”
So after being called out by The Shield—yet somehow Tyler Breeze hasn’t given him a fashion violation citation as well—Corbin comes out, surprisingly looking rather pleased with himself. He promises he’s “not going to let RAW erupt into madness like it has the last few weeks”—again, “Sure, Jan.”—and that he really wants to impress his boss. What a nerd. Corbin also calls The Shield “a bunch of selfish individuals,” and reminds them that no one in the back even likes them. You know, that is true and that has always been true, so maybe tell them something they don’t know?
The Dogs of War come out to do just that, actually. After Strowman tells Reigns to shine his championship belt up real nice for him, he moves on to say he can already see the cracks beginning to show on The Shield. In fact, he imagines Super Show-Down won’t be a six-man tag team match: It’ll be the four of them versus only two members of The Shield. And no, they’re not talking about Corbin or someone being injured in The Shield: They’re specifically talking about Dean Ambrose, and how he’s “starting to see the light.” According to Ziggler, “The Shield needs you [Ambrose], but you don’t need The Shield.” He reminds him of their time on SmackDown LIVE two years ago, when Ambrose was the WWE Champion. All by himself. “But now, they have everything—and Dean, you have nothing.”
And “brutally honest” McIntyre even admits that after Ambrose pushed him to the limit last week, he realizes Ambrose deserves more—and that Rollins and Reigns do not appreciate him. Dean, you deserve more.” Ziggler maybe takes it a step too far in this seed-planting when he says they probably call him “Disposable Dean” behind his back, but he does have a point about how they have championships and Ambrose doesn’t right now. And they keep interrupting Ambrose before he can even speak. But the most damning part of all of this is when he asks if his Shield brothers even texted him the whole time he was away due to injury—when he almost died. There’s no answer on that front because Reigns just tells them to shut up already: “They paid their hard-earned money to watch us whoop your ass.”
But that will have to wait until Super Show-Down. Ziggler and McIntyre are defending their RAW Tag Team Championship titles tonight (against The Revival), and we’re still not quite sure who Corbin’s partners are. (It’s going to be the AOP, isn’t it?)
Finn Balor def. Jinder Mahal
This match exists mostly for Mixed Match Challenge purposes: Finn Balor has his partner Bayley (Team B&B) in his corner, while Jinder Mahal brings Alicia Fox (Team Mahalicia) along with him, in addition to his usual corner man, Sunil Singh. These teams will officially face-off in Mixed Match Challenge competition next Tuesday.
The crowd is of course on Balor’s side, especially going up against Jinder Mahal, but the more interesting dynamic is Fox and Singh’s interaction on the outside. From what we can see, these two clearly aren’t on the same page when it comes to what Mahal’s strategy. And when they do find some common ground—both yelling “SHANTI” at Mahal as he tries to climb to the top rope—that ends up distracting their man. (Also, Alicia Fox legit thinks that “SHANTI” is about the singer Ashanti, which is at least an upgrade from her thinking he’s hitting on her.) Balor gets the advantage, only slowed down by Singh pulling his leg… but then Bayley does the same thing to Mahal, and Singh demands Fox go handle her business.
Handling said business leads to Bayley taking Fox out and then hitting the Bayley-to-Belly on Singh, which distracts Mahal long enough for Balor to get the roll-up victory. By the way, the Denver crowd goes insane for Bayley showing off her badass side in addition to her huggable side.
Post-match, Mahal blames Singh (and just Singh) for the loss and beats him up while Alicia Fox yells “SHANTI” and just eggs the former WWE Champion on. All three end up meditating in the center of the ring, but clearly, Mahal’s priorities are on Mahalicia right now, despite Sunil Singh’s loyalty.
The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, & Sarah Logan) def. Natalya & The Bella Twins (Nikki & Brie Bella)
Natalya wants payback for last week, and it’s payback… she’ll have to wait another week for, as she ends up getting pinned by Ruby Riott to end this match. With her pal, the RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey, off on a publicity tour, Natalya doesn’t have the support on the sidelines she’d normally have in this instance. And The Bella Twins aren’t exactly a one-to-one replacement for “The Baddest Woman on the Planet.”
Liv Morgan ends up getting knocked loopy early on off of some “YES” Kicks from Brie Bella, so The Riott Squad essentially wrestle this match as a handicap situation. By these women thrive off chaos in the first place, so they get the W over the Total Divas stars and get some more momentum on the road to Super Show-Down.
Backstage, Dean Ambrose has been left alone with his thoughts… and now Dolph Ziggler, who continues to drive home the idea that the other two Shield brothers don’t care about him. Again, he reminds Ambrose of those better days on SmackDown LIVE. (Remember the good
Konnor def. Chad Gable
This week, Chad Gable is bringing a new mentality to this ring work: “WWBRD? … What Would Bobby Roode Do?” (Imagine thinking Chad Gable isn’t one of the most entertaining Superstars on the roster. Imagine that.) Unfortunately, he may take it a bit too much to heart, and he ends up losing a singles match against Konnor. In what may have been his first singles win since 2013. In NXT. In Konnor’s defense, Gable even points out that Konnor is twice his size; and Konnor comes into this match just ready (willing and able) to destroy Gable. He’s a big, big boy.
Like last week, Gable is able to get things back on his side due to the rope-assisted armbar, but this time, it’s also due to a minor Bobby Roode distraction. That’s right, the match where Roode does anything at all is the one Gable loses. But before he loses, Gable gets on a roll with a dead lift German suplex that unfortunately only gets a two-count and a moonsault that Konnor avoids but Gable lands on his feet… before just getting trucked by Konnor. Definitely not a “GLORIOUS” moment in Gable’s current run, but it still begs the question: Are we really sure Jason Jordan is Kurt Angle’s only illegitimate child on the roster? It’s possible both former members of American Alpha are actually his sons, right?
Stephanie and Triple H are on their way out of the arena when Charly Caruso asks Triple H about The Undertaker’s words last week, where he called Triple H a “broken soul” and a man made of nothing but “delusion.” And of course, you know, the fact that he basically called Triple H a corporate sell-out.
“The Undertaker is worried about a suit? Then he’s already lost.”
And for the record, Triple H says The Undertaker definitely can’t take his soul—because he “sold that a long time ago.”
Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre (c) def. The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson), for the RAW Tag Team Championship
With Ziggler very clearly focusing on Dean Ambrose tonight, one has to wonder if he’s focused maybe too much on that instead of his and McIntyre’s tag team title defense.
Scott Dawson and Ziggler start the match, and the story here is that Dawson’s not going to let Ziggler big league him. Especially after Ziggler and McIntyre cost The Revival their original tag team title opportunity in the first place, jumping them backstage weeks ago in order to jump the line in contendership and become the new RAW Tag Team Champions.
While The Revival are obviously tag team masters, both teams are actually all about that frequent tag life, so pretty soon into the match, we get Dash Wilder facing off with Drew McIntyre. This is actually probably the biggest showcase The Revival have had on RAW—on the main roster, in general—especially when you consider that The B-Team—despite being champions—were still very much jokes. And The Revival know that neither Ziggler nor McIntyre are 100% because of Hell in a Cell, so they’re going to dissect them the way they do best. They’re going after Ziggler’s arm, and Dawson even screams “BREAK HIS ARM!” at Dash at one point. But the veteran awareness eventually allows Ziggler to get away from Dash, as he sidesteps a charging Dash and pushes him right into the steel steps. Then McIntyre just goes after Dash.
But this match is honestly more back-and-forth than anyone—at least, anyone unfamiliar with just how good The Revival are—could imagine. The Revival honestly needed this match, to let the WWE Universe know them as more than just the “old school tag team that hates goofiness.” While unfortunate injuries hindered their momentum, a breakout performance like this can change the story for them. Not only does the Denver crowd chant “THIS IS AWESOME,” they’re clearly behind The Revival. But a Claymore/Zig Zag combination is still the deadliest thing in RAW’s tag team division—perhaps followed by the AOP’s Super Collider—and the champs retain.
Thanks to The Kevin Owens Show—and the fact that Corey Graves apparently only watches Ja Rule music videos, Ozark, and The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon—Laura Linney’s name is mentioned on WWE TV for possibly the first time.
But before the show can begin, Elias arrives to be “a breath of life in an otherwise lifeless world.” He lets Denver know that they don’t deserve an Elias performance tonight, but he will allow the spotlight to be shone on his friend—as well as his Super Show-Down partner and biggest fan—Kevin Owens. The Kevin Owens Show is decorated with photos of Owens destroying Bobby Lashley too, which segues into this week’s guest introduction: Lio Rush. Owens wants to know more about this hype man who repeatedly called him a “coward” on commentary last week.
And he would love to learn more if Rush would just enter the ring, but while Rush may be cocky, he’s not dumb and knows they want revenge for making them look like fools. (Hey, Owens and Elias got him a booster seat!) Instead, Elias will get the big man again, Denver’s own Bobby Lashley.
Bobby Lashley def. Elias, via Disqualification
Kevin Owens is in Elias’ corner—and you know he wishes it were Sami Zayn instead—as the hometown boy dominates against the troubadour. As it turns out, Owens’ non-stop talking on the sidelines during the match doesn’t actually motivate Elias to succeed as much as he would hope. (I missed the part where he told Elias to have the same match he had with Lashley last week—complete with Elias kneeing Lashley on a missed dive—as well as steal some of McIntyre vs. Ambrose from last week as well. But that’s the match.)
Once the DQ happens, Rush tries to escape Ninja Warrior style like he did last week, only he kinda fails. But Lashley does save Rush from being powerbombed by Owens—who Lashley will finally face next week—so it’s not a true failure.
While Dolph Ziggler may think he knows how to play mind games, he clearly forgot that The Shield has a master manipulator in Seth Rollins. After all, he is “the architect.” So Rollins approaches Drew McIntyre backstage to tell him “the truth.” FACT: Braun Strowman is only using him as a means to the Universal Championship. FACT: Ziggler’s the “weak link” in their team—the one McIntyre literally had to carry out of their tag match at Hell in a Cell—he someone is the one who gets all the Intercontinental Championship opportunities. That part about the literal carrying actually looks like it gets McIntyre thinking, which was really all Rollins needed to do.
McIntyre might tell Ziggler not to worry about it when he questioned what just happened, but Ziggler should definitely worry about possibly losing his meal ticket.
Nia Jax def. Alicia Fox
Looks like Alicia Fox is pulling double duty tonight! And she does so with her besties—Alexa Bliss and Mickie James—by her side. Nia Jax, on the other hand, has Ember Moon in her corner, not quite evening the odds but making things harder for Team “In Your Dreams” to pull off their shenanigans. (Shenanigan’s like Mickie James doing Mac’s—from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia—all elbows dance during Fox’s theme.)
Jax destroys Fox pretty much from the jump, so Fox has to regroup outside, and she and her besties pretty much decide to bail… until Ember cannonballs James. With that, Fox realizes she should probably just try her luck in the ring. And she does get some advantage until Jax kicks of a pin attempt, big time. She just tosses her in the damn air with the kick out. It’s not long until the Samoan Drop ends it all for Fox.
While McIntyre may have thought about some things when it comes to his dynamic with Ziggler, he’s not a dumb man, and still goes straight to Ambrose to let him know what Rollins said. Again, it’s all about that truth, only instead of applying it to Ambrose, he applied it to McIntyre. (When you think about it, Ambrose and McIntyre really are a lot alike, and not just because McIntyre had the Dirty Deeds—well, the Future Shock DDT—as a finisher first.) According to McIntyre, the way he sees it, either Rollins approached him because he’s recruiting for a four-man Shield—which would be “an unstoppable force”—or he’s looking for someone to replace Ambrose. Or maybe he’s just overreacting. After all, “It’s not like Seth has ever stabbed you in the back before.” Wocka wocka.
The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, & Roman Reigns) def. Baron Corbin & AOP (Akam & Rezar)
The Shield come out to the ring first, and one question remains: “Where is Dean Ambrose’s head at?” Corey Graves even points out the lack of gold for Ambrose, “a pair of lonely fists.” Shut up, Graves. However, Renee Young does provide some insight on the situation: While she’s never heard Ambrose vocalize any of the issues The Dogs of War brought up, she’s also pretty sure Rollins and Reigns didn’t keep in touch regularly while their boy was on the shelf. She also makes clear it’s not like she checks his phone, so she can’t be completely sure.
Even without complete certainty, The Dogs of War
Again, despite all the discussion of what Ambrose could be thinking, he and Rollins still have their double teaming on point, and he’s making elegant tags to Reigns—it all looks good. Just like the first time face-off between Reigns and AOP’s Rezar, as neither man flinches in this power game. Rezar treats Reigns “like a heavy bag,” while Reigns seriously has trouble even lifting the guy. And when he does get Rezar down, Rezar gets up quickly, like it was nothing. Then it’s a six-man brawl, with The Shield coming out on top and the Denver crowd again getting hot for them. However, The Dogs of War use that as an opportunity to distract The Shield—acting like they’re going to interfere—which allows Corbin and the AOP to get the upper hand.
Then the WWE Universe just wants Rollins to “BURN IT DOWN,” even as he suffers from Corbin and the AOP’s… pack mentality in taking him down (with Maverick egging them on). On commentary, Graves continues to try to stir the pot about Ambrose, all while the crowd chants “DEAN.” They certainly don’t think he’s disposable. Finally, Rollins is able to tag Ambrose in, and he takes care of business all by himself… until Akam crotches him on the top rope. But Rollins gets the stomp and then The Shield
Who could it be now? As Ambrose tries to get feeling back in his right arm, the crowd chants “SHIELD.” They know where Ambrose belongs. And so does Ambrose, as he goes into the ring with his brothers and the fists of solidarity and hugs are out in full force. “The moment of truth—The Shield, solid as ever,” Michael Cole says. Graves also says it eliminated any doubt of issues within The Shield, which officially has me worried. This is the calm before the storm, isn’t it?