As expected, but no less exciting, we start off Raw with a bang. After the events of the weekend at Super Show-down, the band is back together!
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After Triple H defeated the legendary Undertaker, tempers flared and we have the official announcement that one of the arguable GOAT’s, the “Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels is putting respect aside and he’s coming out of retirement to reform DX, as he and Triple H will team up to take on the Brothers of Destruction, Undertaker and Kane, in a tag team match at Crown Jewel!
Saudi Arabian fans as well as fans all over the world are sure to be watching with baited breath for that classic affair and it’s a heck of a way to start off the show. “Are You Ready?” indeed. A crotch chop and a “suck it” for fans watching live at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, IL, home of tonight’s Raw on 10/8/18 react accordingly. There’s a massive pop and we head to break.
Bobby Lashley w/Lio Rush defeats Kevin Owens via pin fall with a dominator.
Kevin Owens is getting a great reaction from the fans and it seems that WWE is making the right call as it relates to the pairing of Lashley and Rush. Lashley dominated and attacks the knee, ultimately allowing him to secure the victory over the former Universal Champion with the dominator.
After the match, the crowd begins showering the duo with boos as they decimate the knee of KO further, officially turning the foot inward according to John Cena. We appear to have a heel turn here folks, and this could be a way to showcase Lashley further, he was a great heel during his TNA run.
A face run for Owens might be just the ticket as well, a good start to the broadcast thus far this evening.
We hear an announcement that John Cena will be competing in the World Cup tournament scheduled to take place at Crown Jewel, which seems to be coming together nicely.
After the “heel” turn that we just witnessed in the prior contest, Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush interrupt a backstage segment with Finn Balor and Bayley, promoting the mixed match challenge. He says their power is “too sweet”. Balor and Lashley in a forthcoming feud? That could be good.
We “Walk With Elias” after the backstage segment. He speaks about losing at Super Show-down, mocking Cena’s haircut. He seems to be in a lot less volitale situation after he insulted Seattle’s former basketball team, their beloved Supersonics, last week. He then mocks the Cubs losing, and that draws massive heat. He seems to have this down to a science now. The wound is still fresh.
Here comes the Raw Women’s champion, “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey, who interrupts him, as she prepares to team with The Bella Twins to take on the Riott Squad in a rematch from Super Show-down. It’s up next.
Ronda Rousey and the Bella Twins defeat The Riott Squad via submission with a Rousey armbar on Ruby Riott.
They start off with Liv Morgan and Brie Bella and the crowd is hot for it. Liv ducks the “yes” kicks, thank goodness and she waylays Brie Bella. They really make her look strong and it’s fantastic. Crowd is into this one early and it continues as Rousey gets involved and takes it to Sarah Logan.
The match continues and we eventually see the Bellas botch, not once, but twice, attempts to alienate the heels outside the right, but despite that, Rousey taps out Ruby Riott and the faces win again.
After the match, as expected, the Bella Twins mug Rousey, attacking her after the match, setting up the suspected Nikki Bella vs. Ronda Rousey title match that has been rumored for “Evolution”. The crowd was “shocked” at first, but does anyone really expect Nikki Bella to beat Rousey? It’s what they’re going with, I guess. Sometimes you gotta “punt with a long one” to quote Cowboys coach Jason Garrett. Not always the right call, but we’ll see.
The attack continues after Rousey gains the upper hand, but ultimately the Bellas leave her laying and that’s that.
Finn Balor and Bayley defeat Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox via pin fall after a Coup De Grace from Balor on Mahal.
Coming back from the break, they show the attack again and then we get Team B&B heading to the ring for a mixed tag team rematch against Mahalicia. Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox take on Finn Balor and Bayley.
Great tandem wrestling from Balor and Bayley before a mid-match commercial break, everyone’s favorite thing. Balor used Bayley for two well executed kicks and then Bayley hit a hurricanrana on Jinder Mahal. After they return, the heels go on a brief run, but Balor really turns on it after that, hitting all his siganture spots inlcuding the corner dropkick.
Alicia Fox breaks off the pin fall as Sunil Singh is unintentionally dropped off the apron. The distraction allows Balor to head up top and hit Coup De Grace and the crowd goes wild. They love these two! Bayley and Balor face Ember Moon and Braun Strowman tomorrow with the mixed match challenge.
Dolph Ziggler is trying to recover from his “slip-up” after last night’s loss against the Shield. Drew McIntyre says he’s tired of Dolph trying to call the shots since he was the man who took the loss last night. Drew says maybe he should start pulling his weight. Braun Strowman tells them both to shut up because they are there to watch his back. Tonight they plan to put the Shield down for good.
Acting Raw GM, Baron Corbin, is backstage, and he’s confronted by Heath Slater, who wants in on the Global battle royale, slated to take place next, for a qualifying spot in the tournament at Crown Jewel. Yikes, that’s a mouthful. Corbin tells Slater he’s not any good and he heads to the ring.
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Kurt Angle (The Conquistador) wins the Global Battle Royale to qualify for the Crown Jewel World Cup.
This Global battle royale has the ring filled with a bunch of enhancement talent. I’m not even going to attempt to list names, because they’re irrelevant. Corbin finally tells us that “World Cup” is an eight man tournament with four Raw wrestlers and four Smackdown wrestlers competing for what will surely be a trophy.
Corbin heads to the ring to compete in this “star studded” affair. He introduces the jobbers and the crowd goes mild. El Hombre Sin Nombre is my personal. favorite. Corbin handles his business, but The Conquistador is left and he hits, not one, not two, but tres suplexes and a Conquistador slam!
Ladies and Gentlemen, Kurt Angle eliminates Baron Corbin and he and John Cena are headed to the World Cup!
Angle is confronted backstage after the match and asked about his appearance in the battle royale, he states that technically, he is still on vacation.
Ember Moon defeats Nia Jax via count out.
They are really doing their best to get Moon over. She is incredibly talented and this was a huge victory for her in a rather short match. They protected Jax by having her lose via count out, and the ladies shared a friendly embrace after the match.
Moon is teaming with Braun Strowman in the mixed match challenge, so this was probably a smart movee to hype that program.
It’s time for needed Stratusfaction! The hall of famer, Trish Stratus, comes out and she is interrupted and confronted by Mickie James and Alexa Bliss, as Stratus is plugging her match at “Evolution” with Alexa Bliss.
Mickie James recants her own history with Stratus and she insists that they make their affair a tag team match and that Trish should seekout a partner. Stratus has already found one and she calls out another hall of famer, the legendary Lita! I like where this is headed!
Rumored singles bouts are now melded into a tag team affair and I’m okay with it. They will have plenty of great action at “Evolution” including the Mae Young Classic finals, singles bouts and NXT championship rematches. That is shaping up to be a quality pay per view.
A brawl ensues and Stratus and Lita clear the ring to a proper reaction from the Chicago fans.
Bobby Roode and Chad Gable defeat The Ascension via pin fall after a german suplex from Gable on Viktor.
A bit of tension teased already between Roode and Gable after Gable tagged himself in to secure the pin fall.
It was all for nought as the mini rivalry between the two teams is quickly forgotten after a massive assault from the Authors of Pain who storm the ring and assert their dominance over the tag division.
AoP is looking to not only make a name for themselves at the expense of the Raw tag division, but they should be clamoring for a title opportunity sooner, rather than later. The two teams are left laying as we see a Shield promo hyping their own dominance and the main event later this evening. We head to a break.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the master of the promo, Paul Heyman, “Advocate” for the Beast, hyped the forthcoming triple threat Universal Title match as only he can, selling his client to us yet again. He was then interrupted by the music of the Shield and he took his leave, fearing that he might find himself in enemy cross-hairs. Good move, it’s now time for the main event.
The Dogs Of War defeat The Shield via pin fall after a Claymore Kick from McIntyre on Ambrose.
I can’t even begin to do this one justice. Six men just gave their all for this main event in front of a usually rabid Chicago crowd. This was everything and more to cap off a fantastic show.
I don’t think it would be much of a stretch to call this the Raw of the year thus far. Every single individual involved in this contest delivered and delivered in spades. Ziggler sold like a madman, Reigns and Strowman hit power move after power move and took beatings on the floor.
Strowman ate a thunderous DDT from Ambrose, Rollins then disposed of Ziggler and Ambrose finally turned around and succumbed to the Claymore which was the end. Do yourself a favor and don’t just watch this match, watch the entire show from start to finish. This is a PPV quality broadcast and it was on cable TV tonight.
After the match, Ambrose, dejected as expected, after a tough loss, left his Shield brethren in the ring, leading to more questions. After some bickering of their own, during the match, the Dogs Of War stood tall and that was all she wrote.
