Acting Raw GM, Baron Corbin, will team with two mystery partners to take on the Shield in tonight’s main event.
Dolph Ziggler, Braun Strowman and Drew McIntyre are called out by Corbin after the Shield hypes the crowd to start the show. Allegations are made that Dean Ambrose has been given the short end of the stick as it relates to Shield success and championship glory.
The road to Super Show-down takes us through Denver, CO at the Pepsi Center on 9/24/18.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZDyU36faTk&w=560&h=315]
Dean Ambrose is silent as Roman Reigns tries to stand up for his stablemate as does Seth Rollins. The “Dogs Of War” invite Dean Ambrose to join their heel stable, stating that after Super Show-down, they can have all the gold. Strowman says he’ll win the Universal title, Dolph and Drew will still be tag champs and that if Dean Ambrose challenges Seth Rollins, he could be wearing IC Gold.
Bayley and Finn Balor are backstage as the Mixed Man Challenge hype begins and Bayley will be in Balor’s corner as he takes on Jinder Mahal, who will be accompanied by Alicia Fox, his own partner, and Sunil Singh, next.
Finn Balor defeats Jinder Mahal via pin fall with a rollup.
The crowd was really behind the faces as Balor took it to the Modern Day Maharaja. Sunil Singh grabbed Balor’s leg at one point and that led to Bayley returning the favor by doing the same thing to Mahal.
Bayley then took out Fox on the outside and she hit the Bayley-To-Belly suplex on Sunil Singh. The distraction was enough to allow Balor the opportunity to rollup Mahal and he leaves with a victory. It’s great to see Balor back on Raw this week. The crowd loves him.
Post-match, Mahal has had enough. He takes out his frustration on Singh, assaulting him and leaving with Fox. They then engage in “Shanti” meditation. Fox as Mahal’s new manager? That could work.
The Riott Squad defeats Natalya and the Bella Twins via pin fall after Riott hits a Riott kick on Natalya.
A lot of Riott in that headline. The Bellas had a chance to shine early, looking a bit better as they work off their ring rust. I say that, because late in the match, Brie Bella hit a “Yes” kick on Liv Morgan and looked to ring her bell. Early rumors have a possible concussion. They really need to get this figured out and quickly as it relates to ring rust and working back from it. Brie Bella almost killed herself on a dive a few weeks ago, and now this.
Anyways, Natalya was tagged in and she had the Sharpshooter applied, but a distraction allowed Ruby Riott to hit the Riott kick and secure the pin fall as the heel trio heads towards Super Show-down for a six women tag match against the Bellas and women’s champion, Ronda Rousey.
After the match, we get a lengthy in-ring segment dedicated to Connor’s Cure and new sponsor Hyundai. The major car company dedicated fair money to the worthwhile cause and we see two youngsters who have fought the good fight get a beautiful tribute which saw them presented with championship belts.
They were showered with a “You deserve it” chant and rightfully so. Connor’s Cure is a great cause and it was good to see it getting worthwhile attention. Stephanie McMahon and Triple H were present and directing the segment.
Dean Ambrose is backstage and the tag champs, headed to the ring next, make their appeal for him to join their ranks. He shrugs them off. This is an interesting development.
A taped promo from “Glorious” Bobby Roode and Chad Gable leads us to our next singles bout.
Konnor of the Ascension defeats Chad Gable via pin fall with a Dominator.
That was not a typo. Members of the Ascension attain a singles victory this week as Gable’s streak of luck runs its course. The brutish Konnor manhandles Gable towards the end of the bout and he secures a needed victory after trucking through Gable and then hitting a Dominator for the victory.
This will surely continue.
Triple H and Stephanie McMahon are confronted as they are leaving the arena as the COO says a few words about the Deadman and their forthcoming match. He says the Undertaker doesn’t need to worry about his corporate ties and at Super Show-down, he’ll be ready for action. I am looking forward to that one.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53Fk8jMPWV4&w=560&h=315]
Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre defeat the Revival via pin fall after a Claymore/Zig-Zag on Wilder to retain the tag team titles.
Wow! This match just needs to happen every week. This was a real treat to what’s been a bit of a sluggish Raw thus far. There were many teased finishes that nearly saw the Revival coming away with the victory and the tag straps.
This was exactly what a championship match is supposed to be and it usually involves the current champs, the Shield and the Revival. The Revival got a stellar face pop and we saw great execution including a monstrous power suplex from Drew McIntyre from a standing position on Wilder.
Ziggler was able to come back in for the tag and after a valiant effort, the Revival was put to bed following the Claymore/Zig-Zag combo. This was an epic finish to an incredible match. Go watch this one.
We “Walk With Elias” in the usual fashion as he runs down Denver and cuts his performance short as he passes on the spotlight to Kevin Owens. They hype their match against Bobby Lashley and John Cena.
Owens is out and we see the celebrated return of the “Kevin Owens” show. KO is seated at a desk and it’s brilliant. He talks about his victory over John Cena on his debut match on Raw. KO then invites his guest, the new manager of Bobby Lashley, the fiery young Lio Rush.
Rush hypes himself up as well as Lashley. KO then insults the youngster by adding a booster seat to the chair he’s set up for Rush. Rush then introduces Denver’s own Bobby Lashley. The hometown hero comes out to a resounding pop and we prepare for singles action.
Bobby Lashley defeats Elias via DQ after interference from Kevin Owens.
Elias and Lashley do good business once again. This was a lengthy match between a great veteran and a rising star. The pacing was exactly what you’d expect from two big men and I’m not knocking it. This was good.
I know these two have wrestled about sixty times, but it was enjoyable tonight and the crowd was waiting for the outside interference to spill into the action. Shades of “Big E.” from the New Day later in the match as Lashley spears Elias through the ropes to the outside.
KO gave chase to Lio Rush and he ran over Lashley, and as expected, that was the DQ. KO grabs Rush and tries to hit the Pop-Up powerbomb, but Lashley saves his manager and the heels retreat to end this one.
Seth Rollins engages in a little reverse psycology backstage as he confronts Drew McIntyre and says that Dolph Ziggler is the weak link in their stable and he’s been using McIntyre. McIntyre thinks it over as Ziggler walks into the segment and asks what’s up and Drew says not to worry about it.
Nia Jax defeats Alicia Fox via pin fall with the Samoan drop.
From Mahal manager to in-ring competitor, Alicia Fox is staying busy tonight. She’s competing against the “Irresistible Force” tonight on Raw with Alexa Bliss and Mickie James in her corner. Ember Moon is ringside with Jax as the action begins.
Fox sees early offense, albeit very brief and this quickly becomes an exhibition for Jax and her in-ring dominance. This one is short and Jax puts it away with the samoan drop for two wins in two weeks on Raw.
Drew McIntyre and Dean Ambrose have an interaction this time as McIntyre tries to plead his own case for Ambrose joining their stable. He talks about Rollins stabbing Ambrose in the back before and we leave it at that. Compelling television here and it does add intrigue to this story.
Another great hype package getting us ready for Triple H and the Undertaker recounts their history and the recent interviews. Shawn Michaels returns to Raw next week!
The music of the Shield hits and we ready for the main event. Baron Corbin makes his entrance as we await his partners.
After a break, we find out that Bobby Lashley will compete against Kevin Owens next week and Ronda Rousey will take on Ruby Riott. Those are two quality matches right there.
Corbin’s partners are announced, and as expected, it’s the Authors of Pain. They appear to be going by AoP now as was reference last week. Drake Maverick accompanies his clients and we have a main event match.
The Shield defeats Baron Corbin and AoP via pin fall after a spear from Reigns on Corbin.
The Shield looks good. Rollins and Reigns shine and Ambrose continues to impress coming off the injury. Corbin has an opportunity to get some of his power offense in and they actually made AoP look dominant at points in the match.
Strowman, Ziggler and McIntyre come out onto the stage to watch the action as the main event progresses and we see near-falls which almost see AoP come out on top as Maverick watches from outside the ring. AoP executes the Last Chapter on Reigns outside the ring and that looks good. A Deep Six from Corbin nearly spells the end for Seth Rollins, but he’s able to kick out.
The action continues fast and furious and we eventually see Corbin isolated in the ring where Roman Reigns hits a spear and puts this one away, allowing the faces to leave Raw with a big victory.
After the match, the “Dogs Of War” look to Ambrose, but Dean extends his fist and we see the Shield fist bump as the crowd reacts according and this one is in the books.
