WWE: Monday Night RAW was LIVE from The Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA on 10/3/16!
RAW starts out with the United States Champion, Roman Reigns, heading out to the ring to a mixed reaction. The boos are quite loud, but there is a smattering of cheers and Corey Graves make reference to the polarizing reaction that Reigns draws when he comes out. Loud “USA” chant for some reason and he hasn’t even spoke. He starts talking about his family history, but he is quickly interrupted by Lana and they have a hell of an exchange down to her telling him to “go to hell” and Roman telling her to take Rusev’s “Bulgarian Balls” back to him since he’s hiding under her skirt. That was actually pretty entertaining. Rusev comes out and they immediately go to blows with an exchange of fists. Rusev seems to be standing tall at the end of the interaction, but Roman comes back and floors him with a Superman punch. He has the mic and stands over Rusev with the title in hand. He tells Lana that if she wants Roman to “go to hell” then he’s taking them both with him. He basically signs, seals and delivers a US Title rematch at Hell in The Cell inside the devil’s playground. That’ll be something to enjoy for sure. That certainly should be the blow-off match for this volatile feud. Up next, we find out that we’ll be enjoying the rematch between THE Brian Kendrick and the Cruiserweight Champ, TJ Perkins! Awesome!
THE Brian Kendrick defeats TJ Perkins via submission in a Non-Title match with the Captain’s Hook. I thought it was for the title initially. That’s how they were making it sound, but obviously, we know this is going to lead to a rematch at Hell In The Cell. Enjoyable contest, seems like they’ve slowed down the pace for the long-term health of the competitors, but quite the contest nevertheless. Beautiful spot early on where Kendrick puts Perkins fingers in the ropes and hit a neckbreaker and then smashed them in the turnbuckle. That looked like it hurt quite a bit. Great contest to start off Raw and after the break, we’ll have a pre-taped interview where Seth Rollins talked to Michael Cole.
Michael Cole starts out the interview talking about the rib injury. Seth Rollins says that Kevin Owens didn’t win the Universal Title, he was handed it. He says that the PPV showed that he was meant to remain as champion. Rollins calls him the “teacher’s pet”. He talks about cashing in MITB to win the title and how he took advantage of that himself. Cole calls him on his relationship with Triple H. Cole asks how it feels to be replaced with Kevin Owens. Seth says KO is just a “cog in the machine”. He says there is no replacing Seth Rollins. He plans to tear that machine apart. Cole asks, if given the rematch, how will Rollins handle Chris Jericho being in the mix? He says that he’s crafty himself and that he’ll “cancel” the Kevin Owens show. That ends the segment and gets the point across. Rollins should be ready for action in short order. We find out that later we’ll hear from KO on the very interview we just watched.
Braun Strowman defeats Chase Silver with a powerslam in a squash match. Chase Silver said Hollywood is where dreams come true before the match. Last night, he had a dream that he would beat Strowman up. Well, that lasted about as long as the morning cup of coffee. Strowman took issue with that comment and decimated the young man. Byron Saxton called him a walking horror movie. Saxton then said Silver can go find a job bussing tables after the loss. Strowman shows off his speed and power and keeps bulldozing through the RAW enhancement talent, tonight being no different. After the contest, Saxton says since Braun was drafted to RAW, he has left a trail of carnage. Strowman says his talent is being wasted on RAW and if he doesn’t get some real competition next week, there might not be another week with him on RAW.
Sasha Banks is shown backstage getting ready for the main event and her title match against Charlotte. Bayley shows up and talks about the two women headlining RAW being reminiscent of Trish Stratus vs. Lita. Sasha talks about becoming a two time women’s champion and Bayley says she wishes it was her. Bayley says Sasha deserves the spotlight and the opportunity. Sasha says Charlotte might have been born in this business, but she was born to be champion. After the next break, we’ll hear from the Universal Champion, Kevin Owens!
KO is out to a great reaction after the break and he’s rockin’ a proper suit! He is flanked by Chris Jericho, dressed quite well himself, and he’s toting the “List Of Jericho” for us to “drink in” and to highlight the many flaws of Foley. KO said he just watched the Rollins interview, he says Cole was terrible by the way, and he says that Seth should take the doctor’s advice and stay at home. KO says Rollins is requesting a rematch for the strap. They gloss over Rollins, Jericho and KO have the crowd in the palm of their hands and it leads to the two men asking for a non-title match against The New Day and if they win, they get a shot at the straps. Jericho says it’s not like he’s asking for a title match against KO and he stares at the title. KO says, even though his plate is full, he agrees to the tag title opportunity, ducking the forthcoming title match he’s sure to have with Y2J! The world tag team champions are out and they talk about being best friends and Jericho says Kofi made the list! Woods and Big E. eventually make the list and the crowd goes bananas! The banter continues with KO saying New Day jumped the shark and Woods asks when was the last time that KO jumped anything? Woods makes the list again. Woods plugs Luke Cage and Denzel Washington’s remake of the “Magnificent Seven”, and ultimately they book the non-title match for tonight.
Cesaro and Sheamus arrive at the arena and they ar arguing after getting out of an SUV. I chuckled as Cesaro tossed Sheamus’ bag and then Sheamus calls him a “cheeky bastard”. Sheamus says they are going to see Foley to get things sorted out and we head to a break.
Sami Zayn defeats Titus O’Neil by pinfall with a Helluva Kick. There was a pre-taped promo from Titus about the “Titus Brand” and #makeitawin which had me chuckling. He started out on the right path, but Zayn fired off the comeback, getting O’Neil in the corner with the Helluva Kick. A great win for Zayn who needs to get involved in a high profile feud again and soon. Backstage, Cesaro and Sheamus are arguing still as the RAW GM, Mick Foley, shows up. He puts over what a great team the two men can be, riding together and popping the towns. We then find out Gallows and Anderson will be in action next.
Gallows and Anderson defeat The Golden Truth via pinfall after a Magic Killer on R-Truth. Golden Truth were out having fun with the crowd before the contest, but this was a coming out party for G and A after getting the raw end of the deal with the New Day the last few weeks. They looked dominant and they sent a statement to the tag team community in this one. This was more New Japan Bullet Club then what we’ve
Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson are backstage when they run into KO and Jericho. Both the stars make “the list” and he says the two men are to drink it in. Danny snatches the list and reads some of the comments. Danny mocks the scarf, losing to Fandango and the comparisons to Jon Bon Jovi. Savage by the stars of that 70’s show. Ashton says he and Danny are brothers and Jericho says the two are so close they should be conjoined twins. KO says he’s gonna go get ready for the match and Ashton hits Jericho with his own “quiet” medicine. Jericho says the two are gonna get “it” and Danny and Ashton will be ringside for the tag team match that takes place later.
Promo for Susan G. Komen foundation featuring Enzo Amore and Big Cass. The two stars put over the strength of several survivors in the ring and they promote the good work the WWE does for Breast Cancer Research with the foundation in the month of October. The non-title tag team matchup takes place next!
The New Day defeat Jeri-KO via pinfall after the Midnight Hour on Jericho. Xavier and Big E. were in as Kofi still nursing the injury from last week which required staples. A very good match which featured Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson on commentary. They weren’t bad, and midway through the match, Seth Rollins made his way out to the ringside area. Rollins caused the distraction which led to the pinfall and after the match, Rollins nailed Jericho with the Pedigree. Cole plugs “The Ranch” on Netflix and they head to a break.
Charlotte cuts a promo backstage after the break with Tom Phillips. The women’s champion talks about not having butterflies and how Sasha will be exposed for the overachiever that she is. Charlotte says she has no equal and that after she makes Sasha tap tonight, she’s not gonna make history, she’s gonna be history. Up next, Tony Nese will take on Rich Swann in Cruiserweight Action! Awesome!
Stephanie McMahon stops Seth Rollins backstage and talks about him being all alone. She says he doesn’t have the Shield or the Authority to watch his back. She says he won’t last long. Seth says Triple made his second worst decision of his life by costing Rollins the title. The first worst decision was marrying Steph. Seth says if he doesn’t get his rematch, he’ll burn RAW to the ground! What is he, the demon Kane? We head to the ring for Rich Swann!
Tony Nese defeats Rich Swann by pinfall following a pumphandle driver. These guys had a hell of a match. Rich Swann was incredible as he always was and Tony Nese was up to the task. Great to see Nese carving out a niche on the RAW roster, but I think WWE needs to really capitalize on the popularity of guys like Swann and Alexander as they are special talents and guys that could really steal the show along with Perkins. Nese looked very good tonight, don’t get me wrong, but Swann hit a standing double stomp to the back at one point and it’s moves like that which really make you stand up and applaud. After the match, we got a beautiful video package on Mil Mascaras, the legendary luchador, in honor of Hispanic Heritage month. Cesaro and Sheamus are shown headed to the ring for tag team action next.
Cesaro and Sheamus defeat Orville White and Mark Carradine by pinfall via a Brogue Kick. No clue which jabronie ate the boot, but another great pairing of these two premiere and proud superstars. Cesaro nailed a beautiful spot where he leapt off the back of Sheamus into a DDT which popped the crowd. He points to the other jobber who eats the Brogue and that was the ballgame. This has been amusing to say the least so far. The women’s title match is up next and before I forget, they did a promo for a returning Emma before the tag team match. They mentioned her transformation to Emmalina? I have no idea what that means or why it’s even needed as Emma was over before she got injured and would be as a quality heel upon her return. I guess we’ll see what happens.
Charlotte destroys Bayley backstage in a promo. Nothing she directly says to the former NXT champion, but she basically puts over how dominant she is and how she can’t hear Bayley because her title is too loud. Dana tries the same, but Bayley returns the favor and destroys her, taking her advantage away. We’ll have a one on one match for the women’s title.
Sasha Banks defeats Charlotte via submission with the Banks Statement to become the new WWE Women’s Champion. Oh, what a match! These two produce magic when they get together in the ring. One botch midway through the match on the outside, but they set fire to the canvas in front of a very appreciative LA crowd. Charlotte hit a breathtaking corkscrew moonsault to the outside at one point and Sasha hit the double knees off the top. Charlotte turned the Banks statement into the same pinning predicament that saw her win the title at Summerslam, but Banks was hip to the attempt this time around and she turned it back into the submission and sent the fans home happy after having given them their money’s worth and more! What a main event!
