WWE: Monday Night RAW was LIVE from the SAP Center in San Jose, CA on 9/18/17!
Great to be back with everyone this week after some technical difficulties last week robbed me of an ability to bring you live coverage of Raw on behalf of the Scrum Sports, but we’re off and running tonight!
A graphic starts us off with an homage to the late, great Bobby “The Brain” Heenan. For my money, there was nobody better at their job than Heenan. On behalf of the Scrum Sports, I want to thank “The Weasel” for bringing me and so many others laugh after laugh throughout the years.
The Raw GM, Kurt Angle is out to quintessential “You Suck” chants from the live crowd, and he’s shaking hands and wearing a smile. He promotes Sunday’s No Mercy card, highlighting Brock Lesnar defending the Universal Title against Braun Strowman as well as John Cena and Roman Reigns.
AWESOME! Here comes the IC Champ, The Miz, flanked by Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel. He’s looking for championship action and an opportunity to defend his title in a “Must See” match-up. He receives the congratulations from the GM on becoming a father and he tells Kurt to save it. He’s tired of being an afterthought and he wants to showcase his talents. Jeff and Matt Hardy, Elias and Jason Jordan will compete in a fatal four way match tonight, the winner facing the Miz at No Mercy.
The Miz mocks the fact that Kurt was a neglectful father and he says he’ll be a good one to his future baby boy or girl. He says you can always count on Kurt to be a deadbeat. Here comes Jason Jordan. He’s here to speak up for his dad. Jordan has Kurt add Bo and Curtis to the match and it’s a six pack challenge. Miz keeps it up and he’s speared for his effort. Jordan handles his business and we’ve got a match slated for later this evening.
Nia Jax defeats Alexa Bliss via pinfall with a Samoan Drop in a non-title match.
Friends become enemies in this non-title match that starts us off and Nia is quick to put her power on display against her “bestie”. After a quick beating, Alexa tries to bail, but the music of “The Boss” stops her in her tracks. Sasha Banks on the entryway is enough to allow Nia ample opportunity to drop Bliss before a commercial break.
A samoan drop and a three count follow the commercial break and Sasha Banks immediately hops on Nia’s backs with hard right hands. Nia disposes of Sasha and here comes BAYLEY! Bayley makes her hometown return to a massive ovation and she, along with Alexa and Sasha, take down Nia. Bayley looks to be recovering from her shoulder injury, as she was able to get physical. Good to see her to end the segment!
Bliss looks uneasy and rightfully so, a Bayley-To-Belly lays her out and the crowd enjoys every second of it!
We get further needed recognition of the late Bobby Heenan after the break with recaps of the many tweets and social media messages relayed this past weekend, showcasing love for the legendary figure. Rest in Peace Bobby!
We get a video package that showcases the rise to prominence of Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman. We have comparisons to their immense strength and their rapid ascension through the ranks. We’ll have sitdowns with Michael Cole later in the show.
The challengers for the world tag team titles, “The Bar”, Sheamus and Cesaro, are out to trash nostalgia acts, calling them fraudulent. They are mocking the “what” chants in classic fashion, taming the sheeple as they stake their claim on the titles for Sunday. They say the nostalgia will fade like the “what” chants and they call out the “friendship” of Rollins and Ambrose. They won’t just set the bar Sunday, they are the bar.
Out come the champs. Nostalgia? Rollins mocks the cross between Braveheart and Taxi Driver that the “bar” apparently is. Ambrose says brothers argue and fight, but real brothers would never let their family leave the house dressed like that.
Cue the “good brothers”, who talk about being the real deal. They call out Sheamus and Cesaro for walking out on them last week. Rollins and Ambrose took advantage of that and that doesn’t make them good brothers, it makes them NERDS! Ambrose says nobody calls him a nerd and fists fly. It breaks down quickly and the tag champs stand tall before a commercial break.
All hail the “Empress of Tomorrow”! We get a video package hyping the debut of Asuka in a few short weeks! I cannot wait!
Sheamus/Cesaro defeat Ambrose/Rollins and Gallows/Anderson via pinfall in a triple threat match after Sheamus pins Anderson following a Dirty Deeds by Ambrose.
Triple threat tag match underway as expected and the first team to garner a fall, gets a victory. It’s fast paced and exciting as one would expect from all three teams involved. The champs look strong as both the “good brothers” and the “bar” give a solid effort as well.
Highlights early include a double superkick spot on Gallows, compliments of Sheamus and Cesaro. Tandem offense later in the form of an elbow and a knee drop from the champs keep the fans captivated as Sheamus is the recipient of both. Cesaro later swings Ambrose into the ringside barricade, something that was a truly a sight to behold.
The “good brothers” entertain as well, employing power offense to keep Ambrose looking for a tag later in the match. Rollins is in and he’s a house of fire for a quick second before Cesaro brings him back down to earth. Cesaro eats a buckle bomb for a two count, broken up by Sheamus. A Magic Killer nearly ends the night, but Ambrose breaks it up.
After another commercial, we finally see the end when the champs get rollins. They hit suicide dives on both teams on the outside as the crowd really gets behind this quality matchup here in San Jose. Ambrose hits Dirty Deeds on Anderson, but Sheamus tagged himself in. Ambrose is dumped and we’ve got a three count. The “bar” wins.
We get a video package recapping the volatile feud between Cena and Reigns. Some of the promo work from this forthcoming battle has been nothing short of exceptional. Wee’ll hopefully enjoy some more of it shortly.
Goldust is backstage, asking Kurt Angle, not as Goldust, but as Dustin Rhodes, sans the face paint, for a second crack at Bray Wyatt tonight. Goldust wants to show Wyatt that he isn’t some pawn in Bray’s twisted game and it’ll happen later tonight.
Curt Hawkins says his star factory is officially closed. He is opening the Hawkins history machine, as everyone bears witness to Hawkins 114 match losing streak coming to an end. Apollo Crews is up to the task. He is accompanied by Titus O’Neil and it’s safe to say that Curt has a fair shake here.
Apollo Crews defeats Curt Hawkins via pinfall with a spin-out powerbomb.
Curt gives it everything he’s got, teasing several near falls throughout the contest. He hits a beautiful spinebuster and an inzaguri that seemed to spell disaster for Apollo, but after some high impact offense and a spinout powerbomb, the losing streak continues.
Michael Cole interviews Braun Strowman and the Universal Champion, accompanied by his advocate, Paul Heyman as they head into No Mercy to do battle this Sunday. Both men speak at length about their dominance. Braun, with his gruff and domineering voice. Brock, through Heyman, who puts over Strowman, but makes it known that the last time Lesnar was considered the underdog, it was against the legendary Undertaker at Wrestlemania.
Tensions mount, and Strowman says he’ll walk into Suplex City and he’ll stomp it to the ground. Heyman says Strowman unleashed the beast and Strowman will be a victim of Suplex City all night long at No Mercy. Lesnar will lay waste to Strowman or Strowman will become the new Universal Champion. Strowman says Heyman can talk all he wants, it won’t change what’s gonna happen this Sunday.
Heyman owns the end of this, listing Lesnar’s credentials, making his look and sound as awesome as he truly is. Lesnar sits by, looking menacing and motivated at the same time. Brock speaks up, he thanks Braun for backing him into the corner, it’s when he’s at his best. He’ll see him Sunday. Suplex City and a five letter word to finish it off. I cannot wait for that clash of the titans.
Breaking news makes the women’s title match at No Mercy a fatal five way match as Bayley is added to the mix. I’m very glad that she’s healed up as quickly as she has and that’s great news for fans of what should now be a very competitive match.
Here comes “The Big Dog” and he’s coming to claim his yard! Roman Reigns heads down to the ring to a chorus of boos, and Michael Cole hypes up the match against Cena and the Universal Title match, calling both matches “Wrestlemania Caliber”, and they really are.
Roman Reigns starts things off by setting fire to the PG rating saying that Cena is always saying some stupid stuff, but he uses a four letter word instead. Roman says he is nothing like Cena, and he has no intention of walking around with his stupid haircut. He even goes so far as to mention Cena burying Alex Riley! Wow! How ’bout Roman Reigns?!
Reigns brings up a clip of Cena mocking The Rock being a part timer, and he calls Cena out for doing the same thing, calling him fake. Roman asks San Jose if they should bring Cena out and they pop, but then Roman says that’s not loud enough because John’s not here. Ouch.
Give Roman a round of applause, that was sensational. He said this Sunday, John will get beat by a different Samoan and he tells the “movie star” that he’ll see him Sunday. The build to this has been excellent and I commend Reigns for finally handling a promo with some authority and confidence. He’ll deliver in the ring Sunday and Cena will bring it too. What a match that should be.
The Hardy Boyz talk to Renee Young about battling one another later tonight, just as they’ve battled since they were young. Jeff says he’s gonna seize the moment and Matt does the “broken” laugh.
We jump cut to the “Eater Of Worlds” heading to the ring and after the break, he’ll compete against Goldust in a rematch from last week.
Another awe-inpsiring promo for Asuka, utilizing a quote from Sun Tzu. Folks aren’t ready for the “Empress”.
Bray Wyatt defeats Dustin Rhodes via pin fall with Sister Abigail.
Goldust is introduced as “Dustin Rhodes” and he immediately goes after Wyatt, looking for redemption after what happened last week. A thunderous clothesline sends Wyatt into retreat mode as San Jose rallies behind Goldie with a “Let’s Go Dustin” chant.
Rhodes sends Bray into the barricade on the outside and then the steel steps as “The Natural” goes to work on Bray. Dustin feeds Wyatt right hands as the ref counts both men out, but they make it back in as Rhodes continues to issue hard right hands and “Shattered Dreams”. And just like that, Wyatt catches Rhodes with Sister Abigail and it takes one move to end this one. Wow.
Finn Balor appears on the video wall, calling Wyatt out. He tells Bray a story about a shy little boy who buried himself in books about gods and monsters. Eventually, the boy became a man, and he found a way to manifest his pain and anger into something he used to read about. This man created a demon. He wants to ask Bray a very important question. If the demon is a creation of the man, which one is more dangerous? At No Mercy, he will find out. Awesome.
More gracious words and a sensational video package dedicated to the legendary Bobby Heenan. He was so special, and this treasured manager and superb color commentator left his weasel prints on our hearts, now and forever.
Enzo Amore comes out talks about knocking the “Gargoyle” Neville off his perch this Sunday and he plans to walk away with the Cruiserweight Title. BRAAAUN! Corey Graves says the challenger for the Universal Title should be canonized as he decimates Amore.
“Thank You Strowman” chants flood the arena as he delivers a chokeslam with ease and then he scoops Enzo up for an effortless powerslam. Statement made. Wow.
“The King Of The Cruiserweights” is out with the title slung over his shoulder. He stares down and steers clear of Strowman, taking in the sheer monstrosity of the man. Enzo isn’t moving and Neville takes to the skies, hitting a Red Arrow before demanding a microphone. He asks everyone how they’re doing before laughing maniacally. Dang, poor Enzo. He must have nuclear heat backstage. Neville is in action next.
Neville defeats Gran Metalik via submission with the Rings of Saturn in a non-title match.
Wow. Neville literally tried to tear the mask off of Metalik, incredibly disrespectful. He paid for his sins for a few moments before really being taken to task with a spellbinding springboard somersault plancha that hits its mark.
Metalik has such a unique offense if you never saw had the opportunity to see him perform in New Japan. Neville eventually slaps on the Rings of Saturn as Metalik tries to fight, but it’s to no avail, and the champ is rolling as he heads into No Mercy to defend the belt against Enzo.
Jason Jordan defeats Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel and Elias in a six pack challenge to earn an IC Title shot this Sunday after a back suplex/neckbreaker on Curtis Axel.
We “drift with Elias” first before we are ultimately introduced to everyone involved in the main event which takes place after what hopefully will be the final break. We’ll see what happens though.
Fast and furious action as you’d expect from those involved. The Hardyz shine as do Jordan and Elias. So far, Bo and Axel are there to eat tandem offense and sell. We do get another commercial, not surprisingly, but we come back with continued action as the Miz looks to secure an opponent for Sunday.
We get some incredible athleticism from Elias who leaps to the top rope to handle Jason Jordan, but he is dumped to the outside. A five man tower of doom spot puts Jordan on the mat with a superplex. Poetry in Motion follows, as Matt then hits his brother with a Twist of Fate, looking to get to the title match. The action continues and intensifies, and it ultimately leads to Miz dumping Jeff Hardy out of the ring after he nails a Twist of Fate on Axel.
Jason Jordan capitalizes and he hits the back suplex/neckbreaker combo and Jordan is headed to No Mercy and a shot at the IC Title. He stares down Miz who tries a cheapshot, but he eats two belly-to-belly throws. The Miztourage leaves Jordan lying to end the show, a skull-crushing finale and harsh words from the champ sealing the deal. No Mercy is this Sunday!
