The September 2nd, 2019 episode of WWE RAW aired live from the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, MD. In addition to the takeaways below, Bray Wyatt issued a challenge to Strowman or Rollins for a Universal Championship match at Hell in a Cell.
Here are 5 takeaways from this week’s show:
The O.C., Roode & Ziggler Attacked The RAW Tag Team Champions
The contract signing for the Universal Championship match at Clash of Champions kicked off this week’s episode of RAW. Seth Rollins will defend his Universal Championship against Braun Strowman at the in two weeks at the PPV. Rollins and Strowman are also the current RAW Tag Team Champions.
Rollins and Strowman shook hands and then took a seat as Michael Cole moderated the signing. Cole pointed out that Rollins and Strowman will also have to defend their RAW Tag Team Championships against Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. Cole wondered how they were going to be able to function as a team with all that is going on at Clash of Champions.
Seth said that he plans on walking into Clash of Champions as double champ, burn it down, and then walk out as double champ. Strowman chuckled and claimed that they will defeat Roode and Ziggler at Clash of Champions. Braun added that it is going to be awkward when Seth’s tag team champion beats him at the PPV and takes his Universal Championship.
Rollins boasted about defeating Brock Lesnar to win the title and pointed out that Braun Strowman failed to beat Lesnar. Seth vowed to “slay The Monster” at Clash of Champions and signed the contract. AJ Styles and The O.C. interrupted and Michael Cole shouted that they have no business out here.
Styles ignored Cole and said that history will be made at Clash of Champions. AJ asked what has Braun Strowman done to deserve a Universal Championship match. Styles claimed that he should be the first in line to get a shot at the title. Styles pointed out that Roode and Ziggler aren’t even a real tag team and don’t deserve a title shot either.
AJ, Gallows, and Anderson hopped on the apron as Michael Cole shouted again. Styles told Cole to shut up and the crowd cheered. AJ got into the ring and ripped up the contract and threw it in the air. A brawl broke out and Strowman & Rollins cleared the ring.
Rollins and Strowman then battled The O.C. as AJ Styles was ringside for the match. Rollins and Strowman dominated early but Styles hit Seth with a cheap shot as RAW went to a break. When RAW returned, Rollins rolled up Anderson for the victory. The O.C. attacked Braun and Seth from behind. Braun fought them off and accidentally hit Rollins in the process. Ziggler and Roode then attacked Strowman and The O.C. joined in on the attack and beat the RAW Tag Team Champions down. Roode and Ziggler then defeated Hawkins & Ryder in a quick match.
It was later announced that the contract signing will be completed next week and Stone Cold will be the moderator.
Gallows and Anderson are already back to being a loser team after signing their new contracts. That is what I got out of this segment. Rollins and Strowman likely won’t be a team after the PPV, so it is impossible to care about them. Roode and Ziggler were just randomly thrown together last week, so it is impossible to care about them as well. Thus, it is impossible to get invested in the RAW Tag Team Championship Match at Clash of Champions and this segment did absolutely nothing to change that.
Sasha Banks Will Face Becky Lynch For The RAW Women’s Title At Clash of Champions
RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch came down to the ring to begin the second hour of this week’s RAW. Lynch stated that Sasha Banks has no reason to be whining. Becky pointed out that Banks was the centerpiece of NXT while she was on the sideline.
Becky added that Bayley has been doing just fine without Banks. Lynch said that Sasha has all the talent in the world and should have been her. Banks interrupted and claimed that the only reason Becky got popular was because Nia Jax broke her face.
Sasha said that she wish Nia Jax broke her face so that people would care about her. Lynch challenged Sasha to a fight but Banks declined. Sasha said she is not going to do anything for free and challenged Becky to a match for the RAW Women’s Championship at Clash of Champions. Becky accepted and Sasha said: “after Clash of Champions, The Main is going to be The Boss’ bitch”.
The first hour of RAW was absolutely terrible. However, Lynch and Banks kicked off the second hour with a very good promo. I’m definitely looking forward to this match but wish it was being reserved for a bigger PPV than Clash of Champions.
Baron Corbin Advanced To The Semifinals Of The King Of The Ring Tournament
Cedric Alexander faced Baron Corbin in the King of the Ring Tournament tonight. Alexander was attacked by Styles, Gallows, and Anderson after the first segment of RAW and was selling an arm injury throughout the match.
Corbin controlled the match early and slammed Alexander’s arm on the ring post as RAW went to a commercial break. When RAW returned, Cedric battled back and hit a Dropkick in the corner.
Baron caught Cedric with a Spinebuster and went for the cover but Alexander kicked out at two. Corbin followed that up with Deep Six for another near fall. Cedric sent Corbin into the ring post four times and knocked him out of the ring.
Alexander flipped onto Corbin outside the ring. Back in the ring, Cedric climbed to the top rope and hit a Dropkick for a two count. Alexander planted Corbin with a Michinoku Driver and went for the cover but Baron kicked out at the last moment.
Corbin tripped up Alexander on the ropes and hit him with End of Days for the pinfall victory. Baron Corbin advanced the semifinals of the King of the Ring Tournament.
Corbin and Alexander put on a great match and it was easily the best part of the show so far.
Samoa Joe & Ricochet Advanced In The King Of The Ring Tournament
Samoa Joe battled Ricochet tonight in the King of the Ring Tournament. Before the match, Joe cut a quick promo and stated that “King Samoa Joe” sounds just right.
Joe started off the match in control and applied an Arm Bar in the middle of the ring. Ricochet countered into an Arm Bar of his own but Joe reached the ropes to break the hold. Joe focused his attack on Ricochet’s knee for the next couple of minutes.
Ricochet knocked Joe to the outside and Moonsaulted onto him from off the barricade. Back in the ring, Joe slammed Ricochet’s knee into the canvas and followed it up with a headbutt. Ricochet battled back again and hit a Moonsault for a near fall.
Joe connected with a Uranage and then an Exploder Suplex into the barricade outside the ring. Joe brought Ricochet back into the ring and planted him with a Back Body Drop as RAW went to a break.
When RAW returned, Ricochet hit an Enziguri and followed it up with a Dropkick. Ricochet connected with a Shooting Star Press and went for the cover but Joe powered out at two. Joe hit an awesome Powerslam for another near fall.
Ricochet made his way to the top rope but Joe tripped him up. Joe locked in the Coquina Clutch on the top rope but Ricochet pushed off the ring post and both superstars fell to the mat. Joe and Ricochet’s hands landed on top of each other and the referee counted to three.
Referee John Cone then grabbed a headset and spoke to someone in the back. Cone informed Ricochet that the match was over and that they will make a ruling soon. Joe attacked Ricochet from behind but Ricochet was able to fight back and hit the Recoil.
Corey Graves later interviewed referee John Cone backstage but was interrupted by Baron Corbin. Baron said that he should get a bye and advance to the finals of the tournament. Cone informed Corbin that Joe and Ricochet both advanced and will face Corbin in a Triple Threat match in the semifinals next week on RAW.
Bayley Turned Heel & Attacked Becky Lynch
RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley faced Women’s Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross in the main event of this week’s show.
Bayley and Nikki Cross started the match off and the SmackDown Women’s Champ connected with a Suplex for a two count. Sasha Banks’ music hit and she came down to the entrance ramp as RAW went to a break.
When RAW returned, Nikki Cross sent Bayley tumbling out of the ring as Sasha was ringside. Alexa tagged in and slapped Bayley in the face for a two count. Cross tagged in knocked Lynch off the ring apron. Bliss and Cross then stomped Bayley down in the corner and Alexa tagged back in.
Bayley hit a forearm to the face and sent Bliss to the outside. Alexa hopped back into the ring and prevented Bayley from tagging out. Becky finally got the tag and leveled Bliss with a Clothesline. Lynch smirked at Sasha and then hit Bliss with a Leg Drop but Cross broke up the cover.
Becky hit Nikki with an Exploder Suplex and stomped on Bliss in the corner. Sasha ran into the ring and attacked Lynch to end the match in a DQ. Banks grabbed a chair from under the ring and hit Lynch a couple of times before Bayley grabbed the chair from her. Bayley then grinned at Sasha and unloaded on Lynch with several chair shots as RAW went off the air.
There was a ton of things wrong with this week’s episode of RAW but that ending was awesome. The crowd erupted in a “yes!” chant as Bayley turned heel and attacked Becky Lynch. It is about damn time Bayley turned heel. In addition to the first hour of RAW being absolutely terrible, Cesaro lost a match to The Miz tonight that didn’t need to happen at all. Cesaro put on a great match with Dragunov two days ago at NXT TakeOver: Cardiff. It makes zero sense for him to fly back to RAW and lose to The Miz.
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