By: Keila Cash
Hello everyone and welcome to The Labor Day edition of The Raw Exposé. Tonight’s episode of Monday Night Raw emanated from the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska. After John Cena ethered Roman Reigns on the mic last week, did Cena have another scorcher up his sleeve or did Reigns attend The Usos School of Promos in order to drop a cipher that would leave the wrestling world speechless? The answer to that question can be found throughout this blog. Without further ado, let’s dissect tonight’s show in no particular order.
· John Cena defeated Jason Jordan with an AA in a very good match that kicked off Raw on a positive note. The announcers did a nice job drawing the parallels of Cena challenging Kurt Angle to a match on SmackDown 15 years ago with Jordan doing the same thing in order to make a name for himself in WWE.
· The match started off with Jordan grounding Cena with some mat-based amateur wrestling, but the seasoned vet eventually picked up the pace after the commercial break.
· The highlight of the match was Jordan delivering a pair of beautiful Northern Lights Suplexes to Cena. It was an amazing feat of strength that popped the crowd something fierce.
· However, it wasn’t enough to put away Cena as he recovered to hit his finisher moments later. Cena pulled Jordan to his feet and praised him for a job well done before celebrating with the live crowd.
· After the match was over, Reigns made his way to the ring to confront Cena which carried over into the next commercial break.
· Reigns asked Cena why it took him 20 minutes to beat a rookie. Was it because Cena missed a step or did he simply string Jordan along until crushing his hopes and dreams like a fake ass bitch?
· Cena told Reigns not to overwork his brain because it has a short attention span based on last week’s promo fail. Cena told him that all of his questions would be answered at No Mercy when he chops his ass down to size.
· Cena didn’t respect Reigns because he never scratched and clawed his to the top. He was too arrogant to see that the fans didn’t believe he was the Big Dog running the yard in WWE.
· Reigns challenged Cena to beat his ass on the spot. When Cena refused, Reigns re-affirmed his position that Cena was all-talk which is the reason he doesn’t respect him. Reigns dropped the mic and headed backstage as Cena smirked in the ring.
· This was another strong promo exchange between Cena and Reigns. Reigns had to fight off the “What?” chants early on, but he did a nice job improvising when Cena called attention to his fly being open. He made a sly joke about his well-endowed package only for Cena to say that he didn’t have any balls. Reigns still has a ways to go when it comes to throwing shade on the spot, but he tried his best to hang with Cena which is an improvement from his brain freeze from last week.
· Cesaro and Sheamus defeated Heath Slater and Rhyno when Sheamus nailed Rhyno with the Brogue Kick for the win. This was a nice maintenance win heading into their Raw Tag Team Championship match against Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose at No Mercy in a few weeks.
· The Miz retained the Intercontinental Championship when he defeated Jeff Hardy with the Skull Crushing Finale in a good match. Things started off a bit slow, but the action picked up after the commercial break. Matt Hardy and The Miztourage was ejected from ringside midway through the match, but Maryse was more than willing to pick up the slack on her husband’s behalf.
· Jeff went to the top rope to hit the Swanton Bomb, but Maryse squeezed Miz’s head which allowed him to roll out of the way at the last minute.
· Miz went for his finisher, but Jeff countered in an attempt to hit the Twist of Fate. Miz countered the counter and hit the SCF for the win.
· Miz and Jeff Hardy worked well together and I liked how Miz sidestepped Jeff’s signature spots throughout the match. It added an element of in-ring psychology which is refreshing to see in this day and age. This was a nice sampler of what both men can do if they are given a bigger stage to show up and show out.
· I will say Enzo Amore giving the wrestlers of 205 Live cute nicknames is a smart way to make them more memorable to the audience. Cedric The Entertainer Alexander The Great is quite prestigious and verbose at the same time.
· Gran Metalik, Cedric Alexander, and Enzo Amore defeated Tony Nese, Drew Gulak, and Noam Dar when Enzo pinned Gulak with Eat Defeat in a solid match. Enzo is blatant when it comes to taking short cuts in order gain the upper hand. From making blind tags to thumbing Gulak in the eye in order to score the victory, Enzo’s work smarter, not harder mantra is coming up roses at the moment. It makes him come off as a snob, but the fans still eat up his shtick. Plus, the crowd reaction during Cruiserweight matches has improved since his debut a couple of weeks ago. We shall see if it sticks long-term. At least the purple brand is getting some much-needed attention for a change.
· Bray Wyatt and Finn Bálor talked about demons, arrows, heroes, and rabbits. My reaction: Zzzzzzzzz…… I am over this feud. It needs to die at No Mercy. End of discussion.
· Nia Jax and Emma defeated Alexa Bliss and Sasha Banks when Emma pinned Banks after Jax laid her out with a Running Leg Drop. The Raw Women’s Championship match is now a Fatal Four Way with Bliss defending her title against Banks, Jax, and Emma.
· Jax laid out Emma with a Samoan Drop after the match was over to prove that she was the one to beat at No Mercy. The tag match was fine, but it lacked crowd heat until Bliss and Jax went toe-to-toe down the stretch.
· Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose defeated Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows when Rollins rolled up Anderson for the win. Sheamus and Cesaro tried to provide the distraction, but their plan backfired. The match was fine, but Anderson and Gallows have been watered down to the point that I no longer care about them on an emotional level. Bullshit booking strikes again…
· The Omaha crowd was more receptive towards the duo when they went after Sheamus and Cesaro for costing them the match. The beat down was short-lived as Sheamus nailed Anderson with a Brogue Kick while Cesaro provided the assist by helping his partner clothesline Gallows out of the ring. It was a bad night at the office for the Good Brothers.
· Braun Strowman defeated The Big Show with a Running Powerslam in a very good Steel Cage Match. Once again, Strowman and Big Show delivered the goods in the main event spot. The action never dragged as the crowd was hooked from start to finish.
· Big Show delivered an insane elbow drop from the top rope that elicited a “Holy Shit!” chant from the crowd. Strowman countered with a Superplex from the middle rope, but the crowd’s thirst for mayhem and destruction wasn’t quenched because the ring didn’t break due to double reinforcement. Therefore, the end of the match lacked sizzle when Strowman pinned Big Show with his finisher.
· The delayed gratification took place after the match when Strowman grabbed the mic and told Brock Lesnar that he was looking at his future come No Mercy. Strowman was about to leave the cage when he changed his mind at the last minute. He grabbed Big Show and power slammed him through the steel cage as the crowd roared with the excitement as Raw went off the air with Braun Strowman posing triumphantly on the main stage.
· This was a hot way to end the show. Strowman built momentum heading into his Universal Championship match against Brock Lesnar at No Mercy while Big Show proved that he still has a lot left in the tank. Those “Please Retire” chants directed at the World’s Largest Athlete are a distant memory which is refreshing to see in 2017.
· When he’s given something meaningful to do, Big Show goes above and beyond in order to make his opponent shine. He helped turn Strowman into a bad ass monster who should be feared, yet respected at the same time. Roman Reigns might be Strowman’s biggest rival, but Big Show laid the foundation towards making that happen by helping Strowman become a better performer in the ring. Kudos to the former strip mall entrepreneur for a job well done.
· Overall, I thought tonight’s episode of Raw was decent at best. The show started off hot, but the 10:00 Lull Period of Death set in until the main event. However, the in-ring action ranged from solid to very good which prevented the show from hitting a brick wall.
· The Omaha crowd was hot, but their excitement tapered off as the show went on. Fortunately, they were alive for the main event which enhanced the steel cage match between Braun Strowman and Big Show.
· Brock Lesnar’s reaction to Strowman calling him out should be interesting to watch next week. I don’t think a trip to Suplex City is going to stop the Monster Among Men from snatching the Big Red Kryptonite Belt. Their next encounter will be must-see, to say the least.
· The rest of the No Mercy card is shaping up nicely. It appears that WWE is not playing around when it comes to having their ducks in a row heading into the NFL regular season. Can they keep it up through the end of the year? We shall find out soon enough. In any event, would behoove the E to step up their game to ensure that ratings don’t fall off a cliff as we enter the fall television season.
On that note, this wraps up another edition of The Raw Exposé. I hope you enjoyed it and I will be back next week with a brand new installment of The SmackDown Files. See you later, boys and girls!
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