Tonight, the wrestlers and personnel are wearing a special pin, and a special logo is being used in support of Connor’s Cure, an organization established to treat and cure pediatric cancer. WWE is a #1 supporter and co-founder of the organization.
The Labor Day edition of RAW kicks off with an excellent recap of the insanity which unfolded last week. The live show begins with a huge celebration in the ring, but we also see a pre-taped segment from “earlier tonight” showing Mick Foley and Stephanie have a war of words about whether The Authority might be making a comeback. Kevin Owens hits the ring to a massive pop. In a great heel move, not only does Owens shut down the crowd, but also ridiculing the chant of “you deserve it” and the pandering of fans in order to fit in. Interrupting the party is Seth Rollins, who flips out at everyone. This inevitably breaks down into a fight, and suddenly Stephanie, who earlier claims to have not taken sides, decides to suspend Rollins to keep him off TV. This is overturned by Mick Foley, who then books Rollins vs. Owens at Clash of Champions.
Backstage, Stephanie is angry, however Foley talks sense into her. Or so it seems.
Very interesting segment. Teasing whether anyone was in cahoots with Triple H, and Owens just owning the mic. The backstage crazy continues as Chris Jericho comes in to back up his best buddy, reminding us all, Kevin Owens is the longest-reigning Universal Champion. Love it. Tonight, we get Owens vs. Sami Zayn, because why not, and Chris Jericho gets to face Rollins.
Our first match features Charlotte against Bayley in a non-title match. Prior to the match, Charlotte continues to berate Dana Brooke, forcing her to take notes during the match. Of course, the dominant Charlotte winds up clocking craniums with Brooke, allowing Bayley to hit the Bayley-to-Belly Suplex for the pinfall victory. Post match backstage, Charlotte smacks the hell out of Brooke.
Commercial airs for a direct-to-DVD movie called Interrogation. It features Edge and Lana. So, I don’t know what to do. I’m scared.
He’s back on television! Bo Dallas! We get a bit of a different side, he rhymes a bit, and then makes quick work of Kyle Roberts, a local jobber. Instead of just “Bo-Lieve” it’s now “Bo-Lieve in Bo!” At least his theme hasn’t changed.
Seth Rollins vs. Chris Jericho is a great match. Rollins, despite now being cast as a babyface, doesn’t really change his persona or in-ring attitude, which is expected. Rollins has the same deal, his character wants to be number one, and that’s all there is to it. He’s always been cheered anyway, this time he just fights on the side of angels. Solid back-and-forth, no clear dominator here, just continuous move-for-move action. Nice spot with Rollins missing a Frog Splash and Jericho immediately connecting with a Lionsault. Rollins fights back and manages to plant Jericho with the Pedigree for the clean pinfall victory.
Sasha Banks’ twitter account name is now “Sasha Broken Banks.” Uh, are we taking a nod from the Matt Hardy insanity?
Primo and Epico cut an in-ring promo, which is thankfully interrupted by Enzo and Cass. Since it is Labor Day, Enzo actually goes into labor. Cass botches his “one word” tagline, but recovers since the crowd was too buys laughing at Enzo to notice. In a short and shocking match, Primo and Epico steal a win due to some miscommunication in the ring. I’m astonished, because the gimmick of pushing Puerto Rico as the holy land or something is getting really old, fast. They really do sound like travel agents. It’s horrible. Where is Carlito already??
Nia Jax destroys Ann Esposito, a friend of Alicia Fox. Yawn.
Gallows and Anderson are now in the retirement home business. They bring out The Old Day. I think it was supposed to be funny, but it wasn’t. After what seems like eternity, The real New Day come out and drive off Gallows and Anderson. Things get weird with the New Day/Old Day. The segment went way too long. I guess Gallows and Anderson will keep changing professions until they win the WWE Tag Team Championships?
Darren Young defeats Jinder Mahal. Titus O’Neal, on commentary, is unimpressed, then a fight breaks out post-match. Interesting how this feud keeps going.
Backstage: Nia Jax and Alicia Fox have words, until Fox reverts to her previous crazy gimmick, and appears to accidentally whack Jax in the face with a cardboard box. There is a split second where Fox stops and there is an “uh…” moment. So, Jax will squash Fox next week.
Speaking of squashes, this week Braun Strowman faces Sin Cara, who has some offense, but very oddly, the match ends in a countout victory. A count out. Sorry, it looked like a bad finish and made Strowman look weak.
Sasha Banks comes out and runs down the old “Divas” era and talk about an era with strong women like The Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young. She even makes fun of bra and panties matches and the ‘stupid butterfly title.’ Dana Brooke comes down to interrupt, and Sasha Banks crushes her. The bad news is for Charlotte, because at Clash of Champions, Sasha Banks gets her rematch for the WWE Women’s Championship. I will admit, I thought it was going to be “I’m out for a year” or something worse.
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn is your main event tonight. This is the main event we deserve. Zayn lobs Owens with a dragon Suplex in the ring and on the arena floor. Owens crushed Zayn over and over, but the fight went on forever. Great match, until what appeared to be a scripted injury led to Zayn injuring his ankle, which inevitably allowed Owens to powerbomb his way to victory. Post match, Roman Reigns is greeted by loud boos, and Chris Jericho! Before anything happens, Mick Foley makes a match between Owens and Reigns. If Reigns wins the non-title match, then he joins the Universal Championship match at Clash of Champions, making it a triple threat. Oy.
Jericho eats a spear to close the show.
