Monday Night RAW in Cleveland was not the sexiest episode of Monday Night RAW. And I don’t mean that in some sort of misogynistic way. What I mean is, this RAW wasn’t a shoot-the-works, OMG episode of the longest running episodic television show of all-time.
No, what tonight’s RAW was about was people punching each other in the mouth, getting mean and gritty, and having a fight. This was smash mouth football, but with forearms and stiff kicks.
Starting a show off with Samoa Joe really set the tone for the evening. He kicked things off with a fiery promo. However, the wait for Roman Reigns to come out really did drag the segment down. There was a requisite brawl at the end involving The Shield and The Bar, but I still liked Joe looking tough against The Hounds of Justice.
This segued nicely into Paige and Mandy Rose (Absolution) vs. Bayley and Mickie James. This was a fun tag match, and there was a lot of intensity in the ring. Paige, despite only being back two weeks, looked crisp as hell in the ring, and her strikes looked better than they ever have. Mandy Rose looked solid in the ring, and she drilled a killer high knee early in the match — hopefully she keeps that in her arsenal. I like when Bayley gets tough, she acts the part well, and I can see her and Paige having a hell of a feud. Mickie James looks so excited to be working with new talent after being in neutral with the same matches for the past year. Absolution scores the needed win, but everyone looked strong here.
Bray Wyatt and Broken Matt Hardy’s promo was awesome. It’s so silly, but at the same time it makes sense, and I like the little things Matt did here. Mentioning this wasn’t the first time he fought Sister Abigail, and that she was an ancient being like Broken Matt. It’s weird, but it adds to this whacky story. Also, the Broken Matt laughs are pure gold.
Continuing the silliness – Drew Gulak proved yet again he’s one of the best on the mic in WWE. He’s wonderful as the wholesome, and pompous fool. He shined throughout the night, and if he’s ever allowed to move past 205 Live, there’s money to be made with him.
Finn Balor vs. Curtis Axel was short and sweet, and needed to be. The Axe Man has been the quick pin of The Miztourage, and it makes sense for him, and not Bo Dallas to earn a quick loss. Axel, however, remains pure gold with his reliance on his neck brace.
Seth Rollins and Sheamus battled for the 3,201 time on RAW. This match was like every other they’ve had — strong, physical, and not overly memorable.
Cedric Alexander scored a massive win — both from a match and crowd perspective — in his bout with Mustafa Ali, Tony Nese, and Ariya Daivari. Cedric is one of the most talented dudes in the cruiserweight division, and tonight he showed great charisma, and the crowd ate it up. They popped big time for his handspring kick, and the lumbar check. He and Gulak are going to have a great match next week.
Roman Reigns and Cesaro knocked the ever loving hell out of each other. While “Roman looked strong” it was Cesaro who came off like a star. He was absolutely on fire, and he pulled out so much from his arsenal — big submissions, stiff European uppercuts, etc. And you know what? Roman gave as good as he got. He battled throughout the match, and in the end this was easily one of his best non-AJ Styles feud matches ever.
Absolution got knocked around by Asuka and the women’s division, and I was totally fine with it. They roughed up Asuka a bit, but also got a bit of a comeuppance for their weeks of destroying the division. However, they didn’t look like losers, like we often see on WWE TV. They were booked strong, and are still a very, very credible threat.
Dean Ambrose and Samoa Joe was decent. They don’t blend well together, and having Jason Jordan stick his nose into things was kinda lame.
Kane and Braun Strowman’s never-ending feud…didn’t end. The two beat each other up good, like they always do, but we got a lame no contest finish. Then the two of them beat the snot out of each other. Do they both go to the Royal Rumble to face Brock? I’m not sure, but I am sure that I want this damn feud to end, and for Braun to move onto better things.
