Written by Michael Vacchiano
WWE’s flagship show is the one doing the rocking this evening as Monday Night Raw emanates live from Cleveland, Ohio! Tonight, we’re promised a lot for RAW in Cleveland:
- We will find out more from Universal Champion Seth Rollins about why he attacked “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt at the Firefly Funhouse, and why he literally ‘burned it down.’
- After last week’s Superstar Draft, the former NXT tag team champions the Street Profits will make their Raw debut by teaming with a mystery partner to take on the O.C. in 6-man action.
- We also expect to find out who will be the final member of Team Flair in their match against Team Hogan at next week’s Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia.
- All of this and much, much more to get to. Buckle up, Buckeye State!
WOOOOOOOO!!! RAW in Cleveland kicks offs as “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair styles and profiles down the aisle, and wastes no time hyping up the huge 10-man tag match between his team and the Hulkster’s. And without further ado, he announces the final member of his team for Crown Jewel….the “Scottish Psychopath” Drew McIntrye! The man from Glasgow tells Flair and the fans in attendance that they’re gonna get a small glimpse of what he’s capable of, as he’ll be taking on Team Hogan member Ricochet right now!
Drew McIntyre vs. Ricochet
These two have fought many times before including the opening round of this year’s King of the Ring tournament. So you know exactly what you’re getting: great displays of power and brutality from McIntyre, and quick strikes and aerial excellence from the “One & Only”. The Scotsman launched Ricochet with a crucifix bucklebomb that looked especially nasty, but it was not enough. The gravity-defying man nearly got the win himself with a beautiful top rope shooting star press. McIntyre didn’t stay down and used his size and power to retaliate, and finally put Ricochet down with a well-measured Claymore Kick. Drew then further showed his mean streak with a reverse Alabama Slam into the steps on the outside, and celebrated with Naitch in the ring.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
Charly Caruso is backstage with The O.C., who claim to not know and not care who the Street Prophets have as their partner. Gallows caps it by taking a cheap shot at the RAW in Cleveland crowd: “Cleveland doesn’t rock, Cleveland sucks!”
Pre-taped backstage promo from Aleister Black. The Dutch Destroyer says his usual cool gothic mantra, and that he is here and ready to fight! Which brings us to…
Aleister Black vs. Jason Reynolds
The local jobber…ahem, talent has a bit of size on him, which pretty much meant he was able to absorb some stiff and hard strikes from Black. A beautiful sweep from the Dutchman, plus some kicks and elbows, wore his opponent down quickly. After barely 90 seconds of action, Aleister lands a Black Mass and it’s a wrap for Mr. Reynolds (see what I did there?)
Winner: Aleister Black
Another pre-taped backstage promo from Akam & Rezar, the Authors of Pain. Dressed like bodyguards for the Albanian Mafia, they speak in their native tongue about their impending return to Raw. I’m definitely a fan of these guys, but they really need to talk less. Just get back and start kicking ass again, AoP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkjosvmpvzM
King’s Court w/ Rusev
Jerry “The King” Lawler welcomes the finely-mustachioed Bulgarian Brute to the ring to discuss his marital woes with Lana, and her affair with Bobby Lashley. Rusev still has faith that his relationship with his wife can be fixed, but is interrupted by the Destroyer on the Tron. He is out to dinner with the Ravishing Russian, who bashes Rusev for never fulfilling her wants and needs like Lashley does. After a smooch by the new couple, Rusev storms out of the ring and sets out to find them. A time machine to the Attitude Era, indeed.
Andrade w/ Zelina Vega vs. Sin Cara
Pre-match highlights showed Sin Cara’s return to El Paso, his hometown, to show his love and support after August’s tragedy. Very classy by the Man With No Face.
New Raw draftee Humberto Carillo watches this Mexican-flavored matchup on the monitor backstage. Both men do their usual catch-as-catch-can technique before picking up the pace, and Cara even hits a beautiful moonsault to the outside before commercial.
Andrade later mocks the El Paso native by doing the city’s late Hall of Famer Eddie Guerrero’s triple vertical suplex. Sin Cara’s comeback at the end included a nice-looking slingshot rana on the outside. However, Zelina gave her client the upper hand behind the ref’s back with an impressive handstand rana off the apron. It was enough for El Idolo to land the hammerlock DDT for the 1-2-3.
Winner: Andrade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyNl8DqybEk
The Street Profits are backstage, red Solo cups in hand, hyping up their 6-man tag team match tonight with the O.C., which will officially be the main event! Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins run through a list of possible mystery partners, before revealing the only clue that their partner does not like A.J. Styles. Okay, I’m excited…
6,219-time 24/7 Champion R-Truth is interrupted backstage by The Singh Brothers, who surprise him to allow one of them to win the belt. Which brother? Don’t know, no idea, don’t care about this “title” at all. Sorry to sound pessimistic, but I really don’t. [Editor’s Note: It was Sunil Singh].
Raw Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders vs. Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins (non-title)
Belts aren’t on the line in this one, but both teams will be featured in a massive 9-team tag turmoil match at Crown Jewel next week. All four men looking for some momentum here, but ultimately it was the champs who dominated time of possession, so to speak.
Erik & Ivar showcased their awesome blend of power and agility, as well as their innovative tandem offense. Ryder and Hawkins tried to mount a comeback, and essentially had to double team to keep up what advantage they could gain. Alas to no avail, as the Raiders easily came out on top after landing the Viking Experience pop-up catching powerslam (great move, terrible name ugh).
Winners: The Viking Raiders
Rusev arrives at the restaurant to lay waste to Lana and Lashley’s date night. Brawl ensues before “security” holds back the Bulgarian Brute to escort him out, while Lana demands her husband be taken to jail.
The legendary Rey Mysterio makes his return to RAW in Cleveland after him and his son Dominic were attacked by WWE Champion Brock Lesnar several weeks back. He thanks the fans for their love and support towards him and his family. Rey Rey also discusses how he’s been training his close friend and former UFC champion Cain Velasquez for his bout with Lesnar at Crown Jewel.
Paul Heyman comes on the Tron to deliver some vintage mic work as only he can. Heyman orates that “his client” has never gotten over losing the UFC title to Velasquez nine years ago in the Octagon and will soon avenge his loss. Mysterio tells Heyman to shut up before Shelton Benjamin heads down to ringside.
Since we’re getting all real-life, Shelton talks about him rooming and training with Brock at the University of Minnesota back in the day. Benjamin says his former wrestling teammate will destroy everyone in his way, before Cain Velasquez shows up! A high takedown by Cain on the former Gold Standard followed by a sleeper chokehold sends a big message to the Beast Incarnate.
Universal Champion Seth Rollins is interviewed backstage about his actions torching the Firefly Funhouse last week. The Architect says it wasn’t an easy choice, but he did what he had to do to gain the upper hand over his Crown Jewel challenger, Bray Wyatt. Rollins then greets Humberto Carillo and welcomes him to Raw. The champ then offers him an opportunity to make a name for himself, by challenging him to a match right now. The former 205 Live competitor eagerly accepts.
Universal Champion Seth Rollins vs. Humberto Carillo (non-title)
Both men use their quickness and trade holds early on, with Carillo surprising the Beast Slayer with some high-flying offense. The veteran Rollins regained the upper hand and kept his younger opponent grounded, even taunting/motivating him to fight back. Humberto did just that and started giving Seth a run for his money, hitting an impressive twisting press to the outside.
A bucklebomb/superkick combo from the champ was not enough to keep the underdog down, who responded with a nice tornado DDT and a high-angle moonsault to almost score the upset. Rollins immediately countered and drilled Carillo with the curb stomp to get the victory. Postmatch, the Architect extended his hand in a show of respect, which the upstart graciously accepted. Not quite Angle/Cena from 2002, but a nice little showcase for Humberto on the big stage.
Winner: Seth Rollins
R-Truth attacks one of the Singh brothers to try to regain the 24/7 title, but the ref informs him that he’s pinned the wrong one. Truth responds “So there IS two of them!” I admit, I chuckled a little at that last line. But I still have little interest in the 24/7 Championship as a whole.
The O.C. and the Street Profits all come to the ring, and Styles asks where their partner is. Mocking that they have nobody, the match instead becomes a traditional 2-on-2. Hmmmm…
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. The Street Prophets
Ford and Dawkins took it to the more experienced O.C. in their Raw debuts. The popular Prophets used their complementary strength and speed to show what they can do, but eventually succumbed to some Styles chicanery from the outside. Gallows and Anderson are in control through the break.
The O.C. veterans took turns wearing down the smaller Ford, until his resiliency led him to the hot tag. Dawkins began to steamroll through his opponents with running tackles that would make the late Jim Neidhart proud. Ford even joined in after recovering by landing a huge missile dropkick. The Phenomenal One again tried to get involved and use the numbers game, only for the ref to eject him.
The distraction was still enough for a Gallows boot and Anderson spinebuster for the near fall on Ford. But the sound of Kevin Owens’ theme put everyone on notice, especially Styles who received a stunner on the outside. The Profits took advantage of the distraction this time to hit their Sky High/frog splash one-two punch to win their debut match on Monday Night Raw! Everyone at RAW in Cleveland partied up with Solos up.
Winners: The Street Prophets
Final Thoughts:
Monday Night RAW in Cleveland was a pretty decent show for the Red Brand — as some of their newest acquisitions from last week’s draft putting themselves on notice. But where were the women tonight? [Editor’s Note: The majority of the women are in Australia.] I know they’re not competing at next week’s event in the Middle East, but they should have gotten at least one segment or time in the spotlight. What the hell?!
Would have liked to have seen Aleister Black have a more competitive match, or at least have the seeds planted for a feud/rivalry. Hopefully soon. Humberto Carillo had a nice little contest with the Universal champ, and the Street Profits have shown they’re talented and charismatic enough to do really well on the main roster. I see big things for this team.
The matches for next week’s Crown Jewel didn’t get as much hype as you would have thought. But I’m honestly okay with that as we stateside fans tend to view these Saudi Arabia events as throwaways anyway. We will still probably watch it, and I hope that one or two matches are worth our time. The tag team turmoil could potentially be a show-stealer, but we’ll see.
The Team Hogan vs. Team Flair 10-man tag will also be a nice showcase for some of WWE’s young stars. It may be one fall to a finish, but I think we all know it should be a nice prelude for next month’s Survivor Series extravaganza. Yours truly is psyched for the November classic, and I could even see both Hall of Famers manage teams in a possible rematch from Crown Jewel. Probably getting ahead of myself, but that’s the wrestling fan in me. Take care.
