Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 9.05.16

Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 9.05.16

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Non-Title Match: Bayley defeated Champion Charlotte @ 12:42 via pin [***]
– Bo Dallas defeated Kyle Roberts @ 0:36 via pin [NR]
– Seth Rollins defeated Chris Jericho @ 13:42 via pin [***¼]
– Best of Seven Series: Sheamus [3] defeated Cesaro [0] @ 3:57 via pin [**½]
– The Shining Stars defeated Enzo and Cass @ 7:08 via pin [**]
– Nia Jax defeated Ann Esposito @ 1:37 via pin [NR]
– Darren Young defeated Jinder Mahal @ 2:12 via pin [NR]
– Braun Strowman defeated Sin Cara @ 2:10 via pin [NR]
– Non-Title Match: Universal Champion Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn @ 13:04 via pin [***½]

---

– We get a big video recap of last week’s Universal Title match, the return of Triple H and Kevin Owens leaving as the new Universal Champion. The video felt as if it focused more on Triple H’s return than Owens’ title victory, lets see if this is presented as Owens becoming a top guy, or if they just put the title on him as a vehicle for the Stephanie vs. Triple H feud.

– Stephanie was on the phone, setting up Owens’ celebration for tonight. Foley arrives and is passed off about Triple H making him look like a fool last week. Foley did some story time, discussing that Stephanie used to have a shy smile and no matter how devious she got over the years, he always hoped she’d stay that way. Stephanie got emotional, saying she knew nothing about Triple H’s return or his plans. She wanted Foley to believe her, and he said he had to because if not, she as a great lair and a horrible person.

KEVIN OWEN’S CELEBRATION: We got balloons and pyro as Owens made his way out in a suit, refusing to shake hands with Foley and Stephanie. Owens said that he deserved the title, but he doesn’t deserve a crowd that tried to hijack his moment. “You’re not great. You’re not special. I am GREAT! I am SPECIAL!” Last week he did 98% of the work last week, and while Triple H helped a little, he put him where he needed to be, where he deserved to be. Owns did a good job of turning the crowd around to keep the heel role, and then Seth Rollins hit the ring. Rollins ran down Stephanie for last week, noting that he carried the company on his back and blew out his knee but came bad sooner than anyone. As Owens tried to make it about him, Rollins actually said Owens was a puppet. Rollins kept accusing Stephanie and Foley about being in on it last week, as Rollins said that he was Triple H’s boy since the day he walked into NXT. Rollins promised to burn things to the ground, which led to Owens mocking his lack of passion since his return and called him a failure. This of course led to them brawling and Rollins sending Owens to the floor. Stephanie then indefinitely suspended Rollins, but Foley wouldn’t have any of that. Foley says that he was given the power to make matches, and he doesn’t like Rollins, but he deserves a chance and books Owens vs. Rollins at Clash of the Champions. This was an overall very good opening segment, with Owens and Rollins delivering well and showing good emotion. It faded a bit down the end with the faux suspension and then COTC match being made right away, but didn’t hurt it. Owens vs. Rollins should be rather great.

– Stephanie and Foley argued backstage, she was angry but Foley says he cares and wants to get people talking. Owens is pissed about how Foley handled things, so since Owens was pissy, Foley booked him against Sami Zayn tonight. No, no, bad Foley, bad Foley. Jericho arrived and praised Owens as the longest reigning Universal Champion ever. Stephanie then supported Foley and booked Jericho vs. Rollins for later tonight. I am not a fan of them tossing Owens vs. Zayn out there like this, that was a PPV title match down the line.

Non-Title Match: Champion Charlotte vs. Bayley: Charlotte is making Dana carry around a clipboard to take notes. Charlotte tried to bully Bayley early, staying a step ahead of her. Bayley got a hope spot, Charlotte kept working her over until Bayley fired up in the corner and tossed her to the floor. Bayley followed, got slowed up doing her corner dropkick deal (they played it up as if she tweaked her knee), allowing Charlotte to take the heat as they worked through the commercial break. Post break Charlotte worked the heat, using a head scissors and skull fucker. Bayley started a comeback, hitting a cross body for 2 Charlotte then slammed her to the corner and went after the knee, slamming it to the post. Charlotte worked a singe leg crab, Bayley escaped but when she tried to fight back she collapsed. Bayley got a desperation roll up, but Charlotte fired back with chops. Bayley fought her off and ht the elbow off the ropes, fired up with rights and forearm smashes, and then Dana helped pull Charlotte from the corner. Bayley shoves Charlotte into Dana, and hit the Bayley to belly for the win. In terms of the work, it was what it needed to be in terms of setting Charlotte as the bully and Bayley as the resilient babyface. I was not a fan of this booking, with Bayley set as the challenger already it feels like the are needlessly giving away a first time match (in terms of the main roster) for no reason when they should be building towards the first meeting at Backlash. There are allegedly other women on the Raw roster, which Bayley could have defeated here instead of giving away the first match with virtually no build. The match was good, and they set up Bayley with the injury heading into the PPV, it works, but also feels as if they had no real build behind it.

– We get a Cruiserweight video, featuring Gran Metalik, Jack Gallagher and Akira Tozawa. They arrive in two weeks.

– Charlotte yells at Dana backstage, and then slaps her.

– Bo Dallas is back. He wants you to Bo-lieve in Bo.

Bo Dallas vs. Kyle Roberts: Dallas is working a more aggressive heel style here, attacking Roberts and beating him down. He hit cross Rhodes for the win. Ok then. The reset of the Bo Dallas character has begun. As he celebrated, someone yelled, “hey Lion King” in a nod to his recent arrest. I guess no big punishment for Dallas.

– Jericho promises to beat down Rollins tonight as he talks to Owens. They hugged because they are best friends, and promised that Rollins would get… it.

Seth Rollins vs. Chris Jericho: I can’t help but to feel that when Rollins returned that they dropped the ball on making him a face, he was over huge. Now that he is a face, due to the Triple H angle last week, it doesn’t feel nearly as big a deal. Rollins controlled right away, sending Jericho to the floor and hitting a suicide dive. Back in the ring, they went back and forth with Rollins keeping control, tossing Jericho back to the floor, where he continued to control. Jericho finally managed to hit the springboard dropkick and we went to the commercial break. Post break Rollins sent Jericho to the corner to slow his offense. They traded strikes center ring, and then the sling blade by Rollins got 2. Rollins hit a series of forearms, and followed with the blockbuster for a near fall. Jericho countered a suplex, went up to but got caught with a boot. They worked a series of counters, and then Jericho caught the leg as Rollins went for a springboard. He worked the walls of Jericho, Rollins fought and made the ropes. Rollins hit the enziguri and superkick, which got 2. Rollins up top, cut off by Jericho and they battled up top. Rollins fought him off and sent him to the mat, but missed the high fly flow. Lionsault connected for the near fall. Jericho worked a series of kicks, but ran into a superkick; Rollins then countered the code breaker, and hit the pedigree for the win. Rollins picks up the win to keep momentum for the title match with Owens, and also sends the message to Triple H by still using the pedigree. This was a good outing, although they could have done with it being a bit shorter as I think if they went home earlier it would have played better.

Best of Seven Series: Sheamus [2] vs. Cesaro [0]: We got video highlights, where they focused on Cesaro hurting his back last week. Cesaro was the house of fire early, repeatedly going for quick pins to pick up a much-needed victory and also to get out of this quickly due to the injury. Sheamus would cut him off and then attack the back almost immediately. Sheamus hit repeated back breakers, remaining focused and kept attacking. The ref checked on Cesaro, and then Sheamus hit he brogue kick to put him away in short order. For a short match, they did a great job of playing off of the previous matches with Sheamus constantly attacking the back and showing no mercy. The booking is interesting, they may simply be doing the big babyface comeback story, but there are rumors that Cesaro’s deal is up soon (30-45 days) and that he may not have re-signed. Match four takes place this Wednesday in London.

– The Shining Stars were in the ring, and got cut off by Enzo and Cass, who got a monstrous ovation; they had jokes and Enzo said that listening to the Stars made him feel like he was giving labor. Enzo gave birth to an imaginary baby, hilarity ensued and the crowd loved it.

Enzo and Big Cass vs. The Shining Stars: Cass quickly tossed the Stars to the floor, and then Enzo hit a suicide dive as we went to the break. Post break the Stars worked the predictable heat on Enzo, he survived and made the hot tag. Cass ran wild and kicked ass, the rocket launcher was cut off but Enzo hit a high cross. As the ref tried to get rid of Big Cass. Epico scored a roll up with the rights on Enzo to win. No seriously, after months of doing jack and shit, the Shining Stars beat the most over act on the roster. I don’t mind surprise wins, and Enzo and Cass need something to do as they are seemingly not in the tag title mix for some reason, but the Shining Stars have been such a non-factor that it comes off as a poor booking choice. I am glad they are giving the Shining Stars something to do, as they are strong veteran workers and should be used, but considering that they have done nothing in forever, get no reaction and that Enzo and Cass are over so big it feels extremely questionable.

– Sami admitted that he thought that his win over Owens would mean something, but ever since he’s not done shit and Owens is now the champion; he’s jealous. Owens arrived to rub it in, because he’s a proper dick. Zayn promised to win and said when he won the title, he would do it for real and without Triple H’s help.

Nia Jax vs. Ann Esposito: According to Squared Circle Sirens, Jax’s opponent is Monica Passeri. She’s from Italy and hosted WWE Afterburn in the country. She recently moved to the US, and has been training with Harley Race for the last few months. Esposito landed some kicks and went for a sleeper, getting in more than anyone else so far, but this only angered Jax he tossed her around and then hit repeated ass attacks in the corner. Jax hit a powerslam for the win. Squashy, Squash, Squash, Squash, Squash.

The Anderson and Gallows Comedy Hour: They did more retirement humor for the old farts home. They brought out the “Old Day,” which were old versions of the New Day. Scooters, walkers and super slow New Day music. Old jokes, poop jokes, broken hip jokes; they hit all of the sour notes. New Day then arrived and made jokes and said that there could be a time paradox. They threatened to beat up Anderson and Gallows, they ran and then New and Old Day danced. Old Day attacked, or tried to, leading to New Day kicking their ass. This was horrible TV, the dirt fucking worst and this has quickly become the worst feud of the year. Someone thought that this was a great idea for the top of the hour segment. I wonder who that was…

– Well the show was going pretty good until that segment.

Darren Young vs. Jinder Mahal: Mahal is already getting the “jobber in the ring” entrance. Titus is on commentary, because this feud has to keep living. Young attacked and controlled early, Mahal cut him off and worked a short heat as Titus buried Young on commentary. This had no heat as Titus said repeatedly that Darren Young was never great and that he carried him. Titus made his way to the ring, Young won with the gut check in a completely nothing match that only serves to keep this feud going. Post match Young attacked Titus, they kept fighting and no one cared. I take it back, this may be the worst feud of the year; at least people care about New Day.

– Alicia Fox came from checking on Ann Esposito. Nia Jax arrived and reminded Fox that this is not a reality show. Fox then went crazy and threw shit (Kevin Dunn says bitches be crazy!), and Jax shoved her away and left. That was way over acted, but using Fox’s friend Esposito to get Nia to her first real feud works well.

Braun Strowman vs. Sin Cara: Sin Cara is challenging Strowman, because Strowman ripped off Amrico’s mask last week. He even got to explain that in a short interview. Like the Jax booking, it makes good sense to get Strowman to the next level of competition. Strowman dominated, Cara was able to survive early and got in way more than the jobbers thus far. They brawled on the floor, Strowman sold poorly for Cara and then slammed him to the barricade and scored the count out win. Post match Strowman kicked his ass some more and demanded that he stay out of his ring. Unless they are doing another match, Strowman should have really just pinned him here. This felt awkwardly put together and was the least effective of Strowman’s outings.

Sasha Banks Talks: Banks said that there is always an end to a story, and that he Universal had been looking for a revolution. She put over the past lades, and then discussed Stephanie announcing the new revolution. She said that she steps into the ring for all of the little girls and for everyone that dreams of being more. Being in this ring means everything to her, and she was pushed beyond her limit at Summerslam. She met with doctors earlier today, and she has bad news, but before she could tells us what it was Dana Brooke arrived and promised to finish what Charlotte started. Sasha had no time for that and hit the Banks statement and said that the bad news was for Charlotte, because she’s taking the title back at Clash of Champions. So are we getting a three way at Clash of Champions since Bayley was basically set as the challenger and also beat Charlotte? Not sure I like then rushing to that triple threat so soon. Another thing to consider, was she really that bad off that they had to take the title off of her? She’s already back, but there was a concern so they took the title off of her and rushed Bayley up to replace her, and now are seemingly rushing the triple threat. You have to wonder if they got bad info or if there was some miscommunication from the medical staff because this went from “oh my God she’s going to be gone for six-months and we need Bayley” to “Oh hey, Sasha’s totally ok and back!” I am also not a big fan of the fake retirement swerve, which is what they tried to do here. Between the fact that to pull it off you have to do it masterfully (Mark Henry) and that we’ve seen some real ones (Edge and Bryan) it’s not something to just throw out there. But with that being said, Sasha did well with the promo.

Non-Title Match: Universal Champion Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn: Crazy fists to begin, because these two are destined to do this forever. They brawled to the floor, where Zayn hit a moonsault off the barricade and we went to the break. Post break, Owens worked the heat, tossing Zayn gut first to the ropes and then hitting the running senton for 2. Owens slapped Zayn around, which fired him up. He tossed Owens to the floor and followed with the big dive. Owens tried to stay away from Zayn, but Zayn followed and hit another dive to the floor. Blue thunder bomb follows in the ring, and Zayn scored a near fall. Owens fought off the half nelson suplex, but Zayn hit the XPLODER in the corner. Owens drops to the apron to avoid the helluva kick, Zayn followed and they battled on the apron. Zayn avoided the DVD, but got stunned on the ropes and Owens then hit a lariat and cannonball. The pop up powerbomb was countered and Zayn hit the half nelson suplex for the near fall. Owens was able to counter the lucha arm drag, and Zayn landed badly and sold the previously injured ankle. He begged the ref not to stop it, Owens went to the floor but ate another half nelson suplex on the floor. Zayn managed to roll him back into the ring, set and went for the helluva, but was slowed due to the ankle and ate a superkick and then a powerbomb, allowing Owens to win. A very good match between these two, which is expected. The booking was good, as Owens gets a clean win, while Zayn saves face with the previously established ankle injury.

– Post match, Roman Reigns arrived. Owens bailed to the apron and then Chris Jericho arrived. Before anything could happen, Mick Foley arrived and made Owens and Reigns for next week, if Reigns wins, he gets added to the Clash of Champions triple threat. Reigns then laid out Jericho with the spear as Owens bailed.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Mama says these my magic shoes. Mama said they would take me anywhere…”

5.0

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

While we had some quality wrestling and build towards the PPV, this was an odd show. The first two hours were pretty strong, but the third hour was largely bad with the Anderson and Gallows comedy hour followed by Titus and Young still being a thing and the awkward Strowman squash. The overall booking felt very odd to me, giving away Bayley vs. Charlotte with no build, doing Zayn vs. Owens so soon, and also involving Reigns possibly in the title program. While it makes sense on one hand due to last week, and I know Rusev is away on vacation, I hope that they did not drop that already because that would make no sense. Hopefully that gets resolved next week. Add into the equation that Enzo and Cass lost to one of the coldest acts on the roster, Rollins didn’t exactly feel like a face and that the major story is revolving around whether or not Stephanie is telling the truth and this felt like a very messy effort to me. It had good points, but felt way too unfocused to me.