wrestling / TV Reports
Cook’s WWE Raw Review 2.9.26
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...Hey kids! Steve Cook here with you for the latest episode of WWE Raw on Netflix. After two weeks of family functions that required my attention, I’m back on a Monday night to give y’all some good times. We’ve got a tag team championship match, a grudge match and the first qualifying matches for the upcoming Elimination Chamber extravaganza. All sorts of stuff going on, let’s dive in!
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Cook’s WWE Raw Review 2.9.26
Then. Now. Forever. Together!
Raw is in Cleveland, Ohio! CM Punk is WALKING UP TO AJ LEE! Becky Lynch sees them and runs off. Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY are SITTING AND TALKING! Liv Morgan is THROWING DARTS while the Judgment Day STANDS AROUND. Michael Cole & Corey Graves are our hosts, and inform us that Bron Breakker is injured and will be out of action indefinitely. He doesn’t elaborate on what the injury is.
Becky Lynch’s music hits! The Women’s Intercontinental Champion grabs a microphone and throws her jacket off. There is only so much disrespect that one woman can take. Becky came out here with a big announcement to make to address the robbery at the Royal Rumble, but who does she see at her show? The fans chant for AJ, and AJ Lee skips to the ring to her music. LET’S LIGHT IT UP!
Becky asks AJ what she’s doing here on her show. AJ isn’t here for Becky, she’s here to support Maxxine for her match tonight, then hang out in catering. Becky says AJ’s not cute, she’s like a little chiuhuauha that keeps barking & yapping & ruining her life. AJ says she hasn’t done anything to ruin Becky’s life other than beat her at Wrestlepalooza & War Games, then she cost Becky her title. Water under the bridge? Becky claims there’s no water and no bridge, and wants to know what it’ll take to get rid of AJ. Becky offers a challenge for Elimination Chamber in Chicago, and to ruin her life like AJ’s ruined Becky’s. AJ says Becky is either having a nervous breakdown or wants a singles match. AJ’s flattered because she hasn’t had a singles match in over a decade and it’d have to be really special and worth it. Becky is one of the greatest of all time, so if AJ beats her what does that make AJ? AJ thinks she’s the #1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship. Becky says no, the fans say yes. Becky says she’s not on the roster, so no title shot. AJ says no title shot, no match, and Becky gives in. Becky says if she thought the man held her down before the first time she left, she hasn’t seen anything yet. Becky welcomes AJ to the big time.
The Vision walk past the camera. Jimmy & Jey Uso make their way to the ring for the yeeting.
World Tag Team Championship Match: Jimmy & Jey Uso (c) vs. Alpha Academy (Akira Tozawa & Otis): Otis & Tozawa got to win a match while I was away? Wasn’t really expecting that one. Jey & Otis start us off. Otis wins the test of strength. Jey with a headlock, Otis gets out and throws him down. Shoulder tackle by Otis, tag to Tozawa. Tozawa with a dropkick to Jey’s back for two. Jimmy tags in and hits Tozawa from behind. Jimmy runs into a boot in the corner, Jimmy gets ranaed. Twisting kick knocks Jimmy down for two. Tozawa kicks Jey when he enters the ring, he wants to do a dive, so Otis military presses him onto the Usos on the floor. We go to commercial!
Tozawa hits a DDT on Jey as we return and may have a chance to tag Otis. The cameraman running around the ring is giving me motion sickness as Otis & Jimmy tag in! Funky backdrop by Otis on Jimmy. Otis runs into a boot, but catches Jimmy for a World’s Strongest Slam that gets two. Otis splashes Jimmy in the corner, Jey makes the tag while Otis isn’t looking. Otis tries to do the caterpillar, but Jey superkicks him. Tozawa gets superkicked. Otis eats a double and clotheslines both men. Tozawa tags in, hits both Usos with a missile dropkick. Tozawa with two tope suicidas. Two more! Throws Jimmy into the ring, goes up top and hits a senton for two. Otis tags in, picks Jimmy up, Jimmy slips out, Tozawa misses off top and gets superkicked. Otis misses in the corner, superkick then a double spear. 1D ends the match.
Winners: Jimmy & Jey Uso (6:58 shown via pinfall)
Match Rating: **3/4
I enjoyed this! Otis & Tozawa could probably be a really good team that could be taken seriously if we hadn’t seen them do absolutely nothing for years prior. It’s a shame because there’s talent there.
The Usos show Tozawa & Otis respect afterward. Byron Saxton joins the Usos in the ring for an interview. He congratulates them and asks what’s next. Jey gives big respect to Tozawa & Otis. Jimmy says they’ll remain the best tag team in the game, but he needs Jey to go ahead, qualify and win the Elimination Chamber. Jimmy asks if the fans are down with that and they yeet.
Cole & Graves talk about the similarity in Graves & Saxton’s suits tonight, then we see a recap of Roman Reigns challenging CM Punk. That was fun! After the video, Cole tells us that he’ll have an in-ring interview with Punk later tonight.
Liv Morgan & “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio make their way to the ring. We’ll hear from them next!
We see clips from last week of Raquel Rodriguez losing her match with Stephanie Vaquer, then Liv attacking Stephanie afterward. Dom has some roses & chocolate for the greatest Royal Rumble winner of all time! How smooth! Liv says the fans could learn a thing or two from him. Liv says Cleveland is in the presence of the greatest Intercontinental Champion & greatest Royal Rumble winner of all time. Is it just me or do we have too many people doing that gimmick? Last week, Liv put Stephanie & Jade Cargill on notice, one of them will be losing to her at WrestleMania. Something else was about to be said, then Stephanie Vaquer’s music hit, she came out and I don’t really know what to say about it that won’t get us kicked off the Internet. Yowie wowie.
Stephanie says that Liv TALKS TOO MUCH. Stephanie speaks some Spanish. Dominik doesn’t want to tell Liv what Stephanie said, and responds to Stephanie in Spanish. Stephanie says Dom said he’s a little bitch. Liv says Stephanie isn’t qualified to wear her “Hot Girls Love Dominik Mysterio” t-shirt. Stephanie hopes Liv picks her so she can kick her ass at WrestleMania. Liv calls Stephanie “punta”, which gets Dom a slap. Stephanie leaves as Liv consoles Dom.
Rhea Ripley’s gotten used to having someone in her corner, but tonight she’s all alone against two young and rising wrestlers. Ivy Nile says she was trained for the Elimination Chamber. Lyra Valkyria says that she’ll put herself back on the road to WrestleMania. Rhea says she’s the only one that can survive the Chamber.
Elimination Chamber Triple Threat Qualifying Match: Rhea Ripley vs. Lyra Valkyria vs. Ivy Nile: Ivy & Rhea go at it to start, Ivy with a forearm, she jumps into a dropkick by Rhea. Lyra with a small package on Rhea for two. Some back & forth between Lyra & Rhea before Ivy suplexes both of them. Rhea jumps over the steps and gets Ivy in an electric chair before dropping her on the apron. Lyra dives toward Rhea and ranas her to the floor. We go to commercial!
Rhea headbutts Ivy into the tree of woe. Lyra runs into Ivy, then climbs up top with Rhea. Lyra goes for the superplex, Ivy grabs Lyra’s waist and turns it into a German suplex to the mat. Bodies fly everywhere. Ivy with some kicks in the corner, Rhea clotheslines her down twice, plants Ivy down and dropkicks her. Lyra rolls Rhea up for two. Both miss kicks, Rhea gets Lyra up and dumps her. I think Ivy was supposed to hit a bulldog but was too late. Ivy suplexes Rhea onto Lyra and covers for two. Lyra reverses the stalling suplex into a rollup. Ivy assists Lyra with the DDT on Rhea, then tosses Lyra out so she can cover for two. Ivy hits Lyra with a urinaki for two, then goes for a dragon clutch. Rhea breaks it up, goes for Riptide on Ivy but Ivy hits a backstabber. Lyra hits a Nightwing on Ivy, Rhea breaks up the count. Riptide on Lyra gets the three count!
Winner: Rhea Ripley (6:27 shown via pinfall)
Match Rating: **1/2
Ivy & Lyra tried real hard, but everyone in the arena and everyone watching on Netflix knew who was winning this one. Rhea’s star power was just on a completely different level here compared to her opponents, hopefully they impressed some folks tonight.
Rhea joins Tiffany Stratton in the Chamber match, with four spots still to be decided. Cody Rhodes, Jacob Fatu & Sami Zayn will meet on Friday night in another qualifying match.
Back in the Judgment Day locker room, Raquel suggests that Dominik talk to Finn Balor since he’s all in a bad mood. Dominik tells Finn Balor that everything will be ok since JD will be back soon and they can go after the tag titles. Finn isn’t done with CM Punk. Dom says that Punk & Roman Reigns is kind of the thing right now, and Finn says he’s tired of being an afterthought.
Michael Cole is in the ring for his special interview, but Finn Balor slides in the ring and grabs the microphone. He reminds us that he left CM Punk laying two weeks ago. He’s the one that hurt Punk, so he’s not going to step aside and let Roman Reigns take advantage of his kill. It wouldn’t be the first time, happened the last time they faced each other. Finn’s tired of being an afterthought and being pushed around. He wants Punk at Elimination Chamber. Punk beat him on his home turf, so Finn’s going to beat him on his. Adam Pearce comes out with some security and explains that Finn had his shot, it passed. Pearce asks Finn to leave the ring and let Cole do his interview, or he’ll have his men escort him out of here.
CM Punk’s music hits! He yells at Pearce to let Finn stay, Finn slides out of the ring and mounts the announce table when Punk slides in. Pearce tells everybody to relax. Punk says Finn’s the first thought, but doesn’t deserve a title shot, he deserves an assbeating instead. Finn tells Punk to put the title on the line and he’ll finish what he started. Punk offers to put the title on the line right now! He’ll beat his ass in Cleveland, or in Chicago! Pearce says he’s not putting the WrestleMania main event in jeopardy. Punk says he’ll spend the rest of this show chasing Finn around and kicking his ass if Pearce won’t make the match. Pearce gives in and makes the match for Elimination Chamber. Finn leaves with security following him through the crowd.
Punk looks at Michael Cole and invites him to ask a question. Cole asks Punk what he’s doing. Why would he jeopardize one of the greatest main events in WrestleMania history for that? Punk isn’t jeopardizing anything, he’s building something. He’s chasing greatness. He’s been the fighting champion these people deserve to see every single Monday night. Ten years ago he held the title for 434 days, and he wants to be 1% better every day. Punk’s brave enough to know that without risk there’s no reward. He loves the people, and he’s humble enough to know it can end any night in any city. He’s also confident enough to know that shit ain’t gonna happen. Punk doesn’t believe that Roman hates him. He hates that he knows that he can’t do a damn thing to stop it. The ring announcer will proclaim Punk the winner at the end. Punk shakes Cole’s hand and tells the cameraman they’ll pry the title from his cold, dead fingers.
Adam Pearce is joined by Paul Heyman & the Vision. Pearce is more worthy an adversary than Heyman thought. Bron Breakker’s surgery would be career ending surgery for anyone except Bron, and Pearce is to blame for it. Pearce says he wants Bron back too, but let’s concentrate on tonight. Theory has a Chamber qualifying match, and Pearce doesn’t want the Vision interfering. Heyman says that Pearce told them to FAFO. Logan asks Pearce what he’ll do about it. Logan’s the biggest star there. Bronson tells Logan to let it go, and that Pearce will be his problem to deal with.
Maxxine Dupri vs. Nattie: Student vs. teacher here, the student goes right for the ankle lock and Nattie gets out of it. Maxxine with a spin kick, and Nattie goes outside. Maxxine goes for the ankle lock and Nattie kicks her into the steps. Maxxine gets sent into the ringpost, and then the announce table. Nattie clears the table and flapjacks Maxxine onto it. Meanwhile, the referee counts both women out.
Winner: Nobody (1:36 via double countout)
Match Rating: N/A
They wanted Nattie to get the upper hand but not have Maxxine lose the first match between them. I didn’t love the match, but I get what they were going for. Maxxine’s been getting the rub from a lot of veterans here, hopefully it goes well.
Nattie locks in the Sharpshooter on the announce desk. AJ Lee’s music hits! AJ runs down and Nattie breaks the hold before exiting. AJ checks on the crying Maxxine, she and a referee take her to the back until Becky hits AJ from behind!
LA Knight sees the Vision everywhere. They put him on the shelf a couple of months ago and he had to sit at home. He eliminated some of them from the Royal Rumble, but he wants to do more. Theory is gonna get got tonight. LA doesn’t seem to know that Penta’s in the match too.
Je’Von Evans & Original El Grande Americano vs. Rayo & Bravo Americano (w/El Grande Americano): Original is a face here and a heel in AAA, while El Grande is a heel here and a face in AAA. You can tell since Original wears the red, white & blue while El Grande has taken to wearing the red, white & green. Rayo & Evans start, Evans evades some moves and hits a dropkick. Modified cutter by Evans, then a jumping forearm on Bravo. Original makes the tag, but Evans gets tripped and pulled outside. They take Evans down on the floor, then Original dives onto them off the top rope in the ring. Double clotheslines over the top, then the ropes are shook by Original & Evans.. We go to commercial!
Evans hits a springboard twisting senton as we return. Original tags in and goes to town on Rayo with suplexes. Bravo gets backdropped & Original dumps Rayo on his head. Original suplexes both Americanos. Ankle lock on Rayo, he sends Original into the corner. Evewns tags in and dives onto Bravo. Rayo gets dropped with the Red Dot. Rayo headbutts Evans, who falls off the apron. Original goes up top, El Grande tosses him off! Bravo goes up top, he dives right into an OG cutter! Evans caught him from the opposite side of the ring! Evans dives onto Rayo on the floor! Original hits the top rope headbutt for three!
Winners: Je’Von Evans & Original El Grande Americano (5:11 shown via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***
Evans really does some crazy stuff, doesn’t he? Hopefully his health holds out, because dude’s just too fun to watch. The Americanos angle is tying AAA to this show, so at least that part’s kinda nice.
El Grande breaks up the celebration by attacking Original & Evans. Grande goes for the mask, but Original shuts him down and tries the same thing! Rayo & Bravo drag Grande out of the ring.
Cole & Graves hype SmackDown on SyFy and throw us to a video hyping the second qualifying match. Penta, LA Knight & Austin Theory all think they’re winning and main eventing WrestleMania.
Oba Femi talks about how people fear change. People that don’t adapt perish. For a long time people have been talking about change, but change is actually here. We’ll hear his drums, see his strut, and know the deed is done.
Last week, Gunther bragged about retiring AJ Styles, so Dragon Lee ran down and got choked out like MJF later did. Byron Saxton talks to Gunther. Gunther doesn’t care about Dragon Lee, his focus is on WrestleMania. His road to WrestleMania should have been cemented when he beat Goldberg, John Cena & AJ Styles. Instead, it starts next week. He’ll walk out of WrestleMania the new WWE Champion.
Next week: Je’Von Evans vs. Gunther vs. Dominik Mysterio! Bayley vs. Asuka vs. Nattie! AJ Lee Live! Memphis! Wonder if the King will drop by and say hi to AJ.
Elimination Chamber Triple Threat Qualifying Match: Penta vs. LA Knight vs. Austin Theory (w/Paul Heyman): Penta & LA stomp on Theory early. Penta hits the handstand into the dropkick, LA hits the Panic attack for two. Theory gets dumped outside, LA & Penta decide its time to go at it. Standing switches, off the ropes, LA with a knee. Penta hits a rana, Knight goes outside. Penta dives onto LA! Back in the ring, Penta with forearms. Theory drags Penta out of the ring, rolls into a dropkick on LA. Theory sends Penta into the steps. We go to commercial!
Knight with some Yeah punches, then hits the neckbreaker for two. Penta back in, Theory with a chinbreaker. Penta sends Theory over the top, dropkicks LA off the apron. Theory brainbusts Penta for two. Theory misses in the corner, Penta with some strikes. Theory boots Penta down. Spinbuster by Theory gets two. Knight hits a shoulderblock and sends Theory to the floor. LA bounces Theory’s head off the announce table a few times. Penta gets similar treatment. LA tosses Theory into the ring, but he gets sent into the turnbuckle. Theory gets back suplexed when he tries a roll into a dropkick. Penta cross-bodies both and hits some kicks. Sling blade on LA, enziguri to Theory. Backstabber on Theory, cover gets two when Knight breaks it up. Penta up top, LA sets him up for a superplex, gets knocked off. Theory goes up top and gets knocked off. LA jumps up top for the suplerplex, Theory turns it into a tower of doom scenario and gets two on Knight. Theroy misses the stomp and gets Slop Dropped by Knight. The Yeah springboard elbow is hit, then Logan Paul & Bronson Reed run down! LA knocks Logan down but Bronson runs him over. Bronson rolls him into the ring, hits the TSUNAMI! Adam Pearce & security are out to escort Bronson & Logan from the ring. Theory stomps Knight, but Penta breaks it up! Penta gets backdropped onto the announce table! A masked man has arrived, and he superkicks & stomps Theory! Logan chases him through the crowd! BFT to Theory back in the ring, and YEAH that gets the three count!
Winner:LA Knight (11:09 shown via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***
Some good action here, fans were into it and were all about Knight getting the win and moving onto the Chamber. I think people would like to think that Knight has a chance of winning that match, but the jury’s still out there. He’s showing plenty of intensity.
Heyman & Pearce yell at each other. Heyman didn’t get involved! LA celebrates while they continue looking at each other. LA talks some smack to the cameraman, then we pay tribute to longtime WWE employee Jim Shank as our live event comes to an end. So long for now!
If you’d like to chime in with your own thoughts on today’s show, feel free to join your fellow 411 Maniacs down in the comment section! As the legendary Larry Csonka always said: Have fun and don’t be a dick. When I’m not here you can catch me on the social media from time to time.
