Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 07.09.18

Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 07.09.18

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Nia Jax & Ronda Rousey’s Friend Natalya defeated Alexa Bliss & Mickie James @ 8:08 via pin [**]
– Mojo Rawley defeated No Way Jose @ 4:15 via pin [*½]
– Bo Dallas defeated Matt Hardy @ 8:40 via pin [*]
– Ember Moon defeated Liv Morgan @ 7:57 via pin [**]
– Constable Corbin & Elias defeated Finn Balor & Bobby Roode @ 13:02 via pin [**¼]
– Drew McIntyre defeated Seth Rollins @ 21:05 via pin [***¾]

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– We open with a Reigns/Lashley video package. Reigns walks and meets with Lashley. They exchange pleasantries, and Reigns says he’s going to his ring. Lashley dares him to call him out so that he can tear him apart.

ROMAN TALKS: Roman says after this week he could talk about a whole lot of things, but Lashley fared him to call him out. So he calls out Lashley, and Lashley arrives. Kurt Angle & Constable Corbin arrive, and while Angle wants them to save it for Sunday, they brawl and all of the locker-room goofs arrive to try and separate them. They do but they break free and continue to brawl. Balor attacks Corbin and we get separation again. Lashley then gets to the floor for more brawling. Lashley now starts beating on Roman before they are separated again only for them to brawl again. The goofs take Lashley away until Roman hits the big tope onto the pile for more brawling! This was a very good open, with basically no talking, all action, and a hot crowd for the brawl. I liked that, more of this please.

Alexa Bliss & Mickie James vs. Nia Jax & Ronda Rousey’s Friend Natalya: Jax and James to begin. Natalya tags in and they hit a Hart attack, and then Bliss tags in as Natalya maintains control. Natalya takes James and Bliss to the floor and follows with clotheslines. Post break, and James is in control, working over Natalya. Bliss tags in and Bliss slaps Natalya. She then chokes her out, and grounds things as we get an in screen promo for Extreme Rules. Bliss follows with rights and covers for 2. James tags back in and Natalya fights off the double teams and tags in Jax. She takes over, tossing James around and follows with a head butt and tackle, The press slam follows and then Jax hits the leg drop for the win. Nia Jax & Ronda Rousey’s Friend Natalya defeated Alexa Bliss & Mickie James @ 8:08 via pin [**] This was an ok match with Jax picking up momentum ahead of challenging for the title, the post match was also solid.

-Post match, Bliss attacks with a kendo stock, but Jax recovers and chases her off.

– Backstage, Jax says that she plans to break Bliss on Sunday and take back her championship.

– We get a Braun Strowman/Kevin Owens video package. Kevin meets with Angle and Angle questions why he’s here. Kevin says he’s here to work. Kevin reminds him that he has connections with Stephanie McMahon. He has a doctor’s note and can’t compete tonight, and he plans to hang out with Angle, where he’s safe.

No Way Jose vs. Mojo Rawley: Lets try this again. They lock up, work to the ropes and then trade strikes. Rawley tosses Jose aside, and then hits a pounce for 2. Rawley follows with clubbing strikes and hits a corner spear and toss, covering for 2. He grounds the action, maintaining control, but Jose slowly fires up and escapes. He dumps Rawley, but Rawley is back in and hits a corner splash and clothesline for 2. Rawley again grounds things. Jose fights to his feet, hits elbows and knee strikes and then follows with rights. The clothesline follows for 2. Rawley now cuts him off with an Alabama slam and wins. Mojo Rawley defeated No Way Jose @ 4:15 via pin [*½] This was a bland match, with next to no heat, and a completely flat finish. Moving on please.

– Sasha Banks & Bayley go to counseling. They have a new counselor. Bayley says she always has Sasha’s back, while Sasha is always stabbing her in the back.

– Seth Rollins is backstage and meets with Jinder Mahal, doing his calming gimmick. He wants Rollins to stop burning it down and embrace peace. Rollins considers the advice and asks for help. Mahal starts chanting and Rollins just walks off.

Seth Rollins Promo Time: Rollins plays to the crowd, and says while the fans have given him great nicknames, he’s obsessed by being called the former IC Champion. But he plans to fix that on Sunday at Extreme Rules. He praises Dolph’s skills, but says that the issue is that Dolph will bring his Scottish Wookie with him on Sunday. Drew & Dolph interrupt. Dolph thanks him for the kind words and says they should discuss his greatness more. On Sunday, he’ll bring all of his skills and the IC Title, and will leave with the championship. Drew says that Rollins will still have all of his catchy nicknames. Dolph calls Rollins “kid,” and says he is one of the best on the ring, but he’s no Dolph Ziggler. Dolph says he may win 5-0, 10-0, maybe even 100-0. Rollins calls him delusional, while Dolph says beating him for the title was sweet. Dolph then mocks Rollins and his crosssfit, saying that it doesn’t win matches. Dolph brings up his amateur wrestling record, and Rollins mocks him for Drew always helping him win. Drew says he’s going where he belongs to the top. Rollins says he only goes where Dolph tells him to go and questions why he takes orders. Rollins then teases that Dolph knows his secrets and asks if there are photos of him fucking sheep. This sets up Rollins vs. Drew for later tonight. This was a solid promo segment to help add to the build to Sunday’s PPV, and to set up a potentially great main event. I could have done with out the sheep jokes, it felt lame.

– Axel & Dallas get on their Matt & Bray costumes. Dallas scared Axel by being dressed like Bray, which hopefully leads to Bray actually scaring him during the match.

– The B Team does their impersonation in the ring. Matt and Bray appear on the screen, and say that this is over. Bray says that laughter is contagious, but so is fear. Matt promises to eat and delete them. They appear in the ring and scare off their challengers.

Matt Hardy vs. Bo Dallas: Matt is coming off of two losses to Axel. Matt attacks right away and works over Dallas as the Revival watch on. Matt dumps Dallas to the floor, follows and hits a suplex on the floor. Post break, and Dallas is fighting back as we get another in screen Extreme Rules promo. Matt is still in control, lays in rights and Dallas is down. Dallas is sent to the floor and caught his face on the ropes on the way down, which looked as if it sucked. Matt follows him out, and continues to work over Dallas. Dallas fights back, but back in the ring, Matt hits a side effect. He hits another and celebrates. Matt to the apron, teases a suplex to the floor, but Axel distracts Matt, Wyatt takes Axel out and Dallas hits a draping neck breaker and pins Matt. Bo Dallas defeated Matt Hardy @ 8:40 via pin [*] Matt dominated and then again slipped on a banana peel to take another loss. It would be something if Axel & Dallas were picking up wins in quality matches, but they are presented as comedy goofs who just get lucky, making it hard for me to care. The match felt long and useless, just nothing there to get me engaged in what they were doing.

– Post match, the champions lay out their challengers and stand tall.

– Lashley cuts a promo backstage. He respects everyone (even Sami Zayn), everyone but Reigns. He does like that reigns is willing to fight him, but on Sunday, Reigns won’t walk out. “Believe that.”

– Tyler Breeze tries to help the Riott Squad with their fashion, but they blow him off and rip up his shirts he gave them. In theory, Ruby being out will give Liv & Sarah a chance to shine, but the material they have been given is such shit.

– Sasha Banks & Bayley go to counseling again.

– Commentary talks about Rousey going into the UFC Hall of Fame

– Alexa Bliss says she’s going to end Nia Jax at Extreme Rules and she’s excited Rousey will be there to watch.

Ember Moon vs. Liv Morgan: Moon defeated Morgan last week, so Morgan requested the rematch. Logan is out with Morgan. They lock up, work into some back and forth and Moon takes control. Morgan runs to the floor, Moon follows. In his most interesting commentary bit in years, Coach says that, “Ember Moon only knows how to do things one way; that’s very hard and very fast.” I’m listening caller. Post break, and Morgan takes control and hits a bulldog for 2. Morgan grounds the action, working a Japanese strangle hold. Moon powers to her feet and slams Morgan to the mat to escape. Morgan then avoids the lariat and slams Moon to the mat. Moon then head scissors her to the corner, lays in knee strikes and hits the fall away slam. She takes out Logan, and then cradles Morgan for the win. Ember Moon defeated Liv Morgan @ 7:57 via pin [**] This was ok, but I’m really digging that Moon keeps racking up wins and looking good in her matches.

– Balor is interviewed and Bobby Roode arrives and talks about their great abs, and praises Balor, and says they will be victorious and glorious tonight.

– Angle and Kevin are in Angle’s office and argue. Drew & Dolph arrive, and Angle says if Drew loses, he’s banned from ringside at Extreme Rules.

– Elias arrives to play a tune. He says he’s been recording his debut album and it is because WWE stands for Walk With Elias. He sings and runs down Balor, Roode, & Boston. Corbin comes out and as usual kills the mood with shit mic work.

Finn Balor & Bobby Roode vs. Constable Corbin & Elias: JIP as Corbin and Roode trade strikes. Elias tags in and Roode grounds him. Roode hits a shoulder tackle, and Russian leg sweep for 2. They trade chops, Corbin distracts Roode and that allows Elias to attack. Corbin tags in and starts working over Roode and grounds things. We get ANOTHER in screen promo for Extreme Rules as they work hard to hide bland spots in the matches. Corbin keeps things grounded, Roode slowly fights back, and they work into a double down. Tags to Balor & Elias follow, Balor runs wild and hits a standing double stomp. He dumps Elias and Corbin distracts him allowing Elias to attack. Post break, and Corbin, stop me if you’ve heard this before, has things grounded. He now hits an uppercut and covers for 2. Elias tags in and he again grounds things, making sure to not allow any excitement here. Balor fights to his feet, dumps Elias and Corbin cuts off the tag. Balor hits a desperation sling blade and tags in Roode. He runs wild on Corbin, heads up top and leaps into a chokebreaker by Corbin and Balor makes the save. Balor dumps Elias and follows with an apron PK. Corbin cuts him off, but Roode rolls him up for 2. The blockbuster follows and Elias makes the save. Balor and Corbin brawl on the floor, back in and Corbin crotches Balor, but ten posts himself. Roode hits a spinebuster on Elias, Corbin cuts him off end of days and he picks up the win. Constable Corbin & Elias defeated Finn Balor & Bobby Roode @ 13:02 via pin [**¼] This was an ok match, with a better second half than first and Corbin picking up momentum ahead of the PPV.

– Braun meets with Kevin & Angle, and Angle books them in a cage match for Sunday. Braun says Kevin smells of fear.

– Sasha & Bayley have to report to Angle next week about their counseling sessions.

– Renee interviews Roman. Roman says he wanted to provoke Lashley tonight, he didn’t have any respect for him until tonight. But he’ll need more than fire at Extreme Rules because he has the killer instinct. He’ll beat Lashley on Sunday and “Bob” can be the man, somewhere else.

– Commentary hypes Sunday’s PPV.

Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre: If McIntyre loses, he’s banned from ringside on Sunday. This is McIntyre’s first real opportunity to shine on the main roster in singles action. Dolph is out with McIntyre. They lock up and McIntyre overpowers to begin. Rollins looks to pick up the pace, laying in jabs, but McIntyre quickly cuts him off and hits a shoulder tackle. He now grounds Rollins, working a side headlock. Rollins escapes, hits a dropkick, but McIntyre runs him over with another shoulder tackle. The dead lift suplex by McIntyre then connects for 2. McIntyre follows with chops, Rollins fires back but runs into an overhead belly to belly and McIntyre covers for 2. McIntyre again grounds things, he does so with great aggression, and actually making rest holds look painful unlike so many others. McIntyre lays in more chops now. Rollins fires up, dumps McIntyre, but McIntyre cuts off the suicide dive and slams Rollins to the apron. Get out of here with that bullshit son. Post break, and McIntyre has things grounded again, maintaining control. McIntyre hits another overhead belly to belly, and covers for 2. McIntyre lays in chops, and Rollins is down. McIntyre now starts working the arm, Rollins slowly fights to his feet and hits a jawbreaker. He follows with a flatliner to the buckles and lays in chops and clotheslines. Sling blade follows and McIntyre rolls to the floor. The suicide dive follows and then another. Back in and Rollins hits a springboard clothesline for 2. Rollins looks for a powerbomb, McIntyre fights him off, but Rollins fights back with a blockbuster for 2. Rollins sets, but McIntyre counters blackout and hits the reverse Alabama slam for 2. Rollins gets a roll up for 2, but McIntyre counters back and hits a sitout powerbomb for 2. They workup top now, Rollins slips out and crotches McIntyre. He knocks McIntyre into the tree of WHOA, heads up top, but McIntyre hits an overhead spider suplex. McIntyre then runs into a superkick and Rollins does the deal with a falcon arrow for a good near fall. McIntyre counters the ripcord knee strike with a head butt and that gets another good near fall. McIntyre now takes Rollins up top on his shoulders, but Rollins slips out and hits the buckle bomb and superkick! Rollins up top, Dolph tries to distract him, but Rollins hits the high fly flow anyway for 2. Blackout to Dolph, but McIntyre hits the claymore and picks up the win. Drew McIntyre defeated Seth Rollins @ 21:05 via pin [***¾] This was a very, very good main event and a really strong performance from McIntyre who is more than ready to be more than Dolph’s sidekick. Rollins continues to be the most consistent performer on the main roster, delivering once again. Rollins and Ziggler should be great on Sunday, as they have already delivered on TV and have built a good chemistry.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

~GLORIOUS~

5.5

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

Tonight’s episode of WWE Raw was another below average effort, with a hot opening segment, and a hot main event match. Unfortunately everything else in between just sort of existed, and didn’t offer much in terms of overall entertainment or quality PPV build.