The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly of WWE RAW 09.30.19

This is a going to be a massive week for wrestling fans. A Raw season premiere, Total Divas starring Ronda Rousey, a dynamite debut for AEW on TNT Wednesday night, NXT going live for two hours on USA Network, the much anticipated Smackdown Live-FOX event and then the Heck on a Deck pay-per-view this Sunday! Geez, that is not even counting the followup next week and the WWE Draft. Wow. So much to decipher. Until we get to all of that though, let’s break down tonight’s WWE Raw live from Phoenix, Arizona…

WWE RAW Review 09.30.19

THE GOOD: New Stage, New Music, & New Commentary Team – To kick off this historic week in WWE, we were treated to a fresh look for the red brand. I enjoyed the opening music. I honestly wasn’t a fan of the previous theme. The new commentary team is kinda meh to me. I can give them time to grow into the spot, but early signs are not positive. I DO applaud the company for the idea though. Get some new blood out there to show viewers you are serious about change. Last but not least, we had a new set. With pyro! Truth be told, fireworks are not really my deal so whatever. Some entrances are indeed much cooler with the added effect. However, on the whole, I never even cared all that much when pyro went away. As for the stage itself, looks slick!

THE GOOD: Brock Lesnar Destroys A Family – Poor Rey Mysterio. My brother in law was tuning into his first Raw in forever just to watch his favorite (Mysterio) compete for the Universal Champion. Ouch. Then there is Dominick. By the way, WWE has spelled his name ‘Dominic’ and ‘Dominick’ in recent years. Regardless, Brock Lesnar is not the sappy type and broke up this lovefest in a hurry. A couple of devastating F-5s for Rey and a couple brutal suplexes to Dominick. A very convincing beat down and one that instantly hooked all of us. I say this every time Brock Lesnar does a segment like this, but here it is again – NOBODY on the roster can do what he does. Not a single person on the planet brings that same aura. Great opening and a nice reminder that Lesnar gets a WWE Championship bout this Friday night on FOX against Kofi Kingston.

THE BAD: Sasha Banks VS Alexa Bliss – I was cool with the Becky Lynch entrance and commentary she provided. As short as it was, at least it was build for the PPV on Sunday. Sadly, I can not say the same for the match. Sasha and Bliss never got going, was interrupted by a commercial break and then had an abrupt end. Blah. Becky and Sasha is the story anyways, and there post-match brawl was fine. Tough match to call on Sunday night. If Becky loses, does that mean Seth Rollins also loses his Universal Title to keep them on the same brand? On the flip side, does Sasha Banks lose so she can travel with Bayley who will surely still be Smackdown Womens Champion? I have no idea how this all shakes out. Unpredictability ahead of the WWE Draft!

THE GOOD: The Rock Returning – Chalk up another point for me from my January 2019 BOLD predictions for the year ahead. I had The Rock coming back to WWE and boom, the FOX premiere for Smackdown Live was the best place for that. Oh and just last week on the 411 Foresight Wrestling Podcast also! If you are still not listening, you are missing out. We all know he created the catchphrase, and it is HIS show. Really though, he was needed because we had just seen Stone Cold, Hulk Hogan, Bill Goldberg, Trish Stratus and others. Those are the big names advertised for Smackdown Live this Friday. All well and good…but…we just saw them in recent months. I suppose Sting will be coo, but he has zero history with the blue brand. The Rock was 100% the first priority to have show up, and it’s happening. FINALLY.

THE GOOD: Raw Tag Team Titles – I know the Wild Card Rule is officially a joke and a thing of the past, but this matchup and backstory made no sense. I don’t know who is on what roster anymore. I truly hope we get some stability after the Heck on a Deck PPV and moving forward. The bell to bell action was solid. Nothing to write home about. Predictable finish with Otis getting the crowd pumped up but ol’ Tucky Tucky taking the pin fall loss. Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode remain RAW Tag Team Champions. It was fine, just barely making the GOOD section here.

THE GOOD: Team Hogan VS Team Flair – MizTV certainly brought the goods this week. Hulk Hogan as kept in line pretty good with Jimmy Hart nearby. Ric Flair? Well, I’m not sure what he was doing, but him with a live mic is always a risk. The Miz did his best to keep him on track, but that is an impossible mission sometimes. Eventually, we got to the point. At the next Saudi Arabia show, it will be Team Hogan vs. Team Flair! No, those two will not actually be competing, thank goodness. Seth Rollins will captain Team Hogan, along with Rusev (I think?). On the other side will be Randy Orton as captain with King Corbin. My one negative is that Rollins is surely being spread thin. Makes me wonder if his time on Raw is coming to an end or not. He is EVERYWHERE. Minus the Flair rambling early on during the promo, this was fun. The live crowd in Phoenix enjoyed it. What I would have enjoyed more is Rusev returning with this segment and not two weeks ago with that nonsense. Of course, the easy answer is that Maria was just saying the father of her baby was Rusev to have him wreck Mike Kanellis. Like she said Ricochet was the father. Same idea. I know trying to make sense of this all is pointless. My bad.

THE UGLY: Viking Raiders VS The OC – Only because this went on for far too long and accomplished nothing. These two teams should never wrestle each other again. Completely brought the audience back down. Hopefully Rusev’s mustache can get Phoenix rising again…

THE GOOD: Ricochet VS Cesaro – Love the West Coast Pop finish from Ricochet! Cool tribute to Rey Mysterio. A small detail that most would not have caught, if not for the commentators. I liked that. Cesaro and his swiss pants lost, but that is okay. He is not in any position to be moving up the card or thrust into the main event picture. Ricochet always feels like one or two moves away from getting a major spot. Two thumbs up on the quick backstage confrontation and match.

THE GOOD: Firefly Funhouse – I laughed at the “no chocolate” line, and I felt bad for Ramblin’ Rabbit being scared to death. Literally. Outside of that, another strong performance from Bray Wyatt setting the stage for The Fiend. The recent Firefly Funhouse episodes have not been as good as the initial ones, to be clear. The Fiend vs. Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship inside the cell is going to be extremely interesting.

THE GOOD: US Championship Match – Alright, I think it is safe to say the feud is over. AJ Styles has repeatedly defeated Cedric Alexander the past few weeks. Outside of one tiny flub, these two delivered another flawless match. Great job getting me back into the show. The second hour was NOT very enthralling.

THE BAD: The Street Profits – I didn’t mention it before, but the AOP interview was good. Even if it was a (near) repeat of the last two weeks; it served a purpose. The Street Profits yapping backstage for the 385th week in a row is beyond tiresome. I hope Paul Heyman has an actual plan here. They did get around to plugging NXT on Wednesdays, so I won’t label this an UGLY segment. Just bad.

THE BAD: Lacey Evans VS Natalya – No explanation needed.

THE GOOD: Paul Heyman Plays Spoiler – There it is. Paul Heyman did not give us the spoiler of Brock Lesnar beating Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 35. He also skipped that remark before Summerslam. Both signs of his client’s impending doom. Well, guess what happened Monday night? Heyman DID give the spoiler line again. At the same time, I could make a case for Kofi Kingston retaining by DQ. It appears as if Lesnar is going to destroy Kofi and throw him all over the squared circle. The only question is if that leads to an official decision and new champion or somebody interfering to start an issue with The Beast. Smart money says the spoiler from Heyman rings true. We shall see Friday night on FOX.

THE GOOD: Main Event – I don’t have a clue as to what is going on. Rusev is getting a Raw main event match versus Seth Rollins for the Universal Title. Bobby Lashley is making out with Lana! Randy Orton and King Corbin are standing on the stage. Oh, and The Fiend has AGAIN left Rollins laying. That is car crash television booking folks. Um, sure. Let’s see where this goes…

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

The first hour was very good. Even the MizTV segment was fun. From there, it all fell apart with a few positives thrown in. All eyes now shift to Wednesday. Then Friday!