After the horrible season finale from last week, which I didn't bother with making my usual post, Monday Night RAW returned with a SEASON PREMIERE, kicked off by The Authority in best-for-business mode. They made a historic announcement for tonight; for the first time ever, Sting was going to have a match against... Big Show! They started things off with a tag team title match with The New Day vs Prime Time Players. Seriously, what a way to kickstart the show with The New Day getting HHH and Stephanie to dance alongside with them... before going to a commercial break. Godammit.
The New Day vs Primetime Players - Winners: The New Day
The New Day have been so ridiculously entertaining ever since their heel turn that the rest of the tag team division literally pales in comparison. The fans are now cheering for them as they use both "New Day Rocks" and "New Day Sucks" chants. The PTP put on a good match but it seemed obvious that New Day would retain their title just so they could have a match against the Dudley Boyz at Night of Champions.
Paige vs Sasha Banks - Winner: Sasha Banks
This was actually a very brutal match to watch between 2 former NXT Women's Champs. They weren't just wrestling for the sake of being in a match; it felt like they had a grudge with each other and it really showed. At one point, I thought Sasha might've gotten injured and thankfully she wasn't, she does a good job of selling it. The one thing that irks me is that Charlotte is being made as the face of the Divas Revolution when Sasha Banks was responsible for the best NXT Women's Championship matches with Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Bayley in the specials. Yeah, Charlotte is the daughter of Ric Flair. Sasha has been a wrestler much longer than she has, and she didn't use Snoop Dogg to help get her name out there.
MizTV segment with The Wyatt Family
Miz kicked off the season premiere for his show as he called out the Wyatt Family to be his guests. Wyatt was somewhat kind enough to warn Miz about doing this segment with them. Miz assured him that he was not Ambrose and Reigns' mysterious partner for this Sunday's Hell in A Cell. That's right, he said Hell In A Cell. The segment was cut short when the Ambrose and Reigns appeared and entered through the crowd (SHIELD FEELS). Ambrose immediately took out Miz (I loved how Ambrose randomly did this instead of simply scaring Miz off) while Reigns talked down Wyatt. Reigns confirms that they have found a third partner but they won't reveal it til Sunday.
This is probably the most talked about aspect of this feud since Strowman's debut. Who did Ambrose and Reigns choose and how did they convince him to join them in their war? Last week, the Wyatt Family targeted Orton for simply being seen talking to them, and on Smack Down, they went after Jimmy Uso (who was delightful in a backstage segment). I'm glad they're holding off on revealing it this week, although Ambrose might've accidentally spilled the beans to Jojo and said Savio Vega.
I skipped the Cena vs Sheamus match. Guess who won? LOLCENAWINS
Kevin Owens and Ryback Promo
Oh Ryback. He's one of the wrestlers that I can like or dislike, depending on how he presents himself. Last week, in a backstage segment with Renee Young, he did a bad promo where he was clearly reading off of cue cards. This week, he did a bad Elvis impersonation (ironic considering he's from Vegas). Kevin Owens came out holding the book that Ryback has constantly attributed to his newfound positive attitude and said he was pathetic for relying on the book. I'm not really happy with the buildup for this feud, especially since they separated Owens and Cesaro, and I'm not convinced that Ryback and Owens have beef with each other. Still, seeing Owens going for another title looks and being a condescending jerk about it is the only good thing coming out of their match for Sunday.
Stardust and The Cosmic Wasteland briefly brawled with Neville and the Lucha Dragons. Then it was revealed that they were going to be the kickoff match before Night of Champions. Godammit.
Charlotte vs Nikki Bella - Winner: Charlotte (via DQ)
Charlotte put on an amazing match against Nikki until Alicia Fox interfered. Charlotte went and pinned Nikki and was declared a Divas champion. Even her father came down the ramp to congratulate her, until the camera cut away to what was happening outside the ring. Charlotte pinned Brie, not Nikki. GODAMMIT NOT THIS TWIN MAGIC SHIT AGAIN. And then Stephanie had the fucking balls to come out and said that she had to uphold the integrity of the Divas division and confirm that Charlotte only won via disqualification and the title can't change hands due to that. Charlotte has a rematch for Night of Champions and Stephanie affirmed that if Nikki loses in any way, even via disqualification, Charlotte will be the Divas champ. So Nikki got to beat AJ Lee's record and retained her title. The crowd was very pissed with this outcome but it was clearly an incentive to watch this Sunday.
Rusev vs Cesaro - Winner: Cesaro
This felt like a throwaway, at least storyline wise, but these two put on an impressive match. It was nice to see CESARO SECTION signs though, and Cesaro was happy to see it too. The match ended quickly when Dolph Ziggler showed up and tried to give Summer Rae a small gift box, which she kept refusing. This distracted Rusev long enough for Cesaro to pin him and win... then Ziggler comes in and superkicks Rusev in the head. Seriously, who's the heel or face in this feud? Also, worth noting was Summer Rae secretly holding the gift box behind her as she walked Rusev back up the ramp. I don't know where they're going with this storyline and I want this to end already.
Big Show and Seth Rollins vs Sting and John Cena - Winners: LOLCENASTINGWINS
The main event match was Sting vs Big Show, which turned into tag team match when Seth Rollins interfered and ganged up on Sting, and then John Cena ran out to help Sting. I skipped watching the match because I knew how this was going to play out. At almost every go home show, Rollins is made to look stupid, bad, or weak before his PPV match. And that is exactly what happened as John Cena and Sting won the match. Of course, they need the crowd to go home happy.
Overall, despite a few great matches for the go-home show, I'm still not really excited for Night of Champions. I'm not even excited for either of Rollins' matches; I wouldn't care if he won or lost because it'll never be a clean for him. There will be shenanigans, someone interfering, or worse, fucking Sheamus cashing in.
Actually, I take that back; Rollins matches are actually depending on the outcome of ROH's Jay Lethal matches with Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reily, respectively, at the All Star Extravaganza VII PPV this Friday. Yes, he is also doing both matches with both titles on the line, a mere 2 days before Night of Champions. It's an unfortunate coincidence and WWE is rumored to have different plans for the finish to make sure they don't appear to be copying their ending.
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