WWE Monday Night Raw, NXT, and Friday Night SmackDown Triple Review Special: 05/06/09 October
Due to me being on holiday this week, I was unable to watch/review Raw, SmackDown, and NXT like I usually would, so ahead of Money in the Bank tonight, I’m doing a special roundup of all three shows from this week! I definitely won’t go into as much detail as I usually would for a single show, but I hope you enjoy either way!
Monday Night Raw: 05/10
This week’s edition of Monday Night Raw kicked off with The Usos trying to give Roman Reigns an update about everything that’s been going on with 946, only for Roman to head down to the ring after LA Knight’s music interrupted them! LA and Roman both fired off shots at one another, with Knight stating that he will leave New Orleans as the brand-new Undisputed WWE Champion! It was then time for the first match of the night as Penta and Je’Von Evans teamed up once again, this time to take on The Vision! This was a fun contest, where Logan Paul made an error with the brass knuckles, opening the door for Evans to nail Austin Theory with them to get the win! Liv Morgan then cut a video promo before Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee’s backstage interview got interrupted by The Judgment Day! Royce Keys and 946’s next target seems to be The Usos, which annoyed Roman Reigns, as Jacob Fatu was supposed to handle them!
We then had another Tag Team match next, as Sol Ruca and Lola Vice teamed up to take on The Judgment Day! Three of the four women in this match are set to compete in the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match, so this was sort of a build-up for that! Interestingly, Roxanne Perez came out victorious here after Lola Vice accidentally nailed Sol Ruca with her MIA Back Fist! Solo Sikoa finally returned to WWE Television, now alongside The Bloodline (why?!), before Ret Fenix went one-on-one with Ethan Page! This was a good match; both of these guys are excellent, with Fenix eventually stealing the win with a surprise roll-up! The Judgment Day were then hanging out in their Clubhouse ahead of Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh teaming up to take on the duo of Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee! To my surprise, McDonagh won this match, nailing Rey Mysterio with a massive headbutt after Big Cass took out Dragon Lee! Becky Lynch would then have her own video promo, whilst Lyra Valkyria’s promo segment got interrupted by Bayley! 946 would then send another warning shot to The Bloodline, whilst Paul Heyman wished Bronson Reed all the best as he seems to be scared of Oba Femi (Heyman, that is)!
The Main Event of this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw saw Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan collide for the right to challenge Stephanie Vaquer for the Women’s World Championship at Money in the Bank! Any match with big stakes is always more interesting, and I genuinely enjoyed this match; I thought it was really good! I will say, though, that there was far too much interference from the rest of The Judgment Day, which Stephanie Vaquer eventually dealt with, only to get taken out herself! Vaquer would then take her anger out on both Liv and Becky, with La Primera standing tall with a Spiral Tap after asking Adam Pearce to book a Triple Threat Match for MITB!
Standouts: Rey Fenix, Ethan Page, and Liv Morgan
NXT: 06/10
After WWE aired a brand-new song and intro for NXT, this week’s edition of NXT kicked off with Lexis King taking on Zilla Fatu! I loved the fact that BirthRight were wearing their new shirt, and yet Charlie Dempsey was still wearing his polo shirt! After Zilla Fatu picked up a rather easy victory, BirthRight attacked him post-match, smashing Fatu’s hand between the steel steps! Dion Lennox would then have a video promo that Cruz Montana wasn’t impressed with in the slightest, as TNA Knockouts World Champion Xia Brookside showed her displeasure at Montana wishing Lizzy Rain good luck! The next match in the NXT Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic was up next, as Hank and Tank took on the Evolve pairing of Shido Ash and Viktor Zanov! This was my first time seeing either Ash or Zanov; I thought they both looked good, with Viktor impressing me in particular! As expected, Hank and Tank scored the win, although there was a good near-fall at one point that made you think they might be about to lose!
After BirthRight wiped out Sean Legacy and Dorian Van Dux in a backstage attack, Grayson Waller came down to the ring to bask in his glory, with both Myles Borne and Tony D’Angelo setting their sights on the NXT Championship! William Regal would then show a warm embrace towards EK Prosper, whilst he also got BirthRight reinstated in the Dusty Cup after putting pressure on Mr. Stone! The next match saw Naraku go one-on-one with Shiloh Hill, and I’ve honestly enjoyed this storyline with the added drama and backstory of the mist! However, Naraku continues to feel very flat, with this match eventually ending in a disqualification after Naraku accidentally spat the blue mist into the referee’s face! Kendal Grey would then have her final therapy session before BirthRight took on The Tokyo Bad Boys in the final First Round match in the 2026 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic! I like The Tokyo Bad Boys; they’re good fun in AAA, whilst it was kind of cool to see Lexis King and Charlie Dempsey teaming up for a change! Unsurprisingly, BirthRight won this match, setting up a Quarter-Final clash with the current AAA World Tag Team Champions, The Wagner Brothers!
After a Myles Borne promo, the Main Event of this week’s edition of NXT saw 20 women from 6 different brands compete in a Battle Royal to determine the new Number 1 Contender for Kelani Jordan’s NXT Women’s Championship! Izzi Dame suffered a shock early elimination at the hands of Zaria, whilst Kali Armstrong recorded multiple key eliminations! It was really cool to see wrestlers from Raw, SmackDown, NXT, AAA, TNA, and Evolve, with La Catalina, Xia Brookside, and Indi Hartwell all getting their own entrance! Despite looking dominant for a while, Reina Volcan was eventually eliminated, with Volcan taking her frustration out on Lady Shani! After Xia and Indi built towards their upcoming TNA Bound For Glory match, the final four then came down to La Catalina, Lizzy Rain, Kali Armstrong, and Kiana James, with Armstrong recording two more eliminations to seemingly score the win, only to get chucked out by Lady Shani! After the match was over, Shani took her mask off to reveal herself as Wren Sinclair, garnering a great reaction as Wren will now challenge Kelani Jordan for the NXT Women’s Title at Halloween Havoc!
Standouts: Kali Armstrong and Wren Sinclair
Friday Night SmackDown: 09/10
After both Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce booked each other’s wrestlers in matches, this week’s edition of Friday Night SmackDown started with CM Punk coming down to the ring to hype up Money in the Bank! Both Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn would eventually interrupt, with Sami reminding everyone that he always finds a way to survive, something Punk and KO should know better than anyone! We then got the opening match of the night as Team Raw faced Team SmackDown in a small preview of this weekend’s Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match! Sol Ruca, Lola Vice, and Roxanne Perez didn’t work particularly well together (at least with Roxanne), whilst Jacy Jayne, Lash Legend, and Tiffany Stratton actually did a pretty decent job! After Sol accidentally caught Lola with a Sol Snatcher (in a reverse of the finish from Raw), Lash Legend dropped Ruca with a Lash Extension to get the win! Legend would then take out both Jayne and Stratton after the match, meaning she’s definitely not winning tonight!
Chelsea Green and Nikki Bella got into more words of war backstage, whilst Jade Cargill, B-Fab, and Michin took out Charlotte Flair! Nick Aldis would then have to call an audible by picking Alexa Bliss as Tatum Paxley’s Tag Team partner, before MFT faced The War Raiders! Despite the arrival of Bakusai, Tama and Talla Tonga were able to come out victorious, before Danhausen was informed that he would have to face Gunther later tonight! I did like the fact that Danhausen’s evil meter went crazy when scanning Finn Balor; that was funny! The Miz was then getting annoyed over not getting a Birthday Celebration, whilst Randy Orton told Aldis that he was more than happy to leave to make his show run smoother! Miz and Kit Wilson would then hijack the show, only to get dropped by Cody Rhodes, who can’t cope with not being able to get his hands on The Viper! Gunther would then face Danhausen in a match that The Ring General completely dominated, only for it to end up as a disqualification after Finn Balor got involved! At least Danhausen stays undefeated! Sami Zayn was then hanging out with Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae once again, before Alexa Bliss and Tatum Paxley teamed together to challenge Fatal Influence for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships! Despite the fact that Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid holding gold is a good thing, WWE clearly wants to use Tatum as a way to build the eventual split between Alexa and Charlotte Flair, with Bliss and Paxley winning here to become the brand-new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions! Well done, Pax!
And in the Main Event of this week’s edition of Friday Night SmackDown, Bron Breakker went one-on-one with Trick Williams ahead of both guys’ appearance in this weekend’s Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match! Bron and Trick have faced each other in the past, so they weren’t new to one another, but it was fairly obvious that this match was never going to end clean! As expected, Austin Theory showed up to cause the disqualification, with both Penta and Je’Von Evans running down to even the odds, only for Bronson Reed to floor all of them! Onto Money in the Bank tomorrow!
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