WWE Monday Night Raw Review: 09/03

Linus O'Howell
35 minutes ago
5 min read

Adam Pearce Starts the Show, Women’s Intercontinental Championship Number 1 Contender’s Gauntlet Match

This week’s edition of Monday Night Raw kicked off with Adam Pearce, as the Raw General Manager needed to have a chat with Seth “Freakin” Rollins! An army of masked men then appeared, with Seth eventually revealing himself, as Pearce told Rollins that he can’t keep this going on as long as he’s not medically cleared to compete! Eventually, The Vision showed up to try and take out Seth Rollins, but he managed to escape before both LA Knight and The Usos showed up to beat up Logan Paul and Austin Theory! I don’t really understand why we haven’t heard Seth “Freakin” Rollins speak since his return at Elimination Chamber, and the bit with the masked men was terrible! At least the crowd seemed interested, though!

Grade: C

The Usos were more than ready to leave the building, but a question from Jackie Redmond regarding CM Punk’s comments last week resulted in them sticking around! It was then time for the first match of the night as we were treated to a Gauntlet Match to find a new Number 1 Contender to AJ Lee’s Women’s Intercontinental Championship! The first match in this was contested between Iyo Sky and Lyra Valkyria, and this was an odd decision for me as neither woman should’ve lost here! The action itself was strong, but it was Iyo who advanced following an Over the Moonsault! Raquel Rodriguez was out next, meaning we had another match between two women who shouldn’t lose, and I do have to question the structure of this Gauntlet, as it made little sense! Despite Liv Morgan’s involvement, Stephanie Vaquer ran down to take care of her WrestleMania opponent, opening the door for Sky to “steal one” over Rodriguez! This massively ticked off Raquel as she destroyed Iyo Sky, allowing Ivy Nile an easy win into the next match against Bayley! I actually think Bayley VS Ivy was the best match out of all of them; they gelled really well together, and it’s nice to see Nile getting more screen time! Eventually, Bayley pinned Ivy Nile with a Bayley-to-Belly, leading to the final match of this Gauntlet against Asuka! Asuka and Bayley have a lot of history; they’re two of the most decorated female wrestlers in history, and this was another decent clash! Whilst Asuka had plans to get help from Kairi Sane, Kairi got dealt with by Lyra Valkyria, opening the door for The Role Model to deliver a Rose Plant to get the win! Overall, this was a good use of time and talent, although it could’ve been booked better! However, the wrestling was good, and Bayley VS AJ Lee is a dream match!

Grade: B-

Intercontinental Championship: Penta VS El Grande Americano, Dominik Mysterio Calls Out Finn Balor, Oba Femi VS Rusev

Nattie was in the middle of cutting a terrible promo before she was attacked by Maxxine Dupri, as we headed backstage to see Danhausen curse “The Original” El Grande Americano! The curse was incredibly strong, with “The Original” being replaced by “The Real” El Grande Americano in an Intercontinental Championship Match against Penta! Firstly, the promo that Penta cut before this match was really good, and I love the fact that the Americanos switched simply because of Danhausen’s curse! The match itself was good, with both men really going at it, and whilst the winner was obvious, it didn’t take away from the overall action! The finish was also amazing, with Penta scoring a successful Title retention following an insane Mexican Destroyer! More of this, please!

Grade: B

After Stephanie Vaquer cut a great video promo on Liv Morgan, Danhausen headed down to the ring to gift a bunch of “Fanhausen’s” some free merch! After an ad break, The Judgment Day headed down to the ring as Dominik Mysterio called out Finn Balor over his actions last week! Finn apologised for costing Dominik his Intercontinental Championship, but he also explained to Dom that he was trying to teach him a lesson that he can win on his own! Instead, everything that Balor has learned over recent times points to Rey Mysterio being right about his son, and a scuffle between the two resulted in Balor nailing Mysterio with a Pele Kick! Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez seemed completely shocked, but the most shocking part for me was the fact that JD McDonagh came to the aid of Dominik, wiping Finn out with a great-looking clothesline! The Judgment Day then seemingly kicked Finn Balor out of the group with a vicious assault, with all four members getting shots in on The Prince! You could argue that this was an anticlimactic ending to Finn’s time in The Judgment Day, but I think this was done well!

Grade: B-

Kofi Kingston wanted to speak to Je’Von Evans about the similarities he sees between the two of them, whilst Bayley and Lyra Valkyria were ready to celebrate after Bayley’s victory earlier in the night! It was then time for the Main Event match of the night as Oba Femi went one-on-one with Rusev! These are two big guys, and this story was portrayed as two mammoths facing off! However, that’s not what this turned out to be at all, with Oba dominating Rusev before he simply won with a Fall From Grace! On the one side, this made Oba Femi look strong, something WWE needs to do because The Ruler is the future of the industry (if he’s not already the now)! However, Rusev was made to look pretty awful here, and I feel like he needs a character change soon, as otherwise, no one is going to take him seriously!

Grade: ? (I honestly have no idea what to put)

The Usos Demand an Apology from CM Punk

The final segment on this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw saw CM Punk come out to the ring, eager to see how the fans would react to him after his comments on Roman Reigns last week! The crowd seemingly didn’t care as they gave Punk a great reception, with the reigning World Heavyweight Champion taking his time to discuss his thoughts! This is when The Usos swiftly appeared, asking Punk to apologise for his comments last week as they felt like he disrespected their family! Jey Uso was particularly fired up here, with Jimmy Uso playing the calmer brother card, but CM Punk wasn’t having any of it! Punk told Jimmy and Jey that he’s sorry for how Roman Reigns has treated them over recent years, with Punk questioning why he needs to apologise when Reigns never has! This was the final straw for The Usos, with Jey getting into it with Punk before Jimmy floored The Best in the World! Wouldn’t you know it, serious Jey Uso is a Main Event player! So please, WWE, do this more often, because all of this was great!