WWE Monday Night Raw Review: 22/09

Seth “Freakin” Rollins Interrupts Cody Rhodes, The New Day and Grayson Waller VS Penta and The War Raiders: No Disqualification

The Monday Night Raw following Wrestlepalooza kicked off with Cody Rhodes as the Undisputed WWE Champion wanted to talk about the Crown Jewel Championship! This led to an interruption from Seth “Freakin” Rollins and The Vision, with Seth wanting to know what Cody thinks of him! Rhodes responded by saying that this answer shouldn’t be complicated, that Rollins changed his life, but recent actions have made things more difficult! Seth then fired back, accusing Cody of not rating him highly enough due to him always calling himself QB1! Cody Rhodes then ended the segment by asking Seth Rollins how many times he’s won against him in the past, and overall, I thought this was a strong start to the show! Rollins-Rhodes is as big a match as you can get right now, and I thought Seth in particular was very good here (as per usual)!

Credit: Forbes

Grade: B

Jimmy Uso questioned Jey Uso’s decision to get himself a match with LA Knight before it was time for the first match of the night as The New Day and Grayson Waller took on the trio of Penta and The War Raiders in a No Disqualification Match! This was pretty good, actually; I’ve said it multiple times, I really like Waller with The New Day! Something about it just works, and they’re all good in-ring performers, too! As are The War Raiders; they’re an underrated team, whilst Penta is definitely starting to grow on me! I think the main reason for that is his finisher, and this week, Penta nailed Grayson Waller with a super Mexican Destroyer (from the top rope) to get the win! Absolutely insane!

Grade: B

Stephanie Vaquer Celebrates, Bayley VS Roxanne Perez

Finn Balor had no interest in helping Dominik Mysterio out, and JD McDonagh only agreed to help because of Roxanne Perez! Bayley then asked a confused Lyra Valkyria if she’d be in her corner tonight, before Adam Pearce welcomed out the brand-new Women’s World Champion, Stephanie Vaquer! Whilst this segment didn’t last long, Stephanie thanked her father for everything he’s done for her before she said that all of the hard work was worth it for this moment! Vaquer also said she’ll be watching this Friday to see who her opponent at Crown Jewel is going to be, and yeah, this was extremely simple, but nice for La Primera!

Grade: C+

Nikki Bella and Rhea Ripley congratulated Stephanie Vaquer on her Championship victory before Asuka took shots at all of them, resulting in Rhea getting herself a match with The Empress of Tomorrow! Speaking of matches, Bayley was out next as she took on Roxanne Perez of The Judgment Day! Bayley and Roxanne had a rivalry in NXT earlier this year, so they know each other well, and this was a decent little match! Roxanne absolutely nailed Bayley with a Pop Rox on the outside, but The Role Model was able to make it back into the ring before the count of 10! Lyra Valkyria then dealt with Raquel Rodriguez, eating a suicide dive from Perez for her troubles, and this clearly set something off inside of Bayley as she pulled Roxy into the ring via her hair, before she delivered a Rose Plant to defeat The Prodigy! To make things even more confusing, Bayley then snapped at Lyra, shoving her “friend” to the ground! I have no idea what’s going on with Bayley’s character, but at least it’s intriguing!

Grade: B-

JD McDonagh VS Rusev, Jey Uso VS LA Knight

Jimmy Uso asked Cody Rhodes to check on Jey Uso, and Jey then told Cody that everything is fine! The most interesting part about these two segments was that Jey kept looking at Rhodes’ Undisputed WWE Championship! JD McDonagh was then tasked with dealing with Dominik Mysterio’s issues as The Irish Ace went one-on-one with Rusev! This was another decent match, JD is so good in the ring, whilst Rusev is having a good run of performances! The most interesting part about all of this, however, was that Dominik Mysterio seemed extremely reluctant to help his Judgment Day brother, just watching as Rusev locked in the Accolade for a submission victory! In fact, the Accolade remained locked in, and it was the arrival of Finn Balor that caused the breakup as Mysterio continued to stand on the apron! It was later announced that Dom will defend his Intercontinental Championship against The Bulgarian Brute next week, and I wouldn’t be shocked if Finn and JD decided to return the favour, resulting in a new Champion being crowned!

Grade: B-

Iyo Sky seemed very reluctant at the idea of Asuka facing Rhea Ripley, before LA Knight looked to teach Jey Uso a lesson! These are two of the most over wrestlers in the company, but they aren’t exactly the best in-ring competitors! I mean, this match was fine, but it was probably the least interesting on this show! LA probably would’ve won this match, but he had to deal with the arrival of The Vision, and this opened the door for Uso to deliver a Spear to get the win! After the match, Jimmy Uso ran down to stop Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed from delivering more damage to The Megastar, but “Main Event” Jey had no interest in doing the same!

Grade: C+

Becky Lynch was incredibly fired up over the actions of Cody Rhodes and The Usos, but Seth “Freakin” Rollins seemed to be in a world of his own! Iyo Sky then asked Rhea Ripley to call off her match with Asuka, but Ripley made it clear to Iyo that it needed to go ahead, before we got a fun video package showcasing the history of the Americano Family! Maxxine Dupri then asked Adam Pearce for some more opportunities, before AJ Styles and Dragon Lee said they wanted The Americanos in Tag Team action next week!

Asuka VS Rhea Ripley

And in the Main Event of this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw, Rhea Ripley faced Asuka in a WrestleMania rematch! This was a good match; these are two of the best women’s wrestlers in the world, and I enjoyed it! Asuka kept telling Kairi Sane to get involved, but Kairi’s reluctance ultimately cost Asuka, with The Empress of Tomorrow dropping Sane with a Hip-attack (accidentally) before Ripley scored the roll-up win! As soon as the match was over, Asuka spat poison mist in the face of Rhea as Kairi also started to attack The Eradicator! Iyo Sky then ran down to make the save before Asuka nailed Sky with a backfist, resulting in a depressed Sane delivering an Insane Elbow to boot! I’m assuming that this is going to lead to a Mixed Tag Team Match at Crown Jewel, but I personally feel that Kairi Sane is the most interesting part of this story!

Credit: Wrestling Noticias

Grade: B