WWE RAW
Episode 1321
#RAW
Original Air Date: September 17, 2018
Event Date: September 17, 2018 (aired live)
City: Dallas, TX
Venue: American Airlines Center
Commentary: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young
Ring Announcer: Jojo
Ring Area
Roman Reigns heads to the ring. He says that if Brock Lesnar wants his rematch so bad (after interfering in the Hell in a Cell match last night), he should just come down to the ring right now. Braun Strowman heads to the ring.
Strowman tells Reigns he should be thankful Lesnar interfered. Otherwise, Reigns would’ve lost his title. Strowman is tired of Lesnar getting involved in his business, and he says it won’t happen again. Baron Corbin heads to the ring. Corbin announces that Reigns will defend the Universal Title in a triple threat match against Strowman and Lesnar at WWE Crown Jewel. Strowman thinks that sucks. He also thinks Corbin, Reigns, the situation, and all the people in the arena suck. Paul Heyman comes out to the stage.
Heyman explains Brock-o-nomics. The more championships you have, the more you’re worth. That’s why Lesnar interfered last night, and that’s why he’ll head to WWE Crown Jewel to take the Universal Title. Strowman stalks Heyman, so Heyman runs away. Back in the ring, Corbin tells Reigns that he’ll be defending his title tonight. Against Corbin.
Match 1
Dean Ambrose vs Drew McIntyre (RAW Tag Champ)
(referee: Dan Engler)
Result: Drew McIntyre wins via pinfall after the Claymore
Time: 7:42 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Very good match. This was a good fight, and both men just tried to beat each other up. This was mostly about power moves and strikes, and I really enjoyed the finish.
Backstage
Dolph Ziggler congratulates McIntyre on his victory. So does Baron Corbin. Corbin asks Ziggler if he’s going to invoke his IC rematch clause tonight. Ziggler doesn’t want to because he’s still hurting from Hell in a Cell, but Corbin says Rollins is hurting too. If Rollins can’t defend his title tonight in Ziggler’s rematch, then Ziggler will win the title by default. Ziggler likes that idea and agrees to invoke his rematch.
Backstage
The Bella Twins and Natalya greet Ronda Rousey. Rousey asks them how championship open challenges work. Natalya tells Rousey to just go out to the ring and do it.
Match 2
Chad Gable w/ Bobby Roode vs Viktor w/ Konnor
(referee: Darrick Moore)
Result: Chad Gable wins via pinfall with a roll-through bridging German suplex
Time: 4:11
Match Thoughts
Good match. Gable is super fun to watch in the ring, and he dominated Viktor in this match. I would like to see The Ascension be taken more seriously, but that’s not what Gable’s current story is really about. I do think the commentary team missed some things in the match, like the moment when Konnor got involved and Roode didn’t even need to help out because Gable took care of everything. There’s more to this story with Gable and Roode, and I think some obvious things aren’t being called out.
Backstage
Kayla Braxton informs Seth Rollins of his title match tonight. Rollins isn’t happy, and he says Corbin needs to remember that this is still “Monday Night Rollins.”
Ring Area
The Undertaker heads to the ring. Undertaker says no one can spin lies like a man with a broken soul. Triple H has a very broken soul, and delusion will be his downfall. Undertaker says the final time he and Triple H face each other will be like the first time. Triple will be buried six feet under.
Triple H will have his best friend Shawn Michaels standing in his corner, and The Undertaker is fine with that. Undertaker will have his brother Kane in his corner. At Super Show-Down, Undertaker will take Triple H’s career and put him down. Triple H will rest in peace.
Video
Clips of the finish to the Universal Title match at Hell in a Cell.
Video
Earlier today, Stephanie McMahon, Sasha Banks, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns visited some children for Connor’s Cure.
Ring Area
Bayley and Sasha Banks bring some Connor’s Cure kids out to the stage.
Match 3
Bayley w/ Sasha Banks vs Dana Brooke
(referee: Rod Zapata)
Result: Bayley wins via pinfall after the Bayley-to-Belly
Time: 2:51 (joined in progress)
Match Thoughts
A pretty good match. It was short, and Bayley didn’t really have any trouble. Are they stopping whatever story line they had with Dana Brooke and Titus Worldwide? It seems that way this week, but I guess we’ll see if anything develops from this loss.
Backstage
Drake Maverick leads the Authors of Pain as they walk.
Video
A commercial for WWE 2K19.
Match 4
AoP w/ Drake Maverick vs Gregory James & Barrett Brown
(referee: John Cone)
Result: Akam pins Gregory James after the Super Collider
Time: 1:04
Match Thoughts
Squash.
Backstage
Ziggler is upset at Corbin because Rollins is here and will compete tonight. Rollins walks up and says he’s ready for a fight. He wonders if Ziggler is ready though.
Match 5
Intercontinental Title Match
Dolph Ziggler (RAW Tag Champ) vs Seth Rollins (IC Champ)
(referee: Shawn Bennett)
Result: Seth Rollins wins via pinfall after a curb stomp
Time: 6:23 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Good match. Both men fought this match with backs hurting from last night, and that made the pace of the match slightly slower than what it would normally be in a match like this. The injuries also added a bit of intrigue, but since both were hurting in the same way it didn’t really put either man at a disadvantage. I like how they altered their attacks because of their backs, and how they paid for it when they didn’t take care of themselves.
Backstage
Charly Caruso asks Reigns what he thinks about people saying he’s the underdog tonight. Reigns says he isn’t the underdog, he’s “the big dog.”
Backstage
Ronda Rousey prepares to fight.
Video
Brie Bella, Andrade Almas, Zelina Vega, Sasha Banks, and Titus O’Neil celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.
Ring Area
Ronda Rousey heads to the ring. Rousey congratulates Alexa Bliss on her performance last night. She says Bliss pushed her to be a better champ than she thought she could be. Rousey wants to be the best champ, so she is issuing an open challenge for her RAW Women’s Title right now.
Natalya’s music plays, but Natalya doesn’t walk out. Instead, The Riott Squad drags the unconscious Natalya out to the stage. Leaving Natalya on the stage, Ruby Riott says she’ll be the one to answer Rousey’s open challenge.
Ruby climbs up to the ring apron where she takes a punch from Rousey. The rest of the Riott Squad attacks, and they eventually get the better of Rousey. As Rousey is getting triple-teamed, the Bella Twins run down to the ring to even the odds. Rousey and the Bellas manage to expel the Riott Squad from the ring.
Backstage
Braun Strowman hopes Corbin wins tonight because Corbin sucks and Strowman knows he can kill him.
Ring Area
In the ring, Elias knows how bad RAW can be before he shows up. But he always gets interrupted when he comes out to the ring because everyone is jealous. Tonight, Elias has to take care of Bobby Lashley. Lashley has been a disappointment and a constant failure, but Elias’ song tonight won’t be a disappointment. Elias starts to play when Lio Rush interrupts him.
Rush thinks it’s sad that Elias keeps playing the same tired song over and over. Elias wants to know who let their kid run his mouth on the stage. Rush knows that Elias has jokes, or maybe he just is a joke. But Elias won’t be joking when Bobby Lashley gets a hold of him. Bobby Lashley comes out and heads to the ring.
Match 6
Elias vs Bobby Lashley w/ Lio Rush
(referee: Dan Engler; guest commentary: Lio Rush)
Result:
Time: 2:54 (joined in progress)
Match Thoughts
The most fun part of the match was easily the end when Kevin Owens and Lio Rush got involved. I’m not really looking forward to a feud between Lashley and Elias (and it looks like the main feud will be Lashely and Owens anyway), but having Lio Rush involved definitely makes me want to watch what happens.
Selfie Promo
Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, and Alicia Fox don’t think anyone wants to be friends with Ember Moon.
Video
A preview of the season eight premiere of Total Divas.
Match 7
Alicia Fox & Mickie James w/ Alexa Bliss vs Ember Moon & Nia Jax
(referee: Darrick Moore)
Result: Nia Jax pins Alicia Fox after a Samoan drop
Time: 5:56
Match Thoughts
Pretty good match. This was a hometown exhibition for Ember Moon and a return match for Nia Jax. For that, it was fun.
Backstage
Baron Corbin passive aggressively tells referee Rod Zapata to call his match right down the middle.
Match 8
Universal Title Match
Baron Corbin vs Roman Reigns (Universal Champ)
(referee: Rod Zapata)
Result: Roman Reigns wins via pinfall after a spear
Time: 13:01 (1 break; 1 restart)
Match Thoughts
Much like Hell in a Cell, this match broke down into a brawl with Ziggler, McIntyre, Strowman, Rollins, and Ambrose all involved. Corbin also turned this into a No DQ match part-way through, so the brawling was actually part of the title match. For crazy chaos, it was fine, but for a title match it wasn’t great.
Show Impressions
This wasn’t a great show. People were hurting from Hell in a Cell which made some of the matches less energetic than they would be normally (why they didn’t just have some of the under-utilized wrestlers take their place, I don’t know), and there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of new stuff tonight. The buildup for Super Show-Down has already been happening for a few weeks, and we just got more of that tonight. Hell in a Cell didn’t seem to make much difference for RAW.
Match of the Night
Dean Ambrose vs Drew McIntyre
This just felt like a fight. It was decent in length and it didn’t have any shenanigans going on. It was a solid match.
Official Results: https://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2018-09-17