WWE RAW
Episode 1372
#RAW
Original Air Date: September 9, 2019
Event Date: September 9, 2019
(aired live)
City: New York, NY
Venue: Madison Square Garden
Commentary: Michael Cole, Renee Young, Corey Graves
Ring Announcer: Mike Rome
Ring Area
Stone Cold Steve Austin heads to the ring. He’s here for the Universal Title contract signing, but he has a few beers first. He also wants to take a trip down memory road. Austin tells stories about wrestling Bret Hart and giving Vince McMahon his first stunner at MSG. He also talks about his Summer Slam match with The Undertaker when he got knocked out.
Austin then gets down to business and introduces Braun Strowman and Seth Rollins. Austin shakes hands with both men. Rollins talks for a bit, but Austin wants to get the contract signed. Before Rollins signs, he tells Strowman that there will be no backstabbing, but Rollins will be leaving Clash of Champions with both of his titles.
Strowman tells Austin that he respects him, but a rattlesnake is still a rattlesnake. Strowman tells Rollins that he likes being a tag champ, but he’s going to love being the Universal Champ. As soon as both men finish signing the contract, The OC comes out to the stage.
Styles mocks Austin and wonders if anyone really cares about his shtick anymore. The crowd says they do. Styles tells Austin to stay out of his business. Styles is still upset that Anderson and Gallows never got a rematch for the tag titles, and he’s upset that Strowman got a Universal Title match for no reason. Styles repeatedly antagonizes Austin as he enters the ring with Anderson and Gallows.
Austin moves the contract signing table out of the way, and Rollins and Strowman attack The OC. Strowman chases Gallows and Anderson up the ramp as Rollins tries to deal with Styles. Styles tosses Rollins out of the ring, but that leaves Styles alone in the ring with Austin. Austin hits Styles with a stunner, then he catches many beers.
Match 1
AJ Styles (US Champ) vs Cedric Alexander
(referee: Eddie Orengo)
Result: Cedric Alexander wins via DQ when Anderson and Gallows attack him at ringside
Time: 5:12 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
This was good. Styles was still hurting from Austin’s stunner, so Cedric was able to dominate the early part of the match. Styles started to come back, but Cedric maintained his strong offense even when Styles was getting back up to full speed. These two could have great matches, and this felt like only a taste.
Ring Area
After the match, The OC beats up Cedric Alexander in the ring. After a few seconds, the Viking Raiders head to the ring and clear out The OC with a little help from Alexander.
Backstage
Sasha Banks and Bayley are confident that they’ll beat Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair tonight.
Backstage
Becky and Charlotte prepare for their match.
Firefly Fun House
Bray Wyatt says he’ll have a new episode of Firefly Fun House later tonight.
Ring Area
Roman Reigns comes out to the stage. Reigns talks about his recent battle with leukemia. His struggles changed his perspective, and now he wants to use the platform he has to raise awareness. He’s visited many pediatric cancer hospitals over the past few months, and he decided to bring some of the kids to RAW tonight. Joining Reigns on the stage are Julius “The Sarcoma Warrior,” Antonio “The Arrival,” Miguel “The Mighty M,” Liam “The Red Ninja,” and Liana “Lilly Terror.”
Match 2
Becky Lynch (RAW Women’s Champ) & Charlotte Flair vs Sasha Banks & Bayley (SD Women’s Champ)
(referee: John Cone)
Result: Charlotte Flair pins Bayley after Natural Selection
Time: 14:04 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Very good match. Sasha and Bayley did better early with superior teamwork, but once the match broke down, Charlotte and Becky put on some very strong individual efforts. As a whole the match was very entertaining. You could tell that these women know each other extremely well, and they were given the time and space they needed to put on a compelling match. They certainly did that, and they did a great job of getting me excited for both of the women’s title matches coming up at Clash of Champions.
Backstage
Sarah Schreiber tries to get a work from The OC. Styles is angry. As he talks, Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler walk over and offer their services to help The OC take care of some mutual enemies. Styles likes that idea.
Match 3
Rey Mysterio vs Gran Metalik
(referee: Shawn Bennett)
Result: Rey Mysterio wins via pinfall after a frog splash
Time: 6:26
Match Thoughts
Very good match. RAW has conditioned me to expect someone to interfere in a match like this, but thankfully no one come down to the ring. Instead, we git a highly entertaining match between to great wrestlers. Gran Metalik looked great, and he pushed Rey to look even better. I hope Metalik can gain some traction from this match, and I hope this is the end of RAW treating Rey like a joke.
Backstage
Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman discuss something with Cedric Alexander.
Backstage
The Street Profits get excited about the rest of tonight’s RAW. They also get excited about Clash of Champions.
Video
A recap of Rowan beating up Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan last week on SmackDown.
Match 4
King of the Ring Semifinal Triple Threat Match
Samoa Joe vs Baron Corbin vs Ricochet
(referee: Rod Zapata)
Result: Baron Corbin pins Samoa Joe after a 630 senton from Ricochet
Time: 11:09 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
The actions was really good up until the final few seconds. The result really did affect my enjoyment of this match. I wasn’t completely surprised since the whole setup of having a triple threat felt like a way for a certain guy to weasel his way into the finals, but seeing it actually happen was extremely aggravating.
Match 5
Lacey Evans vs Natalya
(referee: Darrick Moore)
Result: Natalya wins via submission with the Sharpshooter
Time: 5:04
Match Thoughts
This was fine. Considering Lacey won their match last week, the result of this was no surprise. The way this went, it feels like this mini-feud is over. It also feels like this was a way to give Natalya something positive after weeks of having everyone put her down and beat her up.
Video
Earlier tonight (before RAW), R-Truth was pinned by a basketball guy (Enes Kanter), but R-Truth quickly regained the 24/7 Title.
Firefly Fun House
Bray Wyatt has a special lesson planned for tonight’s episode, but Rambling Rabbit shows up and yells about “stranger danger.” Wyatt’s friends get worked up about having a stranger (Steve Austin) on RAW tonight. Wyatt talks about Austin and his friends. He says friends forgive, but The Fiend never forgets.
Match 6
Braun Strowman (RAW Tag Champ) & The Viking Raiders & Cedric Alexander & Seth Rollins (Universal & RAW Tag Champ) vs Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode & Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson & AJ Styles (US Champ)
(referee: Dan Engler)
Result: Cedric Alexander pins AJ Styles after the Lumbar Check
Time: 12:24 (2 breaks)
Match Thoughts
This was fun. As expected, it was all over the place and mostly just a chaotic jumble of moments as everyone fought everyone, but yeah, I smiled. I especially smiled at the finish. I imagine Cedric Alexander must’ve had the best time out of anyone considering his night and this match. The smile on his face was huge, and I was super happy for him. This was a very satisfying end to a fun show.
Show Impressions
I wasn’t perfect, but it was a fun episode of RAW. having Steve Austin bookend the show made it feel special, and I liked how the main story leading up to the ten man tag match developed. They managed to incorporate a lot of stuff into that narrative for the night, and it all felt natural and unforced.
The only thing I didn’t care for was Baron Corbin, but that’sthe same pretty much any night. Everything else was good. The women’s tag match and the Mysterio/Metalik match stood out for me as huge positives as well.
Match of the Night
Rey Mysterio vs Gran Metalik
The women’s tag was also really good, but I think the surprise of having this match in the first place, and then seeing them get a good amount of time to have a good match helped make this my favorite of the night.
Official Results: https://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2019-09-09