September 22, 2015
With Night of Champions in the rear view mirror, WWE went full-steam ahead towards Hell in a Cell with Monday Night Raw emanating from the Laredo Energy Center in Laredo, TX Monday night. Would we see the return of Demon Kane? How about Corporate Kane? Is he completely gone? Who’s your daddy?
Paige made headlines almost immediately after her scorching promo on Charlotte and the rest of the Divas division. I was anticipating a heel turn for her, but her pipe bomb promo was absolutely exceptional and she didn’t pull any punches. Obviously, it was staged, and I doubt any of it was a true shoot from her, but thinking about a Paige/Charlotte feud for the Divas title leaves me in anticipation of watching some great matches – some that may be match of the year candidates.
We have a pretty good idea of where storylines are headed for Hell in a Cell, so let’s delve into Raw:
Raw began differently this week, with the Wyatt Family coming to the ring for a promo, which brought out Roman Reigns. Reigns and Wyatt brawled for a bit before the rest of the Wyatt clan interfered, bringing out Dean Ambrose and then Randy Orton. It was a fun opening segment simply because we haven’t seen much action in an opening segment in a long, long time.
That sequence would result in nothing more, but will likely set up another six-man tag match for Hell in a Cell next month. With Orton involved, and the good match all of the competitors had at Night of Champions with Chris Jericho, I’m looking forward to another one.
Corporate Kane returned to Raw on Monday night, and booked Seth Rollins in a rematch with John Cena to try to regain his United States Championship that he had lost the night before. And, surely nobody thought Rollins would win back the U.S. Title, and that he didn’t. In fact, Cena powered through a frogsplash that apparently didn’t hurt him at all, rolling through and sending Rollins on the track to Loserville.
That wouldn’t be all for Rollins. Kane, who was under the ring the entire time as Demon Kane, crawled through the apron and dragged Rollins straight down to hell. Or the floor underneath the ring – it’s the same thing essentially.
The commentators had a “ho hum” attitude towards it, with JBL lamenting, “This has been one bizarre night.” It’s OK, Rollins is just getting ripped to shreds and possibly on fire and dying. I always love those spots for just how ridiculous they look.
And I’ll say now I totally dig the way Kane was used Monday night. Corporate Kane acting like he had no idea what happened at the end of Night of Champions, then giving Stephanie McMahon a high five?
You're crazy if you don't love this pic.twitter.com/ryVN9ZIV1q
— Nick Piccone (@nickpiccone) September 22, 2015
Gold.
Charlotte celebrated her huge Divas Championship win at Night of Champions, but that celebration was short-lived after someone who she thought was her friend pretty much turned her back on her.
Paige just re-ignited the Divas division with a scathing promo on the new Divas Champion, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch. Feeling the patronization of Charlotte’s promo thanking Paige and basically calling her a hero, Paige wasn’t having any of the love hurled her way, and instead said Charlotte would soon lose the title. She said Charlotte was only in the position she was in because of who her dad was, who was standing just feet away in the ring.
This could be looked at as the equivalent of C.M. Punk’s pipe bomb promo on the entire WWE back in 2011, as Paige basically called out the Divas revolution and the division. She now is in prime position to feud with Charlotte after her rematch [or two] with Nikki. Paige just single-handedly made the Divas division awesome again.
Ric Flair, who began the promo with touching words about his daughter, was in tears as Charlotte was saying how great he was and how she would be happy just to be half as good as he was. Flair has gotten very emotional since his WWE in-ring days were over in 2008, and virtually cries at everything now. But, that was a great moment, and Paige’s turn made it even better. Great stuff here.
Former WWE creative writer, Andrew Goldstein, would have booked this perfectly.
Divas seg should've ended w Ric stepping in to defend Charlotte and Paige slapping him. That's heat instead of artificial melodrama. #RAW
— Andrew Goldstein (@AngeGold) September 22, 2015
A little later on in the program, Paige was confronted by Natalya backstage, who shared in her frustrations of the Divas division. But Natalya wasn’t there to join Paige on some crusade; she told her her biggest obstacle in her way was herself. Of course, Natalya dropped a match later in the evening to Naomi, and didn’t look too happy about it. I could see a tandem of Natalya and Paige, sort of like The Miz and R-Truth team back in 2011. More good stuff. The Divas division is important again.
The WWE Tag Team Champions teamed with Rusev to take on the Dudleys and Dolph Ziggler in a Six-Man Tag match, and once again Xavier Wood’s promo was another fantastic gem. Carrying a Quest Diagnostics bag with pieces of wooden table that were apparently removed from his buttocks, Woods implored everybody in the audience to #SaveTheTables. The heels won via a Rusev superkick, so at least Rusev got some heat back.
.@RealSummerWWE and @XavierWoodsPhD = Tag Team Tromboning! #RAW #TheNewDay #SaveTheTables pic.twitter.com/8J2NobRnNo
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) September 22, 2015
Excuse me, Summer Rae. Excuse. Me.
.@WWETheBigShow has NO INTENTION of visiting #SuplexCity. #Raw http://t.co/81AziZJjuT
— WWE (@WWE) September 22, 2015
Big Show defeating Cesaro is inexcusable. Are they trying to build up Show for a match against Brock Lesnar on October 3rd at Madison Square Garden? OK. Why Cesaro? Why not just have Show destroy two poor saps during a match and just cause a double DQ? Cesaro has potential to become a huge star now, but WWE is flushing that down the toilet. But, I’m not shocked. They’re notorious for doing things like that, because they control who gets over. They’re a dictatorship. Yet, I still watch. I’m sad.
The last time Brock Lesnar took Big Show to Suplex City... #RAW @WWE pic.twitter.com/8z1NNV4YUd
— Kyle Edwards (@KyleEdwardsWWE) September 22, 2015
Let us not forget, though.
• Neville and Lucha Dragons d. Stardust and The Ascension [Cosmic Wasteland, or Astro Alliance?] by pinfall via Kalisto nailing the Salida del Sol on Stardust.
• Ryback d. Bo Dallas by pinfall via Shell Shocked. Kevin Owens attacked Ryback after the match, but retreated when Ryback turned the tables on him.
• Non-Title: Charlotte (c) d. Brie Bella by submission via the Figure Eight leglock.
• Sheamus d. Mark Henry by pinfall via the Brogue Kick.
• The New Day (c) and Rusev d. Dudley Boyz and Dolph Ziggler by pinfall after Rusev hit Ziggler with the superkick.
• Naomi d. Natalya by pinfall via with the Rear View after Sasha Banks distracted Natalya.
• Big Show d. Cesaro by pinfall via the Knockout Punch. Show cut a promo on Brock Lesnar after the match, setting up their October 3rd match in Madison Square Garden.
• United States Championship: John Cena (c) d. Seth Rollins by pinfall via the Attitude Adjustment.
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