WWE Raw – September 7, 2020 (Review)

There’s good news if you enjoyed the last few episodes of Raw. Because we’re lined up to essentially get the same show again. And we only have ourselves to blame.

Yip, Raw took on a decidedly familiar look this week, with replays galore. Of the three pre-advertised matches scheduled to take place, two were reheats of last Monday’s leftovers… and the third was set to feature in the basement, which barely counts. Curse us for becoming the authority last year! Why do we continue to book tired rematches? We better get our act together or Vince will blame us for falling ratings during the next investor call.

Priceless 😬 #RawUnderground #WWERaw @PeytonRoyceWWE

🔁 @tiktok_us pic.twitter.com/hn7UtkYDxz

— WWE (@WWE) September 7, 2020

The bouts in question were Keith Lee vs. Randy Orton, which in fairness sounds excellent. But in even greater fairness, this will be the FOURTH time they’ve been in the ring together in the last two weeks. That’s a frankly ridiculous rate which, if maintained, would see the two men wrestle each other a further thirty-two times before the year is out.

Not to be outdone in the repetition stakes, however, was Dominik Mysterio. The young luchador was set to face Murphy, the former disciple of the man he’s been feuding with for several months. And finally, the only fresh encounter of the night – Kevin Owens vs. Aleister Black – would take place in Raw Underground.

As you can no doubt sense, this did not make for a tantalising card. But perhaps they could pull something out of the bag. Let’s get to the review.

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The Best of Raw

Asuka Steals One

Asuka teamed with Mickie James to take on Natalya and Lana. The majority of the match comprised the heels beating up Mickie, which promoted the uncertainty around who would challenge Asuka for the Raw Women’s Title next. James appeared to be the frontrunner for that opportunity, but Lana and Natalya were intent on staking their own claims.

Mickie looked to be mounting a comeback against the duo, only for Asuka to tag in and round out the victory. James appeared annoyed at having done all the hard work just to have the glory stolen from her, which again constituted a nice nod to future discord between the pair. After this display, I’m suddenly looking forward to a title challenge for Mickie. Also, how has James not aged in 15 years but I look like I’m minutes away from having my bones turn to dust?

A Chaotic 8-man Tag

Having turned on his compadres earlier in the show, Cedric Alexander joined forces with The Hurt Business to face The Viking Raiders, Apollo Crews and Ricochet.

This match was exactly the kind of chaotic fun you’d expect from an 8-man contest featuring this collection of beef. Bobby Lashley speared Erik out of his boots, Ricochet pinballed around the ring and Alexander adopted a suitably more aggressive demeanour. But then the ending came.

GET YOU SOME, @KingRicochet! #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/QRnkQ3EP8E

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) September 8, 2020

Ivar dove through the ropes to take out everyone at ringside, which may have injured him. In the ring, Ricochet and Alexander entered a frantic sequence. Ricochet went for a 630 Splash, but Alexander dodged and instead hit a Michinoku Driver. Rather strangely, Ricochet kicked out but the referee counted the three anyway.

It’s unclear whether this was a mistake, intended to imply that the official had been corrupted by The Hurt Business, or represented an on-the-fly call to wrap things up so that Ivar could get treated at ringside. Whatever the case, it was a bit janky. Later reports indicate that it was indeed enforced by an unfortunate injury to Ivar and we wish him the absolute best in his recovery.

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The Worst of Raw

Drew Turns Up in an Ambulance

Sticking with the theme of repetition, Randy Orton again opened the night by delivering another long promo. He even largely stuck to the same material as last week, boasting about how he punted Drew McIntyre in the head three times two weeks ago. We even got a video recap for the third week running. I hate WWE’s over-reliance on highlights packages – they take forever and kill the momentum of the show dead. Randy just told us he kicked Drew in the head, we don’t need video confirmation.

Out of the 🚑, into the CLAYMORE.#WWEChampion @DMcIntyreWWE is HERE in the #WWEThunderDome inside @AmwayCenter! #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/wARo7vxjIO

— WWE (@WWE) September 8, 2020

Anyway, Drew drove an ambulance into the arena (which makes NO SENSE!) and delivered a Claymore to his Clash of Champions challenger. So either Drew stole an ambulance weeks ago and has been holding onto it to make a dramatic entrance, or he stopped by a hospital to steal an ambulance on his way to the arena… to make a dramatic entrance. It was all just silly nonsense.

Making matters worse, Adam Pearce caught up with McIntyre backstage to bar him from the building. Supposedly his fractured jaw meant he was prevented from wrestling last night… but not at the pay-per-view. Drew left with little protestation and Pearce instructed the worst security team in recorded history to ensure no other uninvited guests got past them.

Cedric Gets Bullied into joining The Hurt Business

Apollo Crews, Ricochet and Cedric Alexander squared off against The Hurt Business yet again. I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve seen some combination of these six men in the ring together.

It goes without saying that the heels jumped Cedric Alexander during his entrance. Which is supposedly in furtherance of their scheme to have Alexander join their ranks. I know from personal experience how much I enjoy joining forces with teams who beat me up. It’s the only reason I’ve committed to badminton at the senior centre.

He's in.#WWERaw @CedricAlexander @The305MVP @fightbobby @Sheltyb803 pic.twitter.com/DjF0193nQW

— WWE (@WWE) September 8, 2020

For whatever reason this plan worked though, as Cedric turned on Ricochet and Crews in favour of aligning himself with The Hurt Business. It’s safe to say I didn’t understand any of this.

The Tag Division Implodes

The Street Profits took on Andrade and Angel Garza again. The latter pair suffered from serious dysfunction again. They lost inside a few minutes AGAIN!

On this occasion, Garza just abandoned his partner before the finish. Quite literally the only nice thing I can say about this abomination is that Montez Ford still has an incredible frog splash.

After the bell, Cesaro & Nakamura stopped by from SmackDown to issue a champion-vs-champion challenge to the Street Profits. This was explained as being part of the “Brand-to-brand Invitational”, which hasn’t been invoked since May and I had honestly forgotten existed. Despite the sloppy reasoning though, I suppose we should get a solid match next week. And at least it’s a departure from the current boring repetition.

Peyton Claims Her First Singles Win

Peyton Royce and Billie Kay made their first appearances since their split last week. The had new entrances and new music, but – sadly – the same gear. I would’ve loved to have seen a complete departure from their IIconics personas.

In reference to their breakup last week, Michael Cole casually stated that he expected the split to be more dramatic. Your company wrote the segment, Michael! I agree it was underwhelming, but why are you acting like you weren’t in complete control of how it unfolded?

You love to see it.#WWERaw @PeytonRoyceWWE @BillieKayWWE pic.twitter.com/35561m769Z

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) September 8, 2020

Regardless, Royce won after a few pretty solid minutes. Billie cried and Peyton gave her a hug, conveniently ignoring that Royce stabbed Kay in the back just seven days ago. It would be amazing to get even one week of consistency every now and then.

Keith Lee Stumbles to Another Loss

Randy Orton and Keith Lee had the latest instalment of the match we’ve seen a billion times, which admittedly was as good as their previous fifteen encounters.

However, Keith desperately needed to continue his momentum but instead never felt more than a side-note in the feud between Orton and McIntyre. And it manifested itself in the worst way possible, as Orton looked primed to win after hitting an RKO, only for McIntyre to slide into the ring and connect with another Claymore to cause the DQ. So not only did Lee get beaten up, but he lost once again through McIntyre intervention.

Adam Pearce again ordered McIntyre to leave the arena. I have a feeling we’ll see one more Claymore before Raw ends, equalling the number of punts McIntyre suffered at the foot of Orton.

Third time's just as much of a charm.

ANOTHER #Claymore from @DMcIntyreWWE to @RandyOrton! #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/CYSMCJCSbG

— WWE (@WWE) September 8, 2020

Sure enough, Randy was being interviewed backstage when McIntyre jumped him and delivered another Claymore to complete the trifecta.

The Champs Who Can’t Get Along… And Can’t Win

Because they can’t get along and are intent on outdoing one other, Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax each took on the Riott Squad in consecutive handicap matches.

Shayna was rolled up following a distraction from Jax, who was watching on from ringside. Thankfully Nia’s efforts were cut short when the lights went out we cut to a promo from RETRIBUTION (who apparently have their own graphics now).

They babbled about how the Thunderdome was just a facade covering the same old WWE behemoth, which had discarded them and blah blah. The group was obviously shrouded in shadow, but for what it’s worth, the male voice sounded like Dijakovic.

Apparently matches can’t survive a temporary blackout, because when we came back from the commercial break, the preceding bout had just been forgotten.

KO and Aleister’s Careers Head Underground

Aleister Black and Kevin Owens did battle across several instalments of Raw Underground. The feed kept cutting away to other, equally uninteresting events elsewhere.

Uh-oh.@FightOwensFight and @WWEAleister just crossed paths with the undefeated @dabbakato! #WWERaw #RAWUnderground pic.twitter.com/lQELz1oTe4

— WWE (@WWE) September 8, 2020

Clearly Dabba Kato felt just as bored as I did, because he just climbed onto the mat and took out both Black and Owens. Why would anyone care about either of those two men, if they’re just getting obliterated by some largely anonymous lad (with all due respect to Kato) in five seconds?

Dominik Takes Murphy to the Streets

The entire Mysterio family was in the ring to address Dominik’s upcoming match against Murphy. Before the younger Mysterio could say anything though, Murphy’s voice echoed around the arena. It was hilarious to see everyone looking around puzzled, forcing Murphy to instruct them to turn to the Titantron – somehow the entire Mysterio family and Charly Caruso missed the giant screen filling one side of the building.

"It is because of YOU that The #MondayNightMessiah wants nothing to do with me." – @WWE_Murphy #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/kRnyBXUetp

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) September 8, 2020

Murphy was upset that Dominik’s actions had cost him his relationship with Seth Rollins. He was so angry that he challenged Dominik to a street fight, which Dominik accepted. Quite aside from the issue of why this rivalry has gone on so agonisingly long (and has cost at least two people their eyes), is the issue of why we’re moving backwards. Dominik seems to have transitioned from a feud with the big boss to a rivalry with his henchman.

With that said, the match was typically good. Dominik has really carved out a niche for himself as this street fight aficionado. And he was right at home here, taking massive dives off the stage and getting clobbered by a chair.

STREET FIGHT KING.#WWERaw @35_Dominik pic.twitter.com/6PxgP8BnPY

— WWE (@WWE) September 8, 2020

Murphy dominated most of the proceedings, taking great pleasure in pummelling poor Dom. Eventually the entire Mysterio clan got involved, tying Murphy in the ropes and taking turns clattering him with kendo sticks until the Australian submitted. But even then, the Mysterios just kept on battering him. I get that they’re upset about the whole “eye removal” thing, but they’re still meant to be the babyfaces. And that was Seth’s doing! This just felt unnecessarily vindictive.

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Overall Rating for the Show (From best to worst: RAWsome, Cor, AvRAWge, Poor and RAWful)

This is as bad as it gets.

At least I hope that’s the case, because I don’t think I’d survive a Raw worse than this one. Honestly, if I had three hours left to live, I’d spend them re-watching this episode, because it makes three hours feel like three lifetimes.

It was just so boring, so unimaginative, so lacklustre. Almost every match was some form of rematch, pushing the limits of the law of diminishing returns. I’m tired of Orton and McIntyre, the Street Profits and Andrade & Garza, and the Mysterios’ beef with Seth Rollins. But somehow not as tired as I am of the show’s newest fixtures – like Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax. Or whatever minor inconveniences RETRIBUTION are wreaking week-to-week. Or witnessing the end of Keith Lee’s three-week main roster push.

This was an abysmal episode of Raw. The lowest of RAWfuls. And frankly, that’s being generous.

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• review
• September 7 2020
• RAW
• wwe

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