By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw (Episode 1,476)
Live from Miami, Florida at FTX Arena
Aired September 6, 2021 on USA Network
[Hour One] Raw opened with brief promos for the Tag Team Turmoil match from Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, The Viking Raiders, Mustafa Ali and Mansoor, Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik, Mace and T-Bar, Jinder Mahal and Veer, and AJ Styles and Omos… The broadcast team was Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, and Byron Saxton, and Mike Rome was the ring announcer…
Raw Tag Team Champions Randy Orton and Riddle made their entrance. Highlights aired from last week of the team’s win over Bobby Lashley and MVP. An RKBro chant broke out and then Orton said Lashley and MVP failed miserably when they tried to take the titles away from them.
Orton said Lashley is a greedy son of a bitch. Orton said he and Riddle would watch the Tag Team Turmoil match to see which of the seven teams will be next in line to be beaten by the deadliest team in sports entertainment – RKBro.
Riddle did his stoner talk while discussing the Tag Team Turmoil entrants, having his mom cut the sleeves off of t-shirts, and drinking ale when he gets the munchies. Riddle said he hoped New Day would bring out pancakes.
WWE Champion Bobby Lashley and MVP made their entrance. “Riddle, would you shut your dumb ass up?” MVP asked. MVP said the WWE Universe loses IQ points every second they have to listen to Riddle babble on about nothing. MVP said it was cowardly of Orton to give Lashley an RKO after their match last week.
Lashley and MVP entered the ring. Lashley challenged Orton to face him in a singles match. Orton said it’s been ten to fifteen years since he and Lashley faced one another in a singles match. Orton said he would accept the challenge on the condition that Lashley put the title on the line.
MVP pulled Lashley back and whispered in his ear. MVP ended up booking Lashley vs. Orton for the WWE Championship for Extreme Rules. Lashley said he is a greedy SOB. He said that he and MVP would talk to Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville about being added to Tag Team Turmoil so that he can become a double champion.
Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods made their entrance. Woods has Kevin Nash inspired gear to go along with Woods’s Scott Hall inspired gear. Kingston said Lashley and MVP better talk to management quickly because they were starting the Turmoil match on the spot. Woods spoke about how the odds were against them, but they’ve overcome the odds before such as when he beat Lashley.
The Viking Raiders made their entrance for the Tag Team Turmoil match. Smith said New Day and the Viking Raiders would start the Turmoil match after a break… [C]
Powell’s POV: I get the idea of striking while the iron is hot with Orton and Riddle, but WWE really needs to take whatever time they dedicate to Orton chasing Lashley to creating new stars in the singles and tag divisions. They are off to a solid start with Damian Priest, but one guy is only going to get them so far.
A sponsored video spotlighted The Viking Raiders…
1. “New Day” Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods vs. “The Viking Raiders” Erik and Ivar vs. AJ Styles and Omos vs. “Lucha House Party” Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik vs. Mace and T-Bar vs. Mustafa Ali and Mansoor vs. Jinder Mahal and Veer (w/Shanky) in a Tag Team Turmoil match for a future shot at the Raw Tag Titles. There was no indication as to whether Lashley and MVP were in the match as it got started. Orton and Riddle watched the match from ringside.
Woods performed a nice tornado DDT on Erik and then tagged in Kingston, who threw a kick that led to a two count. A short time later, Woods clotheslined Erik to ringside and then Kofi went for a Trust Fall dive, but both Viking Raiders caught him and then tossed him at Woods on the floor. [C]
Ivar slammed Woods to the mat after Erik tagged in. Erik performed a top rope splash for a good near fall. Orton and Riddle sold the spot by acting impressed at ringside. The Viking Raiders went for their finisher on Woods, but Kingston broke it up with a Trouble in Paradise kick on Ivar while Woods caught Erik in an inside cradle for the pin.
The Viking Raiders were eliminated by Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods in 10:00.
The third entrants were Jinder Mahal and Veer, who were accompanied by Shanky. Woods rolled to ringside while selling a Veer move. Woods landed next to Shanky, who glared at Kingston. [C] Kingston placed Mahal over his knee and then Woods performed a top rope double stomp that missed yet still resulted in the three count.
Jinder Mahal and Veer were eliminated by Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods in 17:15 (total Tag Team Turmoil match time).
The fourth entrants were Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik. After some back and forth action, LHP hit a double superkick on Woods and then set him up for a double team move that Kingston broke up by tripping Dorado from ringside while Woods countered a Metalik move by slamming him face first to the mat and then pinning him.
Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik were eliminated by Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods in 21:50.
The fifth entrants were Mace and T-Bar. [C] The weary New Day duo was dominated. T-Bar went for Feast Your Eyes, but Woods blocked it and rolled up T-Bar for the three count.
Mace and T-Bar were eliminated by Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods in 30:15.
Mace and T-Bar worked over the New Day duo. The sixth entrants were Mustafa Ali and Mansoor. Mansoor ran in and tried to help New Day while Ali cautioned him against doing so. Mace and T-Bar attacked Mansoor. Ali eventually tried to help his partner, but he was also destroyed. A short time later, Mace held a piece of the ring steps and then T-Bar lawn darted Kingston into the steps. They went to ringside and slammed Woods into the ring post while a group of producers barked at them to stop. [C]
Footage aired from during the break of Sonya Deville announcing that they would finish the Turmoil match later in the night… Graves added that Bobby Lashley and MVP were added to the Tag Team Turmoil match, so they join New Day, Ali and Mansoor, and AJ Styles and Omos as the remaining teams…
[Hour Two] Drew McIntyre and Sheamus made their entrances…
2. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus for a shot at the U.S. Championship. Sheamus, who wore his face shield, offered a handshake, but McIntyre blew him off. Early in the match, Sheamus clotheslined McIntyre over the top rope. Sheamus went up top and then clotheslined McIntyre on the floor. Back inside the ring, Sheamus superplexed McIntyre. [C]
After some back and forth action, McIntyre hit Sheamus with his own White Noise move for a near fall. Both men got to their knees and traded blows. McIntyre hurt his hand hitting the shield, so he ripped it off of Sheamus’s face and placed it on the ring post. McIntyre went for a Claymore Kick, but Sheamus avoided it, rolled him up, and held the tights while stealing the pin.
Sheamus beat Drew McIntyre in 14:50 to earn a U.S. Championship match at Extreme Rules.
After the match, McIntyre grabbed the face shield. Sheamus offered him a handshake, but McIntyre slammed the shield over his head. McIntyre did the countdown and then hit Sheamus with a Claymore Kick…
Powell’s POV: The usual strong match from McIntyre and Sheamus. That’s two straight losses for McIntyre on Raw. He was protected in this one, but it’s hard not to wonder if he’s Smackdown bound when the roster shakeup occurs.
Damian Priest was shown laughing at Sheamus while watching on a backstage monitor. Kevin Patrick approached Priest, who said that McIntyre and Sheamus had a fight. He said they can go. He also said he has Sheamus’s number and he will retain his title at Extreme Rules…
Rhea Ripley and Nikki ASH were preparing for their match when Sarah Schreiber approached them and noted that they don’t have much in common. Ripley said she wants to be a champion and thinks they have that in common. ASH agreed and spoke about how she thought they were starting to work through it. Ripley looked annoyed, but said it was “time to unleash” and then ASH said “brutality.” The duo made their entrance for a Championship Contenders Match… [C]
Powell’s POV: I thought WWE would avoid going with Ripley and ASH as a team because the odd couple formula is already being used by RKBro. I wonder if it will be a short term thing, as the team of Shotzi and Nox has already won three non-title matches over the WWE Women’s Tag Champions and should be next in line for a title shot.
A sponsored video spotlighted Charlotte Flair… Flair was standing backstage when Schreiber asked how she would bounce back from her loss to Nia Jax. Flair said Jax would bow down and kiss the floor that she walks on. She closed the promo with a “long live the queen”… Natalya and Tamina made their entrance…
3. WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Natalya and Tamina vs. Rhea Ripley and Nikki ASH in a Championship Contenders Match. Natalya took advantage of a distracted ASH and dropkicked her in the back. Tamina somehow snuck over and pulled an apparently unobservant Ripley off the apron and then superkicked her. [C]
Cross performed a cross body block on Natalya and had her pinned, but it was broken up by Tamina. Ripley dropkicked Tamina. Natalya performed a wicked German Suplex on Ripley, who landed on her shoulder. Ripley was okay and took a blind tag moments later and hit Natalya with a Riptide and pinned her…
Rhea Ripley and Nikki ASH defeated WWE Women’s Team Tag Champions Natalya and Tamina in roughly 10:00 in a Championship Contenders Match.
Powell’s POV: So the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions have lost four non-title matches and all credibility in recent weeks.
John Morrison sat backstage on the ring set and spoke for an inflatable animal while using a high pitched voice. His guest on a pre-taped Moist TV was Karrion Kross, who stared a hole through him initially. Morrison asked what makes Kross tick. Kross smiled and thanked him for having him on the show. He said he is a person who wants to make people’s worst dreams a reality.
Morrison asked Kross what he plans to do next. “Well, John, I plan on making you suffer,” Kross replied. Morrison assumed he was joking. Morrison asked if he was going after a title or take out AJ Styles or Sheamus. Kross said those sounded like great ideas and he would do all of them right after he eliminates Morrison out of existence.
Morrison said he’s been in the game for two decades and he’s three decades ahead of Kross. He said he’s been in the ring with Undertaker, Kane, and “the cool members” of DX, and told Kross to stop trying to be scary. Kross said he would teach Morrison how to fall and pray…
Karrion Kross made his entrance and then the broadcast team hyped the Connor’s Cure charity… [C]
4. Karrion Kross vs. John Morrison. Morrison was in the ring coming out of the break. Morrison sprayed Kross with a drip stick early in the match. Kross responded with a boot to the head and then backdropped him over the top rope and onto the ring post casing and then Morrison fell to the floor. Back in the ring, Kross applied his Kross Jacket submission hold for the win…
Karrion Kross beat John Morrison in 2:05.
A Nia Jax spotlight video package aired… Backstage, Schreiber asked if Jax had a response to Flair. Jax said everything Flair said earlier was a defense mechanism. She said she splattered Flair last week whether she wants to admit it or not. Jax said she would finish what she started by walking out as the new Raw Women’s Champion…
Charlotte Flair made her entrance for the title match while the broadcast team framed last week’s non-title match as a brawl. [C] A video package recapped Jax beating Flair last week…
[Hour Three] Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler made their entrance…
5. Charlotte Flair vs. Nia Jax (w/Shayna Baszler) for the Raw Women’s Championship. Mike Rome delivered in-ring introductions for the title match. The bell rang to start the match, but Baszler stood on the apron with a mic and said she didn’t know if her partner had what it takes to beat Flair twice in a row. Baszler said the question is whether her partner would become Raw Women’s Champion or choke.
Flair attacked Jax from behind. Jax pulled Flair’s hair. Flair barked at her about it. Jax slapped Flair, who rolled to ringside and gave her a tame crotch chop. Flair approached Baszler and said something to her, then told Jax that she could kiss her ass. Flair grabbed her title belt. Baszler approached her and said something, then Flair told Baszler to get out of her face.
Jax grabbed Flair by the hair and ended up pulling her back inside the ring. Flair performed a chop block on the back of Jax’s knee. Jax came back and set Flair on the top turnbuckle and went for a superplex, but Flair slipped under and powerbombed her for a two count.
Flair targeted the knee of Jax, who kicked her off. Flair’s head hit the mat and she rolled to ringside while Graves said, “This thing’s ugly, but it’s just getting good.” [C] Flair performed a top rope moonsault on Jax at ringside. Baszler charged at Flair, who moved, and Baszler stopped just short of hitting Jax.
Back inside the ring, Jax splashed Flair in the corner and placed her on the top turnbuckle again. Baszler climbed onto the apron and it distracted Jax. Flair performed a Natural Selection on Jax and pinned her.
Charlotte Flair defeated Nia Jax in 8:50 to retain the Raw Women’s Championship.
After the match, Baszler left and then Alexa Bliss appeared on the big screen. Bliss said she and Lilly were inviting Flair to join them on their program. Bliss asked her to bring one of her fancy robes. Flair said that’s cute, but she doesn’t do cute, and definitely wouldn’t come to the Playground.
Bliss said that’s too bad because Lilly had a lot of pent up energy. She asked Flair if she has any idea what it’s like to be cooped up with a maniacal out of control lunatic. “Of course you do, you’re a Flair,” Bliss said. Bliss told Flair that if she wouldn’t come to them, then they would have to bring the Playhouse to her.
The lights flickered and went out. When they turned on, Bliss was standing in the ring behind Flair with Lilly in her hands. Flair spotted Bliss and asked her what she wanted. Bliss pointed at the Raw Women’s Championship. Some fans chanted yes. Flair said fine, but added that it’s her playground, not Bliss’s…
Powell’s POV: I don’t know what they’re going for with the Flair and Jax as far as them trying to sell the idea of legit friction between them, but it looks like it’s over now with both women moving on to new programs.
A montage of Reggie at the park moments aired with him eluding R-Truth and Akira Tozawa. Reggie made his entrance… [C]
6. Reggie vs. Akira Tozawa for the WWE 24/7 Championship. Reggie avoided Tozawa and hit him with a nice dropkick. He also performed a flip into a scissors kick and then finished him off with his usual move…
Reggie beat Akira Tozawa in 0:40 to retain the the WWE 24/7 Championship.
After the match, R-Truth ran out and tried to clothesline Reggie, but he ducked, causing Truth to tumble to ringside. Cedric Alexander and Humberto Carrillo had to look like goofs, and then Reggie performed a corkscrew dive over the top rope onto Jeff Hardy, Shelton Benjamin, Drew Gulak, and Jaxson Ryker.
Reggie ran to the stage. Drake Maverick walked out dressed in a suit and glared at Reggie. R-Truth charged the stage and swung and missed with another clothesline. Reggie snuck to the back while Truth told Maverick to go home to his wife. Maverick maintained his angry face…
Powell’s POV: Wow, it’s come to this for Jeff Hardy.
Highlights aired of the recent developments involving Eva Marie and Doudrop…
Backstage, Kevin Patrick asked Doudrop if last week’s altercation with Eva Marie put their issues to bed. Doudrop said Eva has a history of bailing on matches and she didn’t want her to do it again. She said she wasn’t finished with Eva just yet and then challenged her to a rematch for next week…
Powell’s POV: So Eva Marie vs. Doudrop is the big hook for Raw opposite the Monday Night Football season premiere? They have to advertise more matches a week out, right?
Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods came out for the continuation of the the Tag Team Turmoil match… The NXT teaser video aired… [C]
Tag Team Turmoil continuation with Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods vs. Mustafa Ali and Mansoor vs. AJ Styles and Omos vs. Bobby Lashley and MVP. Ali and Mansoor made their entrance coming out of the break. Orton and Riddle were back at ringside to watch the match.
Kingston suplexed Ali while standing on the back of Mansoor. Woods rolled up Mansoor for a near fall. Woods tried to power up Mansoor for a move, but he sold back pain. Mansoor rolled up Woods for a two count. Woods sold his back again and the referee called off Mansoor. Ali barked at Mansoor to get on him, then tagged himself into the match.
Woods was able to tag out. Kingston performed a high cross body block on Ali and then knocked Mansoor off the apron. Ali superkicked Kingston and then went up top and performed a 450 splash that Kingston avoided. Ali rolled through and ate a Trouble in Paradise Kick, then Woods performed a top rope elbow drop and pinned Ali.
Mustafa Ali and Mansoor were eliminated by Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods in 4:15.
AJ Styles and Omos made their entrance as the seventh entrants. [C] Saxton said the winners of the match would challenge Orton and Riddle for the tag titles on next week’s Raw (so there is more than Eva Marie vs. Doudrop advertised). Woods was isolated by Styles and Omos. Kingston eventually tagged in. Kingston leapt from the top rope at Omos, who swatted him out of the air. [C]
Kingston hit Styles with Trouble in Paradise and went for the pin, but Omos broke it up. Woods went after Omos, who tossed him to ringside. Omos handed Kingston to Styles, who dropped him with a Styles Clash and pinned him.
Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods were eliminated by AJ styles and Omos in 21:40.
Bobby Lashley and MVP made their entrance as the eighth and final team. There was a loud MVP chant from his hometown crowd as he teased locking up with Styles. MVP tagged in Lashley instead. Styles eventually performed a Pele Kick on Lashley.
Omos tagged in and the crowd fired up for his showdown with Lashley. They jawed at one another and then did a test of strength. There were loud “Bobby” chants. Lashley broke the best of strength and then delivered shoulder blocks to him in the corner. Lashley went for a suplex, but Omos reversed it and dropped Lashley face first on the mat.
Lashley ended up at ringside where he and Orton jawed at one another. Styles ran on the broadcast table and dove onto Lashley and Orton. Riddle barked at Styles, and then Omos tossed Riddle into the barricade. Styles shoved Lashley back inside the ring.
MVP grabbed Styles from behind, but Styles dropped him with a kick. Omos picked up Riddle and tossed him over the broadcast table. Styles set up for a Phenomenal Forearm, but Lashley ducked it and then speared and pinned Styles…
Bobby Lashley and MVP defeated AJ Styles and Omos in 27:50 to win the Tag Team Turmoil match to earn a Raw Tag Title shot next week.
After the match, Omos entered the ring and performed a Baldo Bomb on Lashley. Omos picked up Styles and helped him to the back. Lashley got to his feet inside the ring. Orton entered the ring and dropped Lashley with an RKO. The broadcast team hyped Orton and Riddle vs. Lashley and MVP for the Raw Tag Titles for next week…
Powell’s POV: The crowd’s excitement over Lashley and Omos ending up in the ring together was really fun. Ultimately, Tag Team Turmoil set us up with a rematch of a match we just saw last week with Orton and Riddle vs. Lashley and MVP. It’s something, but I don’t feel like they did nearly enough to give viewers a hook for next week when Monday Night Football season begins.
Overall, WWE filled the three hours slightly better than usual thanks in large part to the lengthy Tag Team Turmoil match. The problem remains that it feels like Damian Priest and Karrion Kross are the only male singles wrestlers who are in the process of being elevated (Reggie doesn’t count). What happened to Keith Lee this time? Anyway, I will return shortly with my weekly same night audio review of Raw for Dot Net Members. Let me know what you thought of the show by grading it below.
Check out our friends at MyFantasyLeague.com if you’re looking for a great home for your fantasy football league.
Loved hearing Xavier Woods give his buddy Adam Cole one last WWE shoutout with BayBay at the beginning of RAW tonight. For as much as we the fans bicker on here about different wrestling companies, these guys all root for their friends to do well no matter where they’re working at.
Question:
Any idea as to when Jeff Hardy’s contract is up, also, Shelton Benjamin for that matter? Because a 90-day No Compete should be looking pretty good to them right about now.
Really good show (yawn). Same old sh-t.
Shut up. This show was awesome.
No. It wasn’t. Almost never is, for that matter.
Holding those tag titles is something every woman should dread. Besides Bliss and Cross (as lame and annoying as they were) every team has been booked to lose constantly in non title/ championship contenders matches even more than the usual booking of champions to lose non title/ championship contenders matches. I really don’t get the need for the existence of these titles anyway if these idiots can’t even book the women’s championship right. They’re so off an on that you actually forget that they exist. And they’re supposed to be on both brands. They’re a complete afterthought. And to think their inception was actually celebrated.
Powell’s POV: Wow, it’s come to this for Jeff Hardy
Such a insane waste. It makes zero sense. They have completely wasted him, then have him pointlessly defeat Kross, then waste him again. I wish he wouldn’t have re-signed with WWE last year. I was happy about it at the time, but he’s gotta be kicking himself.
Is there a method to Vince’s madness? He has to be screwing up his company on purpose, right? Because there’s no way the person responsible for the attitude era, regarded as the best, most entertaining period, one which boasted the most authentic characters and storytelling in all of wrestling history, could be reduced to this. To say he’s out of of touch is a little farfetched and quite frankly I’m not buying it. I mean, it’s just along ways to go. Perhaps, out of touch with reality, in which case he should be committed to a retirement home STAT.
I love a good conspiracy theory and this is one I have pondered myself actually
I mean. No one watching this right now could think it was actually good, right?
Absolutely NOT!
It feels like Vince has so much money that he no longer has to try and be successful, hence how meh Raw has become. Meanwhile, Smackdown is good most weeks and I think you’ve got to give that credit to the folks at Fox.
Smackdown has been on some damage control lately as evident with the likes of Corbin, Apollo, Shinsuke and to some extent Liv Morgan and also the return Finn Balor with the biggest one being Reigns who’s finally watchable now and pretty much the only draw of the show. But there doesn’t seem to be any effort being made on the supposed “A” show. It just doesn’t make any sense at all.
With it being labor day having some buildup to the ppv plus other things wasn’t bad the long tag team turmoil was cool shows you they do have tag teams but its not like a mid card tag team is in charge of the tag divison and has the best tag team beat all the time and not on tv so they can look good
Injuries etc have hurt the womens division but they still have a deep roster and who knows who can get signed in the future
Well,
The name of the show is Raw right?
Not well done!