By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw (Episode 1,479)
Live from Cincinnati, Ohio at Heritage Bank Center
Aired September 27, 2021 on USA Network
[Hour One] Raw opened with a recap of Big E winning the WWE Championship two weeks ago, along with last week’s six-man tag and Triple Threat main event, followed by footage from Extreme Rules of Lashley demanding a rematch and Big E accepting the challenge…
The broadcast team of Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, and Byron Saxton checked in and hyped the three title matches that would take place during the show… Entrances for the WWE Championship match took place…
1. Big E vs. Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship. Ring announcer Mike Rome delivered in-ring introductions from ringside once both men were inside the ring. Lashley pushed Big E into the corner and gave him a clean break, but Big E hauled off and slapped him across the face. Lashley responded with a punch and took offensive control.
Lashley tossed Big E to ringside and followed. Lashley hoisted Big E onto his shoulders and then ran him into the ring post. Lashley played to the crowd by signifying that he wanted the title belt. Big E performed an overhead belly to belly suplex heading into a picture-in-picture break. [C]
Lashley regained control and sent Big E to ringside again. Lashley followed and both men hit simultaneous clotheslines. Both men beat the referee’s count by returning to the ring where they traded forearm shots. Lashley shot Big E into the corner and charged for a clothesline. Big E went for a uranage that Lashley avoided. Lashley performed a neckbreaker.
Big E battled back and performed his spear through the ropes. When Big E stood up, Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin were standing at ringside wearing their Hurt Business t-shirts. Lashley regained control inside the ring and then smiled as his former stable mates.
Lashley speared a distracted Big E and went for the pin. Meanwhile, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods ran out and fought Alexander and Benjamin. Kingston and Alexander fought into the ring and onto the pin, which caused the referee to call for the bell.
Big E fought Bobby Lashley to an apparent no-contest in 10:00 in a WWE Championship match.
After the match, the New Day trio cleared Lashley, Alexander, and Benjamin from the ring. Kingston and Woods performed stereo flip dives onto Alexander and Benjamin. Big E clotheslined Lashley over the barricade. A group of referees and producers ran out.
Adam Pearce came out and said the match wasn’t going to end like that. He said Big E and Lashley would meet for the WWE Championship inside a cage later in the show… The broadcast team hyped upcoming segments while New Day celebrated inside the ring…
Powell’s POV: Thank goodness they didn’t book a six-man tag match. The way they did this was smart. I questioned the idea of kicking off Raw with this match and having the show peak early. Rather, they used the opening match as a hook for the bigger match later in the show. WWE continues to do a good job of providing hooks early in Raw to grab viewers before Monday Night Football starts. The match was entertaining while it lasted. I was not a fan of pulling Alexander and Benjamin from Hurt Business when it happened, so I’m happy to see them back, even if it turns out to be for one night only.
The broadcast team hyped the steel cage match for later in the show…
2. Erik (w/Ivar) vs. Angel Garza (w/Humberto Carrillo). The Viking Raiders were in the ring coming out of the break. Garza’s entrance was televised and they aired a pre-tape that featured him and Carrillo talking about their dominant new tag team. Carrillo stood on the apron and teased tossing Garza’s tearaway pants, which distracted Erik. Garza hit Erik with the Wing Clipper and scored the pin…
Angel Garza beat Erik in 2:05.
Powell’s POV: I was actually hoping to see Garza and Carrillo in tag team action. I wonder if we’ll get Carrillo vs. Ivar later tonight or if this was it for both teams for the evening.
Highlights aired from Extreme Rules of Charlotte Flair defeating Alexa Bliss to retain the Raw Women’s Championship, which was followed by Flair destroying the stupid Lilly doll…
WWE 24/7 Champion Reggie made his entrance dressed in non-wrestling attire for a match against Ricochet… An ad aired for the WWE Draft starting on Friday’s Smackdown and concluding on next week’s Raw… [C] Ricochet made his entrance coming out of the break…
3. Reggie vs. Ricochet for the WWE 24/7 Championship. R-Truth, Drake Maverick, and Drew Gulak were shown watching the match in crowd. Graves noted that the 24/7 rules had been suspended while the match was in progress. Ricochet performed an early flip dive. Truth and Gulak hopped the barricade and attacked both men to end the match.
Reggie fought Ricochet to an apparent no-contest in 1:25.
Truth and Gulak worked over Ricochet. Reggie started to leave, but Akira Tozawa showed up. Reggie disposed of Tozawa and then headed to the back…
Powell’s POV: I guess non-wrestling attire is actually wrestling attire for Reggie. Anyway, I expected far worse for Ricochet. Truth and Gulak getting caught up in beating up Ricochet was ridiculous, but so are their characters.
Backstage, Kevin Patrick interviewed Riddle, who said Randy Orton took the week off after beating AJ Styles last week. Riddle rambled about what Orton could be doing, then assumed he was at home with the munchies watching him. Riddle put his headphones on and rocked out to Orton’s theme song and then stopped. The camera pulled back to show AJ Styles and Omos staring Riddle down…
Tozawa was shown still seated in the ring… [C] A generic NXT ad aired for Tuesday’s show…
Akira Tozawa stood inside the ring and demanded a match. He mentioned facing R-Truth, Drake Maverick, and Drew Gulak, but then said he didn’t care who he faced. Keith “Bearcat” Lee made his entrance. Tozawa immediately sold it by shaking in fear…
4. Keith “Bearcat” Lee vs. Akira Tozawa. Lee had new gear with “Bearcat” written on the back of his shorts. Lee dominated Tozawa and finished him off with a Jackhammer style move…
Keith “Bearcat” Lee beat Akira Tozawa in 0:35.
Powell’s POV: Keith “Bearcat” Lee is apparently much more dominant than Keith Lee was. Hey, whatever gets the creative forces to give the guy a real chance.
Damian Priest made his entrance. A pre-tape aired with Priest saying this match had nothing to do with what happened at Extreme Rules. He said he wanted to get rid of Sheamus once and for all… [C]
The broadcast team hyped the Royal Rumble being held in St. Louis and then recapped the brawl between New Day and Hurt Business…
Backstage, Patrick asked Big E about his cage match while Kingston and Woods stood by. Big E said when the cage goes up, he and Lashley are going down. He recalled making good on his recent predictions. He promised that he would walk out as the WWE Champion…
The cage was shown hanging above the ring while the broadcast team hyped Big E vs. Lashley in the steel cage match for later in the show…
Powell’s POV: I really like the way Big E is showing that he can flip the switch from quirky to focussed and determined when the situation calls for it. That was my only concern about him working as a top act simply because he hadn’t shown that side of himself many times in the past.
[Hour Two] Sheamus made his entrance for the U.S. Championship match. A pre-tape aired with Sheamus talking about how brutal the match would be and how he would regain the title…
5. Damian Priest vs. Sheamus in a No DQ, No Count-Out match for the U.S. Championship. Mike Rome once again delivered introductions for the title match from the floor once both men were inside the ring. Sheamus wore his face shield. The wrestlers fought to ringside where a table was eventually set up. Sheamus performed White Noise off the apron and through the table. [C]
Another table was set up in the corner of the ring. Sheamus went to the ropes and mocked Priest’s archer routine. Sheamus leapt from the ropes and into a kendo stick shot by Priest, who worked him over with kendo stick shots and eventually sent Sheamus to ringside. Sheamus came up with a number of welts from the kendo stick shots.
Sheamus came back and ran Priest’s head into a chair that was wedged between the ropes. Sheamus teased a Brogue Kick, but Priest threw a chair at him and then chokeslammed him for a near fall. A short time later, Priest set up for his finisher, but Sheamus avoided it. Priest ended up shoving Sheamus through the table in the corner and then hit The Reckoning and scored the pin…
Damian Priest defeated Sheamus in 15:55 in a No DQ, No Count-Out match to retain the U.S. Championship.
Powell’s POV: I wonder if this was WWE’s answer to fans who mocked the tame nature of most of the Extreme Rules matches. This was an important match or Priest. He was involved in a couple of clunky moments during the Triple Threat at Extreme Rules, and the live crowd cheered for Jeff Hardy over him. You never know how a match like that will be perceived backstage, but he had a good, physical match with Sheamus in what was likely the blowoff to their feud.
Backstage, Mansoor was excited about teaming with Jeff Hardy, while Mustafa Ali was not. Ali started to talk big about what he would tell Hardy if he were there, but he backed down when Hardy showed up. The trio made their entrance for a match against Jinder Mahal and his minions…
An ad for Smackdown asked what’s next for Roman Reigns, The Demon, and Brock Lesnar… [C]
Powell’s POV: Are they going to add The Demon/Finn Balor to the WWE Championship match at Crown Jewel to avoid booking a winner between Reigns and Lesnar?
A graphic listed WWE as having 13.9 million followers on TikTok… A portion of Jinder Mahal, Veer, and Shanky’s entrance was televised. A pre-tape aired with Mahal asking his minions if they were concerned. Veer spoke about the destruction he would unleash…
6. Jinder Mahal, Veer, and Shanky vs. Jeff Hardy, Mustafa Ali, and Mansoor. Veer no-sold Mansoor’s offense and put him down before dropping and elbow on him and covering him for a two count. A graphic listed Goldberg while Saxton said he had a message for the fans.
Later, Hardy tagged in and worked over Mahal and covered him for a two count. Mahal avoided a Twist of Fate. Ali tagged himself into the match and performed a facebuster on Mahal and had him pinned until Veer broke it up. Veer tossed Hardy to ringside. Shanky set up for a chokeslam on Hardy, but Mansoor broke it up. In the ring, Veer performed a lariat clothesline on Ali and pinned him. “I gotta say, Veer’s got a million dollar arm,” Graves said…
Jinder Mahal, Veer, and Shanky defeated Jeff Hardy, Mustafa Ali, and Mansoor in 3:45.
Powell’s POV: Veer is apparently winning people over backstage given how Graves raved about how impressive he’s been lately. The Graves line at the end was a reference to the documentary Million Dollar Arm that focused on Veer’s (a/k/a Rinku Singh) baseball career via his involvement in a reality show competition.
A pre-taped Karrion Kross promo aired from somewhere in the backstage area. He spoke about what he’s done to opponents and said they all fall and pray… Kross made his entrance… [C]
7. Karrion Kross vs. Jaxson Ryker. Ryker’s entrance was not televised. Kross performed a Doomsday suplex and applied a rough looking Kross Jacket that resulted in Ryker tapping out…
Karrion Kross defeated Jaxson Ryker in 1:35.
Powell’s POV: Ryker put an end to the old version of Elias and has been defined down ever since. He’s even chased the WWE 24/7 Championship one week and then took this squash loss.
Backstage, Adam Pearce was talking with Sonya Deville when Doudrop entered the room and asked for a title match against Charlotte Flair. Deville said she didn’t want Doudrop to think that she doesn’t deserve a title match unlike Naomi, who doesn’t belong on the Smackdown roster. Deville made Doupdrop promise that she would do her little dance if she won the championship. Doudrop did her dance…
Riddle made his entrance for his match against AJ Styles… [C] An ad for NXT focussed on the women of the brand… The broadcast team recapped the opening segment again…
Bobby Lashley delivered a backstage promo. He said it makes him sick that Big E calls himself the rightful WWE Champion when he won the title by cashing in a briefcase. Lashley spoke about his options in the cage match and how they would result in him becoming the rightful WWE Champion…
8. AJ Styles (w/Omos) vs. Riddle. Styles’ entrance was televised. After some back and forth action, Styles performed a backbreaker and then jawed at the crowd. Styles dumped Riddle to ringside. [C]
Styles cut off a nice run of Riddle offense with a Pele Kick. Riddle came back with a ripcord knee that left both men down, but Riddle held onto the wrist of Styles. Riddle threw a kick that Styles ducked. Styles executed a pump-handle gutbuster. Styles went for a Phenomenal Forearm, but Riddle broke it up and sent Styles to ringside.
Riddle performed a springboard dive onto Styles and then rolled him back inside the ring. Riddle went for a Floating Bro, but Styles caught him in a Calf Crusher on the way down. Riddle scrambled and reached the ropes to break the hold. Omos showed frustration at ringside.
There was an awkward spot where Styles dove right at the knee of Riddle. After the referee checked on both men, Riddle struck the Viper’s Pose. Riddle went for an RKO, but Styles countered into a Burning Hammer.
[Hour Three] Styles followed up with a Styles Clash and scored the pin.
AJ Styles beat Riddle in 12:35.
After the match, Styles stood on the apron and watched while Omos chokeslammed Riddle. “This is my house,” Omos yelled. Styles barked at the crowd that Omos is a monster…
Powell’s POV: A terrific television match. Styles performing the Burning Hammer was unexpected fun. Hopefully this is a sign that they intend to push Styles as a singles force again and it wasn’t just a setup for another RKBro vs. Styles and Omos match for the tag titles.
A video package recapped Shayna Baszler taking out Nia Jax and looking remorseful after doing so…
Backstage, Baszler was shown walking with a deck of cards in her hand when she was approached by Sarah Schreiber, who asked what was going through her mind when she injured Jax. Baszler walked away without saying anything…
Charlotte Flair made her entrance for her open challenge match that was accepted by Doudrop… [C] Doudrop made her entrance coming out of the break…
9. Charlotte Flair vs. Doudrop for the Raw Women’s Championship. Rome once again delivered the introductions from the floor once both wrestlers were inside the ring. Doudrop knocked Flair down with a couple of shoulder blocks and stuffed her bodyslam attempt. Doudrop put Flair down and performed a senton splash.
Eva Marie made her entrance as Doudrop was about to go for a followup move. Flair took advantage of the distraction by hitting Doudrop from behind. Flair followed up with the Natural Selection and then scored the pin.
Charlotte Flair beat Doudrop in 1:50 to retain the Raw Women’s Championship.
Afterward, Eva Marie entered the ring and talked smack while standing over Doudrop. Flair clotheslined Eva Marie while Smith explained that no one takes the spotlight from Flair…
Goldberg was shown seated inside his home. Smith said Goldberg would have a live message coming up after the break… [C]
Powell’s POV: Wait, so Eva vs. Doudrop isn’t over yet? Ugh. I’m guessing Flair’s next program will be with a challenger who will be coming to Raw via the draft.
The broadcast team recapped Bobby Lashley working over Goldberg with a chair at SummerSlam and then putting Goldberg’s son Gage in the Hurt Lock…
Goldberg spoke from his home and said that he wanted to talk man to man with Lashley. Goldberg said he and Lashley are both fathers. He said he has no idea what kind of a father Lashley is, but for his kids’ sake, he hopes he’s a better father than he is a liar. Goldberg took issue with Lashley claiming that what he did to Gage was a misunderstanding.
Goldberg recalled vowing that he would do whatever it took to protect his son. He said Lashley hurt his son and now he will hurt him real bad. “Hell, if I’m lucky enough, I’ll even kill you,” Goldberg said. He said he would enjoy every second of what he does to Lashley. Goldberg said Gage is his son and Lashley is about to be his victim…
Powell’s POV: Okay, so Goldberg is now a psycho who is openly threatening to kill Bobby Lashley. In fairness, I like mellow angry Goldberg as opposed to amped up Goldberg who loses his train of thought.
Eva Marie stood in the ring and said she would be Raw Women’s Champion if she had the same opportunity that Doudrop had. She said she was tired of disrespect. She said she could beat anyone in the locker room and they know it. Shayna Baszler made her entrance. Eva tried to leave, but Baszler caught her and put her in the Kirifuda Clutch.
Baszler went to ringside and pulled Eva’s arm over the apron and then kicked it from the floor. Baszler pulled the top of the ring steps off and then bent Eva’s arm and stomped it. Baszler stood on the bottom piece of the ring steps and smiled while a trainer and referee ran out. The crowd chanted “one more time”…
Highlights aired of Rhea Ripley and Nikki ASH beating Natalya and Tamina to win the WWE Women’s Tag Titles…
Backstage, Schreiber interviewed Ripley and ASH. Ripley spoke about how she and ASH are opposites and sometimes opposites attract. ASH said they need matching outfits and asked what she thought of the color blue. Ripley said it’s a great color on ASH. Ripley walked away, leaving ASH to deliver her almost superhero line…
The cage was lowered while the cage lowering music played… [C]
Powell’s POV: I would beg for the drat to split these two up, but the women’s champions are allowed to appear on both brands. Meanwhile, the crowd chanting “one more time” was cruel. Okay, and downright hilarious.
The broadcast team recapped the opening segment with New Day fighting with Hurt Business…
Bobby Lashley made his entrance for the main event. Graves hyped next week’s Raw being in Nashville. Big E made his entrance. Lashley attacked E as he was trying to enter the cage. Lashley roughed up E at ringside and ran him into the ring post. Lashley hoisted up Big E on his shoulders and ran him into the ring post. Lashley picked up the top portion of the ring steps and rammed Big E with it. Smith questioned whether we would get the match in the cage… [C]
10. Big E vs. Bobby Lashley in a cage match for the WWE Championship. Big E sold in the corner and barked at the referee to ring the bell. Lashley smiled and then the referee started the match. Lashley charged E, who performed a uranage and covered him for a one count.
Big E ran Lashley into the cage a couple times and then shot him into the corner, but Lashley charged out and dropped E with a clothesline. Lashley performed a vertical suplex. Smith said only a few men in the world could perform that move on Big E. Lashley went for a spear, but E hip-tossed him into the corner and then ran him into the cage wall three times.
Big E set up for his finisher, but Lashley escaped. Lashley went for the Hurt Lock, but Big E blocked it. Lashley powered up Big E for a nice suplex and then covered him for a two count. Lashley tried to escape the cage, but Big E caught him standing on the top rope.
Big E climbed to the middle rope and set up for his finisher, but they slipped and Lashley put him in a dragon sleeper over the top rope. Graves quickly explained that there are no rope breaks in a cage match. Big E faded. Lashley released the hold and tried to escape over the top of the cage, but Big E once again caught him and both men fought while standing on the middle of the top rope.
Big E got he better of it by slamming Lashley’s head into the cage until he fell back into the ring. Big E tried to escape the cage, but Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin climbed onto the cage and knocked Big E back inside the cage. Lashley tried to escape through the cage door, but Xavier Woods showed up and slammed the cage door on his head. Woods took out Alexander. Kofi Kingston ran out and knocked Benjamin off the cage wall. Kingston performed a Trust Fall Dive onto Alexander and Benjamin. [C]
Kingston, Woods, Alexander, and Benjamin were no longer at ringside coming out of the break. Big E took offensive control and performed a suplex. Big E ran the ropes for a splash, but Lashley got up and speared him and then covered him for a near fall.
Big E came back and hit the Big Ending for a near fall of his own. There was an awkward spot where Big E went for a suplex, but Lashley fought out of it and ended up performing a Dominator. Lashley tried to escape over the top of the cage, but Big E cut him off on the ropes. Big E ended up hitting the Big Ending from the middle rope and scored the clean pin.
Big E defeated Bobby Lashley in a steel cage match in 16:30 to retain the WWE Championship.
After the match, Drew McIntyre made his entrance while Big E was celebrating. McIntyre raised his giant sword in the air and then pointed it at Big E, who stood in the ring and nodded in response. McIntyre and Big E jawed at one another from a distance to close the show…
Powell’s POV: The main event wasn’t always pretty, but it was definitely entertaining from bell to bell. I like the brief involvement of the other New Day and Hurt Business members, as they added a little excitement without getting overly involved. The post match angle presumably sets up Big E vs. McIntyre for next week and my guess remains that McIntyre will end up moving to Smackdown via the draft.
Overall, WWE did a really nice job of filling the three hours this week. Granted, it once again took Big E doing double duty along with Lashley this time, and they were able to give away a couple of big blowoff matches due to the draft coming up, but I’m not complaining. It’s been nice to not enjoy a couple episodes of Raw rather than feeling like the three hours is a chore to sit through. I will be back 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.
Shouldn’t Priest be defending against Hardy tonight, since Sheamus is the one who took the pin yesterday?
Oh look, more of the same already. Glad the Hurt Locker is back… said no one.
Actually that’s exactly what I said when I saw it.
So.
Looks like you’re wrong.
The thing they did wrong with the Hurt Business (Hurt Locker is a movie from 2008 that launched Jeremy Renner’s career), is get rid of it.
There’s room for a little tension with MVP when he comes back if they play it up that he was the one that got rid of Benjamin and Alexander and Lashley brought them back.
Veer looks and works like someone who would have made a lot of money working the territories as part of various heel stables in the 80s. Not sure how that fits in today’s landscape.
Shayna Baszler is the biggest face in the company now. Taking out Nia Jax and Eva Marie is something no heel would ever do.
Jason, are any programs ever really over in WWE? I feel like the only way you know a program has ended is if one or both or the wrestlers/teams involved get released.
Is Lashley moving to Smackdown? Maybe the Hurt Business all go there to feud with the Bloodline?
Maybe Big E turns heel on the rest of the New Day and on McIntyre to do a mini feud there?
Raw is still mostly boring, with some objectively bad thrown in, but the top of the card is decent right now.
There are a lot of so call wrestlers that needed to be fired along time ago like sammy zane corbin alexis blist and a few others. I am sick of seeing them. Not only is their story crap but they are too. WWE needs to go back to old school wrestling. And stop all this sissy sh-t.
You’re right! Bring on the various long rest holds and stereotypical terrorist characters! Smh.
Hey Carol, this comments section needs to release YOU