WWE RAW Rebound (09/06/21): Tag Team Turmoil
The 2021 Labor Day edition of Monday Night RAW kicked off with all of the tag teams in the announced Tag Team Turmoil cutting a promo as to why they were next in line to challenge Randy Orton and Riddle. RK-BRO made the first entrance of the night and cut a promo about the “All Mighty WWE Champion” and the man who is half-man, half-amazing. Orton said no matter who won the Tag Team Turmoil on RAW, his focus was on Lashley and the WWE Title because Lashley is a jackass, and he’s wanted to wrestle Lashley for 15 years (It’s amazing to me him and Lashley haven’t wrestled since 2005 considering they have been on the same brand for a while).
Lashley accepted the “Viper’s” challenge for Extreme Rules on one condition: Him and his manager were going to enter the turmoil, win it, and take RK-BRO’s Tag Team Titles because Lashley wants all the gold on Monday nights.
New Day and the Viking Raiders interrupted the party, and the theme of the evening was underway. .
Tag Team Turmoil, Part One
Orton and Riddle sat and applauded at ringside as Xavier Woods rolled up Ivar as the Raiders were looking to hit the Viking Experience to move on in a tremendous hard-hitting affair. Next came Jinder Mahal and Veer, who quickly got dispatched. Then, Lucha House Party entered to new entrance music, and they acted like heels, which I thought was interesting. Another good match, but Lucha House Party fell victim to Up Up Down Down to set up a match between New Day and MACE and T-BAR. The former members of RETRIBUTION dominated most of the matchup until Kingston was able to hit MACE with a Trouble in Paradise to move on in the turmoil, but it might have been New Day’s biggest mistake of the night.
As the next team — Mustafa Ali and Mansoor — make their way down to the ring, MACE and T-BAR destroy Kingston and Woods. Concerned about his “friends” (even though they’re his enemies in this situation). Mansoor tries to stop the attack, but Ali pulls him back. This set up some great storytelling.
Ali led MACE and T-BAR. He knows what they’re capable of. He wants to just pick the bones of the New Day and move on in the matchup against A.J. Styles and Omos, but Mansoor breaks free into the ring. Trying to save his partner, Ali also enters the squared circle, and MACE and T-BAR take out all four superstars, including smashing Kingston with steel steps. They left all four superstars motionless, and Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce had to put a halt to the turmoil until the main event.
I’ve always been a big fan of gauntlet and turmoil matches, and this twist on the match was interesting. New Day had already been competing for 40 minutes. Ali and Mansoor were destroyed by MACE and T-BAR. The WWE officials weren’t going to let interference ruin the match. Let’s just adjust, and let the superstars cool off. Book the rest of the match for the end of the show. It’s what good managers do! I also found Orton and Riddle smart for not trying to take out MACE and T-BAR. They didn’t want to get hurt themselves, of course!
Tag Team Turmoil, Part Two
After about 90 minutes of recovery time, New Day and Ali and Mansoor renewed festivities, with Orton and Riddle once again back watching at ringside. Woods would pin Ali with an elbow from the top rope to set up a Wrestlemania rematch between New Day and A.J. Styles and Omos. New Day fought valiantly, and the crowd at the FTX Arena, formerly known as American Airlines Arena, in Miami were firmly behind them, but just like in Tampa at Raymond James Stadium, Styles and his colossus dominated the duo. Omos swung Woods into Styles for a sweet Styles Clash to end New Day’s turmoil run at just under an hour.
Then, we had the final battle of the night: Styles and Omos vs Lashley and MVP. MVP started the match, and the crowd really wanted to see their hometown hero battle Styles, but MVP opted to tag in the WWE Champion instead. Lashley would mostly battle Omos in this match while A.J. and MVP would exchange words on the outside (Omos made Lashley look like a little kid! He’s going to be a STAR soon!). Eventually, the action would break down on the outside, and Styles would send Lashley into Orton. Riddle tried to help out, but he got caught up by Omos, who launched him over the announce table.
This set up the finish where Styles would roll Lashley into the ring and set up for the Phenomenal Forearm, but Lashley would duck, spear Styles and cover him for the one, two, three, setting up the tag team title match next week. Immediately after the pin, Omos would deliver his tree trunk-like Chokeslam to Lashley before leaving the arena with Styles. As Lashley was recovering from the Omos slam, Orton would deliver an RKO to the WWE Champion outtanowhere and celebrate with his tag partner to end the show.
I was disappointed Styles and Omos didn’t win here as I would have loved those four to square off again, but RK-BRO vs Lashley and MVP is new. The finish of the turmoil sets up Omos and Styles potentially costing the “All Mighty” and MVP the titles, but the match should be fun. I’m also really curious as to why Orton got the next WWE Title shot and not Damian Priest, and why RAW has their champions feuding with each other, and people like Jeff Hardy doing nothing but chasing the WWE Title, but it is what it is!
As mentioned above, I love gauntlet and turmoil matches. They do such a good job at telling multiple stories as it is one long match. The total match between the two parts took up nearly 40% of the show. New Day is the king of this match. It’s a gauntlet match that started KofiMania back in 2019 and maybe this turmoil keeps New Day in the RAW tag team picture once RK-BRO is through with Styles and Omos and Lashley and MVP.
Charlotte © Defeats Nia Jax to Retain RAW Women’s Championship
Following Flair and Jaxs’ “shoot” last week, WWE took full advantage of the scrum they had last week and booked a championship match between the two. They both cut promos before the match about their distaste for one another. Right before the bell rang, Shayna Baszler grabbed a microphone and said Jax was either going to lose clean to Flair or choke, setting the stage for what was about to come.
Flair and Jax had a little scrap. Then Jax climbed the top rope, and Baszler distracted his partner, allowing Flair to hit a sweet Natural Selection off the top rope to retain the title.
After the match, Jax chased Baszler to the back, setting up their inevitable split. While Flair celebrated in the ring, Alexa Bliss and Lily appeared on the screen. Bliss and her doll invited Flair to the Playground, but the “Queen” said she’s too good for a playground. Bliss and Lily were disappointed, but Bliss then used her magic, much like HE did, to transport herself and Lily to the ring to confront the champion.
Flair asked Bliss what she wanted. The former “Goddess” pointed to the “Opportunity’s” belt around her shoulder. Flair accepted, and the match is on for Extreme Rules.
In my opinion, Flair needs to retain the championship, and Bliss needs to become the “Goddess” once again and move on to SmackDown. Her character is pointless now without the “Fiend”, and a fresh start for the Columbus OH, native would be good for everyone.
Sheamus Defeats Drew McIntyre to Become №1 Contender for U.S. Championship
Every time the “Irishman” and the “Scottish Warrior” lock up, it’s always a fun one, and this one was no different. Both men beat the hell out of each other and even stole each other’s signature moves! McIntyre went for 10 Beats of the Bodhran and White Noise where Sheamus hit McIntyre with his reverse Alabama Slam and attempted a Claymore. The ending came when McIntyre went for the Claymore, but Sheamus countered into a school boy rollup. He held the tights to secure a date with Priest at Extreme Rules.
After the match, McIntyre looked lost. McIntyre hasn’t recovered since losing the WWE Title to the Miz at Elimination Chamber. He couldn’t defeat the “All Mighty”, Jinder Mahal cost him the Money in the Bank briefcase, and he couldn’t secure the U.S. Title last week. Like I said in the last review, either McIntyre is turning heel, or he’s moving to Friday nights next month, and I hope it’s the latter. He’d be a great Royal Rumble challenger for the “Tribal Chief”, and he needs a fresh beginning. He carried RAW during the tough times of 2020, but RAW no longer needs him. A heel turn on RAW won’t get him back to the top of the card where he belongs.
Nikki A.S.H. and Rhea Ripley Defeat Natalya and Tamina to Become №1 Contender’s for Women’s Tag Team Titles
I still don’t understand this pairing of Nikki and Ripley. I’ll say it again, but this time in caps: NIKKI COST RIPLEY THE RAW WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP THE NIGHT AFTER MONEY IN THE BANK! NIKKI TAPPED OUT AT SUMMERSLAM, NOT RIPLEY! RIPLEY SHOULD BE PISSED AT HER!
Yet, Nikki and Ripley beat the Women’s Tag Champs while working in perfect synergy, with Ripley delivering a Riptide to Natalya while she had the Sharpshooter in on Nikki. Before the match, Ripley said she has a lot of respect for Nikki, and again, I just don’t understand Ripley’s logic. Nonetheless, they’re now the №1 Contender’s for the Women’s Tag Team Titles, and they may very well be the ones to take the belts off of Natalya and Tamina.
Karrion Cross Defeats John Morrison
Last week, I was wondering where the heck the Miz was. I thought it might have been COVID related because he was scheduled for a match with Morrison after turning on him the week before, but he was never on the show. Come to find out, the Miz is going to be on Dancing with the Stars (I’m glad for him! I hope he wins)! Because of that, WWE had to pivot in the Morrison-Miz feud, and Morrison moved on to put over Karrion Kross.
Kross took part in a prerecorded Moist TV where he threatened to take Morrison’s head off. Morrison didn’t believe him, so the two tangled in the ring. Kross threw Morrison over the ring post, before making him look like a jobber, locking in the Kross Jacket with ease, and “Johnny Drip-Drip” faded to unconsciousness quickly.
Unlike his match with Humberto Carrillo last week, I thought Kross came across as a monster heel here. His promo was intense, and he did make a great superstar in Morrison look like a piece of meat. I have a feeling Kross is going to be a big player on Monday nights post draft.
Reggie Defeats Akria Tozawa to Retain 24/7 Championship, Drake Maverick Returns
After battling him in parks all over the U.S., Reggie finally disposed of Tozawa in the squared circle with a dropkick and splash in the matter of seconds. Afterwards, the 24/7 Chase returned with Drew Gulak, Carrillo, Cedric Alexander, Shelton Benjamin and JEFF FREAKIN’ HARDY coming down to get a piece of Reggie. The champion took out all of the superstars with a dive over the top rope and ran to the back. As he got to gorilla, R Truth came out and started looking for his baby. Then, all of a sudden, former 24/7 Champion Drake Maverick returned and confronted Truth!
When the 24/7 Championship was first introduced in the spring of 2019, Truth and Maverick took the spring and summer of said year to make the championship meaningful with countless hilarious segments. The title hasn’t felt the same since, and COVID really killed the championship, but I’m glad WWE is focusing on it again, and I’m hoping Reggie, Maverick, Truth, Towaza and the rest of the 24/7 Championship chase gang make the belt fun again.
Jeff Hardy, however, should not be in that gang. He could be challenging Lashley. He could be challenging Priest. This man needs to move to SmackDown in the draft and challenge the “Head of the Table”. Everybody loves Hardy, and a feud with Reigns and the Universal Championship would instantly turn his fortunes around.
DouDrop Challenges Eva Marie
The match between them happens next week on RAW. I really don’t care. Marie’s return so far has been a complete bust. She needs somebody legitimate to feud with like Rhea Ripley, not Doudrop.
____________________________________________
Next Week:
WWE announced the following for next week’s RAW from the TD Garden in Boston Mass.
- Randy Orton and Riddle © vs Bobby Lashley and MVP. RAW Tag Team Championships
- Doudrop vs Eva Marie
One will be the main event and tear the house down. One no one will care about. You guess which is which!
____________________________________________
I can’t figure out RAW. One week it’s impossible to get into, and this week it was great with great storytelling. Some stuff I can do without, but it’s RAW. It’s a three hour show. Not everything is going to be good, but this show moved and progressed stories nicely.
Happy (belated) Labor Day everyone!
GRADE: A-
