With under two weeks left until Hell in a Cell, Monday Night Raw came to us live from Chicago, aka CM Punk’s hometown aka one of the greatest wrestling cities in America. Could Seth Rollins finally get the upperhand against Kane? And who answered John Cena’s U.S. Title Open Challenge? Let’s take a look at what went down last night.
There’s No Stopping the Demon Kane
We kick things off with Kane backstage trying to get a conference call going with the Authority, who are running late. Lucky for us, that means Kane is in charge! How does our resident bipolar #1 contender feel about this?
Kane finds someone backstage and tells them to let Seth Rollins know that he will be in a lumberjack match tonight against, YUP YOU GUESSED IT, KANE!
Yay.
As has become the case with this feud, we had plenty of backstage segments. We again see Kane talking to the Authority and telling them that the show is going well as the Authority complains about being delayed and then DEMON LOOK. I’m really not enjoying this split personality stuff.
More backstage fun and Kane is trying to tell Triple H what the main event is, too bad the Authority has terrible reception. What feels like 54 more backstage segments pass before Kane finally lets them know he’ll be taking on Rollins, to which the Authority tells Kane that he is forbidden for going out.
Now we see Rollins talking to Big Show backstage about protecting him, and how does Show feel about that?
Rollins pouts and stomps before Kane shows up out of nowhere and tells him that Kane will not be his opponent, so they’ll find a suitable replacement.
Hmm, I wonder where this is going.
Rollins comes out after the Lumberjacks have made their way to the ring and the New Day manages to make his entrance even better by dancing along to the Champs intro music.
Next up is Rollins mystery opponent and YUP IT’S DEMON KANE WHO IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT THAN THE OTHER KANE THE AUTHORITY BANISHED BECAUSE WE SAID SO.
Rollins tries to run but the Lumberjacks just catch him and throw him back into the ring. Kane immediately starts beating down on Rollins and tosses him out of the ring a bunch of times. Eventually, Rollins is able to clothesline Kane to the outside and the Lumberjacks all back up and let the Demon back into the ring. Seeing that he won’t get any help ringside, Rollins tries to run out through the crowd but Cesaro goes after him and drags the Champ back to the ring.. so apparently Demon Kane is the face in this feud which, whatever.
Kane again gets knocked outside and decides to destroy New Day. Big Show then steps to the Demon and, that’s called a mistake.
Show responds by hitting a KO punch on the Demon and New Day rolls him back into the ring. Rollins goes for a pin but somehow Kane kicks out. The Champ heads up top and hits a diving knee to Kane’s face for another near-fall. Rollins back up top, this time for a frog splash and AGAIN a near-fall. Rollins up a third time but now Kane catches him with an uppercut.
Eventually the New Days pulls Kane out of the ring and all of our bad guys attack the Demon before tossing him back in the ring. Big E goes for a splash but Kane just sits up a la the Undertaker and suddenly all the good guys are in the ring and SURPRISE there’s a huge brawl between the Lumberjacks.
Rollins tries to sneak in and hit a Pedigree but Kane reverses it into a Tombstone for the 1-2-3.
Yup, once again, the WWE Champ is getting pinned or submitted on Monday Night Raw. I don’t know if WWE is purposely trying to make the WWE title and Rollins reign worthless, or if this is just sheer stupidity, but either way it’s getting frustrating. Rollins has been Champ since Wrestlemania and the only time he’s actually looked like the Champ was when he beat Dean Ambrose in a Ladder match with no help at Money in the Bank.
Other Results –
Ziggler Finally Gets His Shot at Cena – After trying to answer John Cena’s U.S. Open Challenge only to be beaten down by the New Day, Dolph Ziggler finally got his title shot and man did these two deliver. There were a ton of awesome sequences that showcased just how well Ziggler and Cena work together and gave us a hint of what we could expect if they feud over Nikki Bella in the future as expected.
Ziggler for his part put up one hell of a fight, hitting this awesome DDT on Cena off the top rope.
And reversing the Attitude Adjustment into a Fame-Asser in one of the most innovative reversals we’ve ever seen of Cena’s finisher.
For his part, Cena put over his ridiculous strength and Ziggler was more than willing to compliment it with some awesome selling.
Our finish saw both men kicking out of their opponents finishers and plenty of near-falls. Ziggler even hinted a bit at a heel turn by raking Cena’s eyes a la Kevin Owens. Unfortunately for the Show Off, Cena picked up the win by hitting an AA out of nowhere after kicking out of a Zig Zag.
New Day Still Rocks – Dean Ambrose makes his way out and welcomes everyone to Raw since the Authority isn’t there and he says that he’s ready to fight tonight not talk, which brings out Randy Orton. The Viper talks about how much he loves the Windy City and then tells Ambrose he’s doomed when he takes on Luke Harper and Big Strongman at Hell in a Cell, so he’s decided to team with Ambrose to even the odds. Ambrose tells Orton to follow his lead, Orton says the opposite, basically these guys don’t like each other very much and as they continue to bicker OUT COMES THE NEW DAY!
They talk about how last Monday Night the Dudley Boyz, John Cena and Dolph Ziggler were all dismantled at the hands of the New Day and then say they accomplished more in one night than any team ever, including the Shield, Authority, Evolution and even Legacy which got a hilarious reaction from Orton. Woods heels it up by telling Ambrose and Orton to make like Derrick Rose and sit on the bench which was amazing and then we get a tag match made official by Kane on the Titantron.
The match itself was pretty interesting, with New Day picking Orton apart for a while and taking every opportunity they had to hit his famous pose.
Seriously, every opportunity.
Our finish sees Orton go for an RKO which Kofi Kingston dodges and then follows up by shoving Orton into Ambrose and rolling the Viper up for the 1-2-3. Not a great start for the AmbrOrton partnership.
Reigns One-Ups the Wyatts – Roman Reigns took on Big Strongman in a hoss match that was as physical as you would expect it to be. Reigns cut a promo before the match saying his whole feud with Bray Wyatt was over the WWE Title (they call that foreshadowing kids) and Reigns then promises to rip Wyatt apart inside Hell in a Cell.
Wyatt comes out with a mic and his family and says a massacre is waiting for Reigns.
The match itself was long and interesting, mainly because Strongman isn’t exactly the best at selling his opponents moves yet. To be fair, these guys did beat the hell out of each other. Our finish comes when Reigns hits a massive running Superman Punch to Strongman on the outside.
This sends Bray’s new giant over the announce table and leads to him losing via countout. To say that Strongman was not happy with this result would be a bit of an understatement.
The Wyatt’s try to corner Reigns for another beat-down but he escapes the ring. Wyatt gets cocky and talks trash to Reigns a little too close to the outside, and he pays for his arrogance.
I actually cannot wait for this match at HIAC.
Someone Save Rusev – Somehow, Rusev has gone from awesome heel and future foil to all WWE Champions to getting squashed by Ryback and stuck in a stupid love angle. This one ends with Rusev getting Shellshocked and then we have a staredown between the Bulgarian and Summer Rae. Taking full advantage of TMZ reporting the Rusev and Lana got engaged in actual real life, Summer yells at Rusev and calls him whipped and a bastard before SLAP.
Please let this angle be over.
Sasha Banks.. Still the Best – We get a match between Nikki Bella and Naomi, but the star of the entire thing was none other than Sasha Banks. After we see a video package recapping her classic with Bayley at last week’s NXT Takeover, the crowd starts chanting for the Boss throughout the match. Eventually, Brie Bella gets a mic and stands on the announce table to make fun of the ‘We Want Sasha’ chants, and the Boss has the perfect response.
Don’t cross the Boss.
Oh and Nikki picks up the win in an okay match with the Rack Attack.
Kevin Owens Teaches Heel 101 – Another week, another match between Owens and someone from the Lucha Dragons. This time Owens took on Kalisto in a quick match that saw some fun offense from the luchador.
But the highlight of this thing was Owens mocking the ‘LUCHA!’ chant that Kalisto and Sin Cara do and absolutely nailing it. Whether he was mocking them ringside…
…or in the middle of doing a move.
Our finish sees Owens pick up the win with a huge Pop-Up Power Bomb.
Free Neville & Cesaro – Two of our favorite mid-card men teamed up as Neville and Cesaro took on Sheamus and King Barrett. Contrary to our hopes and dreams, Barrett and Sheamus get the win because heel tactics.
I can’t wait until Kevin Owens is done feuding with Ryback so one of these guys can get a much deserved shot at the Intercontinental title.
Dudley Squash – The Dudley Boyz took on the Ascension in a match that went pretty much exactly how you’d expect. The Dudleyz went old school and busted out the Doomsday Device in a pretty cool moment during an otherwise forgettable match.
This is followed by the 3-D for the 1-2-3 and win.
Paige Tortures Becky & Charlotte – Paige is ringside for Becky Lynch and Charlotte’s match against Brie Bella & Alicia Fox and she distracts everyone by arguing with Natalya ringside. Eventually Brie picks up the win by pinning the Diva’s champ after a missile dropkick because shoddy booking.