Tom Phillips is back on Raw where he belongs as the voice of the show; and it’s always a joy to hear Jerry “The King” Lawler on Commentary
Retribution Debuts (surprising it wasn’t on Pay-Per-View)
Retribution’s first six-man tag team match against The Hurt Business ended by disqualification to protect the group so they can more quickly develop into a dominant faction on the main roster. There are about 25 members so not all of them were recognizable. However, the recognizable members were Dominik Dijakovic (the leader for now), Mia Yim, Mercedez Martinez (she was called up to the main roaster rather quickly after being in NXT for just a couple months), and Dio Maddin (who was on commentary for Monday Night Raw about a year ago and decided to pursue an in – ring career again).
Shane Thorne has also been a member of Retribution in recent weeks, so it would make sense for him to be another member. This also would be logical because Thorne did participate in several tag team matches earlier in the year on Monday Night Raw.
Keith Lee is protected with another Non-finish, this time by Randy Orton
Keith Lee’s match with Drew McIntyre ended in yet another non-finish with Randy Orton delivering another RKO to McIntyre ahead of their WWE championship encounter at Clash of Champions Gold Rush. The only match Lee has wrestled on the main roster that has had a conclusive and decisive finish is the one at Payback in which he beat The Viper in quick fashion.
As Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer is reporting, Mr. McMahon’s plan as of right now is for Randy Orton to win the WWE championship from McIntyre this Sunday and to hold the title until his big payoff match with Edge (once he returns from his triceps injury of course).
WWE reportedly chose to book an Ambulance match between Orton and Drew McIntyre so The Scottish Psychopath can be protected by not having to take a clean loss. The plan at the moment is for McIntyre to win the WWE title back in I would guess a year or so in front of the WWE universe so that he can have a “true crowning moment.”
There is also the potential there for Orton to begin a feud with Lee over the WWE championship at some point in time over the next few months to create a brand-new top-level star in WWE.
Seth Rollins’ primary goal right now is to make both the Mysterio kids into superstars; the Monday Night Messiah has arguably already succeeded with Dominik
Rollins wisely did not go back to the well of the storyline in which the legitimacy of Dominik being Rey Mysterio’s son is in question. Eddie Guerrero already told a brilliant story surrounding that topic 15 years ago. Instead, Rollins attempted to insinuate that Aalyah was not Rey’s biological daughter, claiming that Aalyah consoling Seth’s disciple Murphy last week was not characteristic of a Mysterio.
Rollins is in a stage of his career where he is heavily invested in creating new stars for the future of WWE and making sure the business is in good hands when he decides to leave. The Kingslayer arguably already accomplished that with Dominik by giving him his first three big matches in WWE (and sharing a heartwarming moment with Dominik after their SummerSlam match by giving Dominik his wrist tape as a symbolic and congratulatory moment, initiating Dominik into the business).
A romantic storyline is also budding between Murphy and Aalyah, and this could ultimately serve as a vehicle to write Seth off TV come December when his fiancée Becky Lynch is due to give birth to their baby. The Mysterio family already turned against Rollins, so it would make sense from a certain perspective for Aalyah to get in Murphy’s head regarding his own allegiance. Rollins would then have no allies, and this could give him a reason to not be involved in the storyline for a few months.
Braun Strowman defeats Dabba-Kato, who isn’t familiar enough with the WWE universe to be a massive star quite yet, but there is absolutely zero doubt that he will be in a few years. The man has everything you would ideally want if you were Vince McMahon
It will not hurt Dabba-Kato at all to lose to a former Universal Champion in Braun Strowman; instead it will do just the opposite. This is kind of an initiation match for Dabba-Kato to become a legitimate threat in WWE. The former football standout made his first main roster appearance in The Greatest Royal Rumble in April 2018 before being sent to Evolve about a year later to work on honing his craft.
He made his return to the WWE main roster on the debut episode of Raw Underground on August 3, 2020. Braun Strowman was the perfect opponent for Dabba-Kato in his first major match considering that Braun eliminated him on the way to winning The Greatest Royal Rumble match (Kato wrestled the match under his biological first name Babatunde).
Vega’s first title Match Ever
Zelina Vega has some real in-ring potential that is largely untapped – no one has seen very much of her talents in the ring on TV. She absolutely gave Mickie James a much smoother match than she had with Asuka last week due to miscommunication with the referee – essentially James sold so well that there was a mistake. That will happen from time to time.
Zelina Vega will get an opportunity to test herself in her first ever title match in WWE. She most likely will not win the Raw Women’s Championship since she is going against one of the best in the world in Asuka, but this will still be very exciting for Zelina.
Asuka initiates Peyton Royce into Stardom
Similarly to Dabba-Kato being initiated into becoming a top star by Braun Strowman, Peyton Royce received the same sort of initiation from the Raw Women’s Champion Asuka. Mr. McMahon views Royce as a potential top star in the Women’s Division in WWE and is preparing to give her a major push in the coming months.
Who better than the champion to introduce someone to the bright lights of superstardom? Let’s see how well Peyton Royce responds.
Cedric Alexander’s 50/50 Booking
Cedric Alexander taking a loss to Apollo Crews after just defeating Apollo’s partner Ricochet last week was a prime example of the 50/50 booking WWE is known for. This will ensure that Alexander does not accumulate too much momentum as a member of The Hurt Business; and the CEO Bobby Lashley coming out after the match to attack Apollo gives hype to their United States championship rematch that has gotten virtually zero attention since SummerSlam.
To be honest, I had no idea this match was even taking place this Sunday until this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw.
Andrade and Angel Garza become the Number One Contenders for the Raw Tag Team Titles after about Six Months of being a Team
There were a lot of moving pieces in this match simply because there were so many competitors. Seth Rollins is clearly most focused right now on putting over younger superstars like everyone else in this match, including his own partner Murphy; based on this fact, we could rule Seth and his disciple out immediately.
Dominik Mysterio and Humberto Carillo are simply too young. They have about two years of combined experience on the main roster. Having said that, these are two key components of the next decade in WWE.
Andrade and Garza have had time to gel together over the last several months. They have been a tag team since before WrestleMania 36; the timing is also interesting because it coincides with them disbanding from their allegiance to Zelina Vega.