WWE Raw – Sept 20th 2021: Results & Review
Welcome to this week’s WWE Monday Night Raw review, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have some matches. Golf course we have some matches! This is a wrestling show…I think. Sometimes, you can never tell with Raw. Well, we’ve got some matches to cover, so let’s do so.
Match #1: Roman Reigns & The Usos def. The New Day
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
The New Day came into Monday Night Raw fired up to celebrate their new WWE Champion, Big E. After reveling in the glory, they quickly shifted their focus to The Bloodline and Paul Heyman to set the stage for this huge Six-Man Tag Team Match.
The Verdict: 8 out of 10 – This was getting somewhere, but when it got cut off a bit early and to make room for a run-in from Bobby Lashley that made the referee look stupid, it lost some of it’s luster. The part where Big E and Roman faced off really entice and excited the crowd. Good. Vince actually has something here with a feud between these two. Big E was serious here and managed to not be boring. Hey. Maybe this watered down Big E will actually not suck like Shawn Michaels or Diesel did when they became the face champion? We’ll find out in due time. Meanwhile, if these are the kind of matches that we can expect from Big E as champion, we’re gonna be fine…except for the dumb finishes.
Match #2: Doudrop def. Eva Marie
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Eva Marie aimed to bounce back in action against her former protege, Doudrop, but it was not meant to be for the leader of the Eva-Lution. Eva talked the talk right before the match, hurling some heinous insults her opponent’s way, but she could not walk the walk as Doudrop finished her with another big crossbody to vanquish Eva yet again.
The Verdict: 1 out of 10 – It was just jumping and cross-bodies. It lasted a minute. Ms. Frizzle: You know what else lasts a minute? Mr. Frizzle! Me: Ummmmm… Ms. Frizzle: let’s take a field trip and find out! Me: No! No! Noooooooo!!!!!!!!!! Next match!
Match #3: Randy Orton def. AJ Styles
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
The war between Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro and AJ Styles & Omos continued as The Viper battled The Phenomenal One. After Omos was ejected from ringside for getting involved, the back-and-forth action led to Orton finally connecting with a swift RKO to earn the emphatic victory.
The Verdict: 8 out of 10 – These guys went full-tilt from bell to bell. It felt like they had something to prove. They don’t, but it’s nice to see the effort anyway. AJ and Randy had a lot of chemistry this time around, with it even having a bit of playful banter. This was as atheltic as any of their other matches, but it also had a certain urgency to it that the last few of their bouts has not had. I was thrilled by the speed these guys thundered on down the road to. This was just a big ol’ happy surprise and I was happy to have it.
Match #4: Shayna Baszler def. Nia Jax
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Tensions finally boiled over between the former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, and the fierce in-ring action ended when Shayna Baszler locked Nia Jax in the Kirifuda Clutch for the win. The Queen of Spades wasn’t just satisfied with the victory though, as she continued her assault on The Irresistible Force after the bell by viciously stomping Jax’s arm multiple times against the steel stairs.
The Verdict: 1 out of 10 – This was a few minutes and it ended the way it should have. Shayna dominated Nia and did what she could to carry her to a good squash. It wasn’t very good, but it had the right finish.
Match #5: Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo def. Mansoor & Mustafa Ali
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Cousins decided to team up as Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo made their Raw tag team debut against the budding duo of Mansoor & Mustafa Ali. Garza & Carrillo got off to a great start as they displayed some unique offense to overcome Mansoor & Ali in an impressive first outing as a team.
The Verdict: 4 out of 10 – It didn’t go long, but there were some fantastic stunts here to see. Garza and Carrillo worked well as a team. The winners made for a lovely pair. Grogu: I’m cute, mother-f–ker! Me: Give me the cocaine, Grogu!
Match #6: Rhea Ripley & Nikki A.S.H. def. Natalya & Tamina – WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Match
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
It was time for Rhea Ripley & Nikki A.S.H. to show what they could do with championship gold on the line against WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Natalya & Tamina. In the midst of a hard-fought battle, A.S.H. rolled up Natalya, and The Nightmare and The Almost Superhero were left standing as the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions.
The Verdict: 4 out of 10 – It wasn’t much beyond the basics, but the more interesting team won and became champions. Rhea and Nikki had a charm to them that might just draw some eyes to the women’s division as champions. There wasn’t a lot of action, but this was a match that gave a full taste of what the new champions could do.
Match #7: Jeff Hardy def. Sheamus
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Jeff Hardy got exactly what he wanted from this bout, as he took it to Sheamus from the start. After a see-saw battle, The Charismatic Enigma seized the opportunity and defeated The Celtic Warrior with a sudden sunset flip to be added to the United States Championship Match at WWE Extreme Rules, making it a Triple Threat Match with Damian Priest.
The Verdict: 7 out of 10 – Once again, these two had a fine fight. Jeff continues to be the best at working with any style and Sheamus is Irish. The Blarney Stone: Bli blove blyou! Blyou blove ble! Blere bla blig blappy blamily! Me: I do not condone singing! This match was a fight, through and through. These guys had a certain rough quality to their match that just gave it the zest it needed. This was a real blast, because you get the spots and stunts and all that other stuff, but you get a match that looked competitive as well and that means a lot considering the point of this match, which was to get Jeff Hardy in the US Title match at Extreme Rules.
Match #8: (Main Event) Roman Reigns def. Big E and Bobby Lashley – Triple Threat Match
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
This colossal Raw main event stemmed from Bobby Lashley’s interference in The New Day’s matchup against The Bloodline earlier in the night. After E connected with a Big Ending on Reigns, The All Mighty brought a steel chair into play, launching a brutal assault on the WWE Champion that culminated in The Head of the Table hitting Lashley with a big-time Spear to close the deal and leave Raw victorious.
The Verdict: 8 out of 10 – It may have followed the Triple Threat formula, but it did so rather vigorously and with great zeal. These guys must really trust each other or really hate each other, because they clubbed each other like Ike on Tina. Ike Turner: You mine b–ch! Tina Turner: WAKAKAKAKAKAKAKA!!!!!!!!!! Ike: AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Not my face! Don’t my ass…of my face! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! E and Reigns wrestled two matches in one night and they made it look easy. When you see how many times these guys practically go for each other’s throats, you might just wonder if any of these guys really like working together. Fortunately, that’s what wrestling needs just to get out of bed in the morning. Everybody looked deranged from bell to bell, which kept my attention. How could a match with two participants who were already out of energy from their first bout have this much for their second? They’ve gotta have some great cardio. I had loads of fun here. I hope you do too.
Final Verdict: 7/10
Hey! Now this turned out well. When the matches were strong, they could lift twice their weight. We had some weak matches that took the show down a peg or two, but nothing too terrible. I was put off by the lack of build for Extreme Rules, since it is happening this Sunday, but that doesn’t mean that this show is worthless without that. Matches are what we are here for and we had some good matches to see here. A wrestling show had good matches and that’s all I need to give this a decent review. I’ll see you next time.
