Raw 9/12/2016

Opening Promo: Foley calls out Charlotte, Interruption by Sasha, Interruption by Baylie.

(J): Is it just me or is Sasha talking a little weird? Like some sort of accent, but one I can't place. Baylie seems oddly nervous on the mic tonight, too. I was surprised with the slap from Dana Brooke. They've been teasing the split here for a couple of weeks, but I didn't think they would move forward this quickly.
(S): This segment was bad imo. I say this because no one was comfortable in it, Sasha had already been advertised as getting her rematch so unless it does become triple threat it was pointless. Also I would be ok with pulling the trigger on Dana/Charlotte break if they committed. They have teased this too often so when the payoff happens no one will care.

Match 1 - Baylie vs Sasha Banks vs Dana Brooke: Winner faces Charlotte at Night of Champions

(J): Good match here! Dana was clearly the weak link, but she didn't really distract from the match, so that's good. I think she is probably in the same boat as Apollo Crews, in that they both left NXT a little prematurely. Had they stayed I think they would be prominent players there right now, rather than taking a back seat on the main rosters. Dana should also probably get some new ring gear. I was very nervous about the integrity of the PG rating during some of those role ups. Nothing was made of it tonight, but I suspect that the decision of Sasha as the victor will be called in to question next week as a result of that pin. I thought for sure it was going to be a double pin and both would be declared the winner. Match Rating: 3.5/5

(S): Good Match, Dana is getting better but not quick enough to long term hang with these ladies. Emma's injury hurt Dana's development and I still don't agree on how they handled her. I was kind of confused and upset Bailey took the pin, but as a million people pointed out the double pin situation, I hope they address this. That would make it worth the time this segment took. I give this a 3/5, solid overall but nothing to gush about given the ladies involved.

Back Stage: Charlotte and Dana re-united

(J): Guess they aren't going to split just yet after all.

(S): waste of time, Split or don't just get on with it.

Back Stage: Shining Stars and Enzo and Cass

(J): I'm kind of surprised to see the Shining Stars going with the time share salesmen gimmick. Take me back to the days of The Goon and Dumpster Dempsy. 
(S): I don't HATE the Shining stars, they are good in the ring. The fact that Enzo and Cass are feuding with them is odd to me, but not so bad. I love Rtruth of old and Goldust, but the Golden Truth can go away forever. (Loved the Little Jimmy reference though)

Match 2 - Dallas vs. Brandon Scott

(J): At first I thought that the loss of the peach fuzz meant we were abandoning the Angry Bo, but alas. Looks like Bo is officially the inheritor of the squash match gimmick. On second thought, maybe this is actually more of job match. Scott actually delivers some offense and gets the crowd chanting for him. Thought: If he decides to keep the using Cody's move, will he call it the Queen's Cross Bo? Match rating: 2.5/5.
(S): Same as last week. Looks like Strowman and Jax have semi moved on from squashes so Bo gets them sort of? The fact that the guys he beats get some competitive moments makes it less squash and more job. I wanna like Bo, but he needs to be the Bo of before or get rid of the junk and be a menace. 2/5

Backstage interview: Kevin Owens and Jericho

(J): Owens is great on the mic. Dishes up some verbal jabs that land solidly. No surprises here... until we pan over to Jericho waiting off camera! Jericho might be the greatest all around wrestler of all time. This guy can do so many things, and still after all these years deliver as well if not better than in the attitude era. 
(S): Good solid promo, and the Jericho part was hilarious. I love this Jericho (well I've pretty universally liked him so whatever)

Highlight Reel: Samy Zayne

(J): I feel like Zayne and Owens are WWE's equivalent of Batman and Joker. These two are destined to be linked together forever. Even when he's not directly involved in a storyline with Owens, he's still in a storyline with Owens. Good segment though, and I'm glad to see Samy getting to demonstrate some mic skills.

(S): Zayne v Jericho would be good, especially if Jericho does the Job. Zayne needs more of these to be better at promos, kid is going places I hope.

Match 3 - Cesaro vs Sheamus: Best of Seven Series Match 5

(J): I was surprised that they had one of the matches during an untelevised event. Good match here with Cesaro playing up the injuries, but finding a way to pull out the victory. Well wrestled match between these two. I'm enjoying this extended rivalry. Match rating: 4/5.
(S): Makes sense that Cesaro's win happened when it did, big draw for a tour and it settles the numbers so that match 7 happens Night of Champions. I enjoyed the match overall and Cesaro is a guy who can go, here's hoping he gets the title shot. 3.5/5

Match 4 - Nia Jax vs Alycia Foxx

(J): HOLY S*** I THINK SHE'S DEAD!!! Nia might be breaking out of that whole squash match shtick, but there is no other way to describe what just happened to Foxxy. That was a hit that should be countdowns, specials, and any other formats that showcase such devastation. Very generous of Michael Cole though to say that Foxx is one of the most accomplished women in WWE. I wonder what exactly he's basing that statement on... Match Rating: 4/5 just for that hair hold slamming and spear through the barricade.

(S): The brutal slams against the walls remind of me of the Hulk and Loki from Avengers. It was a good way to make Jax look nasty. As for Fox's accomplishments, she banged edge in kayfabe, and broke up his relationship with Vickie, and also has has the Divas title once or twice so not too bad. No rating because it wasn't so much a match as a vehicle to make Nia Jax look like a monster. Alright fine, 4/5.

Match 5 - New Day vs. Gallows and Anderson

(J): New Day promo before the match I'm not sure if they have new writers, or what, but I feel like ND's promos have been falling flat lately. Gallows and Anderson come out to cut a promo of their own. Thank goodness they just came out and talked and no gimmicks this time. The match was pretty solid. Xavier and Kofi took to the ring for ND in this one. Xavier showed off some good moves. They finally used Gallows and Anderson against the New Day the way they should have been doing all along. Match rating: 3.5/5.
(S): See I wanna like this match. It has everything I want here, goofy New day getting pwned by the Hard ass version of Gallows and Anderson. The problem I have is it sets the Night of Champions match off for me. See if Gallows and Anderson so dominately win a tag match here, they probably don't win the titles at NoC. They need them and they need to be big mean heels to be their best. New day doesn't need em anymore and should drop em. Baby face heels who also have the numbers advantage is no bueno. 3/5

Match 6 - Jinder Mahal vs Jack Swagger

(J): I was concerned when Mahal grabbed a mic, but he actually did pretty well here. Way better than Titus at least. He even compensated for the "What?" chants and allowed them to enhance his promo. Impressive. Not so much what he said as how he said it. Now on to the match. Swagger can put on a good match, but outside of his "we the people" shtick, the guy just doesn't have much of a personality. Surprised to see Mahal get the win. Match rating: 3/5.
(S):Weird gimmick, guy who wants peace is a bad guy? Wwe for ya. I was surprised to see Swagger since he's been awol for a while. Mahal has been jobbing so I guess he did his due and now gets some wins? 2.5/5

Back Stage Interview: Jack Swagger

(J): Aaaannnndddd the heavy breathing pretty much sums up his personality.
(S): This was awkward, but given they made comments about his contract expiring I assume he's either jumping ship or re branding. We will see.

Match 7 - Enzo vs Epico

(J): Enzo and Cass just can't get a break. They couldn't come out on top in NXT and their trend doesn't seem to be changing on Raw. Shame, too, as I think these guys might be the best Tag Team since the New Age Outlaws. They compliment each other really well. Match rating 2.5/5
(S): Shining stars cheat for the win. I expect Enzo and Cass to get theirs back on the NoC pre-show.

Back Stage: Rollins and Owens

(J): Good stuff from Owens. Kinda surprised that Rollings didn't have much to say in this exchange. Probably part of his transition to a face.

(S): Was ok.

Match 8 - Roman Reigns vs Kevin Owens - Reigns wins, he joins the title match at CoC in a triple threat

(J): Well after all the warnings from Foley to not interfere in this match, you can pretty much guarantee that Rollins will interfere in this match some how. Some good spots here from both. Owens really knows how to work in that trash talking during the match. I did find it kind of funny when Owens borrowed a move typically seen in the women's matches, standing on the hair of Reigns and then pulling him up by his arms. Most of the way through the match, Rollins does his run-in resulting in a DQ victory for Reigns. Foley and Rollins have an interesting dynamic going on here. Kind of an inverse of the McMahon/Austin feud. This could be interesting. Foley orders the match restarted. Nice reversal from Owens into the spinning fisherman's suplex from the ropes. Oh, there's Rusev. Guess they're ready to get that story back on track. Gotta say I'm glad they didn't insert Reigns into this title match. Good fight between Reigns and Owens. Match rating 4/5.

(S): The Rollins interference was dumb. He had nothing to lose by just letting it go. If anything his interference would have made it a triple threat. Now there will be “consequences”. Rollins shouting I do what I want made me think of Cartman. It was just as dumb as something he would do. I assume they are trying to brand Rollins turn as some kind of Stone Cold type thing, but it isn't what will work for him. Don't ruin it. Overall match was great with a standard and expected yet unexpected end. So 3.5/5

Post match beat down: Rusev and Reigns

(J): Rusev clearly making a statement here tonight. I hope this time this feud gets the build up it deserves without all the wedding crap to get in the way.
(S): I expected Rusev here and got what I expected. Pretty standard since Reigns demolished him so bad do he could honeymoon they needed to give Rusev that monster heat back so he beat down Reigns. Now their US title match will happen. I don't see Reigns winning, as they don't want to sem to let that guy get away from the main title too far.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

(J): Talk about a show of highs and lows. Some great matches, and some that just didn't deliver. Not as many backstage segments this week, so that's a step up. Ovearll show rating 3.75/5.
(S): Decent overall. It wasn't a barn burner by any means but it worked towards their upcoming PPV and was pretty consistent overall. 3.75/5