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Add FightsATW on GoogleThe Brookshire Grocery Arena hosted WWE Monday Night RAW after “Money in the Bank” at the Smoothie King Center, about 5 hours by car from Bossier City, Louisiana. Roman retained, Liv won the title after challenging for it, Tiffany Stratton became the first woman to win 2x MITB, and Penta closed the show by grabbing the briefcase. The full aftermath cannot be addressed, as Roman isn’t scheduled to appear despite being in New Orleans just a couple of days before the show.
The first four minutes of RAW recapped the events of MITB, a routine PLE after-show meant to inform the ‘casual’ WWE fan. However, tonight’s show featured a 6-man tag between The USOs and Solo taking on 946 after the teams imploded in a brief tease of their 6-man tag main event at Saturday’s MITB.
USOS & SOLO vs. 946—Six-Man Tag Match
Adam Pearce secured the services of senior official Chad Patterson to keep as much order as possible in a fight with few rules. It felt like an odd choice to have Roman act as ‘the booker’ of this match on a night he was off—it almost suggests that Roman is ‘avoiding’ 946, who entered tonight’s match through the crowd, SHIELD style.
Funny enough, it was the act that always enters through the fans that came out through ‘Gorilla’ tonight, metaphorically acting as the ‘calm before the storm.’ Solo and The USOS wore wrestling gear, while their opponents, the 946, were ‘thugged out’ like Justin Timberlake in the 2000s, standing atop the commentary desk as Jadia Parker dared the ‘opps’ to get in the ring.
“The Play” has been a recurring element in this program, used to reference different things at different times, but the attempt was to give this feud a ‘strategic warfare’ element as “Survivor Series: WarGames” nears.
Control was eventually lost after Jaida Parker took out the ref as Lima and Jimmy battled amongst the fans. It turned into a street fight when Jey leaped from the balcony, and Solo hit Keys with a ‘Samoan Drop’ through the commentary desk. The 946 gained control only after the two groups split, leading to Jaida’s spot of the night, where she dove off the balcony to take out everyone.
Solo was in control ringside, but another member of 946 was revealed as Carmelo Hayes entered the ring with a walking cane that he used to take out Solo. The now five-member faction stood tall over The Bloodline to close out RAW, and The Bloodline can now expect to debut its own reinforcements, possibly the former women’s champion Naomi, who is expected to return soon.
OBA FEMI: NO LONGER ‘COOL’ TO BE A PAUL HEYMAN GUY
The biggest storyline on tonight’s show stemming from MITB was Oba Femi’s post-show comments regarding what’s next for him. After defeating “Big” Bronson Reed in a 4-on-1 ‘singles match,’ Oba made post-show comments alluding to ‘now’ being the time to go after Roman’s heavyweight title. The comments lit social media on fire as rumors about Reigns-Femi for WrestleMania next year continue to grow.
Tonight, he started by talking about the lesson he taught Reed, and that is when Paul Heyman hit us with a “ladies and gentlemen,” as he tried to butter up the behemoth. Oba had none of it, tossing Paul’s mic aside as he tried to talk over the ‘Nigerian Giant.’
Femi has been on a promo heater, delivering passionate promos that seem to raise the bar on any program he is in, and tonight he dropped a bar by saying he is not a “Paul Heyman guy.”
The term emerged in the early 2010s on WWE programming and merch, after years of that sentiment in wrestling. Being a ‘Paul Heyman guy’ means having the potential to be ‘over’ with the right presentation—the list of Heyman guys includes Cesaro (Claudio), CM Punk, Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, and Stone Cold Steve Austin, to name a few. Oba flipped the script by claiming he’s not one of the many superstars Paul gaslit (and elevated), and that distinction helps him stand out.
It is much better to be the ‘first Oba’ as opposed to the ‘next Heyman guy.’ That said, there was almost no follow-up on anything related to Roman or the heavyweight title, and for anyone keeping score, they still haven’t brought this narrative to WWE TV, relegating it instead to post-show programming.
PENTA BRANDING THE BRIEFCASE
Penta came out sporting a personalized ‘case skin’ for the MITB briefcase; it read “Dinero en el Banco” in his famous red, black, and white color scheme. The famous “Penta eyes” that make his lucha mask iconic were peeking out from behind the word “Dinero” on the case; the MITB winner cut a curious promo.
He told the ‘champs’ to stay alert because they don’t know when he’ll come, and he said nothing else. Normally, the MITB winner would reference either world champion on SmackDown or RAW, but rumors about Penta’s cash-in opportunities suggest he could take the ‘Otis route’ by challenging for a title other than a WWE world championship.
Je’Von Evans came out sporting an arm brace after crashing through the roof of an ambulance in Saturday’s MITB ladder match. He congratulated Saturday’s winner, but as they ‘hugged it out,’ Bron Breakker had snuck in the ring behind Penta’s back. Breakker went for the spear, but Evans pushed Penta out of the way and ate the shot in his place before The Vision leader ran off to end the show’s first segment.
LIV GETS NO LOVE
Liv and The Judgment Day celebrated her title-winning effort on Saturday’s show, defeating both Stephanie Vaquer and Becky Lynch in a triple threat match to become the 4x champ. She said it was time to focus on becoming a two-time Crown Jewel champion after the crowd booed her hard.
SmackDown’s women’s champ, Chelsea Green, came out to wish Liv luck in the champion vs. champion match just under a month out, but she was laughed off. Chelsea stood up to the red brand’s “mean girls” before Roxanne Perez stepped up to challenge the champ in place of Liv and Raquel.
They booked the match, and Perez picked up a huge win over champion Chelsea Green with help from Judgment Day, then Green took a post-match beatdown to close the segment.
CHAD GABLE (c) vs. REY FENIX—Intercontinental Title
Gable defended his IC title against Triple A’s cruiserweight champion, Rey Fenix, after the luchador defeated Ethan Page on a recent episode of RAW. Page had been campaigning for a title shot against Gable, but Gable has continued his ‘gringo guilt’ tour by giving title shots to the most deserving luchadores.
Other than Dragon Lee, no one is more deserving than Rey Fenix, as he has produced “match of the week” quality performances across multiple brands. This was a back-and-forth affair, and Fenix came close to victory in several spots.
Gable successfully defended the title even after getting hit with a ‘super-rana’ off the top turnbuckle followed by a springboard moonsault for the nearest near-falls, and even surviving a ‘frog splash’ before Gable found a way to latch in the ankle lock for the tap-out victory. Despite his effort, Page attacked Fenix backstage after a post-match interview, but Gable saved him.
OTHER TIDBITS
– Rey Mysterio Jr. continues to turn back time after going toe-to-toe with Big Cass in singles action. Rey hit a 619 to the ankle before Cass hit a big boot to the legendary luchador’s jaw. In the end, Mysterio got the ‘victory roll’ on his 7-foot opponent to pick up the win and keep his heater going.
– The Mike Tyson doc is out on Netflix tomorrow.
– WWE Films will release “Agent of Shadows” on October 23, ‘exclusively on ReelShort.’ The trailer looks like something out of a Vince Russo fever dream after a months-long acid trip.
– Joe Hendry and JD McDonaugh are booked for next week’s RAW.
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