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Add FightsATW on GoogleWWE was live in San Diego, California, at the Pechanga Arena for Monday Night RAW, with Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Survivor Series bookending the company’s November slate of PLEs. The two major shows mean several programs are in play, with payoffs planned for either event.
Roman Reigns was scheduled for tonight, but it was a solo showing without any Bloodline backup following last week’s 6-man tag match that turned into an unofficial street fight with the 946 faction. The 946 cut a promo in their usual black-and-white ‘gorilla’ shot, with Jaida Parker leading on the mic.
ROMAN AND ZAYN… THE MATCH NEARLY FIVE YEARS IN THE MAKING
Roman Reigns was known as ‘the leader’ of The Shield, and after the faction’s breakup, he became ‘The Big Dog.’ However, none of that really resonated with fans until The Bloodline era, and his transition to Tribal Chief helped launch him into another stratosphere.
Roman has proven he is a star, but he wasn’t the only one guiding that rocket ship, because he had the best tag team in WWE and perhaps the most organically over superstar on the mic of this decade—Sami Zayn. Zayn was always one of the best wrestlers on the roster, but he showed a funnier, more vibrant side when paired with The Bloodline’s serious tone.
Sami was too “UCEY” to stay the comic relief of The Bloodline, but he never got the big singles match with Roman he deserved, and the feud’s big blowoff came when he won the tag team titles alongside Kevin Owens by defeating The USOs at WrestleMania.
Years later, Sami is finally in position as the WWE World Champion, standing across from Reigns. They shared a brief, hostile stare, reminding fans that Roman’s love wasn’t always there during The Bloodline days, and Sami had to prove his worth to his ‘Tribal Chief.’
Roman said that it was good to see Sami, and Sami acknowledged the same before embracing the “OTC” in a hug. The crowd raged at the embrace, but it was a payoff every Bloodline fan can appreciate.
It didn’t take long for Roman to question why Sami was on the show in the first place, even though Crown Jewel is meant to pit champion vs. champion. He told Sami that he had an “opportunity” for him, going as far as to suggest seeing it as a favor. Reigns said the World Title on his shoulder is not the most prestigious title the Canadian has held, claiming ‘honorary UCE’ is the loftier label.
It was a slick move from Roman, attempting to recruit Zayn into his feud with 946, a feud that has left Reigns mostly untouched, and deflect from his contractual obligation to face Sami in Saudi.
“Are you here out of greed or are you here out of love, and are you here to serve ‘The Bloodline,'” Roman asked Sami in the middle of the ring as the crowd chanted “UCEY.”
Sami admitted he is now ‘the head’ of his own show, leading SD as the “undisputed” world champ, and Roman responded by claiming Zayn has “a title” while Reigns holds ‘The Title.’ Sami called out Roman for his hypocritical arrogance, claiming that when Roman held the title it was “The title,” and Roman hit back, saying it ‘hasn’t meant sh**’ since he lost it at WrestleMania.
Zayn crashed out on Roman in an impassioned promo claiming disrespect for the lack of acknowledgment, mad at Roman for ‘not sweating’ Sami as a “threat.” Roman ended the segment by reminding Sami that he might not even be champion by Crown Jewel because of his title match against Cody Rhodes.
The segment ended, but not before Penta made his entrance, briefcase in hand, forcing Roman to wait at the end of the aisle as the luchador not-so-subtly reminded both Reigns and Zayn he is holding a ‘cash-in’ contract.
PENTA VS BRON BREAKKER
Penta wrestled Breakker in a singles match after the opening segment, but The Vision didn’t accompany Breakker to the ring. Breakker made headlines this weekend after a scary fall at a house show where he slipped from the top rope onto his neck, but he had zero issues doing the hurricane-rana on Penta as he sat on the top turnbuckle.
Breakker Penta up for a spear, but he countered with a superkick, and that is when Maxxine Dupri tried to help Breakker in the match. Breakker took the opportunity to pick up the briefcase to use as a weapon, but Je’Von Evans stopped him. Penta won the match after a shot to Breakker’s head from Breakker with the followed by a Mexican Destroyer.
THE USOS CALL OUT 946
The USOs came out without Fatu, Solo, or Roman—who seemed to leave following his post-segment interview earlier in the night—with weapons in hand, calling out the 946. The faction walked out, their leader Royce flanked by their newest member, Carmelo Hayes, and surrounded The USOs in the ring.
Royce gave the order to attack, but Solo got the drop on Keys by surprising him from the crowd. The Bloodline finally had the upper hand, and Solo was about to hit the spike on Royce, but Melo made it clear they had the numbers advantage more than ever, especially after Jaida walked into the ring with handcuffs in her hand. Screaming in Solo’s face to ‘tell Roman I’m coming for him,’ the entire story shifted when Roman finally showed face in this program.
Roman’s music hit just as Keys was going to handcuff Solo, and the entire 946 backed up as Roman’s aura demanded space—and they gave it to him. It was a full-on battle as Roman, Jey, Jimmy, and Solo ‘ran the group fade’ on the 946 to close the show, with The Bloodline united for the first time since they split into two factions.
Notably, Jacob Fatu was nowhere to be found, and things have never felt cohesive with him around, so we need to monitor whether he is with ‘the fam’ or ‘the bros’ in the 946.
CHELSEA GREEN BEING TREATED LIKE A LESSER CHAMP THAN LIV?!
Chelsea’s booking since winning the WWE World Title on August 2 at SummerSlam has been bleak, and Liv described Green’s title reign as a placeholder while Rhea Ripley was out on injury. Liv’s line hit hard because it was true, but that changed last week when Chelsea tried to confront Liv as the ‘Champ V Champ’ match at Crown Jewel looms.
That was last week, and the segment ended with Roxxane Perez, a superstar on the main roster for the last two years with no hint of a push, pinning the world champion Green in a non-title match after interference from Liv and Judgment Day’s Raquel Rodriguez. It was a tough loss for Green, but a strange win for Perez, considering she was just in the MITB ladder match where she was teased to win before Tiffany Stratton retrieved the briefcase.
They ran a tag match tonight where Chelsea teamed with Iyo Sky to face Perez and Rodriguez, with Liv Morgan ringside and in position to interfere. The match ended with a phenomenal counter from Sky, turning a Raquel powerbomb into a hurricanerana pinfall victory after Green took out Liv and Perez on the outside.
This is the worst kind of 50/50 booking you can run because it does zero for anyone involved apart from Liv Morgan, who is being made to feel like a bigger and more important champ than Green—the problem is they are not making her look ‘bigger,’ but they’re booking it like that’s what we should be thinking.
MAIN EVENT: CHAD GABLE (c) VS REY MYSTERIO JR VS DRAGON LEE—Intercontinental Title; Triple Threat Match
Chad Gable won the IC title at SummerSlam in his home of Minneapolis, with his family in attendance, and that story ended with his newfound respect for the luchador style he railed against. Dragon Lee has become the most ‘deserving’ luchador in WWE after a summer in which he routinely produced ‘Match of the Week’ level work with various styles thrown at him.
As for Rey, the legend and hall of famer seems to have turned back time with how well he’s performed in the second half of the year since returning from injury—though you could argue he never stopped being ‘The GOAT.’ Both men deserved to be challengers after helping bridge the gap between WWE and Triple A, so they were booked for a triple threat.
This was an amazingly back-and-forth affair as the pendulum swung in every direction, and just when you thought one of them would separate themselves from the rest, the other man in the ring was quick to break it up.
The crowd chanted ‘this is awesome’ as they headed toward the match’s climax, and they were all on their feet when Rey hit the 619 on Lee. The crowd thought Rey would be the new champion before Gable broke it up, but he kept control of the match even as the champion regained his composure.
Gable reversed Rey’s momentum to win the rollup pin, a match that will likely earn “Match of the Month” for TV. The Champ shook Rey’s hand before Mysterio pulled the masked man in for a hug. The show could have ended on the bright spot, but unfortunately everyone was attacked in the post.
Ethan Page got the jump on Rey and Gable as Big Cass took out Dragon Lee to close out the show.
OTHER TIDBITS
– JD McDonaugh and Joe Hendry faced off in singles action with the live Funko Pop version of JD rooting for Hendry from ringside. The ‘giant’ Funko Pop took a guitar shot to the head before JD hit a flying headbutt on Hendry for the win, with some help from Dom.
– Lola Vice defeated Lyra Valkyria after some Bayley interference, a common theme in Lyra matches as of late. In fact, Bayley helped Sol Ruca pick up a win over Lyra on Main Events last week, and this program is headed toward its blowoff.
– Agents of Shadows is out this week and features WWE superstars Drew McIntyre, Jacob Fatu, and Joe Hendry, while Hall of Famer Booker T is also part of the show debuting on ReelShort October 23.
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