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Add FightsATW on GoogleWWE was in San Antonio, Texas, for this week’s Monday Night RAW, live from the Frost Bank Center, as the company continued its northward push after a Mexico/Latin America tour that drew a combined 47,000-plus over three nights. As was the case in Corpus Christi for Friday Night SmackDown, the company leaned heavily on the WWE/AAA crossover talent like Penta and Dom—an appropriate direction for the territory.
The Money in the Bank qualifiers continued tonight’s show, but with the match card for ‘Worlds Collide’ officially announced, some bookings need narrative heading into the Chicago show meant to rival the ‘alternative.’ For example, the premise of ‘Worlds Collide’ between WWE and Triple A brands is best highlighted by La Catalina’s Reina de Reinas championship against Roxanne Perez.
With Roxanne Perez and La Catalina interacting in a MITB triple threat qualifier, there were opportunities to build towards a proper ‘one-night only’ feud. The biggest announcement from AAA’s GM Rey Myterio Jr. regarding ‘Worlds Collide’ was the scheduled appearance of Oba Femi, who hasn’t been seen since The Vision took him out weeks back.
OBA FEMI RETURNS
This year’s MITB is shaping up to be huge, with three of the company’s most prominent upstarts already qualified for the ladder match. Two of the three got into backstage beef as Je’Von Evans stood up to The Vision during his backstage interview, and this prompted a one-on-one match between him and Bron Breakker.
Breakker and Evans had a very physical match, including a huge superkick that landed square on the chin of Bron. But The Vision eventually jumped in and caused the DQ before beating down Je’Von in a post-match squashing.
As Breakker geared up for his ‘charged up spear’ on a helpless Je’Von, the lights went black, and Oba Femi made his return to TV to pummel Breakker, Theory, and Reed. Oba cleared the ring and then hurled Evans from inside the ring to The Vision waiting on the outside—threw him with some real velo.
What was interesting was Breakker’s interaction with Paul Heyman later in the show, where the former ‘Wiseman’ reminded Bron that Oba ‘still breathing’ was bad X 3. Breakker said he was still him, and that was bad for everyone, reiterating “everyone” after Paul questioned him. Breakker was reserved in the initial backstage encounter with Evans, initially commanding The Vision to stand down. Yet, combined with this segment, we could be on the verge of Breakker breaking free of The Vision.
JACOB FATU GOT THE PLAY, LA KNIGHT HAS THE SHOT, SOLO HAS ALL THE SWAG
A multi-layer storyline has played out weekly over the past several weeks of WWE TV, and tonight it started to come together. Three separate factions have emerged, pitting one another until tonight, as 946, The Bloodline, and the successful pairing of Solo and LA Knight continue to feud.
Royce Keys’ group of Oakland ‘thugs’ have chosen chaos every time we see them, and that prompted Solo to offer to join forces with the family he previously rejected. And as this implosion inches closer, LA Knight has his eyes on a solo mission against Roman Reigns for the heavyweight title at MITB.
Knight delivered an impassioned promo ahead of his title shot where he considered Roman’s lack of Bloodline usage this year in big matches, acknowledging he remains the underdog. Still, Knight stressed that his chances are much better one-on-one against Roman, but being tied to the faction wars leaves him vulnerable.
946 cut another video promo in their grunge style that works well for their brand before later jumping and then abducting Solo by throwing him in the back of a black SUV. The Bloodline tried to intervene, but it was too late as they were forced to bicker over ‘I told you so’s.’
PENTA EXCELS AFTER THE ‘L’
It was announced that Penta will team with his brother Rey Fenix to face off against Los Perros del Mal this Saturday. So, it was somewhat surprising to see The Judgment Day interrupt Penta’s show opening promo considering Dom and JD are in a separate match.
Dom has been ‘down bad’ lately, and across two separate brands, we have seen him suffer loss after loss while Penta elevated himself on the same platforms. The jealousy from Dom was clear with every word of his promo, but the whole thing ended with Penta taking out both men.
Later in the show, various members of The Judgment Day cut promos that ended with Liv complaining about her title loss in Chile. Vaquer won the title in front of her hometown crowd thanks to some help from Becky Lynch as acting referee. Becky and Stephanie eventually all came out, but the entire segment felt directionless.
MITB QUALIFIERS
Men’s
PENTA (REPLACED SOLO) VS DOM MYSTERIO VS DRAGON LEE—Triple Threat
After Solo was kidnapped, Dom assumed that he would just get to qualify in a very funny exchange with GM Pearce. Instead, Pearce substituted Solo with the late replacement Penta as the crowd erupted. If Dom was ‘feeling some type of way’ at the start of this show, this exercise in star preference had to eat at him throughout the match.
Penta and Dragon Lee jumped on Dom in a joint effort before they squared off with one another in a respectful exchange. Off the back of this match, the lucha style captivated fans the way it has over the summer months, when WWE leaned heavily on the masked superstars.
There was a terrific near fall as the match neared its climax, where Dom went for a ‘frog splash’ on Penta, only to land in a ‘Styles Clash’ by Dragon Lee that was just broken up by Penta. Penta picked up the win after paying Dom off with his own cheating tactics, and the men’s MITB is turning into a ‘Future’s All-Star’ game.
Women’s
ROXANNE PEREZ VS LA CATLINA VS IYO SKY—Triple Threat
Roxanne Perez pulled out the win in this triple threat qualifier, but the fact that La Catlina seems to be advancing so fast across brands makes things far more interesting. The two will face off Saturday, and La Catlina showed great chemistry with both Perez and Sky.
Lola Vice, Sol Ruca, Jacy Jane, and now Roxanne Perez have all advanced to the MITB ladder match scheduled for October 10th.
OTHER TIDBITS
– Bayley and Lyra upped the ante on their feud after their singles match became an aggressive affair in which Lyra picked up the rollup win.
– Lola Vice was announced as the newest roster member and was given some time on the mic. Roxanne Perez, fresh off her MITB qualifying win, came out to provoke Vice in a tease for what could emerge as a real feud.
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