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Add FightsATW on GoogleTonight’s WWE Monday Night RAW featured a world title match featuring champion Liv Morgan defending her title against Stephanie Vaquer in a rematch of their WrestleMania showdown from earlier this year. The show was live from Birmingham, Alabama, after a week of prerecorded episodes for both RAW and SD.
Coming off the heels of Sunday Night’s Main Event in Atlanta, the fallout of Bronson Reed’s return was certainly a huge focus of the show as The Vision appears for the first time in full force this year.
MAIN EVENT: LIV MORGAN(c) VS STEPHANIE VAQUER—WWE Women’s World Title
This was a one-sided match early on, as Liv Morgan dominated shortly after the bell sounded, though it would end up being much closer before it was all over. Morgan was in great spirits as she sang along with her intro music—the single she premiered before Mania this year—despite not having her Judgment Day faction by her side.
Vaquer hit the ‘devil’s kiss on top of the table while managing a high-octane offense from within the ring, though the in-ring quality went out the window during the climax. First, Roxxanne Perez appeared as a diversion before Raquel was caught on ringside attempting to interfere.
Becky Lynch ran out to ‘make the save’ before chasing Perez off into the crowd, but the distraction allowed Morgan to use the belt as a weapon before landing her finisher. Liv pinned Vaquer to successfully defend her title in a rare defense—only her third since winning it in April.
VISION CLEAR… AND AT FULL FORCE
The Vision’s refortified roster now includes Logan Paul, Austin Theory w/Maxxine Dupri, Bron Breakker, and the returning Bronson Reed, now noticeably lighter following physical therapy stemming from his injury. Reed returned to hit Oba with a steel chair after everyone else failed to help Breakker pick up the win.
The full group, now completely healed, feels much more formidable, and a big-time segment could have helped to sell The Vision as a top group once again. However, Tozawa would end up coming out to help set up a match between Theory and a returning Otis. The singles match was received well enough from the live crowd, but it did not feel like the tide had turned on their value at the top of the ticket.
Otis was eventually beaten before the group beat him down, but that is when the screen showed a determined Oba Femi marching towards ‘Gorilla.’ Oba shoved a WWE official attempting to stop him from going out while medically uncleared; Oba facepalmed him for a brief comedy spot.
Oba briefly dominated before the numbers overwhelmed him as he took a beating of his own with taped-up ribs. It is interesting to see Oba feuding with Breakker and The Vision, but WWE has painted him as a guy who relies more on brawn than brain in his feuds.
MONEY IN THE BANK QUALIFIERS (MEN’S): REY MYSTERIO JR. V BRON BREAKKER V ETHAN PAGE—Triple Threat Match
The MITB qualifiers kicked off on RAW this week with a very interesting triple threat match complete with the legend, the future star, and the upstart with high-ceiling potential. Page and Mysterio once worked together to keep a rejuvenated Breakker at bay. Breakker feels directionally corrected as he came out before the triple threat match to deliver a spear to Miz and Kit Wilson before hitting comedian Matt Mathews with a spear in-ring.
Breakker was taken out ahead of the climax after he missed a running spear on the outside, only to hit the steel stairs. Page and Rey worked very well in the ring together, but the spot of the match was Breakker hitting a ‘huricanrana’ on Page as he had Rey on his shoulders.
That spot led to the finale in which Breakker picked up the MITB qualifying win by pinning future Hall of Famer Mysterio Jr. following a charged-up spear.
SOL RUCA V LYRA VALKYRIA V MAXXINE DUPRI—Triple Threat Match
In the women’s qualifier, all three performed very well, though there was a little something extra from Maxxine Dupri. Ruca has built a reputation among fans as one of the most offensively innovative performers in the division, but Dupri showed both athleticism and in-ring prowess in this qualifier.
As for Valkyria, she did not win but ended the match with the biggest program coming out of the qualifier as Bayley returned to WWE TV in the match’s climax. Lyra was in control in the ring and seemed to be trending towards winning when Bayley pulled the ref out before she could count three on the pin.
Sol Ruca picked up the win off the back of Bayley’s return, and the segment ended with Lyra running from her former friend.
FATU RELUCTANT, KNIGHT PLAYING THE WAITING GAME
It is a messy situation that now includes multiple factions: 1) Roman’s version of today’s Bloodline featuring Fatu and The USOs; 2) the amazing pairing of Solo Sikoa and LA Knight; 3) Royce Keys ‘street all-star team.’ The feud has become too convoluted for a single RAW segment, so tonight’s partial story in the overall program spanned multiple segments.
First, it was the USOs attempting to get Fatu on board with attacking Keys, but he was reluctant to strike in anger. He tried selling the idea that Keys is too dangerous and that their shared time on the streets of Oakland gives him a valuable insight. The USOs were not keen to wait, and neither was Solo, but they eventually got on board in their second backstage segment of the night—even if they sported ‘boo-boo faces’ about the entire situation.
In a later segment, LA Knight was seen discussing a future title shot with GM Pearce following the outcome of next week’s Roman Reigns-Penta main event in Mexico. Solo approached Knight afterward, and their interaction ended in a similar conundrum. Solo wanted to strike now, telling Knight that he might not be able to wait.
They played a video package of Royce Keys and the team now flanking him, attempting to paint them as this dangerous ‘hood’ faction. The problem, of course, is that unlike Fatu, Royce does not give off “True Hero Under God” vibes (THUG for the uninitiated). This entire program continues to play out towards a very likely WarGames match late November in ‘H-Town.’
The USOs and a reluctant Fatu were in position to close out RAW, dressed for war, weapons in hand, for the show’s final segment. They were barely on the mic when Keys and crew were shown outside the Legacy Arena with WWE officials on the ground. Keys got his boys to bust up the vehicle the USOs and Fatu showed up in before Royce lit the car on fire, sending the show to black with The Bloodline arguing. Before the credits faded to black, the black SUV exploded outside the arena.
OTHER TIDBITS
– A preview for the “Mr. T” doc set to hit Netflix this week was shown during the show. The clip focused on T’s WM main event as he paired with the late Hulk Hogan in front of a historic crowd at Madison Square Garden.
– The Miz and Kit Williams accosted Alabama-born comedian Matt Mathews before all three were put down by Breakker as previously recapped.
– Joe Hendry had a huge hit after a poor batting average when it comes to delivering on his played gimmick. His video package focused on JD McDonaugh, with Hendry doing the voice-over and providing a 2000s-era Bud Light commercial singalong. The vignette claimed to have discovered the identity of his father, ‘Funko Pop,’ a regular-sized man wearing a giant “Funko Pop” figure head (the style Funko is known for), playing on the running joke that JD has a giant head, which he does. Hendry won the match thanks to Je’Von Evans, who was sporting the giant Funko Pop head. It was hilarious and helped to get Hendry over, but seeing Dom Mysterio reduced to his current role with no change in sight.
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