WWE Monday Night Raw (9/12/22) Full Results and Review
Opening Segment – Seth Rollins Promo
We opened this week’s episode of RAW with Seth Rollins entering the ring to an ovation from the Portland crowd. Rollins begins to talk about his win over Matt Riddle at WWE Clash at the Castle before telling us that Riddle has requested a rematch. He says he is moving forward to bigger and better things and reminds the crowd that it has been a while since he has held gold. It is at this time that Matt Riddle’s music hits and he gives a quick, “Bro”, into the microphone before attacking Rollins. They break out into a brawl that travels throughout the arena, before Rollins leaves up the ramp.
This leaves Riddle standing at the bottom of the ramp as the music of the Judgement Day begins to play. We are quickly met by Finn Balor and Damian Priest. They begin to exchange words about their past in NXT before offering Riddle a spot in the Judgement Day. Riddle politely declines but Balor & Priest do not take his answer well. Riddle then delivers a jump snap knee to Balor and a clothesline to Priest sending both men out of the ring.
Matt Riddle vs. Finn Balor
We return to WWE Monday Night RAW from commercial break to a singles match between Balor and Riddle. A pretty back and forth bout began to lean to the favor of Balor with the help of Priest throughout the match at ringside. Then, Rey Mysterio comes out of nowhere to attack Priest and remove him from the equation. Rey has been having some trouble with the Judgement Day as of late. This allowed the match to quickly pick up and it looked as if Riddle was preparing to hit the RKO and seal the victory, before Rollins returned to distract him. Balor used the distraction to regain control and pick up the victory. After the match, Rollins delivered a stomp to the already beaten down Riddle before exiting.
Backstage Interview / Video Package
A backstage interview with Damage CTRL took place and they spoke about their upcoming Women’s Tag-Team Championship match. They once again claim to have been unrightfully beaten. They state that they will take the championships back to Damage CTRL tonight. Damage CTRL has been must-see television on all WWE programming as of late.
That was followed by a video package from Dominik Mysterio. In the video, he talks about having no regrets about turning on his father and Edge. Dominik reflects on his upbringing in WWE. He basically calls Rey a shitty dad for a minute or so before Rhea Ripley whispers in his ear. Dominik then said, “I’m not your baby boy anymore!” and the video ends.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Match: Damage CTRL vs. Aliyah & Raquel Rodriguez (c)
In a rematch from the tournament finals on RAW just a few weeks ago, this match started with Raquel Rodriguez quickly gaining control over Dakota Kai of Damage CTRL through the use of her power. Kai had an impressive bridge reversal at one point, but Raquel and Aliyah remained in control going into the break.
We return from commercial with Aliyah in control of Iyo Sky of Damage Control. Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky were then able to take advantage of Aliyah through team maneuvers. They kept this control for a good bit, really showing their cohesion as a team. Aliyah was eventually able to make the tag and Raquel jumped in quickly regaining the control she gave her team at the start of the match. She makes the tag to Aliyah who is almost able to pick up the victory, but Bayley managed to put Dakota Kai’s foot on the bottom rope without the referee seeing her, saving her team from the loss.
This was enough of a distraction to shake the focus of the champions. Iyo Sky hit a moonsault to the outside of the ring to take out Raquel. Then, Dakota Kai hit an incredibly interesting sunset flip backbreaker variant (is what I am going to call it) to pick up the victory. Bayley joined her teammates in the ring as we crowned NEW WWE WOMEN’S TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS, DAMAGE CTRL! This was a match that felt very big for RAW, which was a treat.
Rey & Dominik Backstage Segment
Here we saw Rey Mysterio approach his son, Dominik, and begin to apologize for being a bad father, I guess? They really put a lot of time into this story this week, which is fine, but Dominik still needs a lot of work delivering his words. In this segment, he didn’t say any. He gave his father the cold shoulder before walking away with Rhea Ripley.
Chad Gable vs. Johnny Gargano
We got the long awaited in-ring return of Johnny Gargano this week and let me begin by saying, oh how I missed him! Johnny Wrestling squared off in a singles match against Chad Gable that unsurprisingly delivered. The two men began the match with some classic technical wrestling. Chad Gable made sure to hilariously deliver a “Thank You!” to the crowd whenever he could. This match was a really entertaining mostly even battle.
As the match was nearing its end. Johnny Gargano hit an incredible springboard spear for a near fall and Gable hit a beautiful cliffhanger DDT for one of his own. Gable hit an incredible suplex that Corey Graves referred to as an “ocean cyclone suplex”, which to me sounds made up, but was cool, nonetheless. This match had some impressive striking from two of the best technical wrestlers in the business. Eventually, Gargano hit some sort of springboard DDT, which is possibly his new finisher that was referred to as “One Final Beat” and picked up the victory.
At the top of the ramp as Gargano was exiting, Austin Theory attacked him from behind. These two men have been having lots of run-ins as of late. We could be headed toward a meeting between them at Extreme Rules.
Austin Theory & Kevin Owens Segment
When the commercial break ended, we saw Theory standing in the ring as he began to cut a promo on Johnny Gargano. It wasn’t long before Kevin Owens joined him in the ring. Owens began cutting an incredible promo as he always does, but something about this one was different. He did not insult the talent of Austin Theory, rather the ego. Kevin said guys like Theory are a “dime a dozen” while guys like him and Johnny are “one in a million.” He told Theory to prove him wrong, it looked as if Owens was trying to push Theory in the right direction.
Theory responded to this with a flex of the bicep and dumb one liner. Kevin Owens then slapped him across the face. This led to an all-out brawl between the two wrestlers. Several referees and backstage officials were brought out to help separate the men. Theory seemed to be bleeding from his nose pretty badly after the fight. I might dare to say this was the most interesting segment of the night.
Theory did seem more visibly upset than usual while Owens was cutting his promo. We have never really seen emotion like this out of Austin Theory, so it was really awesome to see. I wouldn’t expect it soon, but I could see this playing out long term with Theory joining Kevin Owens as a badass babyface. I know it is far-fetched, but do not rule it out. The guy is very talented, and we saw more passion from him in this segment than we possibly ever have.
Bianca Belair Issues an Open Challenge
Bianca was welcomed to the ring by a huge ovation from the crowd as usual. She then began telling us that she is issuing an open challenge for the RAW Women’s Championship. The open challenge was answered by Sonya Deville from Smackdown. Sonya made sure to remind Belair that they have a history that she has not forgotten. Deville blames losing her job as a WWE Official on Belair. The two women fight in what is a decent back and forth match before Belair takes full control and picks up the victory to retain.
Bayley interrupts Bianca’s celebration and makes sure that Bianca knows they will have a match for the RAW Women’s title, but it will be when Bayley decides. Damage CTRL seems to really be getting in the head of Belair. Bayley approaches the ring and Bianca stands ready to fight as Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai surround the ring with Bayley. Damage CTRL begins a beatdown on Bianca before Alexa Bliss and Asuka come to her aid. Damage CTRL walks up the ramp as we head to commercial break.
RAW has technical difficulties, Omos squashes more local jobbers
After the commercial, the USA network had technical difficulties broadcasting the show. When it returned, we were in a match between Omos and 2 local jobbers. Omos squashed them and left the ring with MVP by his side. As he exits, the announcers hint that Braun Strowman might be the only guy who can take him down.
Seth Rollins Backstage Interview
Seth Rollins begins to speak about how he is “the man” on Monday Night RAW. The United States Champion, Bobby Lashley, doesn’t let Rollins continue for long. Lashley has been delivering in his promos as of late. He is really owning his words during this current run with the title. He says that unless Seth has gold, he is not the man. Seth then challenges Bobby to a match for the United States Championship and he accepts. This match has the potential to be one that is worth much more than weekly programming. It will take place next week on RAW.
Miz Exclusive Interview
Now it was time for Miz’s exclusive interview from his home. Last week, we saw the Miz be choked out by Dexter Lumis who has been seemingly stalking and even successfully kidnapping the Miz as of late. During the interview, we saw Lumis outside the window. The Miz eventually left with his wife, Maryse, for a red-carpet premiere. As they leave, we are shown that Lumis has made his way inside their home.
Edge vs. Dominik Mysterio
In the main event of this evenings WWE Monday Night RAW, we got Edge versus Dominik Mysterio. Triple H and the rest of WWE creative did a decent job building this match through video packages on RAW this week and last. Edge has been stressing that Dominik needs to pay the consequences for his actions. This match saw the WWE Hall of Famer take control early due to his veteran in-ring knowledge. Rhea Ripley began to aid Dominik by giving him commands from ringside. While the referee was distracted, she attacked the leg Edge. This allowed Dominik to gain control and focus on the leg of Edge throughout the match.
Dominik made sure to play up his new heel gimmick by hitting a Three Amigos reminiscent of his late uncle, Eddie Guererro. Eventually, with the crowd behind him, Edge was able to regain control. Edge is among the best ever when it comes to playing up his anger. The man looks legitimately furious at times.
The match came to a head when Edge tied up the arms of Dominik in the ropes. It seemed like Edge was setting him up for some sort of spear to the outside of the ring. Before he could do it, Rey Mysterio ran into the ring. Rey began begging and pleading for mercy on behalf of his son.
Before Edge and Rey can come to a conclusion, the Judgement Day ran into the ring and began wreaking havoc on the two men. They paid special attention to the leg of Edge delivering several steal chair shots. Finn Balor then executed a Coupe de Grace onto the leg of Edge. Dominik showing no signs of regret in his decision. The show ended with the Judgement Day standing above Edge in the center of the ring.
