Match Ratings For WWE Raw 9/23/19 From Sean Ross Sapp Of Fightful.com

Opening segment

• We get our first STRUCTURE reference.
• Rollins brings up Bray Wyatt and the Fiend, before mentioning Braun Strowman.
• Strowman comes out and says Bray plays Mister Rogers with puppets.
• Rollins and Strowman go back and forth until they decide that they’re going to face each other tonight.
• Running back a Clash of Champions match already. For the title? Not for the title? I dunno.
• This is supposedly the SEASON FINALE I guess.
• There’s also a five-way this week for a title shot.

Viking Raiders defeated The OC
6/10

• The OC have some great new music.
• VIking Raiders are over. The two man slam works really well with the crowd.
• I’m a big fan of Ivar’s falling forward side slam.
• AJ Styles gets booted, and Cedric Alexander meets him on the stage and beats him up.
• We get a commercial, but Ivar gets a big pop for a corner senton.
• Viking Raiders seem very over.
• This is an opening match with some build that the crowd cares about.
• Erick kicks out of the Boot of Doom and they win with the Viking Experience.
• Crowd was HOT for this.

Backstage Crappenings

• Becky says she wants Sasha Banks on a hot streak, and that Sasha wanted to take her out. I like these sit-down Michael Cole.
• Street Profits are doing their narration. Miz shows up to announce his child’s birth to a huge pop, and takes a shot at Mike Kanellis. He announces Hogan and Flair for Miz TV next week and Hogan gets booed.
• Another AOP promo. This one shows them beating people up.

Rusev defeated EC3
SQUASH

• EC3 tried to start a “we want Lana” chant during the break.
• He gets crushed completely
• What a waste of EC3, but I guess it beats him not being on TV at all.

Sasha Banks (w/ Bayley) defeated Nikki Cross (w/ Alexa Bliss)
5.75/10

• A couple of solid arm drags and monkey flips land.
• I hereby call the dropping on your back when someone has you in a choke or sleeper the Bam Bam Bomb
• Sasha spends a bunch of time outside the ring before she Bam Bam Bombs to the floor.
• This is good work, even though it’s a very long match. Sasha hits with Meteora hard.
• Sasha works over Nikki’s leg big time.
• Nikki flies off the apron with a big body press. She also catches Sasha in the ring skirt, where I assume she attacked Sasha. I couldn’t see because of the cameras.
• Banks rolls through a body press and taps out Nikki with a Banks Statement.
• After the match, she does it to Alexa Bliss, too.
• I said last week that Sasha Banks needed to start beating some people up, but I don’t know if we need to have one person beating up all the tag champs every show.

Lacey Evans defeated Ember Moon
5.75/10

• We are bout to find out the answer to the age-old question: Where Does Ember Moon Fit In To All Of This?
• If WWE doesn’t mention Lacey Evans getting pulled over, they’re missing out.
• Ember Moon throwing some nice, snug strikes.
• I really enjoy Lacey’s slingshot dropkick.
• Natalya is watching on.
• Ember Moon fires up, but Lacey hits a really good sweep kick.
• Moon turns a spot where she’s hanging on the ropes into a modified Eclipse.
• Women’s Right and a Sharpshooter taps out Ember Moon.
• Ember Moon doesn’t need to be losing to Lacey Evans right now. They tried the Lacey main event push.

WWE 24/7 Championship
Carmella defeated R-Truth (c) to become champion

• Lucha House Party, Drake Maverick, Mojo Rawley, Curt Hawkins, Zack Ryder are out.
• Carmella says she’s exhausted and can’t keep running anymore.
• Truth hugs her and gets rolled up.
• Truth helps her escape.

Chad Gable defeated Baron Corbin via DQ
5.75/10

• King Corbin has altered music, a bearskin-ish robe and a new crown. He makes a short joke.
• Gable starts out strong, but gets heaved over the barricade before the commercial.
• We come back to see Corbin working over Gable and the crowd is letting him have it.
• Corbin can’t get the job done. He keeps landing move after move after move.
• Gable gets a big moonsault, and the crowd is behind him.
• Huge “Gable” chants from the crowd.
• Gable counters an End of Days into an Ankle Lock.
• Corbin cracks Gable with the scepter.
• The crowd really turned it up for this match.

Top Contender Match
Rey Mysterio beats Bobby Roode, AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura and Ricochet
6.5/10

• What in the hell do they have Ricochet out there saying? What the fuck is this?
• Nakamura gets some shine with some heavy strikes.
• Ricochet does a nice spinning suplex and the Recoil, but Nakamura catches him with the Kinshasa and eliminates him.
• Raw has had some good, loud crowds the last couple of weeks.
• Roode is still hanging around outside.
• Styles and Nakamura go at it a little bit, and Styles beats him with the Phenonemal Forearm.
• Roode pins Styles with a Glorious DDT.
• Mysterio avoids the Glorious DDT, 619 and Frog Splash for the win.

Braun Strowman defeated Seth Rollins via DQ
5.5/10

• Rollins is getting his ass whipped early on.
• We come back from commercial to see Rollins doing his best to fight Braun off.
• A superkick lands for Rollins, then two Frog Splashes, but Braun Strowman kicks out.
• Rollins stumbled on a suicide dive, but Strowman catches him. This all went as good as possible. Commentary played it up well.
• Strowman mows him down.
• Strowman sets up for a Powerslam, but the Fiend is here.
• Mandible Claw on Braun Strowman
• Seth Rollins gets one, too.

Rating guide

10- Perfect, 9- MOTY Territory, 8- Excellent, 7- Great, 6- Good, 5- Average to above average, 4- Slightly below average, 3 or below: Poor

Each match starts at a 5 and slides up and down based on entertainment, execution, time, environment, reaction and stakes. The ratings are in no way an indication of a “star rating,” which is a completely different system. A standard, non-offensive “TV match” lands at a 5. The gap between 5.75-6 is generally the largest, with anything reaching 6 being recommended viewing.
These are opinions, and incredibly inconsistent ones. Don’t take them too seriously, and have (and share) your own!