Match Ratings, Podcast Notes For WWE Raw 9/10/18 From Sean Ross Sapp Of Fightful.com

Opening Segment

• Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, Braun Strowman come out one-by-one, then they’re followed by every other heel, who take instructions from the first three.
• Braun throws to a video. He says he has his Dogs Of War. Each guy says a little something.
• The Shield’s music hits, and the Shield beats up EVERY HEEL ON THE ROSTER with axehandles. Literal axehandles. I want to see the Shield use those axehandles off the top rope so I can make a triple axehandle math joke.
• The Shield are backstage arguing with cops, and Baron Corbin tries to talk them down. Corbin asks them to vacate the premises immediately or go to jail and vacate their titles. 

Niki Bella (w/ Brie Bella) defeated Ruby Riott (w/ Riott Squad)
5.75/10

• Really excited to have Alex break down Riott Squad ruining the Bella locker room. This was an absolute trash fire of a segment. 
• Brie Bella isn’t wrestling, and Nikki is working with one of the best in the company in Ruby Riott. Good call.
• Nikki hits a flying mare, and takes an STO well. She hits a filthy spear that is either great or terrible based on how you look at it.
• Bella is looking really good tonight. Her fire-up comeback is good, and leads to a nice inverted powerbomb out of the corner and a big kick.
• Sarah Logan distracts and Nikki Bella walks into an inverted STO. Liv tries to get involved but Brie stops it.
• Rack Attack 2.0 gets the win. This was good stuff. 

Authors of Pain defeated Boom and Bradley

• “Don’t let anyone forget the carnage caused by AOP, but make sure you ask them forget that you and a dozen other people got your asses kicked by three dudes with broken axes.”
• Didn’t take long for them to get rid of the terrible vest for Drake.
• WWE have been finding some fantastic jobbers of late. One gets press slammed onto the top rope, and the other tries to leave. He eats a clotheslines.
• Boom is powerslammed onto Bradley and then they get beat with the Super Collider. 
• I’m still confused as to why Drake Maverick is wearing knee pads over his pants to not wrestle.

Triple H

• Triple H is shown arriving to the arena, and gets a surprisingly light reaction.
• He cuts a promo about how everyone is picking Undertaker.
• He says he’ll put Taker down. I wonder how much more build there will be for something like this considering it’s still about four we

WWE Raw Tag Team Championship
Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre (c) defeated B-Team
4.75/10

• I guess we’re running back this “ten minute tag title match with B-Team” deal. At this point of the night I just want wrestling so I don’t mind as much.
• As we come back from a commercial Ziggler superkicks Axel while McIntyre hits an inverted Alabamaslam. 
• Ziggler, going for his third superkick gets reveresed. Bo Dallas gets a hot tag, but falls victim to the Claymore Zig Zag after a rake to the eyes.
• Did they really need to cheat to beat these guys? I can’t make sense of a lot out of this Ziggler/McIntyre vs. B-Team stuff besides the former winning the titles.
• The Shield (sans Roman) attacks Drew & Ziggler after the match.

Shield 0.66

• After the match, Corbin goes off, and says The Shield isn’t supposed to be there. Ambrose and Rollins say it’s not The Shield without Reigns.
• They get Corbin to admit he got them jailed last week, and they threaten to have him thrown in jail for falsifying a police report. THEY CAN’T MAKE THAT CALL!!!
• I was hoping Ambrose and Rollins consulted Otunga. They have a sherrif instead.
• Ambrose is trying to talk down a speeding ticket from the cop outside. It’s implied that they’re related because of the AMBROSE tag.
• Corbin lets Drew & Dolph know later that they’re defending the titles at Hell in a Cell against Ambrose & Rollins.

KO

• Kevin Owens just had to sit in that ring through a three and a half minute commercial, AND through that entire segment backstage.
• We come back to see Tyler Breeze trotting to the ring, only to get attacked by Owens.
• Breeze fights back briefly, but he’s powerbombed on the apron.
• Owens says it felt good to walk out, but Baron Corbin begged him to come back. He said he’s only back because he can do whatever he wants without being held accountable.
• He calls Tyler Breeze an embarrassment. Owens says his job is doing whatever he wants, not doing anyone any favors. He blames Bobby Lashley for hurting Zayn.
• Great promo from Owens. He’ll be damned if he gets ruined by a program with Lashley.

Chad Gable & Bobby Roode defeated The Ascension
5/10

• Roode admits he was overly excited last week. Gable immediately tags himself in and cleans house until he eats a boot from Konnor.
• The Ascension hit a nice assisted knee to the face and work over Gable. He eventually makes the tag to Roode after a good hip toss. 
• Roode gets his spinebuster, but Gable is back in and wins with a Chaos Theory.
• I kind of don’t want Roode to turn on Gable. 

Ronda Rousey & Natalya defeated Mickie James & Alexa Bliss (w/ Alicia Fox)
4.25/10

• Natalya plays her hits early, before getting worked over by Mickie James. 
• Renee says Ronda trashed Alexa’s armbar…..but it submitted Natalya. Whut.
• I dunno what’s up with how the armbar is being applied in WWE of late, but it’s really weird. 
• Alexa slaps Ronda, and walks into a really lame Hart Attack. Wasn’t a fan of that Hart Attack and it was all on Rousey. Shouldn’t be landing cross legged at all.
• Alexa Bliss shadowboxing cracked me up.
• Rousey gets the tag and a big reaction, but is ran into the barricade and apron.
• Mickie James hits a sliding dropkick, and clearly is calling spots for Ronda. 
• Rousey still lacks some of the instincts and timing of seasoned wrestlers. Her judo throws are perfect, however. 
• I don’t have a clue why Rousey’s WWE version of the armbar is done so different. Either way, Mickie taps and Alexa kicks Rousey in the ribs.

Mick Foley

• Elias spits out his coffee on a production assistant backstage.
• He trolls New Orleans about the Saints losing.
• Mick Foley interrupts and says that Elias doesn’t have a sincere bone in his body.
• Elias talks about being there when Foley was thrown off the cell. 
• Mick cuts a great promo about wanting to feel as alive as he did 20 years ago, and says he’ll be reffing at Hell in a Cell.
• Elias trolls him and Mick says he’s allowed to make a match, and brings out Finn Balor.

Finn Balor defeated Elias
5/10

• Balor looks orange.
• Balor is also back to playing the hits, which is a disappointment. For about a year his work was really great. 
• Marty Scurll chants can be heard throughout the arena.
• Elias is able to break up the monotony with a jumping knee and his spinning powerbomb, but the crowd is still really quiet.
• Small package for the win. Cole gets on Renee for cheering, which is funny.

Bobby Lashley

• Bobby Lashley better grab ahold of Lio Rush and hold on to him with everything he’s got.
• Pairing Lio with Lashley would be a brilliant move.

THE BIG DOOOOOOOG

• Braun destroys the backstage area looking for Roman. He throws a guy through a pole.
• Strowman interviews Charly Caruso and asks where Reigns is.
• Strowman calls Roman out and is obliged. He was heelish and very 80s cartoon in this promo. 
• Reigns gets a superman punch, but gets thrown into the set. 
• Reigns ends up Samoan Dropping Strowman off the table and the stage. A nice finish to Raw.