Match Ratings For WWE Raw 9/3/18, Podcast Notes From Sean Ross Sapp Of Fightful.com

Opening segment 

• Renee Young is back on commentary. Sweet.
• Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre come out and wait for a video air.
• Ah, there we go. “I don’t give a damn if any of uuuuuuuuuuu peeeeeeeeeople like it or not.” The go to heel line in WWE.
• McIntyre and Ziggler says they’re going to be the most dominating group of all time. The Shield interrupts them. 
• Corbin sends a bunch of wrestlers out and they all get beaten up by The Shield. The camera zooms and cuts are at an all-time worst here. The brawl is just fine, but the production is totally miserable. 
• None of these guys had trouble neutralizing Ziggler or McIntyre in 2014……
• Why would anyone go to commercial right now?
• The whole Shield is being arrested and there’s a near riot backstage. Corbin looks overwhelmed. 
• We’re told the Shield were arrested, appeared in front of a judge, were arraigned and charged with inciting a riot. AT TEN PM EST ON LABOR DAY.

Bella Twins defeated Riott Squad (w/ Ruby Riott)
3/10

• Nikki lands a swinging armbreaker from the second rope, then the Bellas drop Logan’s shoulders across their knees. 
• Brie ready to hand out those free surgeries with Knee Mode.
• Brie completely screws up a suicide dive attempt. Back from a commercial, she hits a missile dropkick.
• Brie botches ANOTHER suicide dive, and Nikki wins with a Rack Attack 2.0 on Liv Morgan.
•  

Chad Gable & Bobby Roode defeated The Ascension
5/10

• Charly Caruso interviews Bobby Roode and Chad Gable. This is very fake and cheesy.
• The Ascension run Roode and Gable down, calling Roode a flash in the pan. Gable is called a sawed off duck butt. 
• Gable lands a cool suplex, but after there’s some pretty mediocre tag team action until he gets a hot tag again later. 
• Gable finishes the hot tag with a rolling bridging German suplex. Bobby Roode is ecstatic. 

Elias

• Elias comes out and cuts a promo about Ohio being total idiots. He’s interrupted by Alexa Bliss, Alicia Fox and Mickie James.
• Alexa Bliss gets a huge pop and puts over the crowd, and does an OH-I-O chant. Of course, she heels the audience after that and calls them zombies.
• She apologizes to Elias for Trish Stratus, and asks him to perform a song. She also calls Natalya Rousey’s pet cat. WWE really has Alexa Bliss cut her lines like she wants to bang everyone.
• Ronda Rousey interrupts, and then Natalya for their scheduled matches.

Alexa Bliss (w/ Mickie James & Alicia Fox) defeated Natalya (w/ Ronda Rousey)
5.25/10

• Alexa Bliss looks leaner than in recent months. 
• Natalya looks on her game. She’s all over the place and hits her slingshot release atomic drop. 
• Alexa Bliss has a great right hand. Alicia Fox and Mickie James help Bliss cheat and Bliss hits a DDT.
• Bliss applies a really bad armbar and Natalya taps. 
• Rousey comes in to make the save and ragdolls Fox with judo arm drags.
• Bliss attacks with a chop block and runs Rousey into the stairs. Rousey fights Bliss off.
• Bellas come back and offer Rousey their help training backstage. Natalya says she isn’t feeling like herself.

WWE Raw Tag Team Championships
Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre defeated The B-Team (c) to win the titles

• Strowman says since The Shield are gone tonight, Corbin needs to find them some competition. They want a tag title shot and insinuate The Revival won’t be able to compete.
• The Revival vs. McIntyre and Ziggler will be unbelievable when it happens.
• McIntyre and Ziggler attack the Revival backstage and take their places in the title match.
• B-Team rolls early on and get some good, still offense in. 
• After getting worked over by McIntyre, Dallas connects with a nice tornado DDT. He follows with a neckbreaker, then we see a double tag. 
• Axel gets a PerfectPlex on Ziggler, but his bridge leaves a lot to be desired. Ziggler ends up nailing a superkick.
• Zig Zag Claymore gets the win. New tag team champions.
• This title switch needed to happen, and the spot here was obviously to kill some time. The B-Team have had some level of protection, but this should have been shorter.

Authors of Pain (w/ Drake Maverick) defeated jobberskis

• Drake Maverick looks ridiculous with AOP. 
• AOP needed a manager bad. I don’t know that they needed Drake Maverick wearing the same gear as them though. 
• They’re facing a couple of enhancement guys and beat the shit out of them.
• A pop up assisted Death Valley Driver into the corner!
• Super Collider back. They needed a reboot. WWE wasted a half-year of AOP’s careers.
• They had to get rid of the Last Chapter. 

HBK-Undertaker

• Shawn Michaels comes out and says that he thinks Triple H will beat the Undertaker.
• THE UNDERTAKER returns!! He says he knows he took the most important thing from Michaels — his career. 
• Shawn Michaels says he’s a man of his word about his retirement. Every time he’s in a ring he hears “one more match,” and the whole roster begs to face him. He stays retired out of respect to Undertaker.
• Undertaker says it’s out of fear because he’d put HBK down again. In Melbourne, he’ll put Triple H down, too.
• Man, I did not expect this meaningful segment to be dropped in my lap on Monday Night Raw September 3 in the year of our Hogfather 2018.

Boss N’ Hug Connection defeated Dana Brooke & Ember Moon (w/ Titus Worldwide)
5/10

• Ember Moon teaming with Dana? Sure, why not? It’s different.
• Dana Brooke has improved a lot in the ring and looks like she’s playing to her strengths.
• Titus and Apollo are arguing ringside and Dana Brooke yells at them.
• Sasha wins with a headscissors pin. 
• Dana Brooke tells Titus Worldwide she’s done.

Lashley

• Bobby Lashley is giving a performance review and is ordered to attend a meditation from Jinder Mahal.
• Lashley calls Mahal and Sunil “MY MAN” a lot.
• He’s actually trying to participate, but Kevin Owens shows up and attacks him. Powerbomb on the apron.
• I think their match will be pretty good.

Braun Strowman (w/ Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre) defeated Finn Balor
4.5/10

• Finn Balor challenges Baron Corbin to a match and accuses him of having a small dick.
• Corbin asks a stage hand to clean his rolex. He later tells Balor he’s been so busy.
• Braun Strowman is the opponent.
• Balor gets on Strowman’s back with a choke and does a double stomp to his back off the apron.
• Strowman gets posted, per usual. 
• Man, that’s an incredibly bad triangle set up. Balor pulled guard. 
• Pulling guard from the second rope is not an extraordinary thing.
• Powerslam. Pin. 
• This was the worst match I’ve seen from either guy in a long time.
• The Shield are back. DID THEY STEAL THE COP CAR!??!?!
• The WWE heels all attack The Shield. Strowman stairs Reigns.
• Rollins is sent into a police van window off the stage and gets cut open.
• Strowman powerslams Reigns on the floor. 
• I mean to be fair, if I were on the WWE roster and the Shield came back, I’d probably organize this too based on their history.

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.

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