Sean Raw Sapp (9/4): WWE Raw Match Ratings, Analysis, Podcast Notes

John Cena defeated Jason Jordan
6.75/10

• I think it's really clever booking to do Jason Jordan vs. John Cena 15 years later.
• Ironically, Cena looks like the December 2004 version of himself. 
• The crowd is white hot for this match, and it's something that Jason Jordan badly needed. 
• Jordan working out of STF and into a crossface is big.
• Cena sits up, which will make any crossface look like trash. Jordan welcomes him with rolling Northern lights suplexes. Phenomenal. 
• Cena ends up pinning Jordan after an outstanding match.
• "This is awesome" chants for a Jason Jordan match. This could be huge for his career.

Roman Reigns v. Cena II: Mic Battle

• Roman Reigns comes out and says it just took Cena 20 minutes to beat a rookie. 
• Reigns says either Cena strung Jordan along and crushed him, or he's not as good as he says. 
• "Fake ass little bitch."
• John Cena does the John Cena thing where he makes a joke of everything. This is getting old. 
• Cena makes fun of Reigns' zipper. Reigns says the Big Dog busted it.
• Heh.
• Cena gets serious and puts over Jason Jordan and The Miz, but says he doesn't respect Roman Reigns.
• This is really good stuff, but Cena is saying all the things that people have said to him for years. 
• Reigns wants to fight, Cena doesn't.

Cesaro & Sheamus defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno

• Rollins and Ambrose are on commentary. This is a way I wish they'd keep people on TV more. Even if they don't have anything to do with the match. Who cares, as long as they're good?
• Ambrose says he's been punching Rollins in the face for years and he's tired of it now.
• It's good to see Slater and Rhyno. I don't know why they were moved over. They don't have a babyface James Ellsworth blocking them on Smackdown now.
• Rhyno eats a Brogue kick. He loses. Sup.

Backstage Crappenings

• Jeff Hardy is interviewed backstage and Matt is displaying some "broken" tendencies per usual. 
• Nia Jax is telling Kurt Angle she should get a title shot. Emma says according to her Twitter feed, nobody was talking about her. Angle says they can team up and if they win, get added to the title match at No Mercy. A GREAT way to add stakes to the match. 
• We see a really bad written backstage promo between Sasha Banks and Alexa where they talk about having to team together. Sasha is really not good at these, but this is probably the best she's done. 
• Braun Strowman gets ribbed into having to play the Super Troopers repeater game.
• The ref from Big Show/Strowman's ring collapse match puts both guys over.

Intercontinental Championship
Miz (c) defeated Jeff Hardy
5/10

• This is the second time recently that Hardy's Whisper in the Wind has been so slow that his opponent had to wait on him.
• The Miztourage get involved and get beaten up by Matt. They all get ejected.
• Bo Dallas' chain is hilarious.
• Miz's counter of Jeff Hardy's legdrop was one of the most creative I've seen of late.
• Jeff didn't look great in this match. He looked like the years were catching up with him. Bumps like the one he took to the outside will do that. 
• There was a camera angle after the Twist of Fate kickout that we don't see a lot of. I'm all for that. 
• Miz wins. Crowd was into it, but I didn't really enjoy it that much personally.

Enzo Amore, Gran Metalik and Cedric Alexander defeated Tony Nese, Drew Gulak & Noam Dar
5.75/10

• Enzo Amore. He's still over. He cuts promos on the three opponents, and that gets over too. 
• The Nese/Cedric series is the kind cruiserweight matches on Raw need.
• The transition period for Enzo is a cool storyline to add to his matches. Getting back suplexed into a turnbuckle by Nese is cool, too. 
• Cedric looked awesome in this match.
• Enzo winning by cheating was a good touch, too. 
• Later, Neville tells the three that they'll be in a 5-way qualifying match tomorrow night.

Bray and Balor

• What the hell is Bray even saying anymore? Did he used to fight rabbits? Did he kill Adam Rose's bunny?
• Not sure why anyone should care about this. 

Possible Top Contender match
Emma & Nia Jax defeated Alexa Bliss and Sasha Banks
5/10

• Emma has a new theme again. I have no idea how the company has fumbled on her. Her being in this match and getting screen time with a consistent character is a step up.
• It's weird and awkward to see Alexa Bliss getting a hot tag. 
• This match isn't very good, but it's fundamentally sound. 
• I enjoyed the Nia-Alexa tilt-a-whirl DDT countered into a Samoan drop. Nia is working really well tonight. 
• Emma steals the pin. Fatal four way! Oh shit!
• Nia Jax just hit Emma with the ol' @MattJackson13-@TheFlipGordon "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?"
• Tonight was some of Nia Jax's best work I've ever seen.

Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose defeated The Good Brothers
5.25/10

• This is a standard WWE tag team match that starts fast, gets slow, has a lot of lame exaggerated selling, and gets hot.
• Cesaro and Sheamus flub interference and end up getting hit and Rollins and Ambrose win.
• Rollins' blockbuster was excellent.
• Anderson and Gallows jump Cesaro and Sheamus and there are "Too Sweet" chants. They get beaten up. Ok.

Steel Cage Match
Braun Strowman defeated Big Show
7/10

• Braun Strowman gets flattened…..and then we go to a commercial? Ummm.
• This is a hoss battle, you know what it is.
• Big Show got a good reaction when he got crotched, and a good reaction when Strowman was knocked off the ropes. 
• Big Show hits a damn flying elbow drop at 45.
• Strowman has this unique aura that he makes Big Show — a guy without a program or a direction — be really important in a pointless Raw main event. 
• Chokeslam, kickout. Powerslam attempt, no dice. This isn't rocket science and it's working. Strowman also superplexes Show. This is beautiful, giant pro wrestling and the crowd is going nuts. 
• Strowman wins. This rules. 
• Strowman powerslams Big Show through the cage! The Tear Shit Up World Tour continues! 
• A really fun episode of Raw tonight.