Clash of Champions (read the full review here) left us with some interesting questions. How will Cedric Alexander respond to the post-match beatdown from The OC? How will Becky Lynch react to being fined $10,000 for accidentally hitting a ref with a chair, leading to an unsatisfying DQ in her match against Sasha Banks? And how will Seth Rollins deal with the threat of The Fiend? We also have the King of the Ring Final between Baron Corbin and Chad Gable, and the Street Profits hosting a gender reveal party for Maria and Mike Kanellis.

I’m Amanda and this is the RAW review.

Match Results

The OC def. Cedric Alexander & The Viking Raiders

Baron Corbin def. Chad Gable

Ricochet def. Mike Kanellis

Rusev def. Mike Kanellis

Rey Mysterio def. Cesaro

Sasha Banks & Bayley def. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross

Lacey Evans def. Dana Brooke

Seth Rollins def. Robert Roode

The Key Bits

♦ Seth Rollins opened the show. He talked about losing the RAW tag titles and about the Universal Championship match. He threw out some props to Strowman for the fight he put up and the four Stomps and a Pedigree it took to put him down, and admitted he’s glad there isn’t going to be a rematch anytime soon.

Then he moved on to the attack on the stage by The Fiend and announced he’ll be taking him on inside Hell in a Cell at the PPV.

A Firefly Fun House episode started up. Happy Bray Wyatt talked about forgiveness after taking offence at Rollins calling him sick, and suggested The Fiend might make another appearance tonight.

There was another Firefly Fun House segment later in the show with Wyatt updating his ‘Wall of Friendship’, which is all the wrestlers The Fiend has attacked. It was very short, he just said he was going to add some more friends.

In another segment later, he came back and hung Seth Rollins portrait on the wall and smiled over flashes of The Fiend.

Seth Rollins vs Robert Roode was the main event of the evening. Roode had his tag team co-champ Dolph Ziggler with him, but he stayed out of the way for a little while. When he did get involved, Rollins chased him and Roode unsuccessfully tried for an ambush. Ziggler did manage to get a cheap shot in a few moments later though. Roode dominated the mid-portion of the match, hardly surprising considering the two matches Rollins had yesterday. The match ended in a disqualification when Dolph Ziggler prevented the post-Stomp pin.

Ziggler and Rollins scrapped then The OC came down to take a piece of Rollins as well. Seth Rollins took a five on one beat down, then Kane’s music hit. Ziggler and Roode ran to meet him and were taken out on the ramp. The OC were dealt with in the ring. Just as Kane cued up the fire, the lights went out. The Fiend appeared behind Kane and took him down with the Mandible Claw then crawled towards Seth Rollins and leaned right into his face while Rollins cowered in terror. A distorted version of the Firefly Fun House theme closed the show in possibly the creepiest ending to an episode of RAW ever.

♦ The OC vs Cedric Alexander & The Viking Raiders was the first match of the night. Alexander got some payback on Styles early on, but Erik and Ivar did the bulk of the legwork. It was Alexander who got pinned though, with a Phenomenal Forearm from Styles. He immediately started the post-match beatdown, but The Viking Raiders dealt with The OC – Ivar took everyone out with a dive – and it was back to Styles and Alexander again. Alexander looked for retribution again but took a Styles Clash from the second turnbuckle instead.

♦ Baron Corbin vs Chad Gable – King of the Ring Final – The last couple of years have not been kind to Gable’s career. He got lost in the shuffle after American Alpha was split up and, despite a few stellar matches, has struggled to make an impact on his own. He made an impact on the chairs in the timekeeper’s area though, courtesy of Corbin backdropping him onto them. Corbin controlled a lot of the match, but he took too many breaks to taunt the crowd and he couldn’t keep Gable down. Chad Gable fought back and built some momentum, but Corbin halted it with a powerslam then took Gable on a tour of the barricades. Again Corbin spent too much time taunting the crowd, and Gable moved when he charged towards the steps. While Corbin was still dazed, Gable rammed his leg into the ringpost a couple of times and tried to take control, but took a Deep Six instead. Finally, after dodging the End of Days, Chad Gable locked in the ankle lock, but Corbin made it to the ropes. Gable couldn’t avoid the next End of Days, and we have a new king. All Hail King Corbin (Ugh). Great match.

The coronation will be on SmackDown Live.

♦ Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross took offence at Sasha Banks saying the tag titles meant nothing to her. Somehow that has translated into Bliss and Cross having a match with Banks and Bayley. I don’t understand, but I’m not complaining.

Sasha Banks & Bayley vs Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross was really good. Bliss appeared to pick up a knock when diving off the apron onto Banks and Bayley, which was undoubtedly worsened when Bayley threw her into the steps then smashed her leg into them. Medics were tending to her at ringside going into a break, while Nikki Cross was trapped in Banks and Bayley’s corner. It was a handicap match for Cross from then, but she handled it well. She was in control for a good while and even came close to pinning Bayley while Banks was tied up in the apron. Had Banks not made it back at two and seven eighths, she would have. Sadly, she did and Cross couldn’t get herself to the ropes when Sasha Banks locked in the Bank Statement. She had no choice but to tap.

After the match, Sasha Banks grabbed a chair, but Becky Lynch arrived before she could use it, with a chair of her own. They had a chair duel, then Bayley arrived, also with a chair. Charlotte Flair came out and kicked the chair into Bayley’s face (an impressive feat in the high heeled boots she was wearing) before hitting her with it, then Lynch took out Banks with a final chair shot. It would appear Flair and Lynch have formed another uneasy alliance.

After a break, from the locker room, Sasha Banks challenged Becky Lynch to a rematch at Hell in a Cell.

Becky Lynch accepted and confirmed that the match will take place not only at Hell in a Cell, but inside Hell in a Cell.

The Other Bits

♦ Braun Strowman showed up in a bad mood saying the next person in the ring would Get These Hands. After a break the RAW and SmackDown tag champions, Dolph Ziggler, Robert Roode, and The Revival, took to the ring for a summit and Strowman was as good as his word. He stormed down to the ring and destroyed them all.

♦ R-Truth and Carmella visited the University of Tennessee’s Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. They were joined by Knox County Mayor Glen Jacobs (Kane) who offered to give them a tour of Knoxville.

Glen Jacobs showed R-Truth around the University of Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium then introduced him to a policeman who turned out to be a ref. He excused himself and started to back away, ran into a goalpost and got pinned by Jacobs. Presumably, Glen Jacobs, not Kane, is now 24/7 Champion.

R-Truth rode to RAW on top of Glen Jacobs’ limo and pinned him as soon as they arrived. Truth persuaded him not to pin him again by explaining how much time being the champion takes up.

♦ NXT starts on the USA Network for US fans this week (hour one on tv, hour two on WWE Network). If, like me, you are an overseas fan, you just have to suck it up and wait for them to put it on Network. Velveteen Dream versus Roderick Strong is the headline match for the debut.

♦ Street Profits did host a gender reveal party for Maria and Mike Kanellis. It’s a boy. She also accused Ricochet of being the father of the baby. Mike Kanellis slapped him while he was denying it and stomped off to the ring demanding Ricochet joined him. Titus O’Neil told Ricochet to go and defend his own honour. And Angelo Dawkins expressed his relief that Maria hadn’t named him.

Mike Kanellis vs Ricochet happened with Ricochet protesting his innocence the whole time. Kanellis wouldn’t believe him and he pushed Ricochet too far. Once Ricochet started fighting back, the match was brief and finished with Ricochet’s Recoil.

After the break, Maria came out and said humiliating him was supposed to motivate him (don’t do that, people, it’s abusive and doesn’t work). She admitted Ricochet isn’t the father and said she would reveal the real father’s name. Rusev came out, looking great, and Mike Kanellis told him he didn’t want any trouble, or a match. He even congratulated him if he is the father. Rusev destroyed him anyway, before the bell, then kicked him in the face as soon as Mike Kanellis vs Rusev was official. It didn’t last much longer than that. Rusev tapped him out with the Accolade.

♦ Rey Mysterio vs Cesaro was excellent, a real showcase of two of the very top tier talents. It strikes me again that it is way past time for Cesaro to be vying for a top title in WWE, he has no business floating around the top of the midcard. It was Mysterio’s night tonight though. He’s recommitted to his career and he’s not playing around.

♦ October 11th (SmackDown Live) and 14th (RAW) will be Superstar Draft nights. This is after SmackDown Live moves channel in the US and switches to Fridays.

♦ Authors of Pain (AOP) had a promo segment where they claimed the reason they haven’t had a match since WrestleMania is that the WWE tag division are all too soft and no one wants to fight them because they hurt too much. It sounds like they’re done waiting.

♦ Lacey Evans vs Dana Brooke was good enough, if a little short. Lacey Evans landed the Woman’s Right but faffed around with the hankie and didn’t go for the pin. Instead, she wrapped Brooke in the Sharpshooter and tapped her out to send a message to Natalya that she’s not done with her.

That was a solid episode to follow up a solid PPV. WWE is having a decent run of shows recently and there are some interesting storylines in progress. Hell in a Cell is usually a good PPV and the matches set so far are certainly a good start.