Monday’s edition of “Raw” made tensions between rivals and allies more muddy and murky. When Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes meets World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins at Crown Jewel on Oct. 11, is something bigger than the Crown Jewel Championship belt and ring on the line? Will Iyo Sky remain torn as she teams with Rhea Ripley against The Kabuki Warriors? Is the original Bloodline getting back together? We’re left with more questions than answers two weeks ahead of Crown Jewel from Perth, Australia.
Sept. 29 “Raw” results
-
Dominik Mysterio def Rusev to retain the Intercontinental Championship
-
Raquel Rodriguez def. Bayley
-
LA Knight def. Kofi Kingston
-
AJ Styles and Dragon Lee def. Los Americanos
-
The Usos def. The Vision in a tornado tag team match
The Original Tribal Chief is back!
Roman Reigns, who hasn’t been seen in a WWE ring since being stretchered out after a match against Bronson Reed during Clash in Paris on Aug. 31, interrupted a Tornado tag team match — steel chair in hand — between The Vision (Reed and Bron Breakker) and The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) to get a measure of revenge. After Reigns unleashed a series of chair shots on the Brons and The Usos finished them off, Reigns and his Bloodline cousin Jey ended the show with an embrace. We could see The Vision vs. the original Bloodline sometime after Crown Jewel — possibly at Survivor Series in November. Reigns vs. Rollins one-on-one could be next after that.
Other “Raw” takeaways
• Rollins vs. Rhodes needed more stakes than the Crown Jewel Championship, and Rollins added that on Monday — even if Rhodes disagreed with the “future of the industry” designation for the match. Rollins admitted he feels his legacy depends on beating Rhodes, whom he is 0-3 against in the squared circle. Another loss at Crown Jewel could leave Rollins in a spiral, which could add a great dimension to the Seth “Freakin” Rollins character.
• We are getting Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley vs. The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) at Crown Jewel. The big question for Sky is whether she and Kabuki Warriors are family “no matter what.” Is it all a ruse? Will Sky turn on Ripley and make the “family” even stronger? Or will The Kabuki Warriors implode?
• Dominik Mysterio is so good at being the smarmy, scared villain. His match against Rusev was great and still left Rusev looking like a powerful force. The crowd loved that Mysterio tried a classic callback to Eddie Guerrero’s “he cheated, I didn’t” ways when he cracked Rusev with the title, then tried to pin it on Rusev — except the cheat was right in front of the referee, who gave Mysterio an incredulous look. Perfect.
• Los Grande Americanos lost to AJ Styles and Dragon Lee in a match that felt more like a showcase for Styles, who will face John Cena at Crown Jewel, and Lee, the No. 1 contender for Dirty Dom’s AAA Mega Championship. I’m hoping for a bit more from Los Americanos to keep investing in their story.
