The September 25, 2017 Edition of RAW is a Professional wrestling television show of the WWE's RAW brand, which took place on September 25, 2017 at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California.
Summary
Roman Reigns beat John Cena last night at WWE No Mercy and announced on “Miz TV” that he’s looking for a fight with Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship, but The Miz wasn’t interested in talking about that. In fact, Miz quickly turned the focus of their much-hyped interview toward himself, reminding Reigns that Miz was the only one of the two with a title to his name after The Big Dog called him an “idiot” minutes into their sit-down.
Miz didn't take that kindly, of course, and if the most head-turning of his subsequent insults was a schoolyard boast that The Miztourage could have taken The Shield back in the day, it was his insistence on waving his title in Reigns’ face that came back to haunt him when The Big Dog offered to fight him on the spot.
The Awesome One attempted to back out with an impressive array of excuses (“I have a suit on!”), though Raw General Manager Kurt Angle hit the scene to sanction a match tonight between the two, as well as a tag team match between the rest of The Miztourage and the makeshift squad of Matt Hardy & Jason Jordan.
So Jason Jordan lost his Intercontinental Title bid and Matt Hardy is down a tag team partner thanks to his brother’s injury. That doesn’t mean either is showing any signs of slowing down, however, as the impromptu squad dispatched The Miztourage in Raw’s opening contest.
It was an inspired showing from Jordan, who took out his frustrations on the meddlesome Miztourage with an impressive array of suplexes. When Jordan found himself overwhelmed by Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel, Hardy swooped in to bat cleanup. Jordan resurfaced at the moment of truth, though, blasting both Miztourage members with a double charge into the corner after Axel tried to interfere. The maneuver took the former Intercontinental Champion out of commission, and Dallas was left to suffer the Twist of Fate.
It was a marquee performance for Elias against Apollo Crews at WWE No Mercy Kickoff, and the brutal balladeer impressively came back for an encore on Raw. That said, Titus O’Neil wasn’t about to let Elias get away with the type of disrespect he showed 24 hours prior.
Elias claimed victory thanks in part to taking a cheap shot, kicking The Big Deal in the knee outside the ring and throwing Crews off his game long enough for the guitarist to hit Drift Away for the victory. However, the former WWE Tag Team Champion’s payback was swift and overwhelming, as Titus attacked Elias in the ring with such ferocity that the singing Superstar was forced, for once, to cede the stage.
The good news for Curt Hawkins is that he didn’t lose again. Granted, it was almost certain that he was going to when his latest open challenge was answered by a fuming Braun Strowman, clearly looking for a fight after losing to Universal Champion Brock Lesnar 24 hours prior. But Hawkins wasn’t about to offer himself up as lunch meat, and the former WWE Tag Team Champion attempted to willingly take a count-out loss.
A competition-hungry Strowman, however, chased Hawkins down, put him through a table and Running Powerslammed him through the LED screens atop the ramp, refusing to leave the ring until another Superstar came out and gave him a real fight. Which, of course, brought out the one man reckless enough to answer such a call: Dean Ambrose.
Being a lunatic certainly has its advantages. Unpredictability, fearlessness and a pretty solid win-loss record, to name a few. That said, whatever voice in Dean Ambrose’s head compelled him to fight Braun Strowman on Raw certainly didn’t do the Raw Tag Team Champion any long-term favors, though it did carry the The Lunatic Fringe to an impressive, if ultimately fruitless, effort against The Monster Among Men.
Going into this match, the best Ambrose probably could have hoped for was that he didn’t lose any teeth. Instead, he shocked everyone by giving Strowman a true-blue fight, sticking, moving and using an impressive combo of submissions, recklessness and chicanery (nice thumb to the eye) to get within arm’s length of victory.
Alas, The Monster Among Men still got the win by reversing Ambrose’s standing elbow drop into the devastating Running Powerslam. Even Ambrose’s partner, Seth Rollins, was unnerved that his buddy’s unpredictability put him and their title reign in danger. Ambrose’s counter that Rollins’ decision-making was a little too by-the-numbers led The Kingslayer to do something nobody saw coming: Seek out (and receive) a match with Strowman for next week.
Alexa Bliss fended off four Superstars to retain her Raw Women’s Title at WWE No Mercy, so it was surprising that her Raw Talk interview seemed to focus more on a Superstar who wasn’t in the match: Mickie James. So, the six-time Women’s Champion had plenty on her mind when she interrupted Alexa’s extended scolding of the WWE Universe for focusing their attention what's in the future (Asuka, for instance) instead of her, their present champion.
Little Miss Bliss wasn’t about to give James the respect she demanded, instead tossing out a volley of thinly-veiled barbs about James’ veteran status. Which was all good as far as Mickie was concerned; she just wanted Alexa to repeat her Raw Talk insults to her face. When she did, Mickie responded with two slaps to the face and a kick that sent the “Goddess” tumbling out of the ring — and, maybe, off her pedestal.
Under ordinary circumstances, having Dean Ambrose banged-up in the locker room might put Seth Rollins at a disadvantage against Sheamus. But The Celtic Warrior’s tag-team partner, Cesaro, was reduced to moral support in a suit thanks to his gruesome dental injury, which put the bout on an even keel.
And, in this case, it was Rollins who came away with the win. Not that Sheamus didn’t give him a fight; The Celtic Warrior did his best to repay Rollins for The Swiss Cyborg’s injury, targeting The Kingslayer’s face with a vicious variety of kicks and knees. Rollins ended up landing the blows that counted, connecting twice with Sheamus’ face — first with a kick, then the ripcord knee for three.
Could The Miz and The Miztourage have beaten The Shield? Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel certainly proved to be the difference-maker when Roman Reigns took on The A-Lister by his lonesome, picking at The Big Dog behind the referee’s back and ultimately helping the Intercontinental Champion make a profound statement at Reigns’ expense, despite suffering a loss in their match.
In fact, The Miztourage softened Reigns up for The Miz each time The Big Dog pulled into the lead, while Miz focused his efforts on Reigns’ banged-up lower back. A double Drive-By took out Dallas & Axel and finally left Miz open to a match-ending Spear, but The Miztourage returned moments later to utterly decimate Reigns with steel chairs and feed him into two Skull-Crushing Finales, the second on top of a chair.
Miz kept the assault going for minutes on end, but the final insult came when the three A-Listers mocked Reigns with the classic Shield fist bump. That Reigns will receive an Intercontinental Title Match next week is consolation indeed, but it'll be hard to forget the brutal display from Miz that, only a few years ago, you would have had to see to believe.
Finn Bálor said his victory over Bray Wyatt at WWE No Mercy was to avenge The Reaper of Souls’ disrespect of Superstars like Goldust and to jumpstart his journey back toward his ultimate goal of reclaiming the Universal Championship. The Bizarre One, however, is no one’s charity case, and the former Intercontinental Champion both sucker-punched Finn in the locker room and showed just how much he can hang with the new generation in a subsequent match.
Goldust showcased the full scope of his physical expertise and his unorthodox mind games, but “The Extraordinary Man” rallied to Coup de Grâce his way to the win … and, moments later, the lights cut out and an eerie rendition of “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” blared throughout the arena as the fireflies surrounded Bálor in the ring.
Bayley is back in the ring, but she still owes Nia Jax for injuring her shoulder and taking her out of SummerSlam. And on Raw, The Huggable One came to collect. It certainly helped that they met in a tag team situation, as Bayley’s partner Sasha Banks occasionally spelled The Huggable One against Jax. She even saved Bayley from Jax on the outside, allowing the former Raw Women’s Champion to drive Jax full-bore into the ring post, removing her from the match. Jax's partner Emma, left with a 2-on-1 disadvantage, suffered the decisive pinfall soon thereafter on the back of a Bayley-to-Belly.
Enzo Amore is WWE Cruiserweight Champion, and he is feeling himself big time. So much so that he demanded both a Certified G coronation to celebrate his win and a No-Contact clause for the rest of the Cruiserweights that would strip them of any title opportunities if they laid a hand on him. Without fear of reprisal, Enzo ran down everyone from the WWE Universe to Big Cass during his ceremony in one of his most lengthy diatribes yet, even attempting to retire his jersey to commemorate his performance at WWE No Mercy.
And the Cruiserweight division was not happy. Every single one of 205 Live’s competitors came out in silent protest of Amore, and the champion ran down every single one of them in turn — up to and including a bleary-eyed Neville, who looked like he hadn’t slept in days but wasted no time reminding Amore that he was only a Cruiserweight because the division had insisted on giving him an opportunity after the Raw locker room drove Enzo away.
On behalf of the entire division, The King of the Cruiserweights announced his intention to “end” Enzo. When Muscles Marinara tried to dissuade him with his No-Contact clause, Neville sacrificed any claim to a title rematch and instead opted to defend the honor of his division by tossing The Realest Guy in the Room around the ring. When Enzo attempted to flee, the division blocked his path and sent Amore straight into the waiting arms of The King, who tossed Enzo back into the ring, shoved the clause into Amore’s mouth and struck him with an emphatic Red Arrow.
So Enzo is champion now, and with it comes a target on his back, a celebration in shambles, and a cuppa’ haters that has finally run over.
Results
- Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
- (c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.
- Jason Jordan & Matt Hardy (w/ Jeff Hardy) defeated Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel (10:35)
- Elias defeated Apollo Crews (w/ Titus O'Neil) (2:41)
- Braun Strowman defeated Dean Ambrose (6:32)
- Seth Rollins defeated Sheamus (w/ Cesaro) (4:11)
- Roman Reigns defeated The Miz (w/ Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel) (8:50)
- Finn Bálor defeated Goldust (7:24)
- Sasha Banks & Bayley defeated Emma & Nia Jax (8:36)
Other on-screen talent
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Image Gallery
Miz TV
Matt Hardy & Jason Jordan vs. The Miztourage
Elias vs. Apollo Crews
Braun Strowman vs. Dean Ambrose
Mickie James confronts Alexa Bliss
Seth Rollins vs. Sheamus
Roman Reigns vs. The Miz
Finn Balor vs. Goldust
Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. Emma & Nia Jax
Cruiserweights confront Enzo
