Event: WWE Monday Night RAW
Airdate: Monday, September 22nd, 2014 (USA Network)
Location: The FedEx Forum in Memphis, TN
Results by Matt Boone
“Yes, sir, we promised you a great main event…”
Dean Ambrose, John Cena & The Authority Open Up RAW
The post-Night Of Champions edition of WWE RAW, which emanates from Memphis, Tennessee this week opens up with Dean Ambrose’s theme music playing. Ambrose makes his way to the ring in street clothes.
Ambrose hops on the mic and begins by saying, “I’m not dead!” He says he’s far from it. He brings up the cinder block incident and how The Authority ganged up on him and he showed the clips of Seth Rollins hitting him with the Curb Stomp on the cinder blocks several week’s ago on RAW.
He goes on to say he’s going to hold a grudge and he ain’t leaving the ring until they come out. He throws the mic, jumps out of the ring and grabs a chair. He comes back in the ring, opens up the chair and sits down on it and simply waits.
Instead of who he was wanting, out comes John Cena. Ambrose throws the chair out of the ring and says he’s got to be honest, he’s annoyed that John Cena is standing in the ring with him right now. He tells Cena not to give him a reason not to like him and warns him that he’s flying a little close to the fire right now.
Cena says he can relate to Ambrose. He talks about how he should be the WWE World Heavyweight Champion right now. Cena talks about how he’s also pissed at Seth Rollins. He says he’s cashing in. Cena says no one is going to stop him from getting his hands on Seth Rollins.
Ambrose puts his hand on Cena’s shoulder and said he warned him. He doesn’t like to have to say it twice. He told Cena not to get in his way. Cena takes his shirt off like he’s preparing to fight. Ambrose does the same.
Before they can get it on, however, Triple H’s “King of Kings” plays and out he walks with the entire Authority group, consisting of Stephanie McMahon, Kane, Randy Orton and Seth Rollins.
The Authority remains at the top of the stage and HHH tells them to relax. He says they both want to fight Rollins tonight but no one is fighting Rollins tonight. He says those two, however, will be fighting. HHH goes to explain what they will be doing tonight, but Cena interrupts him, drops the mic and just charges at them. Ambrose does the same.
Cena and Ambrose take out all of The Authority except Rollins. Rollins runs away through the crowd and briefly, Ambrose gets his hands on him. Rollins breaks free and Ambrose chases him to the back.
Still in the ring and on the ramp are the rest of The Authority. The announcers at ringside talk about what just happened as The Authority leaves.
Backstage we see Ambrose and Rollins battling. Cena enters the picture. Rollins breaks free again and runs out through the parking garage. He knocks someone over and jumps in whoever that person’s car was. Ambrose jumps into the trunk that was open, but Rollins drives off. Ambrose falls down. He and Cena look at each other. Ambrose smirks and we head to commercial.
Backstage: The Authority Argues Among Themselves
We return from commercial and we see Orton complaining to Kane. Triple H and Stephanie walk in. HHH tells Kane he’s going one-on-one with Ambrose tonight and that Orton is going one-on-one with Cena. Kane asks why they have to. Stephanie pretty much tells them why. Kane leaves. Orton makes a remark about how he’s tired of them starting fires that they have to put out. Now he walks off.
WWE Intercontinental Championship
The Miz (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
The Miz’s theme hits and out he walks with Damien Mizdow. Both dressed alike. Sandow has a replica I-C title to go with Miz’s real I-C title. Michael Cole informs us on commentary that this will be an immediate rematch for the I-C title from last night’s Night Of Champions pay-per-view.
From there, Dolph Ziggler’s music hits and out he walks by himself. The announcers are already ignoring the action as they talk about how Florida Georgia Line was out at commentary last night during the pay-per-view. They go back to explain how Miz cheated to defeat Ziggler to win the title last night.
The bell rings and Justin Roberts does the formal introductions since this is a title match. Sandow does Miz’s introductory poses with him as Roberts finishes up his thing, the bell rings and the match begins.
Early on Ziggler is having his way with the I-C champ as the fans in Memphis break out into a loud “let’s go Ziggler” chant. It isn’t long before Miz takes control of the offense, which just results in the fans rallying behind Dolph even more with louder “Ziggler! Ziggler!” chants. It does no good, however, as Miz remains in control of the action.
Miz goes to get Ziggler in the figure-four leg lock, however Ziggler shoves him off with his foot and Miz ends up ramming himself shoulder-first into the ring post from inside the ring. This allows Ziggler to fire up on offense. Miz tries to roll away from him at one point, leading to a very noticable botched spot. Regardless, they recover and Miz hangs Ziggler throat-first over the top rope. Ziggler crashes out to the floor as we head to a mid-match commercial.
We return from commercial and we see The Miz firmly in control of the offense until he comes off the top rope and is met on the way down by a huge drop kick from Ziggler. We see some replays of that because it looked awesome and now the crowd is alive and cheering on Ziggler once again.
Ziggler is firing up on offense now and in typical Dolph Ziggler fashion, is flying and all over the place with high-intensity offense. Ziggler goes to the top tope and this time he’s caught on the way down by the legs by Miz, who in one quick motion locks him up in the figure four leg lock. Ziggler is stuck in the hold now and is screaming in pain. Eventually, Ziggler makes it to the ropes to break the hold. He rolls out of the ring to recover a bit as the fans chant “let’s go Ziggler.”
Miz goes to dive feet-first through the ropes onto Ziggler on the floor but Ziggler side-steps him and then clotheslines him down to the mat outside the ring hard. Back in the ring, it’s a mere seconds later and Miz hits the Skull Crushing Fniale. He immediately covers Ziggler but Ziggler somehow manages to kick out at two. The fans break out into “let’s go Ziggler” chants louder than they have all night after that one. Ziggler hits the FameAsser out of nowhere and he immediately covers Miz but now Miz somehow manages to kick out at two. This is turning into a great RAW match.
Ziggler goes for the Zig-Zag out of nowhere, but is distracted by Sandow. Miz rolls him up from behind and grabs the tights, but Ziggler rolls it over and he grabs the tights of Miz. 1-2-3. Ziggler wins and is once again the WWE Intercontinental Champion.
Winner and NEW WWE Intercontinental Champion: Dolph Ziggler
Still To Come Tonight …
After the title switch, the announcers bicker and argue among themselves about what transpired and then they run down what’s in store for tonight’s show. They mention Dean Ambrose vs. Kane and John Cena vs. Randy Orton, as announced earlier by The Authority. Then they promise to revisit the breaking news surrounding Roman Reigns and his emergency surgery. Finally, they talk about some of the major happenings from last night’s Night Of Champions pay-per-view before shooting to another commercial break.
Bo Dallas vs. Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter)
When we return from commercial, Bo Dallas is in the middle of the ring on one knee in the middle of his entrance. Out next is “The Real American” himself, Jack Swagger, who as always, is accompanied by Zeb Colter.
The bell rings and here we go with our second match of the evening. Bo Dallas jumps off to an early offensive lead in this one as the announcers argue with each other and largely ignore the action in the ring. Shocker! The fans break out into “U.S.A.” chants as Swagger starts fighting back. Bigger shocker!
Dallas ends up cutting Swagger’s comeback attempt short with a big knee to the gut as the announcers have still yet to call any of the action in the ring. They are just arguing with each other about various U.S. historical facts. I mean for a very long time, too. An obnoxiously long time. Almost as obnixously long as it’s taking me to explain it in this play-by-play while two guys are in the ring beating each other’s bodies up, in front of a very hot crowd too, by the way. The announcers are the only one’s paying zero attention to any of this.
Swagger tries making a comeback again but is once again cut short by Dallas. Michael Cole tries to call some of the action but JBL gets the guys to argue yet again. Finally they start legitimately calling the action and literally about 10 seconds later we have our finish. Swagger catches Dallas’ legs and locks him in the Patriot Lock. Dallas taps and Swagger wins.
Winner: Jack Swagger
After The Match
After the match, Zeb Colter gets on the mic and mocks Dallas. He tells Dallas to listen good. He, in a high-pitched voice, says “he Bo-Lieves” that Swagger just made him tap out. They do the “we the people” thing to the fans and walk off.
WWE Honors Eric “The Actor” Lynch
We shoot to the announce table where Michael Cole informs us that a longtime, life-long fan of WWE, Eric “The Actor” Lynch from the Howard Stern Show, passed away. I’m a huge Howard Stern fan and I know first-hand after listening to his show literally every day for over 20 years that Eric The Actor is in heaven smiling ear-to-ear right now. That was really cool of WWE to do that. And on that note, we head to commercial.
Summer Rae (with Layla) vs. Natalya (with Rosa Mendes)
When we return from commercial, we see highlights from last night’s Total Divas of the cat-fight between Summer and Natalya. Already in the ring are Summer Rae and Layla. Out next comes Natalya and Rosa Mendes. On the mic, Summer talks about how she’s always the hottest girl in the room and says she doesn’t care if anyone likes her. She brags about being hot some more and then the bell rings and she and Nattie go at it immediately.
Summer jumps off to an early offensive lead in this one and it turns out this isn’t a tag-team match, it’s just a singles match between Summer and Nattie. Summer is dominating the action for a while, however now Nattie is making her comeback.
Nattie is having her way with Summer now as Layla tries to get involved. Rosa knocks Layla down and now Nattie locks Summer in the Sharpshooter. Summer Rae taps out, Natalya wins. We head to commercial after the match.
Winner: Natalya
Dean Ambrose vs. Kane
We return from commercial to a shot of the outside of the FedEd Forum in Memphis, with Michael Cole putting over that they’re in the hometown of “The King,” not Elvis Presley, but Jerry Lawler. From there, we see highlights of what transpired in the opening segment between Dean Ambrose, John Cena and The Authority.
From there, Dean Ambrose’s theme song plays and he makes his way to the ring. After he’s in the ring we get a video package reminder that Kane was the other man involved in trying to end Ambrose’s career with the cinder blocks on RAW several weeks ago. This leads to Kane’s entrance theme playing as he makes his way to the ring.
Ambrose and Kane are both in the ring now and the bell sounds to make this one official. Ambrose is all over Kane from the sound of the bell and is taking it to him in wild-man fashion like only he can. It isn’t long, however, before Kane uses his size and strength to overcome the wild man.
Kane beats up on Ambrose for much of the match, with Ambrose using his speed and high-risk, fast-paced offense to have his moments. However right when Ambrose hits “Dirty Deeds” on Kane, before he can score the 1-2-3, Seth Rollins interferes, prompting the referee to call for the bell.
Winner via DQ: Dean Ambrose
After The Match
After the match, Ambrose and Rollins battle. Ambrose finally gets the better of Rollins, however now Kane has recovered and the numbers game becomes too much for Ambrose. Kane hits a big chokeslam on Ambrose.
Rollins and Kane walk off to the back, however Rollins pauses and then stops. He turns around and heads back to the ring, likely to deliver additional punishment to Ambrose. At this point, however, Ambrose has recovered and has a chair. He welcomes Rollins in but Rollins stops, smiles and walks back up the ramp. After all of that, we head to another commercial break.
Backstage: The Authority Locks Dean Ambrose In A Room
Backstage, we’re back from commercial and we see Rollins and Kane seeming to be happy with themselves. Triple H stops them and tells them they did good but they need to quit starting all these fires around here. Before he can continue, he tells them to watch out. Ambrose jumps them from behind. A bunch of security guards grab him and choke him. Doing more than just restraining him, that’s for sure.
HHH tells them to throw Ambrose out. Stephanie says no. She orders that they lock him in a room because everytime they throw him out, he ends up coming back. She says keep him locked in the room and HHH orders multiple security guards to stand by the door and make sure he doesn’t get out.
Roman Reigns Update
The update is no real update. They show the clips of the “breaking news” announcement from the WWE Network from over the weekend, as well as the clip of Reigns in his hospital bed explaining what happened. Back live at the announce table, Michael Cole informs us that Reigns is expected to miss “several months” of action. As it turns out, Reigns might be out longer than just four-to-six weeks as we initially reported, and that’s apparently legitimate, by the way.
Sheamus & The Usos vs. Cesaro, Goldust & Stardust
Sheamus makes his way to the ring to what was actually a pretty damn big pop from the fans in Memphis. Out next are the former WWE Tag-Team Champions, The Usos. The crowd are into them as well. It looks like we’re going to have six-man tag-team action here tonight.
As The Usos are in the ring finishing up their entrance, we shoot to the announce team and they talk about the “Connor’s Cure” charity they set up in the late Connor’s honor. Cole confirms that The Usos and Sheamus will be in six man tag-team action after the break. On that note, we head to another commercial.
We’re back from the break and the first thing we see are still-image highlights of Goldust and Stardust defeating The Usos for the WWE Tag-Team Championships at the Night Of Champions pay-per-view on Sunday night. Back live on RAW now and we see the new tag-champs in the middle of their ring entrance. Already at ringside is Sheamus’ opponent from last night and The Dust Brothers’ partner for tonight, “The King of Swing” Cesaro.
The bell rings and here we go with six-man tag-team action here on RAW. This should be a good one.
Early on, Uso is in control, as he started things off for his respective team. It isn’t long, however, before the heel trio are in firm control of the action both inside and outside of the ring. We head to a mid-match commercial with the bizarre Stardust smirking at the camera and taunting his opposition as he and his comrads remain in control of the match.
When we return from commercial, Stardust is still in control of the action, as he is beating on Uso. Finally, Uso makes the tag to Sheamus. Sheamus takes the hot tag and is flying all over the place, hitting any and everything that moves.
This continues a while until all hell breaks loose and literally several minutes are spent with all six guys taking turns in the ring, two-three-four people at a time at times until finally one Uso blasts Goldust with a super kick, allowing the other Uso to hit the big top-rope splash for the victory.
Winners: Sheamus & The Usos
Backstage: Randy Orton & Seth Rollins
Backstage, we see Randy Orton standing by himself. Up walks Seth Rollins. He tells Orton he knows he’s probably not in the mood to talk right now. He says he’s not intending to make Orton fight his battles for him. He says he appreciates it though and as a token of his appreciation, he may have a surprise for him tonight during his match with John Cena. He also tells him that he and Kane will be at ringside during the match. Orton says he likes surprises. Rollins walks away and Orton looks in his direction as he’s leaving and smirks to himself.
In-Ring Segment: Mark Henry, Rusev & Lana
Out comes Mark Henry. He gets in the ring as highlights are shown of him losing to Rusev at Night Of Champions last night. He says he’s out here to apologize to everyone. The fans chant “What?” at him and he tells them he deserves to get picked on them tonight. He says they can do the “What?” thing or whatever they want. He says he’s sorry. As he looks dejected, Rusev’s theme hits and out he walks with a giant Russian flag and the smokin’ hot Lana.
Rusev and Lana remain at the top of the stage. Lana says he doesn’t need to apologize because everyone in America is just as pathetic as he is. She mocks the fans for chanting U.S.A. and then tells them to shut up about 100 times. She offers Henry a third chance to try and beat Rusev right here tonight in Memphis. Henry says if these people will allow him and if they want him to destroy that man right here tonight, then bring it on. Lana says “Rusev, crush Mark Henry!” His music plays again and Rusev and Lana make their way to the ring as we head to commercial.
Mark Henry vs. Rusev (with Lana)
When we return from commercial both guys are in the ring for this impromptu Night Of Champions rematch here tonight on RAW. The bell rings and here we go.
Straight out of the gate, Rusev is dominating Henry with ease. Rusev is in full control of Henry, literally beating him down with ease for several minutes and focusing on the back that he softened up last night at the pay-per-view. The announcers, by the way, are pointing out this fact quite a bit on commentary.
Finally, Henry starts making an offensive comeback. Outside of the ring, Henry is slamming Rusev into the ring post and the ring apron, etc. He’s getting in a lot of offense now back in the ring, however when he goes for a big splash off the top, Rusev knocks him down and now he’s stalking Henry and waiting for him to get up, screaming at him to do so while he waits. Rusev throws his arms as if to say “oh, forget it!”
Instead of waiting for him to get up, he walks over and applies The Accolade on him. The fans are passionately chanting “U.S.A.” Henry doesn’t tap out this time, instead he passes out. The referee calls for the bell and the fans are silenced. Rusev holds onto the move a little longer for good measure and finally lets it go. His music plays and even the announcers are silenced. We head to commercial.
Winner: Rusev
Adam Rose & The Bunny vs. Heath Slater & Titus O’Neil
When we return from commercial, already in the ring are Heath Slater and Titus O’Neil. Out comes Adam Rose and his “Exotic Express” or “Rosebuds,” I forget which his little crew are referred to. (Isn’t it both, by the way?) Anyways, it’s tag-team action with Rose and The Bunny taking on “Slater Gator.”
Rose and Slater are in the ring now and Slater is in control of the action. The fans are humming Rose’s theme here in Memphis as Rose starts making his comeback. He’s trying to make the hot tag to The Bunny but Slater tags in O’Neil and O’Neil cuts him off before he can do so.
We keep seeing shots of The Bunny hopping on the apron and finally Rose makes the tag to him. The Bunny takes the hot tag and he’s hopping all over the place, hitting anything that moves. Cole says he just hit him with a “rabbit’s foot to the face.” That was basically a big spin kick. He tags Rose back in, Rose hits his finisher and scores the pin.
Winners: Adam Rose & The Bunny
In-Ring Segment: Nikki Bella & Brie Bella
Nikki Bella comes to the ring by herself for a promo segment. The fans are giving her the “What?” treatment like crazy tonight in Memphis, Tennessee. Nikki says everyone is making excuses for their loses at Night Of Champions last night and she wasn’t going to, but after hearing what her sister Brie said backstage, she has a legitimate won. She demands Brie come out here right now.
Brie Bella comes out to her new theme song. Brie says Nikki is doing what she always does, making excuses. Nikki says everything has always been about Brie, etc. This is literally the same EXACT promo we’ve been hearing for weeks now. Doesn’t Total Divas have enough footage for season four yet?
Nikki goes on to say that Brie should be called “Nikki’s Trashy Sister” or better yet, “A Quitter.” Nikki says she wants the Bella name exclusively. She says starting right now, she wants to be known as “THE Nikki Bella.” Brie tells Nikki that she has lost her mind. Brie says she will not give up the Bella name. Nikki asks if Brie is married and if so, why won’t she take her husband’s last name. Brie has heard enough and finally knocks Nikki on her ass. Nikki rolls out to the floor and retreats.
AJ Lee vs. Nikki Bella
AJ Lee’s music hits and she comes out skipping down to the ring with her new Divas Championship. She’ll be in action next. We head to a commercial.
When we return from commercial, AJ Lee and Nikki Bella are in the ring and we hear Paige’s theme song. Paige has joined the fellas at the announce table to provide guest commentary during this match.
Nikki actually dominates a lot of the match but in the end, AJ secures the Black Widow submission hold on her, forcing her to tap out. AJ Lee wins. After the match, Paige leaves the announce table and stares down AJ from the floor. AJ kisses the Divas Championship that she won from Paige on Sunday night and smiles back at her.
Winner: AJ Lee
Backstage: Triple H Checks On Dean Ambrose
Backstage, Triple H walks up to the room that Dean Ambrose is locked in. He asks the security guards watching the door if all is well and then tells them to make sure things stay that way. He walks off. After that quick backstage segment, we are reminded of the Cena-Orton main event, which is coming up next, before one final plug for the WWE 2K15 roster reveal, which takes place live on the WWE Network immediately following tonight’s RAW. We head to another commercial break.
Randy Orton vs. John Cena
When we return from commercial, Seth Rollins and Kane make their way down to ringside. The announcers point out that a big object has been added next to the announce table and is covered with a big cloth, exactly like the cinder blocks were on the night that Dean Ambrose was taken out on RAW.
With that being said and the announcers pointing out that Rollins promised Orton a “surprise” for tonight, “The Viper’s” theme song hits and down to the ring comes Randy Orton. Out next is his opponent for tonight, arguably his greatest rival in WWE history, John Cena.
The bell rings and here we go. Cena is working over Orton early on as the announcers continue to sell-hard the fact that Rollins promised Orton a surprise here tonight and they continue to reference the big cloth-covered object next to the commentary table. We head to a mid-match commercial.
We’re back from the break and instantly, the announcers point out the surprise promise and reference the big box or whatever it is next to them at the announce table.
Meanwhile, in the ring, Orton continues to have his way with the leader of the “Cenation.” I can’t begin to tell you how many times the announcers have pumped up and hyped up the big object next to their announce table and how many times they have referenced the big “promise” from Rollins earlier tonight. To put it into perspective, lets put it this way — it’s on par with the “$9.99” references.
Finally, Cena fires up on offense, just in time, too, as the dueling “let’s go Cena” and “Cena sucks” chanting began breaking out in the FedEx Forum. It was only a hope spot, however, as Orton cut Cena’s offensive comeback short and is now back in firm control of the match. “The Viper” has literally dominated this match to the point that he’s damn near on Brock Lesnar/SummerSlam levels in terms of a one-sided beatdown on Cena. Well, not quite that bad, but Orton has been in complete and total control throughout this entire match and unless I’ve missed it, neither Kane or Rollins have really got involved all that much, if at all, despite standing at ringside during this entire match.
Orton goes for a superplex off the top-rope but Cena headbutts his way out of it, knocking Orton down to the mat. Before Cena can do anything off the top, however, Orton is back up and grabs Cena, who is still seated on the top turnbuckle. Orton grabs Cena and blasts him with his draping-style DDT, only instead of doing it from the middle rope, he nailed Cena with it off the top rope. Orton pounds the mat in “Viper” mode, calling for the RKO, but right when he goes for it, Cena reverses it and locks Orton in the STF. The second he does, Rollins and Kane hit the ring and attack Cena. The referee calls for the bell.
Winner via DQ: John Cena
After The Match
After the disqualification ruling, the attack continues as Orton, Rollins and Kane all beat up Cena. Cena gets one brief hope spot during the beatdown, however it lasted all of two seconds before the numbers game was too much for him.
All three guys take Cena out to the floor and clear off the announce table. Rollins gets on the announce table and asks for the cover to be removed off of the object that is next to the announce table. Kane removes it and we see that it’s Dean Ambrose.
Ambrose goes into wild-man mode and is all over Kane, Orton and Rollins. Ambrose beats up on all three of them and does a big dive off the announce table, splashing onto all three guys.
When the smoke clears, Ambrose is alone with Rollins in the ring. He beats up Rollins and then Kane grabs him by the throat. Just as he goes for the chokeslam, Cena nails Kane and stops him. Meanwhile, Rollins runs away through the crowd, so Cena and Ambrose still didn’t fully get to get their hands on him like they had hoped to.
We see Rollins standing way up in the crowd looking down at the ring as Ambrose and Cena, from the ring, both look up at Rollins in ther crowd. Ambrose’s music plays and the announcers sell everything that just happened to end this week’s show.
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