WWE Raw Results: Highlights, Analysis, and Grades for October 2

Source: WWE.com

Follow along with our live Raw review.

Previously on WWE Raw, Enzo Amore had his championship celebration interrupted by the entire 205 Live roster. Braun Strowman demolished Curt Hawkins, then beat Dean Ambrose in an impromptu match. Mickie James stood up to Alexa Bliss, after the champ ran down the entire Women’s Division. And Roman Reigns defeated The Miz in a non title match, but got laid out by a Shield-impersonating Miztourage aided by steel chairs.

This week, a pair of matches have been announced. First, Roman Reigns will get another shot at The Miz. The difference this week? The Intercontinental Championship will be on the line. The Big Dog won fairly easily last week, so he’s got to be confident. But with Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel lurking at ringside, the numbers game could prove to be too much. If only Reigns had a pair of superstars to serve as backup…

The other match taking place is Seth Rollins vs. Braun Strowman. The Kingslayer was a bit stunned last week when his tag partner Dean Ambrose answered Strowman’s challenge. He pointed out that Dean’s self-destructive behavior could be a problem. Ambrose replied that Rollins was too predictable, leading Seth to demand his own match against The Monster Among Men. Can Rollins bring the behemoth down?

In the Women’s Division, Alexa Bliss has a big problem. That problem is in the form of Mickie James. The six-time Women’s Champion responded to being called an “old lady” the only way she knew how – kicking Alexa in the face and making her retreat. The current champ may have helped facilitate Mickie’s WWE return earlier this year, but clearly that friendship has seen better days. How will Bliss get retribution tonight?

And Enzo Amore seems to have quite a few enemies right now. That doesn’t even factor in his recent Twitter spat with Corey Graves. Enzo and Neville spent Raw and 205 Live last week trading beatdowns of each other.

Will the King strike back tonight?

Related Story: 5 Predictions for WWE Raw 10/2/17

Join us here at 8pm EDT for our live Raw review.

Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Seth Rollins vs. Braun Strowman

Result: Braun Strowman defeated Seth Rollins via pinfall

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

After a (very classy) tribute to the victims of the horrific Las Vegas mass shooting, Raw got things started with one of its two advertised matches. The announce team (featuring Tom Phillips filling in for Michael Cole) kept referring to the Rollins/Ambrose/Reigns connection in the wake of the Miztourage’s assault on the Big Dog. Jeez, guys, lay it on a little thicker, why don’t ya?

What I really liked about this match was that it made Braun look like a genius. Anyone else get the feeling Strowman studied up on Rollins? Think about the difference between his match tonight, and last week against Dean Ambrose. The Lunatic Fringe kept it fairly close, possibly because he was an unknown opponent.

This week, Braun had a whole week to gameplan for Rollins, and he came out like he spent the time watching video. It’s a great wrinkle to Braun’s character – not only can he annihilate you, but he’ll research the most effective way to do it. Absolutely terrifying.

After the suicide dives Rollins hit, I really thought he was going to win via countout, which would be a terrible decision in my opinion. Thankfully, Rollins tossed Braun back into the ring, hitting a blockbuster for a one count. Superkicks didn’t faze the monster, either, as he reversed the ripcord knee strike into a vicious lariat.  Braun followed it with a running powerslam and a 1-2-3.

A second powerslam served as an exclamation point, and Braun was going back for more until Dean Ambrose attempted to make the save. It wasn’t super effective, as Braun laid out the tag champs single handedly. The Bar came out to pick the bones, and we started this show off with a bang.

Charitable Cause

It’s October, so it’s time for the ring ropes to go pink, and for the annual breast cancer awareness push.

Say what you want about the Susan G. Komen Foundation, but the fact remains cancer stinks and working to fight it is admirable. WWE does so much charitable work, so they deserve credit for it.

What Happened to “Respect Your Elders”?

Boy, what a terrible, terrible segment.

To recap, Mickie James is walking around backstage. She comes across Alicia Fox giggling like a schoolgirl (seriously, I’m a teacher, that’s what my students look like half the time). Then she comes across Emma, who tells her there’s something in her locker room.

Surprise! It’s Depends, a walker, and probably Geritol or something. Lame, lame, lame. At least it’s the heel doing it to the babyface, and not the other way around.

Mickie goes back to Emma and Alicia (still laughing, by the way), and wants to know where Alexa is. Apparently she’s in her locker room. But guarding the door is Nia Jax. I guess they’re friends again? WHO WRITES THIS STUFF?

Anyway, Alexa doesn’t want to be in a ring with a “mature woman,” but Nia doesn’t have that problem. This was just awful.

Speaking of Awful…

Bray Wyatt must be the biggest John Cena fan on the planet, because he just will Never Give Up trying to be the creepiest person in WWE even though he’s failed every time in the past, I don’t know, two years?

Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Elias vs. Titus O’Neil (w/ Apollo Crews)

Result: Elias defeated Titus O’Neil via pinfall

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

Much of this match was more centered around the beef between Elias and Crews than the actual match. Not saying I’m opposed to Elias and Crews getting more opportunities to tie up, since their match on the No Mercy Kickoff Show was pretty good. Just saying that if you’re putting two superstars in a match, let the focus be on those two. Why is that so hard for WWE to grasp?

Anyway, Elias dominates for much of the match. Titus gets a smattering of offense throughout, but his best opportunity comes at the end of the contest. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t quite able to make it a win.

With Elias on the outside, he took a shot at Crews. Apollo was smart enough not to retaliate and get his buddy DQed. But the distraction – that Elias caused himself – was enough to give Titus an opening.

But just as quickly as that opening came, Elias closed it up. Back in the ring, he immediately regained control and hit Drift Away for the win. Meanwhile, Crews stood watch over Titus to prevent a further beatdown before Elias left the ring.

You know what? Raw could use more feuds like this. Relatively low stakes, decent enough characters, completely serviceable in-ring action. It’s better to fill three hours with stuff like this as opposed to interminable promos all the time.

Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Nia Jax vs. Mickie James

Result: Mickie James defeated Nia Jax via disqualification

Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars

Before the match can get under way, Alexa Bliss makes her way down to ringside. For the life of me, I still can’t figure out why on earth Nia would be associating with Bliss again. After everything that happened ahead of No Mercy, there’s no reason for this alliance to be renewed.

Anyway, when the bell rang Mickie was too focused on Bliss, so Nia went to town on her. Up until the commercial break, there was basically no offense on Mickie’s part. And while Nia is improving in the ring, I feel like in this match at least she was asked to do too much early on. Sure, she’s just throwing Mickie around, but by the time we’re back from commercial she’s clearly spent.

Poor Mickie, too; just watching that fireman’s carry slam that I’m assuming should have been a Samoan drop was painful. A lot of this one was pretty sloppy, if we’re being honest. Besides that “Samoan drop,” Mickie’s tornado DDT that almost won her the match was also kinda botchy.

So Mickie has Nia beat, but Alexa breaks up the pin to avoid giving Mickie the satisfaction of defeating her. Mickie also manages to avoid Alexa’s attack after the match, putting the champ down with a big kick.

What I like about this feud is that it’s giving a spotlight to those outside the Horsewomen of NXT. Sasha and Bayley could benefit from a bit of a backseat for now. And even though Mickie is a veteran, Alexa and Nia are still relative newcomers with lots of time left in front of them. Let them carry things with Mickie for a while, then Asuka can come in, and the division will be unbelievable.

Enzo Addresses His Lack of Friends

Or, not? I guess the cat got his tongue or something.

Source: WWE.com via Twitter

TLC Gets Its First Match

Mickie James is just hogging all the backstage segments this week! Charly Caruso congratulates her on her victory, and Mickie says she wants to be Raw Women’s Champ. Duh.

Kurt Angle appears from out of the ether to inform Mickie that she gets her shot at TLC. How cool is it to be at the point where the first match announced for a pay per view is the Women’s Championship match – and there’s not a Horsewoman in sight?

Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Matt Hardy & Jason Jordan vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson

Result: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson defeated Matt Hardy & Jason Jordan via pinfall

Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars

This match was made earlier in the day, when Gallows and Anderson said NEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRD too loud or something. And hey, Jason Jordan has some new gear, which would be really cool if he didn’t get rid of the straps. I mean, it’s only like one of his trademark things.

Speaking of new gear, looks like WWE is making the most of that whole “Too Sweet” trademark thing. Just look at Anderson’s tights.

Early on, the Hardy/Jordan combo took control. Of course they did – The Club is about as effective as a Z-Pak for staph infections. But somewhere during the commercial break, the tide turned. Even when Jordan was able to tag in and string a little offense together, a well-timed blind tag from Gallows helped The Club stay in charge.

Every time Hardy and Jordan was able to make a bit of a comeback, The Club managed to to stay one step ahead. Their experience as a team was definitely the difference in the match tonight. The ability to be in each other’s head helps you stay one step ahead of your opponents – especially if they’re not as familiar with one another as you are.

One more blind tag after Hardy looked like he may take the win, and Gallows and Anderson hit a Magic Killer for the win. Will a win by The Club go anywhere this time? Probably not!

Big Dog Wants Gold

Boy, the more everyone says “The Shield isn’t getting back together,” the more I believe them, huh? Roman says he knows Dean and Seth are big boys, so he’s focusing on his match tonight against The Miz.

Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Unleash Your Warrior

Per Brandon Stroud of UPROXX, “go back 10 years and tell the Internet that Ultimate Warrior’s legacy is honoring people with illnesses & promoting breast cancer awareness.” It’s kind of crazy to think of it that way, but that’s where we’re at right now. I mean, it’s definitely better than “lunatic man who has misguided views about homosexuality and life in general.” But still.

For the annual presentation of the championship belts to breast cancer survivors, this year WWE brought Dana Warrior to Raw. She was joined by the entire Raw Women’s Division, which makes a heck of a lot more sense than Enzo and Cass from last year.

Like I said before, it’s a great thing WWE does each year. The pink ropes may look weird to outsiders, all the pink merch from years past was strange to some, but it’s all for a good cause and that’s what matters. I mean, this review is being written by a dude who once put pink hair extensions in his beard to convince his students to make donations to cancer research. It’s important to me, and I like seeing WWE doing their part.

The rope shaking at the end was a nice touch, as well. Although, it’s a little jarring to hear Warrior’s theme music for something as serious as breast cancer research. But it’s probably the most badass fundraiser out there.

Source: WWE.com via Twitter

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match

Roman Reigns vs. The Miz

Result: Roman Reigns defeated The Miz via disqualification

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

Before the match started, Reigns showed everyone he figured out the numbers game. All he had to do was obliterate Dallas and Axel with a chair. It makes sense he would figure that out – after all, The Shield (who totally aren’t getting back together) were the masters of the numbers game in their heyday.

But as commentary pointed out, Reigns may have expended too much energy in his destruction of the Miztourage. It didn’t take very long for Miz to gain the upper hand. I still maintain that when all is said and done, Miz is not only a sure-fire WWE Hall of Famer, but he’s going to be remembered as the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time. He’s just on a different level when he’s champ, and his past two and a half years have been tremendous.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to point out that anyone who refuses to acknowledge just how good Roman Reigns is in the ring is delusional. He’s not a technical wunderkind like Daniel Bryan or Bret Hart. And he’s not a flashy spot monkey like a Rey Mysterio or Shawn Michaels. What he is is solid, dependable, and freakishly strong. The powerbomb counter of the It Kicks was beautiful – as was Miz’s kickout at 2.99999999.

Reigns looked like he was en route to his first Intercontinental Championship victory – he kicked out of a Skull Crushing Finale, and was loaded for a spear. But The Bar snuck up to ringside to attack Roman, finishing with a triple powerbomb on him. Hmmm, who are Cesaro and Sheamus currently feuding with? I can’t seem to put my finger on it…

So yeah, for everyone freaking out that Miz/Dallas/Axel would get the Shield reunion match, calm down. I’m glad The Miz will be involved, though, because he’s awesome.

Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Abigail Comin’

What. The. Hell. Is. Going. On?

Okay. Here’s what I think is going on. Finn Balor is fed up with Bray Wyatt. (Aren’t we all, brother.) Bray lost to the Demon, and the Man. This should be over. (Preaching to the choir, Finn.)

But last week, Bray comes back at Finn with the creepy kid singing. Balor no-sells it, because it’s lame. And this week, Finn is super angry. In fact, he’s so mad, he’s dropping rhymes that could come from a 90’s hip hop jam. “Don’t sing it, bring it”? Wow.

This summons Wyatt on the Titantron. Just like earlier in the show, Bray is all out of sorts. He basically says that Finn lied to him – that he was more than a man at No Mercy. What, is Finn getting popped for a Wellness Violation? That can’t be, there’s no steroids in LEGO.

It all boils down to Bray being upset at Sister Abigail for lying to him as well, and the big reveal is that 1) Abigail is real, and 2) she is “dying” to meet Finn. At this point, Bray turns into the Joker? And his laugh becomes a woman’s laugh?

Again: What. The. Hell. Is. Going. On?

Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Emma & Alicia Fox

Result: Sasha Banks & Bayley defeated Emma & Alicia Fox

Rating: 2.25 out of 5 stars

Apparently, we’re in the midst of the “Holy crap, Alicia Fox is still on the roster?!?!” phase on Raw right now. Sadly, this match kind of sucked the life out of the show for most of it.

It just went far too long, with not enough good story involved – at least until the very end. One would have thought entering the match that, if either team were to suffer from dissension, it would be Bayley and Sasha. It’s the next logical step of the story between the two, and it was touched on last week.

But instead, we get basically nothing, until a little, teeny tiny bit of dissension between Emma and Foxy at the end. Sasha spent much of the match getting whupped. She got busted open, too – somewhere in the mouth or teeth area. When she finally created separation, it was due to some miscommunication between Emma and Alicia.

That opening allowed Bayley to tag in, and when Foxy tried to tag out Emma just walked away on her. Poor Fox was left on her own, and she walked right into a Belly to Bayley to end the match. So now we have Foxy back and active, Emma is a wackadoo, and Bayley and Sasha are best friends again?

Throw in Nia and Alexa being on speaking terms as well makes for a very interesting division at the moment. I guess alignment and relationships don’t matter. At least not with Asuka debuting at TLC.

Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Enzo and The Cruiserweights

They say, “Better late than ever.” But if WWE would have waited much longer to get to “Kalisto is now a cruiserweight,” it would have been utter stupidity.

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So first Enzo Amore comes down, Cruiserweight Championship in tow. He runs down the events of last week, and points out that he’s brought 205 Live into the main event two weeks in a row. This is true, gotta give him that.

But then Enzo seemed to solidify the speculated heel turn that started last week. You know, the first time the entire division tried to stomp him out of existence. Once again, the remaining cruiserweights surround the ring, and Enzo addresses them.

When he’s done, he points out that no one can touch him without them losing their jobs. And because of the violation of the protection order last week, none of the current 205 Live superstars are eligible to challenge for the Cruiserweight Championship.

Of course, Enzo thinks this means he’ll be champion forever. But then Kurt Angle comes out to reveal there’s a new cruiserweight in town – Kalisto. The Lucha Dragon comes down, and immediately plants Enzo with a superkick, low angle rana, and a Salida del Sol.

I’d say the next step is to get Sin Cara into the cruiserweight division, but that happened months ago and was abruptly dropped. So let’s get the purple belt on Kalisto, and move on from there.

Almost to the Fireworks Factory

But, but, but… THEY SAID IT WASN’T HAPPENING!

Next: 25 Greatest WWE Entrance Themes of All Time

That finishes up this week or Raw, sound off in the comments with your thoughts on the episode.