WWE Raw Sept. 6, 2021: 3 things that went right on the show

The Sept. 6 episode of WWE Raw was…not a bad show? Calling it good would be a stretch considering that the promotion still booked some baffling stuff on this show, but WWE avoided much of what makes tuning in every Monday such an arduous exercise.

So, how did WWE accomplish this? Well, it made the groundbreaking decision to…have longer wrestling matches with actual stakes. What a novel concept!

Again, the show was far from perfect, but WWE got a number of things right on the latest edition of its flagship show. But what did they specifically get correct? To answer that, let’s go through these three moments from the show.

These are three things WWE got right on the Sept. 6 episode of Raw.

Omos and Lashley (but really Omos)

WWE centered last night’s Raw around a tag team turmoil match to determine the next challengers to Randy Orton and Riddle’s Raw Tag Team Championships. While there were things to quibble with, this marathon of a match packed in enough good stuff to warrant a thumbs up overall.

One of those things was the interaction between WWE Champion Bobby Lashley and Omos. Obviously, the idea of guys the size of Lashley and Omos clashing is Vince McMahon’s (and Big E’s) ultimate wrestling fantasy, but the Miami crowd loved seeing the brief battle of the melanated titans.

This all but confirmed that a Lashley/Omos match is inevitable, as shaky as that idea sounds. On another note, WWE has — through surprising competence or happenstance — created a situation where slamming Omos could be a real star-making moment.

Watch them waste it on Karrion Kross.

The New Day’s Run in Tag Team Turmoil

Aside from the Omos/Lashley stuff, the Tag Team Turmoil match also featured plenty of Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston. It became clear that WWE gave them such a lengthy run in the tournament because it trusted New Day to hold the audience’s attention better than the other available teams outside of AJ Styles & Omos and Bobby Lashley & MVP.

If you watched the match, then you get a firsthand look at why the company has so much faith in them. Yes, they came up short in the end, but them delivering quality outings opposite a variety of opponents — from Jinder Mahal and Veer to T-BAR and MACE — further proved why they are the greatest team in WWE history.

Alexa Bliss getting a shot at the Raw Women’s Championship

Sigh…okay, here it goes. While this version of the Alexa Bliss character isn’t for me and WWE has never bothered to explain why she wants a championship, but look, the audience is clearly down for this happening (this week, anyway) so it is what it is. Also, Bliss has been the most protected wrestler on the Raw roster outside of Charlotte Flair, so her being the top contender at least makes sense from that standpoint.

It is a nice bit of validation for Bliss, who — to her credit — has gone all in to make this gimmick her own, staving off any comparisons to other times where WWE has seen other wrestlers leave the company (or, in this case, get released) and tried to attach the IP to another wrestler to keep the gravy train going. It’s also nice to hear that the crowd hasn’t turned on the character following Bray Wyatt’s release, either. So, maybe this program with Flair won’t be so bad.

I’m gonna end up regretting typing this next week, aren’t I?