5 Biggest Takeaways from Monday Night Raw (September 27th, 2021)
I like to keep things as positive as possible.
I like WWE.
I like AEW.
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People can call it hot shotting. They can call it an answer to AEW All Out. I call it awesome. Maybe it was a direct response to how great a show All Out was and that is why Raw has been on the rise, should we be mad at that? Or maybe Vince decided to bring out the big guns now that he has Monday Night Football to compete with again. To that I say, give us Football year round if that is the case. If you haven’t jumped back on the Raw bandwagon in the past three weeks, I just feel sorry for you. As far as a sports entertainment/pro wrestling television show, Raw has been damn near perfect.
Last night’s episode didn’t live up completely to last week’s stellar outing, but it was very strong and gave the fans more of what they have been waiting for. The return of a fan favorite faction that was split way too soon, Doudrop getting a chance against the Queen and more breakaway pants action from Angel Garza. Not to mention Shayna Baszler continuing her reign of terror by taking out Eva Marie and AJ Styles and Matt Riddle putting on another wrestling clinic in the ring. That’s not enough for you? Don’t worry, there’s more. Here are the 5 Biggest Takeaways from this week’s Monday Night Raw.
#5: Like a Fine Wine
Sheamus came to the WWE in June of 2009 and by that year’s end, he found himself as the first Irish born WWE Champion. With good size and a great look, it is no wonder he was making an immediate impact in the company and his future looked to be bright. Here we are 12 years later and Sheamus appears to be getting better each time he steps in the squared circle. S
heamus has that rare ability to be able to have a great match with anybody, no matter the size or style. He has a rare combo of a stiff, hard in ring style that he is able to deliver while remaining one of the safest guys in the business. No matter how badly he beats people down, he is not injuring anybody. And the war wounds he wears proudly after the battles he goes through are gruesomely beautiful. His brutal style also helps his character take a loss without it hurting his stock. He could lose twenty matches in a row and I would still think he had a chance at winning his next match, because even in defeat, his opponent always looks like they just escaped a fight. He’s operating at a level many would not have foreseen when he was battling a neck injury that had him contemplating retirement in 2019 and the appreciation he deserves has no boundaries. I don’t think I am along in hoping he can maintain enough momentum that he has built up this year to force himself in to one last main event run before he calls it quits.
#4: A Bearcat on the Loose
Survivor Series 2019, Keith Lee might have been the hottest name in wrestling. He had one hell of a showing during the 5 man elimination match that saw him just almost get the win for NXT as he was the second to last man standing, coming in second to Roman Reigns. He would follow that run up by having a face to face with Brock Lesnar that had the whole wrestling world talking. It looked as if Keith Lee was primed to be the next big thing. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
Keith Lee would go on to become double champion in NXT(North American and NXT Champion). He would drop the North American title and end up losing the NXT title to Karrion Kross before making his way over to the main roster. Thrust into the main event scene right away, Lee would score victories over Randy Orton and find himself in big matches with Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre as well. But something was different. It didn’t feel like Keith Lee. Before he could truly get comfortable on Raw, an injury would come along and derail his run completely.
Yup! Keith Lee is going to be a heel alright!
— ChanMan (@ChandranTheMan) September 28, 2021
I kinda like this! Nice change up for him. #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/AKjVCwriLz
Since coming back from the injury, he has seemed directionless. Losing to Kross one week and beating him the next. Having a match one week and being gone the next 2, relegated to dark matches. The fans have not been happy with his booking up until this point on the main roster and that is a valid stance… to a point.
Now we have a healthy Keith Lee. They added Bearcat to his name and look to be doing a slow character turn, giving Lee some depth. No more low tone interviews or good guy act, “always going to do the right thing.” What we got last night was perfect. Akira Tozawa did an open challenge. Keith walked to the ring with purpose, absolutely destroyed Tozawa and then left. No respect shown, no theatrics. Just a big man taking care of business and doing so in a timely manner. His interview backstage delivered the same feel. Very short with more bass than we are used to. He took control and ended it on his terms. Keith “Bearcat” Lee looks comfortable for the first time in a long time, and you can expect to see him make a very big impact in the near future with this rebirth.
#3: Guess Who’s Back? Back Again…
Drew McIntyre was the right man to hold the WWE Title throughout the pandemic. It was terrible timing for him to have his first run as champ in that environment, but I don’t think there was another person available to carry that weight. Drew was fantastic and deserves all the praise for the job he did. It’s unfortunate that he never got a chance to hold the title up in front of fans but in hindsight, it was the right call. Some time during his feud with Randy, Drew got stale. Then he had that looooooong back and forth feud with Bobby Lashley, and the fans started to turn. Removing him from the WWE Title picture was another right call, as it allowed that heat to not gain any momentum, and fans were able to enjoy Drew away from the main event scene for a while.
With the stipulation of Drew not being able to challenge for the WWE Title as long as Bobby was champion, you had to think it was only a matter of time before he showed up to challenge Big E and that’s exactly what happened last night. After a grueling cage match with Bobby, Big E was able to celebrate for just a moment before Drew came out and pointed his sword at the title.
A new challenger approaches. 🗡 #WWERaw @WWEBigE @DMcIntyreWWE pic.twitter.com/qbKZ4IopZq
— WWE (@WWE) September 28, 2021
The seeds have been planted for Drew vs Big E, and that’s not a bad thing. The timing though couldn’t be worse. With the draft starting on Friday and all signs pointing to Drew making the jump to Smackdown, there isn’t much reason to get invested in a Big E v Drew match. Here is why:
- If Drew goes to Smackdown, Big E stays on Raw and Roman moves to Raw, it becomes very clear that Drew is winning the title.
- If Drew goes to Smackdown, Big E stays on Raw and Roman stays on Smackdown, it is very clear that Big E is winning.
- If Drew changes shows and Big E stays, and it is non title, it is very clear that Drew is going to win.
The only way this makes any sense is if Drew and Big E were to both stay on Monday Night, which could lead to a very fun feud but that is not likely to happen. What we can expect is Drew putting over one last star on Raw before making the switch over to Smackdown where he will soon find himself challenging Roman Reigns for the Universal Title.
#2: A Fighting Champion
Since winning the title, Big E has been a very busy man. Two weeks in a row he has found himself in 2 separate matches on Raw. He traveled over to Smackdown for a tag team match and even had a last minute match thrown together at Extreme Rules. I like my heel champions to be used sparingly and I like my babyface champions to fight a lot. Big E has been perfect as WWE Champion during his short time in that role.
I really hope we continue to see Big E battling every week, proving night and night out that he is the top guy on Monday Nights and showing the fans he doesn’t take the responsibility as champion lightly. His personality works well in this role as well. He can be fun and playful, which allows opponents to take him lightly but then when it’s time for business, nobody can turn it on faster than E. And with Big E being new to Raw, the list of competitors for him is quite a long one.
#1: Back in Business
In what would be one of the worst booking decisions in recent memory, Vince pulled the plug on The Hurt Business earlier this year. The faction was cool, dominant and most importantly, it was over. How popular they were might have been the motive, with Bobby playing the heel they were not wanting to risk them getting cheered during the Wrestlemania match against Drew. No matter the reasoning behind it, it was a bad decision and luckily it didn’t hurt Bobby’s stock at all. But now with the New Day back together, the 3 way battles are there for our viewing pleasure. There is literally no downside to this reformation as it will help keep a Big E vs Lashley program stay relatively fresh while also getting two talented individuals, like Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin, back on the show to help bolster that tag team division even more so. It helps Bobby have a purpose as well now that he doesn’t have the WWE Title. As leader of a faction, he still comes across as a big deal on the show that should not be taken lightly. The ideal scenario here would be The Hurt Business vs The New Day vs The Bloodline at Survivor Series in a War Games, but that’s just a little fantasy booking I decided to throw in. But even if that doesn’t happen, I am very much looking forward to seeing what The Hurt Business can do this second time around.
Do you Agree? Disagree? Let’s hear what you have to say. Comment below or follow me on Twitter and interact with me there. I always enjoy conversation about wrestling and love hearing different opinions. If not, I’ll see you next week after another (hopefully) great episode of Monday Night Raw!
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