WWE Monday Night Raw results and observations (8/28/17): Sasha Banks loses her title ... again
A lot went down at the FedExForum in Memphis, as Raw put SummerSlam firmly in the rearview mirror and put its focus on squarely on No Mercy in September.
There were a couple of matches that carried some major ramifications moving forward and a contract signing that featured a lot of interesting verbiage.
When it was all said and done, it made for a pretty entertaining edition of Raw.
Before I delve deeper into my analysis, here are the full match results:
- Jeff Hardy wins 15-man battle royal
- Enzo Amore def. Noam Dar
- Cesaro def. Seth Rollins
- Dean Ambrose def. Sheamus
- Emma def. Mickie James
- Roman Reigns & John Cena def. Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows
- WWE Raw Women's championship – Alexa Bliss def. Sasha Banks
Cena, Reigns trade verbal barbs
By far the most interesting segment on this week's episode of Raw, and one of the most interesting on WWE television in quite some time, was the contract signing for the Reigns-Cena match that will take place at No Mercy.
Yes, the match between WWE's two golden boys was made official for No Mercy Monday night.
I know some feel as though that a Cena-Reigns match is worthy of a more prominent event, but it's happening here in an effort to make No Mercy a more enticing card to watch.
As for the contract signing we witnessed Monday night, I have one word: Wow!
It was clear from the get-go that Reigns and Cena were given the green light to say virtually whatever they wanted and they both took advantage of it.
They both used what fans and pundits speculate about on social media and podcasts everyday against each other. It was very, very meta for anyone that does not follow wrestling on those mediums, but it was quite intriguing if you do.
Because of this, the tea was quite hot Monday night.
Cena talked about how Reigns was essentially a bootleg version of him that can't measure up to what Cena has done despite all of the opportunities that he has been given.
Reigns attempted to respond, but became visibly flustered and was forced to take a moment to gather himself.
Cena did not let Reigns off the hook and pointed out the fact that Reigns was clearly shrinking in the moment.
Reigns fired back, however, by talking about how Cena is a part-timer that does not work as hard as he does. Reigns also mentioned how Cena holds everyone down, which is something that has been used against Cena in promos in the past.
Reigns did this with the help of some foul language. One could look at this tactic as Reigns taking a bit of a shortcut, but at the end of the day, it worked to his advantage.
Cena, on the other hand, is seemingly never flustered. Instead of buckling under the pressure, Cena fired back with shots of his own, saying that he was better in a part-time role than Reigns would ever be in a full-time one.
Cena finished off his spiel in style by dropping the microphone and taking a bow. Reigns then signed the contract, making the match official.
I doubt that Reigns and Cena legitimately have harsh feelings for each other behind the scenes, but they did a good job of making it look like they did Monday night.
Cena was especially good by pointing out Reigns' struggles cutting promos in the past. It got to a point where I almost felt bad for Reigns because Cena was exposing him to a degree no one else has to this point.
That is not to say Reigns didn't have a good showing here because he certainly did. It was just that he was clearly out-classed by the superior talker in Cena, who is apparently unflappable when the heat is turned up.
It was almost unfair to Reigns, and his extended period of silence in the middle of his promo did not do him any favors.
I am not sure if this segment got me more interested to actually see these two go against each other in a match. If anything, I'd like to see these guys essentially shoot on each other again.
Banks not booked like a boss
On the surface, Banks has garnered quite the resume in the last two years.
She won the NXT Women's championship and lost it in arguably the best women's match in wrestling history.
She is a four-time Raw Women's champion and has competed in the main event of a pay-per-view alongside Charlotte Flair, something that had not been done before that particular night.
However, when you look deeper, Banks has the strange distinction of never successfully defending her title since she has been on the main roster.
Of her four reigns as Raw Women's champion, the longest lasted 28 days. She has held the title a grand total of 83 days between all four of her reigns.
The 83rd day was Monday night. It proved to be the last for now, as she failed to defend her title yet again. This time, against Bliss, who is now a four-time champion between Raw and Smackdown Live.
But this is not about Bliss, who was attacked by her now former friend Nia Jax after the match, setting up a new title contender.
This is about Banks, who despite being the "Legit Boss," has not looked very boss-like when it comes to holding onto a championship.
Someone that does not defend the title does not look like much of a boss to me, which is why Banks is not an even bigger star than what she is.
Sure, winning the title four times is nothing to sneeze at. On its own, it is a pretty remarkable achievement for Banks or anyone else for that matter.
However, having her failing to defend the title, even once, almost makes her title victories look like a series of flukes.
Again, that is beneath someone that is touted as a boss.
I understand that WWE is trying to get Jax into the title picture and putting the title back on Bliss is probably the best way to do that, but then why have Banks win the title at SummerSlam to begin with?
Was it simply done to create a feel-good moment?
I understand that an event like SummerSlam is a place where feel-good moments take place, but it is almost washed away when the opposite of that feel-good moment takes place two weeks later.
Banks could always bounce back eventually become a five-time champion, but I am not sure if the fans would buy into her as much as they should at that point.
They would probably collectively wait for the other shoe to drop, and that shoe would be Banks failing to defend it yet again.
Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz next week
Speaking of defending titles, The Miz will finally get to defend his Intercontinental championship against Jeff Hardy next week.
How did Jeff Hardy earn this title opportunity? By winning a 15-man battle royal in the night's opening match.
I was a little surprised that Jeff Hardy won the battle royal, as I figured it would have been a time WWE would have wanted to showcase Jason Jordan.
I even thought Finn Balor would be a good candidate, but more on him in a minute.
But the reason why I was not completely shocked by Hardy winning was because he has a proven track record of singles success.
Jeff Hardy may have spent the majority of his career in a tag team with his brother, but there was stretch between 2008-09 where he was arguably the hottest singles act in WWE. If he was behind anyone, it was only Cena.
People just love cheering for Jeff Hardy and whenever he and Matt Hardy go their separate ways on screen, WWE knows it can instantly re-insert Jeff Hardy into a world title scenario.
The world title won't be on the line next week, but I fully expect the crowd to be firmly behind Jeff Hardy when he goes against The Miz.
Bray Wyatt foils Finn Balor
The reason why Balor did not win the battle royal is because Wyatt popped up in the ring and tossed him out of it.
I will never understand how someone that is not technically in the match could eliminate someone that is, but it is apparently allowed in WWE.
Gallows eliminated Matt Hardy from the same battle royal after he had already been eliminated and that didn't make sense to me either.
Regardless, it looks like the Balor-Wyatt feud is far from over. I am not sure if that is a good thing, though.
Amore wins cruiserweight debut
It was not the prettiest match in the world, but Amore won his debut in the cruiserweight division over Dar.
Amore did not look terrible, but he reminded me of Cena circa 2005-06.
Around that point, Cena had just entered the main-event stratosphere of WWE and was going against the likes of Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho and Triple H.
Cena was not yet the polished performer he is today and in order to cover up for that, the announcers would call him unorthodox.
I feel as though the same is going to be eventually said of Amore, who is not awful in the ring, but he can definitely use some more polish.
Vaughn Johnson has a podcast with Nick Piccone called the Straight Shooters on WildfireRadio.com. Check it out here HERE.