WWE Monday Night Raw results and observations (9/11/17): Braun Strowman is the ruler of the world

Fans have complained for weeks that WWE is giving away two big matches on a "B show" like No Mercy.

But because WWE is putting on those two big matches now instead of one of its peak times of the year, the product is actually an entertaining watch, which is not the norm for WWE this time of the year.

WWE typically waves the white flag when the National Football League kicks off its season, saving the more marquee matches for the beginning of the next year, as it ramps up for WrestleMania.

This year, WWE is going out of its way to keep fans interested even with stiff the competition from the NFL, and pretty soon, Major League Baseball's postseason.

I personally don't care what month it says on the calendar. If WWE is providing quality television, I am going to be interested, and fortunately, it has been doing that lately with Raw.

This past Monday night was simply the latest in a run of good shows for WWE's flagship brand.

Here are the full match results from the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.:

- Roman Reigns def. Jason Jordan

- Sasha Banks def. Emma

- Bray Wyatt def. Goldust

- Elias def. Kalisto

- John Cena def. Braun Strowman via disqualification

- Enzo Amore def. The Miz via disqualification

- Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose & The Hardy Boyz def. Sheamus, Cesaro, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows

Strowman is the ruler of the world

You might have thought the title of "ruler of the world" belonged to Sid Justice/Sycho Sid/Sid Vicious, but it doesn't.

In reality, the "ruler of the world" is a monster by the name of Braun Strowman, and he showed everyone why he can lay claim to that title Monday night be destroying both Brock Lesnar and Cena.

Strowman started with the Universal champion, who via his advocate Paul Heyman, challenged him to a fight. Strowman wasted no time in answering the challenge and marched to the ring.

Strowman and Lesnar and exchanged some blows before the latter got the former up for a thunderous German suplex.

Lesnar roared with satisfaction thinking that he had finally gotten the better of the monstrous Strowman.

He could not have been more wrong.

Lesnar turned around to bask in his destruction only to find Strowman standing straight up, as if nothing had happened to him. That was because unbeknownst to Lesnar, the suplex had no affect on Strowman.

Lesnar's face told the entire story, as he knew right then and there that he had messed up — big time.

Strowman confirmed Lesnar's fears by power slamming the him before standing tall over him once again.

If destroying Lesnar wasn't enough, WWE had Strowman double down on destruction by dismantling Cena during their match.

Cena technically won via disqualification, but that was only because Strowman used the steel steps to batter him twice.

The first time Strowman used the steps, he smashed Cena in the face with them outside of the ring. For whatever reason, the referee did not disqualify Strowman.

It wasn't until Strowman power slammed Cena on top of the steel steps inside the ring that the referee had finally seen enough and disqualified him.

That was quite strange, but the message was still clear: Strowman is not to be messed with and no one can stop him.

Although I feel like Strowman is being built up, only to be knocked down by Lesnar at No Mercy, WWE has done a masterful job of making him the most dominant man on the roster.

WWE doesn't always get it right, but with Strowman, I am hard-pressed to find any missteps WWE has taken with him.

I know the scuttlebutt amongst the wrestling community is that WWE still has its sights set on making Reigns the guy, but if WWE keeps this up, it is going to be pretty tough to deny Strowman of that coveted spot.

Cena got the better of Reigns yet again

Although Cena was physically dominated by Strowman, he verbally dominated Reigns once again after Reigns defeated Jordan in the night's opening match.

If you recall, Reigns admonished Cena last week for taking 20 minutes to defeat a "rookie" in Jordan, which makes no sense given Jordan is an accomplished amateur wrestler and has been in WWE's system for years, but for storyline purposes, he's brand new.

Reigns essentially had to eat his words this week, as Jordan pushed him to the limit before succumbing to the spear.

It was the second week in a row Jordan looked fantastic in defeat. He may have lost, but he needed these matches to give him a boost.

But this wasn't about Jordan. This was about Cena and Reigns.

Cena made his way to the ring after the match and chewed up Reigns yet again on the microphone.

Reigns got his shots in, but also said things that simply weren't true. Reigns said that WWE didn't need Cena because ticket sales were great (not true), revenue was pouring in (true, but not to the level WWE expected) and that he has had more great matches in the last two years than Cena has had in his entire career.

Now that last one is more subjective than the other two, but even the most cynical Cena hater can probably point to more than a dozen matches in his career that could be categorized as "great."

Those lines probably weren't intended to make Reigns sound like a heel, but they certainly did because only a heel would blatantly make up alternative facts and preach them as gospel.

Cena, unflappable as ever, took Reigns to task by calling him a failure and ended the promo with the pretty stiff line of, "At No Mercy, consider me like a drug test, homes … you ain't getting past me," which was in reference to Reigns' suspension last year for violating WWE's wellness policy.

Yikes!

After delivering that venom, Cena simply dropped the microphone and walked out of the ring.

If I were judging these verbal sparring matches between Cena and Reigns like a boxing judge, I would have given Cena every round, 10-9. But this week, he won 10-8.

That drug test line at the end was the icing on a cake that was already pretty darn good for Cena.

Despite Cena winning all of the verbal battles, I have a funny feeling that it will all lead to Reigns winning the physical one at No Mercy, so he could finally silence his biggest critic in Cena.

Asuka is headed to Raw

Asuka and her undefeated streak are headed to Monday nights.

The official announcement came during Raw via a video package that simply stated that Asuka was "coming soon." Let's just hope this won't be an Emmalina situation.

Jokes aside, this is arguably the biggest call-up from NXT since the inception of the brand.

There have been big names called up from NXT before, but Asuka is in the most unique situation in recent memory, as she is making her way to the main roster with an undefeated win-loss record that has been highly publicized by WWE/NXT.

It would be a massive failure if WWE somehow dropped the ball with the former NXT Women's champion, but it would not be surprising, as it has dropped the ball with so many others that were once hot commodities in NXT.

To its credit, WWE is off to a good start by hyping Asuka's main-roster debut with a video package. I think WWE does the unannounced call-up far too often merely for the big reaction it could garner from the live crowd.

The drawback to doing that is that there is no anticipation for seeing the wrestler make his or her debut on the main roster.

But running video packages leading up to her first appearance, WWE could make Asuka a star before she even steps foot in a WWE ring, which is important, especially considering that there are people out there that are unfamiliar with Asuka and why she is so special.

Obviously, time will tell as to whether WWE is getting the most out of Asuka, but for one night, I'm on board.

Baby Miz is on the way!

The news that Asuka is making her way to Raw was good, but the best news to come out of Monday night was that The Miz and his wife Maryse are expecting their first child, which means we have Baby Miz on the way! I can't wait!

The Miz, being the talented performer that he is, immediately used his unborn child as a way to get heat by saying that he was going to be there for his child from Day 1, unlike Raw general manager Kurt Angle when it came to Jordan.

The Miz then dedicated his match to Amore to Baby Miz (That's what I'm calling it until we find out the name).

Speaking of Amore and The Miz, if I had watched Raw for the very first time this week, I would have sworn that Amore was the heel and The Miz was the babyface.

Not only did Amore interrupt the baby announcement, but he also took the microphone during the ensuing match and taunted The Miz by saying that the question the Intercontinental champion needed to ask his unborn child was, "Who's your daddy?"

That understandably sent The Miz off the deep end and prompted him to attack Amore to the point that the official disqualified him.

Like I said, if I had never watched professional wrestling before Monday night, I would have come away liking The Miz a lot. He is a loving husband and soon-to-be father. Not to mention, he is clearly a winner by virtue of him holding the Intercontinental title.

Amore, on the other hand, was rude and obnoxious, but that is apparently the norm.

Vaughn Johnson has a podcast with Nick Piccone called the Straight Shooters on WildfireRadio.com. Check it out here HERE.