WWE Monday Night Raw recap: Of friends and Fiends

Bray Wyatt versus Seth Rollins at Hell in a Cell was the anchor of this week’s edition of WWE Monday Night Raw as The Fiend attacks again.

This week’s edition of WWE Monday Night Raw was fairly good, featuring numerous long matches and continuing the saga of Bray Wyatt’s Fiend versus Seth Rollins (and anyone else who gets in his way) ahead of October 6’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.

Indeed, The Fiend bookended the show; his past few weeks of menacing attacks were recapped in a chopped-and-screwed opening segment and he closed it out by hitting former Wyatt Family charge Braun Strowman with the Mandible Claw and again crawling his way to a terrified Rollins in the corner (who had, in fact, rolled out of the ring and then had to climb back in to get in position).

No matter on that slight gaffe, though — the Renaissance-painting imagery that the Fiend-Rollins interactions have had lately (thanks to some killer lighting work) continues to affect. The only fear is that Wyatt’s months of momentum building could be kneecapped by a corny outcome to his match with Rollins in two weeks’ time. We can only wait and see.

About that Rollins-Strowman match

Post-Fiend opening montage, Rollins came to the ring to address said upcoming match with Wyatt but also managed to put Strowman’s name in his mouth, prompting the Monster Among Men to come to the ring. Strowman is upset that Rollins appears to be ducking the possibility of a rematch for Rollins’ Universal Championship.

Rollins clarifies, saying that he just is relieved to not have to deal with Strowman while also having to navigate all this Wyatt insanity and having to defend his title next Monday against the winner of tonight’s five-way elimination match. But Strowman getting so aggressive at him has Rollins now in the mood for a fight, thus setting up the aforementioned main event.

The match itself wasn’t bad, but it was also just a vehicle to set up the Wyatt attack at the end. We can assume this will also be the case next week, when …

Rey Mysterio is the No. 1 contender for the Universal Championship

The five-way elimination match to determine against whom Rollins will defend his Universal Championship on what is being billed as the “season premiere” of Raw next Monday featured Rey Mysterio, Ricochet, AJ Styles, Robert Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura. And surprisingly, a face won, with Mysterio getting the final elimination over Roode following a 619 and Frog Splash combo.

Only, it seems like this too is a vehicle to set up a Wyatt attack on both Mysterio and Rollins next week, something that allows Mysterio to save face in a situation that seems impossible (taking Seth’s championship away) and also seems destined for more Wyatt interference as they need to hammer home the seriousness of the Hell in a Cell (presumed) main event with not a lot of time to build things up post-Clash of Champions.

Still, the however-many minutes we get of Rollins versus Mysterio next week will likely be good, and The Fiend hasn’t worn out his welcome yet (may he never), so this all works.

Additionally …

There was also another Firefly Fun House segment on this week’s Raw, and like always, it’s better seen than explained. So, here you go:

R-Truth is the best friend

We had a plot development in the saga of the 24/7 Championship. Carmella and R-Truth dash to the ring, a number of Superstars in hot pursuit of Truth’s title, as usual. Carmella reveals that the whole running-around-protecting-and-disguising-with-Truth thing (really, the whole 24/7 thing about the 24/7 Championship) has her completely, and understandably stressed out.

But this whole thing was a performance — Truth gives Carmella a reassuring hug, and ‘Mella rolls up Truth to win the title, an eventuality that has finally come to pass. One would assume this means a heel turn for Carmella and the end of her friendship with Truth. But no! Instead, Truth is apparently standing by Carmella and her title reign just as she has done for him for four months.

And now, some of the overlooked members of WWE’s women’s roster can in good faith pursue the 24/7 title, with Truth now helping Carmella evade their attempts. This has been a decent year for lasting friendships in WWE; Carmella and Truth, Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss, The New Day and Sasha Banks and Bayley are all still buddies despite so many moments when it seemed like WWE would wreck all of them.

Goth King Corbin

King of the Ring Baron Corbin has a new, goth look to his cape-crown-scepter combo and it really, really works. The short jokes about Chad Gable are getting old, but they were stale the first time they were introduced, so it’s hard to fault Corbin for it.

The match they had on Monday was good, too, and appropriately kept Corbin in the heel position. He was seconds from tapping to Gable’s ankle lock, so he grabbed the scepter and beat Gable with it, leading to a disqualification. It’s fine, but we all know that the fans are thiiiiis close to turning Corbin face after months of openly hating him. Hate, love, two sides of the same coin. It’s coming.

A question about Rusev

So, it’s clear there’s a Rusev Reboot underway, but what is the endgame? Last week, Maria Kanellis decided Rusev was the father of her unborn child rather than her husband, Mike, but little mention was made of it this week and none of it during Rusev’s actual match, a confounding squash of poor EC3. The commentary team actually brought up Lana this time around, so is her return imminent? Assuming there’s a point to all of this, it’s impossible to tell what it is exactly.

Boss ‘n’ Hug backup plan?

Amidst Bayley’s ongoing (apparently?) battle with Charlotte Flair over Bayley’s SmackDown Women’s Championship and Sasha Banks’ feud with Becky Lynch over Lynch’s Raw title, the former (and still?) Boss ‘n’ Hug Connection is also embroiled in an ongoing conflict with the current WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss.

On Raw this week, Banks took on Cross in a surprisingly lengthy and unsurprisingly good match in which Banks won after reversing Cross’ pin attempt into a Banks Statement. Notable: Neither Bayley nor Bliss — both ringside — factored much into what happened in-ring, with the two only focusing on each other, briefly, on the outside.

But it’s interesting to see Banks and Bayley having this secondary conflict as a team. It seems to point to the two uniting in challenge for Cross and Bliss’ tag titles post-Hell in a Cell. Yet another “wait and see” scenario.

Also …

Lacey Evans took on and defeated Ember Moon via awkward Sharpshooter because she’s still feuding with Natalya.

The Viking Raiders defeated The O.C. (Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows) in their most competitive match to date. And the Authors of Pain are doing that “no one wants to fight us” endless promo barrage that is basically the inverse of Aleister Black sitting in the same room asking for someone to pick a fight with him. WWE should just book that.

And that’s the what’s what for Monday Night Raw this week. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. All hail King Corbin!