WWE Monday Night Raw: Randy Orton meets the Fiend

WWE Monday Night Raw picked up where Hell in a Cell ended on Sunday as Randy Orton walked into the show with the WWE Championship over his shoulder.

WWE Hell in a Cell was last night and there was a lot of action to discuss coming out of the PPV. New champions and great matches were held less than 24 hours ago. Monday Night Raw was up next, with some of those angles moving forward and new ones to replace them. Survivor Series is up next, and Monday’s show had direct implications on the PPV.

The first qualifying match involved Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles. The two former champions battled for a slot on the Raw Survivor Series team. Hardy was off to a great start until he jumped off the top rope and was caught like a baby by Styles’s new bodyguard. That allowed Styles to reset and start to control this match with a slow and grinding pace.

Hardy and Styles ended up battling on the apron where Styles pushed Hardy back into the ring. Before Hardy could recover, Styles landed the Phenomenal Forearm to drop Hardy and pin him, picking up the win and the first slot on Raw’s five-man team.

Lucha House Party had a tag team match against Akira Tozawa and Drew Gulak. The match broke down when R-Truth came out to the ring. Every man started to attack him, but none could get the pin. Lince Dorado used that opportunity to land a cross body on Gulak, pinning him in the tag match.

Elias had his concert interrupted by Keith Lee, who wanted a spot on the Survivor Series team. Lee started out using his power, but Elias was prepared to counter. That is, until he was pounced over the announcer table, crashing into the wall behind them.

Elias looked like he was going to get dominated, but pushing Lee into the post allowed him to get some space for some offense. Elias went to the top rope but was distracted when Hardy’s music started playing. Lee tossed him off the top rope then hit the Spirit Bomb for the victory.

The Hurt Business and RETRIBUTION were placed in a four-man, elimination tag team match on Monday. Lashley and T-Bar started off the match, with the two big men laying into each other. When MVP came in, he found himself on the bad side of tag teamwork by the four members of RETRIBUTION.

The first fall came when MVP was distracted by Mia Yim panicking as if she was being attacked by bugs. Slapjack used that opening to roll him up, giving his team the 3-4 advantage. Slapjack did not last much longer, eating a spear from Lashley moments later to be eliminated. Lashley and T-Bar started fighting and both men were eliminated, leaving the match to a two-on-two battle.

Mace was the next man to go, taking a tag team maneuver from Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander to end up pinned in the center of the ring. Benjamin and Alexander started to dominate Ali, who ended up getting himself disqualified by smashing Alexander with a chair.

The Miz started the morning making Drew McIntyre upset, which led to them having a singles match later in the evening. McIntyre had to deal with not only the Miz, but Morrison as well. The duo attempted to sneak attack the former champion, but McIntyre was dialed in to the fight. Morrison tried to distract McIntyre once again, but it led to the Miz eating the Claymore Kick and getting pinned in the middle of the ring.

The fifth spot on the women’s team was to be decided by a fatal-four-way match between Lana, Nikki Cross, Peyton Royce and Lacey Evans. Each of the four women in the match fought valiantly to stay in the match. There was a big moment on the top rope that left Royce, Cross and Evans laying, allowing for Lana to run in and steal the victory to earn a slot on the team.

Sheamus and Matt Riddle were the last two men to attempt to qualify for the Survivor Series team on Monday. These two men got right to grappling in their match, with Riddle getting the first advantage and Sheamus grounding him right back. Sheamus would use his power to take over the match, pummeling Riddle with offense. The violence ensured as both Sheamus and Riddle beat each other up after laying each other out with a variety of strikes.

The finish came when Riddle attempted to lift Sheamus onto his shoulder but his back gave out. Sheamus used that opening to land a nasty Brogue Kick to get the victory.

October 26 Monday Night Raw

• AJ Styles defeated Jeff Hardy via pin fall
• Lucha House Party defeated Drew Gulak and Akira Tozawa via pin fall
• Keith Lee defeated Elias via pin fall
• The Hurt Business defeated RETRIBUTION via disqualification
• Drew McIntyre defeated the Miz via pin fall
• Lana defeated Peyton Royce, Lacey Evans, and Nikki Cross via pin fall
• Sheamus defeated Matt Riddle via pin fall