WWE RAW Coverage: Banks Wins Women’s Title, Balor Marvels

Between Finn Balor’s amazing debut, Sasha Bank’s winning of the WWE Women’s Championship and the announcement of the new WWE Universal title, the first episode of the new era of Monday Night RAW was an enjoyable one with plenty of solid in-ring action.

Matches:

WWE Universal Championship Fatal Four-Way #2: Cesaro vs. United States Champion Rusev vs. Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor: Lots of offense here with Balor flying on the outside and Rusev showing signs of dominance with strikes. However, Owens nearly beat Balor twice with the Roode Bomb and Pop-Up Powerbomb, while Cesaro almost beat KO with the Corkscrew Uppercut. Cesar then hit the Swing on Rusev, who had the Accolade locked in on Owens. Ruse then locked in The Accolade on Cesaro, but Cesaro escaped and hit a Clothesline. Cesar then hit the Swing and Sharpshooter on Rusev, but Owens jumped in before Balor went to town with the Sling Blade and the Coup De Grace on Rusev for the win.

Nia Jax vs. Brit Baker: Can you say squash? Jax hit all power moves, finishing with Baker with two Samoan Leg Drops.

WWE Universal Championship Fatal Four-Way #1: Sami Zayn vs. Sheamus vs. Chris Jericho vs. Roman Reigns: Zayn had his moments here, but Reigns , who was beaten on by the three other competitors, was the man to beat. After Reigns took out everyone following a Jumping Splash on the outside, you knew things were going his way. Things then got all TNA, as Reigns hit the Sit-Out Outsiders Edge and Sheamus followed it up with the Brogue Kick on Reigns and Zayn then nailed Sheamus with the Helluva Kick. Soon enough, Jericho had the Walls of Jericho on Zayn, but Sheamus hit another Brogue Kick, this one on Jericho. After Zayn broke up that pinfall, Sheamus hit the Irish Curse, but Reigns took out everyone with Superman Punches before Jericho hit Reigns with the Codebreaker for the near-fall. Pissed, Jericho beat on Reigns but then walked into a Spear for the Reigns victory.

Adrian Neville vs. Curtis Axel: Neville got the squash win with the Red Arrow.

WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair w/ Dana Brooke vs. Sasha Banks: A wonderful match. This was an even matchup until Brooke, who consistently played a role in keeping Flair in control, was tossed out. With Brooke gone, Flair hung in the match with a Neckbreaker after Banks went on a tear. But after Flair missing a Moonsault and a Standing Moonsault, Banks hit a Suicide Dive and nearly won once the action got back in the ring. Flair later marveled with a beautiful Moonsault on Banks to the outside and nearly won with the Natural Selection, but Banks hit the Bank Statement twice and finally got the submission victory.

Braun Strowman vs. James Ellsworth: Strowman got the squash win with the reverse Chokeslam.

Enzo Amore and Colin Cassidy vs. The Shining Stars: Primo and Epico: The Golden Truth added some humor as they walked into the match playing Pokemon Go, which allowed Cass to nail Epico with the Big Boot for the win.

Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor: Reigns was dominant in the early going with a ton of strikes, but Balor stayed in the match with strikes of his own. As the match wore on, Balor worked on Reigns’ knees, but Reigns continued to apply submissions (working as the heel?) and displaying a ton of power. After nearly winning with the One-Arm Sit-Out Powerbomb, Reigns went for the Superman Punch, but Balor fought back with a Dropkick on the apron and a beautiful Running Knee. Balor then hit a Double Stomp on a slouched Reigns for a near-fall. Balor then went for the Sunday Bloody Sunday, but after a Reigns counter, hit the Sling Blade instead. Balor then went for the Corner Dropkick, but Reigns hit the Superman Punch for a near-fall. After Reigns got the Outsiders’ Edge countered into a Rollup, he hit a Double Powerbomb, but still couldn’t beat Balor. Reigns went for another Spear, but Balor hit the Sling Blade and then finished off Reigns clean with the Coup De Grace.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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