Raw airs tonight (Sept. 7) with a live show emanating from Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. This is the sixth episode of Raw during the nine week build to Money in the Bank, which takes place on October 10.
WWE’s greatest women’s title run of all-time is in jeopardy
It was back on August 3 when Stephanie Vaquer returned to WWE for the first time since she lost the women’s world championship to Liv Morgan at WrestleMania 42. On tonight’s episode of Raw, Vaquer gets her long-awaited rematch for the gold.
Liv is never shy about letting anybody within earshot
know that she is the greatest women’s champion of all-time. She has backed up that claim by defending her belt…exactly one time (excluding house shows) since winning it from Vaquer over 140 days ago. Tonight’s match with La Primera is only Liv’s second such title defense. This doesn’t sound like the record of an all-time great champion, but maybe it just means the champ is smarter than everyone else in figuring out ways to avoid putting her belt on the line.
Morgan will have to use her smarts once again tonight if she plans to keep her all-time great title run going, because Vaquer outclasses her in the ring, for the most part. Liv does bring trouble to the match in the form of fellow Judgment Day members Roxanne Perez and Women’s Intercontinental Champion Raquel Rodriguez. This numbers game gives Liv her biggest advantage, but that’s where Becky Lynch potentially comes into play.
The Man also returned to WWE on August 3, in the same segment as Vaquer. They both want Liv’s title. Becky doesn’t seem to mind fighting off The Judgment Day to help Stephanie get Liv in a fair fight tonight, but Vaquer warned Becky to stay out of her business. That foolish decision will probably bite the challenger in the ass.
Will Becky defy Stephanie’s wishes and accidentally screw things up for her tonight when she gets involved? Will Lynch abide by Vaquer’s wishes and stay backstage to let La Primera find out the hard way why she’s a dumbass for subjecting herself to the numbers disadvantage in a title match? Or will Vaquer just straight up whoop Morgan’s ass and end her self-proclaimed run as the greatest women’s champion of all-time? Tune into tonight’s Labor Day episode of Raw to find out.
The rest of the card
The Money in the Bank ladder matches take place in one month, and qualifying matches begin tonight. Is WWE ready to reveal a schedule of every single qualifying match that will take place over the next couple of weeks, or do we have to wait to find out the name of each wrestler who is trying to qualify? Will the qualifying bouts all be 3-way matches? Is Seth Rollins ready to return and be part of the mix on the men’s side to repeat last year’s victory? Is there anyone who can stop IYO SKY and Sol Ruca from qualifying on the women’s side?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– The biggest news from Sunday Night’s Main Event was the surprise return of Bronson Reed, who ruined the finish of Bron Breakker vs. Oba Femi. The slimmed down Reed battered Femi with a steel chair, before flattening him with multiple Tsunami splashes. He also held up Femi for Breakker to spear into oblivion. It looks like Femi now has a full-blown war with The Vision on his hands. Does this mean it’s just a matter of time until Oba teams up with Some Kid to beat Breakker and Austin Theory for the world tag team championship, which has been defended zero times since the heels won it two months ago?
– Will we find out any clues about who Paul Heyman was on the phone with after Bronson’s return? Just make it anyone but Pat McAfee as WWE’s latest mystery caller, please.
– The other major story playing out on Raw involves Royce Keys’ 946 faction, who ambushed The Usos so viciously backstage last week that Netflix had to censor Jey Uso’s face. Will WWE sell Jey’s beating by continuing to pixelate his face if he shows up tonight?
– Roman Reigns says Royce’s crew is Jacob Fatu’s problem to handle, so the Samoan Werewolf will be on the hunt tonight. But is he prepared to have his mind blown if Men on a Mission style vignettes actually air to explain Royce’s relationship with OTM? And is it already time to add a new member to that group?
– Solo Sikoa was also attacked and bloodied in a backstage attack last week, and Fatu swears he had nothing to do with it. Who knows, maybe it’s the same mystery person who attacked Fatu backstage on SmackDown last year, who definitely wasn’t Drew McIntyre. Is LA Knight ready to beat the shit out of 946 or anyone else who he suspects may be the culprit?
– The Judgment Day’s Dominik Mysterio has gotten back in the winners column at Joe Hendry’s expense. Will Big Cass take it from here by welcoming Joe’s face to his big boot, or is Big not finished with Je’Von Evans?
– Can Penta deliver a killer promo tonight to get fans hyped up for his match next week against World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns in Mexico City?
– Dragon Lee and Intercontinental Champion Chad Gable are preparing for their title match next week in Mexico City. Is there anything Ethan Page can do tonight to convince GM Adam Pearce to give him a chance to be added to their match? I’m sure he’d make for a great, unbiased referee.
– Is Rusev ready to return to WWE so that Danhausen has someone new to curse?
– It looks like Lola Vice is coming to Raw next week. Does that mean Damian Priest is moving over to the Raw roster after he challenges the War Raiders for the AAA world tag team titles in Mexico City?
– Where the f*** is Bayley?
What will you be looking for on Raw?
