Sports
WWE Raw Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from September 5
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The Miz and Bobby Lashley (Credit: WWE)
Welcome to Bleacher Report’s coverage and recap of WWE Raw on September 5.
We are officially in the post-Clash at the Castle period before WWE begins to sink its teeth into the buildup for Extreme Rules, but we still saw some groundwork laid this week for the next pay-per-view on October 8.
With more than a month between major events, WWE has given itself a little breathing room so it can take its time building up the storylines that will fill up the card.
Monday’s show didn’t have much fallout to deal with since no titles changed hands on Saturday, but we did get to see Bobby Lashley defend the United States Championship against The Miz inside a steel cage.
Let’s look at everything that happened on Monday’s show.
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Raw opened with Edge coming out to a huge pop and plenty of pyro. He spoke about what it felt like when Dominik Mysterio turned on him at Clash at the Castle.
The Rated-R Superstar said he convinced himself he didn’t need to worry about Dom because he thought of him like a nephew, but now he just wants to beat him up.
Rey Mysterio came down and begged Edge to forgive his son on his behalf, but Edge said if Dom is old enough to compete, he is old enough to answer for what he did. This brought out Rhea Ripley to taunt them before bringing Dominik out to stand by her side.
Rey asked his son not to confront Edge but his son wouldn’t even look him in the eye. He walked away from his son heartbroken as Ripley flashed a devious smile. Finn Balor and Damian Priest attacked Edge from behind, but he saw it coming.
Dom came in and took out Edge’s knee and then he blocked Rey from helping Edge. The Nightmare took Rey out and threw him into the steel steps. Judgment Day used a chair on Edge’s leg to leave him down and out.
While most of this should have played out on Saturday instead of Monday, it’s still good that WWE finally pulled the trigger on this. Now, we can build toward Rey vs. Dom at some point. This segment was better than expected and a good sign that Dom might actually fight in with Judgment Day if booked properly.
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Edge is in a class by himself. The time he spent learning how to act has really helped make him one of the best performers WWE has.
- Dom’s hair looks only slightly less ridiculous when it’s slicked back the way he had it in this segment.
- Ripley beating up dudes every week is a good sign that we might get to see her face men in matches someday. If anyone could follow in Chyna’s footsteps and win a WWE singles title usually reserved for men, it’s Ripley.
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The first match of the night put the tag team division in the spotlight with a Fatal 4-Way to determine the next contenders for The Usos and the Undisputed Tag Team Championships.
Angel, Humberto, Otis, Chad Gable, Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston, Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins all looked fired up.
At one point, Kingston and Woods ended up as the two legal men in the ring, so they tried to pull a fast one with Woods covering Kingston for a pin, but everyone else broke it up in time.
The rest of the match was filled with the kind of action you would expect from these four teams. The big spots all looked good, but it was easy to lose track of who was legal at times.
After the second commercial break, Braun Strowman made his return to WWE and got into the ring with Gable. He started taking out everyone in the match as the ref looked on helplessly. The Monster Among Men took out several security guards who tried to stop him.
While Strowman certainly looked dominant in his big return segment, it came at the expense of most of the tag team division. We didn’t get new No. 1 contenders, so that will have to be decided at some point. This is one of those segments that most people will either love or hate. There will be very little middle ground.
Winners: No Contest
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
- It made no sense for the ref to allow Woods and Kingston to be the two legal men in the match, but the shenanigans that came as a result were funny enough to justify it.
- Dawkins hitting a pounce that sends someone into Ford’s arms for a back suplex is a great spot.
- Ford slamming Otis was an impressive show of power.
- Strowman got a decent pop when he came out, so maybe WWE was right to bring him back.
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Aliyah and Raquel Rodriguez had their first match as the women’s tag team champions this week when they faced Doudrop and Nikki ASH in a non-title bout.
Aliyah and Nikki started for their teams. Doudrop tagged in and dominated her smaller opponent after knocking Rodriguez off the apron.
The powerhouse recovered and tagged in to give Aliyah a break, but Doudrop did not make it easy on her. Rodriguez hit what was supposed to be a powerbomb on Doudrop to get the win, but she wasn’t able to get Doudrop into the correct position.
This match wasn’t long but it wasn’t a squash either. The champions picked up a win and it looks like WWE is going to put some effort into the women’s tag team division, so this segment served its purpose.
Winners: Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah
Grade: C-
Notable Moments and Observations
- The announcers talked about how Aliyah didn’t do much during the tournament, so they may already be planting the seeds for something down the line.
- Rodriguez was not in a good position to hit her finisher at the end. It wasn’t really her fault, but at least she pulled off a slam of some kind.
- Damage Control was shown watching this match from backstage, so Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky still have their sights set on the titles.
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Austin Theory came out and gave a promo about how despite failing to cash in this weekend, he plans to win the title with it soon. This brought out Kevin Owens to respond with his usual brand of humorous insults.
They ended up going back and forth for a few minutes before a ref came down and KO initiated a match.
The Prize Fighters took it to the 25-year-old until the show cut to a break. Theory began to mount some offense when we returned by using his speed and agility to stay one step ahead of Owens.
They fought through a second commercial break and had plenty of time to make this match both competitive and fun. It seemed like it could go either way for a little while, but Owens was able to get the pin and celebrate in front of a happy crowd.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Owens bringing up that WWE gave Theory his first name back was hilarious.
- KO may have gotten a little too meta for some fans with his insults, but he is so good that he pulls it off.
- Theory has a great dropkick. It’s a move he hits well just about every time he does it.
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Bayley, Sky and Kai came out to give a promo declaring their intentions to win the women’s tag titles. Kai pointed out how she was pinned but wasn’t the legal competitor, so there will likely be a rematch at some point. Bianca Belair came out and challenged Bayley to a match, but nothing ended up happening.
After what happened earlier in the night, Rey ended up in a singles match with Priest. The Archer of Infamy was able to easily overpower and dominate the luchador.
The 47-year-old veteran made his usual comeback, but Priest never let him get in too much offense before putting him down again. Ripley, Dominik and Balor eventually made their way down to watch from the aisle as their teammate destroyed Dom’s father.
They did a good job balancing the long periods of time when Priest was in control with the short bursts of offense Rey would have, and since they were also given a decent amount of time, it never felt like they were in too much of a hurry.
Priest was able to avoid the 619 with help from Dom, and then he hit South of Heaven for the pin and the win.
Winner: Damian Priest
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Bayley trying to weasel her way out of a match by claiming she doesn’t work on Labor Day is hilarious.
- It’s hard not to think of McDonald’s whenever someone has red gear with yellow accents. Did Rey’s gear make anyone else want some McNuggets?
- Dominik being silent for all of this is a good move. Ripley doing all of the talking is going to make all of this work much better.
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The main event of the night saw The Miz challenge Lashley for the United States Championship inside of a steel cage.
The Miz grabbed the belt and attacked Lashley before the match actually started. He and Ciampa continued to beat him down at ringside to give The A-Lister the biggest advantage possible. They focused on his arm and used a chair and the steel steps in an attempt to break it.
The match finally got started during the break, so The Miz was already trying to win when we came out of the commercial. The All Mighty used his good arm when he could, but whenever his bad arm gave him problems, The Miz would capitalize.
With a guy like Lashley, WWE has to find creative ways to make him an underdog because he is so dominant in every way. He’s as strong as a bull and has the speed of a man half his size, so having Ciampa and The Miz attack his arm helped go a long way toward evening the playing field.
Dexter Lumis appeared from under the ring to scare The Miz into not escaping, and that allowed Lashley to hit a Spear for the win. Lumis got into the cage and choked The Miz out to end the show.
This was a relatively predictable cage match in terms of how everything played out. It was good, but it won’t stand out among other cage matches we have seen. It served its purpose of highlighting the U.S. title and giving Lashley another successful defense on his record.
Winner: Bobby Lashley
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- If Lashley had a couple of people holding mirrors, his entrance would be similar ot Lex Luger’s when he was The Narcissist.
- This is one of the few times when using picture-in-picture helped a lot. We got to see everything Ciampa and The Miz did to Lashley’s arm, so there was no mystery about why he was favoring it when we returned from the break.
- The Miz is one of those guys a lot of people will appreciate more after revisiting his career down the line. He does so many little things well. He sells for his opponents, has great facial expressions, and he knows exactly what to do to make the crowd react when he wants it to.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury in U.S. District Court ordered the NFL to pay nearly $4.8 billion in damages Thursday after ruling that the league violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service.
The jury awarded $4.7 billion in damages to the residential class and $96 million in damages to the commercial class. Since damages can be tripled under federal antitrust laws, the NFL could end up being liable for $14.39 billion.
The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States who paid for the package of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons on DirecTV. The lawsuit claimed the league broke antitrust laws by selling its package of Sunday games at an inflated price. The subscribers also say the league restricted competition by offering “Sunday Ticket” only on a satellite provider.
The NFL said it would appeal the verdict. That appeal would go to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and then possibly the Supreme Court.
Should the NFL end up paying damages, it could cost each of the 32 teams approximately $449.6 million.
“We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit,” the league said in a statement. “We continue to believe that our media distribution strategy, which features all NFL games broadcast on free over-the-air television in the markets of the participating teams and national distribution of our most popular games, supplemented by many additional choices including RedZone, Sunday Ticket and NFL+, is by far the most fan friendly distribution model in all of sports and entertainment.
“We will certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit.”
The trial lasted three weeks and featured testimony from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
“Justice was done. The verdict upholds protection for the consumers in our class. It was a great day for consumers,” plaintiffs attorney Bill Carmody said.
During his closing remarks, Carmody showed an April, 2017, NFL memo that showed the league was exploring a world without “Sunday Ticket” in 2017, where cable channels would air Sunday afternoon out-of-market games not shown on Fox or CBS.
The jury of five men and three women deliberated for nearly five hours before reaching its decision.
Judge Philip S. Gutierrez is scheduled to hear post-trial motions on July 31, including the NFL’s request to have him rule in favor of the league because the judge determined the plaintiffs did not prove their case.
Payment of damages, any changes to the “Sunday Ticket” package and/or the ways the NFL carries its Sunday afternoon games would be stayed until all appeals have been concluded.
The league maintained it had the right to sell “Sunday Ticket” under its antitrust exemption for broadcasting. The plaintiffs said that only covers over-the-air broadcasts and not pay TV.
Other professional sports leagues were also keeping an eye on this case since they also offer out-of-market packages. A major difference though is that MLB, the NBA and the NHL market their packages on multiple distributors and share in the revenue per subscriber instead of receiving an outright rights fee.
DirecTV had “Sunday Ticket” from its inception in 1994 through 2022. The league signed a seven-year deal with Google’s YouTube TV that began with the 2023 season.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2015 by the Mucky Duck sports bar in San Francisco but was dismissed in 2017. Two years later, the 9th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over California and eight other states, reinstated the case. Gutierrez ruled last year the case could proceed as a class action.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The U.S. Olympic team is one of a handful that will supply air conditioners for their athletes at the Paris Games in a move that undercuts organizers’ plans to cut carbon emissions.
U.S. Olympic and Paralympic CEO Sarah Hirshland said Friday that while the U.S. team appreciates efforts aimed at sustainability, the federation would be supplying AC units for what is typically the largest contingent of athletes at the Summer Games.
“As you can imagine, this is a period of time in which consistency and predictability is critical for Team USA’s performance,” Hirshland said. “In our conversations with athletes, this was a very high priority and something that the athletes felt was a critical component in their performance capability.”
The Washington Post reported earlier this month that Germany, Australia, Italy, Canada and Britain were among the other countries with plans to bring air conditioners to France.
Olympic organizers have touted plans to cool rooms in the Athletes Village, which will house more than 15,000 Olympians and sports officials over the course of the games, using a system of cooling pipes underneath the floors.
The average high in Paris on Aug. 1 is 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit). The objective is to keep the rooms between 23-26 degrees (73-79 degrees Fahrenheit). The rooms will also be equipped with fans.
“I want the Paris Games to be exemplary from an environmental point of view,” Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has said about the plans for the Olympics.
According to the International Energy Agency, fewer than 1 in 10 households in Europe has air conditioning, and the numbers in Paris are lower than that. The study said that of the 1.6 billion AC units in use across the globe in 2016, more than half were in China (570 million) and the United States (375 million). The entire European Union had around 100 million.
The Olympics mark the most important stop on the athletic careers of the 10,500-plus athletes who will descend on Paris, which has led some high-profile countries to undercut environmental efforts for the sake of comfort.
“It’s a high-performance environment,” Australian Olympic Committee spokesman Strath Gordon explained to The Post.
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers seemed determined to keep playing. And playing. And playing.
The teams opened their Eastern Conference final playoff series with Florida’s 3-2 victory in four overtimes early Friday, with the game ranking as the sixth-longest game in NHL history.
Matthew Tkachuk’s goal came at the 19:47 mark of the fourth OT to end this one, which marked the 15th four-overtime game in NHL history and the longest game in franchise history for each team.
The longest game in NHL history came on March 24, 1936, when the Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Maroons 1-0 in the sixth overtime on Mud Bruneteau’s goal at 116 minutes, 30 seconds of extra play.
Florida’s previous record for longest game was 104:31 in Game 4 of the 1996 Stanley Cup final against Colorado. Carolina’s previous record was 114:47 for Game 3 of the 2002 Stanley Cup final.
The only good news for the teams is they had an extended break before this series began. Carolina closed out New Jersey exactly a week earlier, while Florida eliminated Toronto a day later.
But this game ended roughly six hours after Thursday night’s puck drop, and the teams have a Game 2 in less than 48 hours.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
