by Tarron Coalson

MONDAY NIGHT RAW starts out with the WWE Tag Team Champions, The New Day talking about their upcoming MONEY IN THE BANK Fatal Four Way Tag Team Championship Match featuring them, Enzo & Big Cass, The Vaude Villains & Club Members Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson. And yes, they come out exactly in that order!

First Enzo & Big Cass in a battle of words & wit which Enzo Amore seems to be winning & then The Vaude Villains followed by Gallows & Anderson….

And in the art of total disclosure, this columnist had technical difficulties watching RAW thanks to his not fully repaired cable service from his unnamed, but just merged provider!! So for the first hour, I’m relying on outside reports:):)

Somehow, the situation deteriorated & the situation above turned into an eight man tag match featuring Gallows, Anderson & The Vaude Villians vs. New Day & Enzo & Big Cass, with Gallows & Anderson hitting The Magic Killer on Kofi Kingston for the win.

Following that is the return of Corporate Kane, who says he’s interested on being on the “leadership” team for the new SMACKDOWN show!

After that, apparently US Champ Rusev decided not to wait for MONEY IN THE BANK this Sunday night & attacked his opponent Titus O’Neill & locked him in the Accolade with about eight ref’s trying to pull Rusev off of O’Neill.

They announce an Ambrose Asylum (Oh my goodness, please no….is what I’m thinking) but this turns into a Shield reunion with Reigns & Rollins talking about their upcoming match at MONEY IN THE BANK & then Ambrose reminding them what could happen if he wins the briefcase Sunday night as well. Rollins then attacks Ambrose, Reigns superpunches Rollins & Ambrose hits Reigns with The Dirty Deeds & in the “pose of the night” , stands looking at the MONEY IN THE BANK briefcase.

Dana Brooke, after helping Charlotte last week with a beat down on Natalya and Becky Lynch, seems to be in some hot water after Charlotte took a loss to Paige Monday Night. Not only did she lose but Brooks threw her back in the ring to catch a Superkick from Paige.
Wait! My cable’s back on….thanks for the help & good bye!!:):) Back to live action!!
PROMO-CESARO interuptted by Sami Zayn, who proceeds to tell Zayn he hasn’t proven anything in WWE, pretty much dissing him, just like Alberto Del Rio did like week before essentially jobbing out Zayn.

Next up is Sheamus vs. Zack Ryder, who made the mistake of angering Sheamus earlier. Ryder actually controls most of the match, hitting a drop kick to Sheamus on the floor, then slamming Sheamus into a pole & hitting Sheamus with the Macho Man top rope elbow, but could only get the 2 ½ count. One mistake by Ryder & a Brogue Kick ends the night for Zack Ryder. However, Sheamus continues his assault after the victory only to have Apollo Crews save the day. Crews & Sheamus will match up at MONEY IN THE BANK.

PROMO up next with Shane McMahon, Corporate Kane (lobbying for a SMACKDOWN job) who’s interupted by Kevin Owens, who throws Alberto Del Rio under the bus by saying he just walked in the door late & unprofessional. Alberto Del Rio then accuses Kevin Owens of causing airport security to hold up Del Rio for five hours.

Corporate Kane then suggests to Shane that Del Rio & Owens need a team building exercise a la Kane & Daniel Bryan in past times & they come up with Owens & Del Rio tagging against the Lucha Dragons, with Owens & Del Rio’s spots in MONEY IN THE BANK forfeited if they should lose.

The following match is Sami Zayn vs. Cesaro is a match that starts out slow but builds to a nice finish. It’s got some spots although Cesaro didn’t do the Giant Swing & Zayn didn’t hit the Helluva Kick but in a nice ending, Sami Zayn picks up the win with what could be described as a jumping roll up cradle that was impressive on both guys part.

The start of the 10 o’clock hour bring the AJ Styles/John Cena MONEY IN THE BANK contract signing. I’m not a fan of the “contract signing” because, let’s face it, the contracts are already signed. This one does have some twists as Cena praises AJ for his accomplishments & then AJ comes out & whines about WWE not signing him sooner.

In a twist, Cena actually brings two contracts, one is him verses AJ, the other is him verses AJ & The Club, pretty much challenging AJ to man up & fight Cena one on one. Of course, AJ signs the one on one match & it’s a lot of lip service from there.

Next up is a PROMO spot from the Intercontinental Champ, The Miz, who is off filming The Marine 5.

Then it’s Owens & Del Rio verses The Lucha Dragons is a fairly entertaining match with Owens & Del Rio sparring the entire match with Owens having to throw a hurt Del Rio in the ring to stop a countout. Owens wins win a Pop Up Power Bomb & then catches a Superkick from Del Rio for his efforts.

After that, is a Dean Ambrose verses Chris Jericho & Stephanie McMahon puts Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens as guest commentators, Cesaro as a guest ring announcer & Alberto Del Rio out there doing a guest something or other, timekeeper, I think…

The WWE is hoping that the fans will enjoy this hodge podge of these six guys, but it’s really a case of overkill & it’s killing all six guys heat. They’d be a hundred times better off doing Owens vs. Zayn & working the other four guys in other feuds, one way or another. Hopefully MONEY IN THE BACK will resolve some of this, but at this point, I’m not confident.

It’s a back & forth match (actually, one of their better matches…100 times better than that Asylum Match crap!) but predictably, even as I’m typing, Ambrose wins with a Dirty Deeds which then de-volves into Pier Six brawl outside the ring. Sami Zayn mounts the top rope & jumps on everyone wiping them out, leaving Chris Jericho to scale the ladder & take down the MONEY IN THE BANK briefcase.

Is it a sign of things to come? I doubt it, but make sure to watch MONEY IN THE BANK this Sunday, only on the WWE Network.