RAW Talk recap: September 24, 2017
The red brand’s No Mercy PPV was followed by a special edition of RAW Talk that hosted not only the night’s victors in Enzo Amore and Alexa Bliss but also the man who just took one of the biggest losses in his professional wrestling career, John Cena.
The show started with Renee Young and Jerry Lawler welcoming fans and revisiting highlights from the main event, following which Enzo Amore interrupted proceedings.
#1 Enzo Amore
Enzo started off by cracking a few weight jokes at the expense of Jerry Lawler and then went on to emphasize his presence of mind, revisiting the kick that helped him defeat Neville for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
Amore then revealed his intentions of encrusting the title belt with diamonds and leopard print. The Certified G then began trying to scratch Neville’s nameplates off the belt. He then explained about how he was going to become the greatest Cruiserweight Champion of all time.
He then revealed that he had a hookup in mind, and not with the belt. The segment then saw a few Lord of the Rings jokes thrown in with a rather subtle tone, following which Enzo once again spoke about the moment Neville decided against hitting him with the Red Arrow and turned his back on him. Enzo then name-dropped a few celebrities as well as his mother, and bid adieu.
#2 Alexa Bliss
The Goddess of WWE aka Alexa Bliss then entered the fray and bragged about having run through the entire Women’s division, after which Renee Young pointed out the number of other women who were still in the division.
However, Bliss went off on the others, trashing Mickie James, Alicia Fox and Dana Brooke. Bliss jested with a few jokes directed toward James, teasing the latter for being an elder stateswoman in the division and taking credit for having brought James from irrelevancy to SmackDown Live.
Additionally, Bliss addressed the possibility of facing Asuka, asserting that she would indeed break the latter’s undefeated streak upon the Japanese Superstar’s RAW debut.
#3 John Cena
John Cena then joined the program and stated that he did give Roman Reigns a hard time early on in their feud, but his belief is that you either have to be the best or be a vessel for the best. He added that he’s made a career out of earning respect and on that note, Reigns did, in fact, earn his respect.
Renee Young then probed Cena about him being the aforementioned vessel for younger talent, to which he reiterated his theory: 'step up or step aside'. He asserted that he wanted to bring out the best in Reigns, adding that it’s simply his job to bring out the best in his co-performers, citing his feud with The Miz as an example of this.
He continued that he was beaten by a better man in the ring on the night, and despite losing he did indeed walk away happy that he gave the fight his all. He pointed out that Reigns’ future would now be in his own hands, adding that the Big Dog really ‘grew up’ during their brief feud, and it felt like a burden was lifted off Cena’s shoulders in a good way.
Furthermore, Cena asserted that he has always kept a ‘WWE first’ mentality time and again, placing the company’s priorities over his personal interests, instead of someone like say Enzo Amore who has an ‘Enzo first’ mindset. He then reiterated that he felt proud of Reigns.
However, Cena didn’t really open up as to whether or not he and Reigns had communicated after their match. He explained that he simply lost to a better man on the night. Cena then got emotional about his ongoing transition from WWE to Hollywood, upon which Lawler asked him whether he was gone for good from the company. Cena replied that he couldn't keep going at the same pace that he had maintained over the past several years in the WWE.
He then addressed the issue of passing the torch to Reigns, stating that the torch wasn’t really passed but rather ‘taken’ from him by Reigns. He then advised Reigns to show respect in order to get respect in the business and thanked the WWE Universe for being extremely vocal, in both the good and bad times. He then strongly asserted that he wasn't ‘gone’ from WWE, but he did emphasise that things were changing.
RAW Talk ended with Young and Lawler highlighting Cena’s parting words.
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