WWE Raw results, recap, reactions (Sept. 22, 2014): Hustle, Lunacy, Respect

WWE was back on the USA Network last night (Sept. 22, 2014) from Memphis, Tennessee, featuring the Monday Night Raw fallout show for last weekend's big Night of Champions pay-per-view (PPV) in nearby Nashville. Click here if you're looking for complete RAW results with the live blog.

As for the rest of you, strap in and hang on.

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The Least Incarnate:

Brock Lesnar was not in attendance last night -- and don't say we didn't warn you -- because fuck your expectations, he's the champion and he does whatever he wants. And he probably asked his advocate to come with him in the off chance he needed to say something stupid, because there was no sign of Paul Heyman, either.

Fortunately, we still have Ambrose.

That's who opened the show -- sans checkered taxi -- to declare he's "not dead." But before he could get too worked up over Seth Rollins, John Cena joined him in the ring, because he's mad too and his needs come first. Typical male. Thankfully, Ambrose wasn't buried by Cena's dopey promo and he even had a few minutes to give the fruity pebble his death stare.

For a second there, I thought Ambrose was going to deliver Jimmy's prison speech from Road House but alas, good taste prevailed.

After a brief interruption by The Authority, followed by a street brawl that sent Rollins packing, Ambrose got paired off against Corporate Kane, who still wrestles in his office slacks. Let's see your Haggars do that! We didn't get a finish because Rollins returned to ambush his former Shield stablemate and keep his mean streak intact. Brawling ensued and Ambrose got locked in a broom closet -- and we knew he couldn't escape -- because a bunch of local jobbers stood in front of the door and crossed their arms, which is the universal sign for we mean business.

The angle circled back to close the show with Randy Orton battling John Cena and of course The Authority would interfere. Now it was Cena's turn to get curb stomped into concrete -- except when they took the cover off the cinder blocks it was instead Dean Ambrose. How he got out of a locked room was an explanation that we were not worthy of, so we'll assume he's like Nightcrawler and just poofs himself to wherever he needs to be.

And Rollins is pretty good as The Authority's Wile E. Coyote.

Considering there was no Brock Lesnar, Creative made due with what they had and for the most part, it delivered. The crowd was dead for Orton vs. Cena and honestly, it was the energy Ambrose brought to each segment that made this feel important. I'm not sure I like the idea of him forming an alliance with Cena -- even if it's handled by way of 80s cop buddy movie formula -- because he's Ambrose and not a CeNation stooge.

Segment grade: B

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The best of all the rest:

• Dolph Ziggler invoked his imaginary rematch clause and won his title back against The Miz. Does that mean Damien Mizdow must now give his replica Intercontinental strap to R-Ziggler? I was okay with the hot potato finish right after Night of Champions because it fits the new Miz character, who thinks he's a winner but in reality, is clearly not.
• Bo Dallas tapped out to Jack Swagger for reasons inconsequential to anything that ever happened in the history of professional wrestling. I guess Swagger -- who looked like he took a bath in formaldehyde -- needed to redeem himself for going belly up against Rusev, but watching him and Zeb Colter wave to the crowd like they were on a parade float was perplexing. Who said we're letting you be a face?
• Speaking of getting tapped on a weekly basis, Summer Rae was out to help pimp the current season of Total Divas, and she even got a little mic time! She also got submitted by Natalya, which means she plays second fiddle to her fellow blonde both on and off the show. Rosa Mendes was out there for support but didn't do a whole lot, as they had her propped up at the side of the ring like a cardboard cutout. Wait, I think that was a cardboard cutout [rewinds DVR].
• Goldust and Stardust teamed up with Cesaro to battle The Usos and Sheamus because the 'E figures it's not really a retread of last Sunday night's PPV show if they're all bunched together. They wrestled for a really long time and I had a few minutes to watch a hilarious video in the process. Usos and Sheamus won and got "a little bit of revenge" in the process according to Maggle Cole. Meh.
• They played some new footage of the new WWE video game and it looks super realistic. Not the graphics, I mean the fact that every third frame has Triple H mugging for the camera and John Cena STANDING TALL. Art really does imitate life.
• Mark Henry came out to apologize for being the world's strongest failure. Bro, you tapped to a Russian on a major PPV show, take your WHAT? chants like a man. Rusev crashed the party and oh hey look, another rematch with 14 rest holds. Not to suggest the crowd was dead, but they actually got a short-lived "Sexual Chocolate" chant going. Henry got choked out and went out with his tail between his legs, so WTF was the point of that segment? So Henry can now join Jack Swagger in the Hall of Shame? I guess next week we can expect Bo Dallas to get the "World's Strongest Slam."
• SlaterGator wrestled Adam Rose and the mystery bunny. The latter was actually announced as "The bunny and Adam Rose." How do I explain to people that I still watch wrestling? Sigh. The bunny hit a bunch of high spots and Slater jobbed. The announcers tried to get #BunnyMania trending. Whatever.
• Nikki Bella argued with her sister about who was being the bigger bitch. I liked what I saw from Nikki at Night of Champions. This? This I did not like. Then AJ Lee came out to wrestle Nikki and we got Paige on commentary. Things happened. Let's move on.

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There's really no way to spin it. Not having your heavyweight champion on the fallout show of a major PPV -- especially one with Brock Lesnar's star power -- leaves a huge, gaping hole in the broadcast. Not only was "The Beast Incarnate" not on television, it's like he wasn't even at Night of Champions, either, as he was hardly mentioned at all.

Out of sight, out of mind.

That was a big problem for me because he was such a huge part of the build up to last Sunday. Consider that we had Rusev vs. Henry, Swagger vs. Dallas, and Uso-mus/Dustaro all on the go-home show, the PPV, then the fallout show. Why? Because each story has a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Not with Lesnar.

His current contract only specifies a limited number of dates and blah, blah, blah. I get it, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. Especially considering he took a curb stomp from Rollins last Sunday and needed to have The Authority save him from Cena. In short, there was a lot for him to address that he didn't, because he wasn't there.

I will grade accordingly.

Overall grade: C+

That's it from me, Cagesiders. Now it's your turn to sound off in the comments section below with all your thoughts on last night's show. How did you like it, if you liked it at all?