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WWE

Twenty four hours removed from the WWE Clash of Champions event, Raw on Monday night touched down in Knoxville and the campus of the University of Tennessee. As has been the case many times in recent months, especially coming out of pay-per-view events where a slight reset is required, Raw was again three hours of action-packed sports entertainment as the very important fall months ahead for the company rest on the horizon. 

As the build to the Hell in a Cell PPV in less than three weeks on Oct. 6 commences, the key focus on Monday night was kickstarting what's likely to be the main event feud highlighting the event featuring "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt challenging Seth Rollins for the universal championship. The Fiend made his intentions crystal clear at the conclusion of Clash of Champions, and on Monday night, the stalking of the champion -- as well as a legendary figure -- merely intensified as their Hell ins a Cell match awaits on a solid episode of the flagship show. 

Let's now have a look at everything that went down on Monday night's post-Clash of Champions Raw as the Hell in a Cell PPV looms ahead. 

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The Fiend's presence continues to grow

The universal champion was out to kick off Raw this week. Rollins said he was disappointed in losing the tag team titles while also putting over Braun Strowman's performance in the main event. He turned his attention to the post-match attack by "The Fiend" and confirmed their upcoming universal title match at Hell in a Cell -- inside the cell. "Yowie wowie, indeed," Rollins said. 

Wyatt then appeared on the Titantron in the "Firefly Funhouse" to cut off Rollins. He reminded Rollins that he himself has made many mistakes, yet people have forgiven him. Wyatt recalled telling his fireflies last week that friends forgive, but The Fiend never forgets. He told Rollins that maybe it's why The Fiend said hello at Clash of Champions and, who knows, maybe he might have more to say to him tonight as he maniacally stared into the camera while visuals of The Fiend flashed on the screen. That stare then turned into a bright smile as Wyatt signed off by telling Rollins, "See you in hell."

Later in the night, another edition of the "Firefly Funhouse" aired. Wyatt was decorating his "wall of friends" with pictures of his victims to this point which include Mick Foley, Kurt Angle, Finn Balor and Jerry "The King" Lawler. He decided, though, that it was time to go look for some new friends. A short time later, Wyatt again appeared in the Funhouse where he was hanging a picture of Rollins. He gave the camera another evil stare as The Fiend repeatedly flashed on the screen. 

Seth Rollins def. Robert Roode via disqualification after Dolph Ziggler made the save for his Raw tag team championship partner. As Rollins was about to gain the upper hand, The OC made their way out. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson hit the Magic Killer on Rollins and AJ Styles followed up with a Styles Clash. As the heels were taking care of the champion, Kane -- nowadays better known as Knox County, Tennessee, mayor Glenn Jacobs -- made the save to the delight of the Knoxville crowd and disposed of the heels. As the "Devil's Favorite Demon" was about to summon the signature flames from the ring posts, he was instead paid a visit by The Fiend, who took down down the legend with the Mandible Claw before getting in the face of the fallen Rollins. Raw ended as a creepily distorted version of the "Firefly Funhouse" played on a loop. 

It's never safe to assume they've reached the ceiling with the presentation of The Fiend character because, at this point, I'm not even entirely sure that's possible. We're required to get this iteration of Wyatt in heavier doses now that he's in a world title picture, yet it reached a new level on Monday as he was featured throughout the show in small yet necessary doses ... and because Hell in a Cell is a mere three weeks away. The use of Kane -- Wyatt's very first target upon his main roster debut in 2013 -- was perfect here, and by the end of the night, the anticipation to see this extraordinary character enter Hell in a Cell to challenge for the top title on Raw had to grow exponentially with any viewer. Grade: A

What else happened on Raw?

  • Braun Strowman interrupted a tag team champions summit by destroying both new Raw tag team champions Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode as well as newly-minted SmackDown tag team champions The Revival. 
  • The OC def. Cedric Alexander & The Viking Raiders via pinfall after Styles connected with the Phenomenal Forearm onto Alexander. Post-match, The Viking Raiders took out Gallows & Anderson to prevent a beatdown. Alexander tried to get some revenge on Styles, but he ate a Styles Clash from the second rope for his efforts. 
  • 2019 King of the Ring finals -- Baron Corbin def. Chad Gable via pinfall with the End of Days to win the tournament. This was a simply fantastic match and, in my opinion, one of the best televised matches that we've seen in WWE all year. 
  • The Street Profits hosted a gender reveal party for Maria Kanellis. She announced that she would be having a boy ... and also claimed that Ricochet is the father. This led to Mike Kanellis slapping Ricochet, who vehemently denied the allegation, and challenging him to a match immediately. 
  • Ricochet def. Mike Kanellis via pinfall after the Recoil. 
  • Rusev def. Mike Kanellis via submission with the Accolade. Maria emerged following her husband's loss to reveal that the returning "Bulgarian Brute" was actually the father of her child. Intimidated, Mike simply just tried to congratulate Rusev and Maria before running away, but he was caught by Rusev on the outside prior to the match beginning. 
  • 24/7 Championship -- Glenn Jacobs def. R-Truth via pinfall to win the title at Neyland Stadium. Jacobs -- before his night went to literal hell as his alter-ego -- met with with R-Truth & Carmella earlier in the night and promised to give them a private tour of Knoxville via limousine. Inside the home of Tennessee football that served as a stop on the tour, Jacobs introduced Truth to a police officer who was really a referee in disguise. Attempting to high-tail it out of there, Truth ran into a goalpost and Jacobs added yet another accolade to his career. 
  • Rey Mysterio def. Cesaro via pinfall after a Canadian Destroyer. 
  • A pre-taped Authors of Pain vignette aired in which they say they've been absent since WrestleMania because everyone complained they were inflicting too much pain in the ring. They called every tag team in WWE soft, and said that if they're not given what they've earned, they're simply going to take it. 
  • Sasha Banks & Bayley def. Nikki Cross & Alexa Bliss via submission in a non-title match after Banks made Cross tap to the Banks Statement. Afterwards, Banks and Bayley were set to inflict more damage on Cross before Becky Lynch made the save with a chair. The Raw women's champ soon found herself outnumbered by Banks and Bayley both wielding chairs, but Charlotte Flair came out and took out Bayley on the ramp with a boot. Back inside the ring, Lynch unloaded on Banks with a chair shot to the back. Backstage, Banks challenged Lynch to a rematch at Hell in a Cell and the champ accepted shortly thereafter -- inside the demonic structure. 
  • 24/7 Championship -- R-Truth def. Glenn Jacobs via pinfall to win the title. The mayor's limo was pulling up to the arena for Raw, but Truth was hiding on the top of the vehicle. As Jacobs exited with the title, Truth rolled him up to become the champion yet again. 
  • Lacey Evans def. Dana Brooke via submission with the Sharpshooter.