WWE Raw Results: Dean Ambrose Remains with The Shield for Now and Top Takeaways

The Shield rule Monday Night Raw, and the trio proved it last week. It is hard to argue that Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose are not the most important part of the red brand. The September 24 edition of Raw only further proved this.

The trio opened and closed the show with a showcase of solidarity as Ambrose chose to stand with his brothers despite some hints he could switch sides. The group also helped promote The Authors of Pain, who put on a great effort with Baron Corbin in the main event.

Elsewhere on the program, The Bella Twins tried to once again attempted to take down The Riott Squad with Brie Bella doing the wrong kind of damage to the heels. Kevin Owens continued to fall back into his old role with Elias encouraging him.

Finally, Alicia Fox pulled double duty, repping Jinder Mahal in a match against Finn Balor with Bayley, while also losing to Nia Jax later in the night. Both performances seemed to lack all momentum despite WWE Evolution approaching.

While this show was defined by many moments, the biggest takeaways from the night focused on the potential for change with stars looking far forward or right ahead to new stories that could change Raw.

Dean Ambrose Finally Has a Story Beyond Just Being The Third Shield Member

Raw opened with The Shield talking as a unit for the first time since they reformed, running down their future opponents at Super Show-Down. Corbin arrived, backed by Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre, to try and convince Ambrose to turn on his friends.

After multiple attempts to convince The Lunatic to turn on his friends backstage, The Shield ran over both The Constable and Authors of Pain with Ambrose then joining fists with his brothers as their trio of rivals watched from the ramp.

When The Shield reformed, it was at the expense of one story that went completely under the radar. The Lunatic Fringe's return to action was left as a footnote with Ambrose barely saying a word for a whole month.

This one week brought so many complications to the returning star's tale. His silence suddenly became a threat, and the questions once more begin to build around the idea that Ambrose could actually turn on his brothers eventually if not soon.

While Rollins and Reigns have fairly settled roles on Raw, the third Shield member has often felt a bit off on the roster. His best mic work came as the heel leader of the Hounds of Justice, and his in-ring work has wavered wildly while leaning into a crowd-pleasing wacky persona.

Ambrose does not have to outright turn heel, and he will not, at least for a while. This story though could be the catalyst for change that the former WWE champion needs. An angry Ambrose stewing over his pent-up frustration at everyone even Rollins and Reigns is a far more engaging main-event talent.

The Authors of Pain Prove They Deserve to Work with the Best

Credit: WWE.com

After weeks of squash matches and even longer feuding with low-level stars like Titus Worldwide, The Authors of Pain are finally starting to shine. This week, they main evented and looked poised to win late in a six-man tag with The Shield. Corbin took the pinfall in the end thanks to a Spear.

With Drake Maverick giving them added legitimacy, it feels like AOP could be poised to break out on Raw. They had a quality match this week and were protected over one of the biggest heel stars on the brand. The booking made it clear that they belonged among the elite.

It is now time to move away from the extended squashes. Akam and Rezar cannot capture the Raw Tag Team Championships just yet with Ziggler and McIntyre holding them, but they can start beating up on bigger stars until the division needs them.

NXT tag teams have had a tough time making the main-roster transition. The Revival have been the most successful, and their success has amounted to not looking too bad in a loss to the current champions. The Authors have had a bumpy road, but they are easy to book.

Just let them beat people up. They do it really well.

Brie Bella Should Not Be Allowed in a WWE Ring Right Now

In a six-woman tag match, Brie knocked out Liv Morgan early with the Yes Kicks, sending her to the back to be evaluated. The Riott Squad still ended up defeating Natalya and The Bella Twins after Ruby Riott hit The Queen of Harts with a Riott Kick.

While it was impressive to see the heels emerge victorious so cleanly with a disadvantage, it came after the latest dangerous move by Brie, who legitimately knocked out Morgan during the match. Week after week, Daniel Bryan's wife has shown herself to be a liability in the ring who cannot be trusted.

Wrestling is fundamentally based around trust. A good wrestler will never put the opponent in harm's way, minimizing the risk for injury even with the most dangerous moves. Brie has now proven almost every week since she return that she cannot protect herself or her opponent.

Despite her popularity, it is reckless and negligent of WWE to have her wrestling each week. The Bella Twin should be entirely taken out of active competition until she can prove she won't injure anyone with basic offense like shoot kicks to the chest.

Kevin Owens Has Already Returned to His Comedy Midcard Heel Role

Credit: WWE.com

When Owens quit WWE and walked out, many hoped some kind of change was on the horizon for The Prizefighter. Despite some promising promos in the weeks that followed, it looks like KO has not changed at all, spending this week making bad jokes about Lio Rush with Elias on the KO Show.

The Drifter is an entertaining performer, but his current persona is not conducive to long-term success. He's just a generic heel when he stops playing and starts fighting. The same can be said of the current version of Owens, who is not going to get by just playing a new-age Chris Jericho.

The returning aggressive side of KO was a welcome move because it made the heel star look as legitimate as he should given his size and ability. His feud with Bobby Lashley will not end well if The Headlock Master is spending all his time trash talking and joking around.

While The Dominator is heading in the right direction thanks to his alliance with his hype man, Owens has lost all the momentum he seemed to be building. He and Elias are likely going to lose badly at Super Show-Down to Lashley and John Cena, and it will leave both heels with very little to do for the foreseeable future.

WWE Is Completely Disregarding WWE Evolution

While WWE Super Show-Down and Crown Jewel continue to be a focus on Raw, Evolution has almost been completely ignored to this point. Alexa Bliss and Mickie James were barely even mentioned this week as they stood in Alicia Fox's corner despite huge matches with Trish Stratus and Lita rapidly approaching.

Meanwhile, all the women seem to be fighting for nothing on Raw and SmackDown, waiting for something bigger to be announced for them at Evolution. Nia Jax and Ember Moon are in a tag team feud with Fox and Mickie, but tag teams in the women's division still do not mean much without gold.

Bayley spent the week in Balor's corner before brawling with The Foxy One. It's hard to say what anyone is going to do at Evolution, and that's because no stories are developing. The event is being treated worse than two overseas glorified house shows.

While the hype should intensify after Super Show-Down, there's no reason that clearer stories should not be developing on Raw and SmackDown that can lead to high-profile encounters at the end of October.