WWE Monday Night Raw results and observations (09/19/16): The cruiserweights are finally here

WWE got a lot done Monday night.

On one hand, it put the final touches on Raw's first brand-exclusive pay-per-view of the new brand extension, Clash of Champions, which takes place this coming Sunday.

At the same time, WWE re-introduced an entire division to the Raw audience, as it was the debut of the cruiserweights coming off the heels of the division's stellar showing in the Cruiserweight Classic this past summer.

However, did those happenings amount to a quality show heading into the pay-per-view?

My answer: Sort of.

The show was much better than last week's, as the cruiserweights all but knocked out tedious segments involving the likes of Darren Young, Titus O'Neil and Jinder Mahal.

With that said, Raw still wasn't a show that was good enough to rescue Raw from record-low ratings of last week.

While Monday Night Football doesn't help WWE's cause in climbing out of the ratings cellar, it is not the sole reason for its decline either. Most of the blame should fall on WWE for not providing a reason for people to stick around for three hours.

Hopefully, the cruiserweights gave people a reason to stick around Monday and will continue to do so moving forward.

Before I give my in-depth analysis of the show, here are the full match results from the FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn.:

- Seth Rollins vs. Rusev ended in a double count-out

- Braun Strowman def. Sin Cara

- Charlotte & Dana Brooke def. Bayley & Sasha Banks

- Bo Dallas def. Gary Graham

- Best-of-7 – Cesaro def. Sheamus (tied 3-3)

- The New Day, Enzo Amore, Big Cass & Sami Zayn def. Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Chris Jericho & The Shining Stars

- Brian Kendrick def. Gran Metalik, Cedric Alexander & Rich Swann

- Steel cage match – Roman Reigns def. Kevin Owens via escape

Rollins saves Reigns?

Rollins came to Reigns' aid after the latter narrowly escaped the steel cage before Owens. Rusev, Reigns' opponent for the United States title Sunday, then jumped into the cage, chained the door and helped Owens put the boots to him.

This brought out Rollins, who had fought Rusev to a double count-out earlier in the night. After that match, Rollins and Rusev fought their way up the ramp and to the announce table. Rollins knocked Rusev off the stage and jumped off the announce table onto a standing Rusev.

After the main event, Rollins decided to up the ante by jumping off the top of the cage onto Rusev to close the show.

Rollins helping Reigns at the end of the show should not be a total surprise given that both men are now on the same side of the babyface/heel ledger.

However, it is rather intriguing.

It is intriguing because of the obvious history between Rollins and Reigns as two-thirds of The Shield.

They didn't really have any interaction Monday night, but they are both technically babyfaces and have mutual enemies in Owens, Rusev and even Raw commissioner Stephanie McMahon.

In theory, it would behoove them to work together. For the sake of an entertaining show every Monday night, let's hope it happens.

While a full-fledged Shield reunion is impossible due to the group's third member, Dean Ambrose, being on Smackdown Live, seeing Rollins and Reigns working together in some way will give fans yearning for the trio's reformation a little taste of what could be.

While I wasn't a big fan of Reigns defeating Owens in a steel cage, I was a fan of seeing Rollins save the day for Reigns. The crowd reacted rather favorably for Rollins and got even more excited once he jumped off the cage, once again proving that Rollins could easily be a top babyface for WWE if given the chance.

Cruiserweights have a good debut

On the surface, it may look like the cruiserweights have an uphill battle.

They're all going from a taped television show in front of a live and television audience that was very familiar with their careers before the Cruiserweight Classic to a Raw audience that is triple the size and is largely unfamiliar with their exploits.

Not to mention, they no longer have Mauro Ranallo and Daniel Bryan to explain why the fans at home should about them.

It didn't get off to a good start Monday, as Raw general manager Mick Foley fumbled his way through their introduction before a mostly quiet crowd.

Thank goodness these guys are very talented in the ring because by the end of the night, Alexander, Swann, Metalik and Kendrick won the fans in Memphis over with a fun match during the third hour of Raw.

The best part was that the match between the four men wasn't just an athletic showcase. The match also meant something, as by virtue of his victory, Kendrick will face current WWE Cruiserweight champion T.J. Perkins for his title at Clash of Champions.

The match was a lot of fun and provided something exciting to watch during the third hour of Raw, which lacks excitement on a weekly basis.

The third hour of Raw is usually a wasteland of filler, where people like Mahal, Young and O'Neil get uneventful television time. This week, that time went to a very entertaining cruiserweight match that actually had stakes.

Hopefully, the ratings reflect that, as Raw's third hour typically sees a significant drop partially because it's the final hour of a very long show and also because nothing happens.

At least with the cruiserweights, WWE has a chance of maintaining some of that audience throughout the night.

The one mistake I thought WWE made with the cruiserweights as the absence of Perkins. Perkins is the top guy in the division by virtue of winning the Cruiserweight Classic and being the Cruiserweight champion. It would have made perfect sense to introduce him first as the face of this new division and show everyone who the other four men are chasing.

He didn't have to get in the ring and have a match. He could have just been there to watch it in person or sit in on commentary. Something. Anything.

Instead, he wasn't on the show. If you in the arena in Memphis Monday night and didn't catch a second of the Cruiserweight classic (shame on you if that's the case), you probably aren't even aware there is a Cruiserweight champion and that his name is T.J. Perkins.

This coming Sunday at Clash of Champions should not be the first time the WWE audience gets to lay eyes on Perkins. He should have had a presence on Monday's show.

Triple threat for Women's title at Clash of Champions

I'm not sure WWE intended it to wind up this way last week, but it did mention that both Bayley and Banks' shoulders were down on the mat during the No. 1 contender's match last week.

The announcer's completely ignored it then, but WWE acknowledged it Monday and changed the WWE Raw Women's championship match between Banks and Charlotte at Clash of Champions to a triple threat by adding Bayley to the mix.

In a perfect world, a matchup of this magnitude would be saved for a much bigger show, but when you have split rosters, the options are limited.

WWE doesn't even use Summer Rae and apparently isn't quite ready to thrust Nia Jax into the championship scene just yet.

On top of that, WWE is not one for looking far down the road, especially if it has nothing to do with its main events. When it comes to something like this, WWE is looking to do the biggest thing possible right here, right now.

WWE is looking to increase subscriptions to the WWE Network now, not later. The company has shareholders to answer to that aren't concerned about booking and stuff like that. They're concerned about the bottom line right now.

You add to that to having an impatient promoter in Vince McMahon that has the mentality of promoting the biggest show possible right now and worrying about the rest later and you get Charlotte defending her title against Banks and Bayley at Clash of Champions instead of at WrestleMania.

It's not the ideal circumstances, but hopefully the three women tear the house down Sunday night.