second consecutive opponent that had 10 days to prepare.

By using the tease of stipulations that threatened to affect title matches at Clash of Champions in two weeks, WWE successfully held the attention of fans on Monday during a fair but otherwise uneventful episode of Raw.In the end, both scenarios failed to come to fruition in ways that seemed to please the majority of fans in attendance at Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore.Sasha Banks held off Bayley and Dana Brooke in an entertaining triple-threat match to open the show, preserving her return match against WWE womens champion Charlotte. Meanwhile in Mondays main event, WWE Universal champion Kevin Owens defeated Roman Reigns amid myriad chaos to prevent Reigns from joining his own triple-threat match against Owens and Seth Rollins on Sept. 25, in the first Raw-exclusive pay-per-view since the WWEs brand split in July.In the end, credit WWE for teasing the Reigns swerve -- a polarizing move that wouldve alienated a large section of the fan base, who are tired of predictable booking -- without actually following through. Instead, it was Rusev who emerged to distract Reigns and cost him the match after Owens landed his patented pop-up powerbomb for the pin.The move to further separate Reigns from the Universal title picture not only added credence to the idea that the WWE is committed to its new era of booking, but it allowed for a restart of a very physical Rusev-Reigns feud that has elevated the importance of the WWEs United States title.Rusev and Reigns had essentially pressed pause on their rivalry at SummerSlam following an ill-conceived match squeezed in right before the main event that ended in a no contest. But Rusevs return on Monday proved pop-worthy for anyone tricked by his tweet one week ago stating he would be out of action on his real-life honeymoon until Sept. 29.The only cliffhanger from Raw regarding the Universal title picture surrounds which storyline punishment will be handed down to Rollins by general manager Mick Foley after Rollins defied orders not to interrupt the main event in an effort to prevent Reigns from joining the triple threat at Clash of Champions. Rollins decision also somewhat clouds the idea of what appeared to be a natural heel turn.With commissioner Stephanie McMahon absent from Raw this week and Triple H yet to return after helping Owens to the title in a shocking swerve two weeks ago, Foley carried the majority of the backstage segments Monday, with his acting once again proving to be a bright spot on the show.Foley not only played well off of Rollins, showing believable anger in multiple segments, he continued to play up what will likely become a slow deterioration in his relationship with McMahon as their run leading Raw continues.On the womens side, it was good to see Banks and Bayley turn against each other, considering their rivalry in NXT and the sensational matches they produced, especially since Sashas character -- despite being a baby face -- has too many heel qualities to support the idea of her wanting to be close friends.Keep an eye out, as well, for any fallout following the finish of Mondays triple-threat match after Banks scored a pin on Bayley, despite her own shoulders also appearing to be down. While it wasnt mentioned by any Raw commentators, it could end up playing into the storyline of next weeks go-home episode ahead of Clash of Champions.Hits and missesIts getting hard to keep up with the constant soap opera turns between Brooke and Charlotte each week, despite how well both have performed. Brookes slap of Charlotte in Mondays opening segment produced a legitimate baby-face pop from the crowd, bringing back memories of Damien Sandow and The Miz. But soon enough, Brooke was unceremoniously returned to Charlottes side in a later segment, killing any momentum. By the time Brookes full turn finally comes, theres a fear that too many teases will have robbed its potential impact.What was the best way for The New Day and The Club to get us to forget about last weeks unforgivably bad comedy skit? Making light of it was a nice touch (as was The New Day serving fans cereal out of an empty boot, which gave commentator Corey Graves a field day of heel one-liners in response). But the best course of action was allowing Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson the room to re-establish their physical dominance in the matchup with a largely one-sided and punishing victory.Its easy to complain about the lack of buzz each week over the best-of-seven series between Cesaro and Sheamus, which is now 3-2 in favor of Sheamus after Monday. But its also completely warranted. With neither superstar being particularly must-see at the moment, giving each match in their series a gimmick or stipulation would have helped. Instead, the matches have very much blended together, with Mondays tilt memorable only for the questionable booking of baby-face Cesaro cheating to win by pinning Sheamus with his feet on the ropes while selling a back injury. Its just not working.Just like last week, Im all for a new and improved Bo Dallas, especially if he continues to execute such stiff and realistic-looking offense on the various jobbers he is facing. But having him deliver a nonsensical poem before each match feels too much like a creepy, evil version of Lanny Poffo and undermines the effectiveness of his repackaging.Its hard to tell whether Jinder Mahals the man who comes in peace gimmick will have much legs, let alone if the WWE will give it much of a push. But just like the Shining Stars earning victories in back-to-back weeks over Enzo Amore and Big Cass, it was good to see the extension of Mahals character in a situation other than a jobber to the stars role. His victory over Jack Swagger may have done nothing for the silent Baltimore crowd, but considering the success of Heath Slaters rags-to-riches turnaround on SmackDown Live, its good to see bit players at least given the chance to organically get over.Speaking of Enzo, who could once do no wrong from a comedic standpoint, he leveraged the goodwill of fans for the second straight week on Monday with a bit that failed to sizzle, let alone make a whole ton of sense. Like The New Day, fears of overexposure seem real for a character so beloved for his originality.Move of the nightNia Jaxs spear on Alicia Fox through the barricade wall outside the ring showcased a kind of brutal physicality that is almost never seen in a WWE womens match. Not only was it set up effectively by Jax grabbing Fox by the hair and repeatedly swinging her body into the wall, its the perfect way to evolve her booking past the level of squash matches. Jax is not only believable as an unrepentant monster, shes incredibly unique to the WWE roster.Line of the nightBefore we came out here, I got a text from Kevin Owens telling me what to expect from you. Want to know what he said? Ill show you. -- Chris Jericho, before assaulting Sami Zayn with his cellphone and connecting on a Codebreaker during a segment of Chris Jerichos Highlight Reel. Greg Pateryn Jersey . It says Pocklingtons lawyer filed the appeal Friday in a California court. CTV Edmonton also says Pocklington gave a $100,000 cash deposit as part of the conditions of his bail, and that he will be out on bail until his appeal is heard. Luke Kunin Jersey . Oaklands loss to Seattle clinched the ALs best record for the Red Sox with one day to spare in the regular season. "I think everybody was kind of watching," catcher David Ross said. "Demp (Ryan Dempster) came out before he went to the bullpen and was just yelling that they lost. http://www.authenticwildpro.com/Marcus-foligno-wild-jersey/ . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up. Ryan Suter Wild Jersey . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. Joel Eriksson Ek Jersey . Now, correct me if Im wrong but I saw one official distinctly pointing at the net indicating a good goal but after an inconclusive review they overturned the goal. Shouldnt the ruling on the ice (good goal) stand after an inconclusive review? Why was this overturned? James Veaudry Pembroke, ON -- Hey Kerry, Youll get a lot of these, but why was the Montreal goal against Nashville Saturday night overturned? Eller puts the puck on net and the on ice ruling from the ref behind the net is a Montreal goal. TENNESSEE (1-3) at MIAMI (1-3)Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT, CBSOPENING LINE -- Dolphins by 4RECORD VS. SPREAD -- Tennessee 1-3, Miami 1-3SERIES RECORD -Dolphins lead 19-16LAST MEETING -- Dolphins beat Titans 38-10, Oct. 18, 2015LAST WEEK -- Titans lost to Texans 27-20; Dolphins lost to Bengals 22-7AP PRO32 RANKING -- Titans No. 29, Dolphins No. 26TITANS OFFENSE -- OVERALL (18), RUSH (4), PASS (27).TITANS DEFENSE -- OVERALL (14), RUSH (20T), PASS (12).DOLPHINS OFFENSE -- OVERALL (26), RUSH (29), PASS (16T).DOLPHINS DEFENSE -- OVERALL (28), RUSH (29), PASS (22).STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES -- Titans coach Mike Mularkey was Dolphins offensive coordinator (2006) and tight ends coach (2007). ... Dolphins are Titans second consecutive opponent that had 10 days to prepare. ... QB Ryan Tannehill went 22 for 29 for 266 yards against Tennessee last year. ... Titans WR Andre Johnson is 7-0 against Dolphins and has scored five TDs against them. ... Tennessee is tied for last in NFL with 62 points.dddddddddddd... Titans OLB Brian Orakpo is tied for third in league with four sacks. ... Miami running backs (mainly Jay Ajayi, Arian Foster and rookie Kenyan Drake), are averaging 61 yards per game. ... Dolphins rank last in NFL in third-down conversions at 27 percent. ... Their defense ranks second best at 32 percent. ... Miami is tied for next to last in NFL with 65 first downs. ... Dolphins have only one interception, Titans have four. ... Tannehill ranks sixth in NFL at 7.8 yards per pass. ... WR Jarvis Landry ranks second with 31 catches, with at least seven receptions in every game. ... Fantasy Tip: Titans RB DeMarco Murray has 496 scrimmage yards, which rank second in NFL. He could have big day against Miamis soft run defense.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '