Kick Off with an "earlier today" segment between General Manager Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon. Some tension between the two heads of Raw as they discuss the fallout of last Monday and the actions of HHH. The segment ends with seemingly an understanding being reached between the two.
(J): This new relationship between Commissioner and GM has some potential. They've been starting to try to make Stephanie a more likable character, and this angle is making her out to be a bit more sympathetic, but it's also making her look a little weak. Especially if you put this in conjunction with her conversation with Heyman last week.
(S): I felt Foley and Steph was a bad pair when he was announced and so far am not into it. I am glad they are doing something in it with Foley being face and countering Steph's oddly Tweener heel moves. I want less of the authority figures but what can you do.
Title Inauguration Promo - KO maintains his heel persona by putting down the fans who chant "You deserve it." Rollins interrupts, not to step up to KO, but to question Stephanie and Mick's involvement. KO intervenes and gets a beating for his efforts. Stephanie tries to suspend Rollins, but Mick has other ideas. Undercutting Stephanie's authority, Mick instead decides that there will be a rematch at Clash of Champions since Rollins was wronged. This move clearly doesn't sit well with Stephanie, or KO.
(J): Glad to see that Rollins came out with some intensity and edge, not just straight into embracing being a baby-face. We'll see how this goes. More tension being drawn up between Mick and Stephanie. I like where this is going so far.
(S): Steph is so lost as a tweener it's hard to take seriously. It isn't your usual tweener in that shes a heel so cool that she's cheered like Owens and his predecessors, instead she seems like she wants to be a face and do heel stuff but doesn't know how to sell it. Her decisions don't make a lot sense either. Good stuff from Rollins here and KO as well. I'm glad Rollins isn't auto baby face and is kind of working for it. I hope it sticks. Wish there was more from Triple H in this, but maybe if we're lucky they are actually writing for the long plot.
Another backstage promo with the GM and Commish arguing. KO and Jericho show up to voice their thoughts on the situation resulting in two matches being scheduled for tonight. Kevin Owens vs Sammi Zayne and Seth Rollins vs Jericho.
(J): The tension between the two heads of the show is building even more. This dynamic of on their own being a little at each other, but as soon as any superstars show up, they are right back to havin each other's backs is interesting. .
(S): Too many promos already and we are early. Please let someone hit someone already, in an official capacity I mean,
Another backstage "earlier today" promo, this time featuring Charlotte and Dane Brooke. This actually aired on the Pre-Show. Charlotte is not happy with Dana's recent failures, particularly last week's against Bayley. She instructs Dana to take notes on how to handle Bailey during Charlotte's match with the Hugger tonight.
(J): Starting to wonder if there will be any wrestling tonight. This is a lot of exposition being set up.
(S): Ugh Dana Brooke.
Match 1 - Charlotte vs Bayley - Charlotte looked to have Bayley well in hand most of the match. Bayley rallies and Dana Brooke makes her mark by pulling Charlotte out of the corner. Bayley gives her a kick to the face. Charlotte tries to take advantage of Bayley's focus being on Dana with a roll up, but Bayley kicks out sending Charlotte crashing head first into Dana. Bayley follows up with a Belly-to-Bayley for the win.
(J): Good match between these two. Nothing that really stands out in the move department, but they did a nice job of telling the story. Charlotte looking like she is going to own Bayley, Bayley being the underdog who still picks up the win, Dana is the cause of all of Charlotte's problems. Nothing groundbreaking going on here, but I look for bigger things to come as they move forward.
(S): Bayley always a treat to watch. This had good storytelling, and Bayley does the baby face in peril well. The head to head with Charlotte and Dana was weird as it's clearly a forearm from Charlotte and then she just looked at her disappointed. The commentators said head to head, but that was clearly not what she played up. Then again Charlotte's biggest flaw is that she can't sell so maybe she thought she was selling head pain?
Throughout the night the Connor's Cure emblem has been prominently on display on everyone's clothes and on the entrance ramp. This is now followed up with a video package detailing the work that WWE has done with Connor's Cure since September is Children's Cancer Awareness Month.
Backstage Promo between Dana and Charlotte. Charlotte is not happy about the way that Dana cost her the match.
(J): This is the night of backstage promos. This felt really unnecessary since they had already communicated this in the ring.
(S): They have been teasing the break of these two since like 2 weeks after they hooked up. While I don't care for Brooke, if they break her from Charlotte she needs to either go back to nxt or get traded to Smackdown where the newer ladies are so she can work with them. I am not sure what can be done with her.
Match 2 - Bo Dallas vs Kyle Roberts: Bo Dallas quickly puts away this jobber after a pretty vicious beating and wrapping up by Rolling the Dice (new finisher?).
(J): Bo getting in on the squash match racket. Watch out Braun and Nia. Not sure what I think of this new Bo. I absolutely loved his motivation speaker shtick. Nice to see them trying to do something with him, and I like the singlet look much better on him. I guess since Cody has taken a break from WWE his finishing move is up for grabs.
(S): My wife was sad about angry motivated Bo Dallas. She loved the Bo-lieve schtick he was doing (the happy one not the angry one). I felt the segment fell flat because there wasn't anything to it and Raw is overusing the squash match. Basically 4 of them on this night alone. (three had a little story but meh)
Backstage Promo between JeriKO. Jericho vows that he's going to take out Rollins.
(J): Aaaaannnnnddd here we are in the back again... Interestingly enough though we see that Jericho is going to be worked into being a part of KO's title run. This could be good.
(S): Loving the current Jericho. His best run of his later career in my opinion. Everything about him since his last return has been gold. KO + Jericho = money.
Match 3 - Rollins vs Jericho: Rollins comes out with intensity and takes it to Jericho in the early goings. Jericho battles back and even locks in the Walls of Jericho, but Rollins makes it to the ropes. Jericho even pulls out the Lion Sault, but to no avail. Rollins finally puts Jericho away with a very pointed Pedigree.
(J): Really good match here. Even got a "This is Awesome" chant from the crowd. These two could probably put on some great stuff given their styles seem to really compliment each other.
(S): Good stuff, told an important story and weirdly enough the “face” was the guy beating up the heels buddy to send a message. Also the announcers did a good job of making everyone think Rollins v HHH when talking about the pedigree. I hope when they have the actual match Rollins gets a new finisher, but that's me. Also I'd be ok with him using that small package suplex he used against Balor, that thing was awesome looking.
Match 4 - Cesaro vs Sheamus, Best of Seven match 3: Cesaro is going in to this one down two victories to none and multiple contusions on his spine, we are told. Cesaro tries to get some good offense going, but eventually Sheamus counters injuring Cesaros back further. Sheamus pulls out a new version of his Celtic Cross move, turning into a back-breaker. This is followed up with a Brogue kick which puts Sheamus up 3-0.
(J): They are either going to completely bury Cesaro (possibly under tape, the guy is starting to look like a mummy), or they are going to turn him into a massive underdog. Nice move from Sheamus tonight with that modified Celtic Cross. That looked pretty wicked, and I hope he keeps it in his arsenal.
(S): I'm not sure here. If Sheamus sweeps I will be sad. I'm hoping they force 7 because Cesaro pulls it out and makes a comeback. Any other ending is sour.
Match 5 - Shining Stars vs Enzo and Cass: After a quick promo from the Shining Stars, Enzo and Cass come out and run them out of the ring with their smack talk. It looks like Enzo and Cass are going to take this one until the Shining Stars get a quick victory with a roll up on Enzo.
(J): Enzo and Cass continue to give some of the best promos since the New Age Outlaws. They go to some weird places, but they have the gift of gab for sure. Too bad though that they don't seem to have the gift of jab to back it up. They might just be the losingest tag team on the roster now that the Dudley's have moved on.
(S): Ugh, Shining Stars... and they won against Enzo & Cass. Poor guys, now they will most likely have a feud.
Sami Zayne Interview - KO interrupts to bring up their history, but pointing out that Owens has finally done something before Zayne.
(J): These guys always deliver together, and I'm sure the match is going to be great, and I'm sure that this is something that was done for the two of them: Kevin getting his first match as the new champ against his best friend. Still, I'm ready to see something other than Zayne and Owens.
(S): Good promo. Wish they would cool it on these guys for a bit to keep it fresh.
Match 6 - Nia Jax vs Anna Esposito: No interview this time, just a quick blurb about Esposito's relationship with Alycia Fox. Jax annihalates Esposito, and wins with a power slam.
(J): Jax does her squash thing. Can we please give her a real opponent. Maybe Alicia Fox (where has she been anyway, not that I miss her) will take some exception to the treatment of her friend and we'll finally see Nia take on someone who might actually mean something?
(S): More squash. Squash matches are good, but they need space. Too many exposes them and makes them boring. We have hit peak Squash match on raw. At least this one has some maybe story in it... Oh wait they did that with Strowman tonight too... Oh well.
Gallows and Anderson promo featuring the "Old Day". Gallows and Anderson make some "old" jokes before the New Day interrupts. After a witty response from New Day, they chase off Gallows and Anderson before then beating up the "Old Day" when they ineffectively try to take out Big E.
(J): Unfortunately, I don't think even New Day can save this segment. They made their entrance just as the crowd was about to get a "boring" chant going. WWE just seems to hit and miss with Gallows and Anderson. The OLD FART thing was funny last week, but this week it was just terrible. It was the same with the Dr bit before. Funny the first week, stale the next. And then they just stand on the entrance ramp while New Day beat up on the Old Day. It would have at least been a decent segment if they had let Gallows and Anderson jump back in and take it to New Day.
(S): Speaki9ng of specialist doctors, I diagnose Gallows & Anderson suffer from “WWE creative is dumb-itis” as in they can't seem to book this team worth a crap outside of being lackeys for AJ. These guys should be wrecking New Days crap for a month straight just beating them up and winning over them and then maybe even taking the titles from the New day before the New day, as faces finally win. Instead we have two guys getting beat up and made to look dumb with weird psuedo comedy promos against 3 faces. Seriously the faces have 1 more person than the heels and nobody notices. I like New day, but like 70% of their promos that aren't spouting catch phrases are bad. This was all that bad and then some...
Match 7 - Darren Young vs Jinder Mahal: Titus O'neil on commentary. Average match going on in the ring before Titus tries to distract Darren. Darren doesn't take the bait and puts away Mahal with the Gut Check. After the match, the Darren attacks Titus and delivers a beating to his former tag team partner.
(J): Guess they decided to give Titus some more mic time in a less stressful scenario. I wish I could get invested in this feud, especially since I loved the lead up promos between Young and Backland. However, much like Krom, I care not.
(S): Basically Mahal being in a squash match as per his role since coming back. The story here was more of the abysmal Young-O'neil feud. It has been dreadful. Also of note I was not a fan of the backland young segments prior to redubut, however the actual beginning execution of tehm in ring was ok. This has beeen a drop in quality. When ok is the start that's bad.
Backstage promo - Alycia Fox comes out of a room, supposedly checking up on her friend who was previously smashed by Nia Jax. Nia runs her mouth bringing out Crazy Fox who flips out and throws things around before Nia gives her a mighty shove and walks off.
(J): I guess I was right. I was hoping that they might let Foxxy do something other than the crazy bit, but no such luck. Was kinda funny when she actually hit Nia with one of the boxes and she had a moment of "I'm so sorry, please don't kill me" before going right back into it.
(S): Crazy Alicia Foxx. She dropped this gimmick to be a Bella team member. That was never explained beyond they needed a member since all the ladies had factions. Now at least she is a person again. The oops part was funny and may or may not have been in character. Most likely this leads to a squash from Jax as her first real named conquest.
Match 8 - Braun Strowman vs Sin Carra: Sin Carra takes exception to Strowman's actions of ripping off a luchador's mask and wants to teach him a lesson. Strowman takes a few bumps from Sin Carra before Strowman leaves Sin Carra laying outside the ring and wins via count out.
(J): Terrible match. Strowman has gotten better, but he still is just a really big guy with a decent look to him. No charisma though, no real talent for having a match.
(S): Breaking him from Wyatt was bad. I understand the reason was that there was no one on Smackdown that could really deal with him since it's mostly the smaller guys with Wyatt being a monster in comparison (and Kane I guess), but he just doesn't do much and I don't know what he can be lead into. I mean the Great Kali was champ so no telling the future. Sadly while this had some story to it (which is needed at this point) it's also literally the same thing Nia Jax is doing. Bad form.
Sasha Banks promo - Sasha is out to announce her status after her back injury. She delivers a heart felt monologue, and is looking like she's close to tears throughout the interview. Right as she's about to announce her news, Dana Brooke comes out and gets a Back Stabber. Sasha then announces that she's coming after the title at Clash of Champions.
(J): Sasha did a good job of playing it up and making the crowd believe that she was done and would be hanging up her boots. As soon as Dana's music hit though, it was pretty clear where the segment was going. Still good to know that Sasha is healthy and ready to fight, and nice to see that she's got some good acting chops.
(S): Watching with my wife I predicted that this was the case or she needed surgery. Now I had heard rumors her injury wasn't as bad as originally thought so when Dana came out I knew what was up. Best use of Dana Brooke so far. Also good segment, would be better if there was less backstage stuff.
Match 9 - Zayne vs Owens: Lots of back and forth in this match with Zayne delivering some of his signature dives out of the ring. Owens delivered some of his vicious offense. Some close calls through out that got some sound coming from the audience. Off an attempt at a running corner tornado DDT, Zayne lands badly on his left ankle that he had issues with a couple weeks ago. The injury prevents Zayne from delivering his Helluva kick, allowing Owens to win with a powerbomb. After the match, Roman Reigns heads down to the ring. Jericho comes because he has Owens back. Foley interrupts to announce that Reigns will take on Owens next week and if he wins, it's a triple threat for the title: Owens vs Rollins vs Reigns. Reigns puts the final stamp on Raw with a spear to Jericho.
(J): I was really wanting Zayne to pull out an upset and be holding on to a win over the champ for a later run at the title, but I knew that wouldn't happen. Still a great match from these two as usual. Not sure what they are trying to do with this whole ankle injury angle. I'm concerned though that if they don't do something for Zayne, then he's going to just fade into the background. Reigns must have paid his dues from his infraction. I guess we'll know for sure depending on whether or not he gets himself into the next title match. I was going to comment in my over all reaction that we hadn't seen Reigns all night. Guess that's what I get for thinking that.
(S): Ugh the Zayne ankle bit. STOP. I get it, you want an excuse for Zayne to lose and not look bad, but he looks weak and injury prone given his history. That's not underdog, that's worthless. Surprised to see Roman doing his big dog thing here, but when I think about it Rusev is vacationing so makes sense to let him go here. Roman hasn't exactly endured himself to fans but he has definitely lessened their hate (but much like going from ok to lower is bad, lessening frothing hatred to disgust is not a great step up. Keep working it Roman, you are the No1 Wrestler in the world (according to PWI I believe)
Over all reaction:
(J): There were some bright spots tonight, but there seemed to be a lot of places where it fell flat. Too many backstage segments too close together, and that just didn't really deliver. Also, some people who just aren't being used to their fullest potential. Primarily I'm thinking of Nia Jax, Enzo and Cass, Gallows and Anderson, Sammi Zayne. On the plus side they are making some interesting choices with Owens as the Champ, Bo's new attitude, and Cesaro's (hopefully) big underdog run. After last week, I was ready to say that I was definitely of the mind that Raw was proving to be the superior brand. However, tonights show as just ok. 3/5 stars. I guess we'll see what happens tomorrow and Sunday with Smackdown which brand is really pulling ahead.
(S): I like a good backstage segment, but let's get to it. One per person please. Furthermore no more than 2 per hour. 6 in a 3 hour show is already too many. A lot of squash matches and backstage crap with the same 6 people. Raw has a good roster, but you'd think everyone was suspended or injured based on the depth displayed. Was bad. Maybe 2.5/5 stars. Sad considering last weeks Raw was all kinds of good, even if there was some bad.
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