Coming off a Hell In A Cell pay-per-view that received mixed reviews, how would Raw answer some of the controversies from Sunday night, and how would Raw’s side of things shape up as we get on the road to Survivor Series?
It was also a Halloween edition of Raw, and we all know how cheesy those can be, but with the first cross-brand event of the new era just three weeks away and a scheduled appearance from Bill Goldberg announced for Monday night, there was plenty of issues to address on this week’s show.
#1 - Snooze-rweight Division
Through no fault of the performers in the ring, the Cruiserweight action on this week’s Raw was again nothing but an afterthought.
There were some high spots in the matches, particularly the 6-man tag rematch from the Survivor Series pre-show that got a reaction from the crowd but for the most part they were less than invested in the action.
WWE needs to give the Cruiserweights some meaningful feuds to develop their personas so the fans can care about them. Until that happens, the division will feel meaningless and continue to be nothing more than a filler segment.
#2 Rusev confronts Goldberg
Goldberg kicked off Raw, with an in-ring promo but before he even had a chance to say anything of note, he was interrupted by Paul Heyman, who was there on behalf of his client, Brock Lesnar.
But that wasn’t the only person to interrupt Goldberg in this segment, as Rusev would later come out and confront the former WCW Champion.
Rusev would throw insults at Goldberg and accuse him of no longer having the strength or the heart to compete in WWE. The Bulgarian Brute would then throw a punch, and things got physical between them which lead to...
#3 Spear to Heyman!
Goldberg would recover from a slight stumble to get the upper hand over Rusev and hit a couple of his signature moves. Not only did he hit the jackhammer on Rusev but he also hit a devastating spear…on Paul Heyman!
This was a decent opening segment, and you can bet that Brock Lesnar will be out for revenge on Goldberg when they finally come face to face.
#4 Commentator Fancy Dress
As WWE loves to do every year, the Halloween edition of Raw featured plenty of fancy dress, terrible jokes and silly themed matches. The Raw commentary team didn’t escape the holiday shenanigans as they were in fancy dress for the entire show.
Corey Graves managed to somehow look pretty cool in a pumpkin covered suit, Michael Cole dressed as…well, Michael Cole and Byron Saxton did his credibility no favours by wearing a duck onesie. Oh, aren’t Halloween themed shows fun!
#5 Woody and Buzz aren’t SAWFT
The opening match of the show saw some more Halloween shenanigans, as Enzo Amore would face Luke Gallows in a ‘Trick or Street fight’ match.
Although it was a goofy segment, it was entertaining enough and Enzo & Cass, in particular, shined in their role. Coming out dressed as Woody & Buzz from Toy Story and making some silly jokes that would have fallen flat if delivered by anyone else, but this is where Enzo & Cass shine.
They are so popular with the WWE fans that they can pretty much get away with anything.
#6 Strowman on Team Raw
Braun Strowman finally confronted Mick Foley backstage, and demanded more competition and a place on Team Raw’s Survivor Series team.
Foley refused to gift him a spot on the team and would instead give him the opportunity to earn it in a battle royal that would take place later that night, which Strowman would indeed go on to win.
The last few weeks have been good for Strowman, as he now has some direction after months of squash matches and I expect him to have a strong showing at Survivor Series in three weeks time.
#7 Captains Kevin & Chris/Chris & Kevin
Mick Foley would announce that Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho would captain Team Raw at Survivor Series, and admitted that Raw needs them, although he was far from happy with their actions in the Universal Championship match at Hell In A Cell.
He would also announce that Roman Reigns would be on the team, much to the chagrin of Owens & Jericho.
This would lead to a confrontation between Reigns and the Team Raw captains, in which Jericho claimed that he would be a better United States Champion than Roman, and with that, we had our main event for Monday Night Raw, Chris Jericho vs. Roman Reigns for the U.S. Title.
#8 Booty-o train
The captains for the other Raw Survivor Series team were also revealed this Monday, with Charlotte leading the Women’s team and The New Day captaining the Tag Teams.
As to be expected, The New Day would get involved in the Halloween festivities and would appear backstage, dressed as three different personas of former WWE wrestler, Charles Wright.
Big E was Kama Mustafa from the Nation of Domination; Woods was Papa Shango and Kofi was the ever-popular Godfather.
It was a typically fun segment from the Tag Team Champions and did it’s job of building towards the Survivor Series elimination match on November 20th.
#9 Ghoul-den Truth
And why not save the worst for last? In a truly awful, pointless segment, Golden Truth would visit a haunted house, and it would play out exactly as you’d expect, painfully dull.
Surely WWE can make better use out of these two veterans, particularly Goldust, as I can’t think of anybody who would tune in to see this tired act every week.
#10 Rollins saves Reigns
In the aforementioned main event of this week’s Raw, Chris Jericho would attempt to win the one title that has thus far averted him in his WWE career, the United States Championship.
The match would predictably end in disqualification as Jericho’s best friend, Kevin Owens, would interfere just as Reigns looked to be getting the upper hand.
After a short beat down by Jericho & Owens on the U.S. Champion, Seth Rollins would come to the aid of his former Shield brethren and also get some revenge on Jericho & Owens, after they cost him the Universal Title at Hell In A Cell.
What does this mean for Reigns & Rollins? Could a Shield reunion be on the cards somewhere down the line?
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