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After a full wrestling weekend of NXT TakeOver: WarGames as well as a very long Survivor Series, WWE Raw kicked off the back to normal routine of programming. It would be easy to be tired after so much wrestling, but the Texas crowd in attendance still found the energy to get hot at several points throughout the night. Considering they were treated to a Paige return, an excellent MizTV segment, as well as a Roman Reigns Intercontinental Championship victory in the main event, they had every reason to enjoy the show.
In spite of the many good parts of Raw, there were inevitable mishaps and odd bits along the way. These moments included a suspicious disqualification in a Fatal 4-way contest, a backstage Braun Strowman interview in which he never once opened his eyes, and a flicker of the house lights during MizTV. It looked like the crowd was enjoying themselves a tad too much on that last one, so Vince likely felt the need to send a message. We might as well go ahead an dive right into that one.
#5 Lights out on Miz
When teachers lose control of a classroom, they often turn the lights off in an attempt to reel the children back in line. Well, Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunne happen to yield far more power than the average school teacher but neither The Miz, The Shield, or an arena full of raucous fans were willing to allow themselves to be reigned back under control.
Roman Reigns remarked how astonished he was at the pro-Miz crowd and for a little while, the skilled talkers in the ring played off of the energy. It made for a fun segment. However, judging by the brief plunge into darkness, the powers that be were not so impressed with the in-ring improvisation. That's a shame because the energy was way too fun to be denied for this episode of MizTV. Vince should really stop resisting this stuff so much.
#4 A GM who can't make matches
At the start of Raw, Jason Jordan came to the ring with a legitimate beef against Triple H. The "Hunter" forced himself onto the Men's Survivor Series team, cutting Jason Jordan from it in the process. He also gave Jason's dad a Pedigree during that Survivor Series match. When Jason arrived in the ring, he demanded the Raw GM to make a match between him and "The Game".
The crowd responded favourably with "Yes" chants. Before Angle could offer his two cents, Stephanie interjected by saying that he was unable to make that match. The logical question to this claim is: why not? Sure, "Hunter" is technically Kurt's superior because he's the COO of WWE, but that shouldn't change the hierarchy for every active competitor. Since Triple H has actively competed a lot lately, there's no reason why the Raw General Manager couldn't book him in a run of the mill singles match.
#3 The no-look interview
It was hard to concentrate on Braun Strowman's backstage interview mid-way through Raw because for some strange reason, he never opened his eyes. He first kicked this off safely when he entered the view of the camera without blindly bumping into Charlie Caruso.
Strowman was asked what his response was after hearing that Jason Jordan wasn't afraid of him. The "Monster Among Men" said that made Kurt Angle's son different than everybody else, including his fellow co-"sole" survivor from the previous night's main event.
As soon as the short interview concluded, Strowman exited the area without opening his eyes. It's unclear when he opened them again, but the story we'll run with is that Braun literally did this interview in his sleep. He's that much of a natural at what he does.
#2 Michael Cole walks with Elias
This was one of those moments in the show that wasn't a botch, but the timing was too good to not highlight. While returning from a commercial break near the end of the night, the arena was dark and Jojo's voice introduced Elias in the ring. Before the spotlights could focus on The Drifter, Raw's lead announcer blurted out "Finally". Chances are, many viewers felt the same joy that Cole was in that moment.
Elias is one of those competitors that causes deep division among the three voices at the announcers' desk. Corey Graves is firmly aligned against the guitar-wielding wrestler, so Michael Cole naturally is pro-Elias. Elias doesn't cause quite as much banter as Jason Jordan, but he's still one of the ones that warrant excessive chatter.
#1 Fatal 4-ways are No DQ!
Since WWE is a universe unto itself, they have every right to make up and rewrite their rules as they see fit. However, there's more than enough precedence to call foul when a Fatal 4-way match ends in a disqualification. There should be a Number One Contender to Alexa Bliss' Raw Title right now and it should be either Bayley, Mickie James, Sasha Banks, or Alicia Fox.
Of course, none of those ladies was crowned a winner because Paige returned midway through the match. She also showed off her newest gal pals and NXT call-ups Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose. They laid waste to the competitors, abruptly changing the landscape to that division. They also attacked Alexa Bliss backstage shortly afterwards. That division has loads of new intrigue added, so it'll be fun to see what happens next.
