5 botches and outrageous moments from WWE Raw (November 27, 2017)

Rich Swann took out Akira Tozawa in a wild high risk spot!
Rich Swann took out Akira Tozawa in a wild high-risk spot!

You deserve it. It's not every day that a modern WWE arena chants those words for Roman Reigns, but Knoxville, TN seemed like an atypical wrestling town. They were treated to several significant moments, including a pretty good outing between Cesaro and Seth Rollins, the apparent re-breaking of Matt Hardy, and the naming of that new Paige-led stable. It helped because it reminds us of a song and album by Muse because Absolution is a pretty cool group title.

Despite the highs from this night, there were the expected lows as well. Botches and outrageous moments from this Raw include a funny exchange from the commentary team about the true location of the throat, a dangerous knee to the face of Akira Tozawa, and a collision between Apollo Crews and a cameraman. The Titus Worldwide member kicks off this week's list, so let's quickly get to it.



#5 Crews bonks the camera

Big Titus had a decent showing against "The Samoan Submission Machine" in the short amount of time that they had, but there was just no way that Joe was losing here. Apollo Crews had to watch as his buddy Titus O'Neil tapped out to Samoa Joe's devastating Coquina Clutch, an outcome he didn't like one bit. He was expectedly frustrated and turned hastily in his exasperation.

Crews collided directly with the live camera. To his credit, he did no-sell the bump. However, he foolishly tried to step up to Joe after this and got choked out as well for his effort. Considering Joe later blindsided Roman Reigns and choked him out too, he was on a roll for submitting fools on this night.

#4 No more burning it down?

Remember when WWE randomly added in the "Burn it down!" vocals to cover up that brief pause in Seth Rollins' music? It was explained that Vince McMahon reportedly hated that minuscule bit of silence. So, if the boss wanted it changed then that's what happened. Those three words were a fun addition to the entrance yet were suspiciously left out during Rollins' entrance on this night.

It's hard to tell why his music reverted back to no longer burning anything down. Did Vince McMahon decide that he hated the phrase? Or perhaps somebody in production simply queued up the older song? If it's added back in subsequent weeks then we'll be able to deduce that this was simply a botch among the tech people backstage.

#3 Not the Asuka Lock

Dana Brooke's impressive tap out to Asuka was outrageous in and of itself. According to Sean Ross Sapp on Twitter, more than one record was broken in this blink and you'll miss it match. Apparently, Asuka's not paid by the hour.

The botch to point out here is that while Asuka wrenched on Dana's arm, Michael Cole falsely stated this to be the Asuka Lock. This was clearly not the Asuka Lock but rather an armbar. When the commentators watched the lightning fast match ending moments later on the replay, Cole once again called this armbar an Asuka Lock. It's surprising that none of the men seating next to him didn't correct him.

#2 The throat is below the chin

Going back to the Titus O'Neil match with Samoa Joe, there was one humorous exchange between Michael Cole and Booker T on commentary that needed pointing out. After witnessing this strike by Joe, Cole immediately stated that he "caught him right under the chin." Booker felt the need to correct his colleague, telling him that contact was actually made to the throat.

It was right after this that the lead announcer informed the former 5-time world champ that the throat is actually located below the chin. Booker, shocked at this revelation, agreed with Michael and moved on. It was funny to hear Corey Graves then cackling over the commentary.

#1 Foot to the face

A new pathway has been set to determine the next challenger to Enzo Amore's Cruiserweight Championship. The first step involved a four-way match between Rich Swann, Akira Tozawa, Noam Dar, and Ariya Daivari. They competed in a fine match that surprisingly felt like a positive showcase of their talents. However, Tozawa likely didn't appreciate his location as he was one of three recipients of a diving Swann.

Rich's knee landed right on the face of Akira. It didn't appear that he suffered any lasting damage, thankfully. The awkward foot to face moment even prompted Corey Graves to remark about it on commentary.

Swann won this match, which means he'll face off in two weeks against the winner of another four-way match happening next week.

One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE