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Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 10.15.18
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Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 10.15.18
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– World Cup To Determine The Best In The World Qualifying Match: Seth Rollins defeated Drew McIntyre @ 13:30 via countout [***]
– Nia Jax & Ember Moon defeated Dana Brooke & Tamina @ 4:45 via pin [*½]
– World Cup To Determine The Best In The World Qualifying Match: Dolph Ziggler defeated Dean Ambrose @ 9:40 via pin [**½]
– Finn Balor defeated Jinder Mahal @ 1:45 via pin [NR]
– Lashley defeated Tyler Breeze @ 3:25 via pin [*]
– The AOP defeated The Conquistador @ 1:00 via pin [NR]
– Natalya defeated Ruby Riott @ 2:57 via DQ [NR]
– The Shield defeated Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, and Braun Strowman @ 14:30 via pin [***]
– Follow all of my reviews at this link.
– I did a column, “Where Are They Now, The Cruiserweight Classic Finals Performers” which you can check out at this link.
– You can check out my top 36 matches of SEPTEMBER list at this link.
– Tonight continues the build to WWE Sweet Saudi Money II: Blood Money AND WWE Evolution: We Owe The Chicks for The Saudi Bullshit.
Real time footage of Vince McMahon
Braun, Dolph, & Drew Arrive: They claim to be the most dominant three-man team in WWE history and they didn’t need a fancy name or matching outfits to do so. This leads to footage of last week and sad Dean Ambrose. Drew claims that they broke the Shield last week, and that they were right when they said that The Shield were using Ambrose. Drew hypes the World Cup To Determine The Best In The World Qualifying matches and says he’s winning. Dolph says maybe they will meet in the finals, and Drew says he’s no Drew McIntyre. Braun then says he’s winning the world title at WWE Sweet Saudi Money II: Blood Money. Rollins and Reigns arrive, claiming that the Shield is alive and well. Dolph asks where Dean is, talking a thousand fucking miles an hour so that hi stalking means even less than usual. Rollins says Dean will show up when he wants to show up. Reigns says he’s winning at WWE Sweet Saudi Money II: Blood Money and will send Braun to the back of the line. This was a fine opening segment, plying off of the established angle, but not really breaking any new ground.
World Cup To Determine The Best In The World Qualifying Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins: They lock up, working into some back and forth with Drew slowing the pace and overpowering Rollins. Rollins fights out, picks up the pace and RANAs Drew to the floor. Drew cuts off the suicide dive and hits an overhead toss on the floor. Rollins manages to slam Drew to the apron, Dolph arrives and distracts Rollins. That allows Drew to fight back and cut off Rollins. Post break, and Rollins hits a desperation superkick. Rollins hits sling blade and a victory roll for 2. Drew misses a charge, posts himself and Rollins hits the blockbuster for 2. They work up top, enziguri by Rollins sends Drew into the tree of WHOAH, but Drew hits an overhead suplex on Rollins. Drew up top and Rollins follows, hits the superplex, but Drew does the deal and HE hits the falcon arrow for 2. Drew follows with rights, but Rollins counters back with an enziguri and looks for blackout. Dolph distracts him, but Rollins dumps Drew and then hits suicide dives on both. Back in and Dolph low bridges Rollins as Ambrose arrives and kicks the shit out of Dolph until Drew takes him out. Rollins hits the blackout on Drew and beats the count in for the win. Seth Rollins defeated Drew McIntyre @ 13:30 via countout [***] This was a good opening match, with Drew being protected in loss and showing that Dean is still friends with Seth, at least for now.
– The Bellas walk.
– Lita & Trish are here.
– The Shield walks and Dean is insulted when Seth calls him a lunatic. Dean says he’s real funny until they need him to bail them out and walks off.
– We look back on DX’s reunion, which happened a whole seven days ago. This leads to a Brothers of destruction video package, and they won’t be lectured about respect. DX’s return is built on a bed of lies, and HBK stayed away out of fear, not respect. At WWE Sweet Saudi Money II: Blood Money, all of HBk’s fears will come true, and they will end the war. HHH can go back to the boardroom while HBK can go back to retirement. They tell DX to rest in peace.
Nia Jax & Ember Moon vs. Dana Brooke & Tamina: Hey Tamina is alive. Dana and Moon to begin, Dana overpowers her early on but Moons picks up the pace and gets a cradle for 2. Tamina tags in and grounds the action as they talk about the newly announced battle royal at Evolution. Tamina tosses Moon around and Nia tags in. Tamina lays in rights, but Nia takes her down and hits a rolling senton. They trade head butts, Tamina fights off a Samoan drop, and she hits a Samoan drop. Dana tags in, Nia cuts her off, and the eclipse by Moon finishes it. Nia Jax & Ember Moon defeated Dana Brooke & Tamina @ 4:45 via pin [*½] Well, it wasn’t pretty or good, but at least they tried to sell the battle royal.
– Post match, Tamina superkicks Nia and then she and Moon dump her to the floor to start selling the battle royal. Dana then dumps them.
– There will be a battle royal at Evolution for a future title shot.
JUST ANNOUNCED: A #BattleRoyal WILL take place at #WWEEvolution, with the winner receiving a future #WomensTitle opportunity! pic.twitter.com/o4nnoQA4SG
— WWE (@WWE) October 16, 2018
– We get footage of the Bellas attacking Rousey last week.
Ronda Rousey Talks: Rousey comes out so pissed off over last week that she’s smiling like a complete goof. She comments on last week’s betrayal and just wants an explanation. The Bellas arrive and Nikki says that no one paid o see Rousey, they paid to see the Bellas. They don’t owe Rousey an explanation, and claim that Rousey disrespected everything they did for this business. Rousey is why they came back, because they can’t figure out why a loser that doesn’t deserve it is here. Nikki says she deserves to be champion, they made divas mean something, string and powerful. They praise their reality shows, and they made fans want to see women’s wrestling. Rousey walked into an evolution that they started. Nikki says the championship Rousey holds wouldn’t exist without them. Rousey says she tried to be respectful, and that WWE was theirs first and she tried to not be judgmental even if the divas era made her sick. She thought the Bellas were cool and accepting and could work together. But Rousey admits she made a mistake, because the Bellas embody a stereotype, and are do nothing Bellas. They were only around for attention, and the only thing she was impressed with is how much they accomplished without talent while leaching off of their men and plagiarizing their move sets and are relics of the past waiting to be ended. She could rip their arms off, and she’s more than a petty face and a killer body, she will ruin them. Brie says Rousey is jealous of them, because the name Bella has done more in the past week than Rousey has done in her whole career. Nikki says they knocked down doors, while Rousey says she did that in judo, Strikeforce and in UFC. The only door Nikki ever knocked down was to Cena’s bedroom, which Cena threw her out of. Rousey wants to give them an as whooping, and they tease coming to the ring, and security arrives to protect them. Rousey kicks the shit out of security as the Bellas bail. Some will complain that Rousey was “being disrespectful” to the divas era (give me a break, in story this is an overly entitled woman that most fans absolutely loathe vs. a legit athlete that many love), but this was everything it needed to be. Some will say that the show is about empowerment, and that they went “slut-shaming” here, and while it may be low hanging fruit, they’ve done it before with Nikki, and it got a great reaction. Sure I’d love a match for the title built on pure competition, but that’s hard to do when you use “the legend” Nikki Bella who has no right to a title shot and isn’t believable as a challenger. I was completely shocked by the amount of Diva era defenders I saw on social media that were upset that “they treated Nikki so poorly” for “a cheap pop.” In terms of character, they came off well. Nikki came off as a delusional heel listing her accomplishments, while Rousey played well into the segment of fans that believe in what she said and hates the Bellas. This was way better than I expected, and hit the right buttons to get the crowd involved. If you want to get into a division presentation argument and the lack of female writers, that’s fair, but to claim this was something new or insulting to Nikki, she just did a whole season of a reality show based on her on again, off again, on again, off again relationship with Cena, which she produced and got paid handsomely for; I’m sure she was ok with it. They were playing roles to sell a match, and the dynamic worked. Despite a couple of minor stumbles, Rousey did really well in a big and long form promo segment here.
– Angle talks with Roode & Gable in a Hawaiian shirt and says he’s enjoyed his vacation. No way Jose and his crew arrives and Angle dances with them as they leave. Corbin is here and is pissed about last week, and has booked Angle in a warm up match for later tonight… against AOP.
World Cup To Determine The Best In The World Qualifying Match: Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler: They lock up, work into some back and forth and Ambrose the grounds things after a suplex, and covers for 2. Dolph cuts him off and grounds him with a sleeper. Ambrose fights to his feet, hits a fall away slam and Dolph powders. Ambrose follows and they brawl on the floor. Back in and Ambrose heads up top, drops down and rolls through and then fights off Dolph, head back up but Dolph pops up and hits the x-factor off the ropes (ROUGH landing for both). Post break, and Ambrose cuts off a superkick and catapults Dolph to the post. Ambrose then takes control and then gets the cloverleaf. Dolph makes the ropes, but Ambrose maintains control and covers for 2. Ambrose up top, Dolph crotches him, and follows him up top but Ambrose shoves him off but Drew and Seth arrive and Ambrose dives to the floor onto Drew. Seth tries to help his pal. But Ambrose shoves him away, rolls him back in and Dolph superkicks Ambrose and pins him. Dolph Ziggler defeated Dean Ambrose @ 9:40 via pin [**½] This was a perfectly solid match, but felt lethargic and lacked the energy of the Rollins vs. Drew match from earlier in the show.
– Seth & Dean argue post match as Roman comes out to cool things down. Corbin arrives and books them in a match vs. Braun, Dolph, & Drew (again) later tonight.
– Braun, Dolph, & Drew talk about ending The Shield tonight.
Jinder Mahal vs. Finn Balor: BOTH Singhs, Fox, & Bayley are at ringside. Mahal immediately grounds the action. Balor quickly fights out, hits a basement dropkick and follows with sling blade. The John Woooooooooo follows, Balor up top, double stomp, pin. Finn Balor defeated Jinder Mahal @ 1:45 via pin [NR] Lovely.
– Lashley & Rush arrive; Rush puts over Lashley as he poses.
Lashley vs. Tyler Breeze: Rush has Lashley do a posing routine, and he then easily overpowers Breeze and hits a delayed suplex. The full nelson follows, and then a corner spear. Breeze fights back with a flurry of strikes and kicks, but runs into a powerslam. Rush cheers for him and Lashley finishes things with his finisher without a name. Lashley defeated Tyler Breeze @ 3:25 via pin [*] This was an extended squash for the newly minted heel Lashley.
Trish & Lita Talk: Thy start to hype Evolution, but Alexa & Mickie arrive. They have fun mocking Trish & Lita, and Mickie says they’ve been gone for a loooooooooong time and plan to win easily at Evolution. Trish cuts them off and talks about making history, and makes an Iverson “practice” joke since they’re in Philly (it’s only like 16-years old so that’s timely for Vince). They then run it into the fucking ground. Trish & Lita they say they could use some practice and challenge them to come to the ring. Alexa & Mickie tease coming to the ring and bail. Well, that was certainly a segment, not a good segment, but a segment.
– Bayley runs into the Riott Squad. Thy make fun of her and leave.
The AOP vs. The Conquistador: “Kurt” is in his Conquistador outfit since he didn’t have his gear. The Conquistador has trouble with the ankle lock and AOP destroy and pin him. The AOP defeated The Conquistador @ 1:00 via pin [NR] Gripping television, at least it continued the Angle vs. Corbin story.
– AOP unmasks the Conquistador and it’s not Angle. Angel arrives and Angle slams Corbin on the stage.
– The Riott Squad vandalizes Natalya’s locker room door with ketchup and mustard. THOSE HEELS!
Ruby Riott vs. Natalya: Sarah & Liv are at ringside. Natalya arrives and brings out Bayley & Sasha as backup. Nice to see Sasha is alive. Natalya attacks at the bell, but Ruby cuts her off and covers for 2. She slams Natalya down, covering again for 2. Natalya then rolls her up, but Ruby cuts her off and again covers for 2. Natalya fights back but Ruby hits an STO for 2. Natalya dumps Ruby, an Natalya falls down as she lays in the floor. back in, sharp shooter, and we get a DQ as Logan makes the save and they all brawl. The faces run wild and stand tall. Natalya defeated Ruby Riott @ 2:57 via DQ [NR] That was actively bad, they did nothing and we got s shit finish and either build to the Evolution battle royal or a six-woman tag.
– Elias arrives and plays a tune. He runs down John Cena, and then Philly as well as Gritty, who he claims is not a mascot. Shockingly, he’s interrupted by Apollo Crews. Apollo says it was his turn to interrupt Elias since everyone else does. Elias runs him down, Apollo makes jokes, and says he’s waited for too long and he’s sick of others passing him by. Elias attacks, Apollo cuts him off and press slams him and Elias powders.
– Dean & Roman talk backstage.
The Shield vs. Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, and Braun Strowman: This is a rematch from Super Show-Down AND last week’s Raw. Braun demands Dolph start the match and show him something. Rollins and Dolph in to begin. Rollin quickly cuts him off, hits a slam and tags in Ambrose who hits a sliding clothesline and double teams follow for 2. Dolph shoves Rollins into Ambrose, so Reigns tags in to calm things down. Braun attacks and Dolph hits a DDT for 2 on Reigns. Post break, and Drew has Reigns grounded, working the heat. The spinebuster then follows for 2. Dolph tags in and lays the boots to Reigns and then grounds him. Drew tags in but Reigns hits a clothesline, tag to Braun and he cuts off Reigns and Drew tags himself in and he and Braun talk some shit to each other and Reigns cuts off Braun, Braun misses a charge and Reigns hits a Samoan drop. The heels cut off the tag, knocking Rollins & Ambrose to the floor. Dolph & Drew hit the claymore/zigzag combo but Rollins & Ambrose make the save and clear the ring. Reigns fights off Drew an tags in Rollins. He flies in, tags in Ambrose and they work double teams and clear the ring. They follow with suicide dives, but Braun then cuts them off only for Reigns to make the save. Back in and Ambrose hits dirty deeds and Dolph runs Rollins into Ambrose to break up the pin. Ambrose & Rollins argue, Ambrose teases dirty deeds, but Dolph runs them together again and hits zigzag for 2. Drew now gets cut of by Reigns , but Braun is back and runs into he post s always. Drew then accidentally claymores Braun, spear by Reigns, and the Shield bomb finishes Dolph. The Shield defeated Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, and Braun Strowman @ 14:30 via pin [***] This was a good main event, but it feels like diminishing returns as the matches have all started running together, feel repetitive, and haven’t been as good. They continued the Ambrose tease angle, but all seems well for now as it was the heel that have imploded. Hopefully this means a singles push for Drew soon and the end of these six feuding.
– Post match, all is seemingly well with the Shield, Braun then rises from the dead and powerslams Dolph, but then runs into a claymore from Drew. Drew leaves on his own.
– John Cena, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, & Dolph Ziggler have all qualified for the WWE World Cup at Sweet Saudi Money II: Blood Money.
Only TWO #SDLive Superstars remain to join the field for the #WWEWorldCup tournament at #WWECrownJewel!@JohnCena@RealKurtAngle@RandyOrton@JEFFHARDYBRAND@WWERollins@HEELZiggler pic.twitter.com/mEmHHZTO88
— WWE (@WWE) October 16, 2018
– End scene.
– Thanks for reading.
~GLORIOUS~
