Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 11.28.16

Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 11.28.16

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Braun Strowman defeated R-Truth @ 0:48 via pin [NR]
– Tony Nese defeated Cedric Alexander @ 3:20 via pin [**]
– Raw Women’s Title Match: Champion Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks will continue later
– Enzo defeated Rusev @ 0:30 via DQ [NR]
– Rich Swann defeated Noam Dar @ 3:50 via pin [**]
– Non-Title Match: Roman Reigns defeated Champion Kevin Owens @ 15:15 via pin [***]
– Raw Tag Team Title Match: Champions New Day (Big E & Woods) vs. Gallows and Anderson @ 9:00 via pin [***]
– Raw Women’s Title Match: Sasha Banks defeated Champion Charlotte @ 16:45 via submission [****]

---

The Highlight Reel w/Kevin Owens: Chris Jericho welcomes his best friend and WWE Universal Champion, Kevin Owens to the Highlight Reel. They mocked the US, and US Thanksgiving as well as Black Friday. They were thankful for being best friends, Canadian and for Jericho’s rad scarf. This led to them mocking Rollins for losing again, Jericho denies involvement last week, noting that he did not wear a Sin Cara Mask, Sin Cara wore a Chris Jericho mask. Roman Reigns then arrived, they bantered back and forth, Owens had the oddest flub, totally tripping over his words horribly, which Jericho played off well, noting that, “English was Owens’” second language. “Reigns ran down Owens for needing Jericho, noting that he needs help with everything. Reigns tried to drive a wedge in-between the best friends, Jericho teased putting Reign on the list and yelled at Jericho. Owens got serious and Reigns said that’s the guy he wanted to talk to. Reigns proposed a match, and if he wins tonight, he gets a title shot at Roadblock. Owens agreed to this. Reigns promised to kick that ass tonight. And here we are officially moving onto the previously rumored/tease feud. Well, I am not a big fan of Reigns vs. Owens; but they ran Rollins into the ground and unfortunately no one else appears to be ready. I guess it is what is; I thought the plan was to keep Reigns out of the title picture for a while. They’ve shown good chemistry in the past, which is the good news.

– Owens and Jericho had words backstage, Jericho was upset that Owens told him to shut up and Owens again said he did not need Jericho. Foley arrived and agreed to the Owens vs. Reigns match for later tonight. Jericho then bailed.

Braun Strowman vs. R-Truth: We get highlights of Strowman killing Zayn last week. Zayn begged for a rematch on the pre-show, but Foley refused. Truth attacked and tried to use his speed, but Strowman hit a powerslam to end his night. Post mat, Strowman worked over Goldust, but Zayn ran out to try and make the save. Strowman held serve, Foley arrived to put a stop to the madness. Braun Strowman defeated R-Truth @ 0:48 via pin [] BRAUN KILL PUNY MEN

– Zayn didn’t appreciate Foley getting involved, noting that he’s not a charity case. Foley actually has the nuts to say some people need to be saved from themselves. Zayn says Foley forgets where he comes from. Foley then did his screaming LOUD and then bring it down soft and SPEED IT UP AND GET LOUD and bring it back down promo that seems to be his go to the last few years (it feels as if he is instructed to recite the scripting and spell things out in painfully slow and obvious fashion. Zayn called him a hypocrite for not allowing others the chances Foley got. Good fire from Sami here, what is annoying is that Sami got cheated and then punished; Rollins and Reigns just lost in the big match and essentially receive rewards. Considering that Stephanie seemingly hates them a lot, it feels as if they have gotten off easy.

– Charlotte and Dana had a meeting backstage; Charlotte was back to treating Dan like complete shit. Charlotte wants to end her feud with Banks and also become the only real legend to come out of Charlotte

Cedric Alexander vs. Tony Nese w/Drew Gulak: Alexander controlled early, using his speed advantage, until Gulak distracted him. Nese then grounded him for a bit, but Alexander again picked up the pacing and hit a series of kicks to slow Nese down. Gulak again distracted Alexander, Nese hit pump handle driver variation, and picked up the win. Cedric Alexander vs. Tony Nese @ 3:20 via pin [**] This was fine for the time given, I get that they wanted to protect Alexander, but the shenanigans felt like too much in such a short match Also, the cruisers have had issues connecting with the crowd, so why have Alexander lose in his hometown in front of a crowd that actually cared?

– Chris Jericho appeared to be leaving the building. Interview chick arrived and asked if he was really leaving and if the friendship with Owens was really finished. The limo driver knocked the list on the ground, and Seth Rollins appeared to put the beat down on Jericho, getting some revenge for last week. Rollins then hit the pedigree on the roof of the limo to stand tall.

Raw Women’s Title Match: Champion Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks: I thought this would main event considering where the how is tonight. Well, looks like it will main event now. Charlotte escaped the Banks statement early, and Banks then took out Dana Brooke before hitting a high cross for a near all. They brawled to the floor, with Charlotte taking control with chops. They did a double countout @ 3:05, but Foley arrived to restart the math because he won’t let things end like this because the women have had a great feud, and also because he doesn’t want Smackdown to out do them. When they restart it will be no countout, no DQ and falls count anywhere. Considering Roadblock is “the end of the line” couldn’t they have built this for a major PPV match with the same stipulations?

– Lana is out to introduce Rusev.

– Enzo and Cass did their shtick. They listed off Thanksgiving treats, claiming that Lana thought about Enzo stuffing her turkey. And they then called Rusev sawft.

Enzo vs. Rusev: They faced off last week, where Rusev killed him because he walked around backstage with his dick out and Lana saw it. Rusev is a man that has had his wedding disrespected and is standing up for his wife seeing a wacky naked dude against her will who made sexual advances at her. Rusev beat him down and then kicked Enzo in the dick. Enzo defeated Rusev @ 0:30 via DQ [NR] Rusev properly killed him. Why am I supposed to dislike Rusev?

– The Ambrose Asylum returns tomorrow, with James Ellsworth as the guest.

– Mark Henry and Titus O’Neil had words backstage.

Rich Swann vs. Noam Dar: Cruiserweight Champion Brian Kendrick is on commentary. He defends against Swann tomorrow on the debut on 205 live. They locked up and exchanged wristlocks, the pace picked up and Swann hit a dropkick, but Dar attacked the legs of Swann with a running kick. Dar took the heat, shooting Swann to the corner and now working the arm. Swann countered out and rolled into a kick to the head. Dar countered rolling thunder, but then Swann hit the superkick and put Dar away. Rich Swann defeated Noam Dar @ 3:50 via pin [**] The right guy won, but they weren’t given time to do much at all.

– Swann promised to beat Kendrick tomorrow, for the third time, and will take the title. Swann thorn proclaimed that Kendrick cannot handle this. Swann was all over the place there.

– We see Cesaro and Sheamus in a bar, agreeing that they wouldn’t have worked out as a team. I think they just agreed to see other people. Sheamus shared a drink with Tessa Blanchard. Random patrons mocked Sheamus and Cesaro for being losers. Sheamus and Cesaro then got into a bar fight, they kicked all the asses, and then shared a pint. TEAMWORK.I would be perfectly fine with them becoming the 2016 APA.

Non-Title Match: Champion Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns: This is non-title, but if Reigns wins, he gets a title shot at Road Block. Owens attacked before the bell, which makes sense because Owens is desperate, on his own and wants to prove he can win without Jericho. Owens took the heat as we went to the break. Post break, Reigns fired up and made his comeback they teased a ref bump, Reigns had to hold up and that allowed Owens to attack. Owens hit the cannon ball in the corner. Owens took the heat again with the forever chinlock, Owens talking shit is amusing, but Reigns’ selling is him largely lying there. Reigns finally escaped, hit the corner clotheslines and then hit uppercuts. They traded strikes, Samoan Drop by Reigns and that gets a near fall. Owens bails to the floor before Reigns can hit the superman punch. Reigns followed with the drive by, but Owens hit the superkick, cutting Reigns off. Owens up top, cut off by Reigns, Reigns up top with Owens and Reigns then hit the superman punch, and Owens rolled to the floor. Superman punch off the steps by Reigns, back in and Owens cuts off the first spear, but Reigns connects with the second to earn the title shot. Roman Reigns defeated Champion Kevin Owens @ 15:15 via pin [***] This was an overall good match, but one thing I have noticed is that these two work a hot start and good finish, but the middle always tends to lack.

– Owens gets interviewed post loss, and is not happy. Owens was unhappy that his best friend got attacked earlier in the night and calls the interview chick a robot. He’s worried about Jericho, and only lost because of his concern over Jericho.

Paul Heyman Talks: Time for a prerecorded Heyman promo. Heyman was emotional discussing Lesnar’s loss to Goldberg. Heyman explained that they screwed up, and he takes accountability for taking Goldberg lightly. They thought it was going to be an easy payday, but Goldberg attacked and broke Lesnar’s ribs. Heyman is asked how Lesnar is dealing with the loss. Lesnar will recover from the injuries, but the humiliation and embarrassment, there are no excuses. It’s not part of Lesnar’s legacy, but this is embarrassing. Lesnar now has something to prove., which scares Heyman. Heyman says if Lesnar has something to prove, and he will also be in the rumble, aiming for Goldberg. That was a very strong follow up to the Lesnar loss, exactly what it needed to be from Heyman

– New Day cut a promo about their quest to break the record, Anderson and Gallows interrupted.

Raw Tag Team Title Match: Champions New Day (Big E & Woods)vs. Gallows and Anderson: Anderson and Gallows attacked right away, with Anderson hitting a Liger bomb on Woods for a near fall. They took the heat on Woods as we took a commercial break. Post break, Woods tried to fire back and started to work over Gallows. Hot tag to Big E, he ran wild, tossing Anderson around. He sent Gallows to the floor but at the running kick from Anderson. Big E hit the spear through the ropes to send Anderson to the floor. Gallows saved Anderson from midnight hour and then Anderson and Gallows hit a doomsday cutter on Woods for the near fall. Big E saved Woods from the magic killer, Woos then hit the boot, honor roll countered and then forearms by Woods followed to Anderson. Anderson used the rights, but Woods countered and got the roll up with the tights to retain. Champions New Day (Big E & Woods)vs. Gallows and Anderson @ 9:00 via pin [***] That was a good and fun match, with the shorter time frame working well and both teams scoring some very good near falls. I still think that commentary is missing the boat by not discussing New Day’s desperation to win as they get closer to the record.

– Banks met with Bayley and they discussed Charlotte disrespecting her father. Banks has decided to dedicate her match to Ric Flair and wants to give the city a champion they can be proud of.

Raw Women’s Title Match: Champion Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks: This is no countout, no DQ and falls count anywhere. They worked a good, aggressive beginning, with Banks hitting a dive to the floor. Banks controlled early, they brawled on the floor and then went to the commercial. Post break, Charlotte took control back in the ring, grounding Banks. Charlotte then went for the figure eight, Banks escaped and hit a standing Meteora. Clubbing strikes by Banks, Charlotte pulled her to the apron and they traded chops. Banks fired up, but Charlotte kicked her in the face and sent her to the floor. Charlotte then hit natural selection on the floor for a near fall, Charlotte thought it was 3. Banks then got a kendo stick and beat the shit out of Charlotte. Charlotte countered a suplex and then hit a neck breaker on the floor. Charlotte worked the figure eight on the floor, Banks then used the kendo to escape, and the crowd is into this. They brawled up to the announce table, Banks sent to the floor and Charlotte hit a moonsault off the table. Banks looks terrified to try and catch her, likely due to the size difference, Charlotte covered for a good near fall. Charlotte then slammed Banks to the stage, worked her over with chops, but Banks posted Charlotte. Charlotte then ran into a backdrop, Banks to the barricade and hit metora for the near fall. They then brawled into the crowd, knees by Banks and then bent Charlotte backwards over a railing in a version of the Banks statement and Charlotte tapped. Sasha Banks defeated Champion Charlotte @ 16:45 via submission [****] This was a very good match, in some ways I liked their last Raw match better, but they played into the stipulation well and I loved how commentary made sure to mention that Banks got revenge by beating Charlotte in her hometown, just like Charlotte did to Banks at HIAC. I m not a huge fan of them trading the title so much, but Charlotte has really grown into the role of champion well and Banks is a great rival for her. As long as they keep delivering, I don’t mind the title changes so much, even if it is clearly for “The PPV record,” which is annoying because WWE has become too much about records and “making history” instead of focusing more on the stories in some cases. The best part of these matches is that they have a grit and not as polish look to them, which I do appreciate at times. It’s ok to be Raw and a bit dirty as long as it’s not completely off or clunky. They walk a fine line. I loved that the finish played into the stipulation very well and made the it mean something.

– Ric Flair then arrived to raise Banks’ hand in victory

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

I liked this week’s show and felt that it was good and largely fun. We had some good wrestling, a tremendous main event and not only did they play well off of last week, but did good work to set up Road Block. The booking of the cruiserweights leaves a lot to be desired.