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Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 01.08.18

January 8, 2018 | Posted by Larry Csonka
Brock Lesnar’s Brock Lesnar WWE Raw 10818 - Madison Square Garden WWE Deal Image Credit: WWE
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Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 01.08.18  

Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 01.08.18

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Bayley & Sasha Banks defeated Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose @ 11:00 via submission [**]
– Matt Hardy defeated Curt Hawkins @ 1:53 via pin [NR]
– Cruiserweight Title Match: Cedric Alexander defeated Champion Enzo Amore @ 8:15 via countout [**½]
– Titus O’Neil & Apollo Crews defeated Sheamus & Cesaro @ 5:30 via pin [**]
– Samoa Joe defeated Rhyno @ 2:45 via submission [NR]
– Finn Balor, Luke Gallows, & Karl Anderson defeated Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, & Jason Jordan @ 15:30 via pin [***]

– Follow all of my reviews at this link.

– My Top 23 EVOLVE Matches of 2017.
– My Top 24 ROH Matches of 2017.
– My Top 8 Matches of December 2017.
– My NJPW WrestleKingdom 12 Takeaways.
– My Top 38 WWE Matches of 2017.
– My Top 25 Matches of 2017.

Roman Reigns Talks: I want to punch a kitten every time Cole yells, “ITS THE BIG DAWG”. It has nothing to do with Reigns, it’s the forced WWE narrative and catchphrases he spills. Reigns says Joe wasn’t ready for him last week, and got silenced. Last week, he was fighting with a purpose, for his brother, Dean Ambrose. Jason Jordan’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring. Jordan says when he watched Reigns beat on Joe last week, he felt like he was part of something and starts talking in “we” like he’s in the Shield, and thank Reigns and offers his a fist bump. Reigns isn’t into a friendly fisting tonight, so Seth Rollins arrives and says Jordan has a lot to learn. He knows Jordan means well, but Jordan says it’s their moment. They are all champions and they run this show. Reigns says he’s the guy, and Jordan is just Seth’s partner. Jordan says they maybe the most dominant group in all of WWE. Finn Balor arrives and the Good Brothers are with him, and I believe that they object. Balor asks if Jordan really believes what he’s saying, and Balor says he and his brothers were together for 10-years before Jordan even knew Angle was his dad. Gallows says they went on their own to start, but now they are coming together to take this place over. 2018 is the year of Balor Club. Jordan says he’s part of the champions club. Balor jokes about Jordan not being part of the Shield, and they push and shove. Angle arrives and books the six in the main event for tonight. Fun opening segment, with Jordan being obnoxious, and setting up what could be a really fun main event.

Bayley & Sasha Banks w/Mickie James vs. Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose w/Paige: Rose and Bayley start things off. Rose looks to take early control, and they trade strikes in the corner. Rose overpowers Bayley and hits a slam, and then works a neck crank. She then slams Bayley down, but Bayley fires up and tackles her down. She looks for the tag, and then hits a Saito suplex. Rose powders to the floor. Post break, and Rose is in control of Banks. Banks quickly battles back, hits knees and covers for 2. Rose cuts her off, but Banks fires up with a slap and then takes out Deville, but that allows Rose to cut her off. Deville tags in and lays in kicks on Banks. She follows with a body scissors, grounding Banks. Banks escapes, but Deville cuts her of with strikes. Rose tags back in, and as she maintains the heat on Banks. Kicks follow by Rose, and Deville tags in, covering for 2. She and banks work into a double down, and Rose tags in and knocks Bayley to the floor and continues to work over Banks. Banks manages a roll up and it breaks down. Bayley takes Deville to the floor, and Banks hits the backstabber and banks statement, and Rose has to tap. Bayley & Sasha Banks defeated Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose @ 11:00 via submission [**] This was an ok little match here, with Bayley & Sasha Banks finally getting some revenge with the win. Deville & Rose are doing well and came off more confident here. The small positive to Paige’s injury is that Deville & Rose will get more time in the ring with Paige having to play manager.

– They hype Raw 25, namedropping Bubba Dudley.

– We get highlights of Kane brawling with Lesnar last week.

– Goldust plays Mickie from Rocky, hyping up Cedric Alexander for tonight’s cruiserweight title match. Cedric appreciates his hype, but he’s been dreaming of becoming a WWE champion his entire life.

– They hype mixed match challenge, Goldust will team with Alicia Fox. Other teams include…

* The Miz & Asuka (Raw)
* Alexa Bliss & Braun Strowman (Raw)
* Charlotte & Bobby Roode (Smackdown)
* Lana & Rusev (Smackdown)
* Sasha Banks & Finn Balor (Raw)
* Naomi & Jimmy Uso (Smackdown)
* Nia Jax & Apollo Crews (Raw)
* Bayley & either Joe, Elias, or Jordan (Raw)

– Matt has entered the Royal Rumble.

Matt Hardy vs. Curt Hawkins: Hawkins is 0-152 as we speak. Hawkins attacks right away, matt bites him and follows with clubbing strikes. Matt then slams Hawkins to the buckles, and avoids a high cross, before slamming Hawkins to the buckles repeatedly. The side effect and twist of fate follows and Hawkins is 0-153. Matt Hardy defeated Curt Hawkins @ 1:53 via pin [NR] The match was what it needed to be, a quick and decisive win for Matt.

– Post match, Wyatt arrives in the ring and Matt laughs at him, while Wyatt laughs back. That’s that as continue to repetitiously tease their first match.

Miz TV: Elias busts out a tune, singing about Elvis, but then changing the song to a welcome to the Miz back. Axel & Dallas are out with Miz. Elias bails as the crowd is happy to have Miz back. He’s done with The Marine 6, and the holiday USO tour, and is back to make Raw must see TV. He praises Dallas & Axel, and they thank him for mentoring them. They lead the crowd in a “Thank You Miz” chant, and Dallas gives Miz a photo of Miz. Axel gives Miz his jacket. Dallas then gives Miz his watch, while Axel gives Miz his shoes. Miz ends these shenanigans, but hasn’t forgotten about the Shield powerbombing him through a table before he left. He allowed Reigns to borrow the IC Title, because he wanted the title to be around while he was gone. “But daddy’s home.” He will become a father, and will become the longest reigning IC champion of all time and will be the great that kids remember as the greatest IC champion of all-time. He’s back and coming for his IC title, “and you can believe that.” Once we got past the initial silliness, I liked this. The crowd was into Miz, and I dug that he came off so serious in regard to going back after “his IC title.”

– Balor Club hangs out backstage, and Balor wants to make new memories and gameplan for tonight’s match. They are on the same page, but Anderson makes sure to mention his hot Asian wife; too sweet me bro.

– Enzo talks his normal stuff and explains why he missed Raw last week, and makes fun of Alexander for teaming with Goldust. He also promises to remain champion after tonight.

Cruiserweight Title Match: Champion Enzo Amore vs. Cedric Alexander: Enzo backs off to begin, but Alexander connects with a right. Enzo powders to the floor. Alexander chases and hits the enziguri backing the ring. Jax watches on as it’s all Alexander to begin. Enzo manages to dump Alexander to the floor. Post break, and Enzo has the heat, grounding Alexander. Alexander fights back to his feet and escapes, but Enzo cuts him off with a stomp and covers for 2. Enzo continues to ground the action, hits a basement dropkick, covering for 2. Alexander manages to break and then catches Enzo with a dropkick. Alexander fires up and lays in back elbows, hits the spinning elbow and neutralizer for 2. Enzo is busted open over the eye. Alexander catches Enzo with a kick and hits the springboard clothesline. Enzo rolls to the floor and Alexander wipes him out with a tope, but Enzo sells the ankle (it looked a bit nasty as it got caught underneath him) and we get a countout. Cedric Alexander defeated Champion Enzo Amore @ 8:15 via countout [**½] This was a perfectly solid match, with Alexander showing great fire. Hopefully, Enzo isn’t hurt too badly.

– Stone Cold Steve Austin, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, The Bella Twins, New Age Outlaws, APA, Dudley Boys, Undertaker, Ric Flair, Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross are all appearing at Raw 25.

– Enzo is checked on backstage. Nia arrives to check on him.

– Angle is on the phone trying to bring back an old name for the women’s Rumble

– The Bar arrives, and they want their tag title rematch. Angle books then in a tag title match at the Royal Rumble. Angle will find them opponents for later tonight. Miz then arrives and hypes his new unscripted TV show on USA. He wants his IC Title rematch. He wants it on Raw 25. Angle agrees to that.

– Commentary hypes Mixed Match Challenge; the show debuts next week.

– Alexa Bliss meets with Asuka backstage. Bliss tells her she got lucky last week, and threatens to send Nia Jax after her.

Sheamus & Cesaro vs. Titus O’Neil & Apollo Crews w/Dana Brooke: Sheamus & O’Neil to begin, and O’Neil hits a shoulder tackle. Crews tags in and they work double teams. Cesaro tags in, and trades strikes with Crews. Cesaro momentarily grounds the action, but Crews hits a dropkick and standing moonsault for 2. Shamus low bridges Crews to the floor and he’s down. Back in and Cesaro takes the heat, Sheamus in and hits a knee drop and covers for 2. Crews starts to fire up and gets a roll up for 2. Sheamus posts himself, and we get tags to Cesaro and O’Neil. O’Neil runs wild for a bit, gets distracted and Cesaro attacks. Sheamus hits a knee strike and tags in. Crews dumps Cesaro, Sheamus misses a brogue kick and O’Neil rolls him up for the win. Titus O’Neil & Apollo Crews defeated Sheamus & Cesaro @ 5:30 via pin [**] This feels like the one time a year WWE realizes they have more tag teams than they thought, and try to heat one up to make a multi-man tag match for the PPV. I really wish that O’Neil & Crews had been built up more before this, because this felt so random. The match was ok, but had no real fire and never really locked into anything smooth. Also, poor Revival…

Paul Talks & Brock Hops: Heyman does his usual introduction, and then talks old school, and he and Brock respect that. But wrestling is a progressive industry, but we’ve gotten away from something important, and that is a one on one championship match. One man stepping up the champion, but now, it’s how can Lesnar survive the latest challenges. Last week, Lesnar took Kane’s best shot and laughed in his face, like he’ll do at the Rumble against Kane & Strowman. Heyman puts over Lesnar’s dominance, and says no one can put him down. Kane attacks as Lesnar leaves and they brawl on the floor. They spill backstage and continue the brawl, BRAN arrives and throws Lesnar through a table and kills Kane, tossing a production box onto him. Braun gets a GRAPPLING HOOK and pulls down a giant light rigging onto Lesnar, setting up another potential murder on WWE programming. Heyman’s promo was more of the same old, well delivered, shit; but the brawl was fun and Braun destroying people is always fun.

– Post break, we see that Lesnar survived and was stretchered out. Kane also survived, and crawled away.

Samoa Joe vs. Rhyno w/Heath Slater: Rhyno foolishly requested this match. Joe runs wild at the bell, just kicking the shit out of Rhyno. Joe lays in chops and head butts, Rhyno tries to fire up but is immediately cut off. Rhyno gain tries to fight back, but gets cut of and Joe hits an STO. The atomic drop, big boot, and senton all connect and Joe covers for 2. Joe locks in the clutch, drags Rhyno to the mat, and tat is that. Samoa Joe defeated Rhyno @ 2:45 via submission [NR] This was what it needed to be, a strong rebound performance for Joe.

– Joe says Reigns’ win last week came at a great loss, and he’s beaten years off of Reigns’ career every time they face. And when Roman crumbles, he will be there to finish the job. Joe then announces his participation in the Rumble match. He vows to eliminate John Cena first. This was another strong promo from Joe, he’s been really great for the past few months.

– Bliss meets with Jax, asks about Enzo and kisses her ass. Jax is entering the rumble, but Bliss says that people thing Asuka is the favorite. Bliss says if Jax takes out Asuka, they could face off at Mania. Jax isn’t really buying it at first, but demands to hear what “Asuka said about her.” Jax asks if Bliss speaks Japanese, and then says Asuka doesn’t speak English and doesn’t buy her bullshit.

Asuka vs. Nia Jax: The match never officially started as Jax attacked Asuka during her entrance and hit an electric chair drop and rolling senton. Jax stood tall and bailed, because she’s not like most girls. This was a solid attempt to make it appear that Asuka has competition heading into the rumble; they will rematch next week.

Finn Balor, Luke Gallows, & Karl Anderson vs. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, & Jason Jordan: Corey dropped a “being the elite” in reference to Balor Club.

Balor and Rollins begin. They work to the ground, both looking for an advantage, and Balor gets early control tagging in Anderson. Gallows in, but Reigns tags himself in and the fight off gallows, Anderson, and Balor. They clear the ring as the sorta Shield takes control with Jordan annoying reigns and Rollins with his celebrating. Post break, and Balor is working over Rollins. Rollins quickly fires back and tags in Reigns. He runs wild with clotheslines on Balor, and then hits a big boot. He then takes out Anderson & Gallows, but Balor catches him with sling blade; Anderson in and lays in grounded strikes on Reigns, covering for 2. Gallows tags in and lays in kicks on Reigns, covering for 2. Gallows then grounds the action; Reigns starts fighting to his feet but Gallows cuts him off, pulling the hair and tagging Anderson back in. Anderson takes Reigns down, continuing to ground Reigns. Reigns finally powers out, hitting a back breaker and both are down. Gallows gets the tag, hits a suplex and covers Reigns for 2. Gallows follows with elbow strikes, but Reigns fires back with strikes and a superman punch. We get wholesale changes to Rollins & Anderson. Rollins runs wild off the hot tag, hitting a blockbuster and suicide dive. Sling blade to Anderson follows, and does the deal on Anderson with a falcon arrow for 2. Rollins looks for a ripcord knee, but Anderson cuts him off but Jordan then takes out Gallows, Anderson hits Rollins with a spinebuster for 2. Rollins fights off Anderson and Gallows in and takes out Jordan. Rollins hits him with an enziguri, fights off Balor and Jordan rushes in and the ref doesn’t see the tag to Reigns. Magic killer on Rollins. Reigns cleans house sand argues with Jordan. Reigns fights off the good brothers on the floor, Jordan tries to help Rollins, but Balor takes him out and hits a shotgun dropkick on Rollins and the double stomp; Balor picks up the win. Finn Balor, Luke Gallows, & Karl Anderson defeated Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, & Jason Jordan @ 15:30 via pin [***] Balor Club picks u a huge win as Rollins, Jordan, and Reigns couldn’t stay on the same page. Jordan is a complete annoyance for Reigns & Rollins, and the seeds of his heel turn are still there. This was an overall good match, and easily the best in-ring thing on a show that was light on good wrestling.

– Post match, Miz, Axel, & Dallas arrive and beat down Reigns. Miz hits the skull-crushing finale, the Shield bomb follows; Miz stands tall ahead of his IC title match at Raw 25.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

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~GLORIOUS~

6.0
The final score: review Average
The 411
While far from a great episode of Raw, I found tonight’s show an overall fun and rock solid episode of the show. We got some build for the rumble, Raw 25, and mixed match challenge. It wasn’t must-see by any means, but a serviceable show to be sure.
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