Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 10.08.18

Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 10.08.18

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Lashley defeated Kevin Owens @ 12:55 via pin [*¾]
– Ronda Rousey and The Bella Twins defeated The Riott Squad @ 10:30 via submission [*]
– Bayley & Finn Balor defeated Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox @ 7:15 via pin [**]
– WWE Sweet Saudi Money II World Cup Qualifying Battle Royal Kurt Angle won @ 3:04 [**]
– Ember Moon defeated Nia Jax @ 2:58 via countout [NR]
– Bobby Roode & Chad Gable defeated The Ascension @ 4:20 via pin [*¾]
– Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, and Braun Strowman defeated The Shield @ 22:00 via pin [***½]

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– 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.

– My WWE Super Show-Down review is at this link.

– My WWE Super Show-Down takeaways column is at this link.

– Tonight officially starts the build to WWE Sweet Saudi Money II: Still No Chicks Allowed AND WWE Evolution: We Owe The Chicks for The Saudi Bullshit.

Triple H & HBK Talk: Triple H talks about climbing mountains over the years, noting that he and HBK should be on top of the world, but they were buried under an avalanche. This leads to footage of the Undertaker vs. Triple H abomination from Super Show-Down.

Triple H says they don’t give respect easily. Like when you sent your whole career fighting the world together, that’s respect. Respect is sticking to your word when others tell you not to. HBK says you used to respect people for what they used to respect, and then you realize it’s not two way street. He spent the flight home thinking about the last 8.5 years, honoring his word out of a respect that never existed. Triple H asked him, “Are you ready?” He knows HBK is ready, but are Taker & Kane ready? At WWE Sweet Saudi Money II, are you ready, because DX is ready. If you’re not down with that, suck it. While I have no desire to see the tag match after what I saw at WWE Super Show-Down, I won’t lie, this was a really good promo.

Lashley vs. Kevin Owens: Lio Rush is at ringside. Lashley overpowers Kevin to begin, and Rush talks shit as Kevin powders. Back in and Lashley hits a shoulder tackle. Rush has a mic and continues to talk as Lashley lays in rights on Kevin. Kevin low bridges Lashley and follows with rights. Lashley hits a clothesline as Rush gets booed now. Kevin dumps Lashley again and follows with a tope. They trade strikes on the floor, and Lashley misses a charge and eats barricade. Post break, and Lashley has things grounded. Rush keeps talking and Kevin fights back, as Rush continues to turn Lashley heel with his talking. Kevin chases him and Lashley makes the save, slamming Kevin to the steps. Lashley then slams Kevin to the barricade. Back in and Lashley follows with rights as the crowd starts to rally for Kevin. Lashley works over Kevin in the corner, Kevin fights back but runs into a spinebuster. The delayed suplex follows for 2. Lashley works a full nelson now, Kevin fights out and hits a superkick and stunner for 2. Kevin up top and Rush distracts him and Lashley attacks. Lashley starts working the knee, and the big ending connects for 2. Lashley defeated Kevin Owens @ 12:55 via pin [*¾] I guess that this was WWE’s attempt at a double turn. The Rush stuff here was horrible, but if the heel turn is the plan, I suppose he was appropriately annoying, but for me it wasn’t heel heat, it was change the channel heat for me. This did nothing for me at all, and the wrestling wasn’t even good although an Owens babyface run intrigues me, plus if we get give no fucks Lashley, that’s good as well.

– Post match, Lashley attacks the knee of Kevin and he posts his knee several times.

– They hype WWE Sweet Saudi Money II and the world cup, and John Cena is automatically qualified.

– There will be a global battle royal to find the next world cup participant.

– Bayley & Balor are interviewed; they will rematch with Mahal & Fox tonight. Lashley & Rush arrive and Lashley says he put on an ass whipping and they should be talking about him.

– Elias is here. Elias says he’s a legend, and that John Cena knows this to be true. Losing in Australia wasn’t his fault and he has a new song about it, mocking Cena’s hair, the Cubs, & Australian accents. Rousey interrupts.

Ronda Rousey and The Bella Twins vs. The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, & Liv Morgan): They say that the Riott Squad asked for this rematch. Liv and Brie to begin. Liv slaps her and Brie misses a kick and Liv lays in ground and pound, trying to avoid the Brie-1 climax. They brawl to the floor, get separated, and Logan tags in with Rousey. Rousey hits throws, and then backs off Liv & Ruby. Post break, and Ruby has the heat on Nikki until Nikki hits a spinebuster. Nikki follows with clotheslines, and hits a sloppy disaster kick for 2. Brie tags in and gets pulled to the floor and Ruby hits an STO on the floor. Back in and Ruby covers for 2. The Squad works quick tags, with Logan taking control and follows with a hip toss that brie didn’t bump well for at all, she actually just sort of fell over. Liv back in and she and Ruby double team Brie. Ruby grounds the action, and the Squad then lays the boots to Brie. Brie fights back and hits a missile dropkick. Tag to Rousey, and she runs wild on the Squad, lays in strikes, and knees. The spinning slam and arm bar finishes Ruby as the Bellas hold off the others. Ronda Rousey and The Bella Twins defeated The Riott Squad @ 10:30 via submission [*] Well, as a match, it was really no good; sloppy, disjointed, slow, and had absolutely nothing resembling a smooth flow. The post match was well done, even if it came a few days later than most anticipated. I appreciate the setup, but Nikki vs. Rousey really holds no interest for me, but the company sees them as the most popular women they have via their social media metrics, so I understand it. Also, poor Riott Squad.

– Nikki attacks Rousey post match and the Bellas beat her down. Rousey fights off Brie and then runs off Nikki. They brawl to the floor and Rousey gets posted and slammed to the steps. Man, Australia really had a negative effect on some people here tonight. They roll Rousey in the ring and Nikki poses over a fallen Rousey. I guess Natalya was too busy making selfies to save her best friend Ronda Rousey.

[~End hour one~]

Bayley & Finn Balor vs. Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox: This is rematch from Mixed Match Challenge. Mahal attacks with a slam and grounds Balor. Balor fights back and Fox tags in as Bayley hits a RANA on Mahal. Post break, and Fox has control, grounding Bayley. Fox dances and lays the boots to Bayley; the cover gets 2. Bayley fights back and dumps Fox. Balor and Mahal back in, Balor runs wild, hits a standing double stomp but Mahal cuts him off until Balor hits the final cut but Fox breaks it up. Bayley takes out Singh and then pulls Fox to the floor. Balor up top, double stomp, and that is that. Bayley & Finn Balor defeated Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox @ 7:15 via pin [**] This was a perfectly ok match with all four working well enough together.

– Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler and Braun Strowman talk, Dolph gives a big pep talk and Drew tells him to shut the fuck up since he lost on Saturday and adds that he needs to pull his own weight. Braun then tells them both to shut the fuck up and know their roles.

Heath Slater meets with Corbin and wants in the battle royal, but Corbin says he isn’t any good; I guess that’s a no then.

WWE Sweet Saudi Money II World Cup Qualifying Battle Royal: Corbin brings out a bunch of jobbers with international gimmicks. They are the jobbresty bunch of jobbers to ever job. This is all a ploy for Corbin to “fairly qualify” instead of unfairly putting himself into it. They also have hilariously bad internationally themed names. They all attack Corbin, but he fights them off as the Conquistador chills on the floor. One of the jobbers is Idris Abraham and his glorious afro. Corbin tosses all the goofs, until the Conquistador starts throwing Germans and Angle slam. WAIT A GOD DAMN MINUTE I KNOW WHO THAT IS! He dumps Conquistador and reveals himself to be Kurt Angle. Kurt Angle won @ 3:04 [**] Not much of a match, but a fun angle to bring Kurt back with and giving him some revenge on Corbin.

– Kurt Angle joins John Cena in the World Cup Tournament. Angle is interviewed backstage and says that he’s technically still on vacation.

Nia Jax vs. Ember Moon: This is allegedly a friendly competition match between friends. Jax overpowers Moon to begin and takes control. Jax hits a corner splash and then tosses Moon across the ring. Moon fights back with a sleeper, Jax escapes, but Moon hits a RANA and dropkicks her to the floor. The suicide dive follows, but she bounces off of Jax, who then slams her to the floor. Moon battles back, but Jax tosses her around and then misses a charge into the LED board and Moon beats the count and wins via countout. Ember Moon defeated Nia Jax @ 2:58 via countout [NR] Well that was a match, at least Ember won.

[~End hour one~]

Trish is Here: Trish is here, likely to hype WWE Evolution and her match with Alexa Bliss. Of course, she mentions that Evolution will be making history. She comments on last week’s moment of “BS” from Bliss. She calls Bliss a brat and Alexa & Mickie arrive. Bliss runs down the crowd and Trish says Bliss failed wither message last week, and makes fun of her being short. Bliss says it will be an honor to face Trish, she saw her in her prime, and can finally say, “You sucked, like really sucked.” Bliss says Trish would have been in her shadow had she been around. Trish challenges her to come to the ring and Bliss and Mickie arrive, but Mickie says they won’t do this because the fans don’t deserve it because nothing good ever happens in Chicago. Trish says she’ll take care of business at Evolution and they will feel a hall of fame beat down. Mickie teases a tag match, and Trish brings out Lita. They brawl and Bliss bails, and Mickie gets the beat down. Lita teases a moonsault but Bliss saves her. It appears that they have changed plans from the two singles matches to a tag match, which may be for the best. This was fine.

Bobby Roode & Chad Gable vs. The Ascension… again.: Konnor runs them down for losing to him recently. Konnor and Roode lock up and Konnor overpowers him and talks trash. They lock up again. Gable tags himself in and hits a missile dropkick for 2, sending Gable to the floor. Back in and Viktor cuts off Gable and covers for 2. Viktor lays the boots to Gable and covers for 2 as we get CM Punk chants. Viktor takes the heat, grounding Gable. Gable tries to fight to his feet, does and looks for a tag and gets it. Roode in with clotheslines follows with chops and then the blockbuster. He dumps Konnor and Gable tags himself in and hits chaos theory on Viktor for the win. Bobby Roode & Chad Gable defeated The Ascension @ 4:20 via pin [*¾] Roode didn’t look happy again with Gable tagging himself in, again teasing issues between them. Please let this feud die now.

– The AOP arrive and destroy everyone.

– Rousey defends against Nikki Bella at Evolution; also Bliss & Mickie face Lita & Trish.

– We get a package of classic DX clips.

– Paul Heyman arrives. He does his usual shtick, and says that he’s here to see a fight. He’s here to see violence as the Shield faces the Dogs of War once again. He finds it ironic that Braun &Roman beat the hell out of each other, and will do it all over again here tonight. Meanwhile, Lesnar is at home, sleeping and not watching the show, and is in a training camp for his title match at WWE Sweet Saudi Money II. He mocks Roman for being part of a team, while Lesnar is all about himself. He gives us a spoiler, noting that Lesnar will win the title back. The Shield arrives for our main event.

The Shield vs. Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, and Braun Strowman: This is a rematch from Super Show-Down, which the Shield won. Rollins and Drew to begin with Drew taking early control. Rollins fights back, Ambrose tags in and they double-team Drew and Ambrose covers for 2. Drew cuts him off and Braun tags in and runs over Ambrose. He misses a charge and Reigns tags in. Braun tosses him around, Reigns fights back but Braun runs him over. Dolph tags in and he and Drew work double teams until Ambrose & Rollins makes the save and clear the ring. Braun yells at his team. Post break, and Braun takes the heat on Reigns and tags in Dolph. Reigns cuts him off with a right and Braun tags back in, misses a charge and posts himself. Reigns hits a Samoan drop and we get wholesale changes to Dolph & Rollins. Rollins takes out Drew wit a suicide dive and then hits a springboard clothesline on Dolph for 2. Rollins sets, Dolph counters blackout but Rollins counters, and then Dolph counters into a sunset flip, Rollins then hits a buckle bomb for 2 as Drew makes the save. Ambrose takes him out and dumps Drew. The Shield works over Braun and takes him to the floor. Rollins & Ambrose follow with dives. Braun grabs them but Reigns follows with a sweet tope and wipes out the pile. Post break, and Braun is back in control in the ring, working over Rollins. Drew tags back in and covers for 2. Rollins fires back, but Drew cuts him off and covers for 2. Dolph tags in, Rollins cuts him off and fights off Drew but Braun takes out Ambrose & Reigns, stopping the tag. Braun & Dolph argue, and Drew saves Dolph from being killed. Rollins dumps Drew and tags in Ambrose, who hits a suicide dive. Back in and clotheslines on Drew follow and the cradle gets 2. The neck breaker connects and that gets 2. Drew fights off dirty deeds, Dolph distracts Ambrose but Reigns makes the save until Dolph superkicks him. Rollins suplexes Dolph to the floor, leaving Drew & Dolph to work into a double down. Braun posts Reigns, but Ambrose DDTs him on the floor. Reigns spears Braun. Ambrose rolls back in and Drew hits the claymore and pins Ambrose. Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, and Braun Strowman defeated The Shield @ 22:00 via pin [***½] This was another very good trios match between the two teams, on the level of the Super Show-Down match, but instead of teasing the Ambrose turn during the match, they did it afterwards as a cliffhanger.

– Post match, Ambrose walks out on the Shield.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

~GLORIOUS~

5.0

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

Overall, this week’s episode of WWE Raw was a sluggish event to get through. Outside of the main event, the wrestling was no good, but they did some solid build for Evolution and WWE Sweet Saudi Money II. The best things on the show were the opening promo, the Bellas turn on Rousey, and the main event.