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Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 10.23.17

October 23, 2017 | Posted by Larry Csonka
Brock Lesnar WWE Raw 10.23.17
5.8
The 411 Rating
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Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 10.23.17  

Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 10.23.17

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, And Dean Ambrose defeated Miz, Cesaro, & Sheamus @ 19:50 via pin [***¾]
– Kane defeated Finn Balor @ 7:10 via pin [*]
– Asuka defeated Emma @ 5:15 via pin [**]
– Jason Jordan defeated Elias @ 3:17 via DQ [*]
Survivor Series Captain’s Match: Alicia Fox defeated Sasha Banks and Bayley @ 11:25 via pin [*]
– Kalisto, Rich Swann, Mustafa Ali, Cedric Alexander, & Gran Metalik defeated Enzo, Ariya Daivari, Tony Nese, Noam Dar, & Drew Gulak @ 9:10 via pin []


– Follow all of my reviews at this link.

– Tonight is the fallout from Follow all of my reviews WWE TLC.

Kurt Angle Talks: Angle puts over TLC as he gets “you still got it” chants. He got to write a new chapter in his career last night, and last night was a dream come true. Talk turn to hyping Survivor Series, which will have a Raw vs. Smackdown theme: Bliss vs. Natalya, Miz vs. Corbin, Usos vs. Rollins & Ambrose and Mahal vs. Lesnar. Also scheduled is two 5 on 5 elimination matches, a men’s and women’s match. Are we not going to address the Murder of one Braun Strowman? Miz, Sheamus, Cesaro & Axel arrive, with Miz bitching about TLC and Angle stealing the spotlight. Miz says it isn’t about Angle and wants him to quit. Angle refuses and they won’t let him leave, surrounding the ring. Rollins and Ambrose arrive to make the save. Angle now books Miz , Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Ambrose & Rollins, and.. AJ Styles, who Angle says decided to stay an extra night. The TLC fallout with Miz was fine, getting AJ for the night is very cool, but I really liked that laid out most of the Survivor Series card already.

AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, And Dean Ambrose vs. Miz, Cesaro, & Sheamus: Rollins and Sheamus in to begin, Rollins takes over and works double teams with Ambrose. Sheamus cuts off Ambrose, tagging in Cesaro and he grounds the action. It doesn’t last long as Ambrose makes a comeback, tagging in Rollins and he takes control tagging in Styles. We get some Styles and Cesaro back and forth, which is a match I want to see get time on a PPV. The heels distract Styles, and that allows Cesaro to send him to the floor. The heels clear out the ring and it’s a gang beat down on Styles. The faces battle back, clear the ring and follow with a trio of planchas. Post break and Cesaro works the heat on Ambrose. Ambrose fights out, but Sheamus connects with knee strikes and Cesaro tags in to continue the assault. Ambrose finally hits a suplex, cuts off Sheamus and hits the jawbreaker lariat. We get wholesale changes to Miz and Rollins, Rollins runs wild hitting the blockbuster and then does the deal with a falcon arrow. It breaks down; bodies fly to the floor and Miz fucking kills Rollins with a spike DDT. Post break and Miz tosses Rollins to the floor. Ambrose attacks Sheamus and they fight into the crowd. Styles gets the hot tag, runs wild hitting the ushigoroshi on Cesaro. Sheamus trips up Styles and Cesaro hits the toss up uppercut. The faces clear the rung, Rollins & Ambrose hit dives and Styles finished Cesaro with the springboard forearm. AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, And Dean Ambrose defeated Miz, Cesaro, & Sheamus @ 19:50 via pin [***¾] Considering what everyone went through at TLC, everyone put in a hell of an effort here, delivering a very good and entertaining match. This is also another reason I wish they would go “NJPW Road to” formula a bit more often, working more multi-man tags that can advance feuds while saving the big singles matches for PPV.

– Post match, Kane arrives and he joins in with Miz, Cesaro, & Sheamus to beat down Rollins & Ambrose. Well that just put a wet blanket on a really fun match, Kane standing tall in 2017. No thanks. Can Braun be resurrected already and take him out?

Kane Talks: Oh great, Kane is still in the ring to talk. But first we get highlights of the TLC match and Braun being killed via garbage truck. Are we finally going to address the murder of Braun Strowman? Kane said he heard the stories of Strowman destroying people, they called him a monster among men, but he had to see it for himself. But all he saw was a pile of trash so he put him where he belonged. He saw fear in Strowman’s eyes, and Strowman saw that Kane will always be Raw’s only monster. Kane now wants competition, or else.

– Enter Finn Balor.

Kane vs. Finn Balor: Balor looks to play keep away, working leg kicks. Kane quickly cuts him off, working him over in the corner. Balor fires back with kicks, but Kane hits the big boot and stops that. Kane hits a slam, covering for 2. Kane grounds the action, but Balor battles back, hitting the apron PK. Kane cuts him off on the floor, and slams him to the barricade and apron. Back in the ring and Kane continues to control, hitting the side slam for 2. Kane lethargically works over Balor, sending him to the floor. Kane follows, but Balor trips him into the steps. Back in and Balor attacks with kicks and strikes, running forearms follow and the sling blade takes Kane down. The shotgun dropkick hit for Balor, he heads up top but Kane grabs him and chokeslams him. Kane hits another chokeslam and then a third. That’s it. Kane defeated Finn Balor @ 7:10 via pin [*] This was hot fucking garbage, and an example of a match that never should have been booked. I get that they want Kane strong for Braun, but you completely nullified the great match and win by Balor over Styles at TLC. This is why no one can truly get momentum; booking like this completely stifles it. Seriously, was Curt Hawkins too busy in catering?

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– Kurt meets with Shane backstage, and they talk nice and Angle even tries to get AJ for raw, which Shane refuses. Angle talks shit about kicking their ass at Survivor Series, but Shane says Smackdown will kill Raw at Survivor Series.

– It’s amazing how you can go from 30-minutes of great stuff with Miz, Sheamus, Cesaro, The Shield and AJ, and then follow it up with 30-minutes of Kane.

Asuka vs. Emma: They lockup, Emma shoves her away and Asuka lights her up with leg kicks, and rolls into an arm bar. But Emma makes the ropes. Asuka hits a running ass attack, sending Emma to the floor. Emma posts Asuka, and then takes the heat back in the ring. Emma hits a butterfly suplex, covering for 2. Asuka starts to fight back, looks for the Asuka lock, but Emma escapes. They try a backslide spot, but it doesn’t go well. Emma hits a lariat for 2. Emma whips Asuka to the corner, lays in strikes and Asuka finally comes back with a missile dropkick. They trade strikes, Asuka fires up and hits a German. Asuka follows with another ass attack, covering for 2. Emma slams Asuka to the corner, rolls her up but Asuka locks in the Asuka lock, and Emma taps. Asuka defeated Emma @ 5:15 via pin [**] The match was solid, but had the same issues as last night’s PPV match, in that it did absolutely nothing to make Asuka look special, especially after all of the hype. Lets sign Tanahashi, Okada, Omega or Naito and have them work 50-50 with Curt Hawkins. They talk about her undefeated streak and how dominant she is, and then she has issues with Emma, who months ago couldn’t even get in TV. Two days in and they have done nothing to make Asuka feel like a star or something special.

Alexa Bliss Talks: Bliss puts over her win against Mickie last night, and now at Survivor Series, she gets to put down the cat lady, Natalya. She gets disrespected while Balor and Styles stared into each other’s eyes while the crowd chanted, “this is awesome.” She claims the fans are jealous of her, and tries to lead “the sheep” in a chant. She tries to get them to chant “you deserve it,” but fails. Mickie now arrives, attacks and lays out Bliss with a DDT. Mickie stands tall and says that Bliss does deserve it. This was fine overall, Bliss got good heat from the crowd, and I liked Mickie getting some revenge.

– Bayley and Banks meet with Angle, and Fox arrives and says she should be the captain of the women’s team at Survivor Series. Banks, Bayley & Fox will face off tonight.

– The Drifter walks.

– The Drifter arrives to play us a tune, but first makes fun of Aaron Rodgers broken collarbone. He runs down Jason Jordan for disrespecting him at TLC, but has something special planned tonight. We keep getting distortion noises that interrupt the Drifter. He gets pissed and rants about the tech not doing their job, and threatens to beat the hell out of them. Elias has been really fun, and is getting good heat with his act. Asshole Jason Jordan arrives for a PPV rematch.

Jason Jordan vs. Elias: JIP as Elias is in control, working over Jordan in the corner. Elias grounds the action, working a side headlock. Jordan slowly fights back with strikes and suplexes. They brawl to the floor, as Jordan repeatedly slams Elias to he barricades. Elias then kills Jordan with a guitar shot, good because Jordan has been an asshole. Jason Jordan defeated Elias @ 3:17 via DQ [*] Jason Jordan is an asshole, he deserved what he got.

Paul Talks, Brock Hops Around Making Money: Heyman introduces himself and Brock. Heyman says that someone has an issue that Brock is the undisputed champion in WWE. A man who has barely survived his challenges, meanwhile, Brock has gone through the most stacked roster in WWE history. But we live in the age of trash talking; everyone wants to be the king of trash talk. But he is the king of trash talk, but despite that fact, he puts over Brock’s opponents, because they are real men. He praised Goldberg, Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman, and rightfully so. But as for the make believe Maharajah, with the knockoffs doing his act, Mahal isn’t even a worthy pretender to the crown of WWE champion. Heyman runs down a list of big time WWE champions like Hogan, Sammartino, and others. He calls Mahal a consolation prize when Smackdown got the shaft in the shakeup. Heyman says that the brand that has Brock is the #1 brand. So at Survivor Series, Mahal is heading to Suplex City. But it will get worse, because the last time a SD star battled Brock, the match was stopped. Brock violated all of the rules of the PG Era, so Mahal’s challenge is officially accepted. Heyman destroying Mahal isn’t the best of builds, but sometimes the truth just works the best; Heyman burying Mahal was wildly entertaining.

– Charly interviews Kalisto, he’s upset that he lost his title last night. Tomorrow night he gets his rematch against Enzo. Tonight. He, Swann, Ali, Alexander, & Metalik face Enzo, Daivari, Nese, Dar, & Gulak.

Alicia Fox vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley: Fox takes control early, working both over and hitting northern lights suplexes. She tosses Bayley, and works over Banks. Bayley back in and she and Banks dropkick Fox to the floor. Fox rushes in and gets tossed to the floor again. The babyfaces continue to double-team the heel as we take a break. Post break and Fox works a headlock on Banks, but Banks counters into a sunset flip and then a head scissors. Banks hits the charging knees, heads up top but Fox cuts her off. Fox follows her up top, but Bayley is back and we get a tower of doom, and fox landed badly. Bayley works her over with knees and covers for 2. Fox cuts Bayley off, hits a running boot and falls on her ass before covering for 2. Fox yells a lot now, grabs the ring bell and rings it. Oh Kevin Dunn and you love of “bitches be crazy.” Fox takes out Banks, but Bayley hits the B to belly for 2 as Banks made the save. banks and Bayley brawl now, Bayley hits a Saito suplex and Fox sneaks in and hits a Bayley to belly on Bayley. Bayley rolls to the floor, Banks locks in the Banks statement and Fox escapes, slamming Banks into Bayley and picks up the win. Alicia Fox defeated Sasha Banks and Bayley @ 11:25 via pin [*] Well that was bad, sloppy, had a bad layout, went too long, was disjointed and the crowd was dead most of the time. It didn’t matter who won, it was bad no matter what.

– Gulak talks because Enzo lost his voice. It’s amazing that Enzo has so many friends after burying them for weeks (I guess the gimmick is that he’s paying them off). Gulak reads Enzo’s usual shtick in the “whitest 40-year old man voice” possible. They bury the Packers, making fun of Aaron Rodgers getting injured.

Kalisto, Rich Swann, Mustafa Ali, Cedric Alexander, & Gran Metalik vs. Enzo, Ariya Daivari, Tony Nese, Noam Dar, & Drew Gulak: Kalisto in and works over Nese, Metalik tags in and picks the pace, working over Nese and hitting a missile dropkick. The faces clear the ring, Gulak tries to stop the dives and eats superkicks from all of the faces. Post break, Dar has Swann grounded, and works the arm. The heels clear out the faces, maintaining control in their half of the ring. Swann & Daivari do a double down, and we get a big brawl on the floor. Enzo’s team is down and Daivari falls into him for the tag. Enzo has to go face to face with Kalisto, Kalisto works him over and hits a rolling DVD for 2. It breaks down, Enzo slams Kalisto to the corner and hits the DDG but Ali and Alexander make the save. We get big time dives, and Kalisto hits salida del sol to pin Enzo. Kalisto, Rich Swann, Mustafa Ali, Cedric Alexander, & Gran Metalik defeated Enzo, Ariya Daivari, Tony Nese, Noam Dar, & Drew Gulak @ 9:10 via pin [**½] This was a perfectly fine little match, Kalisto getting the win id the hook for tomorrow’s 205 Live as he has his rematch with Enzo. The closing stretch was chaotic and great, while the rest of the match was there, but fine.

Kurt Angle Talks Survivor Series: Angle hypes Survivor Series, but Shane arrives to interrupt him. How rude. Shane is in the crowd with the Smackdown roster, and they surround the ring. Angle looks stunned. Shane says “under siege.” Angle bails and heads to the back. Shane then orders the Smackdown roster to head to the back and go get them. They run into Titus and Crews and kick their asses. Corbin beats up a production geek as they trash the interview area. They then beat down Hawkins and Goldust. Now it’s time for a Jason Jordan ass beating, Matt Hardy also gets beat down. They continue to work through the locker room, beating down the Good Brothers. The ladies now brawl, with Smackdown continuing to stand tall. Shane watches on, pleased with his team. Rollins and Ambrose dive onto them and attack, but the numbers get to them. They make Angle watch and then escort him back to the ring. Raw has been decimated. Shane tells them to bring Angle to the ring, and Shane says at Survivor Series, bring your gold medal and what’s left of your roster, and we’ll finish it. Angle is left in the ring, a sad panda. This was an overall fun closing segment, getting some heat on the Survivor Series Raw vs. SD theme. I really dug Smackdown getting the upper hand here.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

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~GLORIOUS~

5.8
The final score: review Not So Good
The 411
The shows started off great, with the initial hype for Survivor Series and the really strong tag match. Unfortunately, it largely fell off a cliff, with only the Heyman promo and closing segment coming off as good and important. There were good elements to the show, but like most weeks, WWE just can’t seem to put on a complete/quality three-hour effort.
legend

article topics :

RAW, Tremendous Tirades, WWE, Larry Csonka