Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 12.30.19

Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 12.30.19

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Aleister Black defeated Buddy Murphy @ 15:30 via pin [***¾]
– Erick Rowan defeated Green Lantern Fan @ 1:40 via pin [NR]
– Charlotte defeated Natalya @ 14:30 via submission [**¾]
– The Street Profits defeated The Good Brothers @ 11:45 via pin [**¾]
– Drew McIntyre defeated Hawkins & Ryder @ 1:10 via pin [NR]
– Non-Title Match: US Champion Andrade defeated Ricochet @ 11:10 via pin [***]

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– Csonka’s Top 64 Matches of 2019: #64-50 – Cole vs. Gargano, Cage vs. Elgin, More.
– Csonka’s Top 64 Matches of 2019: #49-40 – Okada vs. Suzuki, Fenix vs. Omega, More.
– Csonka’s Top 64 Matches of 2019: #39-30 – Dunne vs. WALTER, Okabayashi vs. James, More.
– Csonka’s Top 64 Matches of 2019: #29-20 – Cody vs. Dustin, Bryan vs. Kofi, More.
– Csonka’s Top 64 Matches of 2019: #19-10 – Starr vs. WALTER, Gargano vs. Ricochet, More.
– Csonka’s Top 64 Matches of 2019: #9-1 – WALTER vs. Bate, Shingo vs. Ospreay, More.

– Kevin Owens arrives to kick of the show. Kevin promises fireworks and airs footage of last week’s attack from Seth & AOP on he, Rey & Joe. Kevin says they’ve sent him to the hospital twice and will keep calling them out until he takes one of them out with him. He’s unhappy that people he respect and look up to are brought into this like Rey Mysterio. They ganged upon a legend last week, and that’s why Rey lost his US Title to Andrade in MSG. Seth & AOP arrive. Seth says Kevin doesn’t get the big picture, as this has all been forced on Seth. It’s his sacrifice for the greater good, a leader, & a messiah to lead them in to the next decade. If Kevin resists, the AOP will enforce his will. Kevin charges and attacks but gets beat down by AOP. Joe’s music hits and he’s pissed off and attacks. He takes out AOP and works over Seth. The choke follows until AP make the save. Kevin attacks with chair shots, and now security arrives to separate them. They of course fail and the fight continues. Kevin hits a top rope dive onto the pile on the floor. Tag team match, playa?

– Post break, Joe & Kevin talk about their plans. Joe says he’s involved because he didn’t have a choice, Seth chose for him to be involved and to never be safe again. Kevin says he’s known a lot of bad people but none as bad as Joe. If anyone has to be by his side, he’s happy it’s Joe. Security arrives to take them away. Joe says if anyone touches him, they no longer will feel anything with their fingers again.

Aleister Black vs. Buddy Murphy: They fake kicks to begin and work to the ropes. Buddy looks to ground things, hits a shoulder tackle and follows with a RANA and takes a seat to fuck with Black. Black dumps him and does the same. They work into counters and Black follows with a back elbow. The snap suplex gets 1. Black grounds things, and then follows with strikes in the corner. The sliding dropkick follows for 2. Buddy cuts him off, but Black lights him up with a kick as he climbs the ropes. Black follows him up but Buddy counters for Cheeky nandos and dumps him to the floor. Post break and they trade on the apron as Buddy gets posted. Black follows with the moonsault and back in, follows with leg kicks. The springboard moonsault press gets 2. Buddy kicks him away, dumps Black and Black cuts him off with kicks. More kicks follow and Black heads up top , and jumps over him as Buddy hits the flatliner and dropkick for 2 as he tried to use the ropes. He dumps Black and flies over him with the tope, barely grazing him. Back in and the top rope meteora follows for 2. Buddy is still favoring his knee, lays the boots to Black and heads up top. Black popup with him, gets dumped and Buddy follows with a sitout powerbomb for 2. He drops the kneepad, picks up Black but Black takes out his knee and follow with a flurry of kicks and strikes, jumping knee by Buddy and the brainbuster follows for 2. Black fires up and Buddy counters Black mass but Black cradles him for 2. Black mass connects and a second finishes it. Aleister Black defeated Buddy Murphy @ 15:30 via pin [***¾] This was very good stuff, almost as good as their PPV outing, but a fitting sequel nonetheless and I am glad they didn’t 50/50 them.

– AOP rants to Seth and Seth says they have been asked to leave.

– Erick Rowan congratulates Lana on her wedding but says he wasn’t invited. He and his pet don’t care but he growls at Lana anyway.

Erick Rowan vs. Green Lantern Fan: The victim stupidly tries to look in the cage, Rowan kills him on the floor for a bit, talks to his pet and then hits a slam and splash for 2 as he pulls him up. Claw slam, finish. Erick Rowan defeated Green Lantern Fan @ 1:40 via pin [NR] Destruction.

– Lana lotions up her boobs and says everyone is obsessed with her.

– Charlotte arrives and she grabs the mic. She’s here to announce her entry into the women’s rumble match. Everyone knew she’d be in the rumble, but why is she stating the obvious? She’s a 10-time champion, main evented PPVs including Mania, and is the greatest of all time. She’s the first woman of the decade to announce her entry, but she’s tired about talking about being the queen and will show us. She issues an open challenge and Natalya arrives.

Charlotte vs. Natalya: They lockup and work into counters as they separate and Charlotte struts and after counters cradles Natalya for 2. The clothesline follows, but Natalya counters back with a suplex and clothesline for 2. The Romero special follows, Charlotte escapes and the big boot follows for 2. Charlotte slams her to the buckles, attacks the knee but Natalya cuts her off and suplexes her on the floor. Back in and Natalya covers for 2. Natalya hits a suplex and follows with kicks. They trade strikes, Natalya firs away and misses charge, posting herself. Charlotte works a crab in the buckles and Natalya spills to the floor. The 24/7 geeks run through, Charlotte takes out Eric Young and they all keep running. Post break and they work up top. Natalya dumps her and follows with a high cross for 2. Natalya follows with a German, Charlotte fires back and hits a fall away slam. Natalya counters the boot and the sitout powerbomb follows for 2. Charlotte fights off the sharpshooter and the cradle gets 2. Natalya fires back but Charlotte hits the spear for 2. Natalya fights off the figure eight but Charlotte hits natural selection for 2. Charlotte heads up top, Natalya counters and the cradle gets 2. Charlotte hits a bog boo and the figure eight follows. Natalya fights and taps. Charlotte defeated Natalya @ 14:30 via submission [**¾] This was pretty good, but the 24/7 geek parade and some odd transitions hurt the match.

– Becky Lynch is interviewed and says she and Asuka will face at the Royal Rumble. Lynch says her contract was coming up and forced WWE’s hand to get the match she wanted. She needs to beat Asuka to prove herself as the best in the business.

– We get another Liv Morgan video package.

– The OC arrive and head to the ring. Styles says there are no doubts that Raw is the OC’s show. We see clips of them pinning the Viking Raiders and Randy Orton. Karl says the Raiders were looked at to be unbeatable, but they beat them time and time again and that’s why they are the best tag team in the world. Luke says that they are next in line for a tag title shot. The Street Profits arrive and talk about the Good Brother’s accomplishments, but remind us that they hold a win over them. Styles calls them lucky and tells them to stick to their backstage skits. Dawkins makes fun of the OC name, and Luke challenges them to a match right now.

The Good Brothers vs. The Street Profits: Karl and Dawkins begin, Ford tags in and follows with flippity doos and arm drags. He grounds Karl, and then hits a dropkick and covers for 2. Dawkins back in and double teams follow. Dawkins hits a shoulder tackle, AJ trips him up and the ref sends him to the back. Post break and Karl has Ford grounded. Fights to his feet and fires back until Karl hits a neck breaker for 2. Luke tags in and lays in body shots on Ford as the suplex follows for 2. He follows with grounded elbow strikes, Ford fights back but is cut off with a big boot for 2. Luke then hits the leg drop for 2. He keeps Ford grounded, and then dumps Dawkins. Ford hits a dropkick, Karl tags in and Ford fights him off and tags in Dawkins. He runs wild, hits suplexes and corner splashes. The bulldog gets 2. Karl cuts him off with a spinebuster for 2. Luke back in, and the double team neck breaker gets 2. Ford cuts off the magic killer, hits a tope on Gallows and the sky high/frog splash finish the Good Brothers. The Street Profits defeated The Good Brothers @ 11:45 via pin [**¾] This was pretty good as it appears we’re building to a triple threat at the Rumble.

– The Street Profits celebrate backstage and decide they’re the best tag team in the multi-verse and Dawkins deeply explains the premise of the multi-verse. Ford then hypes the Lana/Lashley wedding, but all Dawkins wants are the bridesmaids. They also, of course, want the smoke.

– McIntyre arrives and hypes himself as the sexy Scotsman, and says polls the fans on his match. They all think Ryder & Hawkins will die.

Drew McIntyre vs. Hawkins & Ryder: The former tag team champions attack but McIntyre quickly cuts them off, hits suplexes and a claymore on Hawkins. Future shock for Ryder and he pins both at the same time. Drew McIntyre defeated Hawkins & Ryder @ 1:10 via pin [NR] Cash that check and back to buying action figures boys.

– Brock Lesnar returns next week. Also, a Rey vs. Andrade US Title rematch & The Viking Raiders vs. The Good Brothers vs. The Street Profits for the tag titles. I was close, just not the Rumble.

– Randy Orton limps out on crutches. He says accidents and injuries happen, and they all take risks in the ring. It kills him that he needed help to get into the ring tonight, and he’s seen champions give up titles due to injury and mentions Edge having to give u his career due to injury and no one wants to see that happen. He messed up his leg badly and he will be out a long time and may not even be able to comer back. He’ll do everything he can to make sure someone gets RKO’d at Mania. AJ Styles arrives and says he can’t wait to face Orton at Mania. Styles mocks him for being mad, and is a great douche bag here. He does the “I’m not touching you” gimmick and Orton tells him not to do it again. Styles continues to mock him for not being able to do anything to stop him and puts his arms behind his back to allow Orton to strike. Styles dares him to do something and closes his eyes. He then makes fun of Orton for being hurt and says he will wait until Mania to make him tap out and retire him. See you at Mania buddy. He kicks away a crutch and laughs. Orton limps over and says the difference between them is he’s not patient and hits an RKO, IT’S A NEW YEAR’S MIRACLE, RANDY IS OK!

– We get highlights of Andrade defeating Rey at MSG for the US Title.

– Rey cuts a promo about next week’s rematch.

US Champion Andrade vs. Ricochet: Vega is at ringside. Andrade works him over, hits double knees and dumps him. He pulls up the mats and Ricochet arrives to make the save. He calls bullshit on this and challenges Andrade to a match. Post break and Ricochet takes control right away and the senton atomico gets 2. Vega distracts him and Andrade cuts off the springboard with a dropkick. Vega peels up the mats as Andrade maintains control. He follows with strikes, celebrates and works a standing butterfly lock until Ricochet cradles him for 2. Andrade cuts him off and Ricochet battles back with a RANA and a Fosbury flop. Back in and Andrade powders. Ricochet follows and Andrade slams him to the barricades and then the apron. Ricochet fires back, but Andrade backdrops him onto the exposed floor. Post break and Andrade is in control back in the ring. Ricochet starts to fire back, hits an enziguri and a rolling dropkick. The running shooting star press gets 2. They trade and Andrade hits the back elbow for 2. Ricochet counters the DDT and cradles Andrade for 2. The superkick and twister follows. Ricochet up top and Vega shoves him off. Hammerlock DDT by Andrade and that’s that. US Champion Andrade defeated Ricochet @ 11:10 via pin [***] This was good, but far from their best effort.

Andrade & Vega are interviewed about next week’s match with Rey. Vega says they all want a piece of Andrade and Andrade will beat Rey again next week. He is the future and the US Champion.

LANA AND LASHEY GET MARRIED: Lashley arrives to his theme music. My man’s wearing no sleeves on his tux, if I looked like him I would go sleeveless as well. Lana arrives to some somber strings music. We have a giant cake, who’s popping out?

The WEDDING EVENT of the DECADE is finally upon us.#RAW #LanaLashleyWedding pic.twitter.com/3gfAyItiun

— WWE (@WWE) December 31, 2019

The wedding begins after a commercial break. Bill Belichick’s brother is officiating the ceremony. Lana cuts him off when he, mentions them having kids, and tells him to follow the script. He continues and Lana rants about the Rusev chants. They wrote their own vows, and Lana yells at the crowd again for the Rusev day chants. This is all about her so shut up. She says this is the luckiest day of Lashley’s life, as he’s marrying the biggest superstar in WWE and greatest woman on the face of the Earth. Lashley has worked hard to be the best and the greatest gift he’s giving himself is Lana. Lana starts chanting Lana Day to try and hush the crowd, because it’s all about her. She says this is the greatest moment of Lashley’s life, career, and everything and she wants to make love to him right now. Does his vows, and Lana says she took forever to write them for him. Lashley says he’s the luckiest man on the planet, and praises Lana during his vows as Lana fights the crowd from what chants and again says it’s all about her. Lashley says Lana is the greatest gift he could give himself and his entire life led to this, the greatest moment of his life career, and manhood. They give the rings to one another, and they are running late and begin to rush. Does anyone object? Some dude arrives and calls this wedding a sham. The dude is Lana’s first husband. They got married the day Lana turned 18, she left him for Rusev, and left Rusev for this son of a bitch. He warns Lashley she will leave him as well. Lashley kills him and some chick arrives and objects. It’s Lashley’s first wife, they met when Lashley was in the military and Lana slaps her. The preacher tries to carry on, and now LIV MORGAN arrives to object. The love f her life is right there in the ring, and she wouldn’t have made it through the year without that love. She came to WWE a lost soul, and became herself through that love. HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME…Lashley denies this and Liv says no, it’s Lana who she loves. Liv asks Lana why she’s doing thing and Lana slaps her and they brawl. Refs separate them as Lashley watches on. They take Liv away and Lana wants to continue. Before they can complete the wedding, Rusev appears from the cake and attacks Bob Lashley. Liv attacks Lana and smashes her into the cake. Well, that was certainly a wrestling wedding and like most it was wild, but I wouldn’t call it good. This was certainly a Paul Heyman influenced angle, the Liv thing is an interesting twist, but if they actually go forward with it I have no faith that WWE will handle this same sex relationship with an incredible amount of nuance and subtlety. Also, no one knew who the hell she was so it’s already off to a cold start, and of course, Lashley & Rusev continues on. I am sure some people loved this, but it was another bad angle in a string of them with these participants and a hell of a way to end a down year in terms of overall quality for WWE.

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 78. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka & Jeremy Lambert break down and preview the huge two-day NJPW WrestleKingdom 14 spectacular, share our love of Jushin Liger, and book the Double Gold Dash. The show is approximately 98-minutes long.

* Intro
* NJPW WrestleKingdom 14 (January 4th) Preview: 3:55
* NJPW WrestleKingdom 14 (January 5th) Preview: 46:45

* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

Hour one started off good with Joe & Kevin getting some revenge and continuing the war with Seth & AOP. The good times continued with a really good Black vs. Murphy rematch. Rowan also killed a man; a very good hour overall. Hour two started off with Charlotte vs. Natalya in what was a pretty good outing overall, followed by Becky confirming her Rumble title defense against Asuka. We then got a pretty good The Good Brothers vs. The Street Profits match and Drew killing Hawkins & Ryder; a solid hour of TV. Hour three started with the good Styles & Orton segment, where Styles got good heat as they build to a rematch, followed by a good Andrade vs. Ricochet match. The show closed with the wedding, which was… bad. Just bad. But hey, good for Liv for getting on TV. They also set Brock’s return for next week as well as two title matches. Overall, the final Raw of 2019 was a solid show that I felt was going really well and I was enjoying until the wedding segment. There was some good and enjoyable wrestling and angles as well as set up for next week. But that wedding segment may have stolen the Gooker Award in the final moments of 2019.