wrestling / Video Reviews
Hall’s WWE Raw Review 11.12.18
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...Monday Night Raw
Date: November 12, 2018
Location: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young
It’s the go home show for Survivor Series and that means we have more battling brands. That’s hardly the most interesting story but it’s all we got around this show for a long time. If nothing else it’s time for the last Raw push, with Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles set for the pay per view. That certainly sounds like something worth seeing so let’s get to it.
We open with the Veterans Day tribute, a regular tradition, usually done on Veterans Day.
Tag Team Battle Royal
Lucha House Party, Bobby Roode/Chad Gable, Ascension, B-Team, Heath Slater/Rhyno, Revival
The winning team members will be the captains for the tag team Survivor Series match and one elimination gets rid of a team. It’s the usual brawl to start but here is Braun Strowman to start wrecking everyone, even though he’s not part of the match. A bunch of people gang up on him and are easily thrown off, with Strowman going outside for the running shoulders. Strowman grabs a chair and has a seat as I guess the battle royal isn’t happening. Well happening anymore, as it did start, so we’ll call it a no contest at 2:30ish. Yes a no contest in a battle royal and no you shouldn’t be surprised.
With everyone else gone, Strowman sits in a chair and says he isn’t leaving until Baron Corbin comes out here and gets these hands. Instead he gets Stephanie McMahon, who understands his anger but Strowman can’t hold Raw hostage. He can’t let Shane McMahon get away with taking the World Cup and declaring himself the best in the world. Strowman doesn’t care about Shane but Stephanie certainly does.
She wants him to captain the team to guarantee that Raw wins again, which is fine with Strowman, as long he gets Corbin. Stephanie agrees, but not until after Survivor Series. That’s fine with Strowman too, but he’ll wreck the entire WWE headquarters if he doesn’t get what he wants. This brings out Ronda Rousey to interrupt and Stephanie is nervous (despite towering over Rousey).
Stephanie gets cut off because Rousey can’t wait to show Becky Lynch how to really rip an arm off. Rousey implies that she’ll jump Stephanie right now but here is Corbin (the acting GM) to interrupt. He’s here to motivate the Raw wrestlers but we can’t get overconfident. For some reason Corbin puts his hand on Rousey’s shoulder and is immediately thrown down. Strowman is ready to fight but Stephanie says shut up and remember the deal. Corbin leaves, but Strowman says that things will be bad after Survivor Series.
Ah yeah I had forgotten how annoying this period was, as it was all about Shane vs. Stephanie, with both of them being all high and mighty. Stephanie in particular was insufferable, basically treating EVERYONE beneath her and not letting anyone get anything over on her. It’s horrible TV and pretty much impossible to take, as the company focuses on the worst things possible.
Ember Moon vs. Tamina
This is fallout from Tamina and Nia Jax (here with Tamina) attacking Moon last week. As a bonus, I had forgotten how awesome Moon’s theme was in WWE. Jax offers a distraction to start and Tamina gets in a cheap shot, only to miss a charge into the corner. Moon strikes away and grabs a sliding Downward Spiral to send Tamina outside. The sliding kick to the face connects but Tamina knocks her down as we take a break.
We come back with Moon caught in a chinlock, followed by a knee drop to keep her down. Moon fights up and fires off more right hands before trying a dive on Jax, which bounces off. Jax offers another distraction and Tamina gets in the superkick, setting up the Superfly Splash to pin Moon at 8:34.
Rating: C. Tamina’s superkick was always nice looking but she just wasn’t that interesting for the most part. Having her as part of a monster team with Jax made perfect sense, but you’re only getting so far with them. Moon was in a weak spot at this point, as she didn’t have much to do and didn’t have the success to back it up either.
Post match Jax drops a leg for a bonus.
Video on Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins winning the Raw Tag Team Titles in honor of the ill Roman Reigns, with Ambrose turning on him after the match. Then Rollins, also the Intercontinental Champion, had to defend the titles against the AOP on his own, which resulted in quite the beating and a loss. Ambrose still hasn’t explained his actions.
Here is Rollins for an in-ring chat with Corey Graves. Rollins is asked about Survivor Series and his match with Shinsuke Nakamura, but he doesn’t care about that. He’ll be ready for Nakamura but that’s on Sunday and this is tonight. Rollins wants to know why Ambrose did what he did and Ambrose is on the Titantron, showing him sitting on a car in the parking lot next to a barrel of flames.
Ambrose mocks the people who have been asking him why and says he’s been the same guy this whole time, but he was too selfish to notice it. He used to think that the Shield was better together but now he knows that he’s better on his own. With that, he pours some gasoline onto the Shield vest and throws it in the flaming barrel. The frustrated Rollins leaves. This was a good idea from Ambrose, but once he burns the Shield stuff, there is only so much left for him to do in the feud.
Even Renee Young isn’t sure what to think about this.
We look back at Drew McIntyre dominating Kurt Angle last week.
Angle’s music kicks in but we get a record scratch and here are Dolph Ziggler and McIntyre instead. McIntyre talks about making Angle cry last week and making him tap to his own ankle lock. No one has ever worked harder than him to get to this point and this is his show. There is no room for another nostalgia act on this show so here is Finn Balor to interrupt.
Balor doesn’t like what McIntyre did to Angle last week but McIntyre says dignity isn’t reserved for anyone around here. McIntyre tells him to go cry to his Balor Club but Balor is used to dealing with bullies. The challenge is on, so McIntyre says sure…if Balor can beat Ziggler first. A headbutt drops Balor and we’re ready to go after a break.
AJ Styles/Charlotte and Miz/Asuka are ready for Mixed Match Challenge. Oh sweet goodness I had forgotten about that show. Now I can forget about it again.
Finn Balor vs. Dolph Ziggler
Ziggler charges in to hammer away on the staggered Balor and we’re already in the armbar. That’s switched into a chinlock to keep Balor down and it holds on for a good while. Balor fights up and hits a basement dropkick though and we take a break. We come back with Balor fighting out of the corner and hitting a Pele to leave them both down.
Back up and they pick up the pace, with Balor missing a charge in the corner but kicking him in the head again. The Sling Blade connects but Ziggler is right back with the Fameasser. Balor is back up again and sends Ziggler outside for the big running flip dive onto Ziggler and McIntyre. The Coup de Grace misses though and Ziggler grabs a rollup, only for Balor to reverse into one of his own for the pin at 12:15.
Rating: B-. This is a match that was always going to work because you had two incredibly talented people involved and they had a simple story. Balor is someone who can work well with anyone and Ziggler can hang right there with him. Balor vs. McIntyre should be a good fight when they get there, as McIntyre is turning into quite the force.
Post break Stephanie McMahon and Baron Corbin praise Finn Balor for his win and put him on the Raw Survivor Series team. Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler come in to yell at Balor but Stephanie cuts them off. She wants them to work together to beat Smackdown, mentioning “her brother Shane” twice. After that? They can destroy each other.
We look at Becky Lynch calling out Ronda Rousey for some personal remarks on Smackdown.
Rousey thinks Lynch is great at dishing it out but can’t take it. Being offended doesn’t make you right because she has fought for every inch of progress she’s made. Nia Jax (Rousey’s next challenger) and Tamina come in to wish Rousey luck.
Here is the Riott Squad for a chat, with Ruby Riott being all upset over what happened last week. We see Riott destroying Natalya’s sunglasses, which were given to her by her father. Back in the arena, Riott says she knows she struck a nerve because she went too far…and she is so happy that she did it. Cue Natalya and the brawl is on, with the rest of the Squad is right there to cut her off. A Hart Attack leaves Natalya laying. Yeah as usual, forgive me for not feeling bad for Natalya. It doesn’t work that way.
Survivor Series rundown.
Tag Team Battle Royal
Lucha House Party, Bobby Roode/Chad Gable, Ascension, B-Team, Heath Slater/Rhyno, Revival
Take two, again for the captain spot at Survivor Series. The Revival gets rid of Slater rather quickly but the House Party (at least two of the three involved here) eliminate the Revival as well. The Ascension gets us to cut off the House Party vs. B Team showdown and toss both teams out. So we’re down to Ascension vs. Gable/Roode and Roode tosses Konnor for the win at 3:08.
Rating: D. So they’re all in the match, but we need to have this match to officially name captains. What good does being a captain do? Not much, but the pre-show match needed captains you see. This is more of the “we have to do this because reasons” from around this period of the year and that continues to make for dull TV.
Here is Brock Lesnar, with Paul Heyman, for a chat. Heyman says they aren’t about giving out congratulations but he congratulates Braun Strowman for being ALMOST unbeatable, at least until he took five F5’s. And congratulations to AJ Styles, who is ready to be destroyed again this weekend. Styles is going to check into the Hotel California and then go to the Suplex City suite. Heyman: “And for those of you kids who don’t know the reference to Hotel California, Google it b******. I’m not here to educate you.”
Cue Jinder Mahal, with the Singh Brothers, to interrupt, saying that he was distracted by Lesnar and lost the title to Styles (a year ago). Therefore, he offers to help Lesnar prepare for Styles, with Lesnar destroying all of them instead. Lesnar having no time for this nonsense is rather funny stuff. And then none of this would matter because Daniel Bryan would beat Styles for the title the next night on Smackdown. Allegedly is was due to WWE not wanting Styles to lose to Lesnar again, which is another level of dumb, even by their non-standards.
Bobby Lashley vs. Elias
For a spot on the Raw Survivor Series team and Lio Rush has Lashley do his poses before the match, including the bending over pose, because that was the big joke. Elias cuts him off and calls the authorities about Lashley kidnapping a child and bending over in front of him. We’re joined in progress with Elias fighting out of a chinlock and kicking his way out of the corner. Rush gets knocked off the apron and Elias knocks Lashley outside. Back in and…well only Lashley gets back in as Rush grabs Elias’ ankle for the countout at 2:10 shown. Simple enough here.
Post match Elias throws Rush at Lashley.
Survivor Series rundown.
Here is Alexa Bliss, with Mickie James, Tamina and Nia Jax, to name the Raw women’s team for Survivor Series. Bliss introduces the three of them as members, though Natalya has been sent home due to everything that happened to her earlier. They still need one more member though and she wants anyone who can win. Therefore, the winner of the following match will be on the team.
Sasha Banks vs. Bayley
Bayley blocks an early O’Connor roll attempt and hits a basement clothesline. Bayley gets some near falls off of a pair of rollups and a knee to the face drops Banks again. Banks is back up with a hurricanrana from the apron and the Meteora gets two back inside. Bayley’s running knees send Bayley into the post, only to miss another attempt and crash into the post. Bayley’s Stunner over the rope sets up a Bayley To Belly on the apron and we take a break. We come back with Banks getting the Bank Statement but Tamina, Jax and James come in to jump both of them for the double DQ at 8:33.
Rating: C. The match was ok enough while it lasted but the ending was really sudden after the commercial. That being said, it makes sense for Bliss to seemingly have some other idea rather than having one of these two beat the other. Bayley and Banks have enough of a history that it can feel special but only seeing about five minutes of it isn’t enough.
Post match Bliss says oh well and names Ruby Riott as the final member of the team. The five of them pose together….and we cut to the locker room, where Becky Lynch (of team Smackdown) has Ronda Rousey in the Disarm-Her. Lynch lets go and goes to the ring so here are the Smackdown women through the crowd to clear the ring. More Raw women come in for the save and Lynch comes up with a bloody nose (more on this later).
The fans want Rousey and HERE SHE COMES, with one arm flailing, and Lynch bails to the floor. Rousey clears some of the ring but Lynch is back in with a chair to knock her down. The Raw women are cleared out and Smackdown heads into the crowd, with the bloody Lynch posing at the stop of the steps. That is still one of the coolest visuals I’ve ever seen in wrestling because Lynch looked like an absolute star who finally got to the golden girl. She’s ready for war on Sunday and I couldn’t wait to see it.
The big thing here though was just how strong Lynch looked. Not only was she posing with such a cool look at the end, but she got to Rousey, which just did not happen. They did this perfectly, including not showing how Lynch got Rousey in the Disarm-Her in the first place. Did she jump Rousey from behind or use a weapon or something? Maybe, but you don’t know that for a fact and it leaves you wondering if she just took Rousey out in a straight fight. Little stuff like that helped this so much and it’s still one of the best moments ever on Raw.
Then I had to wait to see the match because the blood came from Nia Jax throwing a wild right hand and not only busting Lynch’s nose and giving her a concussion. Charlotte would be put in the spot instead and Lynch would eventually get to ht the megastar, though she somehow never faced Rousey one on on.
Now normally that would end the show, but instead we need to go to the back where Stephanie McMahon gets to yell at Baron Corbin for allowing this to happen. Because Stephanie is the focus and always has to be.
Results
A tag team battle royal went to a no contest
Tamina b. Ember Moon – Superfly Splash
Finn Balor b. Dolph Ziggler – Rollup
Bobby Roode/Chad Gable won a tag team battle royal last eliminating The Ascension
Bobby Lashley b. Elias via countout
Bayley vs. Sasha Banks went to a double countout when Team Raw interfered
