Main Event – October 24, 2019: They’re Doing An Angle!
IMG Credit: WWE
Main Event
Date: October 24, 2019
Location: Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Cleveland, Ohio
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Dio Maddin, Mickie James
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
Mojo Rawley vs. No Way Jose
Hold on though as Mojo grabs a mic (on THIS show?) to insult the members of the Conga Line. There is a grown man in a cheeseburger costume and they’re following Jose? They need a real athlete and someone who earned his MBA at 21 years old. They slug it out to start until Mojo gets hiptossed to the floor. Back in and a high crossbody gives Jose two….but Mojo is right back with the running right hand in the corner for the pin at 1:28. What the heck was that? You’re cutting a MAIN EVENT match short? Normally I would have some hope for a story around here but I’ve moved on from something like that.
Post match Mojo says the Conga Line needs a real leader but he beats up the cheeseburger man for not following him. Mojo orders everyone else to leave and they eventually go. Dude did they just do an angle on this show???
Video on Bayley’s heel turn.
From Smackdown.
It’s time for MizTV with special guest Bayley, flanked by Sasha Banks, the latter of whom surprises Miz. Bayley and Sasha brag about the title change last week and we see a clip of Bayley’s new attitude, setting up the win over Charlotte. Thankfully the viral clip of the child crying is included. Miz asks Bayley what was up with that but she doesn’t owe anyone an explanation. Miz: “Are you Brock Lesnar? Is this your Paul Heyman?”
Banks brings up Miz being a fifth rounds draft pick, which Miz laughs off because he’s always relevant. Bayley talks about crying after losing the title to Charlotte but no one was there to hug her. She has put herself second for years to be a role model but they weren’t there when he needed them. The reality is that Bayley has outgrown these people so here’s some reality: life sucks and then you die.
Video on Tyson Fury vs. Braun Strowman.
We look at the OC jumping the Street Profits.
From Raw.
Street Profits/??? vs. OC
The Profits do their big, high energy entrance and the fans….don’t seem to care. It gets a bit better but this thing was tailor made for a small place like Full Sail and it doesn’t work here. There’s no mystery partner so the OC mocks them, suggesting that he’s invisible or imaginary. We see a clip of the brawl that set up the match and take a break. Back with….no one as a partner so AJ is on the floor to start.
The Profits waste no time in clearing the ring so it’s gallows coming in for a big boot. Everything breaks down and Ford comes in to clean house, only to get thrown over the top for a crash. Anderson hits a running knee from the apron to take him down again and we take a break. Back with Ford not being able to dive over and get the tag to Dawkins so the beating can continue. The chinlock goes on but Ford fights up and hits a double clothesline. Anderson gets a blind tag but gets sent outside, allowing the hot tag to Dawkins.
House is cleaned but Gallows pulls Anderson out of a Doomsday Device. Anderson’s spinebuster gets two on Ford but AJ gets yelled at for interfering. That means an ejection…..and here’s Kevin Owens to fight AJ, presumably being the third man. Anderson is so stunned that he backdrops Ford to the floor, with Dawkins making the tag on the way through the air. The big frog splash finishes Anderson at 13:03.
Rating: C-. They put WAY too much into this at once as you had a crowd who didn’t know the Profits and then the focus was taken off of them twice. This was spent looking to see who the partner was going to be, wondering why it was then a regular tag match and then having Owens come out to get the attention off of the Profits again. Giving them the win was the right call and the match wasn’t bad, but it was too much going on to showcase them properly.
Crown Jewel rundown.
Natalya vs. Sarah Logan
Natalya is no Dana Brooke. They take turns going to the mat for some early grappling until Natalya gets in an armdrag and strikes a pose. A rollup gives us an early standoff so Natalya grabs a quick abdominal stretch. Sarah smiles so the leg is picked up to make it even worse. The basement dropkick gives Natalya two but Logan kicks her to the floor and we take a break.
Back with Natalya fighting out of the chinlock but getting choked on the ropes for her efforts. The chinlock goes on again so Natalya fights out again for a double clothesline. The belly to back faceplant sends Logan to the apron and she gets in a kick to the face. Natalya blocks the Cloverleaf and kicks her away, setting up the Sharpshooter for the tap at 9:48.
Rating: D+. This is one of those matches that was technically fine but still not something that was going to be anything beyond a standard match. Logan has had nothing to do since the Riott Squad broke up while Natalya will be around WWE until the end of time. She’s going to be on and off of Raw every week and while that is acceptable, it may not be the most thrilling thing.
Video on Seth Rollins vs. the Fiend, starting in the Cell and moving on to Rollins lighting the Firefly Fun House on fire.
Here’s Rey Mysterio, still with his arm in a sling, for a chat. Rey thanks everyone for the love and support he and his family have received since Brock Lesnar took him out. He was thinking about retiring but now he has a new way of thinking because he wants to see Cain Velasquez take the WWE Championship and put another scar on Brock Lesnar. Paul Heyman pops up on screen to ask if Mysterio would say the same things if Lesnar was there in person.
Mysterio thought he had the perfect choice to go after Lesnar but Brock has spent nine years waiting for that day. Rey yells in Spanish but here’s Shelton Benjamin to ask how Cain got a title shot. Just for defending Rey’s kid when Rey couldn’t do it? Shelton and Brock are friends too because they roomed together at the University of Minnesota. Rey says Shelton has it all wrong but Shelton wants to know what happens if he shoves Rey around. Maybe one shove is a US Title shot and two is an Intercontinental Title shot.
Shelton asks where Cain Velasquez is….and here he comes, with Shelton realizing that he’s screwed up. Shelton can’t take him down so Cain tosses him to the mat a few times and hammers away, eventually choking Shelton for a quick tap. That….wasn’t very impressive and the fans don’t seem to care all that much.
Overall Rating: D. I can understand the idea of recapping a lot of the stuff from Raw and Smackdown but this show did little more than to remind you just how uninteresting Raw and Smackdown have been as of late. The stories haven’t worked and it’s like there is nothing to get excited about. Putting big wrestlers against outside athletes isn’t something that is going to get me fired up and the rest of the main stuff is looking towards Crown Jewel, which has a set of problems all its own. Bad show here, as somehow the Mojo Rawley thing interests me more than anything else.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:
http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/
And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at: