Monday Night Raw
Date: January 2, 2017
Location: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves

Welcome to the new year and welcome to the official Road to Wrestlemania. It’s a stacked show this week with three matches announced, including a Last Man Standing match between Braun Strowman and Sami Zayn. On top of that we have the return of Goldberg, which will be followed by the return of Brock Lesnar next week. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Mick Foley, who has lost a lot of hair to go with his weight loss, to open the show. After showing us that he wrote the name of the town on the back of his hand to avoid any further issues, here are Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho to talk about the shark cage. Owens has to say Jericho is being hung up like a sexy pinata before ripping into Foley for giving Roman Reigns another title shot.

Jericho laments Foley putting him in the Cage of Jericho “and locking me in man.” For some reason, this makes Foley want to see the Kevin Owens Show tonight, featuring Goldberg as the first guest. Jericho accuses Foley of abusing his power so here’s Stephanie McMahon to cut them off.

Tonight, Reigns is defending the US Title against Jericho and if Roman is counted out or disqualified, the title changes hands. Stephanie brings up the ratings loss last week (STOP MAKING THAT A PLOT POINT!) so tonight it’s Owens vs. Rollins with the loser being banned from ringside for the US Title match.

Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins

Non-title. Owens bails to the floor to start and takes back to back suicide dives but the champ starts stomping away back inside. Seth gets two off a Blockbuster and we take a break. Back with Owens getting two off the backsplash and Cole repeating the stipulations, which doesn’t make me feel much better.

Rollins gets backdropped to the floor for a big crash but the Cannonball only hits the barricade. Back in and Rollins scores with an enziguri but has to get some blood back into his leg. The Sling Blade drops Owens again and Owens is sent outside where he hits Rollins with the bell for the DQ at 11:49.

Rating: C-. Sweet goodness they’ve beaten this feud into the ground and it’s completely worthless anymore. This was just going through the motions for about twelve minutes for the sake of determining that Owens will be banned from ringside in the main event. If that’s the best they can do for the World Champion, just give it to Reigns already so we can learn to get used to him all over again.

Karl Anderson vs. Cesaro

Sheamus is on commentary. They trade some big power shots to start with Cesaro getting the upper hand as you might expect. We take an early break and come back with Cesaro suplexing him down, giving us a discussion of how strong Cesaro is. Anderson kicks him in the chest so Cesaro uppercuts him in the chin over and over. This prompts a Paula Abdul reference from Saxton, which just makes me want to go watch some old MTV.

Cesaro climbs the corner for a twisting crossbody but a spinebuster gets two. Sheamus goes to the ring to deal with Gallows, prompting Graves to wonder why Sheamus wasn’t down there from the start. The running knee staggers Cesaro but he catches Anderson on the top. Sheamus goes after Gallows though and that knocks Cesaro off, setting up a top rope neckbreaker to give Anderson the pin at 10:50.

Rating: C. So to clarify: the team that lost over and over again to the champs are probably getting another shot at Cesaro and Sheamus who STILL can’t get along. This whole division has just died in the span of a few weeks since New Day lost the belts and it shows how worthless the division is anymore.

Recap of Sami Zayn vs. Braun Strowman.

Video on Goldberg vs. Lesnar plus Goldberg entering the Royal Rumble.

Sami Zayn vs. Braun Strowman

Last man standing, meaning Sami is about to die. Sami gets in a jab and tries some kendo stick shots but Braun just breaks it over his leg. Another stick gets about the same treatment and the moonsault off the barricade is pulled out of the air. A few rams into the post have Strowman staggered until he punches Sami to block the diving DDT. Some clotheslines drop Sami, whose offense is shrugged off over and over again.

Back with Sami being sent off the ramp as the match goes out of the arena, meaning the fans can’t see. As you might expect, this earns some widespread booing. Sami finally sends Braun into the equipment cases so Strowman throws him on top of them. Strowman THROWS A CASE AT HIM and thankfully it doesn’t cause a bad case of death.

Sami cracks him in the back with a chair as they stagger back into the arena. That just earns Zayn a toss onto the stage, followed by a whip into the screen. Zayn chairs him again and Braun is staggered, followed by a crossbody to put Strowman through some tables for a six count but Strowman is reeling.

Sami swings again but Braun grabs the chair and drags him up onto the ramp in another scary power display. The powerslam on the floor gives Braun a seven so Strowman just unloads on him with knees to the head and right hands. Another powerslam on the floor ends Sami at 15:48.

Rating: B. I had a lot more fun with this one than I was expecting to as they gave Sami all the offense they realistically could. It’s also a good sign that Strowman is rapidly getting the hang of wrestling like a monster instead of just standing around and doing power stuff. They beat the heck out of each other here and Strowman selling yet still shrugging the offense off was done quite well.

Sami does a stretcher job but Strowman turns it over.

Video on the Gentleman’s Duel from 205 Live.

Jack Gallagher gives New Day dueling lessons with umbrellas. The hip swivel doesn’t please Gallagher and he walks off.

Here’s New Day for their New Year’s Resolution. 2016 was a good year for them due to setting the Tag Team Title record so now they’re entering the Royal Rumble. Before they can announce their resolutions though, here’s Titus O’Neil doing the New Day entrance and throwing in some dancing. He thinks New Day needs a fourth member and even dances to his own whistle. Titus thinks he would look great on the cereal box but Woods thinks it should be on a milk carton. A match is set up and Titus punches Woods in the jaw.

Xavier Woods vs. Titus O’Neil

Woods kicks away at the legs to start but gets slammed right back down. We hit a chinlock for a bit as the announcers discuss Titus’ dancing abilities. Woods gets in some more kicks and low bridges O’Neil to the floor. The back to back backbreakers drop Woods but he grabs a sunset flip for the pin at 3:52.

Rating: C-. Not bad here but it felt like pure filler, which happens far too often on this show. Woods can go in the ring and I like the fact that he’s getting to show off his in ring skills. It’s not the worst match in the world either and Titus was somewhat entertaining with the New Day tryout.

Bayley comes in to talk to Stephanie about last week’s match against Charlotte. Stephanie never wanted Bayley on this show because she’s just a kid compared to a woman like Charlotte. Bayley says she doesn’t have the famous last name but she belongs here because she’s just who she is. That earns her a #1 contenders match against Nia Jax.

Cedric Alexander and Alicia Fox run into Noam Dar, who apologizes but hits on Alicia even more.

Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak

Gulak takes him down to start as the announcers talk about how tough Drew is for his lack of kneepads. Cedric gets in a quick dropkick to take over but Tony Nese goes after Alicia, setting up a rollup with trunks to give Gulak the pin at 2:25.

US Title: Roman Reigns vs. Chris Jericho

Owens is banned from ringside, Reigns is defending and loses the title if he gets counted out or disqualified. The champ runs Jericho over to start as the fans are split on Reigns. A middle rope dropkick gets two for Jericho so Reigns comes back with his string of clotheslines. Reigns tries the apron dropkick but crashes into the post instead, giving Jericho a near countout as we take a break.

Back with Reigns fighting out of a chinlock and hitting his modified belly to back suplex for two. The Superman Punch is blocked but the Lionsault hits knees. The other finishers are broken up until Jericho grabs the Walls. That lasts as long as you would expect the Walls to last until Jericho goes up top again, only to dive into the Superman Punch for a near fall.

Another spear is broken up and Jericho takes off a turnbuckle pad. That sets up the old Eddie Guerrero grab the belt and pretend to get hit with it spot. The referee doesn’t buy it so instead the Codebreaker gets two. Jericho goes into the exposed buckle and the spear retains the title at 13:06.

Rating: C+. The ending actually deflated me and that’s not a good thing about the top face on a show. There’s just no reason for Reigns to keep the title at this point and everyone has to know it at this point. He’s not helping the title and he doesn’t gain anything by holding it so why keep doing it this way? I mean, other than as a middle finger to the fans who want ANYONE else to hold the title.

TJ Perkins vs. Brian Kendrick

Neville is watching in the back. Perkins gets two off an early dropkick but Kendrick snaps the throat across the top rope to take over. Back up and a hurricanrana off the top drops Kendrick. The Detonation Kick into the kneebar makes Kendrick tap at 2:39.

Video on the UK Title tournament.

Rusev/Jinder Mahal vs. Big Cass

This was supposed to be a tag match but Enzo is still injured. Cass fights them off without much effort to start before Jinder goes after Enzo. The distraction sets up a superkick from Rusev for the pin at 1:32.

Bayley vs. Nia Jax

Charlotte is on commentary and the winner gets the title shot at the Royal Rumble. Bayley’s headlock starts things off and she’s easily tossed around the ring with almost no effort. A cobra clutch has Bayley rag dolled around the ring until Bayley sends her shoulder first into the post. Another charge takes Bayley down though….and here’s Sasha for the distraction, setting up the super Bayley to Belly to pin Jax at 3:21.

Rating: D+. This was exactly what you would expect and there’s not much else to say about it. The commentary might as well have given away the finish before the match even started as they didn’t bring up the possibility of Charlotte vs. Nia until about fifteen seconds before the finish. At least Bayley won and wasn’t completely dead before the finish.

Undertaker and Shawn Michaels are here next week.

It’s time for the Kevin Owens Show with a lawn chair, a table and a man standing in place with a sign over his face. Owens introduces Jericho as his first guest and he’s not happy. See, the fans were chanting for Goldberg just a few minutes ago and that means TAMPA JUST MADE THE LIST.

Jericho has breaking news: he’s the third (sixth) entrant in the Royal Rumble! Owens isn’t pleased but Jericho says no matter what happens, they’re still the champ. Kevin still doesn’t want to do it but he gets cut off by Goldberg’s full entrance. Goldberg throws the chair out of the ring and Jericho isn’t impressed. Jericho: “You know what happens when you destroy the set?” Goldberg: “YEAH! Spear, Jackhammer.”

Owens throws out the rest of the set and the brawl is teased until Paul Heyman breaks it up. He says the Rumble will be elimination, repeat, elimination, repeat but Roman Reigns interrupts as well. That brings Reigns to Lesnar but now it’s Braun coming out to take the mic from a cowering Heyman. Owens and Jericho bail to the floor and Strowman is in the Rumble too. A double spear drops Strowman and posing ends the show.

Overall Rating: D+. This is a show where the length killed it. The show didn’t feel like it was going to be all that great in the first place but then it just kept going to drag it down even further. I’m thoroughly convinced that they’re intentionally ticking us off with the Reigns/Rollins/Owens/Jericho stuff at this point because there’s almost no way anyone could think it’s the best possible option. It’s not interesting, the wrestling isn’t great and it’s very stale. In other words, enjoy three more weeks’ worth of it. The last man standing match was good but it’s stuck in a never ending field of mediocrity that is Raw.

Results

Seth Rollins b. Kevin Owens via DQ when Owens used the ring bell

Karl Anderson b. Cesaro – Top rope neckbreaker

Braun Strowman b. Sami Zayn when Zayn couldn’t answer the ten count

Xavier Woods b. Titus O’Neil – Sunset flip

Drew Gulak b. Cedric Alexander – Rollup with a handful of trunks

TJ Perkins b. Brian Kendrick – Kneebar

Rusev/Jinder Mahal b. Big Cass – Superkick

Bayley b. Nia Jax – Super Bayley to belly

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume V at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQKDV5O

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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Roadblock: End of the Line
Date: December 18, 2016
Location: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves

We’ll wrap up the pay per view calendar with this show, our third pay per view in about a month. This isn’t the hottest card in the world with a fairly lame main event of United States Champion Roman Reigns challenging Kevin Owens for the Universal Title. There’s also an Iron Man match as Sasha Banks defends the Women’s Title against Charlotte. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Rusev vs. Big Cass

This is over Big Cass defending Enzo Amore, who tried to sleep with Rusev’s life. Before the match, Enzo says something about Lana owing him money and Rusev playing Jumanji in the hotel room. Enzo puts on a red nose and Cass lists off the eight reindeer. Cass kicks Rusev in the face and we take a break less than thirty seconds in.

Back with Cass hammering away and dropping the Empire Elbow for no cover. They head outside Rusev taking him out into the crowd, leaving Enzo to go after Lana. Rusev defends his wife while Cass checks on Enzo, leaving Rusev to beat the count at 4:33. Not enough for a rating but this was rematch bait.

The opening video has a police chase theme with the idea being that everything ends at the end of the line.

Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Cesaro/Sheamus

New Day is defending. Big E. is confused about what the show is called because he thinks it’s a rather different, very un-PG kind of blocking. I’ll let you figure out what the joke there is. Woods suggests that the challengers should be called Swing Low Irish Chariot. Cesaro dropkicks Kofi at the bell for two and it’s already time for the uppercut train. It’s too early for the Swing so Sheamus clotheslines Kofi instead.

The slingshot shoulder gets two on Kingston and Swiss Death is good for the same. This has been completely one sided so far. Kofi breaks up the ten forearms and brings in Big E. for the spear off the apron. The Warrior Splash gets two on Sheamus and everything breaks down. Sheamus kicks Cesaro by mistake and Woods kicks Cesaro by design, setting up the Big Ending for a very close two.

The Midnight Hour is broken up and Big E. gets the Brogue Kick. Cesaro Swings Kofi into the Sharpshooter for the submission….but Woods has the referee. Cesaro lifts Kofi up into a suplex and rolls into the Neutralizer for two with Big E. making the save this time. That was some scary power, as is always the case with Cesaro.

Woods sacrifices himself to take the Brogue Kick and the SOS gets two on Sheamus. Cesaro comes in without a tag (though Sheamus was right next to him), meaning Kofi kicks Cesaro for no count. Instead Sheamus sneaks in and rolls Kofi up for the pin and the titles at 10:00.

Rating: B-. The ending was really good but I have no interest in Sheamus and Cesaro holding the belts. It’s more than fine to take them off New Day now but you really couldn’t do this at the Rumble against Enzo and Cass or ANYONE that might draw some interest? People didn’t care about Cesaro and Sheamus at first and I doubt they will now, but this was going to happen no matter what.

New Day gets the big show of respect and we get the battle for the spotlight from the new champs.

Kevin Owens doesn’t care about New Day because that will never happen to him. After insulting the interviewer, Owens flags down Chris Jericho and gives him a present. Jericho isn’t impressed with his holiday scarf.

Sami Zayn vs. Braun Strowman

Ten minute time limit as Raw GM Mick Foley is scared for Sami’s health. The ring announcer says Sami must last ten minutes though, which makes things a bit unclear. So can Sami not even go for wins? Sami dodges for the first thirty seconds and Braun no sells a chop. Braun gets his hands on Sami for a big toss and kicks him in the ribs for good measure.

We’re down to eight minutes as Sami knocks Braun over the top, only to have Strowman come back in and hammer away with ease. The referee starts to check on Sami with about six minutes to go but Zayn wants to keep going. Braun lets Sami stumble around as we get down to five minutes. Some very hard clotheslines take us to four minutes and here’s Foley with a white towel.

Sami is thrown down at Mick’s feet and Braun goes outside to talk trash. Zayn grabs the towel and throws it into the crowd with two minutes left. Strowman promises to finish this himself but misses a charge into the post. Another missed charge sends Braun through the barricade but Strowman beats the count with 47 seconds left. A third missed charge hits the post and Sami gets two off a high crossbody. Sami is knocked to the floor but comes back in for the Helluva Kick as time ends at 10:00 (really 10:12).

Rating: D+. Corey sums it up perfectly: Sami didn’t win anything here. He just didn’t get killed. This really belonged as an angle on Raw to set up the pay per view match instead of being the match itself. Sami hitting his finisher (which didn’t knock Braun down) to end the match was a nice touch but I really have no idea where this goes outside of Braun beating Sami in another match.

Package on the UK tournament.

We recap Chris Jericho vs. Seth Rollins. Jericho lost to Rollins several times but then started costing Rollins matches against Owens. This earned Jericho a Pedigree on top of a car and that means a match.

Seth Rollins vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho headlocks him to start and does the Gift of Jericho pose. Chris stops him with a raised boot and the missile dropkick gets two. A rake of the eyes slows Rollins down (he even makes like he can’t see for a bit, which you almost never see anymore) but he’s easily able to catapult Jericho into the buckle.

Jericho gets in a clothesline and we hit the ASK HIM chinlock. Back up and Rollins fires off some right hands followed by the Slingblade. A Blockbuster gets two and Jericho gets shoved out to the floor. Rollins’ springboard knee is countered into the Walls which last about as long as you would expect them to. Now the Lionsault is good for two and Seth’s Falcon’s Arrow gets the same.

Rollins tries the Pedigree but Jericho powers out and gets in a hurricanrana, which transitions into the Walls. Seth counters that with a small package for two, followed by the frog splash. Cue Owens for a distraction, just as Jericho grabs a small package. The Pedigree is countered again but Jericho stops to yell at Owens, allowing Seth to get in the jumping knee. Rollins gets the Pedigree for the pin at 17:12.

Rating: B+. I really liked this one as Jericho’s roll continues. You can almost pencil in Jericho vs. Owens for the Rumble and that story is going to write itself very well. Rollins getting the pin makes sense and maybe we can FINALLY do the blowoff between him and HHH so Rollins can move on with his career.

Pre-show recap. Cass vs. Rusev II is set for tomorrow night.

Cruiserweight Title: Brian Kendrick vs. TJ Perkins vs. Rich Swann

Swann is defending and Austin Aries is sitting in on commentary. One heck of a forearm puts Kendrick on the floor, leaving Perkins to take the champ down. Swann hurricanranas both guys down at the same time (Aries: “I’ve done it before.”) but gets caught in the Captain’s Hook.

Perkins makes the save with the kneebar but Swann makes a save of his own. Cole: “Who is the favorite now?” Aries: “I would be if I was in there.” Kendrick gets tossed and Perkins slaps on another kneebar, sending Swann to the ropes. That’s not a break in a triple threat but Perkins lets go anyway. Back up and Swann kicks Perkins in the head to retain at 5:59.

Rating: D+. Can we please, please, PLEASE get Aries anything he wants? He was by far and away the most interesting thing about this match as he just commands respect and I completely buy him as the greatest cruiserweight of all time. I mean, I know he’s not but he gives you the belief that he is and that’s what matters.

Post match Neville makes his return to celebrate with Swann before turning heel (!) and destroying all three. Fans: “THANK YOU NEVILLE!” I can totally go for this, though the idea that Neville weighs under 205lbs is downright laughable.

Owens goes to Jericho’s locker room but Chris won’t let him in. Kevin tells him to put his name on the list but Jericho still doesn’t open the door. That hurts Owens’ feelings and he walks away.

Recap of Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte. They’ve traded the title for months and this is the final match.

Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks

Banks is defending and this is a thirty minute iron man match, though JoJo says the winner is the woman with the most pinfalls. I’m going to assume that’s an error because nothing like that was ever mentioned before. Feeling out process to start and they hit the mat for the first two minutes. Banks headlocks her down and things stay slow to start. Some chops have Charlotte in more trouble but it’s too early for the Banks Statement.

Another attempt fails just as much so Banks opts for a dropkick instead. Banks: “Your daddy loves me more!” Sasha wraps her up in something like a rear naked choke but Charlotte drops her back onto the mat for two. Charlotte heads outside and takes the double knees as we hit eight minutes in. A cross arm choke has Charlotte in more trouble but she doesn’t tap out as we get to ten minutes.

Sasha throws her outside for a suicide crossbody, only to be tripped face first into the steps in a bad looking crash. We’re twelve minutes in now as the referee slows things down a bit to check on Sasha. Three straight knees get two on the champ but another one misses to give Sasha a breather. Charlotte does the figure four headscissors and we’re at the halfway mark.

Something like a neckbreaker onto the knee gets two on Sasha and Charlotte seems to be getting frustrated. Natural Selection connects for two but Banks can’t get the Bank Statement. Instead Charlotte is put on top, only to come back with a super Natural Selection for the first fall with 10:45 to go.

Charlotte talks a lot of trash but can’t get another fall as we hit nine minutes left. Banks goes to the air and spins into a rollup for the tie with 8:43 to go. That means Charlotte needs to get aggressive, only to have Sasha grab the Bank Statement for the tap out with six minutes left. Charlotte gets smart by draping the knee over the middle rope and crashing down onto it as the clock keeps ticking.

Some cannonballs down onto the knee set up a leglock as we’ve got three minutes left. A not great Figure Four goes on with two minutes left and Sasha is in big trouble. The hold is turned over a few times until Sasha gets caught in the middle of the ring. We’re down to thirty seconds left and Banks screams a lot. Charlotte FINALLY turns it into the Figure Eight and Banks taps with two seconds left, meaning it’s a draw at 30:00.

This is the END OF THE LINE though so let’s do sudden death. Charlotte gets in a shot at the bad leg before the bell rings and a small package gets two for the champ seconds into the extra period. The Bank Statement goes on but Charlotte grabs the bad leg to break the hold. It’s turned into a Figure Four and Sasha (with a bloody mouth) taps to the Figure Eight at 2:58 of overtime.

Rating: B. Well that happened. I’m completely out of things to talk about with these two trading the title because WWE has no concept of how to wrap up a feud in an appropriate manner. Charlotte winning is fine, though the question now is who challenges her next. I know the obvious answer is Bayley, but do you trust them to do something that logical?

We recap Owens vs. Reigns. Roman beat him a few weeks ago to earn another shot here tonight but the big story is about the drama between Jericho and Owens.

Universal Title: Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns

Owens is defending and I’ll only refer to him as champion for the sake of simplicity. Kevin quickly bails to the floor but gets punched in the mouth for his efforts. Something like a spinebuster gets two for Reigns but the threat of a jumping clothesline sends Owens outside. The champ takes over on the floor and hits the backsplash off the steps, followed by the chinlock back inside.

Owens wants to know why Reigns didn’t put his title on the line but suspects it’s a lack of testicular fortitude. A standing flip legdrop of all things gets two on Roman and it’s back to the chinlock. Reigns finally powers out and drives Owens into the corner, only to have the champ throw him down with a German suplex. The Superman Punch is countered into a DDT for two more.

Reigns no sells the Cannonball and hits the Superman Punch for two of his own and both guys are down. Owens goes up top and gets Superman Punched again but still manages to grab the swinging superplex. A Swanton Bomb hits Roman’s raised knees and it’s spear time. It might be the big scream before the spear but somehow Owens knows to bail to the floor. Reigns gets suckered in and a splash off the apron onto the announcers’ table doesn’t break the table.

The second attempt works though and Reigns’ ribs are hurt again. Reigns dives in at nine so Owens bolts to the top for another frog splash and the accompanying near fall. Roman’s sitout powerbomb and Owens’ Pop Up Powerbomb get two each and the champ doesn’t know what to do. He goes outside for the title belt, earning himself a spear as he comes back inside. Cue Jericho, who looks back and forth at both guy. A Codebreaker to Owens draws the DQ at 23:33.

Rating: B. Good, though the waiting for Jericho took a little away from it. Unfortunately this shows the problem with Reigns being US Champion coming into this match: what good does it do to tie the title up in this match with no challenger for the title in sight? Yeah Owens vs. Jericho will be fine but sweet goodness enough with the champion vs. champion nonsense.

Jericho raises Owens’ hand because IT WAS A SWERVE to end the show. Uh, couldn’t he just tap Reigns and get the same result? Rollins comes out and helps with the beatdown, including a DoubleBomb to put Jericho through the table. Owens goes through the announcers’ table to end the show to almost no reaction.

Overall Rating: B+. I liked this a lot more than I thought I would but it’s a great example of a show I’m never going to watch again. Other than Charlotte getting the title back like we’ve seen before, nothing was really interesting here, though I can always go for a night of good wrestling. That being said, they really, REALLY need something fresh in the main event scene on Raw because “oh wait they’re still best friends who get beaten up by the Shield guys” was tired a month ago.

Results

Cesaro/Sheamus b. New Day – Small package to Kingston

Sami Zayn b. Braun Strowman by surviving the time limit

Seth Rollins b. Chris Jericho – Pedigree

Rich Swann b. TJ Perkins and Brian Kendrick – Spinning kick to the head

Charlotte b. Sasha Banks three falls to two

Kevin Owens b. Roman Reigns via DQ when Chris Jericho interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume V at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQKDV5O

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: December 12, 2016
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves

It’s the go home show for Roadblock: End of the Line (because there were NO OTHER NAMES FOR A PAY PER VIEW BESIDES ROADBLOCK so they had to use the name twice) but we’ve got two big deals to get through before the pay per view. Tonight we have the long awaited debut of the made over Emmalina as well as New Day trying to extend their Tag Team Title reign one more day in the hopes of matching Demolition’s all time record. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Anderson and Gallows vs. Cesaro/Sheamus

New Day is defending and if they keep the titles, they tie the record for the longest Tag Team Title reign in WWE history. Woods talks about how this is their chance to elevate every New Day fan ever, along with Woods’ grandma. However, Xavier doesn’t get the idea of one more triple threat. Kofi says New Day IS the triple threat with Woods as the brain, Kofi as the handsome finesse and Big E. as the big, thick, meaty third leg.

Kofi and Cesaro start things off and the spinning high crossbody gives Kingston an early two. A dropkick sends Sheamus into the corner so the champs can run him over for two. Anderson and Gallows get to take over on Kofi and it’s off to a break. Back with Big E. down and Anderson and Gallows hitting something like a running Demolition Decapitator (nice touch) for two on Kofi. Sheamus tags himself in and starts cleaning house with the Philadelphia fans getting way into the ten forearms to the chest.

Big E. dives in to save the cover but gets an Irish Curse for his efforts. The Boot of Doom gets two on Sheamus with Cesaro making the save this time. That’s enough for the hot tag to Cesaro, who busts out all of his favorites, capped off with a high crossbody for two on Karl. Anderson gets caught in the Swing into the Sharpshooter but Big E. makes the save, only to have Cesaro hurricanrana his way out of a powerbomb. A Hart Atack with a Brogue Kick drops Anderson but Kofi runs in with Trouble in Paradise to pin Sheamus at 11:57.

Rating: B. I find it interesting that New Day won this clean instead of doing a heel turn, or really anything heelish for that matter. Of course there’s always the chance that something is done later in the night to screw this up but for now, that’s one of the unbreakable record that I never would have expected to be broken coming down.

The place goes NUTS for the record as New Day celebrates.

Back from a break with New Day arriving at their celebration party. After we stop to hug Stephanie, champagne is poured and goes right into Stephanie’s eyes. She throws the big bowl of BootyO’s everywhere and storms off because we haven’t had enough Stephanie moments lately. We just saw (what should have been) one of the longest, most untouchable records in WWE history matched and broken but no, because WE NEED A STEPHANIE STORY!

We look back at Sami Zayn/Braun Strowman/Mick Foley’s issues over the last few weeks. Sami has said he wants a match with Strowman “or else”.

Back with Stephanie all covered in champagne (because we’re supposed to believe that the smartest, most amazing woman that ever lived didn’t realize that she might get covered with champagne in a celebration INVOLVING CHAMPAGNE BEING SPRAYED EVERYWHERE) when Owens comes in to ask for a yet to be determined favor.

Braun Strowman vs. Curtis Axel

Splash, torture rack, wheelbarrow slam, Braun wins at 1:14.

Braun says Foley is protecting Sami because Sami can’t last two minutes against him. Foley is watching from the back when Sami comes in to demand the match on Sunday. No one saved Foley and Mick wouldn’t be where he is now if someone did. Mick says he’ll put Sami up against anyone on the roster but Strowman. That’s interpreted as Foley believing Sami can’t do it so Sami says if Mick won’t give him the opportunity, then maybe he doesn’t need to be on Raw anymore. Foley says he’ll call Daniel Bryan and work out a trade.

Ariya Daivari vs. Lince Dorado

Daivari knocks him to the floor to start but here’s Jack Gallagher to interfere. Gallagher has a mic though and actually announces his intentions to interfere in this match (because it would be ungentlemanly to not announce it in advance) because Daivari is a right scoundrel who deserves a proper thrashing. Jack officially comes in for the DQ at 2:37.

It’s time for Seth Rollins with the Rollins Report. After saying he wants HHH again, Rollins wants to know if Kevin Owens will be in Chris Jericho’s corner this Sunday so he brings out Owens as his guest. Owens comes to the stage….and sits on his own stool. Seth asks about the friendship with Jericho so Owens says they’ll have each others backs. As for tonight though, Owens will be teaming with Jericho against New Day for the Tag Team Titles.

Cue Jericho to say he thinks Owens is nuts. Owens loves the idea of stopping New Day’s bid for the record but Rollins suggests that Owens is trying to order Jericho around. Rollins calls Jericho sparkle crotch and that means HE……is going to make Jericho drop his pen. He’s going to put Rollins on the disabled list instead. The Canadians head to the ring and beat Seth down. Reigns comes out for the WAY too late save and the Canadians bail.

Rich Swann recaps the incident on 205 Live that set up Sunday’s Cruiserweight Title triple threat. Brian Kendrick comes in and threatens to stab Swann in the back. TJ Perkins comes in to laugh at Kendrick and it’s time for a match.

TJ Perkins vs. Brian Kendrick

An early wristlock doesn’t get Kendrick very far and he has to bail from the kneebar. The Wrecking Ball dropkick knocks Brian outside and we take a break. Back with Perkins hitting a jumping spin kick to the head and a springboard missile dropkick for two. The Captain’s Hook is countered into the kneebar so Kendrick dives over to the ropes. Back up and Sliced Bread #2 gives Kendrick the pin at 8:24.

Rating: C-. So flash back to any time these two have fought in the last few months and update the details as necessary. This wasn’t interesting because neither of the wrestlers are interesting. The triple threat has some potential but for the life of me I never need to see these two fight again.

Foley adds Rollins/Reigns to the Tag Team Title match because it’s Philadelphia and we need another three way dance.

Charlotte and Sasha Banks will have no rematch after Sunday.

Video on Sasha vs. Charlotte.

Bayley vs. Alicia Fox

This is over a destroyed Bayley Bear. Bayley rides her to the mat to start and rides Fox for a bit, earning some HEY WE WANT SOME BAYLEY chants. The ax kick gets two for Fox but she spends too much time talking trash and walks into the Bayley to Belly for the pin at 2:45.

Here are Lana and Rusev to make fun of Enzo Amore. They’ve got some footage of what happened after the doors closed last week and of course we don’t get to see it. They make some more fun of Enzo until Big Cass comes out to brawl. Rusev and Lana bail, likely setting up a match on Sunday.

Jericho suggests that winning the Tag Team Titles might help his friendship with Owens.

Emmalina’s debut is postponed.

Sami Zayn vs. Jinder Mahal

Sami dropkicks him to start but gets kneed in the face to give Jinder what is likely a short term advantage. The chinlock keeps Sami down until the exploder and Helluva Kick give him the pin at 3:20.

Rating: D+. This was just a way to possibly write Sami off Raw, assuming they send Sami over to Smackdown like he should have been in the first place. Mahal is fine for a spot like this, though I find it hard to believe that this match was already set up coming into tonight’s show. Granted I can live with this though because IT’S NOT MAHAL VS. DARREN YOUNG!!!

Post match Mick comes out to say that Sami will be traded to Smackdown for a talent to be named. All he has to do is sign the deal, but first Mick offers to tell him who the talent will be. The official offer will be Sami for……Eva Marie. Sami goes nuts because he’s worth 100 Eva Marie’s and he’s tired of making up for Foley’s mistakes. He actually grabs Mick’s shirt and shoves him away because he wants Strowman so badly.

Foley agrees to make the match for Roadblock but says Sami better have the anger ready. There was never any trade proposed (the paper was blank) because Foley wouldn’t trade him. The only catch is there’s a ten minute time limit (earlier tonight Braun said Sami couldn’t last two minutes) because that’s all Mick is willing to risk Sami’s health.

Video on John Cena hosting Saturday Night Live.

Recap of New Day’s night.

Tag Team Titles: Seth Rollins/Roman Reigns vs. Chris Jericho/Kevin Owens vs. New Day

New Day is defending and has the chance to surpass Demolition’s record reign. Again. Woods and Rollins start things off with a Sling Blade dropping Xavier. It’s off to Reigns vs. Big E. with E.’s spear being blocked by a raised knee. Jericho gets smart by tagging himself in to take over on Big E., including a top rope back elbow to the jaw. Owens and Big E. are both dropped by a double clothesline so it’s back to Woods.

Xavier is taken to the top and it’s almost a double Canadian superplex, only to have everyone else get involved for the super Tower of Doom to send us to a break. Back with Owens holding Woods in a chinlock until he misses the backsplash. The hot tag brings in Big E. to clean house with the belly to belly suplexes. We hit the hip swivel and the Warrior splash crushes Jericho, only to have Seth tag himself in. Everything breaks down again and Seth suicide dives onto Chris.

Another one takes out Big E., followed by a third to get rid of Kofi and Big E. at the same time. Jericho’s Codebreaker to Reigns is countered into a sitout powerbomb for a hot two. The Superman Punch nails Owens and Jericho rolls Reigns up for an even hotter near fall. Woods makes a blind tag and hits his really long top rope elbow for two on Roman. A knee to the face drops Woods but Rollins superkicks Owens to the floor.

Jericho crotches Rollins on top and Owens adds a Cannonball. The Lionsault gets two on Woods (I bought it for a second) and it’s off to the Walls to put Xavier in even more trouble. Woods turns it over and small packages him for two but he walks into a Pop Up Codebreaker. Rollins dives in for the save by shoving Owens into Jericho to break up the pin (smart). That means CANADIAN ARGUING, leaving Rollins to Pedigree Jericho. Big E. pulls Seth to the floor and Woods covers to retain at 20:23.

Rating: B+. This whole match is summed up with one line: New Day retained. That’s the only logical way to end this and it’s all that matters in the grand scheme of things. Now what makes it even better is they had some outstanding near falls and false finishes. New Day breaking the record makes the most sense and that’s what matters, no matter how you look at it.

Post match Owens and Jericho yell at each other with Chris saying they’re done. Jericho leaves and tells Owens to turn around, allowing Reigns to spear him to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. It really is amazing how well something can work when you tease a bad ending and then do the smart thing to send the fans home happy. I really liked the show this week as Raw has found a bit better balance. New Day retaining in two very good matches is the right way to go about things and the show was a lot of fun as a result. I don’t really care about Roadblock but at least we had a great go home show.

Results

New Day b. Cesaro/Sheamus and Anderson and Gallows – Trouble in Paradise to Sheamus

Braun Strowman b. Curtis Axel – Wheelbarrow slam

Ariya Daivari b. Lince Dorado via DQ when Jack Gallagher interfered

Brian Kendrick b. TJ Perkins – Sliced Bread #2

Bayley b. Alicia Fox – Bayley to Belly

Sami Zayn b. Jinder Mahal – Helluva Kick

New Day b. Roman Reigns/Seth Rollins and Chris Jericho/Kevin Owens – Pedigree to Jericho

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume V at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQKDV5O

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: November 28, 2016
Location: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves

It’s another big week for Monday Night Raw as there are two title matches announced coming into the show. This week we have New Day coming down the home stretch to the Tag Team Title record with a defense against Anderson and Gallows, plus Charlotte defending the Women’s Title against Sasha Banks (again). Let’s get to it.

We open with a look at last week’s main event.

Here’s Chris Jericho to open us up with the Highlight Reel. This week’s guest is Kevin Owens, who is setting a record with his second consecutive appearance on the show. Owens rips on America in general for their actions on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, which you would never see from Canadians like them.

They’re thankful for each other but Jericho is also thankful for Seth Rollins, who blew another title shot last week. People have been accusing Jericho of interfering last week but that was clearly Sin Cara wearing a Chris Jericho match. “He got the Mast of Jericho and he put it on maaaaan.” Apparently Rollins isn’t medically cleared to be here tonight so here’s Roman Reigns instead. Jericho calls Reigns a joke but Roman thinks Owens being Universal Champion is the real joke.

Owens stumbles over the name of his title so Reigns says Owens would have lost that title in any of his recent defenses. That’s enough for Jericho who asks if Reigns knows what that means but Owens tells Jericho to shut up because he’s got this (smart move as YOU JUST MADE THE LIST would have gotten a face pop). Owens threatens to powerbomb on the apron just like Rollins, which sounds fine to Reigns. Roman thinks if he wins tonight, he should get a title shot at Roadblock. The match is made.

Post break, Kevin and Chris get in an argument over whether or not Owens needs him. They split up until Mick Foley comes in to say Jericho won’t interfere in the match tonight. Jericho is more than willing to walk away on his own.

R-Truth vs. Braun Strowman

Truth gets in a few shots but the powerslam puts him away in 38 seconds.

Post match Goldust goes after Strowman until Sami Zayn runs in for some revenge after last week. This goes as badly as you would expect it to with Sami being put in the Tree of Woe again. Foley comes out to help break it up as we take a break. Back with Foley saying Sami is never going to quit, meaning he needs to be saved from himself.

That sets Sami off on a rant about Foley being bossed around by Stephanie. Foley says he saved Sami’s job by making Zayn vs. Strowman because Stephanie was going to fire him for not winning the Intercontinental Title (GOOD GRIEF PICK A SIDE WITH STEPHANIE ALREADY!). Sami wants Foley to be himself because he’s a hero to these people. All Sami sees when he looks at Foley is a hypocrite.  All I saw was Foley’s teeth falling out as he talked for a very weird visual.

Charlotte is ready for her championship celebration and sends Dana off to get things ready.

Cedric Alexander vs. Tony Nese

Cedric is the hometown boy and starts fast with a monkey flip. We see Alicia Fox watching in the back and smiling rather heartily at Cedric. Drew Gulak trips Alexander up so Nese can get two off a moonsault. We hit a bodyscissors for a bit until Cedric knees him in the face. Gulak offers another distraction though and a pumphandle driver ends Alexander at 3:24.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here but they’re setting up people as the cruiserweights get their own show tomorrow night. If Rich Swann gets the title tomorrow, Nese could be a potential first challenger for the title, which would be an upgrade over Brian Kendrick’s nothing character.

Enzo and Big Cass shill merchandise for Cyber Monday.

We recap the Jericho/Owens issues.

Jericho is offended at being asked if this argument is real. He goes to his care and the limo driver knocks the List out of his hands, only to have Rollins appear and beat Jericho down, including a big Pedigree on top of a car.

Raw Women’s Title: Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte

Charlotte is defending and we get Big Match Intros. Sasha gets in the Banks Statement about thirty seconds in but Charlotte is no Lesnar and makes the ropes. They’re quickly on the floor with Sasha being sent into the barricade to set up some chops. It’s actually a double countout at 3:09.

Rating: D+. What am I even supposed to say about this? I know WWE loves to keep these two fighting forever but I’m getting a little tired of it, especially when this is almost a guaranteed way to set up something else between them down the line. Of course this didn’t have time to go anywhere but what we got was the usual goodness between them.

Hang on a second as here’s Foley to say they’re restarting this match later tonight with no countouts, no disqualifications and falls count anywhere.

Rusev vs. Enzo Amore

Enzo says Rusev had the luckiest day of his life last week and it came on the luckiest day of his wife’s life because she got to see why Enzo is the realest guy in the room. We hear what Rusev and Lana might have had for Thanksgiving dinner but Enzo thinks she was thinking about him stuffing her turkey. A low blow DQ’s Rusev at 30 seconds.

Mark Henry is in a new movie and shoves Titus O’Neil down for saying it should have been his part.

Rich Swann vs. Noam Dar

Brian Kendrick is on commentary to yell about how he’s the champ and won’t be going anywhere because he needs to take care of his family. Swann starts fast as is his custom but Dar sends him throat first into the bottom rope to take over. A neck crank goes nowhere and it’s Swann’s spinning kick to the head ending Dar at 3:29.

Rating: C-. Words cannot express how much anything associated with Kendrick sucks the life out of a show. The guy is one of the least interesting heels in a long time and is really just there. You know what he reminds me of? Chavo Guerrero as ECW Champion. Yeah he can have watchable matches but there’s no energy to him at all and no one is looking forward to his matches.

Post match Swann calls Kendrick out and promises to win the title.

Sheamus and Cesaro are in a bar and talk about being the best team in WWE, even though they can’t stand each other. Various drunk guys come up and make fun of them, triggering a bar fight with the wrestlers cleaning house. They celebrate with a drink and seem to be on the same page.

Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens

Non-title. Owens jumps him before the bell but Reigns says ring the bell anyway (WAY too common anymore). The beating is on in a hurry with Owens knocking him to the floor before a backsplash gets two inside. Back with Reigns hitting a clothesline but having to put the brakes on to avoid hitting the referee.

That means a chinlock and Cannonball, followed by a long chinlock to keep Reigns down. Another backsplash hits knees though and they trade big forearms. A superkick gets two for Owens but he takes so long going up that Reigns nails a Superman Punch. Another one off the steps knocks Kevin silly and the spear finishes clean at 14:33.

Rating: C. Of course that’s the only way they can set up the pay per view rematch. It’s not like they could have had Owens get counted out or something (because we just HAD TO DO THAT FINISH earlier) because the solution was to just pin one of the weakest booked champions in recent years.

Owens is annoyed at being asked about the match. He blames Foley for the loss because he should have been at Jericho’s side. They’re still best friends you see.

We get a sitdown interview with Paul Heyman, who says he and Brock Lesnar screwed up by underestimating Goldberg. After twelve years on the sidelines, Goldberg stepped into the ring and cracked Lesnar’s ribs with a spear. This is now part of Lesnar’s legacy and it’s an embarrassment. The loss makes Lesnar think he has something to prove, which really scares Heyman, who doesn’t know what it’s going to turn Lesnar into. If Goldberg is in the Royal Rumble, so is Brock, which means there will be one conqueror, 28 losers, and one victim.

Emmalina video.

Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Andeson and Gallows

New Day is defending of course. An early powerbomb gets two on Woods and a fireman’s carry flapjack gets the same. With Big E. down on the floor, Gallows kicks Woods in the head as we go to a break. Back with Big E. coming in off the hot tag to clean house. A belly to belly suplex drops Anderson but a Gallows distraction lets Karl get in a kick to the chest.

That earns Anderson the spear through the ropes but the Midnight Hour is broken up with a boot to the head. The Magic Killer doesn’t work either so Woods blasts Anderson with forearms to the face. Karl tries a rollup with a handful of trunks but Woods reverses into one of his own to retain at 9:58.

Rating: C. The match was fine but there was no way the titles were changing with two weeks to go before the record. If they’re going to do that (and I’m not sure who it would be against unless we get Cesaro and Sheamus again), it’s not going to be until two days before the record is broken. New Day still cheated again but it felt more like the fun cheating instead of the evil version last week.

Bayley gives Sasha a pep talk and it turns into a speech about the greatness of Ric Flair.

Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks

Charlotte is defending and this is anything goes with falls counting anywhere. Sasha starts fast by knocking the champ outside and scoring with a suicide dive. A double clothesline puts both women down as we take a break. Back with Sasha fighting out of a bodyscissors and kneeing Charlotte in the face.

The double knees in the corner miss though and a big boot knocks Sasha off the apron for two on the floor. Natural Selection on the floor gets the same and the champ is annoyed. The annoyance takes so long that Sasha pulls out a kendo stick and swings away, drawing the ECW chants. Charlotte knocks her down again and grabs the Figure Eight, only to have a stick shot break it up.

They fight towards the announcers’ table where Charlotte moonsaults onto Sasha….or at least a few feet to Sasha’s right, for a near fall. Sasha gets in a Thesz press off the barricade for two more and both of them are down. They head into the crowd and Sasha ties her up in a handrail, setting up the Bank Statement to make Charlotte tap at 16:28.

Rating: B. I’m not sure how many more times I can put this the same way: the match was good, Charlotte missed the big spot, and Sasha gets the title back. She’s held the title twice before with both reigns lasting twenty seven days. It’s really hard to care again when we’ve seen this multiple times and it’s ended in less than a month both times. Still though, good stuff.

Ric Flair comes out, raises Sasha’s hand, and is gone in less than thirty seconds. Banks celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was an awkward show as it had good wrestling but the stories felt slapped together. It’s really amazing how fast Smackdown turned around to be ready for Tables, Ladders and Chairs but Raw seems to be scrambling with twice as much time before Roadblock. I liked the show but they need to tighten things up a bit, which doesn’t mean threatening us with more Stephanie anger.

Results

Braun Strowman b. R-Truth – Running powerslam

Tony Nese b. Cedric Alexander – Pumphandle driver

Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks went to a double countout

Enzo Amore b. Rusev via DQ when Rusev hit him low

Rich Swann b. Noam Dar – Spinning kick to the head

Roman Reigns b. Kevin Owens – Spear

New Day b. Anderson and Gallows – Rollup with a handful of trunks

Sasha Banks b. Charlotte – Bank Statement

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume V at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQKDV5O

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: November 21, 2016
Location: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

We’re still in Toronto as the big pay per view weekends are starting to feel like an old Raw TV cycle. The big story last night is Brock Lesnar’s complete destruction at the hands of Goldberg, who beat him in a mind blowing 87 seconds. Tonight we get started towards Roadblock in about four weeks so let’s get to it.

We open with stills of Lesnar vs. Goldberg because a match running less than a minute and a half needs to be clipped.

Here’s Goldberg getting the full entrance to open things up. Goldberg thanks the fans for letting him be Goldberg again. He also thanks his wife and son for putting up with him and he got to be a star again one more time. Last night he ran into Stephanie McMahon who said he did have one more spear and Jackhammer in him (three spears and two Jackhammers if you’re counting) but the question is does he have one more title run left in him. The fans go NUTS over that prospect and Goldberg says he’s in the Royal Rumble.

Raw Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Sheamus/Cesaro

New Day is defending and talk about breaking Demolition’s record for longest Tag Team Title reign in just 23 days. A powerslam gives Cesaro two on Big E. to start but Kofi escapes an early Swing attempt. Instead Cesaro sends him into the barricade and we take a break. Back with Kofi dropkicking Sheamus out of the air but getting Irish Cursed for two.

Sheamus won’t tag out though and we get some heel (I think?) miscommunication with Cesaro being knocked off the apron. The hot tag brings in Big E. to clean house as everything breaks down. The Warrior Splash gets two on Sheamus but he rakes Big E.’s eyes to set up White Noise for the same.

It’s back to Cesaro vs. Kofi with the Uppercut Train taking off, only to have an SOS get two. Trouble in Paradise is countered into a Cesaro Swing which goes into the Sharpshooter. The Brogue Kick puts Big E. down but Woods gets on the apron for the distraction as Kofi taps. Ever the moron, Cesaro lets the hold go and gets small packaged for the pin at 12:18.

Rating: C+. So they seem to be turning New Day heel. I think I can actually go with that as I’d much rather go there than have Cesaro and Sheamus stop them just before the record. Obviously they haven’t gotten there yet and there’s always the possibility that they’ll switch the titles with two days to go, but at least they didn’t do it here.

Chris Jericho is distraught that the List of Jericho was destroyed last night. Tonight, he’s going to say who’s to blame for this travesty.

Enzo Amore is stuck outside his locker room…..and he’s missing his clothes. After running into the Shining Stars and Titus O’Neil with the expected results. Enzo runs into Lana and, of course, asks how she’s doing. Rusev comes in to yell and Cass comes to Enzo’s defense. There’s no offer of a shirt for Enzo or anything but a match is set up for later.

Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon do their standard “we’re awesome” segment and talk about needing to punish the Raw stars who lost last night. Sami Zayn comes in and gets a match against Braun Strowman. So Foley is a heel too.

Ariya Daivari vs. Cedric Alexander

Before the match, Daivari says Canadians are just as bad as Americans and rants in some foreign language. Alexander armbars him before the bell but Daivari takes over as the match gets started. Cedric’s springboard is broken up into a big crash but he nails a handspring into a kick to the face. Another springboard into a clothesline sets up the Lumbar Check for the pin on Daivari at 3:10.

Rating: C+. The match was fine, even entertaining at times, but as usual I have no reason to care. I’m not sure if the 205 Live show is the solution but maybe they can get the focus back and find some of that spark that made Cruiserweight Classic so entertaining. This was better than the usual stuff at least.

It’s time for the Highlight Reel with a serious Jericho wanting to find out what happened with the List of Jericho. Kevin Owens cuts him off and asks when Chris upgraded to the Jeritron 6500. Jericho isn’t happy with Owens for not realizing he was there when Jericho upgraded.

We see Owens saving Jericho from the Styles Clash with the List of Jericho, sending Jericho into a rant about everything that could have been seen. Owens: “Who cares???” That seems to be a breaking point for Jericho, because he cares. Owens yells at Jericho for screwing up by walking into an RKO a few seconds after he sacrificed himself. If that’s how Owens feels, maybe they don’t have much of a friendship.

Owens is never there when Jericho needs him and Chris is done with him. Kevin spins him around and they both blame Roman Reigns, setting up a big hug. The ranting goes on about Reigns and Rollins (who are hair conditioner brothers) until Seth comes out, demanding his title shot tonight. The brawl is on and here’s Reigns, slowly walking to the ring for the save. Cue Foley to make the title match tonight, No DQ, with Jericho and Reigns banned from ringside.

We recap the opening segment.

Enzo Amore vs. Rusev

Before the match, Enzo says if Lana wanted to see him sans clothes, she just had to hack his phone. The Accolade finishes Enzo in 58 seconds.

Anderson and Gallows vs. Golden Truth

Winners get a shot at New Day next week. Anderson and Gallows take Truth into the corner for an early beating, including a bunch of stomping and a Gallows big boot for two. A kick to the face allows the hot tag to Goldust, who tries to go up top. That just earns him a crotching, followed by the Magic Killer for the pin at 6:02.

Rating: D. This was a bit more academic than it should have been and there’s nothing wrong with that. It seems that New Day is going to have to run a gauntlet to get to the record, which is kind of a cool idea as long as they don’t switch the belts with two days left for a slip on a banana peel moment.

Video on the Wrestlemania tickets going on sale. This includes someone making a fourteen hour drive from Houston because Houston has never heard of an online sale.

Braun Strowman vs. Sami Zayn

Strowman jumps him before the bell and Sami is in big trouble to start. A running splash crushes Sami again and the match is almost stopped. Some hard clotheslines make things even worse. Strowman ties Sami in the Tree of Woe and Mick Foley comes out to stop the match at 4:00.

Rating: D. You really can’t rate this match fairly but it did exactly what it needed to do. Sami can sell as well as almost anyone I’ve ever seen and that’s what he did here to almost perfection. I’m really curious to see where this goes and I didn’t expect that to be the case for this kind of story.

Emmalina video.

Here are Charlotte and Dana Brooke with something to say. She looks at some stills of the postmatch beatdown on Bayley before calling herself the Wayne Gretzky of WWE. Charlotte is so happy she doesn’t have to deal with the Team Raw peasants but here’s Sasha Banks to interrupt.

Sasha wants her rematch tonight and Charlotte agrees with one condition: it’s in her hometown next week so she can beat Sasha again. Cue Nia Jax to say she dominated the Smackdown women, unlike Sasha, the short, purple headed Barbie. Dana finds this hilarious so Sasha decks her, only to get sent into the corner for the running splash. Bayley comes out for the save, meaning Sasha is thrown out to her.

Sasha Banks/Bayley vs. Charlotte/Nia Jax

Joined in progress with Nia throwing Bayley around and bringing in Charlotte for a chinlock. A failed monkey flip allows for the hot tag to Banks, who helps out with a double suplex to Nia. The Bank Statement makes Charlotte tap at 4:37.

Rating: D+. This did exactly what it needed to do and protected Nia at the same time. Jax is going to devour someone for that title eventually and whoever gets to take it off of her is going to be a star. As long as this leads to a big match with (hopefully all of) the Four Horsewomen at Wrestlemania, everything will be fine.

We look at the opening segment for the third time.

Seth Rollins is ready for his match with Owens.

Noam Dar vs. Rich Swann vs. TJ Perkins

The winner gets Brian Kendrick, on commentary here, for the title on the debut of 205 Live. Kendrick says the new show was created for him as Dar dropkicks Perkins out to the floor, only to have Swann do the same to Noam. Perkins kicks Rich’s knee out and we take a break. Back with Perkins kicking Dar in the face but getting caught in an ankle lock. Swann makes a save, followed by Dar breaking up TJ’s kneebar. Another kneebar is broken up by a splash and Swann kicks Perkins in the head for the pin at 7:50.

Rating: C. Not bad here and Swann winning makes the most sense, which is a common theme tonight. Swann has already beaten Kendrick twice and it would be a big waste to not have him go anywhere with the title shot. It also helps that Rich has more charisma than most of the division combined so the fans can get behind him for a change.

Owens brags about beating AJ Styles and knows he’s ready to beat Rollins, who failed him last night.

Enzo and Cass shill merchandise.

Raw World Title: Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins

Owens is defending and there are no disqualifications with Jericho and Reigns barred from ringside. Kevin tries to bail to the floor and gets kicked in the face for his efforts. The springboard knee to the head gets two inside thirty seconds so it’s already table time. Owens grabs the package piledriver slam and we take an early break.

Back with Owens in full control and hammering Seth in the head. A Sling Blade and suicide dive take Owens out, leading to another commercial. Back again with an exchange of strikes to the face putting both guys down. The frog splash misses Owens and it’s a Cannonball into a chair onto Rollins for a close two. Owens sets up a pair of chairs for a powerbomb and you can see the backdrop counter coming before it happens.

Another table is set up in the corner and the Buckle Bomb drives Owens through it for a very close two. They fight into the crowd with Rollins getting the better of it by throwing a trashcan at the champ. Owens tries the powerbomb but Seth grabs the balcony wall and pulls himself up for a big dive. They make it back to ringside but a masked man shoves Rollins off the barricade. Of course it’s Jericho and of course he gets a Pedigree on the floor. The Apron Powerbomb wipes Rollins out though and Owens throws him back in to retain at 23:07.

Rating: B+. Really good stuff here as it felt like a full on pay per view main event with high spots and near falls. The Jericho interference was a stretch and I’m kind of hoping it isn’t used to set up another rematch at Roadblock as I’m pretty much over Rollins vs. Owens after this one. Really good main event though and I bought Rollins as a title threat.

Overall Rating: B. I liked this show a lot more than I was expecting to and it’s mainly because of the logical booking throughout (most of) the night. You can see where they’re going with so much stuff and they set up three title matches in a single show while also having two titles defended. This felt like a completely different kind of Raw and while I don’t believe it’s going to last, this was a lot of fun and a welcome change of pace.

Results

New Day b. Cesaro/Sheamus – Small package to Cesaro

Cedric Alexander b. Ariya Daivari – Lumbar Check

Rusev b. Enzo Amore – Accolade

Anderson and Gallows b. Golden Truth – Magic Killer to Goldust

Braun Strowman b. Sami Zayn via stoppage

Bayley/Sasha Banks b. Nia Jax/Charlotte – Bank Statement to Charlotte

Rich Swann b. Noam Dar and TJ Perkins – Kick to Perkins’ head

Kevin Owens b. Seth Rollins – Apron powerbomb

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume V at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQKDV5O

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

For only the second time in history, WWE has a pay per view series reach thirty entries as we arrive at Survivor Series 2016. In what is the most important thing a Survivor Series can do, there’s actually something on the line here, albeit just bragging rights, as Smackdown faces off with Raw in a series of three elimination tag matches. It’s only a six match card (for now) so it should be interesting to see what they’re doing with the show. Let’s get to it.

We’ll start with the ladies in the first Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown match. This looks almost completely one sided on paper as Smackdown has Becky Lynch and Nikki Bella, who are nowhere near enough to counter the combined forces of Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Bayley and Nia Jax. However, never underestimate the power of WWE pushing Bella to the moon and back, meaning she has a good chance of overcoming the odds. She’s fearless you know.

That being said, I really can’t imagine Raw has much to worry about here. No matter how you look at it, there’s just too much talent on the red show, even if they have all their in fighting. This should be a glorified layup as Carmella and Alexa Bliss are such liabilities for the Smackdown team that there’s almost no way around their limitations. I’ll go with Raw winning here in what shouldn’t be much of a challenge for them.

On a side note since I don’t have much material to talk about here with such a short card, is anyone else completely uninterested in seeing Bella vs. Charlotte treated as a huge showdown? We saw it last year and it was nothing special but now that Charlotte has become possibly the most successful women’s wrestler ever and Bella was on the shelf for months, we’re supposed to care? That doesn’t make sense, though again, never underestimate the powers of a reality “star” in WWE.

Next up we have a title match as Cruiserweight Champion Brian Kendrick defends against Smackdown’s Kalisto. This is a little bigger than your usual title match though as the winning brand gets the entire cruiserweight division. There isn’t much to the feud as Kalisto was just named #1 contender a few weeks back on Smackdown.

I’m really hoping logic takes control here because there’s not much of a reason to keep the title and the division as a whole over on Raw. Tuesday night has a little more open space and is better suited for an action based division than Raw, which is almost entirely storyline driven. Couple that with the upcoming 205 Live, which is being taped after Smackdown instead of Raw and there’s really no reason for Kendrick to walk out with the title. If nothing else, maybe Kalisto can breathe some life into the title instead of being another mat based cruiserweight.

We’ll go back to the elimination tags as we have the tag team version, featuring a staggering twenty wrestlers in one match. This kind of match hasn’t been done at this level since 1988 and the previous incarnations were borderline classics and among the best Survivor Series matches of all time. I’m not sure the talent is there to pull that off this time but at least there’s a great chance for some exciting action.

Picking an accurate winner here is a lot more complicated though as neither team really stands out. Raw probably has the better lineup from top to bottom but Smackdown has American Alpha and better continuity. Unfortunately Raw has to deal with the Shining Stars and the issues between Cesaro and Sheamus. On the other hand, Heath Slater and Rhyno are playing WAY over their heads at the moment and I don’t think they’re going to be able to make that last against the Raw teams.

In a pick I’m not entirely confident in, I’m going to pick Smackdown to win here, if nothing else so there can be something on the line in the third match. Neither team looks great but I could certainly go for Cesaro/Sheamus vs. American Alpha with the technique vs. clubbing power formula. This should be a lot of fun if they do it right though and that’s what matters in a match like this.

We’ll go back to the title matches now with Miz defending the Intercontinental Title against Smackdown’s Sami Zayn in another match where the title can switch brands. Miz won the belt back from Dolph Ziggler earlier this week and Ziggler not being on the card seems like a red flag.

At the end of the day though, I can’t imagine Raw losing two titles and not having a midcard title to fall back on whatsoever. As much as I’d love to see Sami get a title, this doesn’t really seem like the time to pull the trigger. Miz is a great Intercontinental Champion and can pick right back up where he left off after that pesky Ziggler run.

That leaves us with one Survivor Series match to go and this one is the biggest tossup of them all. I really don’t know which one to pick as you would think Smackdown would be at a disadvantage with Shane McMahon on the team but he went thirty minutes with the Undertaker at Wrestlemania. The rest of the lineups pretty much cancel each other out though and that’s rather influential in a match like this.

I’ll go with Smackdown as WWE has a long history of putting the blue show over when the two of them go head to head. There’s nothing on the line here so it’s not like this is going to mean much either way, but the bragging rights are always worth a chuckle at worst. If nothing else we don’t have to listen to Matt Striker shouting “IN YOUR FACE! IN YOUR FACE! IN YOUR FACE!” when someone wins.

That leaves us with the main event, which is only somewhat interesting but is the focal point of the show. Twelve and a half years ago, Goldberg and Brock Lesnar had one of the worst major matches in wrestling history and for some reason we’re supposed to forget all that and just enjoy them fighting again. It’s also Goldberg’s first match since that night and I’m not sure how bad this could really get.

Obviously I’ll go with Lesnar, but neither guy is really a good option here. You don’t have Lesnar set up as this unstoppable monster and then have him lose but at the same time, Lesnar beating Goldberg means as much as Hulk Hogan beating the Ultimate Warrior in 1998. Lesnar wins here after Goldberg doesn’t do much besides throw spears. At least there should be some energy here and Goldberg will have a better chance than Dean Ambrose had.

Overall, Survivor Series has a lot of potential but it could be good or bad. If they let these matches have a lot of time (which they should given the four hour run time) and only add one more at most, they could have the time to build into something entertaining. Unfortunately they could also build into a disaster with the fans getting bored and matches that aren’t the most interesting. I’ve been excited for this since it was announced though and I’m going to try to keep that optimism.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume V at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQKDV5O

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Because when you want to talk about multi-man elimination matches, you quote Back to the Future.

http://wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-im-afraid-youre-just-too-darn-long/

Main Event
Date: November 8, 2016
Location: SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland
Commentators: David Otunga, Tom Phillips

We’re still across the pond for the supplemental show, meaning we’re likely to see more from this week’s Monday Night Raw. Survivor Series is in less than two weeks and Goldberg vs. Lesnar is starting to heat up. Hopefully we get more from the tag team division this week as that was a lot of fun last time. Let’s get to it.

Jason Jordan vs. Viktor

Jordan easily takes him down with a belly to back suplex before hitting that perfect dropkick. Konnor offers a distraction and Jordan is sent hard into the corner. We’re already in the chinlock for a bit before an elbow drop misses. Jordan makes his quick comeback and takes the straps down, only to get kneed in the face. As Jordan kicks out, Gable takes Konnor down with a flip dive off the apron, followed by Jordan grabbing a modified t-bone suplex for the pin at 3:46.

Rating: C. This didn’t do much to make me think that Jordan has a future without Gable. The dropkick looks great but Jordan really does need that fire from Gable for the hot tag. There’s nothing wrong with that as a lot of people are just better as a tag wrestler. The dropkick still looks great and Jordan has talent but he needs someone to bring it out of him.

We get the Goldberg and Brock Lesnar videos from Raw.

Clip from Sami Zayn vs. Rusev from Monday as Sami earns an Intercontinental Title shot.

Hype Bros vs. Usos

Zack and Jey get things going without a lot happening before it’s off to Mojo, who throws Jey into the corner. The Bros start beating Jimmy into the corner but Jey offers a distraction to save his brother from the Broski Boot. The first superkick drops Ryder and we take a break. Back with Jey holding a chinlock, as is the case in almost every match with a break ever.

Jimmy adds his own chinlock before changing things up by bringing Jey back in for another chinlock. A neckbreaker finally snaps the streak and it’s Mojo coming back in to clean house. Rawley wants the tag but Ryder is still down. Mojo: “Ok rest up!” The rest seems to work as Zack is backdropped over the top and onto both twins. Jey takes a Broski Boot but a blind tag allows the superkick to the leg and the Tequila Sunrise makes Ryder tap at 11:00.

Rating: C+. The Hype Bros are getting better and the Usos have gotten a very needed upgrade with the heel turn. They’re still not great but this is way better than seeing them do the same stuff over and over again for years. This didn’t have a ton of sizzle but it was a completely fine tag match.

We’ll wrap it up with Monday’s main event.

Braun Strowman vs. Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho

Stephanie: “Now you all are going into the biggest match of your lives and it’s so important for Raw to win. NOW GO OUT THERE AND BEAT THE HECK OUT OF EACH OTHER FOR MY AMUSEMENT!!!” Non-title, nothing on the line and Reigns comes out last. Rollins, Owens and Jericho go outside so we get Reigns staring at Strowman for a long time. Strowman is knocked to the floor where Rollins beats on him with a kendo stick. Now it’s a table but Strowman makes a quick save to take us to a break.

Back with Strowman giving Reigns the reverse chokeslam and kicking Jericho out of the air. Owens tries to talk his way out of trouble before punching Strowman in the face, earning himself a clothesline. Everyone goes after Strowman and an enziguri from Rollins into the Superman Punch is finally enough to send him outside. The Sling Blade drops Owens and it’s time for the Shield showdown.

That goes nowhere as Strowman has to be dealt with again, only to have the Canadians break up the TripleBomb through the table. Strowman is put on the table and it’s Jericho being powerbombed through Braun through the table. Back in and Rollins kicks Owens in the head for two, followed by the Pedigree for the same with Jericho making the save. That earns Chris a Pedigree but Owens makes a save. Reigns Superman Punches Owens…..right into the pin on Jericho at 14:58.

Rating: C+. This was fine, although I’m really not sure what this changes. The World Champion winning a match has become a big surprise because he loses way too often anymore. At least the right guy won and this isn’t being used to set up the new challenge. I’m still not sure why Stephanie would want to make that match but who am I to question her?

Overall Rating: B-. This was a lot more fun than Superstars as you had a few more energetic matches. I really don’t understand why Superstars insists on trotting out the same boring acts every few weeks when they have a bunch of people who are at least marginally more entertaining. Either way, fun show this week.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete 2014 Raw and Smackdown Reviews Part I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LY6766K#nav-subnav

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: November 7, 2016
Location: SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

It’s a rare taped show this week as they’re on the annual November European trip. We’re also less than two weeks away from Survivor Series and that means we’ll be getting some more names added so some of the matches. The main Raw team is eighty percent set and it’s fairly clear that Seth Rollins is going to complete the team. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of last week with Mick Foley setting up most of Team Raw along with Rollins saving Roman Reigns from a beatdown.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Stephanie McMahon to a chorus of boos. She talks about how big the battle between Monday Night Raw and Smackdown Live is going to be before introducing the four competitors for the main Survivor Series match. Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman will be joined by…..Seth Rollins in not that much of a surprise. Owens doesn’t care for Rollins being on the team but Stephanie cuts him off to go through Smackdown’s team. Raw better fight like their jobs are on the line because they are.

Stephanie leaves and Owens and Jericho talk about how they’ve taken over the show in recent weeks. Kevin thinks they need winners on the team, unlike the Shield who died because the members were all horrible human beings. The brawl is on with Braun standing behind until he cleans house. Strowman and Reigns have a staredown but here’s Stephanie again to make a five way match for later tonight.

Rich Swann/Sin Cara vs. Brian Kendrick/Noam Dar

Dar is a Scottish wrestler and gets a huge ovation in his debut. Swann and Dar start things off as we hear that Dar also uses a kneebar submission. That would be another name on the list of people who use a style that goes against the idea of what made cruiserweights popular in the first place. The villains (Is Dar a villain? If so they’re not presenting him as one.) are sent to the floor for a dive from Cara, who is sent into the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Cara in a chinlock before it’s off to Dar for a neck crank. A faceplant gets Cara out of trouble and it’s off to Swann for no reaction. Everything breaks down and Cara’s slingshot Swanton Bomb crushes Dar. A rolling cradle gives Swann the pin on Kendrick at 7:23.

Rating: D+. The match was fun but it’s another case of WHAT ARE THEY THINKING. Dar is brought in to a huge pop and then they put him with the heel champion for reasons that still aren’t clear. Oh and then let’s have the champion get pinned AGAIN despite no indication that Swann is getting a title shot anytime soon. But they’re cruiserweights and they’re exclusive to Raw….for another three weeks until they get their own show.

Post match Kendrick yells at Dar and punches him out. Dar comes back and kicks Kendrick out of the ring to make sure you know Kendrick is worthless.

Video on Goldberg’s career and his return to WWE a few weeks back. Brock has told Goldberg’s family to not watch the match and that’s not cool with Goldberg.

Stephanie is in her office to say she can’t be on Smackdown this week but Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan are welcome to show up next week. Sami Zayn comes in because Stephanie invited him here to say he drives her crazy. Foley wants Sami to answer Dolph Ziggler’s Intercontinental Title open challenge but Sami is going to have to win a match to earn that spot. Let me get this straight: STEPHANIE is telling someone to tone it down? Is she kidding?

Here are Enzo Amore and Big Cass for a chat. Cass thinks Smackdown’s team is going to be proven SAWFT. Anderson and Gallows, Golden Truth, Sheamus and Cesaro all join them and, after a break, Sheamus has something to say. After saying what a great Celtic country Ireland is, it turns into a four way insult exchange. New Day FINALLY shows up and they’re in Braveheart gear. Woods has Francesca’s Irish cousin: Agnes the bagpipes.

Xavier goes on a long speech about fighting for pride and Big E. finally does the William Wallace speech. Goldust: “You have such a brave heart.” Cesaro says he and Sheamus are in but Sheamus says no because he’s the captain. Sheamus: “On behalf of this team, we’re in.” Anderson and Gallows say they’re going to stab New Day in the back the first chance they get. Woods is upset that Gallows throws his sword down but as luck would have it, a match has been signed for tonight. This was WAY too long and didn’t really even establish anything new.

New Day vs. Anderson and Gallows

Non-title and joined in progress. Kofi and Big E. take turns stomping on Anderson until Gallows comes in for a running knee to Big E.’s jaw. Now it’s the bald guys stomping and a reverse 3D gets two. It’s chinlock time before Big E. finally fights up and makes the hot tag to Kofi. The Boom Drop sets up a crossbody for two but Gallows breaks up the Midnight Hour. A quick Magic Killer puts Big E. away at 6:45.

Rating: D+. We waited almost an hour for the second match and the best we can get is the Tag Team Champions losing clean in less than seven minutes to a team they’ve already beaten multiple times? This show has been a disaster so far and this was the latest bad moment in a series of them.

R-Truth suggests that he and Goldust take a break for a bit. Therefore, their spot on the team has been traded for a time share in Puerto Rico. They look through the brochure and Goldust realizes it’s not as great as it seems.

Video on Brock Lesnar being all dominant and only having one blemish on his record. He can fix that at Survivor Series.

Owens and Jericho go to Braun’s dressing room to try and get him on their side. Strowman didn’t answer their knock so Jericho loads up the List but Kevin talks him down. Braun says he’s on his own team so Jericho puts him on the List.

Emmalina video.

Survivor Series Qualifying Match: Shining Stars vs. Golden Truth

Truth hiptosses Epico to start and drops a dancing leg. Primo comes in to take over with some choking, followed by a double dropkick for two. A few kicks puts Primo down and the hot (work with me here) tag brings in Goldust to beat up the cousins. Goldust gets in a spinebuster on Epico but Primo grabs a rollup with his feet on the ropes for the pin at 5:18.

Rating: D-. So now we have one jobber team instead of the other on the Survivor Series team. This show has been HORRIBLE so far and this is the latest match that is just killing any energy the crowd might have been able to have. Like really, who cares which of these teams is going to the pay per view so American Alpha can suplex them in half?

Time for big talking segment #3 with Michael Cole EXPLAINING SURVIVOR SERIES before bringing out Charlotte, the captain of the women’s team. After a quick speech about how Raw is going to win, here’s Nia Jax, who Charlotte cuts off to talk about how Bayley is the weak link. Nia doesn’t want to listen to Charlotte so here’s Alicia Fox, who talks about the name of the game being survival.

Next up is Bayley, who keeps getting cut off by the fans singing songs. Charlotte tries to introduce the last woman but the Bayley songs cut her off again. After a lot of praise, here’s Dana Brooke but Sasha Banks comes out before much else can be said. Sasha thinks they can’t win without her and bickering ensues until Charlotte hides behind Nia, which doesn’t really go along with Nia’s reaction to Charlotte about five minutes earlier.

Nia Jax/Charlotte/Dana Brooke vs. Bayley/Alicia Fox/Sasha Banks

Stephanie made this during the break and thankfully Cole just tells us this instead of needing to see it happening. That’s all I ask. Bayley and Nia start things off with the small one being run off, meaning Alicia tries her luck. A triple baseball slide has almost no effect on Nia and it’s Banks having to avoid a charge in the corner but Nia runs her over.

Back from a break with Sasha being put in a variety of chinlocks. A rollup finally gets two on Charlotte and the kickout sends Sasha into the corner for the tag to Bayley. The series of elbows has Charlotte in trouble and everything breaks down. Nia runs everyone over and throws Alicia into the wrong corner by the head. Charlotte accidentally kicks Nia in the head though and it’s a Bayley to Belly for the pin on the champ at 11:45.

Rating: C. So is Sasha on the team or is it Dana? I’m assuming Banks but it’s really not clear. Either way, this was by far and away the best thing on the show so far but that’s not really saying much. Bayley pinning Charlotte finally sets us up with a new challenger as they’re getting close to running Charlotte vs. Sasha into the ground.

Seth implies he gets a future World Title match in exchange for being on the team. Cue Strowman to say he never liked Rollins and might break him in half tonight.

Rusev vs. Sami Zayn

The winner gets the shot at Ziggler at Survivor Series. Rusev takes him into the corner to start but gets dropkicked out to the floor for a breather. Back with Rusev in control via a chinlock as you might expect. Sami tries to fight up but gets knocked right back down by the power game. For some reason Rusev tries to go up but eats the Helluva Kick from the top to give Sami the pin at 8:40.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here but Sami getting the title shot is a nice surprise. That’s going to be the fun wrestling match at the show and if Sami just happens to get his first title on the WWE roster, so be it. Rusev losing again here isn’t a good sign for him though and he needs to turn it around soon.

Braun Strowman vs. Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho

Stephanie: “Now you all are going into the biggest match of your lives and it’s so important for Raw to win. NOW GO OUT THERE AND BEAT THE HECK OUT OF EACH OTHER FOR MY AMUSEMENT!!!” Non-title, nothing on the line and Reigns comes out last. Rollins, Owens and Jericho go outside so we get Reigns staring at Strowman for a long time. Strowman is knocked to the floor where Rollins beats on him with a kendo stick. Now it’s a table but Strowman makes a quick save to take us to a break.

Back with Strowman giving Reigns the reverse chokeslam and kicking Jericho out of the air. Owens tries to talk his way out of trouble before punching Strowman in the face, earning himself a clothesline. Everyone goes after Strowman and an enziguri from Rollins into the Superman Punch is finally enough to send him outside. The Sling Blade drops Owens and it’s time for the Shield showdown.

That goes nowhere as Strowman has to be dealt with again, only to have the Canadians break up the TripleBomb through the table. Strowman is put on the table and it’s Jericho being powerbombed through Braun through the table. Back in and Rollins kicks Owens in the head for two, followed by the Pedigree for the same with Jericho making the save. That earns Chris a Pedigree but Owens makes a save. Reigns Superman Punches Owens…..right into the pin on Jericho at 14:58.

Rating: C+. This was fine, although I’m really not sure what this changes. The World Champion winning a match has become a big surprise because he loses way too often anymore. At least the right guy won and this isn’t being used to set up the new challenge. I’m still not sure why Stephanie would want to make that match but who am I to question her?

Overall Rating: D. The last hour was a big help to keep this from being one of the worst shows of all time. Those first two hours were nothing short of a disaster though as there was nothing interesting and it was clear that WWE wasn’t putting in the slightest bit of effort. I have little patience when WWE just presents a show and expects us to care because it’s called Monday Night Raw.

At some point you have to put in the effort to make a show work and that’s not what we got here. I don’t care about cruiserweight tags and the Shining Stars vs. Golden Truth, no matter how much WWE hypes them up. Really bad show, but it could have been so much worse without the women and Sami’s match.

Results

Rich Swann/Sin Cara b. Brian Kendrick/Noam Dar – Rolling cradle to Kendrick

Anderson and Gallows b. New Day – Magic Killer to Big E.

Shining Stars b. Golden Truth – Rollup with feet on the ropes

Bayley/Sasha Banks/Alicia Fox b. Charlotte/Nia Jax/Dana Brooke – Bayley to Belly to Charlotte

Sami Zayn b. Rusev – Helluva Kick

Kevin Owens b. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Chris Jericho and Braun Strowman – Owens fell on Jericho

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete 2014 Raw and Smackdown Reviews Part I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LY6766K#nav-subnav

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 31, 2016
Location: XL Center, Hartford, Connecticut
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

We’re past the Cell but since it’s a holiday, tonight might feel like an even more important show that we saw last night. In this case, that might be due to Goldberg appearing as we’re now less than three weeks away from his showdown with Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series 2016. Let’s get to it.

We open with Goldberg, who gets the full walking entrance. Before he can say much though, Paul Heyman interrupts. Heyman knows he isn’t a physical threat to Goldberg but he’s willing to get inside the ring. There’s no way he would get into this ring without significant backup because Brock wants to fight tonight.

Goldberg is more than happy with this and takes off the jacket (that man just has the look that suggests he could fight anybody) as Lesnar’s music starts up. Of course that’s not happening tonight but Heyman realizes this could go badly for him. Cue Rusev of all people to praise Goldberg before challenging him to a fight. A few knees to the ribs and a Jackhammer later, Rusev is down. A weak spear takes Heyman down as well and Goldberg gets to pose.

We look at last night’s Universal Title match.

Enzo Amore vs. Luke Gallows

This is a Trick or Street Fight, meaning there are a bunch of Halloween themed weapons at ringside. Enzo and Cass come out as Buzz Lightyear and Woody because the world is smiling on us tonight. The pre-match speech hears Enzo say that Cass has a friend in him the beating will last to infinity and beyond. Cass: “There’s a snake in my boot!” Gallows throws him to the floor to start but gets beaten with a plastic skeleton. A trip to the bucket of apples has Gallows in trouble and we take a break.

Back with Gallows shoving pumpkin in Enzo’s face and throwing jack o’lanters at him for fun. A few orange kendo stick shots and a bulldog have Gallows in trouble and a pie to the face blinds Anderson. Cass kicks him through a table and puts a pumpkin (mostly) on Gallows’ head. The DDG sends Gallows chest first into a pumpkin (his head might have been a foot away from the mat) for the pin at 8:00.

Rating: B. Yeah the ending was horrible but this was exactly what this match should have been. The Buzz Lightyear stuff had me rolling and the ending being that botched actually kind of worked in something like this. It’s not like this match means anything so just turn your brain off and have fun with it.

Heyman leaves in an ambulance.

Cruiserweight Title: TJ Perkins vs. Brian Kendrick

Kendrick is defending and Roman Reigns says this is being pushed too hard. Before the match, Kendrick says he taught everyone that he doesn’t need help to win. Kendrick: “That’s psychology.” Last night he played on TJ’s emotions so tonight, TJ better have a plan to get the title back. Perkins starts fast with the fireman’s carry enziguri for two and we take an early break.

Back with Kendrick losing control of a chinlock and getting dropkicked in the back of the head. The first kneebar sends Kendrick over to the ropes. I might buy that as a possible ending if it wasn’t done in EVERY TJ PERKINS MATCH. A hurricanrana off the apron out to the floor sends both guys crashing outside….where Kendrick takes the countout at 6:30.

Rating: D+. OH MY GOODNESS STOP DOING THIS STUPID MATCH. No one cared the first time, fewer people cared the second time, and then the last two matches have been some of the least interesting things I’ve ever seen. This division has been so horribly botched and now it looks like we’re getting ready for Perkins vs. Kendrick V. My goodness this isn’t even funny anymore.

Perkins gives Kendrick the kneebar on the floor.

Mick Foley thinks Negan got the idea for Lucille from Cactus Jack. Braun Strowman comes up and says he wants to be part of Team Raw at Survivor Series. He’s tired of these lame handicap matches and now he wants real competition. Mick: “Is that a threat? Because if it is…..it’s working.” Foley puts Braun in a battle royal for a spot on the team. That seems to please the monster for now.

Here’s Foley to talk about last night’s show with a focus on the Universal Title match. Everything that Owens and Jericho did last night was legal but it all left a bad taste in Foley’s mouth. Jericho and Owens come out to brag about getting into the Cell last night and walking out with the title.

That win means they should be anchoring the Survivor Series team because they’re the top two guys on Raw. They laugh at Foley and bring up him losing the Cell match against HHH right here in Hartford, Connecticut. Foley gets in Owens’ face to yell about how much talent he has but Jericho keeps interfering. Jericho was standing there with a key around his finger and that’s what people are going to see on the WWE Network in eighteen years. Jericho: “Lock it in man.”

That’s enough for Foley, who says Stephanie only wanted Owens for Raw. However, Foley is going to put them both on the team along with another guy he can trust. That wouldn’t be just any guy, but rather THE guy. Reigns comes out and praises Foley’s pumpkin shirt while saying Owens and Jericho look like Spongebob and Patrick.

Roman was going to dress up like a stupid idiot but the store was out of Jericho costumes. Jericho teases putting someone on the List but NO ONE GOES ON THE LIST TONIGHT. Chris doesn’t like anyone here in the United States but he would still be a better US Champion than Reigns. That sounds good to Foley so the title match is made. To be fair that’s the only title Jericho has never won.

Package on Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks.

Battle Royal

Sami Zayn, Braun Strowman, Darren Young, Curtis Axel, Bo Dallas, Titus O’Neil, R-Truth, Jinder Mahal, Goldust, Cesaro, Sheamus, Neville

The winner is on Team Raw with Reigns, Jericho and Owens. A bunch of people go after Strowman to start but he quickly eliminates Truth and Dallas. Neville and Sheamus start double teaming but the Brogue Kick knocks Braun through the ropes instead of over them and we take a break.

Back with several names having been eliminated during the break. Sheamus gets rid of Young and Sami kicks Titus out. Cesaro throws Sheamus out but gets eliminated by Strowman. Braun throws Neville out as well and it’s down to Strowman and Sami. Some strikes have Braun in trouble but he throws Sami onto his shoulders. We get the Benoit/Big Show choke on the ropes with Brayn being pulled over the ropes, only to easily power Sami up and throw him out for the final elimination at 8:20.

Rating: D. This was exactly what it needed to be with Sami putting up a fight but Strowman cleaning house and basically dominating as he should have. They’ve done a great job of making Strowman out to be someone special and even if it’s just to be fed to another monster (like Brock), it still does its job. Bad match, good storytelling.

Emmalina video.

It’s New Day costume time….and all three are different variations of Charles Wright (Big E. as Kama, Woods as Papa Shango and Kofi as Godfather). They’re looking ahead to the future because they’re officially the captains of the Raw Survivor Series tag team. That means the power of positivity vs. the power of cheese and crackers. They’re not sure about the rest of their opponents because Shane and Bryan haven’t announced the rest of the lineup. Woods is a bit scared of American Alpha and they can’t actually come up with any insults for them. Not that it matters because New Day ROCKS.

Rich Swann/Lince Dorado/Cedric Alexander vs. Ariya Daivari/Tony Nese/Drew Gulak

Daivari gets his arm worked over to start before it’s quickly off to Nese vs. Alexander with Cedric being slammed face first into the barricade. A chinlock doesn’t last long and the hot tag brings in Rich to clean house. Swann’s rolling splash gets two and everyone winds up on the floor for a double dive. Rich kicks Nese in the face and a jackknife cover gets the pin at 6:31.

Rating: D+. I’m out of ways to complain about the same problems so go read one of the old ratings and meet me at the next segment.

We look back at the opening segment.

Here’s Charlotte for her address as champion. She calls the fans peasants and promises to lead the women’s team to victory against Team Smackdown and its captain Nikki Bella. Charlotte is ready to take on all of the Smackdown women but thinks there’s a weak link on her team and her name is Bayley.

Cue Bayley, who says she’s glad Charlotte called her out here. Seeing last night’s main event choked her up and she wants to congratulate Charlotte on her win. Unfortunately she’s also become the biggest jerk and the kind of champion Bayley never wants to be. Charlotte says this isn’t NXT anymore and she sees a glorified fan looking back at her. Therefore, tonight Bayley has a match with one of her teammates.

Bayley vs. Nia Jax

Charlotte is on commentary. Nia starts fast with a shoulder breaker and throws Bayley around a bit before grabbing a bearhug. Bayley reverses into the guillotine but Nia is a learning monster and drives her into the buckle for the break. Some kicks to the legs and a few dropkicks stagger Jax, only to have the standing Vader splash crush Bayley. Instead of the legdrop, Nia goes to the middle rope, only to have to fight out of a super Bayley to Belly. Bayley comes up holding her knee and a ram into the barricade makes it even worse. The knee seems to be fine as Nia hits the Samoan drop for the pin at 5:52.

Rating: C-. This was just a step ahead of a squash and another example of how Raw looks completely dominant against Smackdown, assuming the power of being FEARLESS overcomes Nia. Seriously would that surprise you at this point? Anyway, not bad here and a good sign that Nia keeps dominating like this.

Sheamus/Cesaro vs. Shining Stars

Epico is part of an early uppercut train as the fans call Sheamus a shame. The cousins start taking over on Cesaro with a dropkick and sunset flip for two. That means some PUERTO RICO chants….from the cousins but they do in fact exist. The tag brings in Sheamus to throw Primo to the floor and give Epico the ten forearms to the chest. The Cloverleaf makes Epico tap at 4:06.

Rating: D. In case you didn’t get the idea, Sheamus and Cesaro can work together very well but they don’t like each other too much. I don’t know if they’ve explained that just yet because they’ve only done the same idea for a month now. At least they didn’t just give them another shot at the titles right off the bat.

Earlier today, Golden Truth went to a haunted house and shenanigans ensue.

Jericho and Owens talk about the US Title match with Chris suggesting that Kevin be out there for some help. Owens is cool with the idea and thinks they can go get…….IT.

US Title: Chris Jericho vs. Roman Reigns

Reigns is defending and we get some Big Match Intros. Feeling out process to start until Jericho gets in a shot off the middle rope. They head outside with Owens throwing the weakened champ into the post as we take a break. Back with Jericho in control until he misses a charge in the corner.

Roman hits his string of clotheslines but the Superman Punch misses. The Lionsault hits knees so Jericho opts for the Walls in the middle of the ring. Roman powers out of that (duh) and grabs a sitout powerbomb for two more. Owens’ distraction doesn’t work and now the Superman Punch connects. The spear looks to finish but Owens comes in for the DQ at 14:50.

Rating: C. This was fine, though the ending wasn’t exactly a secret. You knew they weren’t going to change the title the night after Reigns successfully defended inside the Cell but at least Jericho gave him a good match. Owens being out there telegraphed the ending but we didn’t get a clean ending and that’s the right call.

Post match the beatdown is on until Seth Rollins comes out for the save. Rollins and Reigns share a staredown so maybe they’ll get back together for Survivor Series.

Overall Rating: C-. I always forget how absolutely draining these post pay per view Raw’s are. That’s over seven hours of TV in two days, not even counting Smackdown tomorrow night. The good thing is the show wasn’t really that bad and set up most of the Raw teams before we get to Survivor Series. I liked some of the matches to go with the storytelling and that’s what matters at the end of the day. Not bad but more proof that the show needs to be shorter.

Results

Enzo Amore b. Luke Gallows – DDG

TJ Perkins b. Brian Kendrick via countout

Braun Strowman won a battle royal last eliminating Sami Zayn

Rich Swann/Lince Dorado/Cedric Alexander b. Ariya Daivari/Tony Nese/Drew Gulak – Spinning kick to Nese’s head

Nia Jax b. Bayley – Samoan drop

Sheamus/Cesaro b. Shining Stars – Cloverleaf to Epico

Roman Reigns b. Chris Jericho via DQ when Kevin Owens interfered