People often ask me what I love about wrestling. Sometimes the answer is hard to articulate. Other times Ricochet will have done something truly insane over the weekend.
Thankfully, this is one of those weeks.
It remains an interesting question though, and one that I thought we could address for a minute before delving into the ins and outs of the most recent edition of Raw.
Why do you love wrestling?
The answer will almost certainly be different for every one of us, being informed – at least to some extent – by personal preference. Regardless of whether you enjoy technical mat work, dramatic twists or circus-style acrobatics however, I believe there is one area on which we can find common ground.
Nothing embodied the essence of professional wrestling quite like NXT TakeOver: WarGames II did on Saturday night. In short, whatever attracts you to wrestling, this show had it. It delivered brawls, flips and chaos. It gave us spectacle, emotion and “Mama effing Mias!”
The quarterly NXT showpieces invariably produce some of the best brand of grappling found on the WWE calendar. And one doesn’t have to look too closely to find out why.
NXT capitalises on the inverse relationship between the frequency of events and their quality. When pay-per-views happen less often, they tend to feel more special. Imagine if we were forced to sit through a Christmas every month. Sure, the gifts are great, but is it really worth the awkward family gatherings, drunk uncles, borderline racist grandparents and the unavoidable turkey-fuelled indigestion?
There are, of course, other factors at play. TakeOvers only feature the brand’s top stars, meaning that we aren’t subjected to jobber tag teams or forgotten mid-carders. The three month incubation time between events also allows stories to develop at a more natural pace.
And, most crucially of all, NXT has perfected the art of building stars, even in defeat. To illustrate the point, consider Dave Meltzer’s views on the best wrestlers currently on the WWE roster:
Technically, Gargano & Roderick Strong are in the conversation as well. Seth & AJ as well. Ricochet, O'Reilly proven top tier major leaguers https://t.co/9QjJOas9Dr
— Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) November 18, 2018
That’s right. In ‘Big Daddy’ Dave’s view, four of the six best current WWE talents are found on the developmental brand. And of those four, three lost on Saturday night! The key was that none of them were damaged in the slightest. If anything, Velveteen Dream and Gargano delivered performances that only served to enhance their status in most fans’ eyes.
Coming out of WarGames, I’ll remember Dream’s entrance, Ricochet’s double moonsault off the cage, Aleister Black supporting Gargano’s limp body while absolving him of his sins and Ciampa repeatedly yelling “ME!” after his cracking title retention. Each of them either remarkable feats of athleticism or subtle character building moments designed to play into events down the line.
By contrast, WWE struggles to build stars on the main roster, with one of the more memorable aspects of a decent Survivor Series being Drake Maverick pissing himself. Not as successful a recipe, some might argue.
Nowhere was WWE‘s general ambivalence more apparent than on the Survivor Series pre-show and the tag team elimination match which it featured. And you don’t have to take my word for it, I consulted a qualified doctor for his take.
*Finishes watching #SurvivorSeries…*
My Brain:
Don't do it
Don't do it
Don't do it
Don't do it
Don't do it
Don't do itMe: HEY @WWE! RESPECT THE TAG DIVISION OF BOTH SHOWS AND LET THE PEOPLE KNOW THAT SMACKDOWN GOT A WIN TONIGHT. THE SCORE WAS 6 – 1 #PreshowCounts pic.twitter.com/Uc5NbyVwtO
— Austin Creed (@AustinCreedWins) November 19, 2018
In one foul, Michael Cole inspired swoop, the entire tag division was disappointingly buried on Sunday night.
And that brings us, in the most roundabout way imaginable, to Raw. The main narrative heading into the episode was the red brand’s utter dominance over its blue counterpart at Survivor Series.
Raw whitewashed SmackDown Live in the battle for brand supremacy, which we all knew could only mean one thing. Stephanie McMahon was going to be completely unbearable last night. And while reports are that Raw‘s dominance was indeed designed to promote another McMahon storyline, the younger Commissioner didn’t miss a chance to rub salt into our wounds.
In a rather dramatic episode of ‘the A-show’ addressing the Survivor Series fallout, we were treated to the next chapter in the festering tension between Corbin and the ‘Monster Among Men’, further build to the Intercontinental Championship clash between former brothers Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, as well as a gloating Stephanie McMahon in her natural habitat. It also gave us Lucha House Parties, Revival recalls and piss-poor jokes. So all in all, a mixed bag.
If that all seems a little overwhelming, our WrestleTalk writers are here to guide you through the seminal moments. Read on to see which segments we enjoyed and which arguably should have received the WWE ‘pre-show treatment’. And drop us a comment to let us know what you love about wrestling.
What was your favourite moment from Raw?
Sean Patrick Eckmann
Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. The slow build and genuine creepiness (it took me a minute to realize Dean was behind Seth during one of his promos) has really gotten me excited for their match at TLC. I love mind games, and Dean skulking around the arena, dismantling Seth’s image of the Shield, was just brilliant.
JP Wood
This week, I really enjoyed the Ronda Rousey segment. It looked like she was biting back a lot of emotion over being booed for the second night in a row. It didn’t take her too long to get her feet under her though and to cut a badass promo about being a champion on your worst day. Demanding a title match to the point of stepping up to Baron Corbin was great for her character.
Once again Rousey proves that she may be a rookie, but she’s a hell of a professional as well.
Eric Stites
I enjoyed the Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins storyline that ran throughout the whole show. I liked the cat and mouse aspect of it and the payoff at the end when Seth finally got his hands on Dean was a good finish to the show.
I also liked the little swerve that Seth did when he pretended to leave the building in order to get Dean to go out into the ring.
Dylan Kapisky
(P)Seudo Survivor Series. The opening match for the show set a bar that, in my opinion, was not met for the rest of the night. Further pushing the Baron Corbin vs. Braun Strowman feud, a 3-on-3 elimination tag team match was made for the night and, after the initial opening promo, took up most of the first hour.
Braun was accompanied by Elias and Finn Bálor, while Corbin was flanked by Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre. This was a solid match with a simple story: The heels were all working together to weaken Braun Strowman. That premise, coupled with solid action between the six men, made for a fun start to the show. The beatdown of Braun afterwards was excellent as well.
What was the worst part of last night’s episode?
Sean Patrick Eckmann
Nia Jax’s push. I physically cringed when I heard Michael Cole say “The Hashtag Facebreaker is here!”
I’m strongly of the opinion that Nia Jax needs to spend some time in developmental. Not because I hate her. Big Show and Mark Henry both had to spend time redeveloping fundamentals. Larger wrestlers sometimes lose track of their own strength, and it’s been clear from a series of botches and injuries that this is the case for her. That’s entirely understandable – Nia is naturally strong.
What I don’t understand is why WWE would use this occasion to push Nia further, specifically using her injuring punch. WWE‘s booking is treading dangerously close to rewarding dangerous work.
JP Wood
Drake Maverick pissed himself on Sunday so that we could have a poorly written and tongue-in-cheekily acted backstage segment with dad-level puns based around the theme of urine.
How was this more embarrassing to me than watching the man piss himself live?
Eric Stites
My least favorite part of the show was the Revival vs. Lucha House Party. What the hell are Lucha House Rules? Why are LHP just suddenly allowed to have all three members competing at the same time against just two opponents without it officially being a handicap match?
That makes absolutely no sense, even with the excuse of the weight difference. That would be like if a hockey team were suddenly allowed to have an extra forward on the ice because one of their other forwards was small.
https://twitter.com/DashWilderWWE/status/1064727394118885376
Dylan Kapisky
A.O… my God what is wrong with tag teams?
AOP lost. The Raw Tag Team Champions lost… clean. Sure it was a quick roll-up, but there was no cheating, no shenanigans, just a clean roll-up loss for the “top” team in the division.
Now, I don’t mind having vulnerable champions, as you can tell a ‘find a way to win when it matters most’ story with them. However, this isn’t the team to do it with. They were juggernauts in NXT, and the sheer size of the duo makes it impossible for them to be underdogs, which is necessary to pull off the aforementioned storyline.
Why the tag team division receives such poor treatment on a weekly basis, I’ll never understand.
How would you rate the show overall? (From best to worst: In Awe, Cor, AvRAWge, Poor and Bore)
Sean Patrick Eckmann
I was feeling major drag about halfway through the show tonight. And if Braun Strowman is indeed injured and I’m not just getting worked, I’m concerned for the near future of Raw‘s main event.
That said, all signs point to Rollins and Ambrose being able to carry the show if need be, but an already heel-heavy top of the card has me concerned for more three-hour episodes of Raw to come. Rating: a high Poor.
JP Wood
A low AvRAWge. This episode of Raw was aggressively mediocre. Bland and steady, it didn’t break any new ground, but it wasn’t unwatchable either. It gets a low avRAWge from me because it did just enough to keep my passive interest for about two and a half of its three hour run time.
Eric Stites
Overall this was a very boring show. Not much really happened. There were some very awful parts, including the LHP rules that I mentioned earlier and the Drake Maverick segment.
None of the matches were all that interesting. I am also getting very tired of seeing Stephanie McMahon on my TV screen. Last night’s episode of Raw was Bore.
There's just something about @RondaRousey's face…
@NiaJaxWWE wants to punch it. #RAW pic.twitter.com/0nfHVwA7YU
— WWE (@WWE) November 20, 2018
Dylan Kapisky
Cor. There was more good than bad on this show. In fact, my only real negative is the treatment of the tag division, but I’m becoming desensitized to that as it happens every week.
Aside from that, I thought everything else accomplished exactly what it set out to accomplish, and there are multiple exciting storylines moving forward.
[totalpoll id=”41496″]
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