There was a point during last night’s broadcast where AOP gruffly proclaimed “laugh now, cry later.” I think that’s equally applicable to my feelings towards Raw. Well, except for the laughing part.
If it sounds like I’m exaggerating the point, just consider the context in which AOP made that statement. They were responding to the long-running jokes being lobbed at their manager for wetting himself at Survivor Series last Sunday. Still not convinced this show was bad? What if I told you that this segment was followed by a lengthy debate by the Raw announcers about whether Drake Maverick’s ringside accident was ingenious strategy or simply a case of a grown man becoming so overcome with fear that he leaked involuntarily?
“But come on”, I hear you say. “I’m sure the match that followed all of this juvenile nonsense was still good.” And I wouldn’t blame you for thinking that. Matching the AOP against Gable & Roode should virtually guarantee an exciting contest. Add the tag belts to that equation and we should surely be in for a hot bout. And we were… until Drake Maverick stole Roode’s bedazzled robe, legged it to the nearest bathroom and had a camera man film him pissing on it.
This scandalous act of vandalism, stolen straight from your least favourite 90s teen comedy, while not enough to make any of us care about any of this nonsense, somehow distracted both Gable and Roode long enough for AOP to get the quick win.
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As WrestleTalk is a family friendly outfit, it was around this time that I grabbed my favourite swear jar and unloaded 90 minutes of frustration into it. You see, this was only one of many awful segments on Raw. The entire show was in essence just a long series of poor decisions, loosely strung together to create the illusion of a television program.
On a night where Baron Corbin anointed himself the ‘General Manager Elect’, we witnessed the final death knell sound for the red brand’s babyfaces. Seriously, which one of them came out looking good last night?
The show kicked off with Strowman delivering a promo from his hospital bed, essentially explaining that his doctor has never seen bone spurs before. I’m not sure if he’s been consulting the same loon who spent most of the night drilling needles into Dean Ambrose’s backside, but I’d look into finding a new doctor, mate.
Then, throughout the night, we saw an Elias beatdown, a Natalya beatdown, a Bálor beatdown and an attempted Sasha and Bayley beatdown. Ironically, the only people I wouldn’t mind seeing getting beaten up escaped the night unscathed. The good guy Lucha House Party won another three-on-two handicap match.
As an aside, it’s starting to look like Alexa Bliss won’t be making an in-ring return as a result of her injuries. I sincerely hope that WWE is simply taking its time to clear her out of an abundance of caution, because ‘the Goddess’ – increasingly capable in the ring – has the charisma to outshine the entire division. As if to prove the point, Nia Jax delivered one of the most monotonous, painful promos I’ve ever sat through. This was Sid Vicious levels of terrible.
Is there ANY stopping this force?#RAW @BaronCorbinWWE @fightbobby @DMcIntyreWWE pic.twitter.com/Q9uNSVBo3y
— WWE (@WWE) November 27, 2018
So that was the gradual erosion of Raw‘s babyfaces. There’s an old saying that a hero is only as compelling as the villain he vanquishes. By the same token, a heel is only as interesting as the face he battles. Based on the deafening silence that greeted Drew McIntyre when he booted the grin clean off Bálor’s face last night, Raw failed on both fronts.
But that barely scratches the surface of what went down on yesterday’s show. We’ve gathered some of the smartest wrestling voices on the internet (take that as you wish), to delve into some of the finer points of Raw. So while I uncork my swear jar for another deposit, let’s get rolling with the best moments from last night’s broadcast.
What was your favourite moment from Raw?
Steven Lugo
Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler. Despite having seen it often, and the fact that I was expecting some kind of surprise challenger, I really enjoyed this match. For fans of pro wrestling (rather than whatever it was we watched last night) the open invitational for the IC title was a welcome oasis in the endless desert. Thank you, Seth and Dolph. As they say, “Nobody kicks out of the Falcon Arrow!”
Dylan Kapisky
Full disclosure: When Dolph Ziggler’s music hit, I rolled my eyes and audibly groaned. How many times do we have to see this match? However, ten minutes later, I forgot that this was the 943rd bout between the two, this year.
The pair have tremendous chemistry with each other and constantly find ways to freshen up what should be – and in some respects is – a stale match-up. This time, the twist came in the form of the finish, where Seth scored the pin off his Superplex-Falcon Arrow combo.
It’s always great when a signature move is used as a finisher, as it gets that move over as a potential match ender, and thus increases the drama of any near-falls involving it in the future. In fact, when he hit the combination of moves I immediately assumed “Good near-fall coming”, because he virtually never wins with that move. However, now they’ve planted a seed in my mind that not every Rollins match ends with a Stomp, and increased the tension of every future near-fall. I loved it.
JP Wood
I’m tempted to say the end, just because it meant that I could stop watching what was an abysmal Raw. That said, though. I’ll use this space to give a shout out to Elias, who really has made an incredibly smooth transition out of the heel role and into the face role. It’s been impressive and easy to watch. Good work, Elias.
https://twitter.com/WWEMaverick/status/1067253193988554752
Eric Stites
My favorite moment of the night was Drake Maverick peeing on Bobby Roode’s robe. It was an awful segment and and awful angle, but I think it was one of those angles that’s “so bad it’s good” and it was damn hilarious. As soon as Drake picked up the robe I said to myself “he’s gonna pee on it, isn’t he?” And that just made the payoff so funny. It was so bad and predictable that I just couldn’t help but laugh my ass off at it.
What was the worst part of last night’s episode?
Steven Lugo
Nia Jax promo. Sometimes it’s hard to tell what is heel work and what is just WWE trolling its audience. I guess I’d be a lot easier on this segment if I was more convinced there would be a payoff in it.
Truth is, it remains to be seen whether WWE will acknowledge Becky Lynch as its hottest star, and let her continue her run. Nia’s push seems like rewarding bad behavior, and her exchanges with Ronda here, plus the weird run-ins, made the whole scene messy.
Dylan Kapisky
Dean goes to the doctor’s office. What the hell was this? The Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose feud was a personal, believable, engaging storyline that has been slowly building since August. What did they do to keep that momentum? Made Dean pick on the people of Milwaukee from a doctor’s office.
I couldn’t even pay attention to what he was saying because I was so lost in the dreadfully confusing scenery. What was the purpose of having him there? Are we supposed to think he’s a badass because he took a few needles to the arm? Is he devious for caring about his health? If any readers have been paying close attention, you’ll know how much I’ve loved this feud, but tonight was such a huge step back, it’s going to take one hell of a video package to get me re-invested.
JP Wood
Repetitive, unending, and ultimately pointless abuses of power by both authority figures on the show. Corbin’s beatdowns of anyone he doesn’t like and now Bliss is in on the action. It’s not fun. It’s predictable and pointless. Ack.
What is @NiaJaxWWE most thankful for?
Breaking @BeckyLynchWWE's face, of course. #RAW pic.twitter.com/oXtXSB2l3q
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) November 27, 2018
Eric Stites
My least favorite part of the show was the Nia Jax promo. Don’t get me wrong, I like that they’re using the punch to Becky Lynch as a way to get some heat for Nia. It’s a great tactic and it’s proven very effective.
However I don’t think she should still be cutting promos about it other than a reference here and there, because there can’t be a payoff with Becky and Nia being on different shows. Maybe they can have a payoff at the Royal Rumble with Becky getting her revenge, but that’s still two months away.
How would you rate the show overall? (From best to worst: In Awe, Cor, AvRAWge, Poor and Bore)
Steven Lugo
Bore. As the sky falls and I shield myself from the onslaught, I ask “What did we ever do to them? Why do they hate us?” One wonders if the things in Dean Ambrose’s germaphobe, fan-hating promo come from the deeply-held beliefs of WWE‘s upper management. Just sayin’.
Here are a few more lingering questions. Could WWE care any less about its own tag-team division? Did the beat-down of Elias have to last 183 minutes? How many times can we see Drake Maverick take a piss? Is Lars Sullivan really the answer to the above problems?
Dylan Kapisky
Poor. I seemed to be the only person in the world who liked last week’s show. Don’t worry, I’ve returned to Earth this week (unless everybody inexplicably loved this show, in which case I’m forever a contrarian I guess).
Aside from the Rollins / Ziggler match, this show was very uninteresting or just plain bad. Corbin isn’t strong enough on the mic to be carrying the top feud on Raw by himself. Ambrose is just a generic heel who goes to the doctor, apparently. And Drake Maverick now has a piss fetish.
The injuries certainly aren’t helping the red brand, but that’s merely an excuse at this point, not a reason. The roster is still plenty talented enough to produce a better show than creative gives them credit for.
JP Wood
Bore. This was a complete waste of the audience’s time. Nothing new or interesting happened, no storylines really moved forward, and if you didn’t watch it, you didn’t miss anything worth watching.
I feel like someone booked this show by walking into the room and saying this:
“Could we please get another wooden Nia Jax promo that drags down Rousey along with it? I desperately need to see a bunch of big guys prove their dominance over Finn Bálor, can ya help me out? It would also really make my night if you could have a nonsensical and arguably problematic piñata-based tag team embarrass a talented one. Add in some uncomfortably unwanted-looking physical contact from Curt Hawkins and that’s a five-star Raw.”
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Eric Stites
This episode of Raw was awful. So many poor segments and angles, as well as several boring matches. As always in recent times, the show was far too heel heavy.
There were things that I liked that saved this episode from being a bore. I liked Elias’ promo at the beginning of the show. I thought Alexa Bliss did well with her new tweener authority role. I also thought the Intercontinental open-challenge match between Dolph and Seth was decent, though not great.
Overall, this episode was Poor.
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