BRM Reviews the 10/22/2018 Raw

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Big Red Machine
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BRM Reviews the 10/22/2018 Raw

Post by Big Red Machine » Oct 23rd, '18, 02:00

ROMAN REIGNS IS RELINQUISHING THE WWE UNIVERSAL TITLE BECAUSE HE HAS LEUKEMIA- well, f*ck.
Roman gave a speech in which he gave us some personal history and emphasized that this was NOT a retirement speech and he WILL be back one day. The crowd also reacted in a respectful and genuine manner… and speaking of the word genuine, I have to say that if Vince had let this guy talk more instead of the smug dickhead we saw on TV every week, I don’t think we would have been in a position where I was honestly worried that there might actually be fans who would cheer Roman saying he has leukemia.
Roman got thanked and cheered for and chanted for by the crowd, then walked up the cramp (shaking hands the whole way. He was met at the top of the ramp by Seth & Dean, and they hugged and did the Shield pose. And now I’m going to slip back into art critic mode and say that I would have had Seth and Dean wear something that looked a little less like their Shield gear so as to fit in better with Roman’s “street clothes = shoot” symbolism.


After a commercial break, we got thoughts from the announcers, including Michael Cole completely obliterating kayfabe and saying that WWE presents us with an “alternate reality.” Then, a minute later, Michael Cole is hyping up Seth & Dean challenging for the tag titles by asking whether or not they will be too distracted by Roman’s cancer to concentrate on their title match tonight or whether they will be able to channel that emotion and use it to fuel them to victory. That probably was not the best way to try to sell me on this match.

FINN BALOR vs. BOBBY LASHLEY (w/Lio Rush)- 6/10
Balor won via roll-up. I was not expecting Lashley to lose here.

DREW MCINTYRE & DOLPH ZIGGLER BACKSTAGE- great… but why the hell did they air this when they did?
They decided that they needed to focus on their title defense tonight. Drew cut a good promo on Braun, Dolph cut a promo that actually managed to make me believe that winning the WWE World Cup was important to Dolph Ziggler, and then Drew said he was going “monster hunting.”

SASHA BANKS (w/Bayley & Natalya) vs. RUBY RIOTT (w/the Riott Squad)- 4/10
They announced Sasha, Bayley, & Nattie vs. the Riott Squad for Evolution and the babyfaces got to cut an inset promo about it (and tonight’s match) during Sasha’s entrance. After Sasha’s entrance we went to a commercial break, and when we came back, we got… a recap of the issues between Strowman and ZiggleTyre last week. Then we got the above-recapped Ziggler & McIntyre segment, and only then did we cut back to the ring for the Riott Squad’s entrance… meaning that Nattie, Sasha, and Bayley were standing around the ring doing nothing for almost eight minutes.
The Riott Squad also got to cut an inset promo about the match at Evolution. Cole’s introduction pretty much buried this promo before it even aired, but in Cole’s defense, this promo deserved it. Sarah Logan in particular needs to just not talk. Let her be dangerous, nearly-animalistic one, like, who grunts more than she uses actual words.
The match could have been better. The schmozzy stuff at the end could have been done in a way that felt a lot less forced. Surely there must have been a better way for Ruby to cheat to win here.

BROTHERS OF DESTRUCTION PRE=TAPED PROMO- Oh. Wait. This was the promo from last week.

NIA JAX PROMO- fine
She explained to us why it was so important to her to win the battle royale and earn a title shot. Even better, it wasn’t a selfie promo!

D-GENERATION X PROMO-
I did chuckle at Shawn saying he was “hoping that ‘nostalgia’ was a Greek word that meant ‘new merch.’” Hunter justifies their nostalgia match by saying that Halloween is forty-year-old movie that is “#1 at the box office right now.” Um… Hunter? You do know it’s not the same movie that came out forty years ago, right? Holy crap. Hunter is getting really defensive about this whole age thing.
Hunter got the crowd to chant “NXT!” They were interrupted by the Brothers of Destruction taking over the TitanTron for a pre-taped promo in which they THREATENED TO MURDER D-X. This was done in the symbolic for of tombstones, with their names and actual birth dates on them, and listing November 2, 2018 as their date of death. November 2, 2018, is of course, the date of WWE Crown Jewel, apparently still scheduled to take place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, whose Crown Prince just had a journalist MURDERED so maybe this wasn’t the best thing to do this week. Also, maybe don’t have people threaten to murder each other on a show that began with one of your wrestlers announcing that he has cancer.

They announced that Crown Jewel will now feature Braun vs. Brock for the vacant Universal Title.

DANA BROOKE PROMO- Another good promo about what it means to this woman to win the battle royale at Evolution and the title shot that comes with it. These feel very un-WWE. Or at least at this point they feel more like SD than Raw.

PAUL HEYMAN PROMO- GREAT!
Heyman talked about Roman, then skillfully transitioned it over into talking about his client’s match at Crown Jewel and cut a promo on Braun Strowman. Braun Strowman then came out, and cut a promo that was basically the same stuff we heard Roman saying during his feud with Brock about how he is going to bring the title “back to Raw” and bring it out with him “every Monday” instead of “just when I want to.”
Braun had a nice, strong finish to his promo and he threw his hands in the air and his music started and he turned around… and ate a Claymore Kick. That was great.

TRISH/LITA VS. MICKIE/ALEXA VIDEO PACKAGE- fine

CHARLY CARUSO INTERVIEWS DREW MCINTYRE- Charly asked Drew if he is worried about potential retribution from Braun Strowman. Drew responded by cutting F*CKING AWESOME promo. Like, maybe one step below Promo of the Year level.

THE DRIFTER SINGS- He was quickly interrupted by Apollo Crews coming out for…
“THE DRIFTER” ELIAS SAMPSON vs. APOLLO CREWS- 4/10
Drifter wins clean, completely killing Crews’ push.

KURT ANGLE PROMO ABOUT THE WWE WORLD CUP- This wasn’t so much a promo as it was a f*cking essay that was very clearly written by WWE’s hype department. It would have been painful to listen to on its own, but with 2018 Kurt Angle’s horrendously dry delivery, it was even worse.

THE DRIFTER SINGS- huh? Did I accidentally hit rewind instead of fast forward after that commercial?
This time The Drifter was interrupted by Baron Corbin, who told him they didn’t have time for any more singing this week. While listing the things they still needed time for Corbin only came up with Nikki/Ronda contract signing, and when he paused to give the fans a chance to cheer this, they did not do so.
Corbin continued to ramble on about how The Drifter had to leave and The Drifter refused and holy f*ck I think they just turned The f*cking Drifter babyface. This was shockingly good. Even Corbin. He eventually ordered The Drifter’s mic cut so The Drifter went to the back… and then came back out and hit Corbin in the back with the guitar.


RAW WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH CONTRACT SIGNING- fine
Whoever came up with the idea for Nikki to do that little boxing routine before Ronda came deserves a lot of credit. That was FANTASTIC heel false bravado. As soon as Ronda came out, they ran away, claiming that they came here for a contract signing but Ronda came here for a fight (“and plus, the last place we would ever fight you is in Providence, Rhode Island”). Nikki has bedazzled her baseball cap. That, too, is an excellent heel move.
Someone in the third row is such a big Ronda Rousey fan that he or she spelled Ronda’s name wrong on his/her sign.
Ronda promises that she won’t beat them up and says “my word is my bond.” Ronda was dismissive of their ability to hurt her, so the Bellas said some mean things about Ronda’s mother being ashamed of her because of various losses Ronda has suffered. The contract was signed, and then Nikki slapped Ronda. Ronda got her angry-face on, then laughed, signed the contract and vowed to “end” Nikki at Evolution.

CHARLY CARUSO INTERVIEWS SETH ROLLINS & DEAN AMBROSE- good promos by both guys. Seth even vowed that they would win the titles for Roman.

NIA JAX vs. EMBER MOON vs. DANA BROOKE vs. TAMINA- 0.5/10
Ember got to cut an inset promo about the battle royale at Evolution that was all buzzwords and no content. This makes Tamina the only one of these women who has not had the chance to cut a promo tonight. Tamina was also the one who got pinned here. Despite being on the two giants, she was put down by Ember Moon’s finisher in one minute and fifty seconds. Way to bury Tamina. They did the best they could have possibly done trying to tell an “alliances are temporary” story in the time they were given.
As previously mentioned, Ember Moon got the win. Michael Cole then almost immediately said “but there’s no pinfalls or submission on Sunday,” stripping Ember’s win of what little meaning it had.

CHARLY CARUSO INTERVIEWS TRISH STRATUS & LITA- They were cutting an okay promo when Alicia Fox showed up and said that Mickie & Alexa would kick their asses at the PPV. This proved to be a distraction so Mickie could attack them from behind and a pull-apart ensued. Alexa was conspicuously absent (more fuel for the Alexa missed Sunday’s house show because she got a concussion” rumor), although this was, of course, completely unremarked upon by any of the announcers. The babyfaces were pulled away by referees and the heels started ot cut a promo but the babyfaces came back and beat them up.

They aired a shampoo commercial during which they showed many highlights from the WWF career of Stone Cold Steve Austin. This caused me to laugh uncontrollably for a good three minutes.

WWE RAW TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler(c) vs. The Shield (Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose)- 7.75/10
They had an intense and exciting tag team match which the babyfaces won after Braun came out and brawled away with Drew.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- intense.
Then DEAN WENTS NUTS. He hit Seth with Dirty Deeds, then appeared to have a total mental break-down, then just started mauling Seth all over the ringside area, ending with pulling up the mats and hitting him with Dirty Deeds onto the exposed floor. Dean then threw down his black Shield tank top and walked out threw the crowd, going up the stairs.

So now we’ve got a babyface Strowman, a heel Dean Ambrose, no Roman Reigns, a vacant Universal Championship, and tag champs who hate each other, so those belts will probably either change or be vacated pretty soon, too. It feels like someone threw a continuity punch. I’d be very curious to know if the Ambrose turn was a reaction to Roman’s news or was already planned (though either way I wouldn’t have done it tonight. Tonight should have ended with a babyface victory). Raw is definitely getting a much-needed shake-up. This Sunday is Evolution and next Friday is Crown Jewel, and after that point it will be very interesting to see where everything stands.
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Re: BRM Reviews the 10/22/2018 Raw

Post by cero2k » Oct 23rd, '18, 09:19

Big Red Machine wrote: Oct 23rd, '18, 02:00
So now we’ve got a babyface Strowman, a heel Dean Ambrose, no Roman Reigns, a vacant Universal Championship, and tag champs who hate each other, so those belts will probably either change or be vacated pretty soon, too. It feels like someone threw a continuity punch. I’d be very curious to know if the Ambrose turn was a reaction to Roman’s news or was already planned (though either way I wouldn’t have done it tonight. Tonight should have ended with a babyface victory). Raw is definitely getting a much-needed shake-up. This Sunday is Evolution and next Friday is Crown Jewel, and after that point it will be very interesting to see where everything stands.
well, that someone's punch was probably cancer, but from my understanding, Ambrose's turn was coming. I'm hearing a lot of heat for doing a heel turn like that right after Reigns' announcement, but I think it actually makes somewhat sense.

Hipster Drifter also turned.
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Re: BRM Reviews the 10/22/2018 Raw

Post by Serujuunin » Oct 23rd, '18, 10:32

I definitely think they should have held off Ambrose’s turn for a bit after Roman’s announcement... I’m interested to see how they spin it but for me in this moment it kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

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Re: BRM Reviews the 10/22/2018 Raw

Post by Big Red Machine » Oct 23rd, '18, 13:13

Ambrose's turn was planned, but I'm not sure if it was planned for this week or not. Either way, they DEFINITELY shouldn't have done it this week. Give us our babyface win here, have them drop the titles after Crown Jewel (it's not like they can wrestle each other there because Seth in the WWE World Cup To Determine The Best In The World), with Seth getting pinned and Dean then turning on Seth to prove that Seth is the real weak link. You can get the IC Title out of there by having screw Seth out of it the next week, or (even better) have Seth lose in the first round of the WWE World Cup, then lose the IC Title clean to whoever beats him in the WWE World Cup the week before they lose the tag titles, so Seth will now have gotten pinned and lost titles two straight weeks, plus lost in the first round of the WWE World Cup, so Dean will have even more reason to be resentful that HE is the one people have said is the weak link when Seth is the one losing.
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Re: BRM Reviews the 10/22/2018 Raw

Post by Bob-O » Oct 23rd, '18, 13:54

Big Red Machine wrote: Oct 23rd, '18, 13:13 Ambrose's turn was planned, but I'm not sure if it was planned for this week or not. Either way, they DEFINITELY shouldn't have done it this week.
cero2k wrote: Oct 23rd, '18, 09:19
Big Red Machine wrote: Oct 23rd, '18, 02:00
So now we’ve got a babyface Strowman, a heel Dean Ambrose, no Roman Reigns, a vacant Universal Championship, and tag champs who hate each other, so those belts will probably either change or be vacated pretty soon, too. It feels like someone threw a continuity punch. I’d be very curious to know if the Ambrose turn was a reaction to Roman’s news or was already planned (though either way I wouldn’t have done it tonight. Tonight should have ended with a babyface victory). Raw is definitely getting a much-needed shake-up. This Sunday is Evolution and next Friday is Crown Jewel, and after that point it will be very interesting to see where everything stands.
well, that someone's punch was probably cancer, but from my understanding, Ambrose's turn was coming. I'm hearing a lot of heat for doing a heel turn like that right after Reigns' announcement, but I think it actually makes somewhat sense.

Hipster Drifter also turned.
I'll take it for what it is. It was a surprise and we don't get nearly enough of those anymore. They got their feel good moment at the beginning of the show, and then the show went on. Not only do we (FINALLY) get the psycho-heel Ambrose we've been waiting for since FCW, we're going to get the Dean/Rollins feud we've been waiting for since FCW, aaaand, between him and McIntyre, we're going to (FINALLY) get a new very capable top heel! The tag titles are going to (hopefully) go back to the real tag teams! The lack of faith they've shown in Strowman only shows that we REALLY have no idea what's going to happen, except it'll be different and it'll be good.

With record low ratings, and a big announcement to start the show, I feel good ending wasn't going to get people to tune in next week. For the first time in a very long time, I'm looking forward to Raw...
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Re: BRM Reviews the 10/22/2018 Raw

Post by KILLdozer » Oct 25th, '18, 09:21

Looks like Bliss won't be there. That's exactly why Alicia Fox was involved in that segment, almost surely. She's still not cleared, reportedly.
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Re: BRM Reviews the 10/22/2018 Raw

Post by Big Red Machine » Oct 25th, '18, 10:19

KILLdozer wrote: Oct 25th, '18, 09:21 Looks like Bliss won't be there. That's exactly why Alicia Fox was involved in that segment, almost surely. She's still not cleared, reportedly.
Which really kills my interest in anything from the main roster other than Becky vs. Charlotte. Even turning Trish vs. Alexa into a tag match hurt my interest in it, but without the Alexa vs. Trish match-up, the match does nothing for me. Without Bliss, I'd honestly be happier with just Trish vs. Mickie and not seeing Lita at all. Based on her performance in the Royal Rumble, she can't safely do all the stuff that made her cool and unique, so I'd much rather see her be Trish's cornerwoman than drag the match down (more than Fox already will) by being reduced to punch-kick-headlock (and maybe a dropkick).
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Re: BRM Reviews the 10/22/2018 Raw

Post by KILLdozer » Oct 25th, '18, 10:28

Big Red Machine wrote: Oct 25th, '18, 10:19
KILLdozer wrote: Oct 25th, '18, 09:21 Looks like Bliss won't be there. That's exactly why Alicia Fox was involved in that segment, almost surely. She's still not cleared, reportedly.
Which really kills my interest in anything from the main roster other than Becky vs. Charlotte. Even turning Trish vs. Alexa into a tag match hurt my interest in it, but without the Alexa vs. Trish match-up, the match does nothing for me. Without Bliss, I'd honestly be happier with just Trish vs. Mickie and not seeing Lita at all. Based on her performance in the Royal Rumble, she can't safely do all the stuff that made her cool and unique, so I'd much rather see her be Trish's cornerwoman than drag the match down (more than Fox already will) by being reduced to punch-kick-headlock (and maybe a dropkick).
*and Northern Lights Suplex.
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