WWE Raw Recap (13th November 2017)


I didn't manage to get my recaps done last week as I had university work that I left to the last minute but I'm back on schedule now.

Stephanie McMahon is out to start the show. She says that she makes business decisions that us puny normal people wouldn't understand. Angle is out and Steph runs him down, as she does with everyone. Steph is not happy about Jason Jordan being the fifth member of Team Raw. Who is? Steph claims nepotism. She says that the fifth member of Team Smackdown is John Cena, so why didn't Angle pick him? Would he rather have Jason Jordan. Angle says that at Survivor Series he will break Shane's ankle. Steph wants his head. She is unimpressed with Angle and is about to fire him when the Shield turn up. It's amazing how much different the reaction is to Reigns when he's in the Shield. Ambrose says that Angle proved his worth at TLC. Steph says that the Shield don't seem to have their tag titles, which is Angle's fault. Steph asks where Roman has been, Roman asks her where the hell she has been as it's the longest recovery time for a table bump in history. The Shield wants New Day at Survivor Series. About as decent as a Steph segment is going to get.

Brock Lesnar will have his reaction to Styles winning the title. I assume it's 'Thank fuck for that'.

We get a WarGames promo. I am unbelievably pumped for it. WarGames '92 is one of the best matches ever.

Mickie James vs Bayley vs Dana Brooke (Winner Gets A Spot On Team Raw) - This was a bit shit. The other members of Team Raw were at ringside and Asuka tried to check on Dana after she went to the floor. Dana decided to slap Asuka, for some unimaginable reason, and got her head kicked off for it. That allowed Bayley to pick up the win with a Bayley-to-belly. 

Enzo is out with Drew Gulak. My dislike of Enzo is matched by my love of Drew Gulak. Enzo does his thing but before Gulak can entertain me he is interrupted by Tozawa and Kalisto.

Enzo Amore & Drew Gulak vs Akira Tozawa & Kalisto - Pretty average match. Enzo picked up the win by pinning Tozawa. Run of the mill cruiserweight stuff.

Angle is backstage with his Survivor Series team. He books some matches, including Jordan vs Wyatt. Braun wants Kane and he won't accept anything else.

Miz TV. Miz runs down Baron Corbin, saying that he wasn't even good enough to be the bathroom break match on last week's Smackdown. Miz says that he creates his own opportunities and he has one tonight. He will beat the Shield. But he won't do it alone, he will be teaming with his guests tonight, The Bar. Sheamus says that there was no surprise that they won the titles, they kept their eyes on the prize. Cesaro says that they did what was necessary. Sheamus runs down the Usos for winning their titles on the B show. Cesaro says that at Survivor Series they will jailbreak the Uso Penitentiary. Miz runs down the Shield and all of their issues over the last few years. Tonight they will ruin their reunion.

Bray Wyatt vs Jason Jordan - I have not missed Wyatt while he has been away. It wasn't easy to get into this match, and I didn't. Wyatt controlled the match but Jordan eked out the victory. After the match Wyatt attacked Jordan, taking out his knee in the process. The crowd chants 'Thank you Wyatt'. That heel turn can't come soon enough for Jordan.

Angle is backstage with Jordan. Angle doesn't think that Jordan can compete. Jordan begs him not to take him out of the match on Sunday and guilts him by calling him dad.

Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are here. They show Styles winning the title from last week. I didn't do my review last week but it's safe to say I was very happy. It's about time there was a world title change in the UK too. Heyman says that he has the top 5 reasons to subscribe to the network. 
1. It's the first time there is a Universal champion vs WWE champion match, which sounds more impressive than it. It may also be the only time to see Lesnar vs Styles. 
2. Paul Heyman himself wants to see the match as Styles may be the only person who is better than Lesnar. 
Someone in the crowd proposes and Heyman says she only said yes because she is close to the Beast. 
3. Styles is the best in the world. He may well be. Lesnar is the number 1 champion of all time. He isn't but it's a good line. 
4. This will be a Rocky movie come to life. 
5. This ain't no Rocky movie, Styles can put up a heroic effort but he'll lose. That sounds exactly like a Rocky movie.
That was a fun promo, but of course it was, it was Heyman.

The Shield vs Bar MizVah - During the entrance for the Shield some dickhead gets too close to Ambrose and gets roughed up a little bit. Don't be a dick. At some point in this Booker T calls Reigns 'one bad simoleon', which is the currency used in underrated Mega Dive/Genesis gem Cosmic Spacehead. Anyway, this match was good, as was to be expected, but it did take some time to hit it's stride. The Shield are an exceptional 6-man team. There were some good near falls before the Shield picked up their inevitable victory with the triple powerbomb.

We cut to Kane pulling a cheesy smile. He says he smiles every time he remembers the garbage truck crushing Braun. Whatever floats your boat.

Kurt Angle is back out. He is here to tell us whether he is replacing Jason Jordan in the elimination match. He has decided to replace him. Jordan comes out to talk him out of it. He is whining like a privileged wanker. He is on the verge of tears. It's not endearing, it's terrible. The crowd wants none of it. Kurt tells him it's not worth it but Jordan keeps begging. He uses the father guilt trip again. It's so fucking annoying that Steph gets cheered when she comes out. Angle is weighing up his options when he is interrupted by HHH. HHH takes the decision away from Angle and declares himself the fifth member of Team Raw. The crowd wants a pedigree on Jordan. So do I. BOOM! Pedigree. Fuck you Jordan, fuck you Angle. This match is now stacked as fuck. That segment got a whole lot better at the end.

Samoa Joe & Finn Balor vs Anderson & Gallows - Solid tag match. It got a fair amount of time too. There was no animosity between Joe and Balor in the lead up to the PPV. Obviously they won. Balor got the pin with Coup de Grace.

Kane vs Braun Strowman - Raw main events are weird these days. Remember when the biggest matches were in the main event slot? This is a physically big match I suppose. The match doesn't actually start. They brawl at ringside and tease a table spot but they end up back in the ring. Braun gives Kane the running powerslam straight through the ring. And that is where we leave this story. 

Overall Thoughts

The end of the show was a bit strange. I'm not sure how it sells Survivor Series but, hey, it was a nice visual. The wrestling in the first half of the show wasn't anything that you will remember 10 minutes later but the last 2 matches were pretty good. There were some good promos in there too, and the surprise return of HHH. All in all it was solid, if slightly disjointed, episode of Raw.

Comments