WWE is in Manchester, England, and the crowd is a loud one!
We began the show with the Roster on the stage and security surrounding the ring. Baron Corbin was then out to discuss Survivor Series and the fact that he’s the captain. He then announces Alexa Bliss is the captain for the women’s team. Kurt Angle then appeared to challenge Corbin to a Match for the opportunity to become captain of the Survivor Series team. Corbin accepted, then Braun came out and wanted to rip Cobin’s head clean off his neck, Strowman killed the security guards but Corbin ran away.
Backstage
Sasha Banks, Natalya & Bayley being interviewed and they talked a bit about their rematch with Riott Squad coming up next, Nattie dedicated the match to her Dad, the late and great Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart.
Bayley, Sasha Banks and Natalya Neidhart vs The Riott Squad
Match ended in a double count out, it was okay. The narrative was important here more than anything. It ended with Nattie locking in a deep Sharpshooter on Morgan, but sadly she had to let her out when Ruby snapped Nattie’s Father’s glasses that he gave to her before he died. The match ended with Nattie in tears and the Squad leaving up the ramp.
Backstage
Braun is hunting for Corbin. Pretty funny segment where he went hunting in the bathrooms and terrified some dude in one of the cubicles.
Jinder Mahal w/ Sunil Singh (no Samir though) vs Apollo Crews
Apollo confirms Titus Worldwiiide is now dissolved. Apollo says he will show why he’s the ‘Human Highlight Reel’. He will prove his worth. This is great. I really hope he does. First time I saw him in NXT I said “That’s a future World Champion right there”. I hope he gets pushed to the moon.
Crews won after a Gorilla Press Slam into a Moonsault. Was a short but effective match.
Promo
Seth Rollins came out holding both Tag Team Championships and his IC Title. He talked about what a travesty it is to have Lesnar as Universal Champion again and then said he can’t defend the tag titles alone, until Corbin showed up on the Tron and made this next match.
2 on 1 Handicap Match for The WWE RAW Tag Team Championships
Seth Rollins vs AoP
This was a really cool match! Rollins brought it! He looked seriously strong here. But when all was said and done, a little bittersweet, but your winners and NEW WWE RAW Tag Team Champions, Authors of Pain. Ambrose came out through the crowd afterwards and got in the ring to talk to Rollins, he says the reason he did what he did was.. then stopped and hit a Dirty Deeds, then left. Lots of boos, but man I loved this! Cole asked Renee about her husband, Ambrose, to which she said that there’s no reasoning with him right now. There’s no talking to him about it, he just shuts down.
Backstage
Baron Corbin is hiding in the storage room, Braun is roaming the building and overheard Charlie say that’s where Corbin is and so he breaks in and kills more security guards, Corbin runs away again.
Dolph Ziggler promo
Came out to explain the conspiracy theories about his loss in the World Cup, until Elias interrupted him. He walked all over Dolph here, the crowd love Elias and he’s finally on his way to the top! Elias can never do any wrong! He played a song and then came to the ring when challenged.
Elias vs Dolph Ziggler
Straight up awesome. This was an amazing match with false finishes, heavy shots and another CLEAN Elias win!! Yes! Drift Away strikes again for a pinfall. Elias’ time is now!
Interview
Kurt Angle has an interview with Chalrie Carusso. Kurt Angle cut a seriously old school promo on Corbin. This felt very much like the Kurt Angle of old, 5 o’clock shadow and all! First match on Raw in over 12 years too!
Ronda Rousey promo
She came out and talked about Her life and she qand that she’s trailblazing her way through everything she ever did. She said she hopes Becky brings her a real challenge because whilst Becky may call herself “The Man”, Ronda is still the “Baddest Bitch on the planet.”
Then Nia Jax came out to say She has a tiltle match that she earned from Crown Jewel and warned Ronda about it. Ember Moon came out for her match
Ember Moon vs Nia Jax
Great match from these two. It ended with Nia winning via Samoan Drop, then Tamina came out and beat up Ember, then Nia
Finn Balor Interview
Nice interview, getting people behind him.
Baron Corbin Interview
He talks to Charlie again as he’s getting into his Limo. He said that because of Braun he won’t be facing Angle tonight, Drew McIntyre will. Then Braun comes running out of the building after him, so Corbin gets in and gets away.
Bobby Lashley w/ Lio Rush vs Finn Balor
This was a weird start, Lio Rush got Lashley to bend over and show Manchester his ass.. no idea why.. it was cringe as Hell. But the match was really interesting. Bobby got the win all thanks to interference from Lio Rush, Balor nearly got the win though, Rush and Lashley were going to attack Balor after the match, but who made the save? Drew McIntyre’s music hit and the Scottish Psychopath made his way to the ring, he took his jacket off, squared up to Lashley and yelled in his face, Lashley looked close to retaliating, but Lio managed to talk him out of it and they left. Drew helped Balor up, Balor said cheers, then McIntyre Claymored his head off.
Kurt Angle vs Drew McIntyre
Kurt Angle’s first match on Raw in 12 years, was outstanding! It was a tremendous back and forth show between these two beasts of Professional Wrestling. Angle hit his Angle Slam ‘outta nowhere’ early on but McIntyre rolled out of the ring. Drew eventually hit a Claymore, but didn’t go for a cover and instead just stared at Angle. Be then humiliated Angle by grabbing his face and telling him he’s nothing to him, Angle was able to lock onto an AngleLock however but to avail, McIntyre then Angle Slammed Kurt and locked on his own version of an Ankle Lock and forced Kurt to submit. Fan-bloody-tastic. Not only did this make Angle look amazing, prove he can still go and hopefully give him some direction as a character, but it made McIntyre look like an absolute machine!
Conclusion
8/10 🌟
This was a significant improvement on last week’s lobotomy of a show after the train wreck of a PPV they put on in that Kingdom that they aren’t supposed to mention. Still some questionable calls this week, such as not having Kurt Angle win and having Bobby Lashley bend over and show us all his backside! Is this some Benjamin Button malarkey? A 40 year old man, shouldn’t be showing his ass off to people as an insult unless his profession is a Pet Detective! But it was a surprisingly very satisfying show. Lashley’s butt aside.
Match of the Night: I thought it was going to be Balor vs Lashley III or Rollins vs AOP. Until the Main Event. That match blew my mind. It had a bit of everything mixed in. Underdog story, returning Legend vs new blood, Savagery, heel vs face, it drew me in on the nostalgia factor alone! Mix in the heavy hitting, near falls and intense character work from both men and you’ve got lightning in a bottle!
Honourable mention for the crowd too. They were super involved and so respectful.
Annoyance of the Night: Brock Lesnar was nowhere to be seen. Which isn’t entertaining or funny anymore. It’s just plain disappointing and diminishes any ability to get excited about the Universal Championship very rapidly. When he beat Strowman at Crown Jewel, it was the first time ever in almost 2 decades of being a Wrestling Fan that I switched off a PPV before it ended. I was just so disappointed.
Thank you all so much for stopping by again if you’re a regular reader and if you’re not then thank you for taking the time out to have a little gander, I appreciate every single one of you, please feel free to comment, like and share and make sure to Too Sweet that follow button on the Twitter machine @KayfabeToday. Peace and love to one and all! ✌🏻💚
– CB
