Monday Night Raw Review - November 2, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Alexa Bliss Interrupted WWE Champion Randy Orton; Drew McIntyre Attacked The Miz and John Morrison

Orton put everyone on notice with his promo, though I'm still expecting him to defend the WWE title against McIntyre and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt at TLC next month. Speaking of The Fiend, Bliss continues to play her role amazingly well as his lackey, ally or whatever you want to call her. Miz's Money in the Bank tease was well done, but the problem is that he's been so heavily damaged this year through the bad booking he's endured that he's hard to take him seriously as potentially being the next WWE champion if he does cash in the contract successfully.

Jeff Hardy def. Elias in a Guitar-on-a-Pole Match

This has been perfectly fine for a midcard feud, but it hasn't exactly lit the world on a fire and I don't think either guy has benefited from it. It's kept both of them busy and helped Elias promote his new album, but that's about it. Anything involving a pole is bound to be terrible, but I will say that this was decent. Hopefully Hardy winning decisively means the rivalry is over and both guys can move on to something new.

WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax def. Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose

You know it's Survivor Series season when the Superstars who make up each team are fighting each other for no apparent reason heading into the pay-per-view. No, it has never made any sense and still doesn't. The tag titles were on the line here, but it was never explained what Rose and Brooke did to earn themselves a shot at the straps. The match was way too short to be anything out of the ordinary and what we got from them was fairly forgettable.

United States Champion Bobby Lashley def. 24/7 Champion R-Truth (Non-Title); Drew Gulak def. Truth to Win the 24/7 Championship

I'm all for Lashley picking up dominant victories, but we've seen him against Truth so many times this year that this meant nothing. The only positive thing I can say about it is that it didn't last long. Gulak emerged afterward to pin Truth and take the title from him, but only after getting his ass kicked by Lashley. As I've said time and time again, how anyone can bring themselves to care about the 24/7 Championship at this point is beyond me.

Braun Strowman def. Sheamus and Keith Lee in a Triple Threat Match to Qualify for Raw's Men's Survivor Series Team

AJ Styles cut a promo beforehand claiming to be the captain of Team Raw at Survivor Series, which led to this match being made to determine whether Strowman would join the squad or not. Obviously, there was no way he wasn't going to win, but the action was entertaining and it was a very hard-hitting and physical affair. Lee and Strowman got to further their feud without Strowman pinning Lee, so hopefully Lee will avenge the losses eventually.

WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Nia Jax def. Lana

This was set up after Lana attempted to interfere in the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match earlier in the evening. Jax has put Lana through the commentator's table almost every week for two months now and she unsurprisingly slaughtered Lana here in a matter of minutes. In other words, this was a waste of time. I don't see how Lana is supposed to be a babyface when she does nothing but get beat up. She isn't likable, so if anything, viewers probably love seeing her get laid out week after week. The fact Jax vs. Lana is the biggest women's rivalry on Raw right now while Asuka was nowhere to be seen on this show is rather sad.

The Hurt Business (Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander) def. Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) (Non-Title)

I was surprised that these guys were given as much time as they were, between the bout and the verbal exchange that preceded it. Hey, I'm not complaining, as all of it was enjoyable. It was nice for the tag team division to get spotlighted for a change. The match was very well-wrestled and the heels winning was the right call as this can definitely be a feud over the Raw Tag Team Championship. Hell, if history has taught us anything, they could win the belts before Survivor Series and go on to face The Street Profits instead.

Ricochet def. Tucker

Tucker debuted a new look here and, as others have said online, he now resembles a '90s jobber. In short, the dude is doomed. If that wasn't evident previously, it certainly was following his swift loss to Ricochet here. I don't hate the idea of Ricochet and Mustafa Ali feuding as the matches could be fun (despite RETRIBUTION being booked like a joke), but it's mind-boggling to me why WWE would bother breaking up Heavy Machinery if this is what was going to become of Tucker. I realize the company has done it time and time again, but it's never any less nonsensical to me.

Drew McIntyre def. The Miz and John Morrison in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match

First and foremost, props to McIntyre, Miz and Morrison for putting together a top-notch main event. McIntyre had the odds stacked against him and the heels had a chance of winning even though they haven't been presented as a legitimate threat all year. They came close but ultimately fell short. Part of me is happy WWE is continuing to protect McIntyre, but if Miz can't defeat McIntyre in a two-on-one situation, then it would be ridiculous to have him capture the WWE Championship without him being rebuilt beforehand. I'm a Miz fan, but even I would agree that'd be a dumb decision seeing as how he sorely lacks credibility at the moment.

Overall Show

I would say that you aren't going to be enamored with Raw going into Survivor Series if you don't care about the brand supremacy stuff, but even if by some miracle you marginally do, it doesn't make the show that much more bearable. Not everything is awful, of course, but the three hours are starting to drag again as there's little that I find myself invested in on the show. The women's division is desolate, the bickering among Team Raw is played out, and the midcard isn't interesting. New Day vs. Hurt Business has potential and The Fiend is injecting new life into the stagnant Orton vs. McIntyre feud, but those things weren't enough to make this episode worthwhile.