WrestleRant
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Store
  • About
  • Contact
Picture

Monday Night Raw Review - November 20, 2017

11/20/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Raw General Manager Kurt Angle, Jason Jordan and Braun Strowman Confronted Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and Triple H

Seeing Stephanie and Triple H, a.k.a. The Authority, kick off Raw brings back horrid memories from a few years ago when they were all over the show and didn't do anyone on the roster any favors. On the bright side, Angle, Jordan and Strowman all stood up to them here and planted the seeds for a number of matches down the line. None of them particularly intrigued me, to be honest, but this was successful in setting up Jordan vs. Strowman later in the night. At least Angle didn't take shit from Stephanie the same way Mick Foley did for months on end.

Samoa Joe def. Finn Balor

This was the perfect match to kick off the in-ring portion of the show because, as I've noted in the past, these two have always worked very well together. Plus, it was a logical follow-up to them teasing tension during the Survivor Series main event the night prior. It was an enjoyable outing and Joe winning in clean fashion was a pleasant surprise. Does this mean we can throw the rumors of Balor facing Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble out the window? If so, that's disappointing.
Picture

Asuka def. Dana Brooke

This was a result of Brooke attacking Asuka on last week's Raw, so I would assume she's a heel again. If you can recall, this was actually Asuka's debut match in NXT back at TakeOver: Respect in October 2015 (probably Brooke's best match ever), and I was happy that this was shades of that. Asuka absolutely killed her, which was a treat to see, and continued building momentum after becoming the sole survivor in the Survivor Series women's tag team elimination match.

The Shield Crashed Miz TV

I appreciated that Miz took the time to address his loss to Baron Corbin the night before, but him brushing it off like it was nothing made it feel meaningless. It wasn't a major offense, but that's merely me nitpicking. At any rate, this was an effective segment that set up the main event for the night with Roman Reigns challenging Miz for the Intercontinental Championship. Furthermore, I liked that Shield laying out The Miztourage explained why they were nowhere to be seen during Reigns vs. Miz.

Dean Ambrose def. Raw Tag Team Champion Sheamus

Needless to say, we've seen Ambrose and Sheamus compete in more than a handful of matches together since the summer, but this was a quality contest from start to finish that the crowd was hot for. Audiences obviously love The Shield, so that helps make these matches more enjoyable even though they don't mean much and has been done several times in recent months. I assume it's only inevitable before Ambrose and Seth Rollins regain the Raw Tag Team Championship.

Bayley vs. Mickie James vs. Sasha Banks vs. Alicia Fox in a Raw Women's Championship No. 1 Contender's Fatal 4-Way Match Ended in a No Contest

I dread these types of segments where one person talks and then someone interrupts them and then someone else comes out and so on and so forth. It's incredibly formulaic, and it doesn't help that the material they were given to work with was lousy. Besides, Bliss has beaten them all before, so I wasn't looking forward to that Fatal 4-Way. Thankfully, it wasn't long before it was crashed by the returning Paige, who received a big pop from the live crowd, and the debuting duo of Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. They were the last people I expected to get called up right now, but I am in full favor of the decision. They have history with Paige and this shakes up the women's division on Raw in a major way.

Braun Strowman def. Jason Jordan by Disqualification

I was actually really looking forward to seeing Strowman murder Jordan, but it was a short-lived affair thanks to Kane's interference. I'm glad Kane getting retribution on Strowman was saved for Raw instead of Survivor Series, because that would have made that main event even more disappointing than it was. Anyway, their brawl here was fine, but I can't say I'm excited to see their rivalry resume through the remainder of the year (if not beyond that).

Rich Swann, Cedric Alexander, Akira Tozawa and Mustafa Ali def. Tony Nese, Noam Dar, Ariya Daivari and Drew Gulak

Perhaps it was a case of me getting my hopes up for nothing, but I thought there was a chance we would see Hideo Itami debut during Enzo's celebration and be introduced as the next challenger to the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. Instead, we were treated to a pointless eight-man tag team match. It was well-wrestled and all, but the division is deader than dead at the moment.

Matt Hardy Attacked Elias

Elias' performance was no different than any other he's had on the main roster, though I didn't think Hardy would interrupt him. Elias has been involved in a number of feuds lately and has won most of them, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised Hardy and him will be engaged in a rivalry going forward to keep both of them busy. Hardy noted on social media that something needed to change coming off his loss to Elias on the Survivor Series Kickoff show, and I couldn't agree more. It's a crime WWE isn't doing more with Hardy or at least attempting to give him something similar to his "Broken" persona.

Roman Reigns def. The Miz to Win the Intercontinental Championship

Reigns and Miz have really good chemistry together and I found this championship clash to be entertaining. I especially liked that Miz was made to look like an equal to Reigns throughout and scored a number of nearfalls on him. The interference from Sheamus, Cesaro, Ambrose and Rollins was kept to a minimum and the crowd was into the closing stretch with Reigns winning the title. He was cheered here more than usual, so it was a cool moment with him becoming a Grand Slam Champion in WWE. From what I understand, Miz will be taking time off for the foreseeable future to film a movie, hence the sudden title change.

Overall Show

While this wasn't the greatest post-pay-per-view edition of Raw this year, it was certainly a newsworthy night with the Intercontinental Championship changing hands and Paige returning and debuting a new faction. I wasn't enamored with everything else, but Balor vs. Joe and Ambrose vs. Sheamus being above-average matches also helped make this a solid show on the whole. Raw doesn't have another exclusive pay-per-view until after the Royal Rumble, so expect lots of filler in the months ahead.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    Categories

    All
    #AskGSM
    Battle Of The Belts
    Cruiserweight Classic
    Halftime Heat
    Hidden Gems
    Interviews
    Lists/Rankings
    Mae Young Classic
    Mixed Match Challenge
    News
    NJPW
    NWA Shockwave
    NXT PLEs
    Opinion
    Previews
    Retro Reviews
    Reviews
    RJ's Two Cents
    Satire
    Slammy Awards
    SNME
    SummerSlam Recall
    The Deadly Draw
    The World Is A Vampire
    Tribute To The Troops
    Women's Eliminator
    Worlds Collide
    WrestleMania Recall
    WWE Draft
    WWE Network Specials
    WWE PLEs
    WWE Starrcade


    Archives

    July 2025
    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    RSS Feed

©2025 WrestleRant. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Store
  • About
  • Contact