Monday Night Raw Review - November 20, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Jey Uso, World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins, Sami Zayn and Cody Rhodes Confronted Drew McIntyre and The Judgment Day

I like that McIntyre's explanation kicked off the show because it was obviously the biggest talking point coming out of last week's show. Per usual, everything he said ​​made sense and that's why this slow-burn heel turn has worked so well. It was the perfect promo for him to cut coming off what happened last week. This was a solid segment to set up the WarGames Advantage match later on in the show and I liked that Adam Pearce announced that each team had to confirm who would representing them by the top of the hour. McIntyre also made it official that he is not a member of Judgment Day but rather just an ally because Rhea RIpley promised him Jey in a cage (in WarGames).

Nia Jax def. Raquel Rodriguez

I didn't think I'd ever say this, but WWE has done handled Jax fairly well since her return two months ago. She hasn't been overexposed and hasn't dominated the division but hasn't been made to look weak, either. This match has been in the works for a while and it was largely decent. I thought Rodriguez would finally get one over on Jax here, but I'm fine with them keeping Jax unbeaten for a little longer so it means more when she does eventually lose. The crowd was hotter than I thought they would be for this, especially down the stretch.

Becky Lynch def. Xia Li

Lynch joining the babyface team for the women's WarGames match last Friday on SmackDown made the outcome fairly obvious, as if it wasn't obvious to begin with that Lynch would win. I applaud WWE's effort to get Li over with this program and hopefully it works. She's definitely in a better place now than she was two months ago when she wasn't even on the show. I didn't have lofty expectations for this, but it turned into a damn good match. Li had an impressive performance and this was easily the best bout of her career. Meanwhile, Lynch continued her string of really fun matches. Plus, the post-match brawl featuring the SmackDown Superstars to hype the women's WarGames matchup was well done.

Johnny Gargano def. Ludwig Kaiser

This was the latest chapter in the ongoing Imperium vs. #DIY feud. It was another average affair and they made the most of the time they had. Giovanni VInci showing up at ringside was enough to distract Kaiser and cost him the win. With more tension being teased with Imperium, it'll be interesting to see if it leads to Vinci being booted or leaving on his own. Gargano didn't win clean, but it's better than another loss for him.

Tegan Nox & Natalya def. Maxxine Dupri & Ivy Nile, Katana Chance & Kayden Carter, and Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell in a WWE Women's Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Match

It's nice to see a handful of teams actually want a shot at the women's tag titles, which have barely been defended since Green first became champ months ago. There wasn't much to the match, but everyone worked hard and they did what it could to keep it interesting. There were so many women involved that only a few of them had a chance to showcase their skills, but at least Nox and Natalya were able to earn a title shot instead of randomly being granted one.

The Miz Attacked Intercontinental Champion Gunther

I love that Gunther has been relied on to cut more promos this year as Kaiser was doing a majority of the talking for him at one point. He's proven to be great on the mic and I thoroughly enjoyed his exchange with Miz here. They did an effective job of selling viewers on their Intercontinental Championship match at Survivor Series and having Miz get the better of him to close the segment sent the message he has a chance of winning, even though in reality he doesn't.

Shinsuke Nakamura def. Chad Gable

This was the very well-wrestled match you'd expect from these two. They were given an ample amount of time and it was very competitive. Gable hasn't had a whole lot to do since failing to win the Intercontinental Championship, and although I still want him to be the one to dethrone Gunther eventually, he'll need to be built back up before then. In the meantime, Nakamura has the momentum and should be racking up wins before his next feud. 

Drew McIntyre def. Jey Uso in a WarGames Advantage Match

This was a logical match to do to determine who gets the WarGames advantage given McIntyre's established issues with Jey. They told a story with McIntyre taking his time picking apart Jey, who battled back before losing. The crowd was quieter than I figured they would be, but it's likely because they were waiting for the fifth member of the babyface team to be revealed afterward. Rhodes heavily hinted at it being Randy Orton in his promo, but Orton didn't actually appear in person. That was disappointing, but I understand they want to save the big pop for Survivor Series and also not leave viewers thinking it will be Chicago native CM Punk.

Overall Show

This edition of Raw was successful in terms of building toward Survivor Series and the announcement of Orton returning is sure to get fans more excited than they were previously. There was the usual quality wrestling and storyline progression with stuff not related to the pay-per-view as well, so it was a thumbs-up episode on the whole that did a better job than last week of filling the three hours.

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