Monday Night Raw Review - November 22, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Raw Tag Team Champion Riddle def. Dolph Ziggler

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I actually found Riddle dressing up as Randy Orton hilarious. He's so committed to to and he and Orton play off each other really well. Again, most people probably think it's stupid and I totally get it, but RK-Bro are still one of my favorite acts on Raw. Riddle and Ziggler had the well-wrestled match you'd expect from them to keep RK-Bro rolling. Riddle hit a damn good RKO and Ziggler sold it beautifully.

Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch Addressed the Audience

Lynch's mic game continues to be on another level compared to everyone else on the roster. My only issue with her current character is that she's constantly going back and forth between being a babyface and a heel. I think she's settled into being a heel now that she's feuding with Liv Morgan, but we'll see if that sticks. She had some great lines here and I liked her brief verbal exchange with Morgan later on backstage.

Bianca Belair def. Tamina

This was a rematch from a few weeks ago. It wasn't overly exciting the first time and this wasn't much better, but it did what it what it needed to. It's worth noting that Natalya was back in Tamina's corner because the entire WWE roster was on hand for this show, but no mention of this being a one-off was made by either woman. In fact, Doudrop walking out with both of them seemed to indicate that they'll be some sort of a stable going forward. Speaking of Doudrop, she said last week that she'd wait until after Survivor Series to resume her rivalry with Belair, so at least she's a woman of her word.

Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor Went to a No Contest

I was looking forward to this match knowing their chemistry and history, especially inside the Barclays Center from five years ago. Rollins attacked Balor beforehand and prevented it from happening, but I'm actually glad they didn't go through with it because it deserves to be built up more in advance. I hope they do this as a full-fledged feud at some point because they barely feuded in 2016 and their feud in 2018 over the Intercontinental Championship also involved The Miz. It was a well-done angle. By the way, the fan that jumped the barricade and attempted to attack Rollins should've gotten his ass kicked by Rollins before security pulled him away.

AJ Styles and Omos def. The Street Profits by Disqualification

This has been a fine secondary feud in the tag team division, but the problem is that Styles should be back in the singles ranks by this point. He feels completely wasted in this role. On the bright side, this was a quality contest while it lasted, but Street Profits blasting Styles and Omos with fire extinguishers was lame. It leaves the door open for a rematch and I can't say I've seen that before, but it didn't exactly end it on a high note.

Queen Zelina and Carmella def. Rhea Ripley and Nikki A.S.H. to Win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship

Zelina and Carmella have turned into a quality team over the last few weeks. They lost far more often than they won over on SmackDown, but they've been booked better on Raw and I honestly had no problem with them taking the titles here. Part of that is because Ripley and Nikki had a dull reign and the other part is because I want to see Ripley back on her own and I don't care if she has to turn on Nikki in order for that to happen. This was a decent match with the right result.

Cedric Alexander def. Reggie to Win the 24/7 Championship; Dana Brooke def. Alexander to Win the 24/7 Championship

I still don't understand why WWE continues to have the 24/7 Championship defended in actual matches when that's never been the point of the belt. The matches are never given more than a few minutes and are typically throwaway, so I've been conditioned to not care about any of these defenses. Reggie vs. Alexander was kept brief, and just as I started to wonder why WWE would put a belt on Alexander, he was immediately beaten by Dana Brooke. I guess this gives Brooke something to do after sitting in catering for so long, but it made Alexander look even like a loser than he already was. I'm shocked we haven't seen this name on any of these lists of releases in recent months seeing as how the company clearly doesn't have plans for him. He complains on social media more than most and that usually is an indicator that person is about to be let go.

Bobby Lashley def. Rey and Dominik Mysterio in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match

Lashley beat both of the Mysterios in singles matches the last two weeks on Raw, and although the Mysterios had the deck stacked against Lashley here, they didn't stand a chance. This was a fun, well-worked match with the crowd very much behind the Mysterios throughout. I'm curious if this latest loss will lead to Dominik turning on Rey or if they won't be going in that direction after all. As for Lashley, I'm happy he's been booked strong since returning and hope it leads to an even more meaningful push going forward.

United States Champion Damian Priest def. Sami Zayn

Priest was advertised as having an open challenge for his championship, and although it looked like it'd be accepted by Apollo Crews, Crews said today was not the day and he walked out. They're clearly building to a bout between them at some point, but that felt like a way to kill time more than anything else. Zayn took advantage of the fact the SmackDown roster was on hand for this show and accepted the challenge himself. The crowd clearly wasn't interested early on if the wave was any indication, but it turned into a solid match down the stretch. I'm still not digging the split personality thing for Priest when there was nothing wrong with what he was doing previously.

WWE Champion Big E def. Austin Theory

Theory "earned" this opportunity by returning Mr. McMahon's very expensive egg to him. Yes, seriously. That was the best this company could come up with. Ugh. There wasn't anything wrong with the match itself and I thought Theory looked credible in defeat, but he was an absolute moron for being distracted by Rollins and Kevin Owens bickering at ringside. Will Owens be added to the eventual Big E vs. Rollins match and have it turn into a Triple Threat?

Overall Show

The egg stuff at Survivor Series was incredibly stupid and the payoff on this show was even worse. I don't recall The Rock being mentioned all night and I'd be embarrassed if I were him that his movie Red Notice had anything to do with it. Barely anyone from SmackDown was present, so that felt like false advertising as well. There were several title matches, but only the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship changing hands felt slightly significant. It was a weak post-pay-per-view show that didn't inspire a lot of confidence as far as what's in store for the next few weeks. The Brooklyn crowd being annoying for most of the night didn't help, either.

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