Monday Night Raw Review - November 5, 2007

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

​Hornswoggle, The Boogeyman and The Great Khali "Joined D-Generation X

This was so silly that I actually enjoyed the hell out of it. It wasn't as stupid as some of their skits years later after the product went PG. Sure, Hornswoggle was involved, but everyone played their roles to perfection. This was one instance where I wasn't at all mad with how long the segment went simply because it was so damn fun from start to finish and it was great to get one of those classic DX segments for one night only.


Women's Champion Beth Phoenix def. Kelly Kelly (Non-title)

Kelly Kelly won the Halloween costume contest the week prior before Phoenix ambushed her, so this was a logical follow-up to that with The Glamazon making quick work of Kelly. Kelly was pretty awful in the ring at this point, so it was smart to keep the bout as brief as possible. It successfully made Phoenix out to look like a monster as a result.

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Snitsky def. Local Athlete

Carlito was originally scheduled to compete in this match against the local athlete, but he did what Santino Marella did a few weeks earlier by pulling out and having Snitsky serve as his replacement. The commentators noted the dominant streak Snitsky was on at this point, but the thing was, it never led anywhere! He rarely received title shots and was never given a real push, so any momentum he had went to waste.


Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy and Rey Mysterio def. Mr. Kennedy and Finlay

It demeaned the Brand Split to have SmackDown Superstars on Raw so regularly, but I'll give them a free pass here because Survivor Series (a tri-branded pay-per-view) was right around the corner. Hardy and Mysterio made for an awesome pairing and Kennedy and Finlay teasing tension was interesting. The match was also effective in furthering the feuds involved.


Stone Cold Steve Austin Attacked Santino Marella

This angle had been built up for weeks, so the crowd lost it when Austin's music eventually hit. The scripted came off a bit too forced at times with Austin plugging "The Condemned" DVD's special features and whatnot, but it was enjoyable all the same. It isn't often you see a beer truck on Raw courtesy of The Texas Rattlesnake, so that was a cool sight and a great payoff to the long-running angle.


Cody Rhodes def. World Tag Team Champion Trevor Murdoch

Although the match really wasn't much of note, it did accomplish a few different things. First, it built toward the World Tag Team Championship match between Rhodes, Hardcore Holly, Mudoch and Lance Cade at Survivor Series. Furthermore, it continued the story with Murdoch being too distracted by his love interest Mickie James and Cade getting frustrated with their mounting losses.


"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and Super Crazy def. The World's Greatest Tag Team

Well, this was random and beyond pointless. Duggan and Crazy weren't even an established team I don't think (unless they teamed on Sunday Night Heat), so I'm not sure what purpose this match was supposed to serve. What's worse is that it came at the expense of The World's Greatest Team, who didn't do much of note that year and floundered for the most part, which is a shame given their extraordinary talent.


D-Generation X def. WWE Champion Randy Orton and Umaga

I've noticed Raw's main events around this time typically didn't last long, so it was a refreshing change of pace for this match to be given an ample amount of time. The four Superstars worked well together and it hyped two big matches for Survivor Series. Meanwhile, HBK was able to hit Orton with yet another Sweet Chin Music, putting him in the driver's seat as his WWE Championship match with Orton loomed large.


Overall Show

WWE put forth a good effort in advertising several things for this show one week in advance and I thought it was worth it. Stone Cold Steve Austin showed up for a blast of a segment, DX reunited for one night only, and we were treated to a very well-wrestled dual-branded tag team match, so all in all, the episode was entertaining on the whole and built toward Survivor Series nicely.


SEE ALSO: "Monday Night Raw Review - October 29, 2007"