Monday Night Raw Review - November 7, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa and Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos) def. Matt Riddle and The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods)

Between the dueling promos to start the show and the subsequent six-man tag team match, this segment took up almost the entire first hour, and I'm complaining. The promos from New Day and The Usos were excellent and effectively hyped up their Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship clash on Friday's SmackDown, making it feel more important than it already did. I also loved the various callbacks, including when The Usos forfeited that Gauntlet match to New Day back in 2019 that led to Kofi Kingston getting a WWE Championship opportunity at WrestleMania 35. Riddle's involvement was unnecessary, though. I normally don't mind Riddle's comedy, but the bong/bongo stuff is another level of stupid. The match itself was entertaining and Sikoa pinning Riddle for the victory was a nice surprise. 

Baron Corbin def. Cedric Alexander

I'm in the minority who has largely enjoyed JBL's appearances on Raw so far, but I will agree with the majority that the talk of "snowflakes" and "wokeness" while he's bashing the crowd is bad. Corbin vs. Alexander was a standard squash for Corbin and Corbin always works well with the smaller stars. The finish coming out of nowhere was cool as well. That said, I'm ready for Corbin to enter his first feud one of these days because this was more of the same.

The O.C. and Mia Yim Attacked The Judgment Day

The segment started as Seth Rollins issuing an open challenge for his United States Championship only for both Judgment Day and The O.C. to emerge, which led to Rollins making his exit. Finally, The O.C. has help in the form of Mia Yim to counteract Rhea Ripley. I floated that possibility a week or two ago and I'm happy to have been right because Yim deserves another shot in WWE after being unceremoniously fired last year. She never got a real run on the main roster before being saddled with the awful RETRIBUTION gimmick. She has no history with The O.C. or Ripley, mind you, but she's badass enough that it makes sense. Do we get that eight-person tag team match at Survivor Series?

Otis def. Elias

This was a part of Elias and Riddle's ongoing rivalry with Alpha Academy. Since Riddle was busy in the opener, Elias went at it alone here and fell short of victory. There wasn't anything particularly memorable about the match whatsoever, though Otis winning surprised me. Then again, if the endgame is Elias and Riddle joining forces, then it's logical for Alpha Academy to get one over on Elias to set that up.

Damage CTRL and Nikki Cross Attacked Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss and Asuka

Damage CTRL's feud with Belair, Bliss and Asuka has long overstayed its welcome, but I understand wanting to drag it out another three weeks because of WarGames. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a ton of heat because Damage CTRL has been so, well, damaged creatively. This segment played out predictably, but it was fine. Damage CTRL and Cross need one more member while the babyfaces need two. I assume one or both of those spots will go to Becky Lynch and/or Sasha Banks, but time will tell.

Austin Theory def. Shelton Benjamin

This came together via a backstage altercation these two had earlier in the evening in a video that went up on WWE.com and the company's social media channels. Benjamin has been absent from Raw since the breakup of The Hurt Business, so the fact both he and Alexander appeared on this episode was interesting. Could there be smoke to the fire as far as the rumors of a Hurt Business reunion go? I wish Theory and Benjamin lasted longer, but what we got was solid. The win for Theory didn't really matter after what went at the end of the night, though.

The Miz def. Johnny Gargano

Before the bout, Gargano played a video that someone he hired recorded of Miz admitting to everything Gargano accused him of last week, so there's the proof. The storyline has lost a lot of my interest, but I appreciate them wanting to see it through and end it properly. Despite the lifeless crowd, Miz vs. Gargano was actually great stuff and was given plenty of time. The finish was also perfect with Miz pretending Dexter Lumis was under the ring, distracting the referee and using that to his advantage to cheat to win. With Lumis returning afterward, that match should be happening sooner rather than later.

Nikki Cross def. Dana Brooke to Win the 24/7 Championship

Unless you've been watching Main Event in recent months (and I'll bet you almost certainly haven't been), you likely thought the 24/7 Championship was dead and buried, but nope! It was indeed still a thing, at least until tonight (fingers crossed). Cross vs. Brooke was the definition of a dark match and not a single soul in that building gave a shit, even with Cross won the title. Thankfully, she dumped it in the trash backstage afterward (or at least she attempted to), so here's hoping the god-awful 24/7 Championship is officially no more and has finally met its demise.

Austin Theory Cashed In His Money in the Bank Contract; United States Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins def. Theory

Wow, where to begin? This entire segment was convoluted and overbooked as all hell. That isn't to say it didn't have its highlights (which I'll address in a moment), but the bottom line is that Theory cashing in his Money in the Bank contract, which guarantees him a world title shot at any time and place of his choosing, on a midcard title is hilariously bad. Yes, the belt has been elevated since Triple H took over, but it's still a secondary championship at the end of the day. Plus, Rollins was issuing an open challenge, so why wouldn't he just accept that instead of using his contract? Rollins was attacked beforehand by Bobby Lashley (as was Mustafa Ali backstage and he came across like a total afterthought), and Lashley attacked Theory halfway through as well, so while I can understand the argument that Theory that was protected in defeat, he still comes away from this looking like a total loser, especially after all the losing he's been doing since he won the briefcase in July. The match had a lot of suspense, and I'm all for Lashley getting his edge back as a heel while Rollins organically turns babyface, but the booking of Theory was too egregious to ignore. I'd go so far as to say it was the worst cash-in in company history. Theory can always be built back up, but this undoubtedly sets him significantly, regardless of where he goes from here.

Overall Show

Sadly, Theory's failed Money in the Bank cash-in is all people are going to be talking about from this show, overshadowing all the good I thought this show had going for it. It wasn't an amazing episode by any means and the dead crowd played a big factor in that, but Yim's return was a cool moment, we got the setup for the women's WarGames match, Miz vs. Gargano was a treat, and the promos from New Day and The Usos are worth seeking out. Hopefully things heat up as we head into Survivor Series, which is less than three weeks away.

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