Monday Night Raw Review - November 9, 2020

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

WWE Champion Randy Orton, The Miz and John Morrison Attacked Drew McIntyre and Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day

I like how just because the heels will be teaming up in the night's main event that they aren't automatically getting along like most heels tend to. Instead, Orton went off on Miz and Morrison and spoke nothing but truth (except for the "minor leagues" line toward Morrison, I don't think IMPACT is going to be too happy about that). The rest of the segment played out nicely and was better than the talking segments that typically start Raw.

Riddle def. Elias and Jeff Hardy in a Triple Threat Match to Qualify for Raw's Men's Survivor Series Team

I was looking forward to this because of the talent involved, but it ended up being a dud. There were a handful of awkward spots and Riddle didn't seem to have chemistry with either of them (and we all know how lifeless the last two Hardy vs. Elias matches were). It arguably got worse as it went along, but at least it had the right result with Riddle qualifying. And yes, Riddle without Matt just sounds dumb.

WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Shayna Baszler def. Lana

I'm seriously struggling to figure out how WWE thinks Lana getting her ass handed to her is supposed to make her a babyface. News flash: it doesn't, and if anything, it makes me care about her even less. Baszler destroyed her in under two minutes as she should have, but this was completely unnecessary. Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose prevented Nia Jax from putting Lana through the commentary table, so at least she's endearing to two people on the roster (despite how she cost them the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship last week). I don't think the same can be said about everyone else.

Riddle and Keith Lee def. Sheamus and Braun Strowman (AJ Styles Served as Special Guest Referee)

The bickering between team members going into Survivor Series has got to end. We saw it in the segment that preceded this match and it's so played out (not to mention Riddle's nicknames for his teammates were insanely dumb). It definitely doesn't get me any more excited to see if they'll coexist, especially since there aren't any stakes to begin with and thus none of these guys have reason to want to work together. On the bright side, the tag team matchup was enjoyable and Styles serving as the special guest referee was the best part about it. Riddle had a pretty big night between winning the Triple Threat earlier in the evening and pinning Sheamus here. We'll see if WWE continues to push him after Survivor Series or if he'll be eliminated quickly at the event.

United States Champion Bobby Lashley def. Titus O'Neil

What took O'Neil so long to avenge The Hurt Business' backstage attack on him from a few weeks ago? When Lashley agreed to put his title on the line, a part of me got scared O'Neil was going to win it. Thankfully, that didn't happen and instead this was over within 60 seconds. O'Neil is one of the few people who has probably regressed in the ring throughout his time in the company, so there's no reason for him to be having lengthy matches at this stage of his career. He did make a good point, however, about how Lashley hasn't defended the United States Championship much since winning it. Hopefully that changes soon because it should be more a focal point on the show.

Raw Women's Champion Asuka def. WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Nia Jax by Disqualification (Non-Title)

We already got Raw's women's Survivor Series team earlier in the episode, so I had no desire to see Jax take on Asuka here. The two matches they had for the Raw Women's Championship at the start of the summer were nothing special and this was more of the same. All this did was illustrate how directionless Asuka is at the moment as Raw Women's Champion. The commentators emphasized she'll be facing Sasha Banks at Survivor Series, but she's taken a backseat to the nonsense surrounding Team Raw recently and her title reign feels like it's on pause as a result. This only existed so Jax and Baszler could put Lana through the table afterward.

Akira Tozawa def. R-Truth, Tucker, Gran Metalik, Lince Dorado, Drew Gulak and Erik in a 7-Way Match to Win the 24/7 Championship; Truth Left as the New 24/7 Champion

I know I've called the 24/7 Championship pointless in the past and it absolutely is, but it reached a new low here. The 7-Way lasted less than a minute and saw Tozawa take the title. That would have been bad enough, but everyone involved in then proceeded to pin each other to capture the championship. Basically, all seven Superstars got a turn with it before Truth won it back with an Attitude Adjustment. That was pretty funny, but the rest of this was a total waste of time and should have never made the air.

Mustafa Ali def. Ricochet

I honestly didn't expect Ali and Ricochet to get as much time as they did, so that was a pleasant surprise. I said months ago when these two were killing it on Main Event that they should be ripping it up on Raw and that made the most of their opportunity to do so here. RETRIBUTION didn't need to be at ringside, but otherwise, this was a fun piece of business. Both of these guys need wins, but it was more important for Ali to win after all the bad booking RETRIBUTION has endured up to this point. I doubt they can be salvaged still, but this didn't hurt.

Drew McIntyre and Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) def. WWE Champion Randy Orton, The Miz and John Morison

The story of this match was that Orton didn't want to tag in because he didn't want Miz to take advantage of him while he was down and cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase. That clever twist made it more than an ordinary six-man tag team main event and I appreciated that. From an in-ring standpoint, it was an above-average match that once again ended with McIntyre proving his dominance against Miz and Morrison. It's entirely possible McIntyre takes the belt back from Orton next week and goes on to face Roman Reigns at Survivor Series, similar to AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

Overall Show

The brand supremacy stuff is a drag every year and should be done away with, but it's been especially abysmal this year and any episode of Raw in the last three weeks has been proof of that. It feels like most of the show is centered around the male and female teams and whether they're getting along or not. It doesn't make for compelling television and no one has benefited from it. The WWE Championship and Raw Tag Team Championship matches announced for next week should be interesting as they could change the card for Survivor Series, but as for this show, there were minimal highlights. I was entertained by the two tag team matches and Ricochet vs. Ali, but that's about it.