Monday Night Raw Review - October 24, 2016

Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman return to Raw.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Seth Rollins Stole Chris Jericho's List

Rollins, Jericho and Owens have all been playing their respective roles well throughout this program, and as good as Rollins and Owens are, Jericho has been stealing the show on a weekly basis. He is just so damn entertaining and his bits over the course of the night that featured him searching for his list backstage were hilarious. I coud have done without Stephanie McMahon's involvement here, but at least she didn't take away from the segment as she easily could have.


​Enzo Amore def. Karl Anderson

I like Enzo and Big Cass. I like The Club. I can't bring myself to care about either act at the moment. The Club has been especially booked badly since their debut back in the spring and all they do is lose. How are they a threat to anyone but The Golden Truth at this point? Actually, The Golden Truth might win more regularly than they do, so I take that back. It's so sad that Anderson has yet to win a singles match in WWE. What's worse is that he's actually really, really good. Sigh.

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Could Brian Kendrick defeat Rich Swann?

Sheamus and Cesaro def. Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day (Non-title)

I'm still scratching my head at the decision to hold this match days before they face off again at the pay-per-view. It would be one thing if this was done to allow them to earn a title shot, but they were named the No. 1 contenders to the straps weeks ago! I don't care if it will be a different combination of New Day wrestling on Sunday. This was just meaningless. The match was a treat, but now there's no real incentive to see them fight again, other than there's a small chance Sheamus and Cesaro might win the tag titles (though I doubt it).


Bayley def. Dana Brooke in an Arm Wrestling Contest by Disqualification

Ugh. Arm wrestling contests were one of the most tried troupes on Raw years ago, along with the dance-offs. Remember how horrible those were? I guess this was one way of furthering the feud without having them face each other again, but I've said it before and I'll say it again: Brooke is beyond atrocious. She's a much better character than she is a wrestler, but reuniting her with Emma would be the best thing for her at this point.


Bo Dallas def. Curtis Axel

Oddly enough, I liked this. They needed to pay off Dallas' attack on Axel somehow, and where better than in the only city where Axel will get cheered (his hometown)? The crowd got behind Axel at several points and it added to my enjoyment of the match as a result, but I still can't get behind the goofy Dallas persona. He's just damaged goods to me, whereas someone like Neville has plenty of untapped potential.


The Golden Truth def. The Shining Stars

Sorry to sound like a broken record, but Mark Henry is being wasted in this role as a manager for The Golden Truth. Then again, I'm not even sure why he's still around after he outright said he would very likely be retiring at WrestleMania 32. Needless to say, this was total throwaway and served no purpose. My own girlfriend, a casual fan at best, agreed this was garbage and that was all I needed to hear.


Raw Women's Champion Sasha Banks and Charlotte Signed the Contract For Their Hell in a Cell Match

I saw mixed reviews regarding this segment online, but I fall in the category of those who liked it a lot. Did Banks and Charlotte cut their best promos ever? No, I've heard better from them, specifically on NXT from The Boss. But this was an improvement over any other contract signing they have done with the women in years on the main roster, and Mick Foley was especially excellent. I know fans will claim he took the attention off the ladies, but the biggest gripe of their upcoming Hell in a Cell match was that they didn't put over the dangers of the structure, and thus Foley did a tremendous job of that here I thought.


Rich Swann def. Brian Kendrick

The bizarre booking of the Cruiserweight division continues. The match was fun while it lasted, but why would they have the No. 1 contender to the title lose six days before he's supposed to get his shot at the strap? Regardless of whether he wins or loses at Hell in a Cell (and I hope he wins), that was just stupid, no matter how much I like Swann. And then Kendrick asking Perkins to lose for him was weird, too.


Braun Strowman vs. Sami Zayn Went to a No Contest

I'm definitely down for a feud between these two as I believe it can be something good for the both of them. Storyline-wise, does Zayn have a chance in hell of beating Strowman? Absolutely not, but that's what makes this feud work. Zayn benefits from losing anyway, so I don't see the harm in it. Plus, it gives Strowman something of note to do for the foreseeable future before he moves on to more notable competition.


Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman Addressed Goldberg

Talk about an epic failure. How WWE thought the Minneapolis crowd would cheer for Goldberg over Lesnar is beyond me, and this segment completely backfired because of that. It ended out of nowhere and no one seemed to know how to react. It's a good thing I'm already hyped for their apparent Survivor Series match because this didn't do anything more to make me look forward to it.


Seth Rollins def. WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho in a Triple Threat Match (Non-title)

The match wasn't what it could have been because of a small time window, but it was entertaining, nevertheless. Very little if any tension was teased between Owens and Jericho, so this might as well have been a Handicap match. The finish was pretty cool with Rollins pinning them both, even though it could have come off a bit better. But what I appreciated more than anything else was how vicious Owens looked afterward by brutalizing Rollins, which was desperately needed. I still don't think this match belongs inside Hell in a Cell, but this was a solid final sell for the feud.


Overall Show

As a go-home show, I don't think it was all that effective in getting me more excited for Hell in a Cell than I was going in (considering I will be there in attendance). The pre-taped promos from Roman Reigns and Rusev were well done, but I'm ready for that rivalry to be over. The main event and the contract signing were highlights, as well as everything involving Jericho and his list, but the rest of the episode was... well, there. Not a terrible edition of Raw, but maybe middle-of-the-road, which has been a recurring theme for weeks. At any rate, as noted, I will be at Hell in a Cell in Boston this weekend (one day before Halloween! Woo!), so my review won't be up until mid-Monday at the earliest. Enjoy the event, folks!

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