Raves, Rants and Results – Monday Night Raw 27/11

With two months until January’s Royal Rumble, Raw is filling their time with a brand new female faction and a monster warfare at the top of the card...

Raves

The next Paige

One week on from her triumphant return, the story is building nicely for Paige and her new buddies. I’m not completely sold on ‘Absolution’, but we now have some sense of a back-story to why these girls have aligned themselves with the anti-diva. Crediting Paige as the matriarch of the women’s revolution rings some truth and is a credible reason for both Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose to align themselves with her. And although it would have been nice to actually see them attack Mickie James and Bayley, they got over they are not a trio to mess with thanks to the beat-down of Sasha Banks and then the interesting tease of what may come further down the line with Asuka. Wouldn’t it be a delicious twist if Paige was behind the SmackDown invasion too?

Walking with Elias

I’m not sure I agree with Booker T’s claim that Roman Reigns vs. Elias is match that would main event anywhere in the world - given that it didn’t even main event this episode of Raw - however it did live up to some of the ridiculous hype it was given throughout the first portion of the show. Elias is rarity in WWE, where he’s character has got more over on the main roster than it ever did on NXT and he’s proving he can back it up in the ring too. The encounter was much more competitive than I initially thought it would be and the twist powerbomb he did on Reigns was hugely impressive. It did make me question whether the Intercontinental strap would be better suited on Elias, rather than on a talent who arguably doesn’t need the title’s rub, but maybe that will come further down the line. Nevertheless I’ll happily walk Elias up that card and into a more prominent position permanently. 

Joe, Joe, Joe

Is there a more terrifying man in wrestling than Samoa Joe? I still wish WWE had pulled the trigger on Joe as Universal Champ back at Great Balls of Fire, because everything he does looks legit. Whether it’s his annihilation of Titus O’Neil and Apollo Crews earlier in the night or his sneak attack on Roman Reigns, Joe does everything with beautiful malice. We seem to be heading for another round of Samoan vs. Samoan with him and Roman and this time with some gold at stake. Sounds good to me.

Rants

Kane not able

Another week and another main event in 2017 that stars Kane. Who are we fooling? At least Finn Bálor gave some credibility to the final segment of Raw, after it looked to be finishing with Jason Jordan against The Big Red Machine, but only just. I get that they think they are building-up Braun Strowman, but they are making more work for themselves, because he’s already over and doesn’t need this momentum-sapping feud with a 50 year-old mayoral candidate for Knox County. Can we just get to the final blow-off in this ‘battle of the monsters’ and all get on with our lives.

Time for a break

Since their mark-out WrestleMania return in April The Hardy Boyz have been on a bit of a downward spiral, especially since Jeff’s injury left him on the shelf. WWE seem to be now playing on that storyline thread with remaining brother Matt and his current losing streak on TV. After his Kick-off show loss to Elias at Survivor Series, this week Hardy’s woes continued against of all people Bray Wyatt - a surefire sign that you’re in a rut when you’re on the receiving end of a rare Wyatt win. In the aftermath of this latest defeat, Matt looked like he was a breaking point in more ways than one and begun his now infamous ‘Delete’ chant to indicate a change could be on the horizon for the elder Hardy brother. Rather disappointingly though, where as six months ago when all you heard was the same ‘Delete’ chants reciprocated through the WWE Universe, this time around they seem to fall on death ears. Have WWE waited too long to unleash Matt’s dark side or was this just a one-off crowd who failed to see what could be coming? Either way it looks like the watering down of the Hardy Boyz reunion may have a big effect on any future plans they may have for a broken Matt Hardy.

Post match chops

What is it with WWE’s immediate post match interviews that don’t seem to be clicking? I applaud the sports-like feel to the approach, but having already seen Bobby Roode and Baron Corbin fluff their lines in recent weeks during the spot, Seth Rollins became the latest victim after his victory over Cesaro. In the midst of the trying to explain Dean Ambrose’s absence, Rollins sounded as though he lost his way and then tried to claw it back with a gag about Rene Young that went down like a lead balloon. Thankfully he did gain a little credibility back with his dig at Sheamus, but maybe WWE or the Superstars need to be a little more prepared when it comes to these interview segments.

Results

Seth Rollins defeated Raw Tag Team Champion Cesaro

Samoa Joe defeated Titus O’Neil w/Apollo Crews

Bray Wyatt defeated Matt Hardy

Rich Swann defeated Akira Tozawa, Noam Dar and Ariya Daivari

Intercontinental Champion Roman Reigns defeated Elias

Asuka defeated Dana Brooke

Kane defeated Jason Jordan via Count-out

Finn Bálor defeated Kane via Disqualification