Almost Live, Definitely Half Assed Review of WWE Raw – 14 Nov. ’16

Credit to Rich Wall. Saved from locationshub.com

Credit to Rich Wall. Saved from locationshub.com

The WWE starts us off with Stephanie McMahon & Mick Foley giving a pep talk to all of the members of the various teams for Survivor Series. Instead of pitting team members against each other as they did last week, they are forcing them to cooperate this week.

Sheamus & Cesaro are taking on Roman Reigns & Kevin Owens. Cesaro started against Reigns. The story of the early going was that Owens is not cooperating with Reigns. Owens tags in when it’s opportune and takes control against Cesaro. A Spring Board European Uppercut gets Cesaro an opening to tag in Sheamus.  That seems like an unlikely way to turn the tide. Sheamus starts beating up on Owens. He finally relents and tags in Reigns who then takes control on Sheamus. Cesaro breaks up a pin attempt but then gets dispatched by Owens. Reigns sets up for the spear when Owens tags him. They bicker. Sheamus Brogue Kicks Owens. Reigns Superman Punches Sheamus. He then drags Owens on top of him for the win.

Chris Jericho gives his own pep talk of his own about team unity with Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman. He gets them a gift of a scarf. Rollins tells him he isn’t a scarf guy and bails. Strowman requests Jericho’s scarf instead of the one in the box. He then rips it up and tells Jericho he doesn’t like scarves or Jericho. The segment got me to chuckle.

Bo Dallas seems to think he deserves a shot at the Intercontinental Title and not Sami Zayn. I guess that’s what a two match winning streak will do to your ego. They have a match. No surprise that a Helluva Kick wins it in quick order. Raw doesn’t have much enhancement talent that can make it more challenging for Zayn. He’s going for the IC Championship. Who he beat should have been of more substance than a two match winner.

For some reason the Cruiser Weights are holding a cocktail party with pair off people talking. Brian Kendrick comes in and spices it up. He says they’re in safe hands with him as Champion. TJ Perkins, Rich Swann & Noam Dar state the reasons they should be getting a shot at Kendrick not Kalisto. Sin Cara comes in and tells the Cruiser Weights they’d be better off with Kalisto as the champion.

New Day doesn’t seem to have much material this week. Chris Jericho, Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman are their opposition. They work together better than Owens & Reigns. Nothing much of not ehappens until Jericho tags in Strowman with a chop. He starts tossing Kofi Kingston around the ring. Rollins tags himself in and maintains control against Kofi. Kofi gets the knees up on Rollins who tags in Strowman. He runs himself into a post. Jericho tags back in but meets a hot tagged Xavier Woods. Strowman breaks up a count and gets knocked outside. He catches a diving Kofi and slams him. Strowman then plows over Big E. Rollins comes in and gives a high knee to Woods. Rollins goes for the Pedigree when Jericho tags in. He tags in Strowman quickly. Power Slam by Strowman for the win. Jericho and Rollins bicker after the match. Rollins Pedigrees him.

Paul Heyman talks to Stephanie & Mick back stage. She makes a fat joke while talking about the Spear that Heyman took. Heyman tells them to expect a beat down on Sunday by Lesnar. Heyman says that the Smackdown Live team is looking good. Foley & Steph request more security for Brock vs Goldberg tonight.

Charlotte attacks Sasha Banks verbally. They talk about their differences in the Championship. They try to set aside their differences but don’t do a good job of doing so.

Brian Kendrick comes out. He is taking on Sin Cara. Michael Cole tells us that Sin Cara and Kalisto have similar styles. Too bad Sin Cara is slow as sin (pun intended) compared to Kalisto. Sin Cara takes control with a Suicide Dive so of course they go to break. The announcers keep on talking about the whole Cruiser Weight Division moving to SD Live but don’t express how crazy that stipulation is. Shouldn’t they be questioning Stephanie & Mick about it? Sin Cara is getting more offense in than expected. Kendrick locks in the Captain’s Hook for the tap out. That came out of nowhere.

Enzo Amore & Big Cass are greeted by Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows. They do not resolve their differences.

Brock Lesnar and Bill Goldberg have their shown down earlier than I expected. Why isn’t this the last thing on the show? Paul Heyman does some talking first. Goldberg just wants to fight now. Heyman tells Goldberg that the security guards are for his protection. Heyman apologizes for using Goldberg’s family in the situation. He then went on the analogy of the game Fantasy Becomes Reality for WWE2K17 being Goldberg and Lesnar. Heyman circles back to Goldberg’s family. Goldberg starts tossing around security guards. It gets down to him and Lesnar. Brock tosses his shirt but doesn’t get in the ring.

Bayley is the spokes woman for the Raw women since Nia Jax & Alicia Fox are taking on Charlotte & Dana Brooke. In a surprise to only people who don’t regularly watch Raw, Alicia Fox taps out to the Bank Statement. It was either that or tap out to the Figure 8 in my book.

Mick Foley gives another rah rah speech to the five men in singles match.

Enzo Amore & Big Cass get more mic time. It is pretty short when Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows come out. The Golden Truth and The Shining Stars are their opponents. The Club ends up working over R Truth in the first significant action. Truth finally gets an opening but it doesn’t help his team since Big Cass was tagged in too. He cleans house and tags in Gallows. Anderson comes in so they can hit a Magic Killer on Primo.

Stephanie & Foley invite Shane McMahon & Daniel Bryan to the ring. The idea of inviting them to Raw seems to be to sucker Shane into a situation against Team Raw. Of course the rest of Team Smackdown Live is waiting in the wings. They have a show down and exchange some trash talking. Not a whole lot of zingers. They try to back up their brands with tough talk but I’m still not buying. I will be watching the PPV on Sunday so I suppose they did their job. – Kevin DiFrango

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