Almost Live, Definitely Half Assed Review of WWE Raw – 4 Nov. ’19

Hearst Twoer in New York City. Designed by Norman Foster of Foster + Partners. Picture saved from langan.com

We get HHH coming in a group of 3 large SUVs. I still haven’t watched Smackdown so if this show is getting an NXT makeover too, I may be a little lost. Brock Lesnar comes out with Paul Heyman. According to Heyman, Lesnar is allowed to do whatever he wants so that we can explain away Lesnar moving brands weeks after the Draft. Heyman then turns his target to Rey Mysterio. Brock LEsnar will tear apart the arena to find Mysterio so someone needs to hand him in. Is it the Wild West now?

We get a commercial then a false location of Rey. Brock continues his hunt.

The Kabuki Warriors are ready to take on Charlotte Flair & Natalya. We get a video package of Natalya taking on Lacey Evans in Saudi Arabia. We even get some young Saudi women saying how great this event is. Charlotte gets the hot tag before the commercial break which means she takes some offense from the Kabuki Warriors too. Natalya gets the hot tag in. She gets the Sharpshooter but Asuka reverses into an arm bar. Natalya fights out then puts Asuka in the Sharpshooter. Kairi Sane makes the save. Charlotte Spears Sane to eliminate her. Asuka goes for the Asuka Lock. Natalya reverses into a Sharpshooter for the tap out win.

Paul Heyman & Brock Lesnar come out and interrogate Jerry Lawler. Dio Maddin takes the bullet for Lawler. F5 throw the announce desk. Rey Mysterio comes out with aluminum bat in hand to attack Lesnar.

Rey has gone from almost retiring to fighting for the Universal Championship in the matter of two months. How the time changes.

Cedric Alexander taking on Buddy Murphy. Cedric gets off to the fast start. Murphy tries to wear down Alexander. Cedric fires back up. He connects with two suicide dives. Slingshot Face Buster gets a two count. Michinoku Driver gets a two count for Alexander too. Alexander goes for the Nerolizer. Muphy knees him in the back. Murphy’s Law for the win. Not one of their better match ups but still very watchable.

I get a recap of NXT on Smackdown last Friday. Thanks. I might erase it from my DVR than actually watching it. So. much. wrestling.

Seth Rollins comes out and says that it’s been a rough few months. He is not concerned about people wanting The Fiend to win at Crown Jewel. Rollins complains about Wyatt staying on Smackdown and Brock being back on Raw. He just fought against Lesnar and he’s not sure if he has the gusto to do it again. I mean, you keep on beating him so why sweat it? HHH comes to the ring. HHH tells Rollins how many times Rollins has turned to him in a time of need. HHH notes that he turns Rollins into a Champion every time. HHH knows how to make Rollins great. HHH says “You’re either with me” then the Undisputed Era shows up, “Or against me.” AJ Styles, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows show up. They get jumped by Donovan Dijakovic and Damien Priest. UE comes back into the fray. More locker room members come out to clear out the NXT stars.

Seth Rollins wants an NXT Championship tonight. HHH accepts for Adam Cole.

Andrade & Zelina Vega are taking on Sin Cara & Katalina. We get a little different sex action for both teams. The ladies get the hot tag. Katalina leads with a pair of drop kicks. Vega goes for the mask. Katalina misses a charge. Sunset Facebuster by Katalina draws Andrade interference. Gory Special on Vega. She recovers quickly. Vega counters Katalina into the turn buckles. Vega with a Basement-Rana for the win.

Rusev finally calls Lana his soon to be ex-wife. Rusev tells Bobby Lashley that Lana is all his but his “ass” is Rusev’s. Lashley shows up on crutches. He torn his groin over the weekend. He pulled his groin in ways Rusev could never dream of. Drew McIntyre is back in cahoots with Lashley. He steps in to take on Rusev. Rusev was up early. McIntyre started his beat down of Rusev during the break. Spine buster followed by a bridging cover only gets McIntyre two. Rusev fires back up. He flattens McIntyre. He ends a flurry with a spinning heel kick. Rusev goes for the Matchka Kick. McIntyre dodges and takes advantage. They trade blows. Rusev kicks McIntyre through the ropes. Rusev starts bouncing McIntyre’s head into the steps. Lashley attacks with his crutch for the DQ. Lashley goes to consult Lana. It allows Rusev to recover. He gets ready to finish Lashley when Randy Orton RKOs him. Ricochet comes out to make the save. The Baby Faces stand tall at the end of the segment.

Charley Caruso interviews Becky Lynch. She knows that she is the target because she beat Bayley’s bestie Sasha Banks. Lynch also put Shayna Bazler‘s good friend Ronda Rousey into hiding. I mean, if you mean in hiding on the Fox Network show 9-1-1. Bazler comes in and sits down. Bazler runs down Lynch’s accomplishments too. She warns Lynch that she is not Ronda Rousey. Bazler is aiming to pin or tap out Lynch at Survivor Series. Lynch doesn’t know whether to respect Bazler or slap her. Lynch similarly wanrs Bazler that she’s coming for her.

The OC finds their way out for a match. AJ Styles gets to hype himself up with “Matt” Facts. He warns NXT that they won’t be stepping foot outside of Orlando. Montez Ford, Angelo Dawkins and Humberto Carrillo come out. Ford & Dawkins praise themselves by noting that they beat The OC two weeks ago on Raw. Carrillo even joins in the mockery. A distraction by AJ Styles leads to Ford taking a beating. A Blockbuster by Ford finally creates an opening. Carrillo takes on Styles. Carrillo nails a massive moonsault. The pin is broken up. Anderson & Gallows get tossed to the outside. Flip dive by Ford onto them. Styles capitalizes by rolling up Carrillo and putting his feet on the middle ropes for leverage.

The Mean Street Posse is on my TV in 2019. They take on the Viking Raiders. Text book enhancement match. Glad they brought that tactic to the main roster.

Adam Cole comes out to defend hsi NXT Championship against Seth Rollins. Something is making me want to type that I don’t see Rollins losing to Cole clean. Rollins starts tossing Cole into various barricades. Rollins went heavy on the offense. Rollins goes for a spring board. Cole catches him with a super kick. Brainbuster onto the knee by Cole gets a two count. Cole connects witha running knee for another two count. They double clothes line each other. Rollins gets the superplex and Falcon Arrow combo. Rollins signals for the Stomp. Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish attack for the DQ. We get both NXT and Raw empty the locker rooms. Survivor Series does have a little extra flavor with NXT but it’s still too soon after the draft.

Kevin DiFrango

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