Almost Live, Definitely Half Assed Review of WWE Raw – 18 Nov. ’19

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston MA. Designed by I.M. Pei. Saved from boston.curbed.com. Photo by Marcio Jose Bastos Silva/Shutterstock.

The WWE sends Becky Lynch through the curtains first. Poor Jerry Lawler misfiring to start the show. Wait until her opening verse hits to talk! Vic Joseph then slips on his words too. We’re off to a roaring start. Assuming no Dio Maddin again. She calls out both Bayley and Shayna Bazler.Lynch even gets the cheap Irish in Boston pop. The Iiconics come out and “forget” who Lynch is. They talk about being the future which is hilarious considering that they are barely on TV. Charlotte Flair comes out to interject in the proceedings. She wants to have fun against the Iiconics too. Charlotte also mentions the triple threat elimination match that Charlotte will lead for Raw. Samoa Joe comes out to everyone’s mystery.

Samoa Joe ends up joining Lawler & Joseph. Peyton Royce & Billie Kaye attack early. They get to maintain control for a moment. Charlotte puts on the Figure 8 in short order once she gets tagged in. Lynch & Flair leave ring side. Marina Shaffir, Jessmyn Duke & Shayna Bazler attack the Iiconics. Lynch & Flair come back to make the save. Too late. The numbers game catches up quickly. The NXT crew leaves. Lynch & Flair recover but are cut off by security. Lynch ends up knocking out one of them for his insolence.

Zach Ryder & Curt Hawkins won a chance at the Viking Raiders. They are ready for the…AOP shows up and beats them up.

The OC comes out to do some talking before the match that Karl Anderson. Naturally, AJ Styles talks first. He was disrespected last week by Humberto Carrillo so the Club needs payback. He just can’t give it for some reason that will be proven false later. Moments into the match, the Street Profits show up to even the odds. Early heel offense. Babyface come back. Anderson gets a near fall after a Spinebuster. Headscissors take over throws Anderson into the turn buckles face first. The OC runs interference on the ref. The Street Profits capitalize though. Carrillo gets the small package win.

Charley Caruso wonders why Seth Rollins would accept Andrade’s challenge for the the Raw captaincy. Rollins wouldn’t be a leader if he didn’t accept this challenge. He also never back down from a challenge. Andrade may be the future but Rollins is still the present.

Poor No Way Jose has to sit though another terrible Lana promo. Lana was happy to file for divorce as was I. My Ex and Lana have the whole cheating thing in common though. Jose gets to take it to Bobby Lashley longer than I would have imagined even if it weren’t terribly long in the scheme of things. Lashley puts Jose to sleep to win the match. The WWE still thinks this angle is gold because Lashley kisses Lana for entirely too long after the match.

Zelina Vega gets to talk up Andrade on their way to the ring. Nothing too important was said, just some client hype. Samoa Joe coins the term “Creative encouragment” for interference from Vega. I approve. She interferes once to give Andarde an upper hand. Vega goes for the head scissors take over and Rollins stops her. The referee finally sees the shenanigans and boots Vega. Guess what? Commercial. Rollins gets on a roll. They end up trading near falls after an Andrade come back. Back Elbow by Andrade leads to Three Amigos. Rollins kicks out at two. Andrade goes to the top, Rollins fails at counter and gets caught in the ropes. Rollins is the smartest man alive. He didn’t let someone stomp him by holding onto the ropes. A myriad of counters leads to a Falcon Arrow for a two count. The Lucha House Party comes out and attacks Rollins causing a DQ. They beat down Rollins then go after Andrade. Rollins recovers and the Lucha House Party has to flee.

Buddy Murphy shows up at Aleister Black‘s door. He bangs on it and challenges him. No one answers. Murphy walks away. Black bursts out like he needed to walk the length of his house before answering.

Murphy comes to ringside. Akira Tozawa is his opponent. Murphy catches Tozawa going for a suicide dive and suplexes on the outside. Murphy kept the beat down going for a moment. Tozawa fires back. His offense is capped with a Rolling German Suplex. A Shining Wizard gets a two count. Tozawa gets pushed off the top rope. He comes back with an inverted huracanrana. Tozawa back drops from the top rope onto Murphy who was hanging in the middle rope. Jumping Knee by Murphy turns the tide for good. Murphy’s Law for the win.

Erick Rowan is still talking to something in a cage.

Murphy goes back past Black’s locker room. Murphy yells and Black answers this time. They have a stare down.

Rowan comes to ringside. Poor Alex Malcom is his victim tonight. The Singh Brothers and R Truth interrupt the start. It still doesn’t make the segment longer than two minutes. Claw Choke Slam for the win.

Charley Caruso wants to know if Raw can play well together at Survivor Series. Randy Orton will do what benefits him and winning at SS benefits him. Orton hears that the Viking Raiders are looking for a fight. He challenges them with a mystery opponent.

Kevin Owens is taking on Drew McIntyre. The announcers wonder why they are fighting mere days before SS. McIntyre is working over Owens after the first break. Owens gets a come back. His big move is a moonsault off the apron onto McIntyre. Owens takes too long going to the top rope. McIntyre with the Glasgow Kiss. wens gets Fireman Carried onto the apron. Owens recovers and rolls in at a late eight. Power Bomb by McIntyre only gets a two count. They fight on the top rope. Owens tosses him off. Owens connects with a frog splash for a two count. Owens super kicks McIntyre. He fires back with a clothes line on Owens. McIntyre runs the ropes and gets caught in a Pop Up Power Bomb. McIntyre kicks out at two. McIntyre gets the knees up on a Swantoning Owens. McIntyre counters the Stunner. Claymore Kick. Owens gets his foot on the ropes to stop the count. McIntyre returns the favor after a Stunner. After Shock DDT gets kicked out of by Owens. McIntyre went to the top rope for some reason. Stunner by Owens but he can’t cover McIntyre. HHH‘s music hits and he comes to the stage.

HHH talks up Massachusetts. He then reminds us of Owens beating Cena while still having the NXT Championship.HHH then reminds Owens that everyone has wanted to fire him. HHH makes the sales pitch for why Owens should be on NXT’s side. HHH lays it on thick about Owens Raw team mates not coming out to help him. Moments later, Raw helps him. The Undisputed Era attacks Owens. The OC makes the save.

Charley Caruso seems to be chewing up the scenery today. Don’t they normally use two back stage reporters? Have I missed a change? She barely talks to Humberto Carrillo.

Paul Heyman then talks up Rey Mysterio vs Brock Lesnar. We get the news that the match will be No Holds Barred at SS. Looks like Rey gets to play with toys to even the odds. We come back from that video to have Charley interviewing Rey Mysterio. Rey has already picked his toys. He warns Lesnar that he’s not just coming for revenge. He’s coming for the Uinversal Championship.

Asuka is ready to take on Natalya. Kairi Sane is at ring side. I’m surprised that this is their first match up on Raw. I like the de-coloring of Asuka’s gear with this recent change. Asuka slaps on the Octopus Lock. Natalya uses a low drop kick the change the momentum. A Discus Clothes Line gets a two count for Nattie. She then gets distracted by Sane. Asuka takes advantage. Kick to the head for the win.

The Viking Raiders take on Randy Orton and Ricochet, who is the mystery partner. Dolph Ziggler, Robert Roode & Cesaro assault Team Raw back stage. Ricochet & Orton look in dire straits when Smackdown full on attacks the match. The match participants clear them from the ring. NXT attacks Smackdown. More NXT members come out. Some get RKOed but NXT finally overwhelm the Raw quartet. Seth Roillins leads thge charge for the rest of the Raw locker room. HHH talks about Brand Supremacy. I’m intrigued but no real brand supremacy will be determined in the end.

Kevin DiFrango

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