After a week-long hiatus, the “bro that runs the show”, Ryan Smith is back with another Monday Night Raw review. This week, Raw hailed from Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s funny that in Ric Flair country, his daughter defended her title against Sasha Banks in the city with the same name. Did Charlotte retain? Did Sasha Banks win yet again? Find out below.
Monday Night Raw Review: Sasha vs. Charlotte
The Highlight Reel
The show opened with WWE Universal Champion, Kevin Owens, and greatest of all time, Chris Jericho on Y2J’s talk show, the Highlight Reel. They began by mocking the United States and Thanksgiving, and then they began to give thanks. Owens gave thanks for being the champion and the face of Raw, as well as being the best friend of Chris Jericho.
Jericho thanked Seth Rollins for failing to beat Owens over and over, and just as it was announced that Rollins wasn’t cleared to be on Raw, Roman Reigns interrupted him. In a weird moment where we obviously switched universes (must be the curse of being the Universal Champion), Kevin Owens stumbled through a promo and Reigns made fun of him.
Things got interesting when Reigns insinuated that Owens needed Jericho to retain his title, and Owens said he didn’t need Jericho. The segment escalated when Jericho was about to put Reigns on the list… and Owens told him to shut up. A match was made for later on that night, with Reigns receiving a title shot at RoadBlock if he wins.
Segment/Match Quality- 7/10 Woo’s
R-Truth w/ Goldust vs. Braun Strowman
Have you ever wondered how R-Truth would retire? Because here’s the answer. The first match of the night saw Pacman Jones’ former tag team partner take on Braun Strowman. In total, the match lasted all of 40 seconds, and Strowman continues to run wild.
Goldust tried to attack Strowman, but the former Wyatt began crushing him with his arms. Sami Zayn rushed to the ring and saved Goldust, but only received a powerbomb for his trouble. Strowman set Zayn up in the Tree of Woe and Raw went to commercial. Mick Foley and some officials came out, and when we came back from commercial, Foley and Zayn were bickering.
The two had a good back and forth about how Foley is trying to protect Zayn and how Zayn feels like he’s being held back. Hopefully this is leading to a real push for the former heart of NXT.
Segment/Match Quality- 7/10 Woo’s
Cedric Alexander vs. Tony Nese
Cedrix Alexander and Tony Nese, two of the most talented Cruiserweights in the division, faced off at 8:40 PM. During the match, it was revealed that Alexander and Alicia Fox have a blossoming romance, and at the very least, they’re finally giving a Cruiserweight a storyline.
The crowd was into the match, but weirdly enough, it was Nese that got the win. There’s an old saying that wins and losses don’t matter in wrestling, but in this division, it’s hard to tell who does or does not have momentum.
Segment/Match Quality- 6/10 Woo’s
Seth Rollins vs. Chris Jericho
In a weird segment that actually saw backstage action get physical, a returning Rollins attacked Jericho as he tried to leave the arena. It was actually really great. Rollins pedigreed Jericho on top of a car and it actually felt like a real backstage segment ala WWE 2K17. It almost makes Jericho a sympathetic character, while allowing Rollins to get some revenge.
Segment/Match Quality- 9/10 Woo’s
Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte
Sasha Banks and Charlotte faced off for the WWE Women’s Championship at the turn of the hour, and Dana Brooke was at ringside. The match was full of action early, with Banks locking in the bank statement in less than a minute, only for the champion to reach the ropes.
Charlotte tried to keep Banks out of the ring to retain her title via double countout, but Foley wouldn’t allow it. He came to the top of the stage and announced that the two would face off again later that night in a falls count anywhere match.
Segment/Match Quality- 7/10 Woo’s
Rusev vs. Enzo Amore
Rusev finds himself in yet another feud where he isn’t really the bad guy. By defending his marriage with Lana, he’s being mocked in front of millions of people. Roman Reigns ruined his wedding, and Enzo Amore came onto his wife. But he’s the bad guy for getting revenge. Poor brute.
Rusev assaulted Enzo before kicking him in the Certified G’s. Enzo technically won by disqualification, but that’s not a win anyone ever actually wants. You have to think this is building towards a Cas vs. Rusev match.
Segment/Match Quality- 6/10 Woo’s
Noam Dar vs. Rich Swann
Yet again, two extremely talented Cruiserweights made their way to the ring. With WWE Cruiserweight Champion Brian Kendrick on commentary, the wildly charismatic Rich Swann took on WCPW‘s Noam Dar.
An intense promo from Kendrick on commentary took away from the match. It was a good promo, but him berating Byron Saxton very loudly was distracting. As always, the match was wildly entertaining, especially when Dar pantomimed “open your eyes” to the referee after a two-count.
Swann eventually won the match with a kick so loud I actually blinked. Swann was victorious and he’ll take on Kendrick for the Cruiserweight Championship tomorrow night on the debut of 205 Live.
Segment/Match Quality- 7/10 Woo’s
Sheamus and Cesaro Go to the Bar
Sheamus and Cesaro both happened to end up at the same bar, and after being mocked by some of the patrons (One of which was definitely Tessa Blanchard), they decided to beat everyone up. They looked like a proper team, and at the end, they were tending bar together. It looks like these two are finally a real team, and may be the ones to beat New Day at RoadBlock.
Segment/Match Quality- 9/10 Woo’s
Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens
The best part of Roman Reigns coming to the ring was the cameraman desperately trying to find Roman’s fans in the crowds. Personally, Roman has grown on me, but there’s no question that the majority of the WWE Universe is still anti-Reigns.
The match didn’t even start before Owens began assaulting Reigns. The bell rang with Reigns in the corner, clutching his arm. Owens dominated early, but Roman returned with a ton of heavy punches.
It was a good back and forth affair. Everyone wants to hate Roman Reigns, but the reality is that he is a good worker. In the ring, his character is great. It’s his character work on the microphone that needs serious work. He’s a believable badass and a competent worker. It’s easy to see why the WWE want him to be the guy so bad, but he needs to get better as a character.
Eventually Reigns pinned Owens with a spear, earning a title shot at RoadBlock, one that the arena has already been advertising for weeks. Whoops.
Segment/Match Quality- 7/10 Woo’s
The New Day vs. Gallows and Anderson
The New Dayare back to defend their WWE World Tag Team Championships against Gallows and Anderson, also known as the “God, oh god, why did we ever leave Japan” tag team.
The New Day came out and did their usual routine, and honestly, for the first time, it was stale. The catchphrases felt forced, and when Gallows and Anderson came to the ring, it fell flat. It didn’t feel like they really had a chance or as if the follicle deficient tag team was out of luck.
But eventually, Xavier Woods got the win when he rolled Karl Anderson up, grabbing the tights. Why even defend the belts when everyone knows they’re going to break the record? Beats me. Just makes Gallows and Anderson look dumb again.
Segment/Match Quality- 4/10 Woo’s
Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks
The first match was good. This match was fantastic. It started out fast and physical and the two women made use off the stipulation. It might be too early to compare these two to Lita and Trish Stratus, but it’s certainly the best women’s rivalry in WWE since Kaitlyn vs. AJ Lee.
It could be argued that we’ve seen these two wrestle too often, but they’re just so talented. They haven’t had a bad match yet, and their in-ring psychology is incredible. Especially when Sasha Banks pulled out a kendo stick and channelled her inner Sandman.
The action just kept getting better as Charlotte actually hit a moonsault off of the announce table, off the stage, onto Sasha. Wow. Just wow.
Sasha Banks won the WWE Women’s Championship YET AGAIN ON RAW when she hooked Charlotte through the guardrail and forced her to tap out! Wow!… What an amazing match… that feels like is setting up Charlotte winning it back at RoadBlock.
The show ended with Ric Flair himself coming out to endorse Sasha Banks. I guess Ric isn’t over what Charlotte said to him back in Baltimore. Phew.
Segment/Match Quality- 10/10 Woo’s
Best Segment/Match of the Night- Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks 2
A women’s championship match, in the main event, in a falls count anywhere match, where Sasha Banks used a kendo stick? Where Charlotte hit a moonsault off the announce table onto Sasha Banks in the crowd?
Worst Segment/Match of the Night- The Tag Team Championship Match
This wasn’t necessarily a bad match, but it was certainly the worst segment on a very, very good show. Having Gallows and Anderson lose dirty again does neither side any favors. It’s starting to feel like it’ll be whoever faces the New Day at RoadBlock that will win the belts.
Show Quality- 8/10 Woo’s
What a great show! The backstage segments felt very real, every segment meant something, and the wrestlers felt fired up. Some of the finishes were a little iffy, but as a whole, this was great. Hopefully Raw can take something from this and have every show be this easy to watch.
