Following the SmackDown Live! exclusive pay per view, No Mercy, Monday Night Raw hailed from Oakland, California. The headmaster of hardcore, Paul Heyman was in attendance, what did he have to say? Did Brock Lesnar make an appearance? Who did Mick Foley get to face Braun Strowman? Find out here in Ryan Smith‘s Monday Night Raw review.
Monday Night Raw Review (10/10/2016)
Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Rusev, Lana, and Roman Reigns.
The Raw Women’s Champion, Sasha Banks opened the program, showing off her new belt. The crowd changed “you deserve this” as she retold her life story. She talked about how she idolized the late, great Eddie Guerrero and how she loved watching Lita and Trish Stratus as a kid. She told the story of how she won the title, and then she upped the ante by saying the rematch should take place inside the Hell in the Cell at Hell in a Cell.
Charlotte interrupted her and began making her way down to the ring when she was interrupted by Rusev and Lana. The Bulgarian Brute grabbed a microphone and began rambling about how nobody cares about the women’s revolution, and how he’s the main event. He was interrupted by Charlotte, saying that nobody should dare interrupt her.
Then she accepted Sasha’s challenge to have their title match in the cell. Sasha vs. Charlotte will be the very first women’s match to take place inside the ring. Rusev attempted to interrupt the girls again, but they tossed Lana and the Brute from the ring.
Rusev entered the ring to attack them when the United States Champion, Roman Reigns came down the aisle. The news about the women’s HITC match was exciting, but on a three hour show, they didn’t need to incorporate the Reigns/Rusev angle.
Segment/Match Quality- 6/10 Woo’s
Kofi Kingston vs. Cesaro
The Tag Team Champions came out and talked about famous duos in the Bay Area. The two must not know that Oakland and San Francisco are different cities, because they opted not to mention Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree. They began talking about the strange pairing of Cesaro and Sheamus. The New Day announced that they would be defending their W-W-E World Tag Team Championships at Hell in a Cell, and then Cesaro and Sheamus came out.
Two talented workers, Cesaro and Kofi Kingston put on an entertaining bout, displaying their exceptional athleticism, all the while Sheamus played on his phone. Kofi has been one of the most underrated performers in the WWE over the last decade, and he sold brilliantly for Cesaro’s stiff style. As it turns out, Sheamus was actually streaming on Facebook Live during the match, which is even more entertaining.
At the end of the match, Kofi fell off the top rope, and it looked like he might have been hurt. Cesaro was distracted by Sheamus stealing “Francesca” from Xavier Woods, and Kingston rolled the Swiss Superman up for the win.
Segment/Match Quality- 8/10 Woo’s
Bayley vs. Cami Fields
Another week, another jobber for the girl-next-door, Bayley. Bayley, a bay area native, received a massive pop when she made her way to the ring. The match was a little sloppy, and yet again, the jobber got too much offense in, but ultimately, Bayley got the win. After the match, Ms. Piggy Dana Brooke came out and attacked Bayley.
Segment/Match Quality- 4/10 Woo’s
Drew Gulak and Tony Nese vs. Lince Dorado and Sin Cara
Drew Gulak and the incredibly impressive Tony Nese were in the ring when the match started. Then their opponents, Lince Dorado and Sin Cara came out. This was very interesting, because it marks the first time a member of the main roster joined the CruiserWeight division. As has been the case every week since they debuted, the cruiserweights put on a really great show.
It was fun, fast-paced, and exceptionally athletic. Sin Cara looked right at home in the tag match, and when Lince Dorado eventually got the pin, it was a shame to see the match end.
Segment/Match Quality- 7/10 Woo’s
Mick Foley’s Hell in a Cell Address
If any man is allowed to give a Hell in a Cell address, it’s the man who had the most famous cell match ever. You know who isn’t? Stephanie McMahon. However, that didn’t stop her from accompanying him to the ring.
Foley addressed Sasha and Charlotte’s request to be in the cell and said that “they don’t get what they want because they want it, they get what they deserve”. He changed things up, saying there would be three Hell in a Cell matches. The United States Championship, Women’s Championship, and Universal Championship would all be defended inside the cell.
Stephanie was congratulating Mick on his decision when the Universal Champion, Kevin Owens, and his best friend Chris Jericho came out. Owens declared that he didn’t want to have to wrestle inside the cell, and that because he was champion, he didn’t have to.
Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho were absolutely fantastic on the microphone, but what else is new? They did everything from insulting Foley’s suit to demanding a private jet with “Team Chris and Kevin” on the side. The look on Kevin Owens’ face when Jericho put Mick Foley on the list was absolutely priceless. Owens and Jericho are going to break up and feud one day, but I hope it’s not for a couple of months.
Stephanie teased that breakup however, by saying that if Jericho could defeat Seth Rollins, the championship match would become a triple threat. This was very interesting, because it meant that Owens couldn’t simply cost Rollins the match by attacking him.
Segment/Match Quality- 8/10 Woo’s
Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel vs. Enzo and Big Cass… Kinda
The former Social Outcasts were in the ring when we came back from commercial, and Bo Dallas is still rhyming. It seemed like Bo’s second winning streak would come to an end with Enzo and Big Cass came out.
Enzo and Cass were doing their normal pre-match routine when Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows came out and beat up the realest guys in the room. They left the trash talking tag team laid out in the ring.
It was good to see Anderson and Gallows return to form as a dominant duo. They didn’t get to win the tag team titles (Making Bullet Club tag team champions in four different promotions), and many felt like they were just giant versions of J&J Security.
Segment/Match Quality- 5/10 Woo’s
Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel vs. Sami Zayn and Neville.
Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel didn’t leave the ring, however. Axel claimed they wanted a tag match and they wouldn’t leave the ring until they got one. Instead of an established (main event) tag team, out came Sami Zayn and Neville, former NXT Tag Team Champions.
Dallas actually carried his own in the beginning of the match, manhandling Zayn. Michael Cole reminded everyone at home that Curtis Axel is the son of the late, great Mr. Perfect, and it was a sad, sad moment. In a really cool moment, Zayn hit his finisher, the Helluva Kick, before tagging Neville in to hit the Red Arrow for the win.
Segment/Match Quality- 7/10 Woo’s
R-Truth vs. Titus O’Neil
Fortunately we were spared most of the sing-along part of their entrance, as everyone was in the ring when we came back from commercial break. We got a glimpse of Titus O’Neil‘s new gimmick as he talked about R-Truth costing him some business. Corey Graves delivered the most entertaining part of the segment when he claimed he was wearing a Titus Brandy pocket square.
Golddust distracted O’Neil, and R-Truth got the roll up for the win. Whatever O’Neil’s brand is, it seems like it’s going to start with a losing streak.
Segment/Match Quality- 3/10 Woo’s
Braun Strowman vs. Steven & Clay Splash
Get it? Steven and Clay? Like Steph and Klay? The Splash Brothers? Ha. Ha. Ha. Someone in WWE figured out where Oakland is. Fortunately, Braun Strowman played the role of LeBron James and destroyed the duo, pinning them at the same time.
Apparently two jobbers weren’t what Strowman had in mind, so he called out Mick Foley. Strowman actually cut a decent promo, demanding stiffer competitions or the repercussions would be on Foley’s hands.
Segment/Match Quality- 4/10 Woo’s
Charlotte & Rusev vs. Sasha Banks & Roman Reigns
Why in the world is Charlotte on Rusev’s team when she tossed his wife out of the ring? Obviously Lana only wrestles on special occasions, but nobody wanted to see this. It’s true that Charlotte and Rusev are both challenging for titles, and Reigns and Banks are both defending, but that’s where the similarities end.
The show is three hours long, it’s pointless to combine unrelated feuds. Maybe Reigns and Rusev could’ve had a big showdown instead of Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel working two segments.
Charlotte immediately tagged herself in, but the duo only scampered around the ring before Rusev tagged himself back in. As is the case in mixed-tag matches, whenever one gender tags in, the opposite gender has to leave the ring. When Rusev and Reigns were battling in the ring, the Oakland crowd began chanting “We Want Lana”.
As has been the case for Roman Reigns lately, the crowd booed him on his way to the ring, but as the match went on, the WWE Universe came along. Weirdly enough, Reigns hit a Superman punch and started crawling towards Sasha Banks for the hot tag. Imagine that, Sasha Banks getting the hot tag from Roman Reigns.
However, Sasha locked the Banks Statement on Charlotte, and Reigns made the spear for the save. It was a decent bout, regardless of how weird it was.
Segment/Match Quality- 7/10 Woo’s
Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman, the greatest manager in the history of professional wrestling, made his first appearance on Monday Night Raw in months. As always, the crowd went wild with “E-C-Dub” chants as Heyman introduced himself. Heyman pointed to the screen, starting a clip of WWE 2k17, featuring a match between Goldberg and Brock Lesnar.
Heyman played the crowd like a drum, getting them to chant or react exactly how he wanted. Paul E. Dangerously compared Lesnar and Goldberg’s careers before saying it bothers him that Goldberg is one-up on Lesnar.
Then he dropped the bombshell, challenging Goldberg on Lesnar’s behalf. Many people speculated this was why Heyman was on Raw this week, and it was cool to see that this match actually is happening. It certainly can’t be any worse than their WrestleMania match.
Segment/Match Quality- 8/10 Woo’s
The Brian Kendrick was on commentary as the CruiserWeight Champion, TJ Perkins, faced off against Ariya Daivari, who made his Monday Night Raw debut. The duo had a very fun, fast paced match, and Kendrick brought a lot to the table on commentary. Recently in an interview, Kevin Owens pointed out that not enough guys take advantage of being on commentary. You basically get a 20 minute promo, and Kendrick made every minute count.
Daivari hit a very pretty neck-breaker halfway through the match that was almost RKO-esque. The 32 year old Perkins wrestles like a much younger man, with tons of enthusiasm and high-flying ability. Eventually Daivari tapped out to the kneebar, but it looks like we’re seeing Kendrick vs. Perkins for the title at Hell in a Cell.
Segment/Match Quality- 8/10 Woo’s
Seth Rollins vs. Chris Jericho
It was against Chris Jericho that we first saw a glimpse of babyface Seth Rollins, but it was at full force in this match. Y2J threw his very expensive scarf at the Architect, but Rollins wiped himself with it before throwing it into the crowd. Rollins was handling Jericho before the Universal Champion interrupted.
Briefly distracted, Jericho was able to get some offense in, dropping Rollins on the top rope. These two made it look easy as only they could. Owens stalked Rollins (or perhaps Jericho) outside the ring. Rollins is still selling the rib injury from Clash of Champions, which is nice to see with a company that often forgets things like that.
There was a good back and forth, and an exceptional exchange before Rollins rolled Jericho up for the win. Rollins didn’t get much time to celebrate though, as Kevin Owens attacked him immediately after the match. Rollins almost hit Owens with the Pedigree, but Jericho saved him and continued the assault. However, just like last week, it was Jericho that ended up taking a pedigree from the architect.
Segment/Match Quality- 9/10 Woo’s
Best Segment/Match of the Night- Chris Jericho vs. Seth Rollins
These two are just too talented to not have the match of the night. The fact that the match was good and it continued the main event feud put it over the top. This bout was the great on a very good show.
Worst Segment/Match of the Night- R-Truth vs. Titus O’Neil
For the second week in a row, Titus O’Neil finds himself in the worst segment of the night. Maybe he’s trying to reverse-Goldberg and start a losing streak! In any event, the match was short, uneventful, and unimpressive. It might not’ve been the worst segment if the show wasn’t surprisingly good.
Show Quality- 8/10 Woo’s
As far as Monday Night Raw goes, this was a really exceptional match. All of the storylines advanced, nothing was too puzzling, and we get to see Goldberg on Raw next week. It was a good show, and I hope they can keep it up, for my sake.
