Event: WWE Raw
Date: October 28, 2019
Location: St. Louis, MO
WWE Raw Results & Highlights
Paige introduced the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Kabuki Warriors and talked about her role in establishing the duo six months ago. Asuka hit Paige with the Green Mist, finally solidifying their heel persona.
Becky Lynch defeated Kairi Sane: The RAW Women’s Champion took on one-half of the Tag-Team champs. The Man overcame the 2-on-1 odds to defeat Sane with the Dis-Arm-Her in a fantastic encounter to open the night.
Buddy Murphy defeated R-Truth: R-Truth made his entrance with his rap and promised to take down ‘Ranjin Singh’ to reclaim his championship. The newest acquisition of the red brand took down the former 24/7 champion in a quick squash. Several superstars made their way out to the ringside in a chase for the 24/7 title currently held by Sunil Singh.
Akam and Rezar cut another promo, promising to return to programming soon and destroy their opponents.
The Street Profits made their way into the ring and cut a promo. They talked about their debut matchup last week and how they took down the OC with the help of Kevin Owens. A ‘We Want The Smoke’ chant started for the duo who danced their way out of the ring.
Ricochet defeated Drew McIntyre by DQ: Ricochet and McIntyre took part in a rematch from last week, as their team captains Hulk Hogan w/ Jimmy Hart and Ric Flair looked on from the sidelines. Hometown boy and Flair team captain Randy Orton took out Ricochet with a fantastic RKO from outtanowhere for the DQ finish.
The Viking Raiders defeated Rizzo & Bryan: The RAW Tag-Team Champions took out local enhancement talents in yet another squash victory.
Andrade defeated Sin Cara: After Zelina Vega’s interference led to a defeat for Sin Cara last week, he brought out a debuting Catalina to even the odds. Andrade took advantage of a distraction for a rollup victory.
Natalya & Charlotte Flair defeated The IIconics: Flair and Natalya took home an easy win after Billie Kay tapped out to the Sharpshooter.
Falls Count Anywhere Match: Seth Rollins defeated Erick Rowan: The Universal Champion warmed up for the bout against The Fiend at WWE Crown Jewel, with a hard-fought victory over Rowan. Rowan kicked out of a Curb Stomp but eventually succumbed after Rollins hit him with a forklift.
Aleister Black cut a backstage promo, promised to take down his next opponent with fear and kick his head off.
AJ Styles defeated Humberto Carrillo: Carrillo in his second match on RAW took on Styles, who was supported by his OC buddies. Carrillo delivered yet another thrilling performance but fell short as Styles applied the Calf Crusher for the victory.
Post Match, The OC launched a 3-on-1 attack, only to be interrupted by the Street Profits. The Street Profits and Carillo stood tall in the ring as the OC retreated.
Raw Main Event: Jerry Lawler hosted yet another edition of The King’s Court, featuring Rusev and Lana. Lana called Rusev a sex addict and said he cheated on her, leading to Lana leaving him for Lashley. Rusev denied the cheating allegations before he was interrupted by the Almighty Lashley.
Rusev took out Lashley and shoved his wedding ring down Lashley’s throat. Lashley took advantage of a distraction by Lana to land a low blow to Rusev. Lana and Lashley shared a passionate kiss over the carcass of Rusev to end the show.
Takeaways from Monday Night Raw
1. The 24/7 Mania Becomes Stale
What started out as a promising sign for the lower-card of WWE, has quickly turned into a hot mess. R-Truth has been at the forefront of the 24/7 title and has stood as the messiah of the lower card. However, the 24/7 program has become stale, and WWE has run it into the ground by doing similar segments again and again.
Previously, the likes of Drake Maverick and Jinder Mahal stood out in this division and made the title a fun thing, but that has quickly died down. The viewership for the 24/7 title used to skyrocket on social media platforms, but it has dwindled down tremendously in the last few weeks.
2. No 50-50 Booking, Thankfully
Ricochet faced off Drew McIntyre in a rematch from last week, while Andrade took on Sin Cara, who brought a debuting superstar Catalina to even the odds. Thankfully, both the rematches didn’t end with the losers from last week picking up pinfall victories, as it is the most boring trope in the WWE system.
A massive RKO from Randy Orton to Ricochet ended the match, while Andrade took advantage of a distraction to emerge victorious again. Drew McIntyre’s rebuild continues, Andrade is on the verge of the main-event following several victories in the last few months, while Ricochet and Sin Cara aren’t totally hurt by the finishes.
3. Will The Street Profits Be The Next New Day? Or The Next Prime Time Players?
WWE has a very formulaic approach to African American tag-teams, make them a crazy, easy-going, party freak team. Cryme Tyme, Prime Time Players, New Day and now Street Profits have gone down the same path.
However, Street Profits have a solid in-ring presence and buckets full of charisma to accompany their goofy gimmick. The WWE Universe is already behind the duo who apparently wants the ‘smoke’, and this should mean good things in the future for the former NXT Tag Team Champions.
There is always the risk of WWE overbooking them and making them nerds. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen this time.
4. THIS IS WEIRD!
Lana, Rusev and Bobby Lashley starred in the main-event in the King’s Court, during which Lana blamed Rusev to be a.. sex addict? The bizarre storyline with the three individuals continues to get even more puzzling, as Lana said that Rusev wants to have sex with Lana all day long.
The segment ended with Lashley and Lana kissing passionately over a laid-out Rusev, and it was peak ‘sports entertainment’.
The whole rivalry has been a sad throwback to the worst bits of the Attitude Era, but it has worked to establish Rusev as a dominant babyface. The Bulgarian got huge chants of Rusev Day during the main event which is a sign of this rivalry working the way WWE intended to.
The segment actually ended with a ‘This is Weird’ chant, which was a perfect summation for the whole drama. Not bad, not good, but weird.
5. Can He Get a Feud Already?
Aleister Black’s dark persona initially started out as a riveting sight on our television sets. However, after close to six months of ‘come fight me, please’, Black is yet to star in a proper feud on WWE programming.
If the rumors are to be believed, Black would be the next challenger for AJ Styles post-Crown Jewel, and if that turns out to be true, the former NXT Champion will finally be able to showcase his skills on a higher level.
