Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 10.24.16

Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 10.24.16

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Enzo Amore defeated Karl Anderson @ 7:32 via pin [**]
– Non-Title Match: Sheamus and Cesaro defeated Champions New Day @ 11:55 via pin [***½]
– Bo Dallas defeated Curtis Axel @ 2:59 via pin [NR]
– The Golden Truth defeated The Shining Stars @ 4:04 via pin [*½]
– Rich Swann defeated The Brian Kendrick @ 8:35 via pin [**½]
– Non-Title Match: Seth Rollins defeated Champion Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho @ 9:45 via pin [**½]

Chris Jericho Talks: Michael Cole tried to say that a match was going to kick off the show, I do not believe him. Jericho came to the ring to announces that his match with Owens and Rollins was cancelled tonight. The match is off due to tragic reasons; someone stole the list of Jericho. Sweet Jesus, Vince has discovered the list is over. He will not leave the ring or have anything to do with the company until he has the list back in his hands. Kevin Owens then arrived as the crowd chanted, “where’s the list?” Owens says he didn’t take the list and doesn’t care who has it, but he knows Jericho cares and since he cares about him, they will find the list together, after they take care of Rollins tonight. Jericho said there is no match while the list is missing, because it is his most prized possession. Stephanie McMahon then arrived, and she said she didn’t have the list but would do everything to make sure it is returned to him tonight. She then told him that he needed to focus on his match tonight and to stop being ridiculous. Jericho again refused to wrestle until he gets the list back, and he is sick and tired of people telling him hat he wants to hear. Seth Rollins then arrived, and Jericho says he has the list. He has it hiding behind his back. Stephanie demanded that he bring the list to her right now. Rollins then reveals that Stephanie is on the list for putting Kevin Owens on the list. Owens says Rollins has resorted to sealing the “stupid list” back, and Rollins then reveals that Owens is on the list, labeled as “the former best friend.” Jericho denies these allegations and says that people like Rollins and Foley and the crowd are the people are made for the list. Rollins then threatens to make a new list dedicated to Kevin Owens. This list will be made up of all of Owens’ body parts that will not be the same after Hell in a Cell. Rollins says he has won in the cell and thrived there. So Owens’ back will never be the same, and he won’t walk around here being the man any more. His mouth will not be the same because he will kick his teeth down his throat. He then jumps to Owens’ ego, because Sunday, he rips Owens apart and pedigrees him through the mat to send a message to Stephanie and Triple H, he will burn the establishment to the ground. Rollins then tells Jericho to come and get the list and leaves. I love the list gimmick, but felt that they started with a bit too much comedy before getting to the real deal, and that was building Hell in a Cell. The list is fun, but got too much focus here as the focus needed to be more on the cell and the title. Once it got into that it was better, but while Rollins did well as things went on, he still feels as if he’s missing something as the top face. This was an overall solid opening segment, but it did nothing to make me want to see their match at HIAC.

– Stephanie met with Rollins backstage, and she wanted the list back. Rollins says this is all about Stephanie wanting him to be taken out before hell in a cell. He promises to win the title tonight, and says he doesn’t have the list anymore.

– Enzo tried to do his pre-match promo, but Anderson and Gallows messed with his mic and cut him off. Gallows said that they are all about being mean and making green, and they aid off someone to shut them up. Anderson says they put the division on notice, and the fun and games are over. Enzo then cut his promo without the mic and the crowd sang along.

Karl Anderson vs. Enzo Amore: Enzo and Cass vs. Anderson and Gallows is now official for HIAC. Anderson attacked and took control right away. Enzo battled back with punches, danced a bit, and leveled Anderson with a right. Enzo up top and Gallows distracted him, allowing Anderson to hit a spinebuster. They then worked through the break. Post break, Anderson was still in control and working the heat. He hit a running boot from the apron, and then hit a running boot in the ring, which got 2. Anderson then grounded Enzo with the chinlock, as Enzo battled out and sent Anderson to the corner. Enzo then caught Anderson with a boot as he charged in the corner, laid in some jabs and then hit a cross body and followed with more punches. Anderson then went to the ropes, the ref stopped an Enzo charge, allowing Anderson to slam Enzo to the corner. Cass and Gallows got on the apron, causing a distraction; Cass hit the boot to Anderson and Enzo won. Enzo Amore defeated Karl Anderson @ 7:32 via pin [**] The match was fine, but nothing special. Anderson does another job, which has become the norm. WWE has not given one reason to care about Anderson and Gallows, so I am sure that they win on Sunday so WWE can pretend that they matter.

– We get a pre-taped promo from Rusev, discussing HIAC. He says that Reigns’ strangle hold on the US Title ends on Sunday, and he will pay for what he has done to him and Lana. Reigns made this personal, he disrespected his family and now Reigns will pay the price. The cell is dangerous, and Reigns will be locked in there with him. Rusev is not afraid of the cell or Reigns, and he promises to win for his family and his country; Reigns will be carried out, crushed. I have said before, I love the use of pre-taped promos like this. It breaks up the in ring stuff, and I felt Rusev came across very well here in hyping the match.

– New Day discusses their tag title match at HIAC, praising Cesaro and mocking Sheamus. They did their “Shame Us” joke again and says that no one wants to see Sheamus.

– Tomorrow on Smackdown, AJ Styles faces Dean Ambrose. If Ambrose wins, he earns a title shot against Styles.

– Sheamus and Cesaro argued on the Raw pre-show.

Non-Title Match: Champions New Day (Kofi and Big E) vs. Cesaro and Sheamus: Cesaro and Kofi started things off, with Kofi using his speed to try and gain the early advantage. It failed as Cesaro leveled him with an uppercut and then hit a back breaker for 2. Sheamus and Cesaro played nice and made a regular tag and then hit a double team on Kofi. Kofi again tried to use his speed, and that led to a high cross on Sheamus for 2. Big E tagged in and they worked over Sheamus in their corner. They worked the corner stampede, Sheamus bailed to the floor and we worked through the break. Post break, Cesaro and Sheamus kept control, working over Kofi in their corner and constantly tagging each other in and out. Sheamus tried to ground Koki, Kofi got a desperation cradle but Sheamus cut him off and worked the 10 beats in the ropes. Kofi got a roll up, but Sheamus escaped and tagged din Cesaro as the odd couple was actually working together. Cesaro then posted himself, Big E and Sheamus tagged in and Big E started to toss around Shamus with suplexes. Sheamus cut him off with a back breaker and got 2. Sheamus kept control, hitting the knee strike, but Big E countered with an STO out of the corner for 2. Sheamus went to the apron; Big E tried to attack but got stunned off the ropes. Sheamus hit a powerslam for the double down, and then Cesaro and Kofi tagged in. Kofi tried to run wild, but Cesaro hit the dead lift suplex for 2. Cesaro went for the swing, but Kofi got a roll up for 2. Cesaro then hit the uppercut train, but Kofi cut him off with the SOS for a near fall. Big E tagged back in, took out Sheamus and Cesaro fought off the big ending, Kofi hit the high cross and Sheamus tags in, Big E takes him out and then Kofi went for a dive, but ate the uppercut. Sheamus hits the brogue kick on Big E, and the challengers pick up the non-title victory. Sheamus and Cesaro defeated Champions New Day @ 11:55 via pin [***½] I am not a fan of doing the PPV match just days before the PPV, but this was a very good match. They all worked well together, they kept a great pace throughout, and while Cesaro and Sheamus worked better together, they were not magically friends all of the sudden. There are still issues there between Cesaro and Sheamus, which works for what they are doing. I wish that Cesaro and Sheamus could have gotten the victory over another team, but I really enjoyed the match here as they worked to their strengths.

– We get highlights of Goldberg’s return last week.

– Chris Jericho is searching for the list. The Shining Stars try to sell him a time-share, Mahal tells him to find inner peace because if he does the list will come to him. Jericho calls him a stupid idiot in rhythm to his breathing exercises.

ARM WRESTLING MATCH: Dana Brooke vs. Bayley: Hopefully Dana doesn’t botch the finish two weeks in a row. Commentary says Dana wanted a rematch because people said he victory was a fluke. Dana cut a pre-match promo, saying she is better looking and that it couldn’t have been a fluke. Apparently this is an arm wrestling rematch. They brought in the table and everything, and Bayley tried to use her left arm because he right is injured. Dana insisted on the right arm. Dana won easily, due to Bayley’s injured arm. Bayley then wanted a rematch with the left arm as the crowd chanted, “this is stupid” and “boring.” Bayley was winning, so Dana attacked her and worked over the injured arm, slamming it off of the arm wrestling table. Bayley then hit Bayley to belly and sent Dana packing. This was no good, the arm wrestling gimmick rarely works in wrestling and the crowd let them know that this was not working. They have no clue what to do with Bayley, the loss last week looked bad because Dana botched the finish, and they are killing time because Sasha wasn’t out for as long as they thought she’d be. There was nothing entertaining here; this feud cannot end soon enough. They have completely cooled off Bayley, which is a sadly impressive accomplishment. Remember, they are protecting James Ellsworth better than Bayley.

– Jericho searched for the list and met with Stephanie. He demanded that she help, and Stephanie said that Rollins is working mind games on he and Owens, and it is working. Stephanie then cut him off, saying that she has too much to do and that he needs to compete tonight, if he finds the list or not. Stephanie says if he doesn’t compete, he is suspended. I did laugh at Jericho, “We’ve never had a cross word in 16 years of me being here” line.

– Curtis Axel, back in trunks, discusses Bo Dallas attacking him last week. He is back home and back to his roots. He carries the legacy of Larry the Ax and Mr. Perfect. He will not let that happen again, especially in his hometown. He was fired up; I’ll give him that.

Bo Dallas vs. Curtis Axel: They brawled right away, with Axel taking control as he worked over Dallas in the corner. Dallas hit a clothesline to the back of the head, but Axel managed to hit the perfectplex for a near fall. Axel cut off Axel on the apron, used the apron skirt to cover his head and beat him down a bit. Dallas took the heat, worked a chinlock but Axel fought back and laid in rights. A clothesline followed and then a back elbow and the Hennig neck flip. Axel hit a running knee, but Dallas kicked out at 2. Axel worked knee strikes, went for a charging knee but then Dallas got a roll up out of nowhere to score the win. Bo Dallas defeated Curtis Axel @ 2:59 via pin [NR] That was pretty solid, Axel was fired up and showed some great aggression and actually had the hometown crowd into it. Dallas sneaks away with the win, and they will likely face off again soon because this is not done.

– We get a Rich Swann video package. Yes, they need to run more of these for the Cruiserweights. With a three-hour show there is not any excuse not to run at least one cruiserweight profile an hour. He faces Brian Kendrick tonight.

– Jericho is still looking for the list, a man says he thins he saw it and Jericho thanks him. BRAUN STROWMAN has the list. Jericho asks for the list, and Strowman tells him to say please. Jericho says please, but Strowman is not happy that Sami Zayn’s name is not on the list. Jericho says it I son page four, and then as Strowman leaves, Jericho adds him to the list.

– We get a pre-taped interview with Roman Reigns about the HIAC match with Rusev. Reigns says that he will take Rusev to hell, and notes that Rusev doesn’t know what it’s like to be in the call. Reigns also say Rusev has no ides what it is like to win in the cell. Reigns didn’t make this personal, but he will on Sunday, because in the cell it’s not about weddings or family, it’s about the title. “See you in hell.” I liked Rusev’s promo better, but this was another good use of the pre-tape segment to hype one of the top PPV matches.

The Golden Truth w/Mark Henry vs. The Shining Stars w/Titus O’Neil: So we got the six-man version of this last week, and now it continues this week. Why? Because we have three hours to fill, that’s why. Much like last week, Goldust started off and showed more fire than anyone else involved. The Stars cut him off, worked some double teams in their corner and got a cover for 2. They worked quick tags, using stereo dropkicks and getting a near fall. Goldust eventually scored with the snap slam, Truth got the Luke warm tag and ran wild on Epico. The spinning forearm got 2. it broke down, Titus pulled the ropes down and Truth spilled to the floor. Henry and Titus faced off and that led to Epico getting crotched and Titus being sent to the post. Golden Truth hit a double team flatliner combo to pick up the win. The Golden Truth defeated The Shining Stars @ 4:04 via pin [*½] This wasn’t very good, as it featured almost no heat, lackadaisical work and Henry and Titus’ shenanigans leading to the finish. There was nothing good here outside of Goldust’s effort, as he continues to outwork everyone involved in this “angle.” I like Goldust, Truth is fine with me, and the Shining Stars aren’t bad, but they have done nothing here to make me care. It’s filler with started by a Raw pre-show angle last week.

– Charlotte will be on ESPN on Wednesday night.

Charlotte & Sasha Sign a Contract: Mick Foley is here to host the contract signing. Foley hyped the first ever women’s hell in a cell match, Foley announced both ladies and they made their way to the ring. They pushed the heel/face dynamic with black attire for Charlotte and white for Sasha. Foley put over their journeys to the main roster, and put over the brutality of HIAC. Some may think that women do not being, but they are blazing new trails. They were both anxious to sign the contract, Charlotte demanded the contract and yelled at him. Uncle Mick then held story time, and did what many had wanted, he sad that they didn’t know the dangers of HIAC. Sasha said she studied all of the matches, but Foley said that once the cell comes down, it is a living breathing entity that has no soul that will haunt your nightmares and make you cry like a child. You have to worry about your opponent and the demonic cell. Charlotte says she conquered everything she faced, and just because some second rate talent hold the title now, it will come back to her. She is the only reason the title man anything, and she is willing to risk it all to win it back. And when she does, Sasha will respect her queen. Sasha says there is no queen of the WWE, but there is a boss. She will go down as the greatest champion of all time. She knows the HIAC will change he life and she may have to crawl away broken, she will. Charlotte then mocks her for being injury prone and weak, but Sasha says she is walking into HIAC as champion, and has always come back and been more legit than ever. Foley told then that they should both be afraid, and he is their future if they aren’t careful. He walks oddly because every step hurts, and every one looks at him with pity. He suffers because of the decisions he made and because of the things the cell did to him. he says he’s known Charlotte since she was a little girl, his children love Sasha and gave her a picture that Eddie Guerrero autographed. Foley says he was jaded, but they reminded about what he loved, so before they sign, he needs them to look him in the eye and let him know the risks that go hand in hand when they make history at hell in a cell. They both signed, Charlotte said she’d see Sasha in Boston, and Sasha told Charlotte that she’d see her in hell. I do not think that the segment came off all that well in terms of setting the stage and getting the ladies over for stepping into the match. There was emotion for sure, Foley discussing his issues was powerful, Charlotte was a great arrogant heel, but I felt that there were issues. Foley should have been forced into making this a HIAC match, instead he booked it to make history. And then for weeks he was completely nonchalant about things, constantly talking history, letting the ladies talk about history and never discussing the dangers of the match. And now that the match was announced and we had time to marinate on it, then he gets his crisis of conscience in regards to the women fighting in the cell. The other issue is that by the end of this, the crowd was more into Foley’s emotional tale of the cell destroying him, which really took away the focus from the ladies. There is a reason that many asked for a conflicted Foley hyping the dangers for weeks prior to finally relenting to the match. Instead he made it, we got the history making narrative, and then Foley gets super emotional and it takes away from the final segment for the ladies. And while I do not want the ladies to be instantly afraid about the match, I also felt that their attitudes were a bit too care free. Charlotte constantly smiling and wanting to cut off Foley for example; there should have been some hesitation, leading to Charlotte mocking Sasha, then getting fired up and then signing the contract out of hate. Go back and watch Triple H’s reactions to the reveal of Cactus Jack and then later the fact that they go to Hell in a Cell; the Game, the Cerebral Assassin, is pissing his pants. I don’t care how arrogant a heel you are, you have to sell the stipulation. The overall tone and way the story was told felt off to me, it’s like they forgot what they had written and what Foley had announced, realized that he needed to get serious and then threw it out there, which led to it all being more about him than the ladies involved in the actual match. I am sure that there will be a lot of opinions on this one.

– Emmalina is coming soon

Premiering soon… #RAW pic.twitter.com/N8Zh3oj3Lk

— EMMA (@EmmaWWE) October 25, 2016

– TJ Perkins is out on commentary for the next match

The Brian Kendrick vs. Rich Swann: Kendrick attacked right away, they worked a nice pacing as they went back and forth. Swann then hit a dropkick and mocked Kendrick’s dance. Swann kept using his speed advantage, and then connected with a dove and celebrated with the crowd. They worked through the break. Post break, Kendrick had taken control and was working the heat with a cravat. Swann made a comeback, there was little to no heat for it until Swann hit a RANA and got a near fall. Kendrick went for sliced bread, Swann countered and hit a powerbomb with a jackknife cover for 2. Kendrick countered the standing moonsault, and covered for 2. Swann escaped the captain’s hook, but Kendrick hit the knee strike. Swann countered with a right, but Kendrick again went for the captain’s hook. Swann countered with the cradle and picked up the win. Rich Swann defeated The Brian Kendrick @ 8:35 via pin [**½] This was another solid, but unspectacular outing from the cruiserweight. They have done nothing to set them apart in the ring, they are just smaller guys working the same match as everyone else. It was also stupid to have Kendrick lose here, he is the only guy to beat Perkins in WWE, and his momentum should have been kept in place. Commentary tried, and failed, to set the narrative that Kendrick was too focused on Perkins, but there was no reason to cut off Kendrick’s momentum here.

– Tom Phillips tried to interview Kevin Owens. Owens says he and Jericho are on the same page, and they will break Rollins tonight. And then at HIAC, Rollins will make apathetic attempt to win the title and fail. Owens says he’s been waiting to get into HIAC for 20 years. It’s dangerous, but it is also something stars want, Sasha and Charlotte begged to get into the cell. He will dismantle the architect piece by piece, and he will leave a permanent scar in Rollins and anyone watching. The only thing that matters is keeping his title, and he will do anything to keep it. he and Seth will go to hell together, but he’s the only one coming back.

– Pre-match Strowman says he wants competition, and says he sees no real competition. He ignores Zayn who attacks. Zayn then slapped him and bailed to the floor. He made Strowman chase him, and then hit a series of dropkicks to send Strowman to the floor. He tried a plancha, but Strowman caught him and flung him to the barricade. Strowman then started to walk away, but Zayn got to his feet and stood in the ring and challenged Strowman to return. Strowman kept walking. I think Zayn is a great babyface foil for Strowman, and again is the right guy to have Strowman working longer matches with. Fans will care about Zayn and Strowman can really work on his monster formula. The feud should really allow us to see if Strowman really has it. I also like that they didn’t give away the match here.

– Kendrick and Perkins talk backstage. Kendrick says he needs help, his time is running out and if he loses on Sunday, he can’t feed his family. Perkins said he would have helped the old Kendrick, but Perkins won’t have any of this new Kendrick. Kendrick basically begs Perkins to let him win on Sunday. Ok. Also, STOP THE VIDEO GAME TALK. Seriously, the CWC was built on great matches and the spirit of competition; now the heel is asking his former friend to throw a fight. The angle they just built is will the champion be stupid enough to fall for the heel’s sob story and throw the match on the PPV.

Paul Talks, Brock Stands and Collects Money: Heyman says he is here to address the super dad, the wanna be Lesnar, Goldberg. Heyman ran down the Goldberg fans, and said that the chants are pissing Lesnar off. When fantasy meets his client, Goldberg will turn into humpty dumpty, all the chants in the world will not put him together again when Lesnar is done with him. We got suplex city chants, mixed in with some Goldberg chants. Heyman warns the ones chanting Goldberg to refrain from doing so before Lesnar takes matters into his own hands. They then stood there as the crowd chanted, which led to Heyman being insulted that Lesnar came home and people chanted for Goldberg. That led to “Goldberg Sucks” chants. This accomplished nothing, was a waste of money and time. They sent Heyman out there to pull some strings and have people chant while they literally said nothing of use to build this programs. For as great as last week’s Goldberg promo was, this was the exact opposite in quality. This was shit. They tried to get heat on Lesnar in his home state, and it didn’t work because creative is largely tone deaf.

– Owens and Jericho met backstage, and Jericho said that no matter what happens tonight, they will still be best friends, Owens had a skeptical look on his face.

– They’re celebrating Halloween on Raw next week. Goldberg also appears.

Non-Title Match: Champion Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins vs. Chris Jericho: The best friends tried to corner Rollins, Owens dropped to the floor and then Jericho followed. Rollins tried to make the best friends fight, he eventually fought off Owens and worked over Jericho. Rollins hit the blockbuster, and then sent Owens back to the floor. Owens eventually pulled Rollins to the floor, but Rollins sent Owens to the barricade a few times. The shotgun dropkick followed, but then Jericho attacked and dumped Rollins in the crowd. Jericho checked on Owens, leading to Rollins hitting a high cross. He sent Jericho into the crowd, and when he got back into the ring, Owens took control until he missed the cannonball. Rollins hi the springboard knee strike, but only got 2. Rollins went for a pedigree, Jericho made the save and went for the walls but Rollins escaped. The lionsault ate knees, pedigree attempt stopped by Owens. Owens and Jericho attacked Rollins and beat him down in the corner, Owens hit a senton and Rollins rolled to the floor. Owens and Jericho worked over Rollins in the ring, Owens said that they were going to finish him like they did that idiot Enzo. Rollins fought off Owens, sent him to the floor and then superkicked Jericho. He then hit the dive on Owens, and then missed the high fly flow on Jericho. Jericho hit he code breaker, but Rollins kicked out. Owens returned and hit the cannonball on Rollins as he and Jericho kept control. Rollins was set up top, slipped out and hit a double powerbomb on both men and PINNED both Owens and Jericho. Seth Rollins defeated Champion Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho @ 9:45 via pin [**½] This was fine overall when it comes to the work, but it felt repetitive towards the end the fact that Rollins pinned BOTH guys was horrible booking. This was the perfect time for then to work 3 to 4 minutes, and then have Jericho and Owens beat the hell out of Rollins for the DQ, and then do the apron bomb spot to set the stage for Rollins as the injured underdog. The post match was the best part.

– Post match Owens and Jericho beat on Rollins and then left him at ringside. Rollins fought through security and kept trying to attack Owens. Owens would post him and stand tall. Before he could leave, he grabbed Rollins and hit the apron bomb on Rollins. Owens then posed with the title to close the show.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Mama says these my magic shoes. Mama said they would take me anywhere…”