Opening Segment
- Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman come out and run down his situation with Raw and Smackdown. Heyman says that Lesnar has a no-cut contract, and nobody else is special like Brock Lesnar.
- I THINK Heyman made sense of the Brock to Raw situation, but I'm not sure if he said that's what the Cross/Bliss trade was for or not.
- Lesnar and Heyman are looking for Rey Mysterio. Heyman says Lesnar is better than all the bitches in the back that think they're tough guys.
- Lesnar is on the hunt for Rey Mysterio tonight.
- Brock's contract has been "absorbed" by Raw.
- Lesnar COMPLETELY manhandles a stagehand.
- Brock and Heyman come out later and get in Lawler's face, Heyman says nobody will bring Lawler back to life when Lesnar kills him on TV. DAMN.
- Dio Maddin steps to Brock and gets F5'd through the announce table.
- Rey Mysterio beats Lesnar with a PIPE. He says he's coming after what's most important to Brock, because Brock did that to him. He challenges Brock Lesnar to Survivor Series. Rey Mysterio has done his best promo work this year.
Natalya & Charlotte Flair defeated The Kabuki Warriors
5.75/10
- Natalya and Charlotte are teaming again. I'd love an explanation, and I'd love Charlotte not going full babyface.
- Asuka catches Natalya with a big head kick.
- Charlotte Flair gets a big hot tag, and this is something we haven't really seen a whole lot of.
- A really weird Natural Selection hits on Kairi, but Asuka puts her foot on the ropes.
- Charlotte does a shitty moonsault to both opponents, and pins the one she didn't even hit.
- We come back from a commercial to see an incredible kick counter from Charlotte on Kairi, going for the corner elbow.
- Natalya applies a Sharpshooter on Asuka twice, and ends up getting the submission.
- Natalya is on a hot streak. She has six wins over the last month, if you include Main Event. She hasn't been pinned at all in that period.
Buddy Murphy defeated Cedric Alexander
5.25/10
- These guys work together extremely well.
- Murphy posts Cedric, but Cedric comes back with his dumb handspring kick, a tope con hilo and a swinging Flatliner.
- Cedric counters Murphy's Law, and gets a Michinoku Driver right after.
- These guys are impressing Jerry Lawler.
- Murphy wins with Murphy's Law.
NXT
- Seth Rollins comes out and says he hears the boos and knows a lot of people were happy to see him lose to the Fiend, but he doesn't care.
- He doesn't know what's next for him. Seth Rollins asked for TV time to say he doesn't know what's next?
- Triple H comes out to giant NXT chants.
- HHH says that he's always been there for Seth, and brings up what's next for NXT.
- Seth Rollins says Triple H fired the first shot when the roster was overseas. HHH says it was smart.
- Triple H says Seth Rollins is either with him, or against him.
- Undisputed Era show up.
- The OC come out right after. They're jumped by Damian Priest and Dijak. The roster of geeks empties out to run them off.
- Nobody touched Seth Rollins.
- Triple H using a lot of callbacks in his promos. Even going back to "You're either Nexus or you're against us"-esque verbiage.
- A well executed invasion angle can be a ton of fun. We just haven't seen many executed well in wrestling for any extended period of time.
- Seth Rollins wants an NXT Title match TONIGHT.
Zelina & Andrade defeated Catalina & Sin Cara
5/10
- Zelina calls Catalina ugly.
- Catalina hits a cannonball before the break, Zelina does a tornado DDT to the floor on Sin Cara after the break.
- Catalina gets a hot tag, and she does NOT have very good range on her jump.
- I'm glad to see a masked women's wrestler. She hits an inverted powerbomb and a Gory Bomb.
- Sin Cara takes out Andrade outside.
- Catalina doesn't look quite TV ready at times, but there's nothing to insinuate she won't get there. Mainly timing stuff.
- Zelina wins with a spiked rana.
Rusev defeated Drew McIntyre via DQ
4.75/10
- Rusev is ready to end all of this and calls out Lashley.
- Bobby Lashley says he can't compete because he tore his groin banging Lana. Drew McIntyre is replacing Lashley.
- Neither one of these guys quite have the equity to make the crowd care too much right now.
- Rusev fires up when Drew McIntyre calls him a bitch, and they end up colliding.
- Bobby Lashleys penis and ballsack are not actually injured at all and he attacks Rusev.
- Randy Orton joins in on the beatdown, but Ricochet comes out and saves Rusev.
Becky-Baszler
- Becky Lynch is being interviewed and confirms a triple threat match at Survivor Series.
- Shayna Baszler interrupts her and says that she'll have her eye on Bayley, but she's specifically going to beat Becky.
- This was a really great introductory promo that filled Raw viewers in on Shayna.
The OC defeated Humberto Carrillo & Street Profits
5/10
- OC talk about going after the NXT guys.
- The Street Profits cut a promo about beating The OC two weeks before they became the best team in the world.
- Carrillo cuts a really generic ass promo. He's not doing it for me.
- Montez Ford is isolated and worked over.
- WHY THE HELL DID LAWLER CALL CARRILLO A "JUMPING BEAN?!"
- When Ford is in the ring with Styles, it seems like two top guys at different points in their careers. One on the descent (respectfully) and one before his ascent.
- AJ Styles pins Carrillo with his foot on the ropes.
- Humberto Carrillo loses again. He's 0-4 outside of battle royal matches. Really hope this doesn't lead to another match with Carrillo vs. top guy, because it's already played out for me.
Viking Raiders defeated East Hampton Polo Boys
SQUASH
- These guys died. That's it.
- There's an NXT vs. SD vs. Raw champions match at Survivor Series.
- They cut a promo about losing to OC.
NXT Championship
Seth Rollins defeated Adam Cole (c) via DQ, no title change
5/10
- This really is an NXT style match. A strike trade right after the commercial break.
- Cole catches Rollins with a great superkick as Rollins flies off the top rope.
- There's not a ton to this match. In the ring or the crowd. This audience is dead.
- Rollins goes superplex/Falcon Arrow.
- Rollins is setting up for a Stomp, but Undisputed Era attack.
- Locker rooms empty. NXT come out, including Ciampa, Keith Lee and Matt Riddle.
- Ricochet springboard star presses onto the pile, then Keith Lee jumps onto the pile!
Rating guide
10- Perfect, 9- MOTY Territory, 8- Excellent, 7- Great, 6- Good, 5- Average to above average, 4- Slightly below average, 3 or below: Poor
Each match starts at a 5 and slides up and down based on entertainment, execution, time, environment, reaction and stakes. The ratings are in no way an indication of a "star rating," which is a completely different system. A standard, non-offensive "TV match" lands at a 5. The gap between 5.75-6 is generally the largest, with anything reaching 6 being recommended viewing.
These are opinions, and incredibly inconsistent ones that may change upon a second viewing, or sitting on the match for a period of time. Don't take them too seriously, and have (and share) your own!
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