The WWE Raw Reaction for 10/18/21

Welcome to the Raw Reaction, where I offer my take on this week’s show from Sacramento. It was the last Raw going into WWE Crown Jewel this Thursday.

As always, you can check out John’s full in-depth review here.

We kick the show off with Promo Time with Charlotte Flair. Flair drones on with the same old tired promo about how great she is before Bianca Belair interrupts. Belair put Flair in her place in preparation for their rematch for the Raw Women’s Championship tonight. Belair said when Smackdown rolls around, she could be a double champion. Flair tried to attack Belair but was repelled quickly.

Our opening match tonight is the King of the Ring semifinal between Jinder Mahal and Xavier Woods. The match was okay, given Mahal’s participation. Surprisingly, there was very little to no interference from Veer and Shanky. Woods picked up the win to advance to the finals to face Finn Balor.

Austin Theory is out next for his match. R-Truth comes out as Theory thinks that he is his opponent. Truth said that he accepted the match for his friend, Jeff Hardy. We get a more competitive match here but the outcome is the same. Theory wins again but it was cleaner than last week. After the match, Theory does another selfie with the laid out Hardy. Theory stuck around a little too long and Hardy drops Theory with a Twist of Fate and takes a selfie with Theory.

Tag team action is next with the team of Drew McIntyre and WWE Champion Big E taking on Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. The match was really good with these four veterans. The main storyline was would Drew and Big E work together this week unlike last week. In the end, they were able to work together and Big E picked up the win for his team with Drew’s blessing. After the match, Drew and E shook hands and talked about their match at Crown Jewel.

Mansoor takes on Cedric Alexander next. The match was alright for the time given. It was just a vehicle to give Mansoor a win ahead of his match with Mustafa Ali at Crown Jewel. After the match, Ali showed up and Mansoor cut a promo on him to hype their match.

The dueling sit-down interviews with Goldberg and Bobby Lashley was up next. They provided the final hype for their no holds barred match at Crown Jewel. It was fine and got the point across.

Tag action is up next with RK-Bro taking on the Street Profits. The match was really good for the time was given. They could not give away too much here and we got a DQ ending when AJ Styles and Omos interfered. We will get to see an uninterrupted match between these two teams soon. It was a nice preview and their actual match will be excellent. After the match, Styles and Omos destroyed both teams to make you think they have a chance at Crown Jewel.

The Queen’s Crown semifinal is next between Doudrop and Shayna Baszler. This should be a really good match. Since WWE doesn’t care about this tournament, they are given a Three Minute Raw Special instead. Doudrop used her size to counter the Kirifuda Clutch and pin Baszler. I’m hoping this feud gets some additional attention and the proper time in the next few weeks.

Finn Balor is out to squash Mace next. Mace did look rather impressive so let’s hope that he gets a fair shake on Smackdown.

John Morrison was backstage with the Viking Raiders trying to channel his chi. What was the reason he had the big breakup angle with Miz as he was leaving for Dancing with the Stars? At least he was not getting mauled by Omos or Azeez.

Main event time with Charlotte Flair putting the Raw Women’s Championship on the line against Bianca Belair. This match was really good. Belair looked great against Charlotte. The only problem is, Belair is not part of the Four Horsewomen group and Charlotte isn’t giving out a clean loss. Flair got DQed to ruin the match. Even more puzzling, Belair wiped out Flair after the match to stand tall as we go off the air.

Let’s take a look at tonight’s highs and lows.

The Highs

The match quality was pretty decent this week. Some of the finishes, not so much. The RK-Bro/Street Profits and Flair/Belair matches were really good before the finishes hurt them. Those with matches at Crown Jewel had decent matches to build towards the PPV.

The Lows

Both women’s matches were an absolute embarrassment to the division. Flair/Belair was excellent until Charlotte couldn’t lose clean. And people wonder why she gets Super Cena style hate. What’s the point of having the Queen’s Crown tournament if the matches get barely any time? Why should we even care?

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That’s all I’ve got, until next time.