The John Report: The WWE Raw Deal 11/08/21 Review
This week’s Raw featured a big match between Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens following what happened last week on Raw when Big E faced Owens in singles action.
The finish of Big E vs. Owens on last week’s Raw saw Rollins punch Big E as a cheap shot. Owens saw it, tried to cover after and Big E kicked out leading to Big E getting a crucifix pin on Owens to win the match. After the match, Owens tried to tell Big E that he didn’t see Rollins punch Big E, but we could clearly see that Owens saw it, so Owens was lying. Big E was smart enough to realize that, so he dropped Owens with the Big Ending to end Raw. Owens faces Rollins on Raw this week.
This past Saturday, WWE remembered Survivor Series is on November 21, so they announced some matches. They decided to announce the men’s and women’s elimination match teams on Twitter. The Raw men’s team will be Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio (more on that during Raw) facing the Smackdown men’s team comprised of Drew McIntyre, Jeff Hardy, King Xavier Woods, Sami Zayn and Happy Corbin.
The Raw women’s team consists of Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan, Carmella and Queen Zelina Vega vs. the Smackdown team of Sasha Banks, Shayna Baszler, Shotzi, Natalya and Aliyah.
This is the Raw Deal for episode #1484 of Monday Night Raw. It’s taking place at the KFC YUM Center in Louisville, Kentucky. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. Let’s get to it.
A video package aired showing what happened with Big E-Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins in the main event last week. I already summarized it above.
Raw started with Big E and Kevin Owens sitting on equipment cases in the backstage area. Owens spoke about how he didn’t care about everybody’s opinion but he cared about what Big E thought of him. Owens talked about his history with New Day (he turned on them a few years ago) and things like that. Owens tried to explain to Big E saying he didn’t see Seth Rollins hit Big E last week. Big E told Owens he had a match tonight and he didn’t care. Owens said: “Well, I do.”
Let’s Hear from Seth Rollins
Seth Rollins made his entrance wearing one of his ridiculous outfits with a leather blue jacket along with some red and blue attire. Rollins had a WWE contract in hand for his future WWE Title match. The fans booed Rollins as usual.
Seth welcomed us to: “Monday Night Rollins.” Rollins reminded us that he is a visionary, a revolutionary, he is Seth Freakin’ Rollins. Seth claimed that he is our next WWE Champion, which drew boos. Rollins mentioned leading Team Raw to glorious victory at Survivor Series over those bums on Smackdown and fans greeted him with “you look stupid” chants. Rollins called them morons and said they didn’t know anything about fashion.
Rollins said we had to figure out who exactly is Kevin Owens? Rollins wondered if Owens was the prizefighter, hero, that will do anything for the WWE Universe or is Kevin Owens a snake, a gutless, spineless coward and a liar? Rollins asked what the crowd thinks. Rollins said he came up in this industry with Owens and they probably slept on the same floor together in an Econo Lodge down the street from here. Rollins said there’s always something you can count on with Owens – he will always stab you in the back. Rollins reminded us of Owens turning on Sami Zayn and Kofi Kingston. Rollins ripped on Owens saying he cannot be trusted as far as he can be thrown and knowing Owens, that’s not very far at all. Rollins said that Owens is a liar and after tonight when Rollins beats Owens, KO will be the biggest liar and the biggest loser in the world. Here comes Owens.
Kevin Owens made his way down to the ring and he quickly got into the ring to try to get his hands on Rollins. Seth left the ring, then went back in and Owens punched Rollins a few times. Rollins avoided a Powerbomb on the apron and Rollins went up the aisle to the backstage area. Owens was alone in the ring as his music played to end it.
Analysis: It was a fine way to have Seth do one of his heelish promos to set up the main event for later. That Rollins/Owens match was already known, so it was a way to add to it. Rollins escaping the grasp of Owens makes people want to see Owens get his hands on Rollins later in the show.
They showed highlights of last week when Omos destroyed The Street Profits and Riddle while Randy Orton kept his distance.
Randy Orton and Riddle were shown talking backstage behind the curtain. Riddle did his usual rambling promo. Orton said that they are the Raw Tag Team Champions that already have targets on their back. Orton reminded Riddle that he told him not to get involved last week and Riddle did, so Omos destroyed Riddle last week. Riddle mentioned helping The Street Profits, Orton said he didn’t care about The Street Profits and Riddle told Randy that The Street Profits were behind Randy. Orton faced The Street Profits to say he meant every word.
Analysis: It puts over the idea that Orton is a strategic wrestler that is smart about what he does while Riddle lets emotion take over. That’s one of the differences between them.
Randy Orton and Riddle entered for tag team action up next.
(Commercial)
AJ Styles and Omos made their way down to the ring to join Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode at ringside. The Street Profits were already in the ring. Styles was off Raw for the last two weeks, so welcome back to him.
Randy Orton, Riddle, Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins vs. AJ Styles, Omos, Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
Roode ran over Ford with a shoulder tackle, then Ford with a leapfrog and a dropkick followed by some push-ups. Dawkins with a shoulder tackle followed by Dawkins flipping Ford onto Roode for a two count. Ziggler tagged in for a double team back elbow. Orton tagged in with a kick to Ziggler’s ribs followed by stomps to the stomach as well as the legs. Riddle with a twisting splash on Ziggler for a two count. Styles tagged in, Riddle with a jumping kick to the chest and Styles came back with a chop thrust to the throat. Riddle went for a triangle choke, Styles got back up to get out of it and then they went tumbling over the top to the floor. That was a pretty big bump by both guys there. That led to a break.
(Commercial)
The match returned with Riddle avoiding a charging Roode, who hit the turnbuckle. The heels got in Riddle’s face, so he knocked them down and Roode hit a spinebuster followed by a suplex. Ziggler with an elbow drop for two. Riddle tried to fight back, so Ziggler did a hair pull takedown. Styles grounded Riddle with a chinlock. Roode was back in with a neckbreaker leading to some push-ups for Roode. Ziggler was back in, Riddle managed to hit him with a jumping knee and Orton got the hot tag to a huge pop. Orton delivered two clotheslines to Ziggler followed by a snap powerslam and a powerslam to Roode too. Orton hit the draping DDT off the ropes. I wonder how many of those I have written about in the last two decades. Orton sent Roode into Omos in the ribs of the big man. Orton sent Roode out of the ring. Orton avoided a forearm from Styles, Orton tossed Styles out of the ring and Omos caught Styles to save his buddy. Omos got on the apron to stare at Orton, which led to a break.
(Commercial)
Omos was in control as he sent Ford into the top turnbuckle and a running kick to the chest. The heels worked over Ford with quick tags, eye-gouging and a backbreaker from Styles. Ziggler hit a neckbreaker on Ford for two. Ford blocked a Fameasser attempt, Ziggler with a sunset flip and Ford hit an enziguri kick to the head. Dawkins got the hot tag with clotheslines, a jumping back elbow, overhead suplex and an exploder suplex on Roode. Dawkins with a corner splash on Roode. Dawkins with a double underhook suplex. Omos tagged in and slammed Dawkins with a Chokeslam, Omos tossed Ford out of the ring and Riddle tagged Dawkins to become legal. Orton didn’t like that Omos hit a Choke Bomb on Riddle. They teased Orton going after Omos, but then Roode/Ziggler sent Omos into the steel steps. Omos tagged himself in instead of Styles tagging in, so Roode argued with Styles. Roode shoved Styles, which led to Omos sending Roode into the barricade. Ziggler went over to Riddle and pinned him to win the match. It went 22 minutes.
Winners by pinfall: AJ Styles, Omos, Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
Analysis: ***1/4 A pretty good tag team match following the usual formula with Riddle as the face in peril in the first part, then they had another extended face in peril with Ford in that spot and it became a long match. Maybe it went too long, but I still enjoyed most of it. I thought the finish was a bit weak because Riddle took that Choke Bomb and had to lay there for like a minute while the heels were fighting outside the ring. It just looks silly for a guy like Riddle to have to lay there while Ziggler crawled over to make the pin. The good thing about Raw being three hours is you can book 20+ minute tag team matches like this, but it’s not always going to be a good match when it’s that long.
Post match, Orton went into the ring and hit Ziggler with the RKO to pop the crowd. They played Orton’s music even though his team lost the match. Orton told Riddle if you want to keep those titles then you have to listen to Orton.
Analysis: The story continues to be that Orton is frustrated by Riddle doing stupid things and not listening to Randy when Randy tries to help him.
Kevin Owens walked up to Rey and Dominik Mysterio. Owens wondered if Rey believed what Owens was telling Big E later. Rey said he believed him, but he had to go because Rey’s music played.
Rey and Dominik Mysterio entered the ring with WWE Official Adam Pearce already in the ring for a segment after the break.
(Commercial)
Adam Pearce thanked Rey and Dominik for joining him in the ring. Pearce talked about Survivor Series having big moments as well as the big debuts of The Undertaker, The Shield and The Rock. Pearce spoke about the elimination tag team matches. Pearce said that match has propelled Roman Reigns and Randy Orton into huge stars. Pearce mentioned that last year Raw beat Smackdown 5-0 in an elimination tag team match. Pearce said when the roster for Team Raw was announced over the weekend, he felt like he made a huge mistake. Pearce said that every member of Team Raw is a former WWE Champion…except for Dominik with Pearce saying that’s an issue for him. Pearce said he wants Team Raw to win (even though he works on Smackdown too?). Pearce said that as of right now, Dominik is on Team Raw unless he loses a match right now against this man. Pearce left the ring. The opponent for Dominik was…Bobby Lashley.
Bobby Lashley made his entrance with his buddy MVP back by his side. MVP had a cane with him.
The match between Lashley and Dominik is next with the graphic saying that the winner is on the Raw Survivor Series team.
Analysis: When WWE announced the Survivor Series teams on Saturday I thought there was a pretty big name missing and that was Lashley. Now I get why they did it. To add to what Pearce said, everybody on Team Raw was a former WWE or Universal Champion, but I guess when they say “WWE Champion” they mean “WWE Universal Champion” as well.
(Commercial)
Bobby Lashley (w/MVP) vs. Dominik Mysterio (w/Rey Mysterio)
Lashley with a waistlock takedown followed by a running shoulder tackle. Lashley with a running shoulder block against the turnbuckle. Lashley went for a delayed suplex, Dominik with knees to the head and Dominik went up top, but that didn’t work. Lashley charged, Dominik sent him to the floor and Dominik jumped to the floor, but Lashley caught Dominik. Lashley had Dominik on his shoulders and ran Dominik into the ring post. Back in the ring, Lashley delivered a flatliner. Lashley applied the Hurt Lock submission, Dominik was going to tap and Lashley held the right hand to stop the tap out. Lashley tossed Dominik out of the ring near where Rey was on the floor. Lashley lifted up Dominik on the floor, Rey grabbed his son’s foot to save him and Lashley kicked Rey to knock him down. Lashley sent Dominik into the ring post again. Back in the ring, Lashley hit a running Spear. Lashley applied the Hurt Lock submission with Dominik tapping out to give Lashley the win. It went five minutes.
Winner by submission: Bobby Lashley
Analysis: * A squash match to put over Lashley in a big way. Dominik didn’t get to do much other than getting his ass kicked. Lashley has been one of the best booked wrestlers in WWE this year. It continues even without Lashley holding the WWE Title.
The updated Survivor Series graphic let us know the updated teams. The Raw men’s team will be Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Rey Mysterio and Bobby Lashley facing the Smackdown men’s team comprised of Drew McIntyre, Jeff Hardy, King Xavier Woods, Sami Zayn and Happy Corbin.
Otis and Chad Gable were warming up with Seth Rollins going up to talk to them. Rollins said that they are excited to show Big E that he is not the face of Raw. Gable bragged about how he graduated with a Master’s degree with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Gable said he can confirm that Kevin Owens is an enormous liar like Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Rollins: “Oh, I hate that guy!” Rollins is a Chicago Bears fan, so that’s probably true. Rodgers said that Big E is not the face of Raw because Gable is handing out free lessons courtesy of the Alpha Academy. Gable and Otis left.
Big E made his entrance as the WWE Champion. Good pop for him as usual.
A commercial aired for WrestleMania tickets on sale for WrestleMania 38 in Dallas over two nights on April 2 and 3. Tickets are on sale this Friday, November 12.
(Commercial)
The Alpha Academy duo of Chad Gable and Otis entered.
Big E vs. Chad Gable (w/Otis)
They did a cool opening sequence with some rope running, leapfrogs and more leading to Big E hitting an elbow to the chest. Big E set up Gable on the apron leading to a running splash for two. Big E set up Gable against the turnbuckle and then Gable hit a leg whip takedown. Gable stretched the left leg of Big E some more. Big E tried a belly to belly suplex, but then Gable got a hold of Big E and hit a belly to belly suplex! That was impressive. Gable hit a moonsault off the top on Big E for a two count. Gable with a thrust to the throat and then a rolling German Suplex for a two count! That was impressive. Gable lifted up Big E on his shoulders, Big E fought back and Big E hit a uranage slam. Big E hit the Big Ending for the pinfall win after five minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Big E
Analysis: **3/4 That was fun for the five minutes they got. Gable got a lot of offense even in defeat just like his match with Finn Balor last week. They could have booked this as a squash match like Lashley/Dominik was, but I’m glad they didn’t because it showed off what Gable can do. Gable got to do the moonsault, that great German Suplex and more, so that was cool to see. Big E only needed a couple of moves to put him away.
Post match, Otis went into the ring and stood across from Big E. The two big (wide) men had a staredown in the ring with the referee keeping them separated.
Analysis: It’s a future match they can do. Otis hasn’t been booked in singles matches for a while. Maybe we’ll see it next week.
Kevin Owens was backstage saying there are very few people whose opinion he cares about, but he does care about what this guy thinks. The camera showed R-Truth, who said he believed in KO, he believed in Bigfoot, he believed in the monster under the bed, he believed the Earth is flat and he kept on rambling. Owens left.
Analysis: That was funny. Nice job of using comedy there with Truth talking about believing in crazy things. Owens was happy that R-Truth believed in him, but then Truth said some silly things, so the credibility of Truth was gone quickly.
This Friday on Smackdown: Roman Reigns faces King Xavier Woods in a non-title match.
(Commercial)
The five women on Team Raw were in the locker room talking to Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville. The five women are Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, Carmella, Rhea Ripley and Queen Zelina Vega. The five women are in a 5-Way Match on Raw with the winner getting a Raw Women’s Championship match. Liv talked about how she has been waiting for a chance like this. Doudrop wondered why she wasn’t included on Team Survivor Series and noted that Bianca lost to Becky last week. Belair wondered who she thought she was talking to and told her watch her mouth. Dana Brooke spoke up saying she has been overlooked more than any of them, she’s paid her dues and they should show her some respect. Nikki Cross said she’s not on the team even though she’s a former Raw Women’s Champion. Zelina and Carmella mocked Nikki, so Rhea Ripley didn’t like that and everybody started arguing. Pearce said that the decision was final as they kept on arguing.
Analysis: A lot of talking while standing in line and a lot of yelling. There was logic in what Doudrop said since Bianca did lose to Becky Lynch last week. Also, Doudrop made the finals of Queen’s Crown and Nikki A.S.H. is a Tag Team Champion, so they make good points for being on the team. What Dana Brooke said made sense from her perspective since they barely book her on the show. That’s why WWE should do qualifying matches to earn the spot instead of just announcing names. It’s a lazy job by the creative team.
A video was shown of WrestleMania 32 in Dallas in 2016. It mentioned the attendance record of 101,000+ people in attendance. I was there and it was like seven hours from the time I sat down to when we left. I’m so glad it’s two-night WrestleMania for WrestleMania 38.
A replay was shown of Bobby Lashley beating Dominik Mysterio earlier in the night to earn a spot on the Survivor Series team.
Rey and Dominik were in the trainer’s room. Kevin Patrick showed up for an interview. Rey said Dominik had a neck strain. Rey complained about what Adam Pearce did by putting Bobby Lashley in a match with Dominik and hurting Dominik. When Patrick left, Austin Theory showed up and took a selfie with the Mysterios even though they didn’t see him there.
Reggie entered for a 24/7 Championship match against Drake Maverick up next.
(Commercial)
24/7 Championship: Reggie vs. Drake Maverick
Drake with a forearm to the back for a pin attempt. Reggie bounced off the ropes, ducked a clothesline, then he did a backflip and hit a dropkick. Reggie with a cartwheel into the splash against the turnbuckle. R-Truth showed up, but he was attacked by Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander in the aisle. Reggie was distracted by that, so Drake with a ROLLUP OF DEATH~! on Reggie to win the title in about two minutes.
Akira Tozawa did the ROLLUP OF DEATH~! to Drake to win the title.
Corey Graves went up to Tozawa at ringside and did a ROLLUP OF DEATH~! to become the new 24/7 Champion.
Byron Saxton did the ROLLUP OF DEATH~! to Graves to become the new 24/7 Champion.
Drake Maverick went after Saxton with a ROLLUP OF DEATH~! on Byron Saxton while hooking onto the pants and he became the 24/7 Champion.
Maverick went into the ring, Reggie with a twisting cross body block on Drake and he became the 24/7 Champion again.
Winner: Reggie left with the 24/7 Championship
Analysis: Whatever. It might have amused an eight-year-old kid. If WWE released the WWE 24/7 Title the way they release talent, I doubt many fans would complain about that.
Reggie ran away with the 24/7 Title while the other wrestlers followed him to the backstage area.
Becky Lynch entered as the Raw Women’s Champion with some big sunglasses, a silver sparkly top and a unique hairstyle too. Lynch, much like husband Seth Rollins, has clearly worked on having obnoxious looks since she has come back to WWE. Lynch sat down on commentary. She faces Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair at Survivor Series on November 21. The women’s match is coming up next.
(Commercial)
They showed photos of The Undertaker at the Dallas Cowboys game this past Sunday. Dallas lost to Denver in a big upset. Lots of upsets on Sunday including my LA Rams losing to the Tennessee Titans as well. Anyway, they promoted WrestleMania tickets some more.
Bianca Belair was shown warming up backstage with Doudrop complaining about how Bianca has another opportunity at a title shot. Doudrop said she was speaking for the other women, Belair cut her off and said Doudrop was just speaking for herself.
The entrances took place in the Fatal 5-Way match with Bianca Belair up first. They showed how Becky Lynch retained the Raw Women’s Champion against Belair last week on Raw. Carmella was up next, so her fiancé Corey Graves was very excited to see her. Liv Morgan was third up, Queen Zelina Vega was fourth with a fake British accent pre-tape promo. The last woman was Raw Tag Team Champion Rhea Ripley, who got a pretty good reaction.
Belair was sent out of the ring quickly, so the other women followed her out there. The match didn’t officially start yet. The women started brawling, which led to referees going to the ring to calm things down and that led to a break.
(Commercial)
Fatal 5-Way Match: Bianca Belair vs. Carmella vs. Liv Morgan vs. Queen Zelina Vega vs. Rhea Ripley
The first pinfall or submission wins the match.
Belair and Ripley cleared the ring, they wanted to face off, but Carmella and Vega got involved. Ripley sent Carmella into the barricade while Belair took care of Vega on the other side. Ripley locked up with Belair, then they did moves that led to nothing, Belair did a cartwheel and Carmella/Vega sent Belair into the barricade. Ripley kicked Vega followed by a dropkick on Carmella. Vega with a chop block to the left knee. Carmella kicked Ripley and Vega broke up the pin attempt. Shortly after that, Vega got a pin attempt on Ripley for two. Carmella and Vega did a head whip that sent Ripley into the mat. Carmella chopped Vega by accident because Ripley moved. Carmella sent Ripley into the turnbuckle followed by kicks. Carmella hit a bronco buster on Ripley, then Vega went for a corner attack and Ripley moved, so Vega hit the turnbuckle. Morgan with a knee to Carmella followed by an enziguri kick. Morgan stomped on Carmella’s back for two. Vega did a head whip to take down Morgan. Ripley faced off with Vega leading to Ripley tossing Vega across the ring. Ripley with a Northern Lights Suplex for two on Vega, but Belair broke up the pin. Belair sent Ripley to the floor. Belair avoided Carmella with a backflip out of the corner, then another backflip by Belair and Morgan hit a double knee attack on Belair. Carmella did a facebuster into the mat. Ripley with a dropkick, but then Vega hit a Tornado DDT on Ripley for two. Belair back up with a shoulder tackle on Vega. Belair lifted up Vega over her head and tossed her over the top onto the three women on the floor.
(Commercial)
The match returned with Belair doing a double Powerbomb out of the corner. Ripley hit a cross body block on Belair. Carmella with a superkick on Ripley and then Carmella got multiple two counts. Belair and Carmella were on the floor, Belair caught a kick attempt and sent Carmella into the hood of the announce table. Ripley and Belair battled in the ring, Ripley landed on her feet during a KOD attempt and Ripley kicked Belair to knock her down. Ripley with a Riptide on Belair for two because Morgan broke up the pin. Morgan with a hurricanrana on Ripley, but then Ripley hit a slam. Morgan avoided a Riptide attempt, double boot into the ropes by Morgan and Morgan hit the Oblivion off the ropes for one because Vega broke it up. Vega with a double knee attack on Morgan. Belair back in with a KOD slam on Vega for two, but Doudrop pulled Belair out of the ring and sent Belair into the ring post. Carmella covered Vega for two, Morgan broke it up and Morgan did a crucifix pin on Carmella for the pinfall win after 17 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Liv Morgan
Analysis: *** A long match with a lot of action. It wasn’t all great by any means, but there was some good stuff especially in the last few minutes. Having Doudrop show up to attack Belair sets them up for at least a TV feud for a couple of weeks and it makes Doudrop a heel now. It’s also a way to have Belair lose the match without being part of the final sequence. Morgan interrupted a Lynch promo last week, so I’m not surprised by the result this week. Plus, with the way Becky kept dissing Liv on commentary, it seemed obvious that Morgan would win. Good choice having Morgan win.
The win means that Liv Morgan will challenge Becky Lynch for the Raw Women’s Title at some point in the future.
Becky Lynch stood on the commentary table with the Raw Women’s Title. Liv Morgan went up to her for a staredown. Lynch left.
Big E was shown walking backstage with the WWE Championship on his shoulder. Seth Rollins walked up to Big E saying he can be trusted more than Kevin Owens. Big E said he doesn’t trust Rollins or Owens, but he’ll beat at ringside to watch their match.
The WWE Tribute to the Troops special airs this Sunday on Fox. Check local listings because it depends on when NFL games air in your area.
Big E made his entrance as the WWE Champion. The graphic showed that Big E is facing Roman Reigns at Survivor Series. That should be great.
(Commercial)
A video aired showing highlights from Smackdown from this past Friday.
Austin Theory made his entrance with his cell phone. Theory took selfie pics with the three announcers. Theory walked over to Big E, but Big E swatted the phone away when Theory put the phone by him.
Seth Rollins made his entrance for the main event. Rollins said that what happened last week was a plan between Rollins and Owens. Rollins said that he is a man of integrity, that’s when Kevin Owens made his entrance and went down to the ring. Owens went right after Rollins with punches and then Rollins jumped the barricade at ringside to get away.
(Commercial)
There was a video about Survivor Series showing highlights of Survivor Series 1997 when Bret Hart was screwed by Vince McMahon, who believed that Bret screwed Bret. Check out my Survivor Series 1997 review here with plenty of my thoughts on that show.
Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins
The WWE Champion Big E was seated at ringside, but he was not on commentary. The match started with Owens hitting a running back elbow followed by a hard whip into the turnbuckle. Owens with punches, chops and a headbutt. Owens went for a corner charge, Rollins bailed to the floor, Owens followed him out there with a whip into the barricade, a clothesline and a senton splash on Rollins on the floor. Owens hit a running cannonball splash on Rollins against the barricade. Back in the ring, Owens unloaded on Rollins with chops as well as a double foot stomp. Owens went up top, Rollins rolled to the apron and Owens kicked him in the chest. Owens teased a move on the apron, Rollins got out of that and they kept battling there until Owens shoved Rollins off the apron to the commentary table. Owens went for a senton splash off the apron, but Rollins got the knees up. Rollins sent Owens into the commentary table leading to a break.
(Commercial)
Rollins was in control as worked over Owens with punches to the ribs and the head. Rollins worked on KO’s chest with elbows and a stomp to the chest. Rollins with knees to the ribs followed by a belly to back suplex for two. They got into an exchange of strikes including slaps to the face, Rollins went for a kick, Owens caught the foot, kicked the leg and Owens hit a DDT. Rollins came back with a Slingblade neckbreaker. Rollins went up top, he jumped off with a Frog Splash, Owens moved and Rollins hit the mat. Owens went for his own Frog Splash and he connected with it for a two count. That led to another break.
(Commercial)
There were about ten minutes left in the show with both guys selling the physicality of the match and getting back to their feet by opposite turnbuckles. Rollins charged, Owens hit him with a superkick and Rollins was down. They each hit kicks, Rollins with a jumping kick and Owens bounced off the ropes with a clothesline. Both guys were down again. Owens went to the turnbuckle, Rollins wanted a superplex, Owens blocked it by holding the top rope and Owens hit a headbutt. Rollins went for a superplex again, but Owens countered it into a cradle suplex off the ropes. That a spot Owens always did in his matches with Zayn and obviously Rollins is a guy capable of doing spots like that. There were “this is awesome” chants as Owens crawled over to Rollins for a two count. Owens was struggling to get back up, Rollins managed to get a hold of the arms and Rollins hit a Pedigree for a two count. Owens and Rollins were battling on the turnbuckle, Rollins with a Buckle Bomb, Rollins off the ropes looking for The Stomp and Owens hit a Popup Powerbomb for two. They left the ring. Rollins went for an attack on Owens near where Big E was seated. Rollins got back into the ring to break up the countout while Owens bumped into Big E and Owens didn’t get back into the ring before the ten count. Owens lost by countout. It went 24 minutes.
Winner by countout: Seth Rollins
Analysis: ***1/2 They went very long at nearly 25 minutes and ended in a countout, so it’s a lame ending on top of a quality match between two of the best on Raw. Owens was very aggressive the entire match, Rollins managed to take control and worked on the ribs/back for most of the match after that. I get what they were going for in terms of Owens losing because Big E was standing in his way. It was followed up on well. I just think it’s a bad finish to go that long and end the match in a countout. When a match is that long, you need to do a finish by pinfall or submission whether it’s clean or controversial. I just think the countout ending is going to frustrate the audience a lot.
There were still a few minutes left in the show with Rollins going to the backstage area. Big E was standing at ringside and Owens kicked him in the face! Owens whipped Big E into the steel steps. Owens sent Big E into the steel steps again. Owens gave Big E a Powerbomb on the ring apron as well. Owens worked over Big E with punches. There were referees and officials (like Shane Helms and Pat Buck) that were at ringside along with referees. Owens kept on attacking Big E with punches and kicks. Owens was screaming at ringside as he was helped off Big E. That was the end of Raw.
Analysis: There’s the heel turn from Owens, which is fine with me because I think he’s great in that role. As a face, I just don’t know if they were going to push him that much. Owens has a contract situation that is unknown right now since his deal is apparently up in January. Perhaps this push for Owens is part of WWE’s attempt to get him to stay or maybe Owens has agreed to stay. I don’t know what the situation is, but I think it’s wrong to assume he is leaving. A big heel push for Owens could lead to him staying in WWE and maybe getting to that main event level again. When your contract is up, you have leverage and that’s what Owens has right now. Anyway, I thought Owens was terrific throughout the show and I’m glad he’s being featured as a top guy again because the last few months on Smackdown were not great for him.
Three Stars of the Show
- Kevin Owens
- Seth Rollins
- Liv Morgan
The Scoreboard
6.5 out of 10
Last week: 7.5
2021 Average: 6.13
Final Thoughts
A solid show with some long matches since two matches were over 20 minutes while a third was at 17 minutes. Longer matches don’t necessarily mean better shows. I don’t think there were that many interesting moments in terms of promos or storyline advancement except for the end of the night with Kevin Owens turning heel.
I thought Owens turning heel with that attack on Big E was very well done. As I wrote above, I’m glad that Owens has been a more featured player on Raw compared to his final days on Smackdown. Seth Rollins was the instigator that drove Owens into madness and Big E was the guy that was attacked, so now there’s an interesting three-way feud between those guys.
It was nice to see WWE remember to promote Survivor Series this week. The backstage segment with the women bickering about who is on the team and who is not is an example of WWE’s lazy creative process where they don’t try to attempt to explain the teams. I don’t mind Bobby Lashley beating Dominik Mysterio to take his spot in Survivor Series because Lashley should be on the team. I just don’t think Survivor Series will be that interesting due to the lack of interaction between the Raw and Smackdown rosters. Should we really care if one team wins or loses? No titles at stake, so there’s not much interest there.
The next WWE pay-per-view is Survivor Series on Sunday, November 21 from Brooklyn. Here’s the lineup so far:
Raw WWE Champion Big E vs. Smackdown WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns
Men’s 5-on-5 Elimination Match: Team Raw – Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Rey Mysterio & Bobby Lashley vs. Team Smackdown – Drew McIntyre, Jeff Hardy, King Xavier Woods, Sami Zayn & Happy Corbin
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair
Women’s 5-on-5 Elimination Match: Team Raw – Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan, Carmella & Queen Zelina Vega vs. Team Smackdown – Sasha Banks, Shayna Baszler, Shotzi, Natalya & Aliyah
Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro (Randy Orton & Riddle) vs. Smackdown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso)
Raw United States Champion Damian Priest vs. Smackdown Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura
Find out what happens at Survivor Series on Sunday, Nov. 21, streaming live at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT exclusively on Peacock in the U.S. and on WWE Network everywhere else.
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John Canton
Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter: @johnreport