WWE Raw
Pepsi Center - Denver, CO
Live on USA Network - October 14, 2019
Before we get started, there were additional picks made and announced after SmackDown and before Raw:
Raw - EC3
SmackDown - Apollo Crews
Raw - Eric Young
SmackDown - Drew Gulak
Raw - Sin Cara
SmackDown - Heath Slater
SmackDown - Tamina
SmackDown - The B Team
Riveting, I know.
Onto the main show, we kick things off with a highlight package for... the Hell in a Cell main event and the Seth-Fiend feud. Because we're all a bunch of MARKS. Cue the intro and the pyro, and out comes Becky Lynch to start the show off proper. Unfortunate for her, Sasha Banks isn't cleared for their scheduled match, so in her place comes... yep, it's Charlotte. And to once again give reference to Brian Zane, Charlotte comes out, they has fight, time for a match.
Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch - Look, what do you want me to say? It's a match we've seen time after time after time. I just can't get into it, especially with no build. It's just a match, has some good spots throughout but it's nothing too out of the ordinary. Hot offense, near falls, you know the drill. Just a solid and good TV match, with the added caveat of "the winner gets the first pick in the draft." Like it matters. The finish had another surprise pin on Charlotte, with Becky getting the upper hand when it mattered the most.
I've had a very long week, so pardon me if my writeups aren't as detailed.
Still to come tonight:
The War Viking Raider Experience Machine vs. Roode and Ziggler, tag titles on the line
and NOTHING ELSE
Backstage, Seth Rollins is interviewed by Charly Caruso and yep, don't care all that much. Come back to me when the stink of geek is washed away.
After the break, we come back for some more phoned in synergy, starting things off with CNBC's Jim Cramer. At least his timbre is more in line with his actual TV presentation. And yes, we got more "war room" pre-tapes.
Stephanie McMahon comes out for the next set of draft picks, and they are:
Raw - Seth Rollins
SmackDown - Brock Lesnar
Raw - Charlotte Flair
SmackDown - The New Day
Raw - Andrade “Cien” Almas (w/ Zelina Vega)
Andrade and Zelina come out for a talk-and-walk before his match, which is just a showcase for the five diehard viewers who don't know him yet.
Andrade "Cien" Almas vs. Mustafa Ali - Yet another fine TV match, plenty of beatdown, they got the heat on Zelina for getting involved via a hurricanrana to Ali, Almas capitalized and got the pin with the Hammer Lock DDT.
Raw - Asuka & Kairi Sane
SmackDown - Daniel Bryan
Raw - Rusev
SmackDown - Bayley
Raw - Aleister Black
Well, where one goes, the other goes as well - see Charlotte, Andrade, Zelina, and Aleister.
Back from break, we get more synergy, in the form of Weekend Update. Because THAT worked super well the first time, right?
The War Viking Raider Experience Machine vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode (c), Raw Tag Team Championship - Not the hottest match from the start, this took a little while for the crowd to get into. Rowe takes the brunt of the offense, being slung into chairs and pulled away to keep the hot tag from happening, but all that does is just gets him more frustrated. Both he and Ziggler end up on the ring mat, crawling for the hot tag, and he gets it - the crowd gets hot for Hanson, laying out both adversaries, to tag Rowe back in. Roode and Ziggler get their comeback started, eats a modified Doomsday Device, but kicks out at 2. Superkick denied, Ziggler hits a Famouser instead, still just for 2. Double team leads to a Glorious DDT, with the pin broken up by Hanson.
The crowd is now firmly in the corner of the big men, Rowe counters out of a suplex and gets the tag to Hanson, with the face team getting a lot of momentum. Hanson and Rowe hit the Viking Experience finisher on Ziggler, and they get the pin, and the titles! The crowd were hot for this in the end, and rightfully so.
Back from break, this time we get the NHL on NBC crew to shoehorn in a promo spot, before that excellent promo up above with the new tag champions..@Erik_WWE and @Ivar_WWE's worldwide tag team raid isn't ending any time soon! pic.twitter.com/VnrG0l91Iu— TDE Wrestling (@tde_wrestling) October 15, 2019
Raw - Cedric Alexander
SmackDown - Shinsuke Nakamura
Raw - Humberto Carillo
SmackDown - Mustafa Ali
Raw - Erick Rowan
Aleister Black vs. Eric Young - Yes, that was really Eric Young. And yes, he's really on Raw again. Shame that he's just being used as a job guy. Tapped out in a few minutes, the usual affair on TV.
Raw - Buddy Murphy
SmackDown - Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
Raw - Jinder Mahal
SmackDown - Carmella
Raw - R-Truth
Yes, they broke up the 24/7 act. And now the 24/7 title will be Raw-exclusive for some reason. They made mention that the women's tag belts will still be floater belts, so... yeah, whatever.
Another backstage spot with the Street Prophets, but wait - this is leading to something, with the trio of "California, Here We Come" joining in on the fun, before the beatdown starts. Maybe this'll lead to something later on.
Ricochet vs. Shelton Benjamin - I wish I cared more about this match. There's just no heat to it for me besides the high spots. Ricochet won with the Recoil, but that was it.
Breaking form for a moment, Mike Bennett announced earlier in the day that he asked for his release from WWE. He wasn't happy with how things were going with him, professionally, and I really don't blame him for it. Here's to hoping he gets back on his feet and finds his drive again.
That being said, we really don't need this bullshit cuckoldry garbage with Lana and Rusev. Please fuck off with this garbage writing, Paul.
So this stuff with Tyson Fury and Braun Strowman is stuff I don't care about, just because of where it's taking place. Skipping it.
Next bit of synergy comes from the crew of Today, Al Roker and Willie Geist. That's all. I could be watching baseball instead of this.
Raw - Samoa Joe
SmackDown - The Miz
Raw - Akira Tozawa
SmackDown - Baron Corbin
Raw - Shelton Benjamin
Buddy Murphy vs. Cedric Alexander - Now THIS is a match I can get behind. But since this is TV, I will keep expectations minimal. But despite that, this became a pretty solid TV match, nice work. I would like more, please.
Running down the card for the Saudi show, and... they're really booking Seth and Bray for the title, falls count anywhere, for this show.
You motherfuckers. Ugh.
One more synergy segment, this time with the NBCSN Premier League crew. Whatever. The final picks are in, let's end this.
Raw - Rey Mysterio
SmackDown - Chad Gable
Raw - Titus O'Neil
SmackDown - Elias
Raw - Liv Morgan
Anyone who wasn't picked are still eligible until midnight tomorrow (10/15), so we'll see what happens. Mostly because I'm tired and just don't care anymore.
Asuka & Kairi Sane vs. Natalya &... - Time for the mystery opponent gimmick again. And this time, it's...... Lacey Evans.
Nah, screw this, I'm out. Show's over, goodnight. Tapping out early.
[Some time later...]
Well, with 2 and a half minutes left, we get some Firefly Fun House action on the show, featuring... SmackDown's Bray Wyatt, but whatever. Ramblin' Rabbit is back and he's warning Bray that Seth is on the way, which leads to Seth blindsiding Bray from behind. And then commits an act of arson by lighting Bray's table on fire and igniting the wall. Like a true babyface hero.
Seth is such a frigging geek. Goddamn pal.
Final Thoughts: Yeah, not much to say, this show was a bore. All the stuff with the draft felt half-baked, the tie-ins were shoehorned in with no effort, it all felt like 1 hour of programming stretched to 3 hours. It was great that we had a title change with Hanson and Rowe - yes, I'm being stubborn and still calling them by their War Machine names - but as far as the rest of the show goes? Not much to it. Glorified filler.
Show Verdict: Burn the draft down until they figure out how to do it properly. Not a good Raw.
P.S. Dio Maddin is a legend and should be revered for time eternal.
Help me out, is this a One Piece reference pic.twitter.com/w4ofC6eNTP— 👻💙🌕 (@Cinder5byeFive) October 15, 2019
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