WWE: Monday Night RAW was LIVE from the Resch Center in Green Bay, WI on Monday.
A HUGE reaction for Raw GM, Kurt Angle, to start the show after he filled in for an ailing Roman Reigns at TLC due to a bout of viral meningitis which struck the Raw roster. Angle had fun and it was a quality match-up for those who watched the PPV. He’ll have time to hone his craft for future matches, but it was great to see him in Shield garb, coming down to the ring with Rollins and Ambrose.
Kurt announces matches for Survivor Series as it’s Raw vs. Smackdown again this year. We’ll see Miz and Corbin, Natayla and Alexa Bliss, Rollins and Ambrose against the Usos and Lesnar vs. Mahal.
We’ll have a 5 on 5 Men’s matchup as well as a Women’s matchup to complete the card as well as several singles matches expected, namely the demon Kane against Braun Strowman.
The Miz, the Raw IC Champ, along with members of “The Bar” in Sheamus and Curtis Axel, swarm the ring, looking to give Angle a receipt for the event’s that unfolded last night.
Angle has expected as much and it leads to Rollins And Ambrose making the same. Angle books a six man tag where the Miz and “The Bar” will take on Ambrose, Rollins, and the man who filled in for Bray Wyatt last night, the “Phenomenol” AJ Styles! That takes place now!
AJ Styles/Seth Rollins/Dean Ambrose defeat Sheamus/Cesaro/The Miz via pin fall after a Phenomenol Forearm by Styles on Cesaro.
This was a tremendous match. It was fast paced and full of action. The crowd ecstatic to enjoy Styles once again, and he did not disappoint. “The Bar” renewed their rivalry with the current champs and those four took it too each other.
The Miz and Sheamus were eventually ousted from the contest, leaving Cesaro in the ring, where he fell victim to a beautiful forearm from AJ to ensure the victory for the faces!
“The Demon” Kane made his way to the ring after the match and after he dumped AJ, he handled Ambrose and gave a massive choke slam to Seth Rollins. He also talked about lodging Strowman in the trash compactor, proving that there was only one “monster” in the fed.
Kane demands competition as Strowman used to do, and a man who was victorious last night is up to the task, Finn Balor!
Kane defeats Finn Balor via pin fall after a choke slam.
This was kind of a head-scratcher. Don’t get me wrong, Kane is a solid veteran hand, but rumors have been swirling about a potential Balor/Lesnar title match in the future. Kane is always a man for the main event scene, but after a clean victory over Styles last night, Balor dropped this one clean.
“The Demon” handled Balor with three choke slams for the victory and it might have been done simply to make Kane seem a viable threat for when Strowman returns.
Kurt Angle is backstage when who should show up but none other than Smackdown Commissioner, Shane McMahon! Shane is thanked for Angle for allowing him to utilize AJ Styles.
The two trade barbs about who will be the better team and what begins at comedy exchanges between the two become threats. Shane promises that by the end of the night, Kurt will certainly remember Smackdown.
Asuka defeats Emma via submission with the Asuka Lock.
“The Empress Of Tomorrow” makes her Raw debut and looks fantastic as always. Hopefully the fans will take to her the way they did in NXT, because she has a real presence and an aura about her.
Emma got in some sound offense, but in the end, the result was the same tonight as it was at TLC, a submission victory for Asuka after the Empress caught her with a brilliant counter.
Asuka needs to be dominant and she needs to dominate often. It’ll make her that much more marketable as she was in NXT.
The Raw women’s champion, Alexa Bliss, is out and she has words for Natayla, the Smackdown women’s champion, and the “crazy cat lady”. She then proceeds to bash Mickie James who came up short last night. Alexa encourages the fans to chant “you deserve it” for her. They don’t comply.
Mickie James has heard enough. She comes out to the ring and she nails a crisp implant DDT on Bliss, taking a mic and telling Alexa that she did in fact deserve that. I suppose this story will continue in short order despite Alexa getting a solid victory over the veteran talent.
Bayley and “The Boss” Sasha Banks are backstage and they congratulate Kurt Angle on his successful return last night. Angle says that whomever wins their match tonight will captain the women’s team for Raw. Here comes the kooky Alicia Fox, sporting a new shirt. She acts bonkers and it’s actually quite entertaining. It leads to a triple threat match booking for later in the evening.
We “drift with Elias” once again as Elias Samson mocks Green Bay and plays a song for the crowd. It leads to a rematch from TLC last night with Kurt Angle’s son, Jason Jordan.
Jason Jordan defeats Elias via DQ after Elias uses a guitar on Jordan.
The best of Jeff Jarrett here folks. Elias will break a million guitars and he won’t draw a dime. I’m kidding, but I always remember that quote from the “Fall Of WCW” DVD. These two continue their story and Elias apparently was done for the evening, taking the short cut to the “L” column.
He breaks the guitar over Jordan’s head, leaving this story to continue for yet another week. The match was average at best.
“The Advocate” Paul Heyman comes to the ring with the Universal Champion, “The Beast” Brock Lesnar. I cannot even do this promo justice, just go watch it.
Heyman says everything that each and everyone of us is thinking. He talks about the caliber of talent that has challenged for the Universal Title, naming names like Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman and others, but he says we’re supposed to take Jinder Mahal seriously?
He says the last time a Smackdown superstar challenged Lesnar, it wasn’t fit for the “PG Era” returning to him opening up Randy Orton the hard way. That was brutal. I appreciate Paul making these comments, because he’s right. Nobody cares about this match as it relates to Mahal. Lesnar should end this quickly and let’s get the strap off Mahal and onto Nakamura or AJ so we can eventually have that match, which is what fans want.
Kalisto is backstage and he’s interviewed about losing the title back to Enzo Amore last night. He is flanked by the 205 faces, and they will compete in a ten man tag against “The Zo Train” later tonight. They did the “Lucha” chant to end the segment.
Alicia Fox defeats Sasha Banks and Bayley via pin fall in a triple threat match to become the Raw Women’s Team Captain after she pinned Bayley.
This match wasn’t exactly the five star classic that the opening six man tag was, but I had predicted the result as soon as Fox was added to it. Her strange and erratic behavior should make for some entertaining segments and she’ll probably be the first woman eliminated in the match.
Bayley was pushed into Sasha by Foxxy while Bayley was tangled in the ropes. Banks spilled to the outside and the collision was enough for Fox to secure the pin fall.
Drew Gulak is amazing. He read Enzo’s pre-match promo as Enzo had lost his voice last night and it carried over into this evening’s broadcast as well. He mocks Barr’s hit on Aaron Rodgers as there were Packers ringside. It was funny. The heels all spell it the “S-A-W-F-T” part of the promo and it leads to a ten man tag as promised earlier.
Kalisto/Rich Swann/Cedric Alexander/Mustafa Ali/Gran Metalik defeat Enzo Amore/Tony Nese/Drew Gulak/Ariya Daivari/Noam Dar via pinfall after a Salida Del Sol by Kalisto on Amore.
The crowd wasn’t into this one sadly. It’s quite a shame too because there were some very exciting spots in this one including a series of dives and high flying maneuvers that took place on the outside.
Amore was distracted and it was enough for Kalisto to hit the Salida Del Sol for the victory as he and Amore have a scheduled rematch for tomorrow night on 205 Live.
The main event segment was something to see.
Kurt Angle came out to the ring to announce the five men who would be part of the Raw team when he is interrupted by the music of Shane McMahon.
Shane is accompanied by the entire Smackdown roster minus Jinder Mahal, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Randy Orton and maybe one or two others. They make their way down through the crowd and they chase Angle up the ramp.
Titus O’Neil and Apollo Crews are backstage and they are laid to waste by members of Smackdown. AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, who got one heck of a chant by the way. Also involved were Tye Dillinger, Bobby Roode, Dolph Ziggler, and others are part of the siege.
Goldust, Rhyno, Curt Hawkins and Heath Slater are attacked. Finn Balor, Matt Hardy and Jason Jordan are attacked after that in the dressing room.
Becky Lynch and much of the womens roster lay siege to the Raw women, sans Asuka and a few others. That added some intrigue to the whole situation as it was literally the entirety of the Smackdown roster.
The Shield try to take to the air, but Rollins and Ambrose attempt is quickly thwarted as Roode and Ziggler, who are both embroiled in a feud of their own, seem to take the reins on this one.
Kurt Angle is brought to the ring where Shane tells him that at Survivor Series, he wants Angle to bring his gold medals and what’s left of the Raw roster. They are goig to finish what was started tonight. He promised to lay siege to Raw and he delivered. The show ends there.
