SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…

WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER
NOVEMBER 12, 2018
KANSAS CITY, MO AT THE SPRINT CENTER
AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 P.M. EST
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH SPECIALIST

Arena / Recap of Last Week / Items Advertised by WWE

WWE Raw returns to the Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO for the first time since April of 2017.  The Sprint Center opened its doors in 2007 and has hosted many WWE events with the most notable being the inaugural Money in the Bank back in 2010.  That night saw the Miz win the contract for a WWE Championship opportunity which he would eventually cash in on Randy Orton.  Kane won the contract for the then-World Championship and cashed in on Rey Mysterio the same evening.  That was then and as for tonight, we focus on Survivor Series which takes place in the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif.. this coming Sunday.

Last week Alexa Bliss was revealed as the manager of the women’s Survivor Series team while Baron Corbin revealed himself in the same capacity for the men as Raw and Smackdown battle for “brand supremacy” (why…why).  Kurt Angle initially balked at Corbin taking on this role and was to wrestle him for the right to captain the men’s team.  That changed to Angle wrestling Drew McIntyre when Corbin left the building as he was evading an angry Braun Strowman, whom he had helped screw out of the Universal Championship at that Global Event with the Start Time of…. oh please it was CROWN JEWEL IN SAUDI ARABIA!  McIntyre came out victorious, maintaining Corbin as the team captain.

Bayley, Sasha Banks, and Natalya wrestled the Riott Squad to a double count following Ruby Riott snapping Natalya’s father Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart’s sunglasses.  Apollo Crews defeated former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal.  The Authors of Pain captured the Raw Tag Team Championship defeating Seth Rollins as he went it alone due to continued issues with his partner Dean Ambrose.  Ambrose would then attack Rollins after the match but still did not explain his recent actions.  Elias defeated Dolph Ziggler.  Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey cut a promo talking about her upcoming champion vs. champion match at Survivor Series with Smackdown Champ Becky Lynch.  During the promo she called out Becky on going to “clown college” and her being a “stewardess serving snacks,” which I talked about in last week’s Smackdown primer.  Here’s a clip from that promo:

Nia Jax defeated Ember Moon and continued to attack her after the match with help from Tamina.  Bobby Lashley defeated Finn Balor.  We were spared the live mic bit with Lio Rush during the match; however, we weren’t spared a butt pose by Lashley prior to the match beginning.  I don’t have the words.

Drew McIntyre’s match with Kurt Angle immediately followed Lashley vs. Balor.  Lashley and McIntyre had a stare down followed by Balor getting treated to a Claymore kick.

Here are the items of emphasis for tonight’s show according to WWE.com:

  • Stephanie McMahon is back
  • The Beast brings his Universal Championship to Raw
  • Alexa Bliss’ Survivor Series squad revealed
  • Can Baron Corbin evade Braun Strowman
  • Who will round out the men’s Survivor Series team?

Raw Overrun

According to several reports over the weekend, Raw will no longer have an overrun starting tonight.  The show will end at 11:00 p.m. sharp with reruns of Modern Family to start at that time.

Recent episodes of Raw have done incredibly low ratings for the third hour, in particular Oct. 1 and Nov. 5.  The need for Raw to have an overrun went away when WWE (then WWF) bought WCW in 2001, ending the Monday Night Wars.  We’ll learn how this change affects the rating and the product going forward.

Stephanie McMahon is Back

Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon returns to Raw to address the “controversy” over her brother, Smackdown Commissioner Shane McMahon, inserting himself into the finals and winning the World Cup at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia.

To recap, the Miz from Smackdown was to face Dolph Ziggler from Raw in the finals.  The Miz injured his knee outside of the ring early in the match.  As the referee was giving his official decision awarding the World Cup to Ziggler, Shane intervened and inserted himself into the match.  He went on to defeat Ziggler, winning the World Cup, declaring himself the “Best in the World.”

Shane addressed this on Smackdown, humbly saying he may not be the best in the world but couldn’t very well let Raw take this honor and thus the reason he inserted himself into the match.  Tonight, Stephanie responds.

Frank’s Analysis:  Who cares?  This was such a waste of a concept that could have actually been used in a much better capacity.  First of all, you had all U.S. born wrestlers in the tournament, which doesn’t make sense for a “World Cup.”  Secondly, doesn’t New Japan Pro Wrestling use the G1 tournament to determine the #1 contender for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship match at Wrestle Kingdom?  Why couldn’t this tournament used to determine the #1 contender for championship on his respective brand?  As far as tonight with Stephanie I’m certain she will be in Baron Corbin’s ear making sure he assembles the best team possible because as we know, winning these matches at Survivor Series proves which brand is superior.  I could hear Stephanie emasculating him saying “if Raw loses it’s on you!” (Sigh) 

The Beast Brings His Universal Championship to Raw 

At Crown Jewel, Brock Lesnar secured the vacant Universal Championship and started his second reign by defeating Braun Strowman, who was attacked by interim G.M. Baron Corbin before the match.  At Survivor Series, he will face WWE Champion A.J. Styles from Smackdown in a rematch from last year’s offering of the champion vs. champion match which saw Lesnar come out on top.  Tonight, in advance of that rematch, Lesnar returns to Raw with the Universal Championship.

There have been numerous media outlets that have reported possible heat on Braun Strowman backstage and because of it that’s the reason he was beaten so quickly and not given the Universal Championship.  This does not appear to be true according to PWInsider, who tweeted this out rebutting the notion:

Frank’s Analysis:  I’m not sure what I believe but truthfully, I expected Lesnar to get the Universal Championship anyway.  It’s fair to debate whether or not winning it at Crown Jewel would have been the right call.  Strowman has a chance to win the title at some point, so I’m not worried about it either way.  I just wonder how much value Lesnar brings as Universal Championship this time as WWE has done damage to his character, telling the fans he’s a part timer and doesn’t care about being the champ and showing up.  It’ll be interesting to see who goes over in the match with Styles as a case could be made for either wrestler to get the win.  Whomever defeats Lesnar will get a HUGE rub.  If Styles gets the win, it puts value on his character and whomever eventually defeats him for the WWE Championship.  If Lesnar gets the win it helps whomever eventually defeats him whether it’s Strowman, Seth Rollins, or Drew McIntyre as they are the likely candidates.  It’s a tough call, but one that interests me much more than “brand supremacy.”

Alexa Bliss’s Survivor Series Squad Revealed

Last week Alexa Bliss was revealed as the manager of the women’s team from Raw that will take on Smackdown’s offering.  She said she would watch all women’s matches to help make her decision.

On Smackdown we learned their women’s team will feature Asuka, Naomi, Carmella, Sonya Deville, and Charlotte Flair.  We didn’t actually see Charlotte when she was announced but rather Mandy Rose, who verbally put down each member of the team before being attacked by Naomi.

Tonight, we will learn of the Raw women’s team.  Bear in mind, Alexa is in a managerial capacity as she is dealing with injuries according to multiple wrestling media outlets.  She has dealt with concussions, suffered a shoulder injury in a match with Nia Jax earlier in the year, and has been dealing with numbness in her arm following her dropping the Raw Women’s Championship to Ronda Rousey at SummerSlam.  There were thoughts she may retire, however she quickly dispelled this on Twitter:

Frank’s Analysis:  It’s a shame Alexa is dealing with injuries.  I hate to say it but it’s almost a blessing in disguise.  Wrestlers need breaks to recover and also freshen their character and storyline.  If they don’t get injured, they’re not kept off TV unless WWE has nothing for them creatively.  That said, I’m actually intrigued by whom Alexa will choose for the team.  Bayley and Sasha Banks have been so marginalized, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they’re “out.”  Ruby Riott has quietly had a productive year, and thus Survivor Series could be used as a vehicle for her to take that “next step.”  I’m not sure the rest of the Riott Squad, Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan, would be chosen.  Mickie James and Alicia Fox have been by Alexa’s side a lot lately, so they would likely be on the team.  That leaves Natalya, Nia Jax, Ember Moon, and Tamina.  Alexa and Nia are “former friends,” but for all intents and purposes Nia turned heel last week.  With Alexa being a heel that could magically make them friends again as has been done in similar situations by WWE in the past.  Natalya may be so distraught over her dad’s sunglasses being destroyed (eye roll), so she may be “out.”  That leaves Ember and Tamina.  I don’t have a strong feeling either way about either woman, but you have virtual jobbers in Fox and Mickie if they’re on the team.  I’m not sure you want Tamina as she has been a jobber for most of her time in WWE.   

One other thing to consider is they’ll want a match for the pre-show.  Since Bayley, Sasha Banks, and Natalya fought the Riott Squad to a double count out last week, they could save the rematch for the pre-show if they don’t do it tonight on Raw.  I know, we’re all dying to see this for like the 40thtime in the past month.  That would leave the Survivor Series team as Nia Jax, Ember Moon, Tamina, Mickie James, and Alicia Fox.  That’s not exactly murderer’s row but if you want Nia Jax to be the strong heading into her championship match eventually with Ronda Rousey, they could make this all about her. 

Can Baron Corbin Evade Braun Strowman

As I’ve talked about, interim G.M. Baron Corbin helped cost Bran Strowman the Universal Championship at the global event…ok I couldn’t help doing it one more time…CROWN JEWEL in SAUDI ARABIA.  Last week during the opening segment, Corbin named Strowman to the Raw men’s Survivor Series team.  Strowman then came to pursue Corbin but couldn’t get to him as he knocked out security guards and was attacked by others on the Raw roster.

As Corbin was being interviewed throughout the night, Strowman kept magically appearing until he eventually left the building.  He was to face Kurt Angle for the right to captain the men’s Survivor Series team but passed that off to Drew McIntyre.  McIntyre defeated Angle in the main event, keeping Corbin as the captain.  He, like Alexa Bliss, will be in a managerial capacity.  Here are clips showing “the chase” from last week:

Frank’s Analysis:  There’s not much to say here.  It’s follow-up on Corbin screwing Strowman.  If they are eventually putting the universal title on Strowman, you want to have him mow down opponents on the journey back to a match with Brock Lesnar.  Corbin is virtually a stooge and a jobber at this point so, WWE figures we’ll all get a kick out of Strowman pursuing him.  He can knock out security guards, destroy props, yell, and all the other things they like to have him do to display his “monster” character.  The problem is I don’t think anybody is excited about a Strowman-Corbin match, but that’s the direction in which we’re likely headed.

Who Will Round Out the Men’s Survivor Series Team?

Thus far Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, and Drew McIntyre have been named to the men’s Survivor Series team.  This is a reunion of sorts as recently these three men had a series of matches with the Shield.  They had their issues, most notably with McIntyre attacking Strowman before Crown Jewel while he was cutting a promo with Paul Heyman.

On Smackdown last week, we learned the men’s team will feature co-captains the Miz and Daniel Bryan, Shane McMahon, Rey Mysterio, and Samoa Joe.  Tonight, we can expect to round out the rest of the Raw squad.

Frank’s Analysis:  On both sides you certainly have a lot of the “odd couple” concept happening.  It’s almost hard to buy as WWE historically does this around Survivor Series team especially in the recent brand split “battle for brand supremacy” story they like to push.  It’s as if the calendar is telling us it’s time for everyone to get along regardless of what storylines are taking place.  On Smackdown you know there will be issues with Bryan and Miz, Samoa Joe with everyone, and Shane McMahon.  Strowman, Ziggler, and McIntyre will likely combust.  As far as the rest of the Raw team you’re looking at Dean Ambrose, Bobby Lashley, Finn Balor, No Way Jose, Elias, Mojo Rawley, Jinder Mahal, Bobby Roode, Chad Gable, or Zack Ryder.  I see Ambrose being saved to possibly interfere in the match between IC Champ Seth Rollins and U.S. Champ Shinsuke Nakamura.  Bobby Roode and Chad Gable are basically a tag team and they’ll likely be in the tag team Survivor Series match.  I would think Balor and Lashley would be on team, adding a bit more to the odd couple concept although their feud hasn’t been particularly strong.  It’s been more about Lio Rush on the mic and strangle Lashley poses.  Elias is possible as well if he’s not saved for a singing spot where he trolls a heel. 

Dean Ambrose

This is not an item of emphasis for tonight, but WWE is putting together a chronicle on Dean Ambrose.  It includes his return from injury and betrayal of the Shield.  Here’s WWE tweeting out the trailer:

Start Time & Matches Advertised

The arena’s website is advertising a start time of 6:30 p.m. local but doesn’t specify when doors are opening.

They show two matches:

  • Intercontinental Championship Match: Seth Rollins (champ) vs. Dean Ambrose
  • Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin

They do also show Universal Champion Brock Lesnar appearing, along with Raw Women’s Champ Ronda Rousey and Bobby Lashley.

Follow me on Twitter @FrankPeteani and ask any questions you may have.  Thank you for reading!

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