The Smark Henry RAW Report (10/25/17): Trouble On The Homefront

TLC left us all pretty shookt after delivering a really entertaining pay-per-view from start to finish, with the last-minute replacements none of us could afford to miss. But after those showcase matches—now what? It’s not like AJ Styles is permanently on RAW, and it’s not like Kurt Angle’s actually part of their storyline. Where does Finn Bálor then go from here? And what’s next for The Shield with one member down? Is Braun Strowman alive? Will someone step up to Asuka?

Understandably, it’s like WWE wanted to get TLC over with and move on to something completely new to clear the sick Superstars out of the picture. They went straight into a new, explosive storyline to build up the upcoming Survivor Series: SmackDown invades RAW and causes mayhem all over the arena. Guys… There is so much to say. *clears throat* *cracks knuckles*

First of all, while I know the only way to get out of hanging storylines is to create new ones to distract everyone with, well, because the show never stops and must always go on—maybe they could’ve planted a few seeds first before having Shane McMahon go full-on bully on Kurt Angle. Prior to this episode of RAW, he hadn’t even addressed the Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens controversy yet! But he’s now focused on getting everyone on the same page all of a sudden—and it doesn't matter whether you're a heel or a face, because now it’s all about representing your brand or die. I guess having a common enemy is enough to bring everybody together.

Bullying Kurt Angle like he was the helpless little nerd was so strange—as if he didn’t just beat the shit out of The Miz and his crew with chairs the night before. He’s a wrestler, too, you guys… And he just proved that all the more at TLC. But his suit contains special super powers that enable him to transform into a defenseless coward, so of course it only took Shane one sentence before Kurt had to run for his life. Wasn’t the latter just about to announce the five guys on the RAW team? Why did he run backstage as if there wasn’t already a team ready to fight back? He then got held into hostage after the carnage the blue team had caused, and he didn’t even flinch. Instead, he looked absolutely terrified. But why? And why are you so angry, Shane?

Second of all, I thought y’all were friends?! Becky Lynch violently attacked Sasha Banks and Bayley—who are supposedly her good friends—just because they’re on different brands. Chad Gable went after Jason Jordan first, and AJ Styles went after Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose after teaming up with them the same night, and so many friendships are in ruins now with zero storytelling. Man, these guys must really love their brand. So, uhm, when’s the next Superstar Draft?

Illogical instances aside, that brawl was everything. Just on last week’s RAW Report, I wished for the WWE to make better use of the technology and the hundreds of cameras they possess to show more fights backstage, like how they used to when I was a kid. My wish came true! It was honestly really badass to see them walk around the building like they own the place, especially the women. They were so gangsta, I loved it. So edgy.

So ultimately, I liked what they did. Well, most importantly, I appreciate what they did. There are many questions surrounding the introduction to this storyline, but I’m sure they had a goal in mind—which was to make that segment look really badass and menacing—and I think they totally delivered there. All the flaws I just mentioned above can slide with me, except maybe the Kurt Angle bit which insanely tipped the scale of logic. In the end, though, whatever the circumstances that led to all of this, it did make me want to see more and await RAW’s vengeance.

Other than this closing segment, the rest of the show felt like it was just filled with TLC rematches. One of those was Emma vs. Asuka, again, which wasn’t as good as their match the night before, but, Emma still gave Asuka that challenge instead of the latter just destroying every woman on the roster.

Speaking of the women, Alicia Fox is finally getting better opportunities and is now team captain of the RAW women’s team to go against the SmackDown Live women’s team at Survivor Series. I honestly thought either Sasha Banks or Bayley would have it in the bag, but this was a nice little surprise, too. It’s just a little odd that the champions don’t lead their respective teams—even Alexa Bliss thought she was going to. So everything she said on RAW Talk after TLC about leading the women’s team to a victory was pretty much useless. Oh well.

And finally, here’s a Brock Lesnar match I don’t really care about. What match does Jinder Mahal have compared to The Beast? Lesnar will destroy him in the ring, and Paul Heyman will destroy him on the mic. He doesn’t stand a chance. Why are we doing this. It does absolutely nothing to either competitor—unless, perhaps if Jinder wins... Just kidding, let’s be real here. Go RAW. It’s also funny to think about how difficult of a night it must’ve been for Brock—being flown in by WWE, getting paid by the WWE, only to make an entrance and stand there. Dang, it must’ve been so rough.

This episode of RAW had really unexpected moments. Albeit all the questions, I’m not even that mad. Everything just has been all over the place since the last-minute pull-outs before TLC, which I’m sure has been stressing them out more than it has been stressing us out. So I’ll cut them some slack because I was still kinda sports-entertained in the end, and give them a B-!


Quick Hitters:

• Ha! That’s what you get, Jason Jordan, for wasting all those vegetables at TLC. Brat. 
• Mickie James doesn’t seem to be finished with Alexa Bliss and she proved that all while wearing the tallest pair of heels on any woman I’ve seen in a WWE ring—I felt like her ankles could give up at any second. Cringe. 
• Kane got this massive push and I’m a glad that face Braun Strowman hasn’t shown up yet for revenge. That’s right, spread the storyline out more to keep it interesting, for it could potentially be Kane’s last run!
• Was the invasion segment unbearably noisy or am I too old? 
• I specifically saw Tye Dillinger sweep all the makeup off the makeup table. As a woman, of course my heart sank. Do you know how much that cost the artists, Tye? Ten, ten, ten times more than your merch sales, most likely. ...I'm not bitter, you're bitter.
• The Cruiserweights main evented again! It’s like Enzo Amore truly holds the power. It was a fun match, as always, with Drew Gulak on the mic beforehand to replace a voiceless Enzo. By the way, here’s a GIF of the Cruiserweights doing the Enzo dance thing that I believe everybody should keep on their desktops. 

Photos by WWE

October 25, 2017