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WWE RAW PRIMER 11/19: Survivor Series fallout, Raw wins “brand supremacy,” Braun gets title match and Corbin, Rollins vs. Ambrose at TLC, Nia steals Sasha’s spotlight, Ronda attacked by Charlotte 

By Frank Peteani, PWTorch Specialist

November 19, 2018

Corbin vs. Madcap Moss set for WrestleMania Backlash
Baron Corbin (photo credit Brandon LeClair © PWTorch)
SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER
NOVEMBER 19, 2018
LOS ANGELES, CA. AT THE STAPLES CENTER
AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 P.M. EST
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH SPECIALIST

Announcers: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young 

Arena / Survivor Series Recap and My Brief Attendance Thoughts / Items Advertised by WWE 

WWE stays put in the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif. as they continue their four-night stint which began with NXT Takeover: WarGames this past Saturday and will conclude tomorrow night with Smackdown.

I had the pleasure of being in attendance last night at Survivor Series.  I was particularly excited because it was my first PPV event after previously attending house shows, Raws, Smackdowns, and even a few WCW Nitros back in the Monday Night War era of 1995-2001.  To sum up, it was not the crowd I expected as you would normally expect a more rabid group especially for one of the “big four” PPVs.  The biggest takeaway was the MEGA HEAT for Nia Jax following her breaking Becky Lynch’s nose last week on Raw, forcing Becky to be pulled from her match with Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey.

They were into certain things, most notably the Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Seth Rollins match and the Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair match.  Rollins ultimately defeated Nakamura and Rousey defeated Charlotte via DQ when Charlotte attacked Rousey with a kendo stick.  There was a buzz for Daniel Bryan after he low-kicked Brock Lesnar and went on the attack.  During the men’s elimination match, “Best in the World” Shane McMahon (uggh) got a positive reaction for his coast-to-coasts.  Most others got the reactions I expected for their introductions.

Raw ended up beating Smackdown 6-1 in the series of Raw vs. Smackdown matches.  They can tell you it was 6-0 but unlike WWE I’m going to count the pre-show which saw the Usos win the 10-on-10 elimination tag team for team Smackdown.  If it’s Raw vs. Smackdown then that counts and if WWE doesn’t like it that’s too bad.  Nia Jax was the sole survivor in the women’s elimination match as she pinned Asuka to wrap up the victory.  Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins defeated U.S. Champion Shinsuke Nakamura.  Raw Tag Team Champions AOP, with their manager Drake Maverick, defeated Smackdown Tag Team Champions The Bar flanked by the Big Show.  From 205Live, Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy retained his championship over Mustafa Ali.  Raw won the men’s elimination match with Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre, and Bobby Lashley being the survivors.  Team captain and interim G.M. Baron Corbin attacked Strowman following the match.  Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey defeated Charlotte Flair from Smackdown via DQ when Charlotte attacked Ronda with a kendo stick.  Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defeated WWE Champion Daniel Bryan.

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

  • Raw wins the night at Survivor Series
  • Braun Strowman gets his Universal Title Match… and Baron Corbin
  • Seth Rollins to face Dean Ambrose at TLC
  • Nia Jax steals Sasha Banks’ spotlight en route to title opportunity
  • Ronda Rousey viciously assaulted by Charlottle Flair
  • Raw Wins the Night

As I talked about earlier, Raw won the night at Survivor Series.  If you don’t count the pre-show, technically Raw did sweep the series of matches on the main show.  I am going to count the pre-show whether WWE likes it or not and therefore they won 6-1.

Baron Corbin has been looking to become the permanent G.M. of Raw.  Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and he had words with Smackdown G.M. Paige and commissioner Shane McMahon early on in Survivor Series last night:

Frank’s Analysis:  There’s not much here.  I have no expectations for Baron Corbin as a wrestler and thus making him the G.M. is fine.  Although I believe the heel authority figure has long run its course, if there’s nothing else for Corbin, they may as well keep him here.  He is weasel-like and annoying and I think can be appreciated over time.  I didn’t think much of John Laurinitis initially but over time I thought he was fine.  The big positive coming out of this is that we’re done with “brand supremacy” now for another year, and can get back to our regularly scheduled programming and feuds  

Braun Strowman gets his Universal Title Match… and Baron Corbin 

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

Braun Strowman interrupted and demanded he get a Universal Championship rematch at some point, as well as a match with Baron Corbin in which he would pick the stipulation.  Stephanie agreed to all of this provided team Raw would defeat team Smackdown at Survivor Series, as well as him not laying a hand on Corbin until after the event.

Strowman, Drew McIntyre, and Bobby Lashley were the survivors in the men’s elimination match as I talked about earlier.  Strowman did take quite the bump from “Best in the World” Shane McMahon along the way:

Now that Raw has secured victory, Braun held up his end of the bargain he is expected to have a match with Corbin and at some point, get a Universal Championship match.  While Corbin attacked Strowman after the win, Strowman didn’t necessarily play nice with his team during the macthlast night:

Frank’s Analysis:  The story in this match was really Strowman and Drew McIntyre; however, it’s to be expected that the focus will be on Strowman and Corbin for the moment as Strowman vs. McIntyre could be saved for a bigger stage.  Because of Strowman not “playing nice” and taking the bump from Shane, Stephanie could make him jump through hoops to get his championship match even though he held up his end of the bargain.  Based on McIntyre’s work over the past few weeks, he could factor into the Universal Championship picture as well.  Typically, WWE likes to save Brock Lesnar matches for bigger events, and thus look for his next title defense to be at the Royal Rumble.  That doesn’t mean he can’t be at TLC as he hasn’t worked the “B” events before. 

Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose for the Intercontinental Championship at TLC 

Seth Rollins will defend his Intercontinental Championship against his former Shield “brother” Dean Ambrose at the TLC PPV, coming to us on December 16, 2018.  He learned of this match following his victory last night over U.S. Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, in what was one of the best matches of the evening based on crowd engagement.  Here’s Rollins learning about the match:

In the ongoing feud between these two, Ambrose finally spoke last week on Raw on why he did what he did, turning on Rollins.  He ultimately claimed the Shield made him weak and Rollins was too self-absorbed to see it.  He also claimed he was being treated as an imbecile and charity case.  He burned his Shield gear.  Take a look:

Frank’s Analysis:  I didn’t feel that “oooh” moment when Ambrose burned the gear as I thought I should feel.  Since they were planning on doing this match at TLC, that could have been saved for one of the promos during the build as Ambrose could have told a longer story.  Nonetheless it’s done and we can move forward.  I’m glad Ambrose didn’t interfere in the match last night.  It’s overall better to let matches have their conclusion, and keep the interference for when it’s warranted.  Rollins vs. Nakamura did not warrant this at all.  I like how a big deal is being made about a championship match and how we’ll have to wait a month for it to take place.  Historically when you have bigger builds for championship matches especially between big rivals, it makes it feel like a bigger deal.  Let’s look forward to the promos between these two over the next few weeks. 

LISTEN TO PWTORCH’S “WRESTLING NIGHT IN AMERICA’S” POST-PPV PODCAST HOSTED BY GREG PARKS LAST NIGHT TAKING CALLS AND TALKING WITH ON-SITE CORRESPONDENT…

In this episode of Wrestling Night in America, PWTorch columnist Greg Parks breaks down, with callers, WWE Survivor Series from all angles. Included are calls on the final two matches and the emotion drawn from fans, Raw’s dominance over Smackdown, the lack of A.J. Styles, Dean Ambrose, and Randy Orton, plus an in-arena perspective from PWTorch.com contributor Frank Peteani, and more.

-On Tune In Radio HERE
-On Apple Podcasts HERE
-Or search “PWTorch” or “Pro Wrestling Torch” on your podcast app of choice

Nia Jax-Sasha Banks 

As we were approaching the conclusion of the women’s elimination match, Nia Jax and Sasha Banks were getting ready to put away Asuka from Smackdown as Sasha climbed to the top rope in an attempt to put her away.  Nia shoved Sasha off the top, leaving her ripe for an Asuka lock that got her eliminated.

Nia would do three leg drops on Asuka to secure the victory for Raw and be the sole survivor.  This was met with loud, LOUD boos from the crowd.  Nia seemed unphased by the reaction according to this WWE.com exclusive:

Frank’s Analysis:  I don’t have the words for the heat on Nia Jax.  I don’t know if this is a fair comparison but it reminds me of when Vince McMahon screwed Bret “Hit Man” Hart changing the ending to his match with Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series 1997.  I don’t know how it came across on TV, but sitting in the crowd it was heat bordering on pure hatred.  Hey look, everyone’s favorite in Becky Lynch was taken out by this woman so the heat is to be expected, whether it’s fair or not.  While WWE has a chance to run with Nia as a big heel, I hope she is being held accountable for breaking Becky’s nose last week.  It makes this whole situation a bigger story; however, safety still has to be a priority.  With all of this said, look for a feud with Sasha Banks who got a mildly positive reaction but that could become bigger if she feuds with a hated Nia Jax in the immediate future. 

Charlotte’s Attack on Ronda Rousey 

As I talked about earlier, Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey defeated Charlotte Flair from Smackdown via DQ when Charlotte hit Ronda with a kendo stick on the outside of the ring.  She followed this up with a Natural Selection onto a chair and stomping on her head with it in the chair.  The crowd reacted very positively to these actions

Ronda was to face Smackdown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch; however, Becky was not medically cleared to wrestle following her nose being broken by Nia Jax last week on Raw and suffering a concussion as well.  The following night on Smackdown, Becky named Charlotte as her “replacement” opponent.

Here are some tweets from the match last night:

https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1064350773079793665

Frank’s Analysis:  There is A LOT to unpack from this.  I was an on-site correspondent guest for Greg Parks on Wrestling Night in America on the PWTorch Livecast and we discussed this.  There are so many ways to look at this.  The crowd rejected Ronda for most of this match, and even more so after the Charlotte attack.  They clearly wanted to make Charlotte the heel here, but with the rejection of Ronda it actually makes her the favorite.  It’s similar to the crowd cheering Becky’s turn on Charlotte following the women’s championship match at SummerSlam.  It will be interesting to see how they run with this on Smackdown.  With them remaining in the same arena, Charlotte will likely still get a positive reaction.  If they’re trying to make her a heel, does she turn on the crowd citing how everyone loved Becky despite what she did to her recently in their feud?  What also becomes of Ronda and Nia Jax will be interesting as they will face each other for the Raw championship.  There is heat on both women, understandably for Nia but I’m not so sure why it’s on Ronda.  Granted her promos recently have bordered on heel, but she did nothing wrong and technically was attacked by Becky Lynch last week on Raw.  She even took chair shots from Becky after Becky got her nose busted by Nia.  It makes Raw and Smackdown must-see this week and hopefully WWE can tell a good story on all fronts.    

Start Time & Matches Advertised 

The arena’s website is advertising a start time of 4:30 p.m. local but doesn’t specify when doors are opening.

They show two matches:

Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose

Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin

They do also show Raw Women’s Champ Ronda Rousey and Bobby Lashley, and “many more” live.  This is basically a “copy and paste” from last week’s arena’s advertisement.

Follow me on Twitter @FrankPeteani or e-mail me at fpeteani@gmail.com.  Questions and discussion are welcome  Thank you for reading!

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