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WWE RAW PRIMER 10/28: Falls Count Anywhere, Hogan and Flair Appear, The Man Aims for Kairi to Walk the Plank, Rusev Should Have Made That Reservation, Psychopathic Flight Plan for Ricochet

By Frank Peteani, PWTorch contributor

October 28, 2019

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

WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER
ST. LOUIS, MO. AT THE ENTERPRISE CENTER
OCTOBER 28, 2019
AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 P.M. EDT
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH SPECIALIST

Announcers: Vic Joseph, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Dio Maddin

Arena, Top 10 Moments from Last Week, and Items Advertised by WWE

WWE returns to a another frequent destination in the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO. (Enterprise, we’ll pick you up.) Formerly known as the Kiel Center, Savvis Center, and Scottrade Center, it opened in 1994 and started hosting wrestling events three years later. Numerous memorable WWE events including Raw, Smackdown, and various PPVs have emanated from this building. This was where the Raw honoring the late Owen Hart the night after his terrible accident took place in 1999. Sting made his long-awaited debut on a WWE televised event at Survivor Series in 2014. While the result wasn’t too memorable, the first women’s Money in the Bank ladder match took place here in 2017.

Tonight will be the go-home show for Crown Jewel which takes place this Thursday on Halloween. During the course of last week, WWE announced that they will have a 20-man battle royal to determine whom will face A.J. Styles of the O.C. later in the show for the U.S. Championship.

As a new feature in my primers, I’ve decided to include WWE’s YouTube clip of the top moments from the previous week’s show. This is to give you a few minutes to brush up on what happened as you get ready for the next show. Here’s the clip:

Here is what’s advertised for tonight:

  • Seth Rollins tangles with Erick Rowan in a falls count anywhere match.
  • Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair to appear days before WWE Crown Jewel
  • Becky Lynch to face Kairi Sane on Raw in matchup of champions
  • Rusev and Lana will take their quarrel to “The King’s Court”
  • Ricochet looks to tip the scales for Team Hogan in rematch with Team Flair’s Drew McIntyre

Matches & Segments:

Falls Count Anywhere: Universal Champion Seth Rollins vs. Erick Rowan

On their Backstage show following Smackdown, WWE made a few announcements in regard to Raw. They talked about the Becky Lynch vs. Kairi Sane match discussed earlier. They also said that Universal Champion Seth Rollins will take on Erick Rowan in a Falls Count Anywhere match. It is not for the Universal title. Here is the tweet from WWE on FOX:

Now, what is the connection here? What is leading to this match which usually takes place after a series of matches that don’t settle a feud? Rowan has not had any entanglements with Rollins that I can recall since the Shield took on the Wyatt family in 2014. Rowan has been on Smackdown primarily while Rollins has been on Raw. Rowan hasn’t appeared on Raw yet since he was drafted. He has however had a recent feud with Rollins’ former Shield brother Roman Reigns. Rollins is set to take on “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt in a Falls Count Anywhere match at Crown Jewel for the Universal title. Rowan was a member of the Wyatt Family under Bray’s leadership.

Frank’s Analysis: I don’t see them tying any of these threads into why this match is happening. This just seems like a way for the Fiend (of Smackdown) to appear as Rollins and Rowan are going at it throughout the arena. They’re going to want to show that he’s a threat to take the Universal Title at Crown Jewel.

Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair Appearance
Ricochet vs. Drew McIntyre

Let’s talk about these items collectively as they are tied together.

This past Friday on Smackdown, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair appeared with their respective Smackdown team members in advance of the Team Hogan vs. Team Flair match at Crown Jewel. Words were exchanged between all parties, which led to a six-man later in the evening. The portion of Team Hogan (Ali, Shorty G, and team captain Roman Reigns) defeated Team Flair (Shinsuke Nakamura, King Corbin, and Cesaro who filled out Flair’s team since Sami Zayn couldn’t wrestle due to injury).

Tonight, both men appear in advance of the five-on-five match at Crown Jewel. From the Raw side, Hogan has Ricochet who takes on Drew McIntyre from Team Flair. Flair announced McIntyre as his fifth man last week. We hadn’t seen McIntyre since losing to Ricochet in the first round of the King of the Ring tournament. With Flair at ringside, he defeated Ricochet although he had nearly been beaten by a shooting star press. After sending Ricochet into the ring post, he hit his signature Claymore to score the pin. Following the match, he gave him the Irish Kiss headbutt followed by a DDT. They will have a rematch tonight.

Also on the Raw side for Hogan is Rusev, who has his own issues with his wife Lana. Bobby Lashley, tied into the Rusev-Lana situation fills out Team Flair along with Randy Orton. Here’s a little trash talk from Ric Flair:

Frank’s Analysis: Ricochet and McIntyre work nicely together with their contrasting styles. I hope they have a long term program but don’t burn through so many matches so quickly. As far as Hogan and Flair go I still get a kick out of Flair. It’s still uncomfortable to watch Hogan, but what can you do. That segment Friday was what it was and went the way I expected it to go. I was high on the exchange between Reigns and King Corbin. Anytime someone can make fun of Corbin it’s a good time. Who knows if the Raw members get involved in the exchange with Hogan and Flair and it leads to another match the way it did Friday.

Non-Title Match: Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. Kairi Sane

The Women’s Tag Team Champions the Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) have certainly changed their ways as of late. We didn’t find out why, but nonetheless their tactics have not been underhanded at best. A few weeks ago, they defeated Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair in a non-title match when Asuka sprayed green mist in Becky’s face allowing Kairi to roll her up for the win.

The Warriors will be defending their titles on NXT against Dakota Kai and Tegan Nox. Prior to that, Kairi has a date tonight with Becky Lynch in a non-title match.

Frank’s Analysis: I’m not so against what they’re doing with Asuka and Kairi, although buying Kairi as a heel is a tough ask. We’ll see how it goes as she’s flying solo with Becky tonight. A year ago I would have thought this match would be a big deal, but it just feels like filler on the card. Overall it should still have good action.

Rusev and Lana To Appear on King’s Court

As advertised during Smackdown, Rusev and Lana will appear on special edition of the King’s Court hosted by Jerry “The King” Lawler.

Following the events of last week where he went after Bobby Lashley and Lana at dinner (good thing the camera was there to to catch it), WWE acknowledged on their website that he was taken into police custody. He was later released after no charges were pressed by Lashley and Lana.

I get the sense Rusev was trolling people in this tweet, where he’s seen taken into a police car in Miami whereas last week’s Raw was in Cleveland. Also see a tweet from Lana and Lashley:

Frank’s Analysis: None

Other Match Results and Notable Segments from Last Week

  • Aleister Black won a squash match.
  • AOP cut a promo talking about themselves being drafted to Raw.
  • Andrade defeated Sin Cara
  • Raw Tag Team Champions Viking Raider (Erik & Ivar) defeated former champions Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder. Here’s Hawkins and Ryder in a WWE.com exclusive:

 

  • Rey Mysterio returned to show gratitude to the fans for their support of he and his son Dominick. He talked about Cain Velasquez challenging Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at Crown Jewel. Shelton Benjamin interrupted and talked about his longtime relationship with Brock. He bullied Rey, who was saved by Velasquez.
  • Universal Champion Seth Rollins defeated Humberto Carillo, making his Raw debut, in a non-title match. Here’s Carillo in a WWE exclusive:

  • The Street Profits defeated Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson of the O.C. with the help of Kevin Owens, making his first appearance back on Raw since being drafted. Here’s Owens and the Profits in a WWE exclusive of their own:

Summary & Closing Thoughts

I’ll try to extrapolate the positive things, and there are some. The Ricochet-McInytre feud could be good. Becky vs. Kairi is something to watch even if it feels like filler. The problem is there are things that bring down the show in a big way. The Lashley-Rusev-Lana situation is terrible. They’re doing a falls-count-anywhere with Rollins and Rowan for no good reason and I don’t care if there are ties from the past. Hogan and Flair is not making me feel nostalgic even if I am getting a kick out of Flair. Throw in the situation with NXT’S Jordan Myles’ shirt and it just amounts to this mess. It once again makes watching Raw a task, but hopefully we get more good than bad.

Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Questions and discussion are welcome! Thank you for reading.

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