WWE Monday Night Raw Review: 11/05

The Vision Start the Show, The Vision VS Joe Hendry and The Street Profits

After Roman Reigns told Adam Pearce that he’d be the one who decides when Jacob Fatu leaves, not Pearce, this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw properly kicked off with The Vision! Paul Heyman put over Bron Breakker for picking up a monumental victory over Seth “Freakin” Rollins at Backlash, with Breakker proving that it was actually Rollins who wasn’t ready! Austin Theory then cut a brilliant promo where he said that the reason why The Street Profits are chasing after their World Tag Team Championships is because Bianca Belair can no longer pay the bills! This brought out The Street Profits, who said that someone in their family has to kick some ass, and what I loved about all of this is that this show was actually taking place in Bianca’s hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee! Logan Paul then attempted to cut a promo, only to get cut off by another Joe Hendry sing-along session, which then led into the opening match of the night as Hendry teamed up with The Street Profits to take on The Vision in 6-Man Tag Team action! To be fair to WWE, they’re using Joe Hendry quite well in that he easily slides into matches and storylines like this! The match itself was totally fine; nothing special, but it did its job effectively! After lots of back and forth, Bron Breakker attempted to deliver a wicked Spear on the outside, only to get intercepted by Seth “Freakin” Rollins! This then opened the door for Angelo Dawkins to roll Austin Theory up to steal the victory, before Theory attacked Dawkins straight after, only for Seth Rollins to make the save! Rollins and Dawkins then seemed to have a semi-understanding, although that didn’t last for long as Breakker nailed Angelo with a Spear, leading to Montez Ford getting pretty upset with The Visionary!

Grade: C+ (Overall)

Penta Calls Out Ethan Page, Je’Von Evans VS Rusev, Paige and Brie Bella Call Out The Judgment Day

“The Original” El Grande Americano was attempting to have a conversation with Adam Pearce about Julio and Bravo, but Liv Morgan interrupted to ask Pearce when he’s going to give Dominik Mysterio another Title opportunity! Pearce responded to this by telling Dom that he’ll now have to defend his AAA Mega Championship against “The Original” Americano tonight! Los Garza then asked Adam if he could give them a better opportunity than what they’re currently receiving on SmackDown, before Penta came down to the ring to talk about how he’s always going to be a fighting Champion! As a result, Penta called out Ethan Page as the reigning Intercontinental Champion wanted a fight with The Greatest North American! Ethan Page then showed up, but he made it clear that he only fights on big stages, which is why All Ego challenged Penta to a match for the IC Title at Saturday Night’s Main Event (which takes place a week on Saturday)! Penta accepted, but Rusev wasn’t best pleased, with The Bulgarian Brute feeling like Page is jumping the line! Ethan then lied about a conversation he’d had with Adam Pearce, leading to Je’Von Evans coming out for an impromptu match against Rusev! I enjoyed this match between Rusev and Je’Von Evans; I thought it flowed really well, and their difference in size and stature really benefited the overall action! I thought Rusev had won with a Machka Kick, but Evans somehow managed to kick out before The Young O.G. delivered a perfect O.G. Cutter to get the win! The midcard scene on Raw right now is great!

Credit: WWE

Grade: B- for the Promo Segment, B for the Match

After a video package hyping up the prestigious history of the AAA Mega Championship, Asuka and Iyo Sky embraced for one final time on WWE Television, with Asuka stating that Iyo is ready to be the one to take her place! I said this in my latest Podcast Episode, but this should’ve been the direction of this storyline from the beginning; I loved everything they did with Kairi Sane, but WWE have ultimately missed on this storyline twice! Anyway, Paige and Brie Bella were then out next as they said that they’ve come to Monday Night Raw after being invited by The Judgment Day! Paige and Brie then called out TJD, with Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez arriving to take some pretty strong verbal shots at them! I particularly liked Roxanne’s line of how taking on The Bella legacy is too low a bar for her; whilst Paige started a brawl after Raquel asked for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles to be handed over to her and Perez! This brawl then became uneven, with Liv Morgan showing up to help The Judgment Day stand tall, with three Titles in hand! Get Paige and Brie Bella off my screen now!

Grade: D

Iyo Sky VS Sol Ruca, Oba Femi’s “Oba Challenge”, Dominik Mysterio VS “The Original” El Grande Americano: AAA Mega Championship

Whilst Jimmy Uso wasn’t exactly convinced with the plan, Roman Reigns made it clear to his cousin that he will get Jacob Fatu to acknowledge him, or he’s out of the company completely! Dominik Mysterio then had a video promo where he labelled himself as The King of the Luchadores (which he absolutely is), before Iyo Sky was ready to go one-on-one with Sol Ruca! The idea of an Iyo Sky-Sol Ruca match a couple of years ago would’ve felt like a bit of an underrated dream match, and I felt like we got that here! Iyo is the absolute best female wrestler in the world, bar none, whilst Sol Ruca has always been majorly talented! I thought this match flowed quite well, with the highlight being Sol nailing Iyo with a fantastic assisted-Tornado DDT! Eventually, though, Ruca miscalculated on her attempt at the Sol Snatcher, a real “Rookie” mistake that opened the door for Sky to score a roll-up victory! I’m all for WWE putting on more matches like this moving forward!

Credit: WWE

Grade: B-

After Jimmy Uso told Jey Uso that he thinks Roman Reigns is being “delusional” when it comes to Jacob Fatu acknowledging him, Seth” Freakin” Rollins and The Street Profits still aren’t getting on, although I definitely think it’s Montez Ford who has the bigger gripe with Seth! Iyo Sky and Sol Ruca then embraced backstage, leading to Becky Lynch laughing at Sol’s expense, before Oba Femi strutted down to the ring to host another one of his “Oba Challenges”! It was Adam Pearce who answered the call, though, stating that nobody in the locker room wants to take up the challenge, meaning it has to be cancelled! This makes all the sense in the world; why would anyone step up to The Ruler?! Anyway, Oba didn’t care as he stormed to the back, found Los Garza, and dragged them down to the ring to destroy them in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match! I love Oba, but he should be doing so much more!

Grade: C

After “The Original” El Grande Americano said that it’s now his time to hold Championship Gold, Americano headed down to the ring to challenge Dominik Mysterio for the AAA Mega Championship in the Main Event match of the night! I absolutely loved how much hype went into the AAA Mega Championship throughout this show; it’s exactly how it should be, but that doesn’t always mean that that’s how it’s actually going to be! In fact, this was made into such a big deal that I thought “The Original” Americano was going to win this thing, setting up an even bigger match with El Grande Americano on May 30th! However, that didn’t happen, due to multiple pieces of interference by “The Real” Americano! Rayo and Bravo also got involved, but they were swiftly dealt with by Julio and Bruto, but that didn’t stop Americano from putting The O.G. in the perfect position for a 619, leading to “Dirty” Dom delivering a Frog Splash to successfully remain as the AAA Mega Campeon! Go watch AAA if you don’t; it’s fun!

Grade: B-

Roman Reigns’ Acknowledgment Ceremony

After Austin Theory got into a car that clearly had Maxxine Dupri already in it, Roman Reigns came down to the ring wanting acknowledgment from Jacob Fatu! Jacob then arrived in the parking lot, with Jey Uso telling his cousin to be smart, only for Fatu to put Jey into a wall! Jacob also then floored Jimmy, leaving a clear path for him to have another brawl with The Tribal Chief! Amazingly, Jacob once again looked far superior to Roman, putting him through the announce table as he locked in the Tongan Death Grip! Adam Pearce and security were eventually able to pull Fatu away, but that didn’t stop The Samoan Werewolf from ending the show by sending both Roman Reigns and The Usos crashing through the barricade! This was an insane visual: fantastic!

Credit: WWE

Grade: B+