It’s Thursday, and RAW is being reviewed today?
Didn’t GOLDBERG make his overdue, long-awaited return to WWE television, and I wasn’t covering it live?
The irony, is the Jewish behemoth was on RAW on a Jewish Holiday, Sukkot. So therefore, I did not watch.
RAW, despite any match or promo prior to the return, was all about The Man. It was hyped, no surprise entrance, just purely hyped, and hyped the way it should be. Telling fans, tune in, because tonight HE IS BACK.
The shows kicks off with “Goldberg” chants from the live crowd, until WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens and best buddy Chris Jericho interrupt to whine about Hell in the Cell. Seth Rollins comes out in “fully forced face mode” with some really bad juvenile humor about Jericho’s Sparkle Nuts or whatever he called him. Rollins at least pulled off the childish jabs better than Roman Reigns.
This leads to a match, with Seth Rollins defeating Chris Jericho after some awkward interference by Owens. Guess what? Friends starts bickering. Didn’t see this coming.
Our next match is a complete and utter train wreck. Dumpster fire. Whatever cliché. Mark Henry and the Golden Truth defeat Titus O’Neal and The Shining Stars. I think WWE realizes no one gives a damn tonight. Throwaway match.
Thankfully, we get a worthwhile and funny segment from who else but The New Day. Since it just so happens to be Day Number 420 of their reign as WWE Tag Team Champions, the promo was smokin’ with marijuana jokes and being high. It was funny, despite the crudeness of it. Sheamus falls to Big E. as Cesaro takes selfies at ringside. Hoo boy.
Huh. Bo Dallas defeats Adrian Neville and then beats the snot out of Curtis Axel. I like this for some reason.
Back to misery. Dana Brooke pins Bayley after a few botches and a very off-kilter match. Brooke needs to go back to NXT, or future endeavored. The only things she has going for her are her breasts and that’s about it. Bayley working an injury angle following the match, but considering the botches she had to endure, I hope it’s not real.
Braun Strowman defeats the Mile High Trio. He then calls out Mick Foley, instead, Sami Zayn comes running out to face the big man. This could be interesting, or the beginning of Zayn’s burial.
Rusev, Lana, and Roman Reigns had a very awkward segment. Just stop the talking and let them fight. Brawl. The fans actually WANT to see that. No more of the forced banter which comes across terribly. Just. Fight.
Karl Anderson jobs to Big Cass. Yep. I typed that. Because the match lasted less than three minutes. Something not good is going on, I got a chill of worry for the careers of Anderson and Gallows.
Charlotte and Sasha Banks had a great segment hyping up the first-ever women’s Hell in the Cell match. It’s going to be nuts.
Brian Kendrick, Tony Nese, and Drew Gulak defeated T.J. Perkins, Rich Swann, and Cedric Alexander. I love the attention for the Cruiserweights, but it just doesn’t do justice on RAW. I’m starting to feel they need their own show on the WWE Network. We get a watered down version of what we saw on the CWC. Now, don’t get me wrong, I LIKE seeing Cruiserweights on Monday Night RAW. The beef, is after watching the entire CWC from start to finish, I am likely spoiled, having some hope we would get the same on RAW. I understand it won’t happen, but we are getting a decent showing from the cruiserweights. Do I want more? Of course, but patience will have to win out here. This was a good match, ultimately hyping the clash between Perkins and Kendrick.
Finally, Goldberg made his return to WWE, giving him the time to cut a heartfelt speech about what it means to be back. You could tell this wasn’t scripted. He meant it. I think every wrestling dirtsheet used his line of “It’s been a long time… And you didn’t forget” because it speaks the ultimate truth. Sure, Goldberg became who he is because of his long run in WCW, and not because of his lackluster time in WWE. It was marred by bad storylines and poor booking. It seems fans do not really remember the WrestleMania XX match, and one has to wonder if WWE edited it at all on the Network. I was there live, and the crowd was merciless to both Goldberg and Brock Lesnar. At the time, it was to be a big deal, but weeks before the event, word got out about both leaving. But if you think about it, Brock vs. Goldberg could have been awesome, and I feel it was robbed of that chance. We may very well get that chance again in the near future.
Goldberg is back… So who is first?
