The Monday Night RAW 11/16 Episode was hands down of the better episodes of the longest running cable television of all-time in ages.
But is that really saying much?
If you noticed, or maybe you haven’t given everything that’s gone this year, RAW reviews have been scare on this site for the past few months. Sure, you’ll see NXT and AEW reviews — but RAW and Smackdown reviews have gone by the wayside. Pulling back the curtain for a second, Smackdown since its move to Friday has been tough to assign since Friday was a big going out night and now a prime night for streaming and new releases.
RAW, however, had been a constant for years here. Yet over the past few months WWE’s flagship show have been downright atrocious. Literally unwatchable content. Is the wrestling bad? The wrestling is, usually, never bad. However, from a creative standpoint WWE is circling around that dreaded late era-WCW/dead audience TNA era. The talent is undeniable but the storylines and creative decisions are either stale or dreadful or both.
Last night was the first time in two months since I turned on RAW, mostly because I’m doing a guest spot on the Bob Culture Podcast about Survivor Series this week and I wanted to do a quick refresher. To my shock, this turned out to be better than anything I had seen WWE during the Thunderdome era. But again the question has to be asked — is that even saying much?
Let’s look at the positives of Monday Night RAW 11/16:
The Build to Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre: For a match and feud that we’ve seen for what feels like six months they did a good job of making it feel like a big fight. Sheamus giving McIntyre his family’s sword and kilt was a cool moment — a moment probably better suited for his Wrestlemania angle — but a cool moment none-the-less. Sheamus’ heel turn on McIntyre should good. The in-ring promos between Orton and McIntyre had the right amount of intensity and the feeling both men wanted this to the definitive and final match of the feud. That’s something we don’t see often in WWE as feuds tend to fade into the ether rather than have finality.
The Actual Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre Match: It’s no secret this writer is not the biggest Orton fan, but these two had another strong match together. The Adam Pearce angle paid off. The No DQ stip worked in some nice plunder. Drew’s multiple Claymore attempts were a nice touch — felt very New Japan-ish. Drew winning, at least in front of the Thunderdome, was a nice moment for someone who had his Wrestlemania moment robbed from him.
The Hurt Business vs. The New Day: Four great wrestlers having a great match — who’d have guessed? Who? WHO!? I hope we run this match back at some point because the chemistry between these four is undeniable. The Hurt Business has been one of the best creations WWE has had in a long time.
The Miz: We all forget how good The Miz is. All his in-ring work and his promos get lost in the bluster of his TV projects. It feels like he’s being perceived as Mike Mizanin — reality TV guy — as opposed to The Miz, the wrestler. It’s a shame as he’s consistently one of the best promos and and reliable in-ring guys in WWE. His speech to open the show blowing up Drew for not living up to his word of giving everyone a title shot, teasing his Money in the Bank cash-in and running down The Fiend — the stuff of great promos. His in-ring work against Bray “Not The Fiend This Week” Wyatt was some of his strongest stuff I’ve seen in 2020 (minus that miss kick and roll up).
Alexa Bliss: This was the first time I’ve checked out Alexa in full Firefly Funhouse mode. She’s absolutely perfect in the role and complements Bray/The Fiend better than anyone has in his entire WWE run. Also, this might be the best thing WWE has done with Alexa in a long time. Her team with Nikki Cross was fun, but face Alexa was never as good as heel Alexa. It’s nice to see the blending of these two characters into one. Her dive onto John Morrison during Fiend/Miz was absolutely incredible and very happy no one was injured.
Let’s look at the Negatives of Monday Night RAW 11/16:
Survivor Series Shenanigans: There’s no Red vs. Blue brawls this year, however we’re still getting the “last second replacement” angles for Survivor Series. Every year we see someone “lose their spot” whether because of a match or angle and it’s just old, boring and predictable at this point. Also the “teammates who can’t get along” angle is also as tired as tired can get. Why can’t there be teams heading into Survivor Series who just want to win a match? Oh there’s no drama, right? Well, is there drama in watching the same angle repeated every single for — what — nearly two decades?
Retribution: Mustafa Ali should be given a huge bonus for all the heart and hard work he puts into this group. He really is the only thing keeping it even remotely alive or relevant. Retribution at this point is coming off as a second rate knock-off of Sanity from NXT right down to the shaky camera movements. They’re completely defanged at this point and it only makes sense this supposedly intimidating and dominant force gets a quick roll up win due to in-fighting over established WWE stars. Remember when Dominic Dijakovic was in War Games last year? Remember when Dio Maddin stood up to Brock Lesnar? Remember when Shane Thorne fought AOP and Paul Ellering was in a shark cage? (Okay, maybe don’t remember that one). Remember when Mustafa Ali was a red hot star? None of them are remotely close to that former fleeting glory and Retribution doesn’t look it’s going to take them there any time soon.
Nia Jax Tells Jokes: The few times I’ve tuned into RAW recently Nia Jax seems to be trying to throw a one-liner in at the end of a backstage segment. This week was a joke about Quibi. Nia Jax should not be telling jokes ever. Doesn’t fit the character, nor does she seem to have her comedic timing down.
The “Un”Fiend: The whole “Bray wrestles in a sweater” only to be confronted by The Fiend and then “taken” by The Fiend thing is just a weird part of the whole Fiend character. It rarely makes sense to me.
The Angel Garza Promo: Yikes.
The RAW Title Change: One thing that doesn’t make a lot of sense is — why did WWE put the belt on Orton a month or so ago only to flip it back to McIntyre? Was it to create intrigue for Survivor Series? If that was the case then why did McIntyre show up on Smackdown last week? Didn’t that tip the cap of who was going to win this match? The definitive end of this feud, as the definitive end of all feuds should have been Hell in a Cell. McIntyre winning it back on RAW doesn’t really add up to a lot of logic to be honest.
Final Thoughts:
Monday Night RAW 11/16 was a fun episode. There was some very good wrestling on here. There was character work, there was good promos…and there was also the requisite retreads of 20 year old angles, bad attempts at humor and WTF creative decisions. So you take the good with the bad. Now saying this, does it hold a candle to even the most pedestrian of NXT episodes or a solid episode of Smackdown? No it does not. RAW still has not found the formula to make three hours fly by and not feel like you’re running in quicksand. However, if this the focus is put back on the basics — wrestling, characters and promos — maybe this is a good sign of things to come for the Red brand.
