Someone from the McMahon family had to come to the ring to start Raw and sell Raw vs Smackdown clash. I think that Steph could have done it better, although the show is already on the must-watch list of all the Lazy Smarks and Smarks. Survivor Series is full of great competitions. So, people are expecting it to offer great matches. Steph welcomed all the Raw Men’s Team’s representers to the ring and announced Seth as the last member of Raw team. This guarantees that we will have some good chemistry in Men's Survivor Series match as some of the performers have spent lots of time on the road together and know each other’s in-ring capabilities better.
It is cool to note that Roman is still getting boos from the crowd. It may push the writers to make Roman a heel in coming future. The JeriKO segment was beautiful and the crowd was completely behind them. The fighting segment among all five members was awesome. I assume that we will see the Raw Men's team winning on Survivor Series in some fashionable and bizarre way. The main event of the day also suggested the same.
Brian Kendrick-Noam Dar vs Rich Swann-Sin Cara:
The home crowd welcomed the debuting Noam Dar with lots of love and warm cheer.
Sin Cara's Swanton, Swann's thunder jump and Noam's gunshot were the best moments of the match. But the best part came just after the match as the crowd got the taste of Kendrick's mic skills and Dar's athleticism which was missing during the match.
The stipulation of Smackdown vs Raw for the intercontinental match against Dolph is a great choice by the writers. It will be a big match, surely.
The conversation between the tag teams didn't have the fierceness. Sheamaro and the New Day showed good mic skills to get the crowd going. Still, I missed something. I expected that the New Day would at least mention last week's comment by the American Alpha. However, I have to say, the New Day wearing Scottish costume was superbly received by the crowd despite the fact that many people all over the world must have found it hilarious.
Gallows-Anderson vs the New Day:
Kofi showed that he is still good at his athleticism and kicks. Woods failed to create music from that bagpipes during the Unicorn Stampede. He was missing his Francesca 2. He really needs to work hard for the bagpipes because without music, the unicorn stampede can never be complete. Gallows and Anderson performed their act very neatly, so applauds to them.
The backstage segment between JeriKO and Strowman was awesome. Brawn Strowman's character will act as a wildcard in Survivor Series Match.
Golden Truth vs Shining Stars:
This match was well-paced. Gold Dust is still at his peak. Shining Stars are slowly but steadily building their characters. I hope, they will be able to show their best in the PPV.
The crowd completely hijacked the show during the Women's Team's introduction segment. The crowd was loud and was having so much fun that even Charlotte couldn't resist her smile. It was great to watch the humbleness of the performers.
Alicia Fox-Bayley-Sasha vs Dana Brooke-Charlotte-Nia Jax:
The match has a first segment with all three of the faces kicking Nia who was outside the ring without causing her any trouble. It was fun to watch. Bayley planting Charlotte on the mat near the ringside, Nia Jax throwing Alicia using her hair AGAIN, Charlotte's kick, Bayley's finishing move and the loud crowd were the most crucial factors of the match which couldn’t have gone unnoticed to the writers. They must take these women seriously and give them more TV time.
Sami Zayn vs Rusev:
This was a high-expectation match with Rusev having raised the bar due to his performance in the last PPV and Zayn being the local boy. Sami's over-the-rope jump on Rusev was nice. Rusev's kick and Sami's Helluva Kick were beautiful. Overall the match was a nice little package and perhaps this is the beginning when writers must have started considering to give a good feud to Sami and pushing him to the top cards.
Brawn Strowman vs Chris Jericho vs KO vs Roman Reigns vs Seth Rolins (Fatal Five-way):
This is a perfect stipulation even though they will be competing with each other soon. I guess, this match had the potential for the performers to better their chemistry for the PPV and they must have taken it to their advantage. We will see a good chemistry among the wrestlers of Raw Men Team, certainly. The move-sets shown by Seth, Roman and Jericho to take Strowman out of the ring was a singular segment of the match. It felt surreal. Similarly, JeriKO's attack on Roman followed by Seth throwing Jericho on Strowman who was lying on the table were really the ‘holy shit’ moment of the match. The front crowd were chanting "This is awesome" and they were not wrong. The finishing segment of the match was crazy, magical, funny and weird. :)
The Raw writers, if keep on scribbling such matches, don't need heavy powers such as Brock and Goldberg to rely on, that's for sure. After this Survivor Series, let those heavy powers not be the saviours of Raw, but the enhancers. Raw writers need to understand how cool the talents are that they own. They work daily with the same enthusiasm to entertain. The writers need to give them with some good stories or more freedom for building up their own story instead of letting someone gets obliterated at the cost of bad stories and part-time performers.
Watch and Read more at:
WWE Monday Night Raw 07/11/2016 @wwe.com
Watch and Read more at:
WWE Monday Night Raw 07/11/2016 @wwe.com
