WrestleTalk Roundtable – WWE Raw – November 12, 2018

I wish I was known as a ‘mindless meat castle’.

And yet, here we are. Curse my middling intellect and unimpressive upper body!

As this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw got underway – a go-home show, mind you, heading into Survivor Series this Sunday – little did we know that we would soon be getting a glimpse into Braun Strowman’s deepest insecurity.

Last night’s broadcast kicked off with a tag team battle royal, with the winners ostensibly being given the honour of selecting the four other teams then in the ring to compete in the Survivor Series tag team elimination contest. Just as I started to question the inherent pointlessness of this match, my train of thought was interrupted by Braun’s entrance music. The ‘Monster Among Men’ proceeded to march down to the ring and absolutely wreck every participant in the battle royal. It was fairly cool.

One demand to see Baron Corbin and an intervention by Stephanie McMahon later, and Braun started to reveal his inner, softer core. He roared, grumbled, and then lamented his perception amongst the WWE bigwigs, claiming to know that everyone backstage looks at him “like he’s some mindless meat castle”.

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I don’t get it either. I mean, why on Earth would anyone think that, Braun? Maybe it’s because you’re constantly flipping over trucks and staging areas. Or maybe it’s because you once collapsed scaffolding on top of Brock Lesnar and Kane. It might be the bicep tattoo that reads “country strong”. Or that the first note of your entrance theme is just you roaring. Or it might be because you refer to yourself as the ‘Monster Among Men’ and spend every night yelling that people will get your hands. I don’t know – do any of these sound like reasons why people might see you as a “mindless meat castle”?

It was a weird line to give Braun Strowman, but arguably not even close to being the weirdest thing to happen on last night’s Raw. Survivor Series teams were (sometimes awkwardly) announced. Stephanie McMahon is a babyface – maybe? Ruby Riott pretended to cry over broken sunglasses. Ronda Rousey set a record for using the most words to say absolutely nothing. And Becky… well Becky’s just plain awesome. Even while looking like someone who just launched herself head first through WWE‘s glass ceiling.

"Michelangelo couldn't envision a better physique. You see this? This is ART." – @ItsLioRush #RAW @fightbobby pic.twitter.com/eWXG9sJcBa

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) November 13, 2018

It was generally a strange night.

But what did our WrestleTalk team make of it? Read on after the break to see what our writers thought about the show, while running through their favourite and least favourite moments of Raw, and venturing a rating of the show overall.

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