WrestleTalk Roundtable – WWE Raw – October 15, 2018

What was your favorite moment from Raw?

Steven Lugo

The Ronda Rousey / Bellas promo. Following the beatdown of Ronda Rousey at the hands of the Bella Twins last week (yes, I really typed that statement), Nikki and Brie returned to full mean girl heel form.

When Ronda first got into the ring, she looked at once like a hurt friend who had been betrayed, but also like she might be trying to bait the Bellas into the ring for the receipt they deserved. When the Bellas finally came out, they were grating, and it was great to see Ronda growing angrier by the minute.

Ronda’s promo ability is improving, and I like that she doesn’t always have the smoothest delivery, because her authenticity comes through. But you have to hand it to the Bellas in this segment. They went for this, and embraced pretty much every criticism any fan has ever made of them, no matter how harsh or nasty. Ronda straight up called them talentless gold diggers who didn’t deserve their spot, and the crowd roared their approval. It was audacious, funny, and aside from the looming, unspoken question of Saudi Arabia, felt like the realest thing on Raw.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo-nFMTl1JC/?hl=en&taken-by=wwe

Shane Love

Perhaps it’s just the idiot in me who happens to enjoy the Shield story line, because once again I find myself enjoying the opening segment. My reason for it? Simple. It involved the Shield and I can’t help but find myself drawn to see how it will all play out.

The segment itself might not have been all that exciting to watch, but the match that followed between Seth and Drew was excellent. In general anything involving Seth typically leads to an exciting match and I feel his bout with Drew was no different. It felt hard-hitting and the close to the match (which again teased dissension between Ambrose and his brothers) developed the Shield storyline. This is what made it my favorite moment on Raw.

JP Wood

I liked the main event, and I enjoyed the story that was told leading into it as well as throughout the match. Once again, really really solid storytelling in a Shield-related storyline. With that said, I also enjoyed seeing Tamina back (a phrase I didn’t expect to write) and the story they seem to be putting together between her and Nia Jax. That headbutt-off was pretty great and classic to the pedigree of both women.

Sean Patrick Eckmann

Going into the final weeks before Evolution, I’ve been very, VERY skeptical as to what Nikki Bella did to deserve a title shot in the main event. Rousey’s promo managed to work every smarky bone in my body into excitement. Actively calling out the Bellas on what many, including myself on some cynical days, have accused them of (i.e. sleeping their way to the top, having no interest in actual wrestling) was brilliant.

Portraying Ronda as the clear future of the women’s division and portraying the Bellas (rightly or not) as the worst parts of its past made me actually care about this match.

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