WrestleTalk Roundtable – WWE Raw – October 15, 2018

How would you rate the show overall? (From best to worst: In Awe, Cor, AvRAWge, Poor and Bore)

Steven Lugo

AvRAWge. Aside from Ronda’s segment, highs for me included Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre, Renee Young’s commentary (“The Bellas insure body parts like J-Lo.”) and Kurt Angle on vacation. I don’t care to see the same Shield versus Dogs of War main event over and over again. A good show that was, for me, overshadowed by the elephant in the room, which is the Crown Jewel controversy. Saudi Arabia itself was never mentioned, so if the show goes on, I imagine the venue changes? I sure hope it does.

To gear up for the #WWEWorldCup tournament at #WWECrownJewel, @RealKurtAngle is going to have to face #AOP in a #HandicapMatch TONIGHT?! #RAW @BaronCorbinWWE pic.twitter.com/vDdNNLT3JV

— WWE (@WWE) October 16, 2018

Shane Love

Prepare to say “Oh no! Not the opening segment again.” But hear me out. One thing I really liked about the opening of the opening show was having it tie in to the end of the show – to see Drew deliver the Claymore to Braun. This was a good moment to see as it umbrellas a much a larger storyline in the Shield angle.

However, as a whole, the show barely left me invested. Most of the matches were just there to pass time and the promo segments felt like filler for setting up feuds and future pay-per-views. I really enjoyed the Bella segment with Ronda’s cheap Cena remarks but even so, the show as a whole didn’t quite resonate with me. For this reason I have to rate the show as Cor.

JP Wood

Poor. I am psyched that WWE is finally putting a spotlight on the very talented women in the lead-up to Evolution. I’m less psyched that the spotlight comes with dialogue that I think is being workshopped in a middle school improv group. I submit Trish and Lita as the best example tonight. Both women have proven that they can hold a promo segment in the past when they had more freedom or better writers. Tonight was a stagger-paced disaster.

A spot of good wrestling and a solid main event storyline keep the rank as high as it is tonight.

Who will win the #BattleRoyal at #WWEEvolution to earn a future opportunity at a Women's Championship?! https://t.co/rk0ZkiOI7U pic.twitter.com/8Xcr23Rdb7

— WWE (@WWE) October 16, 2018

Sean Patrick Eckmann

I’m tired of having the Shield vs. Strowman and friends take up half of every night (which is a shame, because they had good wrestling). Nor am I a fan of all this build for Crown Jewel.

Because of those, tonight’s show felt looooong. That said, there were some fun moments – Ronda’s stone-cold promo and Kurt’s vacation look chief among them. Sasha Banks’ return to the ring and some amazing choreography between her, Bayley, and Natalya was great too.

But tonight’s show just wasn’t enough to make me forget all the controversy, which is a shame, because I watch my 5+ weekly hours of this silly action soap opera to forget about everything else. Rating: A Low AvRAWge.

What did you think of Raw last night? Share your thoughts in the comments below. You can reach out to WrestleTalk on Twitter, and join the conversation with the entire team on Discord.

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