WWE Raw – August 12, 2019 (Review)

WWE Raw – August 12, 2019 (Review)

Nikki Cross is one of the most perpetually endearing, genuinely friendly people one could ever hope to meet. She is, simply put, the best.

That’s just one takeaway I took from this past weekend. A weekend on which the entire wrestling community shifted its attention to Toronto – just a couple of hours away from my home city of Halifax.

It’s perhaps best if I say this up front. If you have no interest in reading an account of someone else’s SummerSlam experience, then feel free to skip ahead to the actual review. I won’t take any offence, I promise. On the contrary, I encourage it. But if you have any interest in the subject – even remotely – read on. I’ll make it quick.

It all started in the summer of 1997, when I witnessed a theatrical Hunter Hearst Helmsley defeat a captivating enigma, then going by the name of Goldust – no, dammit. I promised I’d be quick.

So, fast forwarding 22 years to the line at the Metro Convention Centre, waiting to meet Ricochet. 

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Far from being ‘The One and Only’ however, Ricochet was instead one of around a dozen wrestlers present at the second of four scheduled meet & greets. So, with just four hours available and several jittering masses of excited fans to combat, we were forced to be selective with who’s hand we would shake. Sorry, Singh Brothers!

And so I chose the aforementioned Nikki Cross, Ricochet and Ember Moon. (I also had an unexpected encounter with Liv Morgan on the subway, but that’s another story.)

I won’t share the details of my brief encounters with each, but let’s assume I had some charming, engaging and humorous one-liners in stock. (That’s a lie.)

What is 100% true though is just how incredible each one of them was. Despite probably being the 150th separate person they’d been forced to meet that morning, each wrestler was nothing short of warm, kind and welcoming.

Also – and this applies mainly to Ricochet – but touch the back of their shoulders for a photo and it feels like you’re running a hand over the Andes mountain range. I need to up my goals.

As far as the wrestling is concerned, you likely saw it. And if you didn’t, you really should. It was awesome. So I won’t waste your time rehashing it play-by-play.

What I do want to point out however, is what may have gone unnoticed by the TV-watching audience. The energy in and around Toronto was almost palpable, with even seemingly random patrons in a bar letting out a spontaneous cry of “Adam Cole”, triggering the Pavlovian chorus of “Bay Bay!” 

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Everyone was there to enjoy themselves, to share in an excellent wrestling spectacle and to support phenomenal performers. Nowhere was this more evident than in the emotional, standing ovation afforded to Johnny Gargano after his hellacious match with Adam Cole. Even those who had been booing Johnny Wrestling moments earlier (and there were many), took to their feet to applaud the defeated challenger. It was just one example of the kind of all-encompassing unity few other sports can replicate. And as a community, we should be proud of what we created.

This past weekend is precisely what WWE needed to reinvigorate a disillusioned fanbase. It was the tonic to the general state of malaise many of us felt. And – most of all – it was a timely reminder of the humble, passionate, fundamentally kind people underpinning the product.

Despite being fortunate enough to have witnessed many live events in my lifetime, SummerSlam weekend is one I will remember for a long time. Thank you to all involved – especially the wrestlers and the community of fans. On to the review. 


The Best of Raw

Sami Knows the Truth

The Street Profits were once again playing the entirely superfluous role of Greek Chorus, recapping events we had all sat through mere minutes earlier.

On this occasion though, they were approached by Sami Zayn with a warning. He cautioned the NXT Tag Champs that Raw had a tendency of bleeding people dry. That the fans – as parasitic as they were – drained people’s souls, leaving behind nothing but dried-up, commercialised, manufactured husks. To this end, he cited Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch as prime examples. Both were exciting when they first rose to prominence, as part of the Shield and as ‘The Man’ respectively. But in striving to appease the demanding fans, both had gradually transformed into hollow imitations of themselves.

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The Street Profits then lured Sami into a trap by getting him to direct his criticisms towards Samoa Joe, who happened to be standing right behind him. Joe, naturally, took exception and a match was scheduled.

Sami’s incredible performance, and the fact that he landed on some painful truths here, are enough to make this one of the night’s highlights.

Ziggler Continues to Tumble

One night after getting absolutely decimated by Goldberg, Dolph Ziggler was scheduled to face The Miz. Prior to the match however, Ziggler claimed to not be medically cleared to compete, having taken about 30 spears on Sunday.

As Miz turned away though, Ziggler pounced, revealing it all to be a ruse.

A short, yet entertaining, match then followed, which Miz won by submission using the Figure-4 leg lock. As Dolph then ran through a list of insults directed at Miz, including that he was a worse wrestler than Marise, the former Intercontinental Champ returned to the ring to lay Ziggler out with a Skull-Crushing Finale.

And so Miz was made to look okay and Dolph continues his recent career path of getting knocked out by everyone. Where this is going, I have no idea. But the path getting there is pretty fun.

‘Mean’ Becky Lynch

Becky Lynch went rogue during a backstage interview, snatching the microphone from Charley Caruso before the latter had an opportunity to dial up her token meanness.

Becky harkened back to a promise she had made some time ago. The Raw Women’s Champ vowed to take out anyone who had crossed her in the past. She then handed out some sage advice to the rest of the roster… perhaps the smart move was to take out ‘The Man’ first, before she could get to them. (Hmmm, foreshadowing?)

This felt like a welcome return to the better days of Lynch. Those before she got weighed down by Lacey Evans nonsense or became known simply as “Seth Rollins’ girlfriend”. Long may this version of Becky reign.

Monday Night Match of the Year?

In what was perhaps one of the best TV matches the red brand has put on all year, Drew McIntyre once again took on Cedric Alexander. There were devastating moves off the top rope (including one particularly memorable Spanish Fly) and all around ringside. It was visceral, athletic and explosive.

Eventually McIntyre won with a Claymore so powerful that it almost sent Alexander into a parallel dimension. This was exactly what we needed from two men who will hopefully find themselves on pay-per-view in the near future.

My only critique is that the feud as a whole really hasn’t escalated in any meaningful way. They have instead just engaged in a series of matches. On each occasion, the consistently excellent matches have had to compensate for an otherwise lacklustre bit of storytelling.

First Ever Dual Champions

Midway through a frankly tedious match between The Revival and Lucha House Party, every member of the 24/7 Championship conga line chased R-Truth into the ring.

Here he was pinned by both members of the Revival, making them WWE’s first ever dual champions. They however quickly surrendered the title back to R-Truth (then becoming the 12-time champ).

While attempting to make his escape however, Truth was ambushed by a guitar-wielding Elias. He won the belt, before taking off into the night.

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As ridiculous as this was, the middle phase of Raw can often wear you down. The goofiness of the 24/7 Title generally makes it a lot more bearable.

IT’S BOSS TIME!

Natalya came to the ring to discuss the injuries she sustained in the match against Becky at SummerSlam and recount a dream she had in which her deceased father told her that he was proud of her efforts. It turns out that this was all a way to garner a bit of sympathy – as distasteful as it was – before a returning Sasha Banks‘ music hit!

The ‘Boss’ strode to the ring to comfort the emotional Canadian native, before tearing off her purple wig to reveal blue hair beneath. The universal colour of villainy!

Banks set about mercilessly beating up poor Natty, bringing out Becky Lynch, who then also found herself at the receiving end of several vicious chair shots.

Had you asked me two days ago whether I missed Sasha, I would’ve responded “Baron Cohen? Sure.” Because I’m a snarky bastard, who couldn’t have cared less about Banks. But now she’s back and clearly established atop the Raw pecking order, and I couldn’t be more excited. Although I’m not looking forward to Michael Cole’s forced introductions.

The Women’s Tag Team Titles

The preamble to the championship contest pitting Bliss & Cross against The Kabuki Warriors was focused on full entrances, pay-per-view style introductions and a thorough build-up by the commentary team. All of it converged to make the women’s tag team title defence feel like a big-time event – as it should.

And then a really quality tag match ensued too. Bursting with close calls and last-minute saves, it wasn’t entirely clear who would come out on top, until Asuka took herself out by kicking the ring post and Nikki Cross got the jump on a distracted Kairi Sane. One Twisted Bliss later and the champions had retained in a good showing.

I have no idea why Alexa Bliss is suddenly full-blown babyface – nor what happened to the story of her manipulation of Cross – but I’m willing to forgive and forget. Let’s treat this like a fresh start for both the team of Bliss & Cross, as well as the championship belts they currently hold.

Although who their next opponents will be, after back-to-back clean victories over The IIconics and The Kabuki Warriors in consecutive nights, is a bit of a mystery.

All Hail The King

A brief video insert prior to the main event announced the return of the King of the Ring tournament. And count me moderately excited.

I’ve always been a fan of the previously annually-held competition, often used to catapult a mid-carder into the upper echelon. Aside from coronating a new star though, the tournament itself virtually guaranteed great matches.

With that said, I think it would be better served as a standalone pay-per-view (as it once was) as opposed to the featured event on next week’s Raw (which it is now). Either way though, it should present a welcome fresh element to TV for a few weeks.

Bait and Switch

Just like the night after WrestleMania, WWE promised a marquee matchup between two of their top champions. And just like on that occasion, it didn’t end up delivering.

Much of the show last night was dedicated to hyping Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles. Then the match went about five minutes, before The O.C. got involved to cause the distraction.

They beat up Seth for a bit, before Ricochet ran out to catch some of the beatings. But then, just as I felt that old familiar sense of frustration return, Braun’s music hit. ‘The Monster Among Men’ came flying down and absolutely obliterated all three members of The O.C., presumably setting up a United States Title challenge.

Oh, and he also endorsed Seth as being a super cool guy, who’s just so cool and awesome.

While not a perfect way to end Raw – and I certainly despise WWE’s reliance on the bait and switch concept when it comes to their main event – I’m excited to see Strowman and Styles going forward.


The Worst of Raw

Champion vs. Champion (Part II)

Seth ‘Freaking’ Rollins cut a promo explaining that when things were darkest, and he started to doubt whether he could actually defeat Brock Lesnar, he drew on the crowd’s enthusiasm to rid his self-doubt.

In theory, it was a nice babyface gesture. In practice however, it just felt like more insincere, overly-manufactured Seth Rollins schlock.

AJ Styles and The O.C. came out to feign congratulations for Rollins’ victory on Sunday, before AJ challenged Seth to a match to prove who the best champion on Raw really is.

Immediately, the night after WrestleMania came to mind. Remember when Seth and Kofi, fresh off of their respective title victories, were meant to face-off in a blockbuster main event? A main event that soon became the two of them against The Bar? Raw cannot afford a repeat of that disastrous night… this match has to happen.

Samoa Joe Makes Himself Clear

Samoa Joe knackered Sami in about 10 seconds, before grabbing a mic to clear his tarnished name.

While able to forgive Roman Reigns, Joe claimed that he would never be able to forgive “you people” for linking him to the attacks on Reigns.

Anyone who’s ever used the phrase “you people” that dismissively is instantly recognisable as a heel. So much for the theory that Joe was turning babyface any time soon. In any event, this continued grievance is flimsy material for a performer of Samoa Joe’s stature.

An Elias Challenge Backfires

Elias has noticed a troubling pattern of late. Well done, it’s only taken him two and a half years.

Apparently all of his performances end the same way: with someone coming out from the back to interrupt. So Ricochet came out from the back to interrupt.

However, ‘The One and Only’ claimed that people don’t interrupt Elias’ performances because “it’s the cool thing to do” … nope, they do so because he sucks. Zing!

This triggered a match between the two. Corey Graves openly wondered about the condition of Ricochet’s knee following SummerSlam. And he responded by immediately leaping into the air to deliver a picture-perfect dropkick. So “fine”, I’m guessing.

After a few decent minutes, Elias decided – for some unknown reason – to introduce his guitar. This didn’t really figure into the finish however, as instead Ricochet performed a Sunset Flip and the ref counted the three. On replay, it appeared that Elias’ shoulder was clearly off the mat though. So no one looks good here, especially Ricochet who can’t even beat borderline jobber, Elias, cleanly.

Everything about this match, including the middle-school dialogue that preceded it, was painful.

Best of… Nine?… Series

Andrade once again beat Rey Mysterio this week, this time in convincing fashion in a two-out-of-three falls match. In fact, it was a clean-sweep, with Andrade picking up the first fall inside the first minute, before claiming the deciding pin after a Hammerlock DDT.

After the match, a shocked Michael Cole proclaimed that he couldn’t recall the last time Mysterio lost twice back-to-back.

It was actually last week. Andrade beat Mysterio in the Gauntlet Match and then pinned him again on last week’s Raw. So tonight marked Mysterio’s fourth loss on the trot. Other than perhaps confirming reports that Rey’s sole role now is to put over younger talent, I have no idea what this Groundhog Day moment was designed to accomplish.

Hopping on the Bandwagon

‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin joined the likes of Becky Lynch, DX, the Street Profits and Bret Hart in the latest transparent attempt at making Seth Rollins cool.

Because you know a guaranteed way of making something appear cool is getting a bunch of mostly middle-aged white dudes to repeatedly tell you about how cool it is.

A Matchup No-one was Expecting

In the doldrums of Raw’s second hour, Robert Roode beat No Way Jose in two minutes.

I understand – even welcome – any attempt to build new stars. But you can’t just throw them into a match and expect something to happen. You need build, story, stakes, context. None of that was present here.

Join The Raid

The Viking Raiders squashed a team of jobbers this week. If that sounds familiar, it’s because I just copy and pasted that sentence from last week’s review. But I could just as easily have taken from the week prior, or the week before that.


Overall Rating for the Show (From best to worst: RawSome, Cor, AvRAWge, Poor and RawFul)

This was a weird episode of Raw, where everything felt cobbled together without much regard for continuity. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the individual components were bad, but much like bacon in your morning cereal, they just didn’t fit together very well.

So, in essence, the red brand just consisted of a series of random events, loosely tied together by an increasingly flimsy narrative. I guess what I’m saying is that things just sort of… happened.

The Viking Raiders squashed some jobbers, Robert Roode faced No Way Jose, Ricochet interrupted Elias, then saved Seth Rollins from The O.C…. it all just felt like a randomised sequence of events without purpose.

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But then, every so often, Raw’s scattershot approach would lead the show to stumble upon a genuinely entertaining segment. Drew McIntyre and Cedric Alexander had an excellent match. As did the Women’s Tag Team Champions. Sami Zayn and Becky each delivered outstanding promos. And we witnessed two jaw-dropping returns, in King of the Ring and Sasha Banks!

The more I think about it, the more I realise that I actually enjoyed this edition of Monday Night Raw despite the shortcomings. Even with rather tenuous links, the major components were all largely good. On that note, Raw this week was Cor.

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5 years ago by Nicholas Holicki

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