The John Report: The WWE Raw Deal 12/05/16

Live from Austin, Texas this is the Raw Deal for episode #1228. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport.

There was a video package showing the highlights from last week’s Raw including the problems with Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho. Both guys had a bad night on Raw during the show with Jericho taking a Pedigree on a car from Rollins while Reigns beat Owens in a non-title match.

No pyro to start Raw. Save that money, WWE.

Seth Rollins’ music hit as he made his entrance to a good ovation from the crowd.

Rollins was in the ring doing a promo saying he had to get something off his chest. “I want Triple H.” The fans cheered. He talked about how he put together The Shield and they changed the face of WWE forever. When the time was right, he had to dismantle The Shield. He said that’s when he learned about the consequences for the choices you make. He noted that Triple H bet against Seth Rollins and anoint Kevin Owens as his new “Golden Boy.” Rollins said when he hit a Pedigree on Chris Jericho on the roof of a car, it was a message to Triple H.

Rollins said he wanted to call Triple H out and have him come out there right now, but he knows that’s not how Triple H operates. He said in order to get to Triple H, he has to beat Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship. He added that he can’t beat Owens while Jericho is part of the equation because as we saw last week, Owens isn’t the same without Jericho.

The Universal Champion Kevin Owens appeared on the stage with the title on his shoulder. Rollins asked Owens how was Chris Jericho. Owens said that sometimes best friends fight, but Rollins wouldn’t know what it’s like to have friends. Owens noted that Rollins stabbed his Shield brothers in the back the first chance he got. Rollins wondered if Owens and Jericho made up. Owens said that Jericho was busy recuperating while Owens said that he got Jericho some gifts.

Owens said he got Jericho three gifts. Rollins wondered if that was enough to compensate Jericho for helping Owens retain the Universal Title so many times. Owens said that during his match with Reigns last week all he could thank about was Jericho’s condition. Owens ranted that he’s all about fighting. Rollins told Owens to put the title on the line right here, right now. Owens said it’s not happening because he beat Rollins two weeks ago.

Owens informed us that stupid Mick Foley put him in a match with Sami Zayn. He’s also defending his Universal Title against Roman Reigns at Roadblock. Owens said he secured some matches such as Jericho vs. Reigns for the US Title later on Raw. Another match is Jericho vs. Rollins at Roadblock. Owens announced a match for Rollins right now…Big Show made his entrance.

Big Show looked to be in good shape as Cole noted he was down to 396 pounds. Show commented about his massive weight loss recently and it shows. Good to see him in much better shape. Show walked down to the ring as the show went to break.

Analysis: It was a typical Raw opening that went nearly 15 minutes with one guy bitching about stuff, another guy coming out to exchange words and matches announced for the show. Since WWE rarely announces matches in advance, they always use this opening segment to set up things for later. Good promos from Owens and Rollins, but really nothing that was special or that memorable.

(Commercial)

Kevin Owens stayed at ringside. The bell rang as they returned from break.

Seth Rollins vs. Big Show

Show tossed Rollins across the ring easily. Hard chops by Show. Owens was happy about Show being on offense as Show hit a splash in the corner. Rollins came back with a dropkick to the knee. Suicide dive by Rollins, but Show caught him and dropped him onto the barricade. Back in the ring, Rollins kicked him in the legs and hit a DDT. Show did a giant kickout as Rollins bumped to the floor after it. Rollins with a springboard knee attack two times in a row. He went up for a third flying knee and it knocked down Show. Owens with a back body drop to get out of a Pedigree attempt. Owens got on the apron to yell at Show to finish him. Show didn’t seem thrilled about Owens offering advice. Show grabbed Owens on the apron and hit a Chokeslam onto Owens in the ring. Show pointed at Owens and told Rollins he can do what he wants. Show just walked away. He seemed fine with losing by countout. The match went about six minutes.

Winner by countout: Seth Rollins

Analysis: *1/2 It was okay as a match with an angle where Show had no interest in helping out Owens. Show is in friendly giant mode at this point in his career. Of course they bring him back into the mix with the Royal Rumble. Get ready for the announcers to wonder how anybody can eliminate him in the Rumble even though they have done it every year for over 15 years. It wouldn’t shock me if they do Show vs. Strowman in the near future. Nice to see Show in good shape too.

After the match was over, Owens staggered to his feet. Rollins kicked him in the gut and hit a Pedigree much to the delight of the crowd.

Analysis: A simple way to make the fans happy.

The announce team of Michael Cole, Byron Saxton and Corey Graves were shown on camera. They aired a clip of Rich Swann after he won the Cruiserweight Title from Brian Kendrick on the debut of 205 Live last week.

A brief video aired about the extraordinary gentleman Jack Gallagher making his debut on Raw up next.

(Commercial)

The purple looking ropes are there for the cruiserweight match.

Jack Gallagher vs. Ariya Daivari

Gallagher showed off his unique skill set by using a handstand to get out of a hold that drew a bit of a reaction. Daivari got control by dropping dropping him throat first across the top rope. Daivari grabbed a headlock. Gallagher nailed two dropkicks in a row followed by a headbutt to the chest. Corner dropkick by Gallagher gets the win after about three minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Jack Gallagher

Analysis: * Boring match. Gallagher got the easy win thanks to basic stuff like a headbutt and three dropkicks. I know that’s his style, but he’ll need to do more than just wear colored trunks to impress people.

Post match, Gallagher wanted a handshake. Daivari shook the hand and kicked him in the knee. Daivari kicked the knee again.

Analysis: It was a simple post match angle to likely set up another match at 205 Live on Tuesday. At least cruiserweights are getting storylines although it’s basic stuff.

Backstage, Titus O’Neil was handing out papers for the “Tussle in Texas” – his match against Mark Henry.

(Commercial)

Owens was backstage complaining to Raw General Manager Mick Foley. Owens said he shouldn’t be competing because of what happened. Foley said Stephanie isn’t there and that KO’s match with Zayn is taking place on Raw.

Jericho was there, so Owens asked if he saw what happened. Jericho said he just got there and he hasn’t seen anything yet. Owens told Jericho he’s facing Reigns for the US Title, so they can be Universal Champions and United States Champions as well. Owens told Jericho he’s facing Rollins at Roadblock. Then Owens told him about Big Show hitting him with a Chokeslam. Owens asked Jericho if they are good. Jericho: “No, we’re not good.” Jericho walked away.

Analysis: Trouble is brewing for the best friends. Or is it?

Enzo and Cass were standing in another part of the backstage area. Rusev and Lana were arguing in some foreign language. Enzo said he doesn’t stand for a man talking to woman like that. Cass said it’s not his business, but Enzo said they (Rusev/Lana) are making it public. Enzo went over to them and Rusev said it’s none of his business. Lana said that Enzo was standing up for her. Rusev got mad that she stood up for him. She took off her ring and Rusev left. Cass left. Enzo picked up the ring and gave it to her. Enzo told her that he’s a great listener while asking her: “How are you doing?” That drew some laughs.

Analysis: More trouble is brewing. Or is it? That’s the running theme for this show.

Sami Zayn made his entrance to a good ovation

(Commercial)

Back to the Lana chat with Enzo. She said Rusev took her for granted. She thinks that Rusev needs to be taught a lesson – maybe if another man appreciated her then Rusev wouldn’t take her for granted. Lana suggested that he go to her hotel room – 704. She spoke in a foreign language and left. Enzo did a celebratory dance.

Analysis: It was pretty obvious this was going to be a set up, but Enzo is too dumb to realize it. I have no problem with it since it means more Lana on the show.

Kevin Owens made his entrance. He faces Roman Reigns at Roadblock End of the Line for the Universal Title.

Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn

This is not for the Universal Title. Zayn was aggressive early on with punches and they went to the floor. Owens kicked Zayn to knock him out of the ring. Owens followed with a slingshot dive over the top to take out Owens. Zayn came back with a somersault dive to take out Owens on the floor as they went to break a couple of minutes into it.

(Commercial)

Back from break, Owens had a chinlock so they replayed him getting beat up earlier in the night. Zayn made his comeback with a clothesline leading to Owens doing a flip bump off of it. Owens dropped Zayn throat first across the top rope. Zayn came back with a DDT out of the corner that sent Owens face first onto the apron. That was a unique spot that looked great. Owens escaped to the floor, so Zayn jumped between the bottom/middle ropes and hit a DDT on the floor in that awesome move that he does. Zayn hit a half and half suplex (that’s what Graves called it) on Owens for a two count. Owens came back with a cradle suplex off the middle ropes for a two count. Owens nailed a cannonball on Zayn in the corner and he hit it twice in a row. Zayn walked the tight rope and hit a Tornado DDT. Owens came back with a superkick. Zayn nailed another half and half suplex and an Exploder Suplex into the corner for a two count. Zayn hit the Blue Thunder Bomb, which is his best move that always gets a two count even though the fans buy into it every time. Owens went to the floor again. Zayn nailed an Exploder Suplex into the barricade. They went back in the ring with Zayn walking right into a Popup Powerbomb for Owens for the win after 12 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Kevin Owens

Analysis: ***1/4 A good match from them, which is something they can do in their sleep because they’ve wrestled so many times. While it bothers me that Zayn doesn’t seem to win matches on Raw anymore, I’m glad that Owens got a win after losing clean last week. This match wasn’t at the level as their amazing Battleground match from earlier in the year, but it was still cool to see as a Raw match. They busted out several cool moves with Zayn hitting multiple DDTs, the Exploder suplex and Owens using his power to come back to win. The finish came out of nowhere because Owens took a move on the floor right before it, but I’m certainly fine with Owens getting the win.

Jericho was in the locker room. Roman Reigns walked up to him. Reigns wondered if Jericho had car paint on his forehead and Jericho said he didn’t have any car paint on his head. Jericho talked about how everything gets handed to Reigns, but tonight Jericho will be the lucky man. Reigns suggested that Jericho is just doing KO’s dirty work again. Reigns left.

Analysis: It was another example of Reigns working to drive a wedge between Jericho and Owens.

Sasha Banks up next.

(Commercial)

PLUG TIME: Check out my review of Smackdown’s TLC PPV event, which featured a couple of great matches and a memorable ending to the main event. In addition to that, I wrote a blog listing all of AJ Styles’ PPV matches this year with my ratings for all of them. He’s had an incredible year of PPV performances – one of the best in WWE history.

A video package aired about last week’s Raw main event where Sasha Banks beat Charlotte in a Falls Count Anywhere match to win the Raw Women’s Title for the third time since July.

Banks was interviewed backstage by Charly Caruso. Banks said last week took everything out of her. She said they made history yet again. Banks said she knows that Ric Flair cost her the title at WrestleMania and she knows why he did it, but she respects him. Banks talked about how Charlotte brings out the best in her. Banks challenged Charlotte to an Ironman Match.

Analysis: There are times when Banks delivers great promos, but this felt like a robot talking as she busted out the usual bits about “making history” and talking about the “legacy” stuff they always say. I’m cool with an Ironman Match.

A clip aired of Charlotte being a bitch to her dad Ric Flair back in May, which led to him being taken off TV. This week on Raw, she will apologize to her father.

The new Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann made his entrance. He was introduced as the “outlandish” Rich Swann too.

(Commercial)

A video package aired about Rich Swann winning the Cruiserweight Title from Brian Kendrick at 205 Live last week. Swann’s parents both died when he was a teen, so he dedicated the win to his mom.

It was announced that Swann will face Kendrick on 205 Live this Tuesday night.

Rich Swann vs. TJ Perkins

This is not for the Cruiserweight Title.

They did the handshake while the announcers noted they are good friends. Dropkick by Perkins early on followed by a dab pose. Swann earned some chants of support from the crowd. Swann hit a dropkick of his own followed by a dab pose as well. Running clotheslines by Swann. There was a chop exchange and Swann nailed a Russian legsweep followed by a Rolling Thunder into a splash. After a Swann chinlock, Perkins hit an atomic drop and a dropkick to the left knee. Corner dropkick by Perkins gets two because I guess his dropkick isn’t as good as Jack Gallagher? Something like that. Perkins went for a knee bar, but Swann got out of it. Perkins hit a springboard dropkick. Perkins went for a springboard attack into the ring, but Swann hit a spinning back kick to drop TJP and give Swann the win after about six minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Rich Swann

Analysis: **1/2 It was a fast-paced match designed to put over the new champion in Swann. Great charisma shown by Swann as always. That’s a huge strength of his. The fans weren’t into it the whole time, but there was a decent reaction from them.

Bayley was shown backstage with her “Bayley Bears” toys in her hands. She’s up next.

(Commercial)

Bayley is facing Alicia Fox because Alicia was mad that Bayley gave Cedric a bear backstage since Alicia apparently has a crush on Alexander. That’s the story from the Raw pre-show according to Cole.

Analysis: You need better writers, WWE. These women are not 12 years old, but I guess that’s the target audience. I don’t know what to say.

Alicia Fox vs. Bayley

Fox was aggressive early. She sent Bayley into the turnbuckle and hit a Northern Lights Suplex for two. Bayley got back to her feet and got a cross body block for two. Boot to the face by Bayley followed by a takedown leading to punches. Bayley hit the Bayley to Belly for the win after three minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Bayley

Analysis: * Easy win for Bayley as expected. She really needs a feud. Charlotte destroyed her after they survived at Survivor Series and Bayley has done nothing to try to get revenge. It makes her look like a fool.

Enzo and Cass were shown backstage with Cass warning Enzo that Lana is trouble. Enzo got a text from Lana. He showed the text to Cass (and the camera) to show that it was Lana’s face. Enzo said he’s out of there and ran off. As soon as Enzo left, Rusev showed up to bicker with Cass. They set up a match for later.

Analysis: Poor Cass is as much of a babyface idiot as poor Enzo.

Mark Henry vs. Titus O’Neil up next as if that’s supposed to keep people watching.

(Commercial)

Pictures of Emma were shown. They showed images of fans tweeting about how excited they are too see Emmalina on Raw. It was revealed that Emmalina will be on Raw next week.

Analysis: Good. She’s been cleared and healthy for months now. Glad they are finally putting her back on TV.

Mark Henry got a louder than usual ovation because he was in his hometown.

This match is billed as the “Tussle in Texas” by the Titus Brand. The tale of the tape was shown.

Titus O’Neil vs. Mark Henry

Henry did the Texas Longhorns hand gesture. O’Neil countered it. Fans booed. Henry hit the World’s Strongest Slam for the win after about 20 seconds.

Winner by pinfall: Mark Henry

Analysis: DUD I’m not sure what the point of this is. They’re making a joke of the Titus Brand thing that never got going in the first place. At least a wrestler got a win in front of his hometown fans for a nice change.

Enzo was in the parking lot talking to an Uber driver trying to find the hotel. A limo pulled up the building. It was Ric Flair. Loud “WOO” from the crowd. Enzo told Flair he met a girl that wants to meet him in a hotel room. Flair let him use his limo, so off Enzo went while Flair went into the arena.

Reigns vs. Jericho for the US Title up next.

(Commercial)

The United States Champion Roman Reigns made his entrance. Mixed reaction like always.

Chris Jericho was shown walking backstage. Kevin Owens showed up to complain about Mick Foley picking on him. Jericho told Owens he’s going out to win the United States Championship by himself. Jericho told Owens he doesn’t want him in his corner and doesn’t need him in his corner. Jericho: “Stay away from me!” Jericho left.

They did the in-ring intros by Jojo. I say this often, but I like how they do that for title matches.

United States Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Chris Jericho

Before the bell rang, Cole said that Reigns loves defending the title. He barely defends the thing, so that was an odd thing to say. Reigns with a clothesline early on. In a shocking twist, Reigns followed up with more clotheslines. It’s not really a shocking twist. Reigns nailed a back suplex. Jericho came back with a dropkick. A Jericho clothesline sent Reigns over the top to the floor. Jericho with a crossbody block off the top onto Reigns on the floor. Break time.

Analysis: Very impressive move by Jericho, who is 46 years old.

(Commercial)

Chinlock by Jericho. Dropkick by Jericho and then he missed an attack by the ropes. Reigns hit a clothesline on Jericho. Uppercut by Reigns. Jericho dumped him outside the ring. Springboard dropkick by Jericho as Cole busted out a “vintage” for it. That’s fine in that case. Jericho missed an attack by the ropes, so Reigns hit a Drive By kick. Jericho came back with a back elbow followed by a Lionsault for a two count. Reigns came back with a Samoan Drop and a Superman Punch for two. Both guys just hit signature spots for nearfalls because they usually don’t win matches with those moves. Jericho got a boot up to block a Spear attempt, so Reigns caught him in his arms and hit a Powerbomb for a two count. Awesome nearfall. Reigns missed a shoulder tackle in the corner and hit the ring post. Jericho got a rollup for two. Jericho went for the Walls of Jericho, but Reigns countered for a two count. Step up enziguri kick by Jericho. Walls of Jericho applied by Jericho in the center of the ring with the crowd going wild for it. Reigns crawled to the ropes. The ref was distracted by Jericho, so Owens nailed a superkick on Reigns. When Reigns turned around, Jericho hit a Codebreaker. Reigns kicked out at two. The crowd thought that was it and so did I. Owens was on the apron mad at the ref. Jericho told Owens to shut up and go to the back. Jericho told Owens he didn’t need him. Jericho slapped him in the chest. Owens left. Jericho turned around, jumped to avoid a charge and Reigns came back with a Spear to finish him off with the pinfall win after 16 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Roman Reigns

Analysis: ***1/2 Good match that was given a lot of time for a TV title match. It’s nice to see Reigns defend the title that he rarely puts on the line. That nearfall after the Owens superkick into the Codebreaker was very believable and I thought that maybe Jericho was going to win. Jericho continues to amaze me by putting on high quality matches on a regular basis. He’s very good at selling, at hitting his signature spots and the counters are always a strength. Few people know how to put a match together as well as Jericho. Reigns is a better in-ring performer than his haters think and usually at his best working with somebody smaller than him like Jericho is. As for the stuff with Jericho and Owens, it continues to build up their problems.

A graphic reminded us that Reigns will challenge Owens for the Universal Title at Roadblock on December 18.

A clip aired of Charlotte verbally ripping her father Ric Flair on Raw back in May. She’s going to publicly apologize to Ric later on Raw.

Big Cass made his entrance.

(Commercial)

Rusev’s music hit for his entrance. He’s not there. Cass wondered where he was. Cass realized what was happening, said “holy crap” and got a phone at ringside. There was a shot of Enzo at the hotel with his phone ringing. Enzo said this may not be a good idea. She was in a robe and welcomed him into the room. They hugged. She got him a drink and she had some strawberries. He thought it would be a good idea to leave, but she stopped him. She ripped open his shirt that said “Rock N Roll made me do it.” Enzo said how he had to go. She told him to take off his pants, so he did it. She said something in a foreign language and told him it means “you’re a fool.” She called for Rusev.

Rusev showed up in the room as Lana backed away. Rusev tackled him on a couch in the room and pounded him with punches as well some dreaded yelling in a foreign language. Rusev tossed him through a table and broke a lamp on his back. Rusev continued the beating with more punches while Lana shouted instructions in a foreign language. Rusev crushed a flower vase over the head of Enzo to knock him out. Rusev dragged Enzo by his arm and tossed him into the hallway. The happy couple shut the door as poor Enzo was out on the floor.

Analysis: They shut the door of the room while leaving the camera man in the room since the other camera guy was in the hallway? I know I’m being too picky, but those are the things I think of when I watch Raw. There are times when the camera men are acknowledged out of the ring and other times when they are not. The beating was pretty obvious from the moment the whole thing started two hours earlier in the show, yet Enzo and Cass are apparently idiots that are too dumb to see it happening. As I have written for several weeks now, the story has been building to a Rusev vs. Big Cass, which is likely for Roadblock in a couple of weeks.

(Commercial)

The Tag Team Champions The New Day were at ringside for the next match.

Gallows and Anderson made their entrance followed by Cesaro and Sheamus. Both teams came close to winning the titles from New Day in the last couple of weeks.

Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Cesaro & Sheamus

The team that wins this match gets a Tag Team Title match against New Day next week.

Gallows nailed a boot to the face to knock down Sheamus. Backbreaker by Sheamus on Gallows. The New Day taunted Gallows and Anderson while they were on the floor. Sheamus with a clothesline on Gallows and Cesaro with an uppercut on Anderson. They went to break a few minutes into the match.

(Commercial)

Back from break, Anderson hit a spinebuster on Cesaro for two. Gallows with an elbow drop onto Cesaro while Anderson held him was good for a two count. Sheamus saved Cesaro from a Magic Killer leading to Cesaro hitting a DDT on Gallows. Anderson missed a charge that saw him land on the floor. Sheamus got the hot tag with forearms for Anderson followed by the forearm shots to the chest. Rolling senton by Sheamus on Gallows and then he did it to Anderson on top of Gallows for a two count. Cesaro tagged in with a cross body block on Anderson for a two count followed by a spinning uppercut by Cesaro on Anderson. A clothesline by Cesaro on Gallows sent him to the floor. Anderson clotheslines on Cesaro sent them both to the floor. Sheamus hit a clothesline on the floor leading to the guys in the match bumping into New Day. All three New Day guys started hitting moves as well, so it was a brawl. The ref rang the bell for a disqualification. It went about ten minutes.

Match Result: Disqualification

Analysis: ** It was basic stuff without a lot of interesting nearfalls thanks to the disqualification ending. If there were more interesting spots leading to exciting nearfalls then I’d praise it more as a memorable match. Instead, they just didn’t have much of a finish and went with a disqualification ending.

Kingston went for a dive over the top rope. He was caught by Cesaro and Sheamus, who tossed Kingston onto his New Day buddies on the floor. The announcers wondered who would face New Day next week.

Analysis: It looks like they were going with a triple threat match next week with New Day defending against both teams instead of just one of them. That way it makes it harder for New Day to retain the titles.

Charlotte was shown walking backstage for the main event promo.

(Commercial)

A graphic revealed that next week on Raw, New Day defends the Tag Team Titles against both Cesaro/Sheamus and Gallows/Anderson as expected.

Main Event Promo Because This Show Doesn’t Know How to Promote Matches

Charlotte made her entrance. She faces Sasha Banks at Roadblock in two weeks for the Women’s Champions in a 30-Minute Ironman Match.

Charlotte said that six months earlier she was a cold-hearted bitch with what she said to her dad Ric Flair earlier. A clip aired of her telling Ric to get out of her ring and that she didn’t need him anymore. They aired about two minutes of it.

Charlotte talked about how hard it was losing the title last week. The crowd was chanting “WHAT?” at her as she asked her to give her a chance to explain. She said what was harder than losing the title was seeing her dad put his arm around Sasha Banks and raise her hand. It was like her dad is Sasha’s the woman and Sasha’s the athlete that Ric wishes his daughter was. Charlotte said all she’s ever wanted was her dad’s approval and that nobody knows what it’s like being Ric Flair’s daughter in this business. She said nobody knows what that’s like. She said it broke her heart because it felt like she failed as his daughter.

Charlotte claimed that she hasn’t seen her dad in six months and she asked him to come there so she can give him a heartfelt apology. She asked for her dad to come to the ring.

The legendary Ric Flair walked out to a big ovation full of “WOO” chants from the crowd with a serious look on his face.

Ric went into the ring with her. Charlotte said: “Dad, I’m sorry.” She hugged him. He hugged her back. Some people in the crowd booed and some cheered. Charlotte slapped him hard across the face. Charlotte called him a son of a bitch and yelled at him about Sasha dedicating the match to Ric.

Sasha went down for the save, but Charlotte attacked her. Charlotte hit her with some kicks and knees. Charlotte tossed Banks into the barricade. Charlotte picked up Banks in a Powerbomb position and launched her over her head and sent her head first into the ring post. Referees tried to break it up, but Charlotte rolled Banks into the ring.

Charlotte mocked her dad Ric for crying. Charlotte put Banks’ injured body in front of Flair, mocked Ric for crying again and Charlotte left the ring to end Raw. It was 11:10pmET as the show came to a close.

Analysis: It was a good segment even though a blind person could see it coming…except for poor Ric Flair. Charlotte is one of the better pure heels in the company and a heel that is actually universally booed. She doesn’t get cheered much at all unlike most of the top heels in the company. Slapping her famous daddy is a good way to get people to hate you more. I liked the attack that Charlotte did to Banks especially the spot where she sent her face first into the ring post. That was a way to end the beating in an emphatic way.

The question is at Roadblock when Charlotte wins back the title (because of course she is) is it going to be because daddy Ric turns on Banks for the deciding fall to give Charlotte the win? That’s probably what they are going to do as Charlotte and Ric reveal that they know they are better together than when they are apart. I could be wrong on how it’s going to go, but it would make sense for WWE to book it that way.

Would I have put this segment on last? Nope. I would have put Reigns vs. Jericho on last because it was a very good match that would have ended the show with people wondering what’s next for Jericho and Owens. This didn’t feel like a main event segment at all. Perhaps it was WWE putting that Reigns/Jericho match earlier when the NFL game was close to halftime. I’m not sure the exact reasoning on it.

Three Stars of the Show

1. Chris Jericho

2. Roman Reigns

3. (tie) Kevin Owens

3. (tie) Sami Zayn

The Scoreboard

6.5 out of 10

Last week: 7

2016 Average: 5.79

2016 Average since brand split starting July 25: 5.95 (Smackdown is 6.29)

Last 5 Weeks: 7, 7, 6, 4.5, 5

2016 High: 9 (April 11/July 25)

2016 Low: 4 (Feb. 29/Mar. 21/Aug. 15)

Final Thoughts

I give it a 6.5 out of 10.

A 6.5 out of 10 is right above the average, so I think it’s fair to say it was a slightly above average show this week.

The best matches were clearly Reigns/Jericho and Owens/Zayn.

The non-wrestling segments had obvious storylines that anybody could see coming, yet the babyfaces like Enzo, Cass and Flair had no idea they were being outsmarted by the heels. Shouldn’t faces be booked in a more intelligent way?

In shocking news, both Kevin Owens and Rich Swann won non-title matches. That’s so rare that I have to call it shocking. It’s what WWE should do more often.

Good week for matches. Some cheesy angles that were the kind of things that make pro wrestling look stupid. I don’t think the right segment ended the show either.

Here are some matches announced for Roadblock: End of the Line on December 18.

Universal Championship: Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns

Raw Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte

Seth Rollins vs. Chris Jericho

More matches to be added next week.

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That's all for now. See ya next time for the Smackdown review.

Thanks for reading. Go Toronto Raptors. Go Toronto Maple Leafs.

John Canton – mrjohncanton@gmail.com

Twitter @johnreport

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