“I’ll never look at rocking chairs the same way again,” says The Washington Globe’s
Mark Calloway.
“Now that’s a spicey pumpkin latte, if you know what I mean,” praises Fabrizio
Santino.
And “What is this?
This is not cool.
Seriously, guys, stop it.”
writes The Connecticut Sun’s Kevin Dunn.
Discover the publishing phenomenon that is 50 Shades of Bray...
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A huge WWE star’s shock return!
Enzo Amore starts the Enz-W-o faction!
And Finn Balor cosplays as a pumpkin.
I’m Oli Davis, and I forgot this was a go-home show, too.
This is 16th October, 2017 edition of Monday Night Raw...in about 4 minutes.
The Shield Are Back, Back Again Guess who’s back, back again.
The Shield’s back, tell a friend.
Even though it’s just hollow nostalgia, I still got butterflies in my stomach when
the full Shield entrance happened.
Dean’s annoying crazy schtick, Seth’s botched babyface run and Roman’s ineffective
top guy push - past mistakes covered up by protective vests.
Michael Cole, of course, was beside himself - he loves the Shield so much - and he pre-emptively
declared tonight as one of the great Raws of all time.
Jason Jordan, Apollo Crews & Titus O’Neil beat Elias & Galanderson
And for a moment there, he might’ve been onto something - because Elias singing with
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson was arguably the best Good Brothers segment of 2017.
They didn’t just get to show off their comedic chops, but also the way spotlights reflect
on their shaved heads.
The team of Jason Jordan, Apollo Crews and Titus O’Neil beat them in a short match.
Cedric Alexander beat Jack Gallagher Raw actually showed a recap package of 205
Live for once, effectively giving context for Cedric Alexander beating Jack Gallagher.
Miz TV: Braun Strowman The Shield story continued in Braun Strowman’s
Miz TV segment, where Miz accepted Dean’s crazy 3 on 5 offer from earlier and went to
add another member to his TLC team.
Kurt Angle added a dramatic twist to the night’s main event, though - if Braun wins, Miz can
add that fifth member.
But if he loses, Strowman is out of the TLC match and it reverts to a 3 on 3.
And easily the biggest stipulation of the night - everyone will be banned from ringside!
Because that always works.
Who is he kiddin- Sasha Banks beat Alicia Fox
After their second botched finish on Raw TV this year, Sasha Banks beat Alicia Fox here.
Alicia attacked Banks backstage afterwards, knocking a referee over in the process - for
which she was fined “an undisclosed amount of money”.
Fox’s motivation appears to be that she doesn’t have her own t-shirt merchandise.
She does...it’s just awful.
Enzo Amore & Kalisto Recalling his all-time great botched promo
from last year, Kalisto promised he’ll come out of TLC the ‘new’ Cruiserweight Champion.
Despite being hated by everyone in the division just last week, Enzo Amore now has a Enz-W-o
heel faction with Ariya Daivari, Tony Nese, Drew Gulak and Noam Dar.
They beat down Kalisto, and Mustafa Ali who ran down to help.
Ali can become a great babyface challenger for Enzo someday.
Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose beat Cesaro & Sheamus Despite reforming the Shield and this being
the tag division, everyone had their own entrances for this match - which Rollins & Ambrose won.
Curtis Axel gave Sheamaro a brilliantly full-of-himself pep talk backstage aftewards, saying he’ll
be their fifth member, so Braun told him to take out Reigns right now if he’s serious.
Axel performed this perfectly, and it really helped tell the show’s night long story.
Finn Balor & Bray Wyatt When describing Finn Balor’s entrance, Corey
Graves said, “It really is too sweet to experience” - either a jab or homage to
WWE’s current feud with the Bullet Club.
Sadly, that’s where the ‘too sweet’ ended, as this feud has found new depths of
terrible - with Finn performing some very unconvincing hocus pocus, morphing into the
Pumpkin King.
This is really bad.
Mickie James & Bayley beat Alexa Bliss & Emma Alexa Bliss and Emma teamed against Mickie
James and a mystery opponent who turned out to be… come on, Samoa Joe…
Bayley!
Which makes more sense actually.
They had a pretty fun tag match, which smartly continued Mickie and Alexa’s effective build
- giving James the pinfall win.
The best women’s storyline heading into TLC, however, remains Asuka’s impending
debut.
Braun Strowman beat Roman Reigns After going to confront Roman, Curtis was
found hanging from the ceiling.
But in a brilliant cliffhanger, Miz said: “while I think the world of Curtis Axel,
he was never the fifth man…”
Predictably, Sheamus, Cesaro, Ambrose and Rollins got involved despite being banned
from ringside for the steel cage main event - off which Roman took a hell of a suplex
bump.
It’s crazy how more over Roman is now he’s back with the Shield - not just with the audience,
who did his ‘oh-ah’ spear set-up noise, but with me, too.
Then just as he seemed set to win - his Shield buddies trapped backstage - the fifth man
was revealed.
Not Samoa Joe back from injury, or re-employed Neville, but the Big Red Machine Kane, ripping
through the ring canvas just like his WWE debut 20 years prior.
Miz’s main critique against the Shield was that they’re nothing more than nostalgia.
There’s something deliciously ironic, then, about his secret fifth man being a nostalgia
act.
This was a genuinely awesome shock return - and, for a change, a wickedly hot go-home
angle for a WWE PPV.
So that was this week’s Raw in about four minutes.
Here’s the usual ratings recap, from top to bottom - In Awe, Cor, AVRAWGE, Poor and
Bore.
I’ll reveal my rating very shortly, but first, vote in the poll above my head to give
yours.
I’ll announce the results in tomorrow’s WrestleTalk News.
While not one of the ‘Great Raw episodes in History’ like Cole promised as the start,
this was a very enjoyable show with an intriguing narrative thread weaving through the night.
This week’s Raw is Cor.
Which TNA star just turned up at WWE?!
And has the huge main event of Survivor Series been leaked?
Click the videos to the left to find out, press subscribe and support WrestleTalk on
Patreon.
I’ve been Oli Davis and that was wrestling.