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PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents a special Thursday Flagship edition of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast featuring a WrestleMania 36 Preview with ex-WWE Creative Team member and professional stand-up comedian Matt McCarthy.
(Search “wade keller” to subscribe in podcast app or CLICK HERE to subscribe in Apple Podcasts.)
WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER
NASHVILLE, TENN. AT THE BRIDGESTONE ARENA
DECEMBER 2, 2019
AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EST
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Announcers: Vic Joseph, Jerry “The King” Lawler
Arena, Top 10 Moments from Last Week, and Items Advertised by WWE
WWE returns to the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN. for tonight’s episode of Raw, as we move towards TLC and near the end of 2019 if you can believe that. The building opened in 1996 and is home to the NHL’s Nashville Predators who recently competed in the Stanley Cup Finals. Numerous Raw and Smackdown events as well as Judgement in 2002 and Night of Champions in 2014 have emanated from the arena. Raw last appeared here in July of 2017.
Here are the top 10 moments of last week’s Raw:
As of this writing, WWE.com does not have their official preview up for tonight’s show. There are a couple of items advertised, and thus we’ll discuss those and some of the bigger stories coming out of last week:
Seth Rollins to issue an apology
Charlotte Flair collides with the Kabuki Warriors in a two-on-one handicap match
Matches & Segments:
Seth Rollins Apology
Last week on Raw they opened with a town hall meeting with Seth Rollins, the Raw team captain for the Survivor Series triple threat match. He talked about how much he loves Raw but then berated teammates and others, including Randy Orton, who walked away and gave a gesture suggesting to Rollins he have certain relations with himself. He called out Charlotte Flair, the captain of the woman’s team and said she let down the show. He told AOP (Akam & Rezar) “we could have used you,” which ties into what happened later on. After everyone walked out, Kevin Owens showed up and gave Rollins a stunner (and in everyone’s head we heard the glass breaking, c’mon you know you did).
Later on, backstage, Rollins challenged Owens to match, which ended up being the main event. They went at it until AOP got involved and attacked Owens. They looked at Rollins and then walked away. Rollins then attacked Owens to close the show.
On Twitter, Rollins indicated he’s done some soul searching, and wants to apologize on Raw tonight. Here’s the tweet:
After a long few days of soul searching, I’ve decided that this coming Monday on #RAW I would like to issue an apology to #TEAMRED and the @WWE Universe. I hope you’ll hear me out.
— Seth Rollins (@WWERollins) November 30, 2019
Frank’s Analysis: Logically you have to expect that you can’t trust Rollins here. Perhaps we get Owens and Rollins teaming up to face AOP and Rollins screws over Owens. That would look a bit obvious from the get-go, so just be open to the possibility that he apologizes, and they drag this out another week. I’m sure they’re going to set something up between Owens and Rollins for TLC. The potential of a partnership with AOP and Rollins has potential.
Handicap Match: Charlotte Flair vs. Women’s Tag Team Champions the Kabuki Warriors
Last night at Starrcade, Charlotte Flair and Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch competed in a fatal four-way for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship against the champs Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane), Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross, and Smackdown Women’s Champion Bayley & Sasha Banks.
Last week on Raw, Charlotte took on Asuka one-on-one. It was a renewal of a long-time feud that goes back to the 2018 WrestleMania in which Charlotte ended Asuka’s overall undefeated streak in WWE. Just prior to this year’s WrestleMania, she took the Smackdown Women’s Championship from her in a previously unannounced match on Smackdown. Asuka got a measure of revenge when she misted Charlotte and pinned her.
Tonight, Charlotte takes on both Kabuki Warriors in a handicap match. She posted a few comical tweets:
Anyone know where I can get a pair of glasses with the wiper attachments? Asking for a friend (me) https://t.co/ty99KflupI
— Charlotte Flair (@MsCharlotteWWE) November 30, 2019
Click Here: st kilda saints guernsey 2019
Anyone know where I can find one of these- last minute? #RAW pic.twitter.com/4EkemmlTYk
— Charlotte Flair (@MsCharlotteWWE) November 30, 2019
Frank’s Analysis: Not to belabor a point, but I still don’t know how to feel about Charlotte. I guess I’m just supposed to cheer her because she’s positioned heels. All I know about Charlotte is she likes to cosplay her dad, does the “woooo,” and says she’s the queen. She somewhat turned on Becky on night two of the draft, but then was teaming with her as well as Natalya. I’m sorry, but it’s just all over the place for me. This may be the match advertised for tonight, but I expect something else.
Storylines Expected to Have Follow-Up
The Rusev-Lana-Bobby Lashley Love Triangle
Last week on Raw, Rusev was officially issued a restraining order in the state of Illinois. After that, Bobby Lashley with Lana in his corner took on Titus O’Neil. Rusev ignored the restraining order and interrupted the match to attack Lashley. It ended with Rusev in handcuffs but breaking away from the Halloween police and shoving Lashley off the stage. He then pushed the metal scaffolding onto him, sending Lana into tears. Here are some WWE.com exclusives showing Rusev getting the restraining order, hauled off in cuffs, and Lashley getting medical attention:
Last night at Starrcade, Rusev and Lashley were to have a Last Man Standing match. Lana said she filed another restraining order in the state of Georgia, so the match was cancelled. Instead, Lashley took on Kevin Owens, but the match was interrupted by Rusev who decided to ignore another restraining order. Rusev and Lashley brawled with Rusev ultimately standing tall in the ring with a chair. Here’s Lana in a WWE.com exclusive:
We can expect follow-up on this story and probably another restraining order tonight.
Frank’s Analysis: If it was up to Lana, Rusev would never be able to come to work. What’s management doing about this situation? Anyway, I still hate this story, but last week was a better chapter because Rusev finally showed some anger and fire. Dare I say, I look forward to a match between these two which probably takes place at TLC, provided Lana doesn’t keep filing restraining orders. Now, I look forward to it, but I ain’t dying to see it. Let’s keep things in perspective.
New U.S. Champion Rey Mysterio, His Potential Challengers & Potential of Randy Orton-A.J. Styles
Last week on Raw, Humberto Carrillo was to have a shot at the U.S. Championship against A.J. Styles. The O.C. attacked him prior to the match, so he was unable to go. Randy Orton, Ricocet, Drew McIntyre, and Rey Mysterio all came out and made their case to be Styles’ challenger. Ultimately, Ricochet suggested they have a fatal four-way to determine the challenger, which happened. Before they did that, Drew McIntyre said “I prefer my idea to be honest,” meaning just he himself getting the title match.
(Between that and Randy Orton’s hand gesture, I think those were two of the best moments on Raw in quite some time.)
At any rate, Mysterio won the fatal four-way and went to challenge Styles right away. The O.C. got involved, but Orton came out to help Mysterio (boy how things change in a year). Mysterio hit a 619 on Styles followed by Orton giving him an RKO. Mysterio hit a splash from the top rope to win the title. It was the second time he won the title this year after beating Samoa Joe in controversial fashion at Money in the Bank back in May. His son Dominic came out to celebrate with his father. Here are WWE.com exclusives with the Mysterio men:
Sarah Schreiber tried to interview A.J. Styles with the O.C. (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) next to him, but he couldn’t mutter a word until he finally said “Randy Orton.” He then tweeted this out:
Randy. Orton. #Raw
— AJStyles.Org (@AJStylesOrg) November 26, 2019
He certainly blames Orton for the loss, and thus they’ll likely follow up on that as well as another challenger for Mysterio. We’ll see if these stories will be tied together in the near future.
Frank’s Analysis: There are options in that he can offer a match to Humberto Carrillo, who was supposed to be the challenger last week. They can go to Mysterio vs. Andrade, who’s been winning his matches lately and they certainly have a standing rivalry. They can go back to Styles, but I suspect Orton would get tied in leading to a triple threat at some point. Either way, after jobbing to Brock Lesnar the night before it was smart to put the U.S. title on Mysterio.
Other Match Results from Raw Last Week
AOP defeated Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins.
Andrade defeated Akira Tozawa
Buddy Murphy defeated a returning Matt Hardy
Erick Rowan defeated Kyle Roberts
Summary & Closing Thoughts
Overall last week was a good episode of Raw. They set up scenarios I want to see play out, mainly the Seth Rollins situation. Randy Orton feuding with A.J. Styles has potential, and it’s good to see Rey Mysterio with a championship. I’m still curious to see what they do with the WWE Championship, and my hunch is likely nothing until we get closer to the Royal Rumble since Brock Lesnar usually doesn’t work the “B” pay-per-views. The picture for TLC should start to become clear tonight.
Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Questions and discussion are welcome! Thank you for reading.