WWE Monday Night RAW Highlights 14/11/16
RAW Pep Talk Kick Starts the Show
This up and coming weekend at the Survivor Series pay per view it will be Monday night RAW vs Smackdown LIVE as the two brands clash for the first time since the brand split several months back. So far the build up has been strong and as I've mentioned a lot recently, I honestly cannot wait to sit back and enjoy this pay per view, we have a brilliant card that continues to look stronger and stronger and the fallout is sure going to be interesting and must see across next week. Last night was, of course, the final episode of Monday night RAW before the Survivor Series pay per view and we were actually in for a very solid show. Right from the get go Stephanie McMahon and general manager Mick Foley made it clear that this week's RAW was going center on the Survivor Series PPV and making sure that the red brand were all on the same page and ready to compete as a team against a very put together Smackdown LIVE. The show opened with Stephanie and Mick addressing the RAW team competitors face to face and the little pep talk alone gave the feel that we really are seeing these two brands compete against one another. Stephanie announcing that there will be changes occurring if the men and women competing for her brand were to disappoint and once again it gave that feel that this up and coming pay per view really is an important one. Several matches were then announced to take place during this week's show all of which had a clever and meaningful purpose. With many of the men and women of the RAW team struggling to get alone Stephanie and Mick decided that those dealing with bad blood would be forced to work alongside one another; this included teams such as Alicia Fox and Nia Jax, Chris Jericho, Braun Strowman, and Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens, and Sasha Banks and Charlotte all having no choice but to get along and compete with one another in preparation for this Sunday. I mentioned last night on Twitter that I loved the booking decisions made during this week's episode of Monday night RAW. Every one of these matches announced made sense and worked towards the build up to Survivor Series. It all tied in very well and the strong opening left me excite for the rest of the show and anticipating the results of these huge matches.Goldberg and Brock Lesnar Come Face to Face
I cannot believe that in two thousand and sixteen I get to sit here and say that last night I watched Goldberg and Brock Lesnar share a WWE ring and that this up and coming weekend the pair will collide at the Survivor Series pay per view. I honestly feel about five years old again! As someone that grow up loving Lesnar and admiring the work of Goldberg means being able to say those words a huge deal and almost doesn't feel real. A true pinch myself moment really did occur last night while watching Lesnar and Goldberg stand in the middle of that ring with all but a few security men standing in their way this very quickly became a highlight moment of the year for me personally let alone a highlight of the show this weekend. Now, several weeks back I wrote in a blog post that I loved the fact that Goldberg was back where he belongs, in the WWE, and I also remember marking out like a crazy person upon his return to Monday night RAW. During the show last night I had yet another mark out moment as what is set to be one of the standout matches of not only two thousand and sixteen but of the past decade became one of the centerpieces of Monday night RAW with final push and hype of their match we finally got to see Lesnar and Goldberg come face to face. Now, I will admit that the segment could have been a whole lot stronger the fact they were even in the same ring made me happy enough! Heyman made sure to keep the feud personal with his words that only left Goldberg once again losing his temper as he made work of the security that stood between him and his Survivor Series opponent. However, Lesnar left us all waiting a little longer, backing away from a fight for the first time. Of course, I would have love to have seen these two clash during the show last night but leaving the action until Sunday has left me anticipating this match even more!
Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan arrive at Monday Night RAW
As promised during last week's show, this week to close Monday night RAW Shane McMahon and Smackdown LIVE general manager Daniel Byan made an appearance on the rival show to not only hype up tonight's must-see nine hundredth episode of Smackdown but to also of course talk even more about the up and coming Survivor Series pay per view. Hearing from both commissioners and general managers was a great final stop before SummerSlam. You really did get that competitive feel and the entire segment did make Survivor Series feel like a big deal. For the first time since the brand split it really did feel as though it was Smackdown LIVE VS Monday Night RAW and I loved the direction the segment was going in. I did feel as though everyone got an equal say and both sides made their brand sound like the dominate side. We did get to hear more from Shane, Stephanie, Daniel, and Foley after the show and I'd advise you guys to all check that out f you haven't already done so.Can the RAW Women's Team Work together come Survivor Series?
This weekend at the Survivor Series pay per view Alicia Fox, Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Nia Jax, and Bayley will all have to work alongside one another as they represent the Monday Night RAW Women's division taking on Smackdown LIVE'S Alexa Bliss, Nikki Bella, Naomi, Becky Lynch, and Carmella. In preparation for, this huge elimination matches Stephanie McMahon and general manager Mick Foley announced at the top of the show that Alicia Fox and Nia Jax, two women who haven't seen eye to eye from day one will have to work together to take on the team of Sasha Banks and Charlotte, two more women who have has some serious bad blood. A little test to see if these women were all capable of working with the one women in the division they truly despise was a great way to force the overall team to get along with one another and get some final preparation in before Survivor Series. The match itself was nothing huge but it was definitely worth watching. We got to see Foxy and Jax actually work rather well together with Nia being the dominant figure in their team. However, over on the other side of the ring, Sasha and Charlotte proved that getting on the same page may just be a little more difficult for them. Following a backstage segment that showed Banks setting her sights on the RAW Women's Championship once again there was a great deal of heat between the two throughout this match and we saw several punches and forearms delivered to one another. Strangely it did actually work seeing them struggle to get along so much. It made us all question what their overall performance as a team will look like this up and coming weekend and the fact that that they were able to pick up the win last night also proved that when they do actually work together they can very easily come out on top. The entire match has left us all wondering whether or not the RAW women's team can work together come Survivor Series this weekend.Smackdown LIVE Invades Monday Night RAW
Following the segment, we saw take place that I just spoke about between the general managers and commissioners of Smackdown LIVE and Monday night RAW, Stephanie McMahon looked to embarrass and prove point to her brother and Daniel Bryan and after things once again grew personal between the two brands Stephanie deiced to bring out and introduce team RAW to the rival side and as Chris Jericho, Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, and Seth Rollins all came down to the ring things were not looking great Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon. However, as Bryan would soon point out they had not come to Monday night RAW on their own and slowly the rest of the Smackdown LIVE arrived on the scene and I loved how it was done. Instead of them all coming down to the ring straight from backstage and having individual entrances they all came out from the
arena at different angles which just made this whole thing really feel like an invasion and again really did bring that competitive spirit to life making the entire match and pay per view feel important and like a big deal. I loved that we got to hear from most members of both teams. We got to see potential showdowns between certain superstars that could happen this weekend including Randy Orton Braun Strowman. I really liked that we heard from both champions also and the words from Rollins really did show that team RAW were ready to put their differences aside and work together as a cohesive unit, not to mention the Shield feels were real! It gave the impression that the matches we had seen throughout the night had worked and forced team RAW to get along properly. Of course, the inevitable brawl did break out with RAW and Smackdown finally colliding. We got some brilliant moments that showed Ambrose and Styles working together, Braun Strowman dominating everyone and Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns working perfectly well together and giving us a few Shield flashbacks. I did have a problem with how much Reigns was put over during the show last night. I would have liked to have seen more of Kevin Owens but I'm not going to moan too much as I did love the ending to this week's show and even though I am team Smackdown LIVE I did like seeing RAW standing tall on their go home show.
Overall I think we had a solid episode of Monday night RAW this week. Every match made sense and centered around the Survivor Series pay per view. I liked the segment between Goldberg and Brock Lesnar and the last twenty minutes or so of the show really did do the job in making me personally very excited for the pay per view this weekend. As always, you can let me know what you thought of the show by leaving a comment bellow or by dropping me a tweet over at @TezangiVictoria.
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