5 Biggest Takeaways from Monday Night Raw(November 1st, 2021)
I like to keep things as positive as possible.
I like WWE.
I like AEW.
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If there is one thing that Monday Night’s have been lacking during their most recent attempt at trying to restore it to prominence lately is the actual in ring wrestling product. This week’s show fixed that problem. If we can be thankful for anything from the draft, it’s the fact that they have loaded the Raw roster from top to bottom with talent that can put on great matches week in and week out. This week’s Raw was able to deliver the audience one of the best show’s on Monday Night that we have seen in quite some time, and the formula was very simple. Great wrestling.
If this is a sign of things to come, I’m personally very excited about it. Many years ago, during the original draft years, Smackdown was looked at as the better show. It wasn’t the stories or segments that we can credit for that. It was the wrestling. After the draft happens, fans usually look over the new rosters and give their opinion as to which show came out better, and then discuss all the dream MATCHES that they can’t wait to see. Monday Night has needed a new look for years it seems, and moving away from their usual formula and focusing on putting out fantastic in ring product might just be the trick to turn Monday Night’s around. Building up challengers for Big E, developing new women in the woman’s division and establishing all the tag teams as real contenders gives the fans a reason to tune in and see who is going to steal the show this week.
.@BeckyLynchWWE is EAGER to retain the #WWERaw #WomensTitle against @BiancaBelairWWE! pic.twitter.com/lO3lFchTiZ
— WWE (@WWE) November 2, 2021
We’ll tackle the opening match right here before we jump into the rest. For 2 weeks, I have stated that I think Becky and Bianca will be the corner stones of Monday Night Raw. The opening segment and match proved that, as they delivered the match of the night over the course of 2 commercial breaks. Their chemistry is through the roof and their star power is unmatched by anyone else on the show. If you don’t watch anything else this week, wrestling related, make it a point to watch this match. It eclipses Bianca versus Banks at ‘Mania.
So with that, we’ll jump right into the 5 biggest takeaways from this weeks Raw…
#5: Crews’n for a Title
Last year, after years of waiting, Apollo Crews was finally given the opportunity to show what he was capable of. On Raw, he had a good run in the mid card scene with a nice little United States title run. Then he got moved over to Smackdown, and with that move came a character change. For the first time during his WWE run, Apollo ditched the smiling crap and formed his “King of Wakanda” gimmick that would eventually land him an Intercontinental title run. He would hold the title for the summer, lose it to Nakamura and never do anything else on the show besides try and win that title back.
Now he is back on Raw and what is he doing? You guessed it! He’s looking to get his hands on gold once again, as this week he challenged Damian Priest. Either Apollo has some very incriminating photos of somebody high up or they literally do not know what to do with him and his character outside of challenging for titles. Now, I am not hating on the idea of a program that will see Priest and Crews going at it, because not only is it new but the matches will be fantastic. Apollow is severely underrated in the ring and Priest has been getting better each and every week. The problem is, where does Apollo go after this? He shouldn’t be the one to dethrone Priest but at the same time, when he loses, I can honestly not think of what he does next? 24/7 Title? Catering? Tag team with Commander Azeez? We’ll find out soon enough and hopefully they have a plan for Apollo moving past this, because he’s too good to not be a part of the weekly show.
#4: Gable, Please!
Great in ring and on the microphone. That’s usually a combination that is guaranteed to get you some kind of push in WWE… unless you’re under 6 foot which is unfortunately the case for Chad Gable. With how little he gets the chance, some tend to forget just how flawless Gable is in the ring. And if haven’t been paying attention to the work he has done with Otis, the mic work is probably the most underrated in the business. He’s not robotic with his delivery and he is almost as smooth with the promo’s as he is with his suplexes. The problem with his pairing with Otis has been that the attention is not on him, so the chances for him don’t come very often.
This week, we were treated to a rare Chad Gable singles match. His opponent? Finn Balor. Ummmm, yes please! This is the kind of match up I was talking about earlier. If not for Becky and Bianca, this would have been the match of the night. Just two guys putting in big time work and delivering in a very big way. Gable didn’t pick up the win and I never expected that to be the case but he was able to put everyone on notice, in case they had forgotten. Chad Gable is very, very good at professional wrestling and if you are anything like me, you will be hoping that this week’s showing is a sign of things to come for him moving forward.
#3: Return of the Dijakovic
I’m sure WWE thought Retribution was going to be a big hit. Based on the wishes from internet fans, new talent finding their way on to the main roster ready to shake things up is exactly what they have been clamoring for. Unfortunately, the execution was piss poor and even that is probably being nice. Ali is a solid wrestler that should be in a better spot than he is. Mia Yim is a talent that could instantly improve either women’s division if given the chance. As good as both of those talents are, it was Dijakovic that had the most potential. Throwing a mask on him and calling him T-Bar was a disaster and they never rebounded from it. Mainly because the only change they have made is taking the mask off, but T-Bar has failed to connect with the audience in the slightest of ways.
With Mace and T-Bar being split up during the draft, many fans were excited about the idea of the return of Dijakovic. Once again, fans were let down when last week T-Bar made his way out and challenged for the United States title. It was nice to see him getting a real opportunity but the name was still there and that ridiculous face paint had yet to be washed away. It seemed like we were going to be stuck with this version for the forseeable future but then, this week happened.
https://twitter.com/TBARRetribution/status/1455368124526731267?t=qiyHyTGA-5oBFzI4N3MOBw&s=19
T-Bar lost this week, again. It’s something we have all gotten used to over the past year and there was very little reason to think it will change for T-Bar. But the keyword there is “T-Bar.” After the loss this week, he took to Twitter to voice his frustration. “Something needs to change.” That’s all it took to get fans excited again about the possibility of the return of Dijakovic. They took away his group. They took away his mask. They took away his partner. The only thing left is to to take away that silly gimmick and unleash the man that was stealing the show during his back and forths with Keith Lee on NXT. If the return doesn’t happen this time, I think it’s safe to say it probably won’t be happening on WWE television. So, fingers crossed. We need Dijakovic back and we need it yesterday.
#2: It’s No Mysterio
The tease that never ends. Dominik and Rey have been dancing around this break-up that we know is going to happen eventually for a little while now. It’s hard to imagine Rey being the one to turn his back on anyone, especially his son so that part of the mystery has already been solved. The only question we truly have at this point is when? When Dominik, when?
It really looked like it was happening soon over on Smackdown during Dominik’s run of trying to prove himself. Loss after loss after loss was starting to take it’s toll on him and the tension was as clear as day. Add in Sami Zayn to the mix, talking in young Dom’s ear and it was becoming very clear that this break up was right around the corner. Then the draft happened and the guy pulling extra strings in this situation was now out of the picture.
Where do we go now? Enter Austin Theory! Austin put another notch in the loss column for Dom last week. This week, papa Mysterio would try to avenge his son’s loss from last week. Would he be successful? It looked like it until Dom stuck his nose in Rey’s match at the worst possible time and ended up costing Rey the match. Austin Theory would sneak away with another win and would leave Rey and Dom in the ring wondering what the heck just happened? So with Wrestlemania season right around the corner, you can fully expect this situation to finally blow up by the Royal Rumble. Best of luck to Dom in his eventual heel turn and hopefully he will be able to play that role better than what he has given us so far in his career.
#1: A Big E Never Forgets
Last week, we saw one hell of a ladder match that would crown Big E’s next challenger. Seth Rollins would come out victorious, which was not much of a surprise to anyone. Nobody is complaining about that either as the two will definitely not only deliver a stellar feud but a killer match when it eventually does happen. Kevin Owens was able to steal the show during that ladder match though. Much like he always does, KO showed how crazy he is in these matches and also how creative he can be with big spots. Seth was the winner but Kevin got the praise and that was the story they told on this week’s show.
Big E tried to get Seth to cash in his title shot this week but Rollins was having nothing to do with it. Out comes Kevin Owens to let Big E know that he would have no issue accepting a challenge from him. A match we have never seen before, Big E versus Kevin Owens and that would be our main event for the night. The match itself was great, nothing to complain about. The story that unfolds at the end is where things got interesting.
Seth would take a cheap shot on Big E which would lead to Kevin Owens contemplating capitalizing on it before finally deciding to do so. Big E would kick out, roll Kevin up and get the win to avoid the screw job. After the match, Big E took offense to Kevin and Seth seemingly working together. Owens would repeadidly apologize and say it’s not what it looks like, but E would not hear it and would end the show by delivering the Big Ending as Seth watched on with much joy.
#WWEChampion @WWEBigE concludes #WWERaw with a BIG ENDING!
— WWE (@WWE) November 2, 2021
Sorry, @FightOwensFight… pic.twitter.com/Cb1KM6bo8d
Why was Big E not hearing anything that Kevin Owens had to say? All you have to do is look back to the time where Kevin Owens infiltrated the New Day and would turn on Kofi a week later in an attempt to derail Kofi-Mania. Big E was sidelined during this time and was unable to help his New Day brothers out. Could that be the reason why? You would have to think yes in this situation. The story for a babyface Kevin Owens has always been “nobody can trust him” based on how he has treated people during his heel runs. So whether KO was being sincere or not, it doesn’t matter because Big E isn’t about to let his guard down and forget the past. That’s long term storytelling at it’s finest folks, and just one of many reasons why this run as champ can be and will be great for E.
Agree? Disagree? You know the drill. Let me know what you think. If not, I will see you back here next week after what I hope to be another stellar night of Monday Night Raw!
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