The October 21, 2019 episode of WWE RAW aired live from the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, OH. Here are 5 takeaways from the show
Drew McIntyre Is The Final Member Of Team Flair
Ric Flair kicked off this week’s episode of RAW and came down to the ring to a great reaction from the crowd.
A fan shouted at Flair and Ric responded with “tell your girlfriend that” and followed it up with “I used to know your mother”. Flair then announced Drew McIntyre as the final member of his team for Crown Jewel.
McIntyre stated that he was going to give everyone a preview of what he is going to do to Team Hogan at Crown Jewel tonight. Ricochet (Team Hogan) then battled Drew McIntyre as Ric Flair was ringside.
McIntyre dominated the match early and hit Ricochet with some chops to the chest in the corner of the ring. Ricochet went for a Crossbody but McIntyre caught him. Ricochet escaped but McIntyre knocked him out of the ring. Ricochet hit a Dropkick while McIntyre was on the apron and Drew fell to the floor. Ricochet then flipped onto McIntyre as RAW went to a commercial break.
When RAW returned, McIntyre was still in control and had Ricochet in a Headlock. Flair was interviewed in the middle of the match and told Hogan to be at SmackDown on Friday night.
Ricochet battled back with an Enziguri and followed it up with a Springboard Clothesline. Ricochet connected with a Standing Shooting Star Press and went for the cover but McIntyre kicked out at one.
McIntyre hit a Buckle Bomb and followed it up with a massive Powerbomb to Ricochet for a near fall. Ricochet lifted up McIntyre onto his shoulders and hit an awesome Death Valley Driver. Ricochet followed it up with a Shooting Star Press off the top rope but somehow McIntyre was able to kick out at two.
Ricochet went for the Recoil but McIntyre blocked it and launched Ricochet out of the ring. Drew followed him out there and slammed Ricochet into the ring post. Back in the ring, McIntyre geared up in the corner and leveled Ricochet with the Claymore Kick for the pinfall victory. After the match, McIntyre hit Ricochet with a brutal Alabama Slam that sent Ricochet crashing face-first into the steel steps.
Rusev Attacked Lashley At A Restaurant
Rusev kicked off the second hour of RAW and joined Lawler for a King’s Court segment. Lawler brought up Lana having an affair with Bobby Lashley and took a long time getting around to asking a question. The crowd chanted “what?!” and Rusev told them to be quiet because Jerry is a Hall of Famer.
Rusev accused Lashley of poisoning Lana’s brain and for that, he will be crushed. Rusev went on to say that he hopes things work out with Lana before being interrupted by Lashley and Lana on the jumbotron.
They were feeding each other food and Lana claimed that it was “her dream” to go to this restaurant. Lashley then said: “as the saying goes, out with the old and in with the new”. Rusev finally got pissed off and said he knows exactly where they are and would like to deliver a message personally.
Later on RAW, Rusev arrived at the restaurant and attacked Bobby Lashley before security broke them up. Lana taunted Rusev as he was escorted out of the “restaurant”.
Everything about this storyline has been embarrassing and it is heading towards a match that I simply do not care about. I’m definitely not the target audience for this type of storyline and I honestly don’t even know if there is one.
Cain Velasquez Beat Shelton Benjamin Down
Rey Mysterio came down to the ring and thanked the crowd for the love that they have shown him and his entire family. Rey told the crowd that they are his family and that they are all going to celebrate together when Cain Velasquez wins the WWE Championship and puts another scar on Brock Lesnar’s face.
Paul Heyman interrupted on the jumbotron and wondered if Mysterio would be saying these words if Lesnar were in Cleveland tonight. Heyman claimed that Brock Lesnar has been thinking about the loss to Velazquez for the past nine years. Paul added that Lesnar will get his revenge at WWE Crown Jewel on October 31st.
Shelton Benjamin interrupted and complained about Cain Velasquez getting a WWE Championship opportunity for defending Rey and his son. Benjamin said that he trained with Brock Lesnar and there is nobody besides Heyman in WWE that knows Lesnar better than him.
Benjamin shoved Mysterio to the corner and claimed that he must deserve a title shot. Shelton slapped Mysterio a couple of times before Cain Velasquez came down to the ring. Cain awkwardly beat Benjamin down for a bit before Shelton rolled out of the ring to end the segment.
Seth Rollins Defeated Humberto Carrillo
Universal Champion Seth Rollins was interviewed backstage tonight. Rollins was greeted with boos from the crowd once he appeared on camera. Seth stated that he has been changed forever after stepping inside the ring with The Fiend. T
The crowd started to chant “CM Punk!” and Rollins approached Humberto Carrillo backstage. Rollins told Humberto that he burned down the Firefly Fun House because it was the right thing to do and that he would do it again. Seth added that he heard Humberto saying that he wanted to be champion one day and challenged him to a match tonight.
Carrillo connected with a Crossbody off the top rope for a two count. Seth knocked Humberto to the outside and hit him with a Suicide Dive. Rollins planted Carrillo with a Suplex on the floor outside the ring as RAW went to a break.
When RAW returned, Seth connected with a Falcon Arrow for a two count. Rollins hit a knee to the face and went for another cover but Carrillo once again kicked out. Humberto dodged the Stomp and planted Rollins with a DDT. Carrillo followed it up with a Moonsault off the top rope for a near fall. Rollins hit a Superkick and then the Stomp for the pinfall victory.
There was a smattering of boos for Rollins once again following the match. The self-proclaimed best wrestler in the world has been making things difficult for himself on social media as of late and his Universal Championship reign has been quite terrible so far. Thus, it is no surprise that the crowd is going to be negative towards him and it is also no surprise that WWE will try to ignore it for as long as they can.
Kevin Owens Helped Street Profits Pick Up A Win
Gallows and Anderson faced the Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) in the main event of this week’s RAW. AJ Styles mocked the Street Profits for claiming that there was a superstar that was going to have their back tonight and nobody showed up.
The OC dominated the match early and isolated Ford in the ring. Ford finally was able to battle back and tagged in Dawkins. Angelo planted Anderson with a Bulldog and followed it up with a Splash in the corner of the ring.
Montez Ford tagged back in as Dawkins lifted Anderson up onto his shoulders. Gallows broke it up but was then Clotheslined out of the ring by Dawkins. AJ Styles interfered and shoved Ford off the turnbuckle and Anderson hit him with a Spinebuster for a near fall.
The referee then threw out AJ from ringside and Kevin Owens’ music hit. Owens rushed down the ramp and planted Styles with a Stunner. Ford then hit Anderson with a Frog Splash for the pinfall victory.
We’ve already seen AJ Styles and Kevin Owens feud on television. I was under the impression that the WWE Draft was a reset and we were going to see new storylines. Aleister Black defeating a jobber isn’t new to me. He has been on the main roster for months and should be beyond that at this point. I’ve seen Andrade vs. Sin Cara when Andrade was initially called up.
WWE failed to build these superstars up, so now they want the audience to forget that ever happened and once again become invested in these characters. I hope it works in the long run because there isn’t a single thing fresh or interesting on RAW right now in my opinion.
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