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One night after a chaotic main event at WWE's TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view created quite the debate between sound professional wrestling booking and shameless entertainment, Monday's episode of Raw provided just as gray of an area.
WWE worked hard to build the foundation of brand-on-brand warfare between Raw and SmackDown ahead of next month's Survivor Series card and did so in an extreme manner when SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon led a blue-shirt invading mob to a blindside attack that closed the show.
The wild ending took the focus off of what had been a largely mailed-in episode, chock full of head-scratching decisions. Let's take a closer look at what went down after an inconsistent three hours of action.
Raw 'under siege' as Survivor Series build begins
Raw general manager Kurt Angle opened the show by announcing a four pack of champion vs. champion matches for WWE's next cross-brand pay-per-view on Nov. 19 (click here for the updated card). Angle also mentioned there would be men's and women's elimination matches between brands. But after a mid-show backstage segment between Angle and McMahon in which the two authority figures playfully argued which brand was better, McMahon closed with a cryptic hashtag of "under siege." The meaning of the term would be revealed in the show's final segment when Angle entered the ring with plans to announce the Raw teams for Survivor Series.
After McMahon's music interrupted him, Shane-O-Mac led a group of SmackDown wrestlers all dressed in blue T-shirts through the crowd to surround the ring. McMahon spoke the words "under siege" to Angle, who ran out of the ring, leading McMahon to exclaim, "Blue team, go get them!" Team SmackDown entered the backstage area and viciously ran through what remained of the Raw roster (basically everyone except for Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman, The Miz, Sheamus & Cesaro, Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt) by entering individual locker rooms and confronting people as a mob in the hallways.
Eventually, Angle was dragged back to the ring by Team SmackDown and McMahon got into his face. "At Survivor Series, I want you to bring your gold medal, what's left of your roster, and we are all going to finish what we started," McMahon said. "Oh it's true, it's damn true."
This abrupt melee caused quite a stir on social media and left the crowd stunned. But it's difficult to look past how quick of a leap WWE made in terms of storytelling without properly planting any seeds. After largely ignoring the idea of competition between brands for a full year, viewers were led to believe Monday that even the SmackDown babyfaces were angry enough to savagely attack their Raw counterparts in such a premeditated fashion with no storyline to match.
The segment may have been equal parts fun and edgy, but the suspension of disbelief required to make it work just wasn't there. Neither was the foundation of strong psychology. Seeing AJ Styles open the show in a tag team with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose and then be part of the group which attacked them later came off as nothing short of a plot hole. Can that many heel turns be easily explained away by pride for the blue brand? You tell me.
Kane, 50, gets a massive push
After closing the show's opening match with a run in that saw him take out Rollins, Ambrose and Styles, Kane was given the floor to cut a promo. One night after stuffing Braun Strowman into the back of a garbage truck at TLC, Kane explained he had to see for himself after hearing stories in hell about Strowman's dominance. "What I saw was a pile of trash," Kane said, "385 pounds of nasty, stinking, human refuge." Kane closed by saying he was the only monster on the show and saw fear in Strowman's eyes. He then demanded competition just like Strowman used to. Kane's request for a challenge was instantly met when Finn Balor's music hit.
"The Big Red Machine" dominated the majority of the impromptu match before Balor rallied late. But Balor's attempt for a Coup de Grace finisher was blocked when Kane grabbed him by the throat from the top rope and hit a trio of chokeslams for the clean pin and dominant victory.
One night after Balor pins Styles in an instant classic that had social media buzzing, Styles makes a surprise return to Raw and … WWE books Balor into a dominant loss against 50-year-old Kane? How can you even defend that? Balor appeared to get lucky when Bray Wyatt's illness canceled their much-maligned Demon vs. Sister Abigail feud heading into Halloween. But in walked Kane to potentially fill that void. Even worse than WWE pressing pause on a Styles feud with guaranteed in-ring gold is the fact that it failed to update Strowman's health (and whether he survived Kane's murder attempt at TLC) throughout a three-hour show.
What else happened on Raw?
- Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins & AJ Styles def. The Miz, Sheamus & Cesaro via pinfall: This three-segment match picked up where the TLC main event left off on Sunday with high energy and constant chaos. Styles, who stayed with Raw an extra night after filling in for Wyatt at TLC, hit his phenomenal forearm on Cesaro to end the match and set off a huge crowd pop. After the match, Kane came out to assist the heels in quickly stomping out Styles, Ambrose and Rollins.
- Asuka def. Emma via submission: This was basically an instant replay of their PPV match the night before in Asuka's debut. Just like Sunday, it went on for longer than it needed to. In the end, Asuka kicked out of a rollup pin attempt and countered into the Asuka Lock to force the tap.
- Mickie James attacks Alexa Bliss: The Raw women's champion opened by cutting a promo on the WWE Universe for failing to give her the respect they gave the Balor-Styles match at TLC. "It's like you people just hand out chants like Halloween candy," she said. "Where's my appreciation?" Bliss went on to further rip James' age and status as a mother before asking the crowd why she doesn't deserve a chant. James ran in to kick Bliss in the stomach and hit a Mickie-DT. "Alexa, you do deserve it," James said before dropping the mic.
- Jason Jordan def. Elias via disqualification: Elias' pre-match song was interrupted by audio issues caused by Jordan. Elias jumped him to open the match, and the action quickly went out to the floor. Elias nailed him with a guitar to upper arm and shoulder, leaving a giant welt to force the DQ.
- Paul Heyman destroys Jinder Mahal: After claiming that Brock Lesnar has undisputedly "eaten through the single most stacked heavyweight division in the history of WWE," Heyman turned his wrath to Mahal. He called him a "consolation prize champion" who helped secure that SmackDown got the shaft at the Superstar Shakeup. Lesnar never spoke a word, but Heyman accepted the Survivor Series match at his request. Heyman closed by reminded Mahal of the last time Lesnar faced a SmackDown superstar (Randy Orton) and how Brock "violated ever single rule of the PG era."
- Alicia Fox def. Sasha Banks and Bayley via pinfall: With the title of Raw team captain at stake for Survivor Series, the match featured a series of stiff spots. Fox shined with an early crazy spot when she stole the bell from the timekeeper and attempted to end the match. Later, she mocked Bayley from behind before hitting her with Bayley's own finisher, the Bayley-to-Belly suplex. In the end, Fox broke free from a Banks Statement by sending Banks into a collision with Bayley, who she then pinned. An excited Fox kissed the referee after the match.
- Kalisto, Cedric Alexander, Rich Swann, Mustafa Ali & Gran Metalik def. Enzo Amore, Drew Gulak, Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari and Noam Dar via pinfall: Gulak handled the pre-match promo, reading a statement from a voice-less Amore. The match, meanwhile, was a showcase of well-choreographed spots including Gulak getting dropped to the floor after eating super kicks from four babyfaces at once. The ending was fire as Alexander and Ali hit tandem Tope Con Hilos, followed immediately by tandem moonsaults from Metalik and Swann. Kalisto followed with a Salida del Sol on Amore from the apron for the pin.