5 Burning Issues For WWE Raw Tonight (Oct 30)
Red Dead Redemption
Violence solving nothing is not a philosophy that jives in a world predicated on combative competition between athletes at their physical peaks. Violence is, in pro wrestling, the only way to iron out an issue. Fighting one another is literally part of the job, with wrestlers expected to turn up to work on a Monday and Tuesday, see who they've got to wrestle this week, and stand across from them in a battle for supremacy.
What they probably didn't sign off on, was scrapping over brand supremacy.
Yes, it's that time of year again. Storylines go on pause for a month whilst the rosters awkwardly link arms and wear matching t-shirts. Meanwhile, fans have to suspend disbelief more than they already would, accepting that bitter rivals can put aside differences literally one night earlier to fight for an imagined cause that never even surfaces in the scripting of the feud.
Company heads were presumably buzzing with SmackDown Live!'s ratings upswing following the '#UnderSiege' show-closer, but delivering big angles like that can't happen every week. WWE need to put some meat on the bones of this skeletal rivalry, not least to try and increase the heat for the clunky Champion Vs Champion matches that support the five-on-five battles. Furthermore, the flagship show is rarely serviced poorly by Vince McMahon's overworked scribes. Consequences could be dire for the Tuesday crew as they lay in wait for the Raw rebound.
5. Teamwork
Though it makes no sense why several talents would agree to fight Kurt Angle's fight just eight days removed from him cosplaying as 'The Big Dog' and smashing the sh*t out of some of them, the Raw roster will presumably mobilise this week in an effort to save face after the merciless beating they took a week ago.
With Randy Orton already stationed as SmackDown Live!'s head honcho, Angle will presumably try and load up his squad rapidly, but his best boys may be benched. In Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman and (yes, really) Bray Wyatt, Angle has a quiet quartet that could do his bidding better than some of the battered bruisers from last week's brutal beating.
Jason Jordan will presumably volunteer himself as his father's first foot soldier if he's managed to recover from the wicked guitar strike he took from Elias last week. But then, as GM, Angle should be instructing his talent to stop fighting one another in order to get fit for the Survivor Series. But then he can't because he's promoting a wrestling show and...well, this is where the house of cards collapses.
Elsewhere, the women's team will presumably be fleshed out by the five or so still employed in the Raw women's division, but they too could do with the firepower of a Nia Jax or Paige before finalising their flanks.