6 Ups And 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Nov 6)

WWE's march toward Raw versus SmackDown continues with a mini-invasion.

sheamus cesaro
WWE.com

WWE hopped across the pond for this week’s Raw, giving us a slightly different flavor to the long-running show. But Monday’s episode also illustrated the challenges that Survivor Series inherently faces.

With every match on the card pitting Raw against SmackDown, it means that there are no title bouts (WWE Cruiserweight Championship aside) taking place, and very little (if any) direct conflict between competitors since the red and blue brands typically don’t interact unless it’s at a PPV (SmackDown’s siege notwithstanding).

All of this left you with a Raw that was technically fine, but also somewhat bland as Raw-related storylines felt like they were in a weird limbo as wrestlers manufactured anger toward SmackDown for their raid last month. That doesn’t make for compelling television, and it makes it a little more yawn-inducing.

So while Raw gets positive marks for this taped edition, it certainly can be mostly forgotten as we move forward, save for the main event, which you either thought was clever or groaned at your TV. Oh, and did you know that Kurt Angle’s job is on the line? Because that is totally a major selling point: Stephanie McMahon is back and threatening jobs as plotlines for PPVs.

With that said, what snuck in a Brogue Kick and what got distracted and pinned? Let’s get to it…

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.