8 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (Nov 1)

by Scott Carlson

1. Big E Suffers No Fools

Big E Kevin Owens
WWE.com

If it’s true that Kevin Owens is on borrowed time in WWE, then it’s nothing for him to give some shine to WWE Champion Big E like he did here.

E and KO tangled in a non-title match that saw both men land some big, heavy moves on each other. Given their statures, the various splashes, slams and dives looked especially painful, with E absorbing a huge Swanton Bomb at one point.

The interesting part came at the end, when Seth Rollins hit E with a cheap shot that Owens saw and the ref missed. KO looked conflicted for a minute, then tried a pinfall, only for Big E to reverse to a crucifix for the 3 count. Afterwards, Owens tried to apologize, but he denied seeing the punch. E didn’t buy the half-apology and laid him out, basically saying he saw KO for who he was and wasn’t going to let down his guard.

It also wouldn’t shock if E brought up the incident a while back where Owens tried to become a temporary member of New Day while he was out, only to turn on Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods.

It’s the mindset a champion needs to have, as friends are few and far between when everyone wants your title. That little Big Ending made a nice, familiar statement for E: Don't Trust Anyone.

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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.