‘WWE Raw’: Bray Wyatt Rides the Lightning

WWE got Rocky Mountain High on Monday night, as the Raw road show made a stop in Denver and the build to Survivor Series continued (sadly, only Triple H got to make a weed joke).

And after the solid Hell in a Cell and last week’s out-of-the-blue return to wrestling, expectations were as high as RVD – especially when we learned the show would feature a Fatal 4-Way to determine the Number One contender to Charlotte’s Divas Championship. Over the next three hours, we also witnessed Bray Wyatt advance his feud with the Undertaker and Kane with a supernatural (and superhuman) promo, a surprise return from a beloved tag team and a mega main event that allowed everyone to have a rooting interest. Oh, and at one point, Michael Cole spoke for us all when he told Byron Saxton “No one likes you.”

So, yeah, it was another entertaining night. Especially if you like special effects. Here’s my five-point takeaway from the November 2 edition of Raw. 

5. Talking Is Overrated
While it wasn’t quite last week’s wrestlefest, Raw once again dedicated plenty of time to in-ring work, which is a good thing – because there are plenty of people on this roster with nothing to do but wrestle. Like Cesaro, who’s busy doing kip-up spots and 30-rotation giant swings in thankless matches with the Miz (and, I guess, kind of feuding with Stardust and the Ascension?) Or United States Champion Alberto Del Rio, who really doesn’t need to be stuck with Zeb Colter, this “MexAmericans” angle or the presumptive “payoff” with Jack Swagger. If you blinked, you probably missed ADR’s match with R-Truth. But it’s not all bad; at least we got more movement in the Dolph Ziggler/Tyler Breeze spat – and, I’ve got to be honest, Summer Rae broadcasting from the ringside VIP on Facebook was kind of brilliant.

4. Team Internet vs. the WWE Universe
It was too perfect. WWE champ Seth Rollins is tasked with building “a traditional Survivor Series team” (someone get “Outlaw” Ron Bass on the phone), and rises to the challenge by securing the services of Kevin Owens and the New Day, thereby creating a de facto dream team for the Internet Wrestling Community. If only he added Cesaro, too. And of course they took on Roman Reigns’ squad of kid-approved comic-book heroes (and Dean Ambrose, who’s probably really wishing Randy Orton a speedy recovery). The build up was better than the match itself, particularly Big E and Kofi Kingston using “unicorn magic and the power of positivity” to bring back Xavier Woods, but the main event wasn’t bad by any stretch, teasing future feuds – can’t wait for Owens/Reigns to meet down the line – and ending in typical fashion, with Rollins escaping via DQ. But then, in a nod to his infamous turn on the Shield last summer, he smashed Reigns and Ambrose with a chair. And some of us cheered.