Welcome to Bleacher Report’s live coverage and recap of WWE Raw on November 13th.
WWE is still working on Survivor Series on November 25, but this week’s show had plenty of things to keep fans busy until then.
Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes were looking to regain the tag titles when they faced Finn Balor and Damian Priest of the Judgment Day.
We’ve also seen matches like Ivar vs. The Miz, Otis vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, and Tegan Nox vs. Piper Niven.
Let’s take a look at these contests and everything else that happened on the red brand this week.
After a video recapping some of the recent events surrounding the World Title, Cody Rhodes made his way to the ring. He said that he and Jey Uso would regain the tag titles before talking about WarGames and introducing his team.
Rhodes and Seth Rollins had a little confrontation in the ring before Judgment Day came out to interrupt. They exchanged the usual insults while Doomsday pointed out that Rhodes and his team would never be able to get along.
Rollins yelled at everyone about talking too much and challenged JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio to face himself and Sami Zayn, which was made official during the break.
The match started as soon as we returned from the break. This was a pretty standard fit for the story being told. Neither duo works as a tag team on a regular basis, but both duos have shown some good chemistry.
Zayn and Rollins did a great job of giving the crowd plenty of moments to cheer, and McDonagh and Mysterio sold all of their offense well. This match wouldn’t have mattered in the grand scheme of things, but it gave the audience a chance to see two of WWE’s top stars do what they do best.
The opening segment and match lasted a total of over 35 minutes at the top of the show. Just when it looked like Rollins was about to win, Rhea Ripley arrived with Balor and Priest to score a DQ. Uso and Rhodes showed up to turn it into a huge brawl.
Adam Pearce flipped out and said that everyone not in the tag title match later in the show is banned from the arena.
a result: Sami Zayn and Seth Rollins defeated Dom Mysterio and JD McDonagh by DQ
degree: B-
Notable moments and observations
- There was a little boy in the front row holding a stuffed dog that looked like Cody’s dog, Pharaoh. Stop and take a moment with her to acknowledge this.
- McDonagh was the only person unable to speak during the opening segment.
- Doomsday breakup is coming. The way Balor looked at Priest when he claimed to be the leader of the group said it all.
- The way Rollins took down Mysterio when he hit a counter looked painful.
- The way Dom faced the lineage was kind of creative.
We come back from break to see Ripley still yelling at Pearce. She ended up having a brief moment with Zoe Stark that almost turned into a fight but ended with Ripley backing down.
Last week, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Akira Tozawa. This week, he had the opportunity to confront one of Tozawa’s allies at Alpha Academy, Otis.
The Force dominated early and dished out plenty of punishment. He even did one of Nakamura’s moves when he stomped on him in the corner repeatedly.
It took a while for Nakamura to get the upper hand. Otis was in control for the majority of this match, even holding off Kinshasa once. It took three for Kinshasa to finally put him on the three count.
This match was mostly one-sided and made Otis look like a monster. Given the way it ended, it seems like Gable will likely have a match with Otis soon. Although this wasn’t the most exciting performance, it did a good job of making both men look strong.
a result: Shinsuke Nakamura defeats Otis
degree: C+
Notable moments and observations
- Nakamura’s video package was great. It feels like WWE finally knows how to present him as a heel.
- It’s hard to believe that Otis and Gable have been together for three years.
- Otis could do great in Japan. His size and athleticism will allow him to fit in there.
WWE aired a special video package for Nox before she and Niven had their match. Natalya was at ringside with Knox, meaning they could potentially be the next team to compete for the women’s tag belts.
This was a standard matchup between the powerhouse and the underdog. Niven did a good job of controlling Nox while Chelsea Green shouted encouragement and instructions from ringside.
Natalya and Chelsea ended up getting into a fight at ringside that almost cost Niven the match. She managed to get her foot on the bottom rope to prevent the pin, but Nox nailed her with a crucifix a moment later anyway.
This was a quiet match and the quiet crowd certainly didn’t help.
a result: Tegan Nox defeated Piper Niven
degree: C-
Notable moments and observations
- Nevin hit a nice suplex from the apron into the ring.
- Nox’s hair always looks freshly dyed. It must be hard to keep it looking bright.
- Wade Barrett made a great Papa Shango reference on commentary.
Johnny Gargano accompanied Tommaso Ciampa to the ring for his match against Imperium’s Ludwig Kaiser, who was flanked by Giovanni Vinci.
Vinci tried and failed to entice Ciampa into following him into a sneak attack to start the match. Ciampa easily took control and slammed Kaiser’s head into the announce table.
Once Mr. A+ Everything took control, he slowed down so he could deliver an accurate attack. Vinci was ejected from ringside after the referee caught him cheating just before the commercial break.
These two guys have had many matches over the years, so they know each other well. They used their established chemistry to deliver a powerful performance that highlights their strengths.
Although Vinci was kicked out, he reappeared to hit Gargano with a running kick. The distraction allowed Kaiser to roll Ciampa up for the pin. The ending was a bit contrived, but the match as a whole was tense.
a result: Ludwig Kaiser defeated Tommaso Ciampa
degree: B
Notable moments and observations
- Kaiser does a lot of little things between each move that add to his performance. Even the way he raises his nose to the crowd stands out.
- It may be a simple move, but Kaiser has a really good clothesline. He puts something extra on it to make it look more painful.
Xia Li was the first to face Indy Hartwell. This match came after Lee had defeated Candice LeRae two weeks earlier. She also took out Becky Lynch before last week’s battle royal and was not allowed to compete as a result.
Hartwell dominated early but once she got out of the ring, Lee pushed her onto the ring steps to take control.
LeRae did her best to hype up the crowd at ringside, but most people in the arena didn’t seem to care about this match, and that had a huge impact on the overall show.
Quiet fans can ruin the momentum of a match, and the way the match ended didn’t seem to help. The referee abandoned the bout after declaring that Hartwell was no longer able to compete after receiving a kick to the head.
This match was short and didn’t do much to make either woman look good. It helped that Becky Lynch showed up at the end looking for revenge, but that segment fell flat.
a result: Xia Li defeated Candice LeRae
degree: D+
Notable moments and observations
- WWE should bring back the sketches for Lee’s entrance.
- LeRae almost looked like she was playing Christina Aguilera in the “Genie in a Bottle” music video.
The #1 contender’s match for the Fatal 4-Way IC Title last week ended with The Miz getting a title shot, but the way the match was supposed to end was with Ivar and The Miz getting the pin at the same time.
Ivar attacked The A-Lister after it was over to set them up for this match, which likely would have been for the title had last week’s match ended as intended.
The Miz did a good job of playing the underdog against his much bigger opponent. When he’s working as a babyface, he incorporates moves he wouldn’t normally use to get a little pop from the audience.
Bronson Reed came out to take a closer look at the match after getting into an argument with Ivar earlier in the show.
This was another match that made sense from a story perspective but didn’t do much to excite the live crowd initially. The Miz’s role as a babyface will take some getting used to, so he hasn’t gotten overall positive feedback yet.
The action between the ropes was strong and the crowd was getting more involved in the match as it progressed. The Miz ended up getting the win by using the ropes for leverage. Red attacked Ivar after it was over and Tsunami hit.
a result: The Miz defeated Ivar
degree: B-
Notable moments and observations
- Barrett said Ivar wore a crown made of bird skulls.
- Valhalla had a great face paint this week.
- The way The Miz was pushed onto the apron looked painful, but the way Ivar hit him with a low body afterwards looked even worse.
The main event of this week’s show was a title match between Balor and Priest, who are defending the belts against Uso and Rhodes. WWE gave this match the last 35 minutes of the show with the entrance included, so they had plenty of time to make sure this was the highlight of the night.
Uso and Balor started off with an angry hold for their team. The Prince scored the first takedown but José Osei got back to his feet. This quickly turned into a brawl with the four men.
With all four of these guys involved, this match was almost certainly a good one. They are all veterans who have held dozens of titles across various promotions, so the main event was in good hands.
The only downside to this match is that the result was predictable, but how we got there may have been surprising to some. Drew McIntyre showed up and hit Uso with a Claymore Kick while the referee was distracted, giving Doomsday an easy path to victory.
a result: Judgment Day defeated Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes to retain the tag titles
degree: B+
Notable moments and observations
- The broadcasters continued to avoid specifying how many people would be on each WarGames team. There are usually five but it looks like WWE may choose four on each team for this event.
- Samantha Irvin has already done that with her pregame announcements.
- Ripley told Priest that he was the leader of the WarGames team, but it is clear that she still considers herself the overall leader of the stable.
- The priest gave McDonagh a jacket to officially usher him into Judgment Day before the match.
- Balor is one of those guys who makes everything look easy. He’s one of the smoothest artists on the entire roster.
- Part of the circular pillar fell off when the priest threw Rhodes into it.
This week’s episode of Raw wasn’t exactly a strong episode, but it did its job of building most of the feuds that will make up the Survivor Series card.
It was nice to see so many different women highlighted throughout the show. Even those not participating in the event were given some time to speak either in the ring or in backstage segments.
The best match on this show was the main event, but the opening tag match and the Kaiser vs. Ciampa were fun too.
Some interesting possibilities have been set up throughout the show, including McIntyre joining Judgment Day at Survivor Series and a potential showdown between Ivar and Reed.
WarGames are always a fun stipulation for WWE, so this year’s Survivor Series should be a memorable PPV and hopefully include some surprises.
degree: C+
“Infuriatingly humble web fan. Writer. Alcohol geek. Passionate explorer. Evil problem solver. Incurable zombie expert.”
