Last stop before Saudi Arabia... St. Louis!
The Headliner(s)
Or, in the case of Raw Women’s champ Becky Lynch and the rest of the women’s roster, the next stop on the road to Survivor Series.
Tonight, The Man will be building toward what many presume and/or are hoping will be a Royal Rumble rematch with Asuka when she faces of with The Empress’ partner in the Women’s Tag Team title-holding Kabuki Warriors.
Somehow (and somewhat cynically), I doubt this gets a ton of time as a singles match. Promo, brief match ended by a run-in or two, re-started as a tag. That’s my guess. But it should still be an important segment or segments for the women’s scene in general, and especially the Japanese duo who were struggling to even get screen time a month ago. Sane in particular has been given woefully little to do since getting moved to the main roster earlier this year. Any chance she gets to remind the world she’s one of the best in the business is a good thing.
It’s also a chance for Lynch to refocus the wrestling conversation on her own company. Since the middle of last week, when it comes to Becky and her fiance, aka Universal champ Seth Rollins, the online focus has been on their interactions with All Elite Wrestling, and specifically AEW announcer Jim Ross. It’s harmless-enough stuff, more back-and-forth banter between big names on both sides of the AEW/WWE beef. And props to Lynch for bringing the whole thing back into kayfabe with her tweet on the matter.
But none of it really serves WWE terribly well. The typical strategy for the #2 company in an industry is to attack #1. First place is supposed to more-or-less ignore the businesses chasing them so as to not give them any attention. The Man, her man, and their bosses all need a refresher on this.
They can start tonight by re-focusing on making their product the best it can be. This will admittedly be a lot harder for Rollins. Erick Rowan is no slouch, but as an in-ring performer, he’s not Kairi Sane, either. The bigger problem for Seth is he’s coming out of a widely-panned Hell in a Cell main event against The Fiend Bray Wyatt, and heading into a rematch of it almost nobody wants. The Rowan match is a reminder of that, both because of Big Red’s past family history with Wyatt, and because the champ’s matches tonight and at Crown Jewel share a Last Man Standing stipulation.
We’ll see how it plays out. It’s obviously not entirely in their hands, but if #Secky really wants to shut JR up, they need to work on making Raw so good it dominates the conversation.
The title scene
Nothing in the official preview about new Raw Tag Team champions Viking Raiders. Erik & Ivar, along with previous champs Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode, are part of this Thursday’s “largest Tag Team Turmoil Match in history to determine World Cup winner and crown the Best Tag Team in the World”. So expect both teams, and a few others, to get involved in the continued build for that.
United States champ AJ Styles will have to wait until after a 20 man battle royal of as-yet-unnamed competitors to find out who he’ll face in Riyadh on Oct. 31. Perhaps some of the guys AJ and The O.C. tussled with last week (Street Profits & Kevin Owens) will be in the mix. KO didn’t make the Saudi trip earlier this year, so probably not him. I’ll take a Montez Ford spotlight, though.
If R-Truth hasn’t re-won it since this published, Sunil Singh is 24/7 champ. Do with that what you will.
Other stuff to keep an eye on
- The other big Crown Jewel bout getting hype in the preview is the five-on-five clash of teams captained by Hulk Hogan & Ric Flair. Naitch and the Hulkster will be there, and we’ll also get at least one match building the program. Last Monday saw Team Flair’s Drew McIntyre beat and humiliate Team Hogan’s Ricochet. Ric gets a shot at redemption tonight.
- No mention of the big combat sports crossover spectacles coming out way from Saudi, but expect at least some video packages reminding us about Tyson Fury vs. Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar/Cain Velasquez, and maybe a Paul Heyman or Rey Mysterio promo.
- Lana’s sleeping with Bobby Lashley. Her husband Rusev doesn’t like it. Jerry Lawler will talk to them about it. Everything will undoubtedly go well.
It’s the Crown Jewel ‘go home’ show!
What will you be looking for on Raw tonight?