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WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Oct. 23, 2017) from the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin, featuring the fallout show from the TLC pay-per-view (PPV) that went down just last night in Minneapolis.
Advertised for tonight: Brock Lesnar answers Jinder Mahal’s challenge, and more!
Come right back here at 8 p.m. ET when the Raw live blog kicks off once the show starts on USA. It will be below this line here. (REMINDER: NO GIFS OR PICS ARE ALLOWED IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. OFFENDERS WILL BE BANNED.)
WWE RAW RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR OCT. 23
I'm alone here with emptiness eagles and snow, unfriendliness chilling my body and whispering pictures of home. Wondering blindly-- how can they find me, maybe they don't even know? My body is shaking, anticipating liveblogging this here pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The show opens with a still picture recap of TLC, focused on the handicap TLC main event.
Live in the arena, Kurt Angle makes his entrance, walking a little gingerly but he's all smiles. He says it's been a whirlwind as "You still got it!" chants rain down. He thanks the crowd and says every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and last night he wrote a new chapter. When he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, he didn't think things could get better, but last night was like a dream come true.
But as a famous man once said, that was last night, this is tonight. Survivor Series is coming up and it has a special place in his heart since he debuted at Survivor Series, and this year is gonna be Raw vs. SmackDown again, best against best, and champion against champion. Alexa Bliss will wrestle Natalya, the Miz will wrestle Baron Corbin, Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins will wrestle the Usos, and Jinder Mahal will wrestle Brock Lesnar.
Also slated at Survivor Series is the elimination match, five-on-five, and there will be two of those, a men's match and a women's match. So as Raw GM, he's out to make sure his show is the most dominant show in WWE. It's true, it's damn true.
Enter the Miz, with the Bar and Curtis Axel in tow. He says he's so sick of hearing Angle's voice, and this isn't their show, it's his show. Does he think he saved the show last night? Please, when Roman went down he should have made Dean and Seth fight two on five, how many times has Ambrose boasted about fighting any number of superstars? He should have done what's right, but instead he abused his power for one last run in the spotlight.
The A-Lister tells Kurt he needs to understand this isn't about him and he doesn't deserve to be in the ring. In fact, he should resign immediately. Angle says that's not happening and goes to leave but Miz tells him he's not going anywhere, and he and his boys circle the ring...
SIERRA. HOTEL. INDIA. ECHO. LIMA. DELTA. SHIELD.
Ambrose and Rollins make their way to the ring to back up honorary member Kurt Angle and slide in, sending Miz and his goons scurrying. Miz accuses them of sucking up to the management and selling out before telling them they have to realize the odds aren't in their favor again. Angle says he wouldn't so sure, and in fact he's making a match right now-- Miz and the Bar against Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and a superstar that attended TLC last night and decided to stay an extra night... AJ STYLES!
The match will begin after the break!
Back from commercial in time for the bell to ring.
AJ Styles & the Shield (Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins) vs. The Bar (Cesaro & Sheamus) & the Miz
Sheamus and Rollins to start, the Celtic Warrior grabbing a side headlock and taking the Architect over to ground him. Shoot off, shoulder block, leapfrog and Seth takes him down for mounted punches. Boots in the corner, tag to Ambrose, he comes off the ropes with a sliding lariat and a corkscrew elbow drop for a quick cover. Chop, face to post denied, Dean goes for mounted punches in the corner to follow.
Whip across, Sheamus gets the boot up, falling lariat and a tag to Cesaro. In with a leg drop, wrenching Ambrose's head with a neck crank and follows it with a slam. Rollins tags back in, good teamwork with Dean into an arm wringer and then a hammerlock, keeping the Swiss Superman down and tagging Styles in. Kick to the gut, chops, whip reversed, into a schoolboy and then a victory roll pin, waistlock, he shoves Cesaro off and escapes a shoulder clutch.
To the apron, Cesaro snaps his face over the top rope and sends Styles crashing to the floor! Pumping fist taunts, tag to Miz, and he comes in with a kick to the gut. A jawbreaker gets AJ some separation but the Bar take the Shield out and the heels put boots to Styles. Rollins yanks Cesaro outside and into the barricade, Dean back in throwing punches at Sheamus and they clear the rudos out and stand tall in the ring...
TRIPLE PLANCHA! TO BREAK!
Back from commercial and Cesaro is in control of Dean Ambrose, keeping him down until Dean fights to his feet. Tag to Sheamus, shove in the corner, double superkick to the midsection gets two and the Celtic Warrior grabs a top wristlock. Quick tag to keep Dean on the back foot, Cesaro locking a half nelson reverse chinlock on but Ambrose fights out. Front chancery, vertical lift, Dean reverses to a snap suplex!
Sheamus tags in, off the top, kick to the gut, Dirty Deeds denied, off the ropes, pendulum lariat! Tags all around, Rollins in with a springboard lariat on Miz, Sling Blade, clearing the apron, blockbuster off the second, Falcon Arrow... SHEAMUS MAKES THE SAVE! Styles in with a Pele kick, Cesaro with a Mafia kick, Ambrose with a lariat, Miz with a boot, Seth clotheslines Sheamus out and Miz hits the basement DDT... SO CLOSE! AND SO TO BREAK ONCE MORE!
Back from commercial and Miz is throwing the Daniel Bryan chest kicks at Rollins. Backing off for the buzzsaw, Seth ducks it and grabs a schoolboy pin for two! The A-Lister dumps him out of the ring and occupies referee Rod Zapata while the Bar descend, but Dean runs around and dumps Sheamus into the crowd. Double axehandle off the barricade! The Architect hits a falling lariat on Miz and heads back in.
Cesaro pushes Miz back in, makes the tag, back suplex but Seth lands on his feet! AJ tags in, Styles Rush, he's fired up! Leaping lariat in the corner, Ushigoroshi... NO GOOD! Calling for the Styles Clash, Cesaro shoots him off, Sheamus grabs his leg, he comes over... SWISS DEATH! ROLLINS MAKES THE SAVE! He ducks a Brogue Kick and puts Sheamus' shoulder into the post, the Shield clothesline Miz out of the ring and duck lariats from Cesaro to throw suicide dives! AJ is lying in wait...
AJ Styles & the Shield win by pinfall with the Phenomenal Forearm from Styles on Cesaro.
AJ celebrates with the Shield for a moment and Kane interrupts. The Big Red Machine gets in the ring and all hell breaks loose, with Miz and the Bar joining the attack! Chokeslam on Rollins! He dumps Ambrose out like a sack of potatoes to close things out.
Commentary informs us that Brock Lesnar will be here to address Jinder Mahal and send us to break on a video for the Unleash Your Warrior campaign.
Back from commercial, we get a recap of what we just saw because Raw is three hours and Kane is just so gosh-darned exciting, y'all.
This is followed by a package recapping Braun Strowman's part in the TLC match last night.
Kane is in the ring with a mic and he recounts many of Braun's varied adventures. He says they called him a monster among men, and he had to see him for himself. And what he saw was a pile of trash, three hundred eighty-five pounds of nasty, stinking human refuse, so last night he put Strowman where he belongs, in the back of a garbage truck. As the gears cracked and devoured Braun in one mechanical gulp, he looked in his eyes and saw a fear no man had instilled before.
And when Strowman looked at him, he saw the truth-- Kane is and will always be Raw's only monster. And now with Braun gone, HE wants competition or else.
Enter Finn Balor to send us to break.
Back from commercial we have a match!
Finn Balor vs. Kane
Kane shoves Balor back in the corner and Finn comes back with probing leg kicks. Off the ropes, the Big Red Machine knocks him down with a shoulder block. Out and back in, Kane crumples Balor up in the corner with punches, whip across but he gets a boot up, another boot up, to the apron, the gamengiri connects but the Big Red Machine resumes controlback in the ring.
Nearfall off a slam and Kane grabs a reverse chinlock before throwing Finn out of the ring. Following after, Balor slides back in, dropkick, Penalty Kick off the apron but Kane won't go down! Charging in, the Big Red Machine catches him and puts him spine first into the barricade and the apron. Back inside, body avalanches corner to corner, a side slam gets another nearfall but you can't put Finn Balor away that easy.
Finn throwing punches, Kane hammer whips him HARD into the corner and follows it up with a giant step. Shot to the kidneys off the ropes, a kick to the back, a backbreaker into the backbreaker submission but Balor fights out of it and seeks refuge on the floor. Kane follows, Finn catches him with a drop toehold into the steel steps! Back inside, catching his breath as referee Darrick Moore counts.
A kick meets Kane as he returns, a flurry of punches, flying forearms off the ropes, duck a lariat, crossbody was a bad idea but he slips away and a Sling Blade finally forces Kane to take a bump! Shotgun dropkick, Balor climbs... KANE SITS UP! He's got the goozle and takes Finn down to the mat for the chokeslam! Another goozle, into another chokeslam but Kane is toying with him, not going for the cover.
A third goozle...
Kane wins by pinfall with a chokeslam.
Commentary hypes up Kurt Angle announcing Raw's men's team members for Survivor Series.
We cut backstage to Kurt in his office on the phone when there's a knock at the door and it's Shane McMahon! Kurt asks if he's okay after jumping off the cell and Shane tells Angle he looked great last night. Kurt thanks him for lending AJ Styles and asks about getting him full-time, but McMahon doesn't buy it. Angle puts over Raw's roster and runs SmackDown a little before saying he hopes SmackDown isn't embarrassed when they lose.
Shane points out SmackDown won last year, and says he thinks Kurt is a bit out of line. Kurt says he didn't mean to insult him, and Shane says he just came here to say that SmackDown is going to obliterate Raw. They shake on the idea of competition and agree to catch up later.
We get an Asuka vignette promising that she's next and go to break.
Back from commercial we're shown some local footballmen in the front row.
Asuka vs. Emma
Collar and elbow, Asuka forces Emma back and is forced to break, shifting to kicks. Emma fires a knee off, Asuka gets a cross armbreaker but the Australian is right in the ropes and she has to break. Armbreaker over the ropes and a running hip attack puts Emma down on the mat! To the apron, Emma puts her face-first into the post but the cover's not even good for one and she has to settle for overhead elbows.
Emma pressing the attack, butterfly suplex gets a nearfall and she follows it up with a reverse chinlock. Asuka escapes, thinking Asuka Lock, denied, backslide, no dice, and Emma lands a lariat for another two count. Putting Asuka hard into the turnbuckles, hammer whip, forearm, but Asuka gets some separation with a missile dropkick. Trading hands, Asuka starts ducking them, palm strikes, spinning backfist, German suplex, off the ropes for another hip attack... NOPE!
Emma struggling to get back into it, Asuka catches her...
Asuka wins by submission with the Asuka Lock.
Alexa Bliss is shown walking backstage to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Alexa Bliss makes her entrance.
She says last night she beat Mickie James and she can put her in the past where she belongs now. So she's focusing on Survivor Series, where she'll dismantle that cat lady Natalya. There may be two brands, but she's going to remind everyone that there's only one Goddess. And she wasn't even going to bring it up with us, but the fact that she had the performance of her career at TLC and to say that she feels unappreciated would be understating it.
Finn Balor and AJ Styles can stand in the middle of the ring doing nothing and get "This is awesome!", but where's her chant? Where's her appreciation? Is it because she's not old and doesn't have a three-year-old son like Mickie James? Just like Mickie, she claims the fans are all jealous of her, and since they're in the midwest she has to spell it out for them.
She's gonna say a chant, and they'll say it back like the sheep they are. She wants to get a "You deserve it!" chant going, but few of the crowd are interested in singing along. She reiterates that she deserves appreciation and demands the chant--
Enter Mickie James. No words, just a kick to the gut... MICKIE-DT! She tells Bliss that she does deserve it.
Bayley and Sasha Banks are meeting with Kurt Angle backstage. Bayley puts him over and gives him a hug, and Kurt says he needs to talk Survivor Series and the team needs a captain. Alicia Fox rolls up to yell about deserving the spot, and Angle says they're gonna do what they always do on Raw, which Fox thinks is paper/rock/scissors, but Sasha and Bayley correctly divine as "settle it in the ring".
Angle books a triple threat and tells Alicia that he saw the preshow last night and wanted to remind her that pinfalls only count IN the ring.
Elias is shown walking backstage and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Elias is in the ring to sing us a song.
He introduces himself and plays a few bars before doing his usual introduction spiel. He's going to give Green Bay something special, an uninterrupted musical performance. He plays and gets broken up by static a few times and admits some technical issues before promising to get back on track. He gets out of the ring and threatens to go find the tech and beat the hell out of him, but here comes Jason Jordan.
They'll have a match after the break.
Back from commercial and the match is in progress.
Elias vs. Jason Jordan
Elias has Jordan in the corner beating on him as referee Chad Patton demands he back off. Snapmare, elbow drop for a cover, fishhooking the nose and following it with a crossface strike into a reverse chinlock. Staying on Jason as he tries to roll free, raking the face some more, shifting to a rear chinlock momentarily as Jordan fights to his feet. Saito suplex gets the break, throwing punches but the Drifter returns chops.
Another Saito suplex, overhead belly-to-belly suplex follows and the action heads outside. Jason rams Samson into the barricades a few times running. Elias smashes the guitar over Jordan's shoulder...
Jason Jordan wins by disqualification.
Trainers come down to check on Jason Jordan as the Drifter takes what's left of his guitar back up the entry with him.
Commentary promises us Brock Lesnar, after the break.
Back from commercial, Brock Lesnar makes his entrance, flanked by Paul Heyman as always.
We get a recap of Jinder Mahal's challenge from SmackDown last week and Paul launches into his usual introductory schtick. He says it's funny how everyone reacts to his introduction, because someone has a problem with the word "undisputed" and wants to dispute the fact that Brock is THE champion in World Wrestling Entertainment. This same someone over on SmackDown has barely survived the title challenges of Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura and is sitting up at night trying to figure out how to barely survive AJ Styles.
Meanwhile, right here on the flagship show, Lesnar has eaten through the single most stacked heavyweight division in the history of WWE. That fact is undisputed, and you know what else is? We live in the age of trash talk, everybody wants to hurl insults and not give props where props are due. And the king of the trash talk is the advocate with the mic in his hand right now.
Despite the fact that you clamor for him to trash talk, he doesn't do so to Brock's opponents, because any man deemed worthy of stepping into the ring to fight Lesnar must be a real man who deserves the shot. He didn't trash talk Goldberg, Samoa Joe, or Braun Strowman, but praised them, and rightfully so. But Jinder Mahal, the make-believe Maharaja with the Singh Brothers stealing Paul's schtick?
He's not Brock's contemporary or counterpart, he's not even a worthy pretender to the WWE Championship. When we think of that title, we think of men like Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, Macho Man, Ric Flair, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, John Cena, and Brock Lesnar, we don't think of Jinder, a consolation champion offered to SmackDown when Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon realized they got the shaft.
And don't think Lesnar is marching in defense of Raw-- there is no battle for brand supremacy, because any brand that has Brock Lesnar is number one, the flagship that's the place to be, and that's undisputed. And because Mahal disputes that fact, at Survivor Series, he's going to Suplex City. But that's only where his night BEGINS, because the last time a SmackDown star wrestled Brock, they had to stop the match.
Why? Because on that night Lesnar violated every single rule, regulation, moral ethic parameter and boundary of the PG era. So therefore his challenge is accepted by the undisputed number one champion in WWE, Brock Lesnar. Brock nods and smirks and takes his leave.
Kalisto is interviewed about his loss of the Cruiserweight Championship. Physically he's fine, but it was his dream to be champion, and it'd be one thing to lose to a man he respects, but he lost to Enzo, so he's invoking his rematch tomorrow night. But tonight is about familia, and Gran Metalik, Mustafa Ali, Cedric Alexander, and Rich Swann roll up. Kalisto says it's not gonna be team Kalisto out there, it's gonna be Team Lucha.
Commentary confirms that ten man cruiserweight tag for later tonight and hypes up Angle's announcement of the men's Survivor Series team, but first, the women's team captaincy match is after the break.
Back from commercial in time for entrances.
Alicia Fox vs. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks (WWE Raw Women's Survivor Series Team Captain Deciding Match)
Fox in with a kick for Sasha, forearm for Bayley, thinking about the northern lights but Banks comes over with a sleeper hold and denies it momentarily. Bridging northern lights on the Hugger, one for the Boss as well but both are equally ineffective and she goes for a reverse chinlock on Banks. Shoving her away when she gets to her feet, Bayley from behind throwing hands but Alicia returns 'em and dumps her out of the ring.
Sasha throws a kick and passes Fox into the turnbuckles a few times, whip across, Banks with a kick the face and the Hugger comes in for a double dropkick, leaving the friends alone to square off but Alicia comes back in. They dump her right back out and seal the deal with stereo dropkicks to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Fox has a reverse chinlock in but Banks struggles to her feet, off the ropes, she blocks the backbreaker, sunset flip, only two! Sasha gets a tilt-a-whirl headscissors and heads up top but Alicia cuts her off. Climbing up after, thinking superplex but Bayley comes over... tower of doom! Bayley hammering Fox in the ropes with elbows, running cutter gets a nearfall!
Fox gets the elbow up on a charge and ends up with a nearfall out of it. This breaks her, and she goes outside to get the ring bell and ring it, deciding the match is over, but referee Darrick Moore points out that it's not nearly over. Alicia kicks Sasha away, Bayley in with a rollup for two, Bayley-to-Belly... BANKS BREAKS IT UP! Hugger and Boss trading forearms, Sasha gets vicious kick off but Bayley takes her down with a neckbreaker into mounted punches.
Following with a back suplex, lying in wait but Fox is right behind and hits a belly-to-belly suplex of her own to clear the Hugger out! Scissors kick but Sasha picks the leg and applies the crossface! Alicia crawling for the ropes but Banks rolls her in the middle of the ring, Fox uses the tumult to throw Sasha into Bayley...
Alicia Fox wins by pinfall with a lateral press on Bayley, earning the right to captain the Raw Women’s Team at Survivor Series.
Fox kisses Moore in celebration and stumbles to the floor to party with the footballmen.
Commentary informs us that the ten-man cruiserweight tag between Team Lucha! Lucha! and The Zo Train will be after the break.
Back from commercial, Enzo Amore makes his entrance, he does NOT do the deal!
Drew Gulak begins, saying he can't stand idly by and watch a visionary like Enzo be held down by the man. Unfortunately due to a vocal chord injury, he has a prepared statement on behalf of Amore, and if you know it, feel free to sing along. Drew reads the deal off in his own unique style. He says Kalisto is a bigger letdown than the local footballmen, and the crowd starts up with the chants.
They all team up to call Team Lucha! Lucha! SAWFT to close it out.
Team Lucha! Lucha! (Cedric Alexander, Gran Metalik, Kalisto, Mustafa Ali, & Rich Swann) vs. The Zo Train (Ariya Daivari, Drew Gulak, Enzo Amore, Noam Dar, & Tony Nese)
Daivari and Kalisto to start but Kalisto wants Enzo. He's not getting Amore, so he ducks a lariat and goes to take him out but Enzo is a step ahead. Tag to Nese, tag to Metalik, whip across, drop down, Tony with a kick to the cut, Gran hits a handspring, somersault slingshot arm drag and a step-up rope-walk dropkick and the match breaks down! The babyfaces assemble in the ring and start thinking about dives but Gulak declares a no-fly zone... FIVE SUPERKICKS TO DREW GULAK SEND US TO BREAK!
Back from commercial and Dar has a top wristlock in on Swann. Keeping him isolated, they clear the rest of the faces from the apron and Gulak puts boots to Rich. Tag to Ariya, right hand, whip, duck the lariat, double crossbody and both men are wiped out! Kalisto wants in bad and a brawl breaks out on the floor, leaving Enzo with his entire team down. Swann fends Daivari off with a kick, Ariya tags out but Amore tries to get Gulak in, tag made to Kalisto!
The Dragon Gate USA man gets in with a series of kicks, a handspring enzuigiri, whip to the corner, running knee into a California Roll... Gulak and Nese make the save! Enzo passes Kalisto into the turnbuckles, DDG connects... Ali and Alexander make the save! STEREO TOPE CON GIROS! METALIK AND SWANN DIVE TOO! Kalisto hooks Amore...
Team Lucha! Lucha! win by pinfall with Salida Del Sol from Kalisto on Enzo Amore.
Kurt Angle is shown walking backstage to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Kurt Angle makes his entrance.
He says on behalf of the Raw superstars, he can tell you they can't wait for Survivor Series. It's the only time of the year they go head to head with SmackDown and pit their best stars. He has their five best men right now and he's going to announce them. The first will be--
Enter Shane McMahon. He's coming through the crowd with the SmackDown roster in tow! They circle the ring and Shane gets inside and squares up against Angle. He looks in his eyes and says the words "under siege", which gets Angle to head for the hills. McMahon addresses the SmackDown roster and tells 'em to get 'em! They head up the roster en masse and head to the back.
They run into Titus Worldwide first and attack! Rusev lays Titus out with the thrust kick and they move on! They move up on a tech and Corbin throws him offscreen! They tip a monitor over, it's a riot! They continue through the bakc tipping things over when they run into some more Raw guys, Goldust and Curt Hawkins and Rhyno, with the same results.
They hit the locker room and beat up Jason Jordan, and Matt Hardy, Rusev at one point getting up on a table and directing traffic before they move on. To another locker room, beating up more dudes, including Gallows and Anderson this time. They run into some of the Raw women next and the SmackDown women take center stage for this one, again wiping them out.
SmackDown continues backstage when Ambrose and Rollins try to get the jump on them with chairs but it's not good enough to overcome That Damned Numbers Game! Rusev and Corbin bring Kurt Angle over and they whole group follows as they take him into the darkness and back out onto the stage. They bring him to the ring and Shane beckons him back in and gets back on the mic.
He wants Kurt to bring his gold medal and what's left of his roster at Survivor Series, and they're all gonna finish what they started. It's true, it's damn true.
They leave Angle shellshocked in the ring.
That's the show, folks.