Team Red stays in Houston to deal with the fallout of Survivor Series.
The Headliner(s)
Heading into the battle for brand supremacy, commissioner Stephanie McMahon told General Manager Kurt Angle he needed to win or she would find someone else to do his job.
Well, Raw won. Thanks to Triple H and Braun Strowman’s victory in the men’s elimination tag, Team Red took the night on Nov. 19, four matches to three. To ensure that happened, however, Hunter took out Angle and shocked Strowman into inaction by swerving SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon into a Pedigree.
The Game paid for playing Braun with a beatdown that left him stumbling around the stage, and it does leave you wondering where the very popular, nearly completely babyface Monster Among Men stands with the powers-that-be.
And will Steph work to push Kurt out of his management position, or does she have him right where she wants him - on edge about what her husband might do and beholden to them both for his job?
Where, if anywhere, does Angle’s son Jason Jordan fit in all of this? Trips forced him out of the line-up for the pay-per-view (PPV), and after some initial complaints, JJ rode the pine like he was told.
The answers to these questions could determine the course of the road to Royal Rumble, and beyond.
The title scene
After a hard fought victory against WWE champion AJ Styles, Universal champ Brock Lesnar could probably use some downtime. He’s not listed among the “Featured Superstars” for tonight, so he’s probably going to start taking that now. He’ll be back after the holidays to set something up for January’s big show in Philadelphia.
Brock was pretty much the only red brand titleholder who had a good night in H-town. Tag champs Cesaro and Sheamus had another great match, but came up short against their SmackDown counterparts The Usos. Ditto Women's titleholder Alexa Bliss against Charlotte Flair. Intercontinental champ The Miz couldn’t even defend his wife’s honor against United States champion Baron Corbin, and he had his boys The Miztourage trying to help.
The next matches and/or feuds for each of these champions should become apparent starting tonight. If their reigns are going to continue, they’ll need to hope Survivor Series was just a blip on the radar.
One champ other Raw champ won on Sunday, and since his opponent was in the same division, Enzo Amore even managed to hold onto his Cruiserweight strap. That should bring an end to his program with Kalisto, however, so a new challenger will need to step up. The Certified G is promising “The Zo Train” will be coming through the Toyota Center tonight, so that should be how we learn about that.
Other stuff to keep an eye on:
- No belts were on the line, but The Shield started Survivor Series off with a big win against The New Day. What’s next for the Hounds? Will the trio stick together, or is it back to pursing individual glory?
- Two other members of the winning five man squad, Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe, let old tensions bubble to the surface during last night’s main event, and it led to Joe’s elimination. Will they go their separate ways, or resume the unfinished business which led to their being placed on the team in the first place.
- Raw’s women’s team provided another of the victories on their winning, but really, the winner was Asuka. No one has yet to prove they’re ready for the Empress. Will her next victim be a teammate, or The Goddess herself?
- With a win over the legendary Matt Hardy, Elias could be ready to start playing on bigger stages. The same can’t be said for Matt, who is probably doing some soul searching after a pre-show defeat. You could maybe even say he was... broken... by the loss.
It’s the Survivor Series fallout show!
What will you be looking for on Raw tonight?