It's that magical time of the year, when WWE travels to Europe and we get some information in advance which helps us decide if we want to spend three hours with Raw on a Monday night.
They actually taped both tonight’s SmackDown and Mon., Nov. 11’s Raw at Manchester Arena in England today (Fri., Nov. 8). Nothing was advertised in advance for the red brand, but it’s probably safe to assume Survivor Series build. With both shows in the same building and a battle for brand supremacy coming on Nov. 24, getting ready for the PPV in Chicagoland is WWE’s main focus this month.
We'll have our usual live blog when Raw airs in the States at 8 p.m. Eastern on Monday, which will of course cover any segments not shown to the fans in attendance, but more importantly feature Rev. Claire Elizabeth’s unmatched play-by-play.
But why wait if you don’t have to...
- Becky Lynch opens the show. She cuts a promo warning anyone who wants to mess with her, from Shayna Baszler to Kabuki Warriors. Charlotte Flair makes her way to the ring during The Man’s promo. This somehow leads to a match against the Women’s Tag Team champions (honestly not sure if it’s for the belts or not). Shayna Baszler makes her way to ringside to watch said match.
- Kabuki Warriors def. Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair via pinfall (Asuka rolled up Lynch after Baszler jumped on the apron to distract her, and Bayley emerged to attack Shayna)
- Bayley attacked Becky in the aftermath, and covered her ears when the crowd did the “Hey Bayley, are you gonna be my girl” sing-song chant the UK loves to do.
- Drew McIntyre def. Sin Cara via pinfall after a Claymore
- R-Truth vs. The Bollywood Boys in a 2-on-1 handicap match for the 24/7 title; match ends when champ Samir Singh & former champ Sunil Singh run off
- Seth Rollins is out to a chorus of boos actually seeing various reports now, although everyone seems to agree he was booed when he called himself the best wrestler in the world. He’s interrupted by Imperium! WALTER wants to teach him to respect the ring, Seth accepts the challenge.
- Seth Rollins def. WALTER by disqualification. Rollins when Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel & Alexander Wolfe got involved. Kevin Owens & Street Profits make the save, which sets up...
- Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens & Street Profits def. Imperium (Rollins pinned Aichner)
- Backstage, The O.C. tell Ricochet & Humberto Carrillo they need a third for a six-man tonight. Randy Orton steps up to round out the face team [thinking face emoji].
- Andrade def. Cedric Alexander
- Lana is out for a promo. First things I’m seeing are that this was very poorly received I’ve seen video and it was DEFINITELY poorly received. She reveals she’s nine weeks pregnant. She says it’s Rusev’s baby, because she’s only been sleeping with Bobby Lashley for seven weeks. This reminds me we still don’t know who Maria Kanellis’ baby daddy is. Anyway...
- Rusev arrives and says he IS a sex addict. I think. Apparently the boos are so loud people are having trouble understanding. He might be acting confused (so he’s an audience surrogate). Now Lashley is here. He chokeslams Rusev and hugs Lana.
-Erick Rowan def. local talent; Big Flannel was apparently mysteriously carrying something under a towel. Hearing it may have been some kind of animal cage. Not gonna lie, I’d probably pop for Erick “The Snake” Rowan.
- Viking Raiders def. NXT UK’s South Wales Subculture (Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews)
- Randy Orton, Ricochet & Humberto Carrillo def. The O.C. (Carrillo pinned AJ Styles); a major storyline was how Ricochet and Orton couldn’t get along.
- That’s the show, but Universal champ The Fiend (aka The King of the Dark Match) showed up to confront The O.C. and Mandible Claw AJ.