Well, this was not the week WWE got “good” but RAW kind of tried, NXT got weird, and SmackDown still has the Tribal Chief.
The Week in Review
Best Promos: Randy Orton on Miz & Morrison (RAW 11/9/20), Roman Reigns screams at Jey Uso (SmackDown 11/13/20)
Best Angles: Leon Ruff wins the North American Title (NXT 11/11/20)
Who made this worth it?: Mustafa Ali, Roman Reigns
Notable Trends: NXT’s New Generation, The Tribal Chief
RAW (11/9/20)
The opening segment felt alive and filled with possibilities, even if it was just to setup a 6-man tag. All of this (just all of it) is tired but Kofi & Woods bring an energy to RAW and Orton bitching out Miz & Morrison ruled. The 6-man ended up OK.
What can you say about Survivor Series? Seriously – what. Riddle (just Riddle) beat Elias and Jeff Hardy to get on Team … RAW, then teamed with Keith Lee against Sheamus and Braun in a match that had big suplexes and big splashes in the corner.
I thought Bobby Lashley squashing big Titus O’Neil was good, made better by Titus’ reliably good promo. Lashley/Sami seems like a lot to get through though.
Nia Jax and Asuka had a match together I didn’t like, which is surprising because I’m a big Nia Jax vs. Asuka guy. The 24/7 Title switched hands a dozen times too, and then Mustafa Ali beat Ricochet in a match that was occasionally awesome. Retribution + Ali actually look cool sometimes which is why it is so odd that the approach was to immediately make them terrible.
NXT (11/11/20)
I CAN tell you that the surprise new guy title win usually works and Leon Ruff beating Johnny Gargano for the North American Title sure did, even if they had Damian Priest walk all over it.
Santos Escobar/Jake Atlas,Toni Storm/Candice LeRae, and Timothy Thatcher/Dexter Lumis we’re all pretty good; I just wish there were stakes.
The decision to use the mask reveal gimmick for unestablished Indi Hartwell was a head scratcher, as was the Chinese Mafia apparently showing up? Huh.
The Lorcan & Burch vs. Breezango rematch was as rock solid as the first, and Pat McAfee as a manager continues to be a top promo in WWE based on them just letting him do whatevs. Still reads a little like Mark Madden in WCW 2000.
MAIN EVENT (11/4/20)
NXT UK (11/12/20)
I’m sorry, there are plenty of talented people on this show and I am pretty sure Sam Gradwell is just gonna be WWE Champion one day but NXT UK with fans in the crowd was lifeless and COVID NXT UK isn’t an improvement.
Rampage Brown made his debut, Nina Samuels faked an injury and still lost to Xia Brookside… Kenny Williams & Amir Jordan. Stuff like that.
The Trent Seven vs. Dave Mastiff semi finals hype video was a lot better than the match.
SMACKDOWN (11/13/20)
Drew McIntyre didn’t add a lot to the show, a showdown with Roman Reigns in a lead-up more complicated than Wrestle Kingdom. Roman straight-up burying RAW in Drew’s face then screaming at Jey Uso backstage was beautiful, but this was the weakest effort in a while from even the Chief.
I think they paid off Seth Rollins vs. Rey Mysterio, though I thought they did six months ago too. Rey won a No Holds Barred match with an Eddie G tribute after help from Murphy, then told Murphy he approved of him dating his daughter who’s just around wrestling TV now. Ah jeez, this wasn’t the payoff was it?
Zayn/Crews was a waste, as was the half-debut for poor Chelsea Green.
McIntyre did the spring-up belly-to-belly suplex in the main event so you know he likes Jey Uso but their match might’ve been the weakest of Jey’s big run.
