Photo: WWE

WWE RAW 11/27/17

WWE Raw was live from Knoxville, Tennessee last night in the same arena where John Cena beat Bray Wyatt in 2014. Some things don’t change. In lieu of a full review of a 3 hour pro wrestling show, I’m going to spotlight the five best moments/matches/wrestlers from last night’s show.

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And now, the five stars from the November 27th, 2017 edition of WWE Raw.

5. The IC Title Open Challenge & Reigns vs. Elias

The one thing I wanted from a Roman Reigns IC title run was for him to go full Cena and issue open challenges. When Cena was US champ he did more for that title than anyone else before or after him. It was a great use of a main event guy who didn’t need the title making the title prestigious. Reigns open Raw with a promo where he challenged anyone in the locker room to a title match. The first man up was Elias, and I loved it for a few reasons.

First – Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel still have a TV role while Miz films Marine 26: Lost in Space. If you aren’t’ sure why that’s a good thing, watch the second video above. Second – Elias has been one of the best surprises of 2017, but he hasn’t had much direction lately. By pairing him up with Dallas & Axel & giving him a shot at the IC title, it gives him a story and a possible feud with Miz when he returns.

While it’s great to give Elias a shot like this, it would all be for naught if he didn’t deliver. Luckily for Elias and the fans, he looked outstanding in his match against Reigns. Roman has the WWE formula of a ‘big time’ match down to a science, and I loved that Elias delivered most of the offense. Even though everyone in the building knew Roman was winning, they still put together a great match with some solid near falls. Elias looked great, the IC title looked like a title people should want and the fans got a competitive, clean match.

As long as Reigns’ reign doesn’t end with Alberto Del Rio returning and taking the strap, his IC title run should be a huge success.

4. Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins

My only issue with The Bar/Ambrose & Rollins feud is that they’re using singles matches to build to a tag title match. It would make more sense to have both teams looks good in tag team matches versus other teams, but ‘making sense’ & ‘WWE’ don’t always coexist. The match itself was great though, and it was refreshing to see these two fight with no one at ringside. I know Ambrose was on his honeymoon and Sheamus was in Dublin, but WWE has programmed me to pay more attention to people outside the ring than in it.

Cesaro and Rollins could have a good match blindfolded, but this match had a good pace to it, and I enjoyed Cesaro working Rollins’ back and almost winning with the sharpshooter. It was the second best on the show behind Reigns/Elias and I’m looking forward to the tag title match next week.

3. Samoa Joe Forever

I’ve written this before, but I adore Samoa Joe competitive squash matches. He did it in NXT and has continued the trend on the main roster. When you look at Samoa Joe vs. Titus O’Neil on paper, it looks like a giant mismatch. Instead of Joe just walking over Titus, he lets Titus get in a good amount of hard hitting offense. That makes Titus look good, especially after Joe has choked him out multiple times. It also makes Joe look good because it shows he can take offense from a 6’6 270 pounder and still recover for a decisive win.

While the win over Titus was nice, the best Samoa Joe moment happened after Reigns defeated Elias:

Hello, Joe! pic.twitter.com/C6ZAkXcVS9

— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) November 28, 2017

Reigns issuing the open challenge at the beginning of Raw gave us a great match and direction for someone who needed it (Elias) and a new, worthy challenger (Joe). I’m all in for a Reigns/Joe IC title blood feud, especially if Roman is eventually going to move onto Lesnar during WrestleMania season.

2. Absolutely Asuka

My favorite part of Absolution (the official name of Paige, Mandy & Daria’s death squad) is how it gave each woman in the division much needed character alignment. Absolution is supposed to take on Sasha, Bayley & Mickie James, but they take out Bayley & Mickie pre match. Alexa Bliss is on commentary but she wants no part of Absolution, so when they stalk Sasha, she bails. Bliss is the anti Reigns in the sense that she’d be happy being the champion forever and never having to defend it, so she’s all for Absolution destroying people. While I like Sasha better as a cocky heel, the crowd loves her, so making her the ‘against all odds’ baby face makes sense.

Later in the show Asuka beats Dana Brooke in literally three seconds. After the match Absolution comes out for what looks like another 3 on 1 attack, but they decide against it. Could Absolution take out Asuka 3 on 1? Probably. Should they take her out to prove a point and then have an angry killing machine hunting their every move? Probably not. Absolution wanted Asuka to know they’re always lurking, but aren’t ready to start an all out war with the one woman who could take them all out. It’s a smart play for Absolution and it distinguishes Asuka as the only woman on the roster too dangerous to attack 3 on 1.

1. Cruiserweights

I’m not sure who finally decided to give the cruiserweights something to do, but bless their heart. Kurt Angle set up a mini tournament to crown the #1 contender for Enzo’s cruiserweight championship, and it’s a perfect multi week story for the division. The four minute 3 on 3 or 4 on 4 matches weren’t helping anybody, so fatal 4 ways are a huge upgrade. The cruiserweight division has so much talent that I’m not sure why they aren’t doing these types of matches every week, but I’ll take this match and the one next week as a start.

Rich Swann was the obvious star out of the four and he was long overdue for a spotlight win. All four guys looked good and more importantly were given enough time, which is all you ask for with the cruiserweights. Next week’s 4 way should be interesting, as I’d think they’d want to have Swann versus a member of the Zo Train to build some type of story for the #1 contender’s match in two weeks.

Supplementary Stars: Bray Wyatt & Matt Hardy

I didn’t want to include Bray Wyatt & Matt Hardy on this list because of how often WWE screws up Wyatt’s character. The post match “breakdown” of Hardy gives me some hope though, as does Matt’s tweet:

YEEAAAASSSSSSSS! My dormant CONDISHTION has been #WOKEN. pic.twitter.com/SJ3S1YQgut

— #WOKEN Matt Hardy (@MATTHARDYBRAND) November 28, 2017

Is this Hardy’s and WWE’s way of getting around the Broken lawsuit? If it is and Hardy/Wyatt join forces, I’m all in. If this leads to a one on one feud that Wyatt 1000% loses, I will set my computer on fire.

-Ryan