Who’s Raising the Bar?: Raw Recap 12/4/2017

Out first is Kurt Angle to give a quick rundown of the show. I’m sure nothing will go wrong. We have a tag team title match. Roman Reigns defending the title against… aaaaaaaand Jason Jordan’s music interrupts. He tells his dear ol’ fake dad that he wants the IC title shot. Reigns makes his way out to the ring to answer the challenge… of Samoa Joe who choked him out last week. Reigns tells Jordan to quit asking for stuff start trying to take what he wants. Joe heads out to the stage to accept the challenge. Meanwhile, Jordan starts taking shots at Joe, before suplexing Reigns from behind. Reigns tells Joe he has to wait his turn while he beats Jason Jordan.

After a weird start last week involving Reigns it was a positive change to start with Angle trying to regain control. Jason Jordan is slowly becoming a great heel for the company. The way its written puts fan favorite Angle in a tough spot as his son tries to take advantage of Angle being in charge. Including Reigns in the angle has taken away some of the heat from him.

Roman Reigns vs. Jason Jordan -InterContinental Title

Back from the break, we find out that Angle has ok’ed the match. Early on, Reigns dominates the match while taking Jordan outside the ring, throwing him into the ringside barriers and the ring steps. After throwing him out of the ring again Reigns set up the Drive-by. Jordan launches a bit of a comeback. Leading into commercial, Jordan move as Reigns crashes shoulder first into the ring post. Back from commercial, Jordan is working over Reigns shoulder. Reigns is able to make a bit of a comeback with some high impact clotheslines and kicks. Jordan was able to show his athletic ability off as he hits a dropkick before the Superman punch connects. After a couple of near falls, Reigns was able to hit the Superman Punch and the spear finally.

Winner: Reigns

Jordan really was impressive in this match. He was able to pull off and sell some moves well. It is obvious that we are moving towards some conflict between Jordan and Angle in the future.

As Reigns tries to recover in the ring, Samoa Joe came down to try and take down Reigns. Jason Jordan comes back into the ring and pulls Joe off Reigns with a suplex. Reigns Superman punches Jordan out of the ring as a thank you.

For some reason, Angle thinks he must apologize to Stephanie on the phone. Jordan comes in and demands a rematch for next week and wants to fight Joe tonight. Finally, Angle shows frustrations with Jordan and tells him to get out, as Joe comes in and attacks Jordan.

A quick video reminds the fans of Absolutions path of destruction the last two weeks, leading up to Sasha Banks versus Paige.

Paige vs. Sasha Banks

The two start off strong as both women hit some power moves and throw some serious punches. Hair pulling, throws, and punches continue as the two ladies tell the story of how intense this new rivalry has become. Both really used several combinations of submission moves. Alexa Bliss on commentary continues to pump herself up as better than all the women in and around the ring. As they head to the first break, Sasha spears Paige out of the ring. 

Back from break, we get a replay of Paige pulling Sasha Banks off the top rope to take control. After an exchange in the corner, Paige was able to Powerbomb Sasha off the top rope. Banks goes for the Banks statement that gets reverse to an attempted RamPaige, which Sasha reverses to the Banks Statement. A melee on the outside allows for Paige to take advantage and hit the RamPaige for the win.

Winner: Paige

The veteran ladies are starting to look like fools at this point. Week in and week out they are separated and then attacked. Keeping Alexia out of the fray at this point makes sense as she plays the sneaky heel who continues to avoid the new faction.

Angle trying to text looks like a 90-year-old grandfather trying to text. Elias comes in and wants a rematch. Since it can’t happen, he is happy enough to perform a concert which Angle favors his son.

And just what we were hoping for as we get another video recap of the Strowman and Kane rivalry. Maybe the production cost of the video was high. WWE wants to make sure their cost per use was under a certain amount. Seriously. It was a screeching halt to the show.

Seriously no one cares about this feud.

Enzo Amore tells Gulak and Nese that they have the chance to get the job done that wasn’t done last week. After dressing them down and sending them out to the ring to get it done, Amore turns around greeted by Nia Jax who gives Enzo a “How You Doing” before walking away leaving Enzo confused.

This past week, I got a survey from the WWE about 205 live and the Cruiserweight division. In it, they asked if I would watch the 205 Live more if superstars from Raw were involved. Evidently, enough people answered yes to that question, and this is the response.

Tony Nese vs. Grew Gulak vs. Cedrick Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali

This is the second 4-way match which will decide who will take on Rich Swain. The winner of that will take on Enzo Amore. After the ‘Zo train quickly dispatched, Alexander and Ali begin to face off. You can literally hear a pin drop in the crowd until a quick pop for Alexander’s dive outside the ring. After the dive, the crowd quickly went back to sleep. Nese attempts to come off the top rope. Gulak reminds him that it is a no-fly zone. Ali comes off the ropes taking down both Nese and Gulak. A bunch of high spots gets a few cheers, and all men are down.

As Cole yells about the fans being on their feet, you can see the crowd sitting down. Seriously not a single person was standing. Superplex off the top rope to a tepid response. A double superkick allows Ali and Alexander to go at each other once again. A Springboard Spanish Fly by Ali gets a few people to wake up from their nap to cheer, and a very weak this is awesome chant starts. Two Lumbar checks by Alexander. Gulak throws Alexander out of the ring and steals the win.

Seriously the crowd was utterly and completely dead for this match. They barely got into the end of the match.

Gulak thanks Charli for her hard-hitting questions. Gulak throws it the Titan Tron to answer the question with a PowerPoint only to be told we are out of time.

After the break, we are all lucky enough to get a live Elias concert. Elias, of course, asks who wants to walk with him before mentioning how he is worth following unlike the vapid celebrities that they all worship. Elias gets probably the most heat so far for the night as he sings about the parents and kids of Los Angeles. Braun Strowman’s music plays, and Elias gets out of the ring. Elias attacks Strowman from behind. Strowman throws Elias around before getting knocked out of the ring. Elias uses a guitar which doesn’t affect Strowman at all. Strowman continues his beatdown of Elias until Kane’s music starts up. Kane shows and says next week they will continue their feud. Well, at least I know there will be a part I can skip over next week.

Winner: No Contest?

Again, someone kill this feud, please!

Reigns tells Ambrose and Rollins now it is up to them. Rollins says that with everything out of the way they will get their titles back tonight. Ambrose has been envisioning knocking out more of Cesaro’s teeth and beating Sheamus to take their titles back.

Asuka vs. Alicia Fox

Alicia Fox isn’t Dana Brooke. She leads the Raw team to win and now has her own t-shirt, and she will end Asuka’s win streak. Alicia gets a little offense in before Asuka gets in some offense. She gains control with a kick to the face and some submission moves. Alicia goes for a scissors kick, but Asuka moves and puts Alicia down with a kick and locks in the Asuka Lock for the win.

Absolution surrounds the ring and Asuka makes her out of the ring while keeping an eye on Absolution. Paige gets in the ring to thank Alicia Fox for being her friend. Bringing in some reality about Fox being the only person who liked her when she was here before. Paige points out that although she likes her, Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose do not like her. The two make their way into the ring to take down Fox.

Finn Balor vs. Bo Dallas

Balor gets the crowd up as they cheer for his opening. Cole talks up the Miz and how great Dallas and Axel have become since working with the Miz. As Balor moves to the top rope, Axel distracts him allowing Dallas to gain control. The announcers are working hard to make Dallas seem like a tough guy. Dallas missed a clothesline for Balor to take control. Corner Dropkick, and the double stomp from the top rope.

Winner: Balor

I nearly fell out of my chair laughing when they talked about Balor continuing to build momentum. Seriously? Did you not watch the matches last week? He was an afterthought of the Strowman and Kane feud. At least he won here, let’s see what happens next week.

Even though the entire WWE Universe was screaming delete last week, the announcers are going to play dumb like they have no idea what is going on. Bray Wyatt shows up on the screen to say even Matt Hardy does not know who he is before a video with Matt Hardy appears. Matt talks about those who wander are not lost. Matt is British now and has hung out with Cleopatra, and Genghis Khan. The Spirt within the vessel once known as Matt Hardy is Awoken and he will delete Bray Wyatt.

The Shield vs. The Bar

Back from commercial, all the participants are in the ring for the ring announcements. Ambrose and Cesaro start out the match. Some still kicks and punches later and Sheamus tags in. As Ambrose tries to make a tag, Cesaro comes around and pulls Rollins of the ring. Sheamus and Cesaro keep Ambrose separated from his partner. Ambrose is able to separate and make the hot tag to Rollins. Rollins hits the sling blade, leg drop over the top rope and the dive out of the ring until Sheamus throws him into the ring post. 

Back from break, Sheamus and Cesaro continue to separate Rollins and work him over. Rollins hits the DDT to take down both men, but Sheamus makes the tag and Cesaro brings Rollins back to their corner. After taking out Ambrose outside the ring, Sheamus gorilla lifts Rollins and drops him into a Cesaro uppercut. Rollins dropkicks Sheamus out of the ring and is able to make the hot tag to Ambrose. Top Rope dropkick is blocked, and Cesaro goes for the airplane spin. Ambrose turns it into a pin attempt. As Rollins is down, Ambrose gets double teamed. Ambrose falls back into his own corner, and Rollins makes the tag and hits the Broken Arrow on Sheamus for a near pin.

All four men are down as everyone catches their breath. Sheamus starts to beatdown both Ambrose and Rollins as the ref tells him to get out of the ring. Sheamus continues until The Bar is DQ’d. Angle comes out and restarts the match. The Shield hits the suicide dive out of the ring. As it seems the Shield is going to win Samoa Joe comes out and attacks Ambrose and Rollins. Reigns comes out, and Superman punches Cesaro. In the melee, Sheamus hits the Brough Kick, and The Bar gets the win.

These guys put on a great match. They told a story throughout the entire time. It looks like Samoa Joe is taking the place of The Miz in the trio.

After a show last week that just felt really off, this week it felt like the focus was back on the wrestling and getting finishes rather than having several run-ins or beatdowns. The audience is not invested in the Strowman vs. Kane feud at all. They need to move away from this feud quickly and find someone to focus on Lesner.