WWE Raw 10/30/2023: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved
Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s initially terrifying but ultimately harmless weekly review of "WWE Raw!" It was "Raw's" go-home show for Crown Jewel this week, with technically an eighth match added to the card, and the red brand's current storylines all seem locked and loaded as we head toward Riyadh. Now, does this article cover all those storylines? No. We have another one that does that, thoroughly and objectively. You should read it.
Here, WINC writers and editors single out a few things that happened each episode and explain why we enjoyed one segment but not another. Did we pop for the main roster debut of former "NXT" Tag Team Champions The Creed Brothers? Did we groan at yet another Sami Zayn vs. The Judgment Day main event? Most importantly, how did we feel about the only Halloween-themed part of the episode, the Trick or Street Fight? All those questions and more are about to be answered, because these are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 10/30/23 episode of "WWE Raw."
Loved: A great opener by Sami Zayn (Olivia Quinlan, WINC news writer)
There are a multitude of fantastic in-ring performers and speakers out there, and Sami Zayn is certainly no exception to this. However, not everyone can incite emotion and create a connection with the crowd, and I think this is what sets Zayn apart and where he shines best.
It looked like the opening segment of "Raw" would entail Rhea Ripley promoting all of Judgment Day's upcoming singles matches — until Zayn appeared. Zayn passionately told Ripley, Dominik Mysterio, and JD McDonagh that he would continue to fight every single member of the group until he took all their power they held away from them.
Promos are always made better when you can tell what the performer is saying is coming from a real place, and that is exactly what made this particular one from Zayn work. You just knew that he honestly believed what he was saying about having to rebel and fight people in power all the time, which made for magic — a fantastic opener for the show.
Loved: Creeds debut in an old school, classic tag team tussle (Jon Jordan, WINC news writer)
For months now, the Creed Brothers have been rumored to be coming to the main roster in WWE sooner than later, and tonight, sooner became now, with Brutus and Julius (with Ivy Nile by their side) accepting Alpha Academy's open challenge and earning the win on "WWE Raw."
I saw everything about this as coming across about as impeccably as it could have. From the simple manner in which they debuted (accepting an open challenge), to the obvious excitement and emotion on their faces coming through the curtain, to their first main roster opponents (who better than the amateur pedigree of Chad Gable and Otis?), to Nile being in the fray (as well she should be), to the match itself (a throwback testament to textbook tag team competition), it all lined up. And the fact that the Creeds were victorious, and got respect in the way of handshakes from their adversaries after the match, was the icing on the cake. Throw in a mini-spat between Nile and Alpha Academy's Maxxine Dupri (and "junior cadet" Akira Tozawa, of course, who can do no wrong in these eyes) and I just don't see how this could have gone any better.
The bottom line here is this: Another formidable tag team in the ranks of the main roster, especially one with the raw talent and amateur backgrounds of The Creed Brothers, can only be a positive. I'd sign up for ten more matches between these four right now, and from there, the possibilities are endless. (Creeds vs. Viking Raiders, anyone? Oh, man!)
Now then, Brutus and Julius still have business to tend to tomorrow night on "WWE NXT," taking part in a "Tables, Ladders, and Scares" match against Los Lotharios as part of Night 2 of Halloween Havoc, but I would think they did more than enough tonight to stick around on "Raw" moving forward, whether that was the plan all along or not.
Hated: Concussions, real or fake (Miles Schneiderman, WINC senior lead news editor)
So to preface all of this, I'm still not entirely sure whether Candice LeRae getting injured during her match with Xia Li is a work or not, but given that they did a segment with her selling the injury backstage, my guess is that it is. If it's not, the "hated" here is easy: You hate to see people get injured. It sucks. If LeRae really did get hurt, I really hope she feels better soon, because she rules and she deserves to have an actual main roster run at some point other than whatever it is she's gotten so far.
If it is a work, though, the "hated" is still easy, because it still sucks and you still hate to see it. Or at least I do. Legitimate concussions in wrestling happen often enough, I don't need the fake wrestling show pretending they happen even more frequently than they already do. And what's the point of this? Are we trying to make Xia Li look Actual Dangerous instead of just Wrestling Dangerous? Because if so, stop. Just let her be a wrestler. She's decent at it, she doesn't need to be someone who sends people to the hospital because that's how strong her kicks are. I'm all for giving her TV time because she still needs live reps, but I'm really hoping that doesn't come with a "concusses people" gimmick, because oof.
Hated: The Miz is not a face (Jordan)
Look up "face you want to smack" in the dictionary and, well, you wouldn't find anything since phrases don't generally show up there, but let's pretend they do. If so, you'd find a picture of The Miz right there next to it. From the entrance and the gear to the catchphrases and the cadence and onto his generally pompous nature and those obnoxiously white teeth, he's about as heel as heel can get. Add to that his wildly underrated ability and longevity in what is surely a Hall of Fame career at this point, and it's hard to question any direction in which his character is taken.
Except turning babyface, as he appeared to be doing rather abruptly Monday night in a Miz TV segment featuring GUNTHER and Imperium.
The Greenville crowd got behind Miz opposite the current Intercontinental Champion and his cronies all too quickly and easily, which tells me that this was precisely what was intended. With the previously advertised DIY vs. Imperium match up next, I figured we were headed for a Miz/DIY alignment that would make no sense other than, what? Cleveland? The Miz is just so over as a heel and the go-to bullet in the gun when WWE needs a foil to whichever hot babyface in search of an opponent at any point, I hate to see that taken away.
Was this simply a way to get Miz involved in a who's-next-for-GUNTHER-and-the-IC-title story? Maybe, sure, but it seems like everyone not in the main event picture at the moment is vying to dethrone GUNTHER at this point, so you could just throw Miz into the mix in his natural heel state anyway. But I don't see GUNTHER's run ending at the hands of a heel, so there goes any believability if that were the move. (Side note: Good stuff, overall, making the Intercontinental Championship seem even more important than GUNTHER's already made it, what with the lineup of contenders after the belt.) Just don't make The Miz a crowd favorite — or try to, that is — cause that's just not going to work.
Hated: Run-ins and assisted victories galore (Quinlan)
Dear WWE: Please stop doing run-ins and assisted wins to end matches.
I love the occasional run-in or assisted win; when used right, I think they can be a great tool for advancing storylines. However, if they become overused, it gets to a certain point where it feels overdone and repetitive, and "Raw" definitely ran into that issue Monday night — not helped by the fact that almost all of them involved The Judgment Day in some capacity.
Starting off I didn't mind JD McDonagh and Rhea Ripley helping Dominik Mysterio defeat Ricochet. That being said, it feels like an ending that's been done so many times over the past few weeks, and it would be nice to see Dominik get a win on his own. The same can be said for McDonagh during his match with Seth "Freakin" Rollins, only this time it was Damian Priest teasing a Money In The Bank cash in while McDonagh didn't pick up the win. Yes, I get they want to keep the intrigue around when Priest will cash in, but it didn't really work to benefit anyone as Rollins still picked up the win and the whole thing came off as pretty pointless.
Speaking of Priest, Jey Uso caused a double disqualification in his main event match with Sami Zayn, leading to a huge brawl between them, the rest of Judgment Day, and Cody Rhodes (which, in other words, is essentially the same way "Raw" has ended for the past few months). The only instance where I didn't mind having an assisted victory was Piper Niven helping Chelsea Green during her Trick or Street Fight with Natalya, as she and Green are a tag team and she was involved throughout the whole match rather than just the ending.
Keep in mind too, this is just from this Monday alone. This has been an ongoing problem for quite some time, but it was especially apparent on this specific "Raw," and made things quite predictable and stale.
Loved: An unexpected treat (Schneiderman)
Look, I'm sure there are many people who found Chelsea Green vs. Natalya more of a trick than a treat, and I understand why. This kind of silly fluff match with the announcers laughing the whole time was once a staple of the WWE women's division at its worst, a core ingredient in the "we don't take women seriously" recipe. Maybe this gives you flashbacks of a time where a non-wrestling fan walked in on your wrestling show at exactly this point, watched for 20 seconds, then wrinkled their nose and walked out. If so, I get it. In my younger days, perhaps I too would have been horrified at the prospect of wrestling not being taken seriously.
But I'm older now, and I no longer need wrestling to be taken seriously. I just want the show to be fun to watch. And like it or not, this match was fun. Nattie's outfit was a maybe little risqué, but Green and Piper Niven being dressed up like Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart was incredible; they weren't like "Sexy Bret Hart" or whatever, either, and the match in general didn't have the same lascivious male gaze feel that characterized how this would have looked a decade ago. Yes, the announcers were laughing and making jokes, but it didn't feel like they were doing that because the match was clearly not worth caring about and they had to do something to entertain themselves while it was going on — it felt like they were having a good time, because the match was actually funny and entertaining. Most notably, the spot with Nikki Cross' head sticking up from under the table to make it look like she'd been beheaded, with the same glazed-over expression she debuted last week, was wonderfully unexpected and funny. I don't need my wrestling to make me think about the dangers of concussions; I need my wrestling to have a bag of thumbtacks that's actually filled with candy corn, and for the wrestlers to bump on the candy corn while Wade Barrett reacts in horror because "nobody likes candy corn." Perfect. 11/10.
But despite the comedic nature of the match, Natalya and Green were also out here working, countering submissions and going through tables even as they smashed pumpkins and hit each other with actual pies. There was even some creativity in the finish, with Nattie and Chelsea executing the standard "babyface moves, heel hits their partner" spot, which resulted in Niven getting literally pie-faced, but then reversing it, with Green moving out of Natalya's way and letting her hit Niven (a very Chelsea move) and then using the distraction to hit her finisher. The match was fun, the commentary was fun, the finish was good, and the right person won. I legitimately thought this was the best match of the night.
That said, when it comes to wrestling I am also an eager and avid consumer of absolute trash, so maybe this was just that, but I loved it, largely because it was trash. That's also possible.