WWE Raw Recap, Grades & Opinion: October 21, 2019

WWE Raw Recap: October 21, 2019

A.K.A. The One Without Women’s Wrestling

Results:

Drew McIntyre def. Ricochet
Aleister Black def. Jason Reynolds
Andrade def. Sin Cara
Viking Raiders def. Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins
Sunil Singh def. R-Truth (c) to become 24/7 Champion
Seth Rollins def. Humberto Carillo
Street Profits def. The O.C. (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows)

Match of the Night: Seth Rollins def. Humberto Carillo

Tough call between this match and McIntyre versus Ricochet. Given that we’ve seen The Scottish Psychopath and Ricochet square off a bunch, this fresh matchup gets the call. I break down this match a bit more in the Three Thoughts section below. In this section, enjoy some impressive Humberto Carillo gifs.

https://twitter.com/tde_wrestling/status/1186470038448070656

https://twitter.com/tde_wrestling/status/1186467695371472896

Three Thoughts:

Heelish Seth?

One of the biggest takeaways on this Raw was the new tweener tendencies of Universal Champion Seth Rollins. Rollins explained his actions last week when he burnt down the Firefly Funhouse. Also earlier in the night, Humberto Carillo was interviewed and said his goal was to become Universal Champion. Seth gave him a shot at the champ in a non-title match.

"As the #UniversalChampion, let me say welcome to Monday Night #RAW. How about you have your first match on #RAW AGAINST the #UniversalChampion TONIGHT…RIGHT NOW?"

Are we about to see @WWERollins vs. @Humberto_wwe?! pic.twitter.com/Xmq72tRyCc

— WWE (@WWE) October 22, 2019

The match was excellent, but that wasn’t the biggest takeaway. Rollins was acting decidedly cocky and heelish during the match. He kept telling Carillo that he wasn’t in the champ’s league. Rollins was vicious, and after the match he went back into the ring. The change was so stark, some thought that Rollins was going back to attack Carillo. Instead, he offered the young gun a handshake. It isn’t a heel turn, but it is worth keeping in mind for the next while.

Where Was The Women’s Division?

Seriously, it was missing on this show. Not a single mention of any of the women’s talents, aside from Lana (more on that hilarious segment later) and Zelina Vega. While it is true many of the women’s wrestlers are on tour in Australia, there are some still available for WWE. Even pre-taped promo segments would have been prefered to absolutely nothing. It only serves to remind people of the unpopular Saudi shows coming up in a week’s time.

New Blood, New Chances

The show did have a bit of a new feel to it. Carillo looked extremely impressive in his loss. The Viking Raiders are shown as world beaters. Aleister Black got a showcase squash match, and even the Bollywood Boyz had entertaining segments. Finally, the Street Profits got to shine in the main event.

WRONG GUY, @RonKillings!

Sunil @SinghBrosWWE is STILL your #247Champion! #RAW pic.twitter.com/vPLJoB5vHL

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) October 22, 2019

With the draft over and done, some gems deeper on the card are getting a chance to shine. Shelton Benjamin came out to play second heavy to Brock Lesnar and intimidate Rey Mysterio. That led to Cain Velasquez making an appearance to take out Benjamin. Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins got mic time, and Sin Cara had a good match with Andrade. Overall, Raw did a good job of using the extent of their men’s roster tonight.

Grade: C+

A show with no women’s wrestling content, and that is explicitly shilling for the Saudi Arabia shows can’t get higher than this. Still, the matches were entertaining. The show ended on a high, with Kevin Owens coming out to even the odds for the Street Profits. Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins looked great to end the night.

One More Thing:

Rusev’s revenge! This segment has almost made me a believer in the Lana-Bobby Lashley storyline. Almost. He attacked Lashley while he was out for dinner at a restaurant with Lana. It was pretty dang funny.