WWE Raw: Live Updating Results, Highlights, and Analysis for October 30

Will Raw respond to SmackDown Live’s attack? Photo Source: WWE.com

Follow along with our live WWE Raw review.

Previously on WWE Raw, AJ Styles teamed up with The Shield, and everyone went bonkers. Finn Balor lost to Kane, and everyone was confused. Alicia Fox became the captain of the Raw Women’s team for Survivor Series, and everyone watched her go crazy. And the superstars of SmackDown Live beat the stuffing out of everyone on the Raw roster, and everyone kept saying “UNDER SIEGE!”

This week, the WWE Universe is hoping to get some answers to that whole “under siege” thing. Kurt Angle watched his superstars get decimated one after another, but didn’t launch a counter attack the following night on SmackDown. Will the Olympic Hero have anything to say this week on Raw?

Speaking of Survivor Series, we have no idea who is representing Team Red at the annual pay per view in the elimination tag team matches. The only member of any squad from Monday nights is Alicia Fox as captain of the women’s team. Will we find out who’s going to step up for Raw tonight?

And there’s a whole bunch of champion versus champion matches set up for Survivor Series. But will all of the current title holders even make it to Houston with their championships in their possession? Alexa Bliss hasn’t fully dealt with Mickie James, The Miz is a hunted man, and Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins just like to fight. Could we see a title change tonight?

There’s also a few superstars with scores to settle within the Raw brand. Elias has had his hands full with Jason Jordan. To handle things, The Drifter knocked Jordan over the head with his beloved guitar last week. What kind of consequences will Elias face? And then there’s Kane, trying to reclaim his spot as Raw‘s resident monster. Who will step up to the Big Red Machine’s challenge this week?

Related Story: WWE Raw Predictions: Title Change Set to Happen?

Be sure to follow along with our live WWE Raw review right here tonight starting at 8 p.m. ET.

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Kurt Angle Addresses The Siege

One thing Kurt Angle is that most other authority figures haven’t been? Real. When was the last time you heard Stephanie McMahon apologize for anything? Kurt thinks that he’s to blame for the assault by SmackDown last week, so he owns up to it. Personally, I don’t think he’s at fault – he got hoodwinked by a sneaky McMahon. That’s what they do!

But anyway, as Angle tries to apologize to the roster assembled on the stage, he’s interrupted by the above mentioned Stephanie McMahon. Oh, boy, here it comes.

Stephanie is literally the polar opposite of Kurt Angle. Whereas Angle is actually a real human being, Stephanie is a caricature of the worst of humanity. “Oh, Kurt, stop being so depressing… Let me lighten the mood! We’re about to celebrate 25 amazing years of Raw! Yeah, I’m the best. But you, Kurt…” and so on and so forth.

Steph says that it takes 25 years to build a reputation, but only 20 seconds to lose it. Funny, because she spends about 20 minutes or so destroying every god thing Kurt has done as Raw GM since he took over in April. After tearing Kurt down and making the entire show about her once again, Stephanie names Angle himself the captain of the Survivor Series team. And if Kurt doesn’t get the job done – which, in Stephanie’s eyes, is total annihilation – he needs to find his replacement as GM.

You don’t need me to tell you that if Stephanie is back, the show immediately suffers from a creative standpoint. She is 100% the worst of the WWE authority figures for so many reasons I can’t even list them all here. Here’s to a month of terrible promos leading to Survivor Series!

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Boy, Kurt is in a Bad Mood…

As if the opening segment wasn’t bad enough, we come back from commercial to see Angle groveling as Stephanie gets in her limo to leave. Well, there’s one bonus – she’s gone for the night. But watching Kurt act like a lovesick puppy dog lost its appeal in about 2003.

When Steph leaves, Miz arrives with his Miztourage back at 100%. Man, it’s nice to see Bo Dallas again. Anyway, Kurt is super mad that Miz is late, and he snaps at him when Miz does Miz things. Angle doesn’t want anyone who’s selfish or a coward representing Raw at Survivor Series. So he puts Miz in an Intercontinental Title match later tonight.

And in a rare vindictive moment for the Olympic Hero, he won’t tell Miz who his challenger will be. Guess Stephanie is rubbing off on Kurt now, which boooooooooo.

Bayley vs. Nia Jax

Result: Nia Jax defeated Bayley via pinfall

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Hmm, less than twenty minutes into Raw, and we’re already getting the bait and switch? That could be a new record! This match was scheduled to be Bayley vs. Alicia Fox, but Foxy came down to the stage in full on captain mode. No, seriously. She had a ship captain’s hat, and made an announcement like she was an airline pilot. It’s probably the best representation of her “craziness” to date.

Anyway, Foxy says she’s got to take her captainly duties seriously. So clearly, she doesn’t have time for a match. But she found a suitable replacement – in Nia Jax, so that’s the match we get instead.

Unsurprisingly, this match is basically every other Bayley/Jax match rolled together into one. Jax uses her considerable power advantage to obliterate Bayley for the majority of the match, until Bayley uses her speed and quickness to make a comeback. We’ve seen it before, and I’m sure we’ll see it again.

In the end, it was all Nia, as she just quite literally ran over Bayley before felling her with the leg drop for a victory. After the match, Alicia makes Nia the first pick for Raw‘s Survivor Series match.

Before the new teammates can leave the ringside area, Samoa Joe’s music plays, and the submission specialist marches to the ring.

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Welcome Back, Joe

It’s great to see Samoa Joe back in any capacity. Cutting an amazing promo is probably the best way to see him return, short of getting an impromptu match with Brock Lesnar and beating him to become Universal Champion. Beggars can’t be choosers, though.

Anyway, Joe basically lays out a challenge to get back into the swing of things, and it’s answered by… Apollo Crews? Okay!

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Samoa Joe vs. Apollo Crews (w/ Titus O’Neil)

Result: Samoa Joe defeated Apollo Crews via submission

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

Apparently, Crews wants to be on the Raw Survivor Series team after being the first one to get ambushed last week. He took this match to state his case. It’s a bold strategy, Cotton, let’s see if it pays off.

For the past several weeks, though, Crews has been quietly putting on some pretty good matches. Going up against Joe here is the next in line. Even though he came up on the losing end, Crews did a bunch of great things. He was able to get Joe staggered with a couple of standing enziguiris, but couldn’t close the deal with the toss powerbomb.

But if Joe was coming back, he was going to win. The urinage out of the corner was so vicious I want to bottle it up and save it for later. Apollo bounced about twenty feet after that, then ended up tapping out to the Coquina Clutch.

Titus O’Neil went to stand up for his client after the match – he also may have been looking for retribution after Joe threw his gum at Titus during the match. Joe looked to back off, but once Titus turned his back he was the next victim to the Coquina Clutch.

It’s safe to say Joe looks pretty healthy, and he seems to be ready for the long haul. Great to have him back.

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match

The Miz (c) (w/ Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel) vs. Matt Hardy

Result: The Miz defeated Matt Hardy via pinfaln

Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars

Raise your hand if you were expecting Jason Jordan to be the challenger tonight? I could picture the whole thing: Jordan goes up against Miz, Elias interferes to keep that feud going, as well as keep the strap on Miz. It almost writes itself.

To be honest, though, Matt Hardy as the challenger is intriguing. I’ve mentioned before that the Hardys are still great as a team, but their stamina for lengthy solo matches is a bit suspect. It’s not necessarily a bad thing- you just have to plot out the match to account for that – but it could limit things somewhat.

And with a lengthy commercial break in the middle of the match, it looks like the match was plotted out to account for potential stamina issues. Coming back from that commercial, it looked like Miz almost broke Matt’s neck with the elevated neckbreaker. It’s not a literal name for the move, Miz!

Once Matt cleared the cobwebs from that neckbreaker, things picked up in a big way. There were a couple of beautiful sequences in there – Matt set up the Twist of Fate, but Miz reversed it into a Skull Crushing Finale that got blocked. A Side Effect from Matt got a near fall. Then Matt hit a picture perfect moonsault (though it looked like he popped his kneecap on the landing) that also only scored a two count.

Matt finally hit the Twist of Fate, but Miz was able to roll under the ropes. By the time Matt got to him, Miz had recovered enough to hit a Skull Crushing Finale for the victory and successful title defense. It was a solid match with some stiff looking bumps, definitely better than I expected.

Boy, Kurt is in a Bad Mood (part 2)…

Alexa Bliss tries to butter up Angle, but he’s having none of it. Gotta respect a dude who can keep his eyes on the task at hand when his subordinates are trying to manipulate him. Anyway, Kurt decides that, since Alexa did nothing during the siege last week, she’s going to defend her Raw Women’s Championship against Mickie James. (Kurt could also be upset about all the lamer and lamer old person jokes Alexa keeps tossing Mickie’s way, we’ll never know.)

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Asuka vs. Stacie Cullen

Result: Asuka defeated Stacie Cullen via submission

Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars

So, let me get this straight. Asuka debuts on pay per view against Emma. She wins. The next night on Raw, there’s a rematch. Asuka wins again. Emma gets released. Now on Raw again, Asuka gets an enhancement talent? Aren’t we going backwards here?

Whatever the case may be, Asuka dominates. It doesn’t matter if it’s a hugely underrated superstar like Emma, or “Stacie Cullen,” or whoever. Even in a 50/50 match, Asuka dominates. It’s not the easiest thing to see, but go back and watch any of Asuka’s NXT matches. In most of them, she doesn’t dominate the whole thing – much like her TLC match against Emma.

But even though she doesn’t wipe the mat with her opponent in thirty seconds, that doesn’t mean she’s not dominating. When she’s on the defensive, you can almost see her opponents mentally agitated. “Is this enough to finally put her down?” Clearly, nothing has been enough just yet.

Here, in about two minutes or so, Asuka gets the victory over Cullen. Did you expect anything different?

Photo Source: WWE.com

Kurt is a Terrible Actor

At first, it seems that angle is running some kind of preparedness drill for the Raw roster. Man, he is awful at acting. But it’s not a drill. THIS IS REAL, PEOPLE!

Because HOLY CRAP DANIEL BRYAN IS ON RAW IN THE SAME ROOM AND SCENE AS KURT ANGLE AND THIS IS THE BEST RAW OF 2017 IN A WALK JUST FOR THIS.

Angle doesn’t believe that Bryan is on a peacekeeping mission. Bryan is insistent that he’s here of his own volition, and Shane McMahon doesn’t know anything about this. But Kurt is hell bent on proving that Raw is going to take out SmackDown at Survivor Series. He tells Bryan that he’s concerned for his safety, and tells the SmackDown GM to stay in his office.

After a Brock Lesnar/Jinder Mahal video recap, Daniel is shown on the phone and the lights go out. BRAY WYATT IS GOING TO FINISH THE JOB FROM ALL THOSE YEARS AGO, ISN’T HE?

Nope, Bryan is locked in Angle’s office in the dark, and Kane chokeslams him! GOOD GOD, CAN WE JUST GET BRYAN ON THE SURVIVOR SERIES TEAM ALREADY?

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Finn Balor vs. Cesaro (w/ Sheamus)

Result: Finn Balor defeated Cesaro via pinfall

Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars

Last week we got to see AJ Styles tearing it up in the ring against the Swiss Cyborg. This week, Cesaro goes head to head with Balor, and once again, everyone rejoices. The sheer in-ring capabilities of both superstars is top rate, and not even terrible Booker T commentary can detract from my enjoyment of this one.

It was a nice slow build in this one – there wasn’t too much too soon, but the match was structured in such a way that Balor and Cesaro took their time getting to the big stuff. Sometimes that’s better than just all out insanity like you would see in a lot of other promotions. That’s not meant as a knock on the fast-paced action on the independent scene – I really enjoy that stuff, personally – but you can’t do 100 mph all the time. Sometimes you gotta relax, slow down, and enjoy the scenery.

Things did eventually pick up, as you would expect. Sheamus’s presence as a distraction was a bit annoying – mainly because Balor/Cesaro should be plenty good enough on its own. You don’t need anything else. I mean, Cesaro hitting a superplex on Balor with Finn still on the apron to start should be more than enough to sell someone on this match.

Finn was able to neutralize the Sheamus threat, taking both members of The Bar out with a tope con giro. Back in the ring, Balor hit Cesaro with a double stomp to the back of the neck – a Coup d’Etat, maybe? – for the victory. It wasn’t the barnburner one would have expected, but it was a perfectly fine match.

As Balor retreated up the ramp, Kane made his way to the ring. Finn launched a pre-emptive attack as retribution for last week’s loss, but Kane quickly got the upper hand. Finn’s night took a turn for the worse as The big Red Machine hit a (very sloppy looking) Tombstone Piledriver on the stage. Kane’s opponent for the night, Seth Rollins, made his way through the crowd for the match.

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Kane vs. Seth Rollins (w/ Dean Ambrose)

Result: Kane defeated Seth Rollins via pinfall

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

This was an overbooked mess from top to bottom. One good thing that has helped Raw of late – mainly the past two weeks – is the excellent flow from segment to segment. (This was pointed out by Ryan Dilbert of Bleacher Report.) But even that couldn’t save this debacle.

First off, Cesaro and Sheamus hung around ringside for the match. It was only going to be a matter of time before Chekhov’s Bar would come into play during the match, so you almost want it to happen right away to get it over with. But instead, it takes until the final sequence to pay that off.

Then, you still have the reality that it’s 2017 and Kane is a monster above all others once again. Rollins is one half of the tag team champions, but here he is playing feeder to a mayoral candidate. I guess that Balor and Rollins have more in common than just the Sling Blade, huh?

Rollins and his lame suicide dives are back, as well – we had a good run for a couple of weeks where they had looked pretty good, but tonight they were wet noodles again. Dean Ambrose playing cheerleader was kind of silly, but believe it or not that fits his character so well that I didn’t mind.

But Rollins was victim to standing up for his friend, partner, and brother after The Bar attacked. Once Rollins saved Ambrose, he tried attacking Kane with the Flying Nothing, and fell victim to a chokeslam and a loss.

After the match, Kane ate a Dirty Deeds from Ambrose, but sat right up and hit the Lunatic Fringe with a Tombstone. Because it’s 2017, and Kane is the most powerful superstar on the roster. Okay.

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Backstage…

First, Daniel Bryan got carried away via stretcher. I can’t believe that it took an entire commercial break and match for the paramedics to get a guy with a history of head and neck injuries carried out of the building.

Then, The Miz and his Miztourage went to celebrate the victory earlier tonight. But Miz’s locker room stunk, and Axel found a bag of garbage in the middle of the floor. Miz took this to mean that Braun Strowman was back, and Bo and Axel tried to calm him down. The bigger question: Did anyone get Bo his lobster bib?

Miz tracked down Kane to try and get the big man’s help – just in case. But Kane – despite telling Miz that Strowman would know where to find him – tells The A-Lister that he’s on his own.

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Trick or Street Fight

Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson

Result: Heath Slater & Rhyno defeated Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson via pinfall

Rating: 1.0 out of 5 stars

STOP THE PRESSES: TEX FERGUSON AND CHAD 2 BADD ARE IN THE HOUSE! Once again, BEST RAW OF 2017.

Meanwhile, Slater and Rhyno are dressed as Santa and Mrs. Claus for unknown reasons. But it’s Halloween (Eve), so there’s pumpkins everywhere, and skeletons hanging from the ringposts, and an apple bobbing bucket.

Great stuff aside, this was a disaster. Between Rhyno’s bloomers, the disgusting pumpkin guts, and the commentary team just absolutely burying everything going on, there was no hope for this match. It wasn’t going to be a five star classic by any stretch of the imagination. But the crowd hated it – even the Southpaw Regional stuff, which come one, man – and the broadcast did it no favors, either.

It’s been a long time since Gallows and Anderson were actually a threat in the tag division. This one could have set them back even further than they’ve already been. How do you take a team so good and relegate them to this? I mean, Slater and Rhyno? It’s unfair, but this suits them and their schtick as a team. But one of the greatest tag teams in wrestling from the past 5-10 years or so? Unbelievable.

Here’s to Gallows and Anderson getting a total repackage as Ferguson and 2 Badd, and let them cash those WWE checks while doing goofy crap like this for the life of their contracts. Forget the Balor/Bullet Club reunions and stuff, there’s no way anyone will take any of it seriously if they saw this garbage tonight.

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

The Miz Has No Friends

Seriously, he doesn’t. I think the Miztourage even hangs around just for the good eats. Here, The Bar tells him the same thing Kane did – Miz is on his own against a possible Strowman attack.

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

The Ballad of Jason Jordan

Elias debuts his newest hit, and predictably, it’s a heat magnet. This feud seemingly sprung up out of nowhere, but it’s actually been halfway decent thus far. Jordan took the first points with the produce attack(s). The Drifter got one back last week with a six string to the shoulder area.

Just when it looks like Elias is going to get through the entirety of “The Ballad of JAson Jordan,” out comes the song’s namesake. Surprise! His shoulder seems okay-ish – just bruised. The Gold-Blooded superstar gets the upper hand, and is left alone in the ring with Elias’s guitar.

You had to know what was coming next, right? There was no way that axe was leaving the ring in one piece. So Jordan smashes it, and Elias is distraught. And even better than the Jordan/Elias feud is the back and forth between Corey Graves and Booker T on commentary. As bad as the announce team was during the garbage Halloween street fight, that’s how good they were here. For once, it’s actually enhancing a rivalry. I like it.

Sorry, Miz, You’re Stuck Here

The A-Lister tries to make a quick exit with Dallas and Axel, but Kurt Angle stops them. Boy, is he (still) mad. He’s super ticked that Miz would dare leave early after arriving late – which, to be fair, is a real jerk move. So he tells the trio that they’re staying until the end of the show – or else.

Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter

Drew Gulak vs. Kalisto

Result: Kalisto defeated Drew Gulak via pinfall

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars

First off, big mistake by WWE by having Gulak appear outside of his amazing Halloween costume. I’ve said a few times that this is the best episode of Raw in 2017. Well, if Gulak would have been in the ring in his Sasha Banks costume, this would be the best episode of Raw in history.

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Second, if Drew Gulak isn’t your favorite wrestler, you’re wrong. I’m proud to admit that I’ve been riding shotgun on the Gulak bandwagon since before he joined WWE, so I knew what he was capable of. But if you judged him by his earlier post-CWC stuff and haven’t given him a chance, well, now’s the time to get on board. Otherwise, you’re S-O-F-T SOFT!

I’m not a fan in general of Gulak teaming with Enzo for a couple of reasons, but if that’s what’s pushing Drew to a better spot in the cruiserweight division, so be it. But once Kalisto hits the ring, the match itself is pretty short. It’s literally all Kalisto, and a quick Salida del Sol ends it.

Enzo attacks immediately following the match – like, as the ref’s hand came down for three, so that was pretty impressive. I guess Enzo and Kalisto is still a thing for now.

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WWE Raw Women’s Championship Match

Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Mickie James

Result: Alexa Bliss defeated Mickie James via pinfall

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

You know, it’s great for women’s matches to get the main event spot on Raw without it seeming like it’s a big deal. What’s not great is having said women’s main event get eaten up by a commercial break where the turning point of the match is off screen. It’s frustrating in any match, but in a main event? Terrible job.

Alexa, though, did everything in her power to keep the pace slow. Chin locks, head locks, hair pulling, etc all kept Bliss in firm control. And the way she taunted even the referee during all of it was amazing. “I’ll bit that hand right off” as he checked on Mickie? Impressive. The sarcastic counting along with the ref’s five count was nice, too.

Of course, nothing good can stay, since the idiots in the crowd started CM Punk chants. Let me make this clear: HE’S NOT COMING BACK. STOP IT. (And I’m not saying the whole audience was made up of idiots. I’m saying the handful of idiots in the crowd started the chants. Love ya, Baltimore.)

The finish came from out of nowhere. It looked like Mickie was making a nice comeback, but all of a sudden Alexa caught her with a big forearm to the jaw. It was enough for a three count, and a rather surprising successful title defense.

But Wait… There’s More

The Miz finally makes his getaway, as his plan was to leave as soon as Raw ended. He and his cronies made it into their limo, but their trip is cut short by the sudden appearance of a garbage truck. I think we all know where this is headed, even if it’s not the same garbage truck from TLC.

Yes, Miz’s doors are inexplicably locked, and from out of the mounds of garbage in the truck, Braun Strowman appears. It’s dumb and ridiculous and totally unrealistic and the best thing on the best episode of Raw in 2017. It’s made even better when Strowman leaps off the top of the limo and chases after the Miztourage at full speed.

They end up at ringside – thankfully Alexa Bliss caught the hint and made herself scarce – and it’s all Strowman in a 1-on-3 beatdown. Miz gets tossed into the stage, Axel take six running powerslams including one through the announce table(Corey Graves with the line of the night – “Strowman is powerslamming Axel for reps!”), and it’s vintage Strowman for about ten minutes.

Next: 25 Greatest Entrance Theme Songs in WWE History

So Braun is back from being Shredder’d at TLC, and two title matches resulted in no title changes. We know who’s the captain of the men’s team at Survivor Series, and Nia Jax is joining Alicia Fox on the women’s team. What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE Raw?