WWE Raw Results: Highlights, Analysis, and Grades for November 13

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Follow along with our live WWE Raw review. It’s the final episode before Survivor Series!

Previously on WWE Raw, the company broke with stereotype and held a show in England without old timey phone booths on the stage! In more serious news, we have new Raw Tag Team Champions, as The Bar defeated The Shield. Pete Dunne debuted, and smashed Enzo Amore’s face in en route to victory. The Survivor Series men’s team filled up, and the women’s side chose all but one member. Oh, and there was a guitar, a pole, and a silly match centered around it.

This week, the Red Team makes one last stop before Survivor Series. In one of two previously announced matches, The Shield reunites in full once again. Roman Reigns is returning to action after a serious illness, teaming up with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. They’ll take on new tag champs Cesaro and Sheamus, plus Intercontinental Champion The Miz.

The second match has bigger Survivor Series implications. The Raw women are still short one member of their team for this Sunday. So Kurt Angle has scheduled a triple threat match to determine that final participant. Bayley, Dana Brooke, and Mickie James will battle for the chance to represent their brand. But rumors indicate there may be a surprise in store…

We’ll also hear from Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar. The Beast has been preparing to face Jinder Mahal at Survivor Series in a champion vs. champion match. But last week on SmackDown, AJ Styles defeated Mahal for the WWE Championship. With a new opponent set, what state of mind will Heyman and Lesnar be in?

Let’s not forget the battle of the monsters. Kane and Braun Strowman have developed into hated rivals and the bitterest of enemies in recent weeks. The Big Red Machine wants to remind everyone that he’s the real monster on Raw. Strowman just wants to destroy everyone in sight – including Kane, if need be. It’s just a matter of time before one puts the other away for good.

Related Story: WWE Bold Predictions: Jinder Mahal to Get His Rematch?

Please join us right for for our live WWE Raw review starting at 8 p.m. ET.

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Stephanie McMahon Is In Charge, Don’t You Know?

Nothing says “riveting television” like a millionaire corporate executive talking about shareholders! But that’s how Raw kicks off – Stephanie comes out and goes off on a mini rant about corporate decisions, shareholders, and employees. Smart way to start the go-home show for a Big Four pay per view event.

Thankfully, Stephanie quickly brings out Kurt Angle. The good feelings are short-lived, though, because Stephanie goes on another rant. This time, she plays teacher to a weary student in Kurt Angle. Every time Angle answers one of Stephanie’s condescending, rude questions, she responds with, “That’s not my question.” I hate playing that game with my students, because it’s a waste of time, and no one comes out of it looking good.

The TL;DR version of this? Stephanie is upset because Angle chose Jason Jordan as the fifth member of Team Raw. Why? Because John Cena was available. Apparently, Stephanie doesn’t understand the term “free agent.” She’s so upset because she doesn’t think Kurt is taking this Survivor Series match seriously, and she’s about to fire him until The Shield makes their way to the ring.

The Hounds of Justice stand up for Angle, so Stephanie turns her attack on them. It’s less effective than her tirade on Angle, because Kurt’s a big ol’ dork and The Shield are cool renegades. Reigns has one of his best mic segments in a while as he puts the boss in her place, before he challenges The New Day to a six-man match at Survivor Series.

This was a very uneven segment, with very low lows but a few really high high spots. Basically, it was your typical Stephanie McMahon “I’m in charge!” segments. But it gets us a step closer to a killer trios match at Survivor Series, and Angle has a reason to light the fire under his feet.

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Mickie James vs. Dana Brooke vs. Bayley

Result: Bayley pinned Mickie James to win the match

Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars

Some interesting work at the beginning of the match, with a three-way test of strength type grapple. I’ve probably seen it somewhere before, but it’s not coming to me, so as far as I’m concerned it’s new. Lots of good WWE-style triple threat work (you know, two superstars wrestling while the third bides their time, waiting for a perfectly timed distraction/interference).

A lot of the match happened in the commercial break, but there was more than enough here to make it a really good match. Namely, Asuka at ringside. Dana Brooke was hanging in there for a while, but after a double facebuster with Mickie, Dana rolled out to the floor to recover. And that’s where her night took a turn for the worst.

Yes, you’re seeing that correctly. Asuka went to check on Dana, who responded by throwing the first punch. Oh, Dana, that was a bad idea. Asuka, as would be expected, lost it and chased Dana down, kicking her head clean off and leaving Dana down for the count.

With Dana incapacitated, Mickie and Bayley were left alone in the ring. Mickie had been in control for much of the match, but once Dana went down Bayley took over. A Bayley to Belly later, and The Hugger is headed to Survivor Series.

It was the result most probably would have expected. And while the match was pretty good, I don’t know if the reveal of Bayley being the final member really needed to be drawn out another week like this.

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Enzo Amore & Drew Gulak vs. Kalisto & Akira Tozawa

Result: Enzo Amore & Drew Gulak defeated Kalisto & Akira Tozawa via pinfall

Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars

HUGE missed opportunity for Enzo not adding “And this right here, this is Drew Gulak, and he’s a PowerPoint guru, and you can’t teach that” back into his routine. If he’s part of the Zo Train, he needs to get some props from the conductor. Not cool, bro.

A second missed opportunity – though not as huge since the social media team caught it – is not calling the team of Kalisto and Tozawa “LUCH-AH”. I figured Corey Graves would be all over that, but I guess not.

The commercial breaks were killing me in these first two matches. On one hand, it’s great that the matches are getting the amount of time that necessitates a commercial break. Longer matches equals more wrestling, and it’s a wrestling show. That’s good! On the other hand, you miss a lot of things, like that sweet Drew Gulak knee to the back of Tozawa’s head.

Again, though, there was plenty of great action live after the commercial break. Tozawa and Kalisto look so natural when they take to the skies, it’s almost not fair. And there was lots of aerial work in this one. Nothing really crazy here except for Enzo getting a squeaky clean pinfall over Tozawa. Even Graves pointed out that “Enzo didn’t even need to cheat to win this one.”

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Angle Rallies The Troops

Trying to keep his game face on, the Raw GM gathered the members of his Survivor Series team backstage. Possibly because Stephanie threatened him earlier in the evening, possibly because he reads my columns and saw I called him a loser, Kurt’s trying to make things right.

Because Samoa Joe and Finn Balor hate each other, Angle wants them to practice getting on the same page. So later on, they’ll team up against Gallows and Anderson. As for Jason Jordan, to avoid charges of nepotism he’s booked against Bray Wyatt. (Way to bury the lede that Wyatt’s back, guys.)

Finally, Braun Strowman gets Kane. Not because it’s what Angle wanted, because it’s what Strowman demanded. And who on earth is going to say no to Braun Strowman?

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Championship Edition of Miz TV

The best part of Miz TV is usually The Miz. Tonight was no exception. Prior to The Bar coming down, Miz dropped fire in his promo. A couple of little hiccups aside (and I think those came from sheer emotion), it was fantastic. I am so hyped for Miz’s match at Survivor Series it’s unbelievable.

Sheamus and Cesaro will never be accused of being great mic guys. They can get by okay, but they’ll never end up on a list of terrific talkers or something like that. Sheamus gives it a good effort. And I really like the “jailbreak the Uso Penitentiary” line. Really clever, and a great addition to the promo.

With these three heading into a big match against The Shield later tonight, do we really think Roman, Dean, and Seth are losing? This is what The Bar and The Miz needed to hype their own Survivor Series matches.

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Bray Wyatt vs. Jason Jordan

Result: Jason Jordan defeated Bray Wyatt via pinfall

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

Without looking it up, how long ago was Bray Wyatt WWE Champion? Feels like forever ago, right? He lost the championship at WrestleMania, barely six months ago. How crazy is it that he’s just “sadistic” now, as opposed to a championship caliber superstar?

Jordan continues his streak of “overperforming” against upper-level superstars, at least early on. Getting Wyatt with an overhead belly to belly suplex is no small feat. It was a great flurry of offense right off the blocks. But heading into the commercial (three for three on matches with commercial breaks, by the way), Wyatt took over and gave us a glimpse of the old Bray – creepy without being silly.

During the commercial, Jordan tweaked a knee on a cross body attempt, leaving him vulnerable for the rest of the match. Despite that, he kept fighting back from whatever Wyatt threw at him. Or, in some cases, however hard Wyatt threw Jordan – like that urinage that looked nasty. It was almost like Bray didn’t even think Jordan was a human being – more like a bag of rice.

With Kurt Angle (and Stephanie McMahon) watching from backstage, Jordan got a surprise rollup victory, bad leg and all. But after the match, Wyatt attacked Jordan and ofcused on the leg. Bad news? Looks like this is going to be used to either write Jordan out of Sunday’s match, or he’s going to be sole survivor. Either of those would be bad from a story standpoint, in my opinion. We’ll see what Angle decides after that especially sappy backstage segment.

Good news? The crowd may have given Jordan his “Die Rocky Die” moment. I’m guessing the fans in Atlanta – a notorious hotbed for wrestling in the territory days – were on to the fact that the leg “injury” was a work, because the chants of “Thank you Wyatt” and singing Steam tunes were pretty low class otherwise.

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Lesnar’s Phenomenal Challenge at Survivor Series

What a wonderful, wild, weird, wacky segment this was. When someone decides to propose marriage during a freaking Paul Heyman promo, it’s going to be a bumpy night.

But interruptions aside, it was the same basic promo Heyman has delivered for opponents like Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman. He manages to acknowledge AJ Styles as a worthy opponent, possibly the best Lesnar has ever faced. But in the same breath, he makes sure to remind everyone that Lesnar is still the best.

I like the idea of breaking down the promo into five specific points. In the hands of a lesser talker, it might seem too clichéd and too rigid. But in the master hands (lips?) of Paul Heyman, it comes across as just right. And like always, this was basically the 1980s come back to life. It’s typical territory type hype, and it works so well for the Lesnar character – who really is just like a throwback to that golden age.

And let’s not ignore how historic this match is. At Survivor Series, you’ll have two former IWGP Heavyweight Champions matching up. When has that ever happened before? Never. It’s kind of rare in New Japan for two IWGP Champions to go up against one another. In a WWE rign? This might be the only time it ever happens.

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The Shield (Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, & Seth Rollins) vs. The Miz, Cesaro, & Sheamus

Result: The Shield defeated The Miz, Cesaro, & Sheamus via pinfall

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

You know what’s crazy? The Miz is the weak link in this match. If this were, say, 2009, someone may believe that statement. But in 2017, it’s crazy to picture Miz as a “weak link.” It just goes to show how stacked the roster in general in – and especially the six superstars in this match.

Right off the bat, I picked up on two things. First, WWE is taking things slow with Reigns coming back from the plague or whatever he had. In the opening minutes of the match, he delivered precisely one clothesline. Besides that, it was typical Roman brooding. Second, Rollins and Ambrose weren’t afraid of having to step up to cover for their infected brother. They had some kind of fire under them, what with the crispness and speed of their actions.

Just before the commercial break (four for four now), Miz retreated through the crowd. Hey, no count outs, so why not? He comes back with his squad in control for a bit, but come on. It’s the first time the “original” Shield is teaming together in three years. (That “aritifical” Shield that must have been running around during the layoff doesn’t count.)

The hot action at the beginning slowed down a touch, but the end picked right back up. Cesaro’s uppercuts are a thing of beauty. Sheamus is such a strong SOB. Miz is so good at playing the cowardly heel. And all three Shield brothers are  fantastic. Top marks all around.

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Kane

Kane, you’re not beating Braun. Just calm down.

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Survivor Series Drama

Because the episode was going so well, there needed to be a segment to bring the show to a screeching halt. Well, here it is. Let’s break it down.

Kurt Angle comes out to make an announcement regarding Survivor Series. Earlier in the show, Jason Jordan messed up his knee while defeating Bray Wyatt. It looks pretty bad, so Angle needs to make a tough decision and pull him from the match. It’s a fair point, because anything less than 100% is bad.

Jordan comes out, begging and pleading over the crowd’s disapproval to stay in the match. It’s the worst kind of melodramatic garbage. Jordan is not nearly a good enough actor to make this believable. He’s a great wrestler, and a tremendous athlete, but he makes Sasha Banks look like Meryl Streep.

Angle is torn, because he loves his son, but wants to keep his job. Boy, who hasn’t been there, right? While Kurt is hemming and hawing, out comes Stephanie McMahon, because we haven’t had enough emasculation yet tonight. She tells Kurt to make a damn decision already, and leaves before he makes the damn decision. Um, okay.

Then out comes Triple H, because what the hell is going on? He stares down Angle, nonverbally sets the Triple H/Angle match for WrestleMania we all know we’re getting, and announces himself as the new fifth member of the Raw Survivor Series team. And then he hits Jordan with a Pedigree and leaves, and nothing makes sense anymore.

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Finn Balor & Samoa Joe vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson

Result: Finn Balor & Samoa Joe defeated Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson via pinfall

Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars

Early on, Balor and Joe actually coexisted, beyond Joe shoving Finn before the match. Color me surprised. With all the chaos surrounding the Raw Survivor Series team right now, it’s probably a good thing that these two rivals get along. It doesn’t hurt that they’re facing Gallows and Anderson, who at this point would probably seem overmatched by a deli sandwich.

Forget just coexisting – Balor and Joe actually showed some chemistry. I guess it’s not that surprising, since they were the winners of the first ever Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in 2015. But since that tournament ended, Balor and Joe have been mortal enemies. So it would only be natural for that chemistry they used to win the tourney to disappear over time.

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For the fifth out of five matches, a commercial break kills the flow of the match. For the first time, though, this match gets two commercial breaks. I guess seeing Finn take a beating and play face in peril for that long got to be too much. After the second break, though, Finn finally tagged out and Samoa Joe had possibly the best hot tag of 2017.

The whole closing sequence was great, top to bottom. Joe’s tag back to Balor, the almost interference by Gallows, Joe directing traffic before slamming Anderson and hitting a beautiful suicide dive on Gallows, the Coup de Grace – all amazing. More of this, please – let Joe and Balor unite somehow.

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Alexa Bliss

The Raw Women’s Champ threatens invading SmackDown tomorrow to scout her possible opponents for Survivor Series. I guess it beats filling up your DVR with another episode you’re not going to watch.

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Braun Strowman vs. Kane

Result: No contest – match never started

Rating: N/A

Boy, my clock turned to 11:02 as Strowman’s music hit. How long are the overruns allowed to go?

Remember how good the Big Show/Strowman matches have been? Well, this one was as bad as those were good. In recent months, Big Show made himself the best he’s ever been in his career. Kane, not so much. This one is mostly slow, almost painfully so. It takes until the very last bit to get any kind of excitement. Thankfully, the match never actually started, so it doesn’t get rated as a stinker here.

But one high spot makes up for a complete waste of time, as the old adage says. Wait, is that an old adage? I don’t know. Anyway, a teased table spot should be enough to make you forget you’ve been watching garbage for five minutes.

Mercifully, that’s not the end. It was an awkward table spot that literally no one would have seen happening on a WWE program. A superplex to the outside is never going to happen, let alone through a table. Instead, the table is forgotten, and Strowman looks to put Kane away with a running powerslam.

And he does! Trouble is, he puts himself away too. As he slams Kane down, the ring rips apart, and both behemoths end up going through the canvas. It’s a great visual, provided you ignored the five minutes before it.

Next: WWE's 25 Greatest Pay Per View Events

With that, Raw finishes up and Survivor Series is basically set. Lots of changes to the card for Sunday took place, with more possible by the time SmackDown ends tomorrow night.