‘WWE Raw’ Review (Oct 24th 2022)

Welcome to this review of this past Monday’s episode of WWE Raw, right here on Nerdly. This is the start of the road to Crown Jewel – which takes place next weekend – so let’s see what went down this week!

Match #1: Finn Bálor def. Karl Anderson

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

During Finn Bálor’s matchup against Karl Anderson, Dominik Mysterio jumped on the apron to interfere and drew the ire of AJ Styles. This ignited all-out chaos outside the ring between The Judgment Day and The O.C., and Rhea Ripley hurled Luke Gallows into the ring post before delivering an earth-shattering body slam to him onto the ringside floor. Meanwhile, inside the ring, Anderson picked up Bálor to try to put him away. A distraction by Dominik, though, allowed Ripley to deliver the low blow to Anderson that helped Bálor to pick up the three-count.

My Score: 2.5 out of 5

Match #2: R-Truth def. The Miz

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

In an a impromptu match between The Miz and R-Truth in defense of North Carolina’s Macaroni-and-Cheese, The A-Lister became distracted by a hooded figure in the crowd. When the paranoid Superstar turned his attention to investigate, R-Truth seized the moment and overcame his one-time Awesome Truth tag team partner with a quick pin. After the bell, the hooded man revealed himself to be Johnny Gargano.

My Score: 1 out of 5

Match #3: Austin Theory def. Mustafa Ali

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

Thanks to a distraction by a meddling Seth “Freakin” Rollins, Austin Theory kicked out the legs on Mustafa Ali’s top-rope attack and executed the A-Town Down for the win. As the smoke cleared, The Visionary unleashed a vicious post-match attack on Ali. As Rollins walked up the ramp, however, the resilient Mustafa charged Rollins and returned the favor with an aggressive attack on his own.

My Score: 3.5 out of 5

Match #4: 4-on-1 Handicap Match – Omos def. Four local competitors

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

Prior to Omos’ 4-on-1 Handicap Match, MVP took time out to make sure the gigantic Superstar’s four opponents had seen him hurl Braun Strowman out of the ring three days earlier on SmackDown and that they understood how truly unlucky they were about to be. Once the bell rang, however, the time for talk was done, and Omos wasted little time decimating all four of his outmatched opponents for another dominant victory.

My Score: 0 out of 5

Match #5: Elias def. Chad Gable

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

Competing in his first match in over a year, Elias moved just in time and sent a charging Otis into the ring post outside the ring. He then returned to the squared circle, where he drove Chad Gable into the canvas for the victory. When The Alpha Academy launched a 2-on-1 post-match beatdown on Elias, Matt Riddle emerged to even the odds and take them both out with a Bro to Sleep/Floating Bro combination.

My Score: 3.5 out of 5

Match #6: Baron Corbin def. Johnny Gargano

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

When Johnny Gargano took a break from his match against Baron Corbin to steal JBL’s hat and do a dance with it on the Raw announce table, the WWE Hall of Famer was incensed. As Corbin distracted the official, JBL dropped Johnny Wrestling on the apron and paved the way for the newly-dubbed “Modern-Day Wrestling God” to hit him End of Days for the win.

My Score: 3 out of 5

Match #7: Bayley def. Bianca Belair

The following is courtesy of wwe.com:

In the final moments of a grueling Championship Contender’s Match pitting Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair against Bayley, Dakota Kai & IYO SKY were caught interfering and were ejected from ringside by the official. As they were arguing the decision outside the ring, Nikki Cross suddenly emerged from nowhere and leaped off the top rope to take out SKY, Dakota and the referee. Moments later , Belair hit the K.O.D. on Bayley, but there was no one to count the pinfall. Cross then entered the squared circle and hurled Belair into the turnbuckle before driving her into the canvas. This allowed a war-torn Bayley to crawl over and pick up the win over the titleholder! Before the dust cleared, though, Cross returned and viciously attacked The Role Model as well as Raw went off the air.

My Score: 3.5 out of 5

Final Verdict: 3.5/5

An improvement over the last episode, this week’s Raw was still one hell of a rollercoaster ride in terms of wrestling. It started out OK, went downhill, then recovered with the fantastic Theory/Ali match, then TOTALLY fell apart with that Omos match (I still have no idea why they keep doing this with Omos), then the show picked up and kept up – with Elias AND Baron Corbin delivering banger matches back to back… guess what? That right there proves that WWE is in good hands now, as Triple H made both guys look better than they have in years! And to top it all off we got a great women’s match in the main event and the return of Nikki Cross! Yes the Nikki A.S.H. gimmick is gone at last! Hopefully, she’s back to her badass old self going forward.