A Wacky Trip to Hell – A Raw Recap for 10/24/2016

Raw comes to us live from Minneapolis for the Go-Home show for Hell In A Cell.

What a Wacky Episode

This is the strangest episode of Raw in a long time.  Tonight, I’m not even going to comment on the matches.  I’m solely going to talk about the weirdness and not really the results of any of the matches…unless the result added to the wackiness.

And if you can’t read between the lines, me calling tonight’s show “wacky” is really just another way of saying that it’s terrible.

Enzo makes his own Mic

After a couple of weeks of mercilessly kickin’ ass, we see the return of the goofy Club, sort of.  You see, Enzo comes out to do his own thing, but it seems like there’s a “Good Brother” in the back who kills Enzo’s microphone.  No really one to skip a beat, Enzo “creates” his own microphone by using the crowd for his amplification.  It weirdly might be one of the best moments on Raw in recent memory that didn’t involve Jericho.

And there was also a crazy Big Boot from Cass to Anderson from the floor to the 2nd rope.

Instead of kicking ass, Gallows and Anderson keep on getting written into comedy roles.  And they never win.  Ever.  It’s a waste of talent and you’d almost think that Vince had something against the Bullet Club if it weren’t for AJ’s monumental push.

Enzo goes over here and we will have the full tag match this Sunday.

Bayley and Dana Brooke are Over the Top

Seriously.  Dana Brooke challenged Bayley to an arm wrestling match.  The idea being is that Bayley’s shoulder is still damaged from last week.  Add to the fact that Dana legitimately looks like she could beat Bayley in an arm wrestling match.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a big rig up for grabs for the winner.  What a wasted opportunity.

The crowd was bored…with Bayley in the ring.  They let them with “Boooring” and “We Want Wrestling” chants.

What painkillers is McMahon on right now?

Jericho Spends the Whole Night Looking for The List

The show starts off with a distraught Jericho.  He can’t find the list and just wants it back.  He refuses to be in the main event unless it’s returned to him, no matter what Owens and Stephanie say.

Turns out, Rollins was the one who stole it.  He leaves it in the locker room and Jericho spends the whole time checking with all the Superstars guys until he finds it with Strowman.  Strowman isn’t satisfied that Zayn isn’t on the list and…Strowman makes the list.

I like Jericho’s commitment here, but the payoff is terrible.  It was just an excuse to waste time in the 3 hours of Raw.  It was meant to look like there’s cracks in the friendship, but it just didn’t work.

Braun Strowman Vs. Sami Zayn

I know they set this up last week but Sami officially challenged Strowman to a match, for some reason.

I know Sami could be a giant killer, and perhaps that’s where they are going with this, but I don’t really buy it this time.  And Strowman doesn’t buy it either.

I’m optimistic that something interesting could happen here.  Tonight it was part of the non-stop sideshow that is Monday Night Raw.

Brock Lesnar Vs. Goldberg II

Ok.  Technically this isn’t happening until Survivor Series but Brock and Heyman showed up for Paul E. Dangerously to cut a promo while the Brock Lobster bounces back and forth.

It was a surprisingly bad promo with no help from the crowd, a hometown crowd.  The WWE didn’t thought they could generate heel heat here?

If you read my recap last week, you know that I’m on the Hype Train with Goldberg.  But I do know this is all ridiculous.  It’s a re-match no one asked for.  Let’s face it, it’s probably going to let us down.  Sure, I think Goldberg wants to show off for his kid and doesn’t care about the money this time around.  But, he’s 49.  He never was the master technician that Sting was or a master of ring psychology like Ric Flair.  Even if he’s been training for months,

The Most Sane Thing On Raw

Sheamus and Cesaro Vs. The New Day.  Yes, in a vacuum, this is also wacky.  But, it’s the most sane part of this three hours.  It’s only sane because it works.  Good thing we are getting the exact same thing on Sunday with the exception that it’s for the Championship.  Expect New Day to get some kind of screwy finish so they can hold onto the belts for a month and a half longer to break the record.

Let Me Win

After a loss to Rich Swann, a defeated Brian Kendrick asks TJP if he can let him win on Sunday.  If he doesn’t win, that might be it…

Such a bizarre backstage promo.

Contract Signing from Hell

Mick Foley presided over the contract signing for the Women’s hell in a cell match this Sunday.  He kept going on about how broken he is from his matches and Sasha and Charlotte were just insulting each other like Foley wasn’t even there.  Mick in a vacuum was great.  Charlotte in a vacuum was great.  Sasha was good.  But together it just seemed discombobulated and they were acting out two scenes at once.

And Then There’s This Terrible Bump

Final Thoughts

If I was tuning in for the first time tonight, they only thing that would get me to watch the show would be the history of Hell In A Cell matches, not anything I saw here tonight.

It was an embarrassing episode with only a couple of bright spots.  I really hope Sunday delivers.