Sean Ross Sapp’s WWE Raw Match Ratings, Analysis And Notes For 10/23/17

Opening Segment

• Kurt Angle is soaking it up from the crowd. Really cool to see. To think 20 years ago he wanted nothing to do with pro wrestling.
• He announces a bunch of interpromotional Survivor Series matches. You know "CLASH OF CHAMPIONS" sounds like a much more plausible place to have champions face one another.
• Miz comes out and runs down Angle. Shield come out to help him….and so does AJ Styles! Awesome!

AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins defeated The Bar & The Miz (w/ Curtis Axel)
6/10

• Rollins was off a bit early on in this match.  
• There are a couple of cool spots, like a triple slingshot body press, but overall this is a pretty pedestrian six-man tag match mainly. The only exception is having a cool celebrity appearance in AJ Styles.
• The match picks up after a Seth Rollins hot tag, and really gets cooking….then goes to a commercial. Prior, Seth Rollins had an awesome DDT sell. 
• At about 18 minutes in, this match is wild. Styles is bumping all over the place, and making me think he'd fit in better on Raw. He gets the win after 20 minutes. It went from average to fun in a hurry, which is my main complaint about WWE tag matches.
• Kane comes out and helps the heels lay out everyone.

Kane defeated Finn Balor
5.75/10

• Kane cuts an interesting promo about why he attacked Braun Strowman. He's demanding competition now, and gets it in Finn Balor. 
• This is a really nice clash of styles. Balor is often put in the ring with guys he just doesn't match up well with. This isn't a hot marquee battle, but it's a good one for Balor.
• By the way, Balor has been on a roll in the ring. Kane doesn't look like he's been out of the ring for almost a year.
• Kane chokeslams Balor three times and beats him. Oh boy. Lots of people will be mad about that one. 

Backstage Crappenings

• Angle and Shane. These two still have good chemistry. They do a little bit of friendly trash talk for Survivor Series. 
• Angle is backstage and sets a match to determine the captain for the Raw women's team. 

Asuka defeated Emma
5.75/10

• Asuka vs. Emma again was sadly predictable. Kind of hoping she squashes Emma so people will stop crying about it. 
• "Asuka hasn't had a Takeover match go less than 9 minutes in 2 years. HOW DARE THEY HAVE EMMA GO THAT LONG WITH HER!?" 
• They have a good short match that Asuka wins. Oh boy. The cries x2.
• "Asuka is ruined because she didn't squash Emma" is a weird hill to die on, y'all. 24 hours is a little early.

Alexa Bliss

• Alexa wants her own chant. Ah. Lots of "you people" stuff.
• Yeah they're trying to get the crowd to chant "biscuit butt" without flat out saying it. "GOD DAMN PAL. BISCUIT BUTT. THAT'S GOOD SHIT!"
• Mickie James DDT's her into a belt.

Elias vs. Jason Jordan

• Elias trolls Green Bay about Aaron Rodgers. He gets a bunch of technical difficulties.
• It's Jason Jordan. Why do this rematch? 
• Smart of Jason Jordan to slam Elias into the barricade by the Packers
• Elias cracks Jordan with a guitar HARD. Hilariously hard. DQ.
• I want a Home Run Derby — Kurt Angle with a chair, Elias with his guitar, blasting vegetables thrown by Jason Jordan.

Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar

• Heyman cuts a promo mocking Jinder and accepting his challenge for Survivor Series. All these promos are the same, but they're harmless.

Winner is Survivor Series captain
Alicia Fox defeated Sasha Banks and Bayley
5.75/10

• Sasha and Bayley kick Alicia's ass.
• Alicia takes some gross spills in this match. A bad bump to the outside and a running cutter TO THE FACE. 
• Alicia grabs the ring bell and starts ringing it. She gets a Bayley to Belly for her troubles.
• Sasha and Bayley have one of the best strike exchanges I've seen in recent memory. They didn't wait for one another.
• Alicia Fox's bunnyhop Bayley to Belly after mocking Bayley was HILARIOUS. She gets the win! That was a ton of fun.

Team Kalisto defeated Team Enzo
6.25/10

• The heels do a choreographed Enzo dance.
• Drew Gulak cuts a Packers-heavy promo. This was done earlier in the night too, but it got a reaction.
• What in the shit are they doing zooming in on every flip and springboard!?
• Gulak gets quintiple superkicked. During the commercial, Noam Dar kicks Rich Swann off the second rope in a cool spot. 
• Oh damn, Mustafa Ali cracked Tony Nese hard with a spinning heel kick. 
• Enzo Amore hits that DDG so well. 
• A ton of huge dives. This is a step in the right direction for this division. Kalisto gets the win.
• That's the kind of matches I want to see from the cruisers. I don't care if you don't think they're realistic. They're different.

Survivor Stuffs

• Kurt Angle comes out to announce his Survivor Series team, but is interrupted by Smackdown's roster!
• So Smackdown are all a bunch of insufferable dicks I guess. Who do we root for tomorrow? They're all shitheads! They jump Titus Worldwide and a stagehand. 
• This has Vince McMahon written all over it. The camera work has Dunn written all over it. 
• I hope there's some storyline reason for all this harmony.
• Really wish I could see what was going on. The camera work is doody.
• If I'm Smackdown, I'm like "Forget this shit, we'll see them in November. I don't want the mumps.""