It’s a Trap – A Raw Recap for 12/05/16

It’s a Trap!

Let’s be honest, most episodes of Monday Night Raw are not going to win an Emmy anytime soon.  But…if I was a producer of the show and Vince wanted me to submit an episode for Emmy consideration, I’d submit this one.  There was an odd vulnerability from a lot of the performers, from Ric’s waterworks to the Jeri-KO breakup to the uncomfortable conclusion of Enzo’s story.  It was compelling to me.

Raw is criticized for the wrestling being secondary to long monologues, and that was true tonight, but everyone was committed.

Gifts for Jerico

Like any last ditch effort from someone that doesn’t want to be broken up with, Kevin has a gift for Chris to make up for neglecting him these past couple of weeks.  I don’t know about you guys and gals, but I’ve given and received a couple of these gifts over my years of dating and relationships.  At best, thee prolong the inevitable and at worst they…prolong the inevitable.

The gift that Owens gave Jericho was a title shot at the one title that Chris has never held, the US Championship.

And for payback for the pedigree on top of the town car, Seth has to have a match against Big Show, or actual The Slender Show.

Show looks great.  He spent some time off screen getting heathy for probably his last run up to Wrestlemania.

Back to the match, Seth hits show with several of his flying knees until Show realized he’s had enough.  I’d like to point out that the crowd really didn’t know if they should be cheering or booing show.  There was a lot of noise but nothing definitive.  Show decides he wants nothing more to do with Owens, chokeslams him, and walk out to give Seth a win.  Seth, and almost everyone else, really doesn’t know what to take from it.

Enzo and the hotel room

Enzo and Cass witness an argument backstage with Rusev and Lana.  Despite Cass’ plea to not interfere, Enzo can’t help himself.  Rusev storms off and Lana starts treating Enzo as a hero and asks him to come by her hotel room later.  Cass, again, thinks it’s a bad idea but Enzo can’t help himself.  Meanwhile, Rusev challenges Cass to a match later that night.

As Enzo arrives outside the hotel room, Cass is entering the ring for his match. But Rusev doesn’t show.

Enzo enters the hotel room and Lana quickly gets him to undress.  He has some reservations about it but does it anyway.  And after a very long delay, she calls in Rusev to reveal the trap that has been set.

And Rusev beats the shit out of Enzo.

It was uncomfortable, mainly because both the undressing and beat down were very drawn out.  It’s a bit of an Attitude Era throwback. I’m still deciding if I liked it or not.  Like the Smackdown segment last week, the beat down was brutal and probably more effective than backstage attacks in the last couple of years.

It’s a slightly new direction or a reimagining of an old one.  It also gives a consequence to all of Enzo’s trash talk.

Charlotte’s Apology

After Ric raised Sasha’s hand last week, Charlotte was reflecting on her relationship with her father, perhaps she was too harsh last May when she booted him to the curb.  She wanted to make amends and repair her relationship.

If Admiral Ackbar was backstage, he would have warned Flair also.  It was a trap.  Ric got a slap on the face and turned on the waterworks. Sasha came out to try to make the save but ended up being thrown into the ring post.

Earlier in the show, Sasha laid out a challenge to Charlotte for an Iron Man match at Road Block for the championship. Charlotte accepts.

Will Charlotte maintain her streak?  My guess is yes.

Breaking up is hard to do

Chris, not happy with Kevin’s gifts, demands that Owens stays in the back and doesn’t interfere. Jericho doesn’t want to be around him anymore. Kevin, like in any failing relationship, feels like there’s still a chance to save it.

We’ve seen Jericho and Roman go at it before. They pulled out all the stops in this main event.  The story being told here has very little to do with Ronan.  Owens shows up and interferes while the ref is distracted. Upon seeing this Jericho gets angry and finally spells it out for him.

Kevin knows it’s over. There’s no more chances. He now feels like Sami when Kevin ended that friendship. He’s crushed and walks to the back.

Roman tries a spear but Jericho leaps over him. But Reigns bounces off the ropes and hits him with the second attempt to secure his Championship.

Everything Else

• Remember when Battleground was going to be the last meeting of Owens and Zayn?  Turns out, they need something to throw at a random December Raw.  As always, it was excellent with a couple brutal Exploder Suplexes.  Also it was DDT city.  Sami looked great.  I almost forgot how good he is.  It’s weird that he’s locked in a feud with Strowman instead of someone who can actually keep pace with him.  Owens picks up the win here for no good reason.  Despite being weakened by Slender Show at the start of the night.
• Bayley Vs Fox
  Short and sweet match that proves that there are more than two women on Raw.  The hugger wins.
• Gallows and Anderson Vs. Sheamus and Cesaro for the #1 contenders to the tag team titles.
  This was kind of a waste of time.  The New Day eventually interferes causing a Double DQ.  That sets up a triple threat for next week…a mere 3-4 hours before New Day breaks the record.There’s two outcomes here:  you can tell the story that one of those two teams upset The New Day by mere hours from breaking the record or, more likely, New Day is winning the match next week to break the record.
• Cruiserweights
  • Jack Gallagher Vs. Daivari
    This was a repeat of the excellent 205 Live with a similar result.  A fun match but I expect it to be cut from the Hulu version.  Daivari attacks Gallagher after the match when Jack extends his hand.  I loved Corey ripping apart Byron for mispronouncing Gallagher though.
  • Swann Vs. TJP
    It seems like Rich is the magic the Cruiserweight devision needed to get off the ground.  A solid match with good crowd involvement.  It seems like people are really latching onto Swann in a way that hasn’t quite happened with TJP.  Swann wins.