WWE Then Now Forever 11/9/2020: Raw Continues To Struggle

Josh from Thirteen | 10 looks back at an up and down week in WWE as NXT and Smackdown progress and Raw continues to struggle.

Each week Josh from the Thirteen 10 brand has your look at all things WWE Raw, Smackdown, and of course NXT. Take a look at what happened on all three shows, and what will happen in the week ahead. Let’s dive in to see what our respective Red, Yellow, and Blue brands had to offer this week.

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WWE Monday Night RAW Results

• Jeff Hardy defeated Elias in a Guitar On A Pole match
• Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler (c) defeated Dana Brooke & Mandy Rose to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship
• Bobby Lashley defeated R-Truth
• Drew Gulak defeated R-Truth (c) to win the WWE 24-7 Championship
• Braun Strowman defeated Sheamus and Keith Lee in a Triple Threat Team Raw Survivor Series Qualifying Match
• Nia Jax (w/ Shayna Baszler) defeated Lana
• The Hurt Business (Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin) defeated The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods)
• Ricochet defeated Tucker
• Drew McIntyre defeated The Miz & John Morrison in a Two On One Handicap Match

WWE Monday Night Raw HOT or NOT

• Hurt Business continued domination and potential hunt for tag gold – HOT
• Men’s Team RAW looks unstoppable but will it be a cohesive unit, AJ Styles – HOT
• Oh Tucker, Poor Tucker – NOT
• Misuse of Ricochet or is this a super slow build? – NOT
• Drew McIntyre being even more hungry in the chase – HOT
• Bray & Alexa in the hunt, potential dual champions in 2021 – HOT

Projection for next week’s WWE Monday Night Raw

The Build for Survivor Series with brand war is always going to be quick and easy but I cannot help but feel that if COVID wasn’t a major factor then we would have brand warfare on the build up but due to body count then we just cannot be given that so WWE are having to work with the bare bones of bland story telling and that I can appreciate. Its a really tough spot for RAW right now but there are undoubted highlights. Orton has become the prey and its interesting to see who causes him the most grief each week. The Endgame is clearly Edge who could win the rumble in January but for now its 3 men who will terrorise him on a weekly basis. Will he drop the gold via cash in at Survivor series? Miz needs to win more matches than he loses to have a real shot. Next week the Hurt Business will look for all the gold and put more pressure on The New day as tag champs. Can Ricochet build momentum. Lets at let’s try and look forward to next week shall we?!

WWE NXT

WWE NXT Results

• Dakota Kai (w/ Raquel González) defeated Ember Moon
• Kushida defeated Cameron Grimes
• Ever-Rise (Chase Parker & Matt Martel) vs. Drake Maverick & Killian Dain ended in a No Contest
• Toni Storm defeated Shotzi Blackheart
• Tommaso Ciampa defeated The Velveteen Dream

WWE NXT HOT or NOT

• The Kai/Moon feed feels like its just beginning and Gonzalez is money – HOT
• Kushida building momentum, next challenger to Balor when he returns? – HOT
• Shotzi continues to shine – HOT
• Is Toni Storm building for a title match – HOT
• Ciampa & Dream feel stuck at the minute and its a shame – NOT
• UE/ Mcafee feed will surely culminate at a TAKEOVER, THIS IS AMAZING – HOT

Projecting next week’s WWE NXT

We will surely see the return of UE members very soon as a December 6th stand alone Takeover looms. If WarGames is going to be a thing then this is going to be electric. Im not sure what to make of Ciampa right now, if Balor cannot compete and defend the gold soon could Ciampa be the next transitional champion? A feud with Kushida over the strap would make sense and Kross can return next year to dethrone Ciampa. Shotzi feels like she could cary the gold but Toni Storm seems front of the line. IO vs Storm at Takeover is a money match. Lets continue the build to a takeover that is yet to be announced but the card is becoming increasingly obvious in a delightful way.

WWE Smackdown on FOX

WWE Smackdown On FOX Results

• Sasha Banks (c) defeated Bayley to retain the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
• King Corbin defeated Rey Mysterio (w/ Dominik Mysterio) in a Team SmackDown Survivor Series Qualifying Match
• Ruby Riott defeated Natalya and Zelina Vega in a Triple Threat Team SmackDown Survivor Series Qualifying Match
• Seth Rollins defeated Otis in a Team SmackDown Survivor Series Qualifying Match
• Jey Uso defeated Kevin Owens

WWE Smackdown on FOX HOT or NOT

• Sasha & Bayley could fight every day and it wouldn’t get boring, insane stuff – HOT
• Mysterio/Rollins/Murphy is becoming repetitive and tiresome as well as confusing – NOT
• Ruby Riott will get to shine at SS – HOT
• Otis is going to get lost in the shuffle – Mixed Bag
• Kevin Owens misuse is baffling – NOT
• Jey Uso being owned by Roman Reigns continues to be the best showing on either Raw or Smackdown – HOT

Projecting Next Week’s WWE Smackdown on FOX

As with RAW, Survivor Series looms and team blue is shaping up nicely but feels like it cannot beat the mens RAW team at current. This is setup for Jey Uso to be the sole survivor though. Lets see more of an aggressive side to Owens as he suffers from 50/50 booking. We need answers from Murphy next week as I’m getting confused. Perhaps Murphy vs Mysterio is on the cards with Aliyah finally choosing family and ending this abysmal story.

Overall Impression of the week in WWE

All in all NXT was the better show this week, Smackdown has a great top of card but the mid to lower has no real punch. RAW seems like its struggling still and I’m not sure where the obvious fix is.