What. A .Night.WWE went from three straight weeks of some of the worst episodes of Raw to doing something absolutely great in the last 48 hours. They gave us TLC and then they gave us this episode of RAW. If it all was planned then, what masterminds they are and if it wasn't, then way to go with all the last minute tricks.It worked... they worked, so, so well.This was a RAW that history remembers. Last night was the night that made Reigns a star. He earned it. He earned it all. In all its entirety, Reigns had his Austin 3:16 moment. He had his breakthrough and we all are thankful for it. Here are the 5 moments to love about RAW last night:
#5 Stephanie McMahon kicks off Raw
Oh, her “poor defenceless husband”. Stephanie McMahon was as ferocious as one would expect her to be. She was being the greatest heel possible and the Philly crowd graced her with a heel’s welcome.
Vengeful to the core, she slapped the shape out of Reigns’ face. It was what was expected. what wasn’t expected was her announcement that Vince McMahon will himself grace everybody with his rare presence.
It was a good start to RAW that set up the night pretty well.
#4 Kevin Owens
This RAW was a lot of fun, precisely because of whatever happened with Roman Reigns and his story. It finally seems like a new era but Owens looked so vicious for the first time in a long time.
He unleashed an array of punches on Ambrose and turned him upside down with his signature move. Twice.
He took out Dolph Ziggler as well. Talk about a potential monster heel! he was brutal in his attack and he powerbombed Ziggler on top of Ambrose. He looked numb; the prize fighter had lost his greatest prize to Ambrose and that meant a lot for the IC title.
#3 No Chance in Hell
Vince McMahon came to RAW. It’s a big night already. His presence made the main event get the big match feels. Despite how much people respect him, he became the downright despicable heel that he plays so well.
Reigns just had to make a nudge of a joke and that surrounded McMahon’s virility fading away with his old age. McMahon attacked Reigns with a low blow and then the match was set.
During the match, McMahon sold the heck out of that Superman Punch. That’s a 70-year-old man free-falling away on his back at ringside! He sold it like he sold the stone Cold Stunner. The crowd reacted like they saw something similar.
And the way Reigns sweeped McMahon away from the ring was a nice little touch.
#2 Not Stupid at all
In all of the glorious moments that unravelled last night, the credit Sheamus deserves might get lost. The guy was booked so badly over the past one year that he made anybody else winning the title seem like a great option.
He, like Reigns, put his body on the line producing such a great story last night and being formative in Reigns’ story. He was an important ingredient all along in finally getting Reigns over.
The guy deserves a lot of credit for both the matches that took place in the last 2 days.
#1 BildungsRoman.
How did they do it? It’s all in front of you. In the past 48 hours Roman Reigns went from being overrated to the man we can all finally believe in. The Boston crowd cared nothing about Sheamus and Reigns for the initial part of their match, cheering only for the high-risk spots.
But then something magical happened. Reigns actually got the crowd on his side. He made them believe in his side of the story- how, even if he’s the chosen one, he’s put his body on the line day in and day out, working his ass off, to produce some of the best matches in the WWE and improve all round.
And in that moment he earned their respect. He was finally over.
His night began by him becoming sort of like a Two- face. The complexion of the one side of his face taking some other color altogether with the rampage of slaps unleashed by Stephanie. The middle part of the show saw Reigns receiving a low blow from Vince McMahon.
He took it all. No complaints. he came to the show expecting it and he was ready! And we were ready to believe in him.
How beautiful it was then to see the same place that booed him off in January, give him a standing ovation after he won the WWe World heavyweight Championship?!
Long live the King!
