It’s been a couple of rough weeks for Monday Night Raw with low ratings and a general consensus amongst fans that Smackdown Live is putting out a better product on a weekly basis.
That’s not to say it’s been all bad, for instance there was a great main event on last week’s Raw that saw Sasha Banks regain the Raw Women’s Championship. However, there is a feeling that the red brand need to step it up a gear, especially considering they have a Hell In A Cell pay-per-view to sell in a few weeks.
So, what did Raw have up their sleeves for this week? Did they have any surprises that left the fans exclaiming, “Say What?” Let’s take a look…
#1 - Sasha vs Charlotte…inside Hell In A Cell!
Raw opened up this week with ‘The Boss’ Sasha Banks cutting a promo saying that she is not done making history and that the Women’s revolution is just getting started.
To back this up, she requested that her Raw Women’s Title match at the Hell In A Cell pay-per-view be inside the cell, a request that was granted by Mick Foley later in the night. Therefore, on October 30th, the first-ever Women’s Hell In A Cell match will take place.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Sasha & Charlotte make more history on that night by being the first Women to main event a WWE PPV and have their match go on last.
#2 - Sheamus on Facebook live during Cesaro’s match
Another match set to take place on October 30th is the Tag Title match between The New Day and the newly-formed team of Sheamus & Cesaro.
While unexpected, the unwanted formation of this team has made both Sheamus & Cesaro more relevant then they were a few week ago and their childish squabbling has been entertaining to watch and that continued this week when during Cesaro’s one-on-one match against Kofi Kingston.
Sheamus was less than invested in his partner’s match and was instead on his phone doing a Facebook live video stream.
Could this bickering duo be the team who finally end the New Day’s record-breaking Title reign?
#3 - Three Cell matches, too much?
After the Sasha vs Charlotte match at the Hell In A Cell PPV was confirmed to be the second match taking place inside the cell, alongside Rusev vs Reigns for the U.S. Title, that seemed like enough. However, it has also been announced that Owens vs Rollins for the WWE Universal Title will take place inside the cell taking the total Hell In A Cell matches on October 30th to three.
That’s too many in my opinion, it will be a challenge for all matches to feel as brutal as they should as by the time the last match goes on the fans will be somewhat desensitised by the ‘demonic structure’.
What do you think, is three matches too many or are you excited this many cell matches?
#4 - The Club getting back on track
Hallelujah!
There were no silly doctor segments or testicle jokes from Gallows & Anderson on this week’s Raw and they reverted to the no-nonsense, aggressive style that the fans have been wanting to see for the last few months.
It also looks as though they will be entering the feud with Enzo & Cass which is great news for both teams as they have both lacked direction in recent weeks.
#5 - Sami & Neville teaming up
In what seems like an effort to reignite a rather stale tag team division, there were a couple of new teams formed on this week’s Raw. Not only did former Social Outcasts Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel once again team up, but we also got Sami Zayn & Neville aligned to defeat the aforementioned team of Axel & Dallas.
While I don’t think this is the way to go with Neville & Zayn long-term, it gives them something to do and who knows, could maybe lead to a feud between the two former NXT Champions in the future.
#6 - The Splash ‘Brothers’
Last week, Braun Strowman demanded that Raw General Manager, Mick Foley, give him some real competition.
So this week, he faced two men in a handicap match in the form of the Splash Brothers, and I use the term ‘brothers’ loosely. Strowman made quick work of Disco Stu and black Tyler Breeze and then once again got on the mic to demand a higher calibre of opponent for next week.
It’ll be interesting to see where this leads as there are many rumours of who could be the man to give Strowman a legitimate challenge. One such rumour is that this could lead to the main roster debut of Samoa Joe.
#7 - Banks & Reigns
After a confrontation at the beginning of Raw, a mixed tag match between Sasha Banks & Roman Reigns and Charlotte & Rusev was made for later in the night.
This was a good match that furthered both feuds and had a great finish with Banks forcing Charlotte to tap to the ‘bank statement’ while Reigns took out Rusev with a diving spear.
This even led to a few cheers for Roman Reigns. Yes, that’s right, ‘cheers’ for ‘Roman Reigns’. Say What?!
#8 - Lesnar vs Goldberg II?
The advocate for the ‘Beast’ Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman made an appearance on this week’s Raw to respond to the comments made by Goldberg during his SportsCenter interview last week.
This got the WWE Universe buzzing with speculation as to what this could mean, could the WCW legend be making a much-anticipated return to have a rematch with Lesnar?
Well, that’s what Heyman wants to know too, he laid down the challenge to Bill Goldberg and said that Lesnar is willing to rectify the only blemish on his WWE record by facing Goldberg anytime, anywhere.
This lead to the announcement that…
#9 - Goldberg will be on Raw next week
Bill Goldberg will make his first appearance on Monday Night Raw in 12 years when he returns to answer Paul Heyman’s challenge in person.
#10 - Jericho added to Universal Title match?
The main event of this week’s Raw saw Seth Rollins face Chris Jericho with the stipulation that if Jericho gets the win, he will be added to the WWE Universal Title match at Hell In A Cell.
This was a great, main event-worthy match and felt important. It had plenty of great action and close falls, not to mention ringside shenanigans from Kevin Owens who was out to help his best friend, Chris Jericho. It was ultimately Seth Rollins who got the win and kept the Hell In A Cell match on October 30th a one-on-one bout.
I personally would like to have seen Jericho get the win a be added to the match as he has been the best thing about Monday Night Raw in recent weeks.
What do you guys think, did you want Jericho to be added to the match or are you happy with it being one-on-one between Owens & Rollins? Let us know in the comments below.
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