'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Welcome to this week's edition of things WWE subtly told us on RAW after Money in the Bank 2021. It was a solid episode, but unsurprisingly, it was filled with questionable decisions.
The more you read, the more bizarre some of the choices made on RAW will get. Either way, it was good to have the show in front of a crowd for the first time in nearly a year and a half.
On a side note, Shayna Baszler lost yet again with Nia Jax and Reginald has been abandoned. The athletic and impressive Reggie managed to win the 24/7 title moments later, so hats off to him.
The build to SummerSlam has officially begun and things are heating up. Here's what WWE subtly told us on RAW this week:
#6 The Women's division heats up on RAW with a big change
Charlotte Flair had a coronation ceremony on RAW. While The Queen was called a 14-time Champion yesterday, it was cut down to 11. WWE doesn't count her two NXT Women's title wins as a part of it, while her reign as the Tag Team Champion naturally doesn't add to her singles tally.
With 5 RAW Women's titles, 5 SmackDown Women's titles, and 1 Divas Championship, it tallies up to 11. The crowd instantly started chanting "Becky" to which Charlotte Flair responded,
"Becky Lynch is still breastfeeding at home while I'm dominating WWE".
This was The Man's response:
Former RAW Women's Champion Rhea Ripley came out and it was underwhelming at first, but the crowd quickly got behind her. Before she came out, Charlotte Flair said that she could beat Ripley any time, any night.
This backfired on her as Ripley first used the line to goad her into a match. Once she was denied, authority figures Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville came out and made the match official for later on RAW.
It was an average match, nowhere as good as their Money in the Bank bout. Rhea Ripley won the match via disqualification but attacked Charlotte Flair post-match. Women's Money in the Bank winner Nikki A.S.H ran in and cashed in the briefcase successfully.
This means that three out of the five Women's MITB holders have cashed in on Charlotte. Four of them have also held it for one day or less. Only Carmella has held it for an extensive period of time.
There were two big mistakes made with the cash-in. First, it's yet another transitional reign for Charlotte Flair. There is no point in her boasting on RAW about her accolades when several of her reigns have lasted for minutes, a day, or in some cases, a few days.
Secondly, with Becky Lynch's return inevitable, Nikki A.S.H's RAW Women's title reign could be cut short in favor of a more marketable program.
WWE should have gone with Charlotte Flair vs Becky Lynch at SummerSlam while letting Nikki A.S.H hold the briefcase for longer.
#5 Humberto is out of the title picture, but Sheamus has a new challenge on RAW
Sheamus seemingly put his on-and-off feud with Humberto Carrillo to rest on RAW. He went and met Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce, who told him that he would have to allow Humberto Carrillo to "earn" a title shot at the very least.
So to earn a United States title shot against Sheamus, Humberto Carrillo had to defeat him on RAW. Spoiler alert: He didn't. But Carrillo, as talented as he is, was never going to dethrone Sheamus on RAW.
During the match, an interested observer was watching backstage on RAW - Damian Priest. While Priest hasn't been featured much on RAW after his feud against The Miz and John Morrison, he could be the man who punches his ticket to SummerSlam.
Damian Priest in a Title match at SummerSlam is a big deal. Sheamus has been an entertaining Champion on RAW, but he hasn't done or accomplished too much either.
Damian Priest vs Sheamus is a good direction to go in on RAW. Priest needs a meaningful feud as well and this is perfect for him. We wouldn't be surprised to see him dethrone Sheamus at SummerSlam.
#4 Bobby Lashley has his SummerSlam match set on RAW
Bobby Lashley held an Open Challenge on RAW. It seemed to play right into the rumor of Goldberg returning to face him at SummerSlam 2021. Lashley and MVP looked great when they came out, with the latter declaring that there would be no more champagne and women surrounding the WWE Champion.
The All Mighty looked more focused than ever and although Goldberg was expected to answer, the alternative wasn't bad at all. Texas' own Keith Lee made his return to RAW after five long months away to a huge reaction.
Keith Lee looked as legitimate as ever and he was in the right place in the "Championship Contender's match", where if he pinned or submitted Bobby Lashley on RAW, he would earn a title shot.
Lee didn't have a good performance on RAW, perhaps due to ring rust. Ultimately, Lashley won clean and Keith Lee is going to the back of the line. The rumors were true and Goldberg returned to confront Bobby Lashley - telling him "I'm next".
The blockbuster SummerSlam match is now on and we couldn't be more excited. But is Goldberg going to put over Bobby Lashley, or will he return for a title win and another run?
#3 The reason for John Cena's return to RAW
John Cena couldn't wait for more than a night and decided to appear on Monday Night RAW. Naturally, he opened the show and received nearly as big a pop as he did at Money in the Bank 2021.
John Cena made his intentions clear - he wants Roman Reigns. The man who beat him in 2017 piqued his interest once more and John Cena set the stage on RAW, announcing that he wants to face The Tribal Chief at SummerSlam.
There were some undertones from the 2017 feud, such as him saying that Roman Reigns "thinks he's over". Reigns is undoubtedly over. Hopefully, John Cena doesn't use the same themed promos as he did four years ago, because it simply didn't work.
What John Cena said to Roman Reigns had validity then, but it certainly isn't now. Either way, it's going to be an exciting feud and John Cena will make the jump from RAW to SmackDown to confront The Tribal Chief and challenge him for a potential 17th World Championship.
John Cena essentially returned to RAW because WWE knew they would peak early ratings and possibly even ticket sales (if it wasn't sold out already, i.e).
We also loved the fact that John Cena gave the rub to Riddle, even if it was in a brief segment on RAW.
#2 RAW goes mild for Jaxson Ryker
Jaxson Ryker faced Elias once again on RAW. This time, it was with the crowds present. We've seen Ryker and Elias go from an odd tag team to having a quick break-up and a series of matches.
The objective seems to be to push Ryker as a singles star on RAW, but if he continues to get the mild reaction from the crowd, he won't get very far. When a close-up shot of Jaxson Ryker was first shown on RAW, there seemed to be a piped-in noise.
When Jaxson Ryker came out for his "Symphony Of Destruction" match, the crowd went mild. There were crickets, but the match delivered to some extent. The Braun Strowman-Elias Symphony Of Destruction match a few years ago on RAW was better, but this was still entertaining.
Back then, Corey Graves made several references to the metal band Megadeth and the feud between Strowman and Elias was light and fun to watch. Jaxson Ryker unsurprisingly won the match and it may have ended his feud with Elias on RAW.
Ryker was always going to win the feud. Whether he still receives a push or not on RAW is yet to be seen.
#1 Karrion Kross has the most underwhelming RAW debut
Karrion Kross lost last night on RAW for the first time in WWE. Imagine that. The most protected superstar in NXT - a two-time NXT Champion and a legitimate monster heel got pinned by Jeff Hardy, who has been on a bit of a downward slump himself.
The positive on RAW was that Jeff Hardy finally got his "No More Words" theme song back. The negative was that NXT Champion Karrion Kross lost to Hardy via a cheap pinfall, with the legend cheating by putting his legs on the rope.
We're not sure what the logic behind the decision on RAW was, but we imagine that there wasn't any. Karrion Kross should be a star who is protected. On the promo after losing his debut on RAW, Kross said that Jeff Hardy made the biggest mistake of his life.
We can only hope that Karrion Kross doesn't lose after this. Also, for some odd reason, WWE decided not to have Scarlette Bordeaux along with Kross, which is another big mistake.
There wasn't much that was subtly told, other than the fact that WWE didn't think this through. Karrion Kross is still the reigning NXT Champion and we imagine that Triple H won't be very happy with the decision. Also, it was Kross' birthday on RAW.
