Tonight’s episode of Raw was quite a significant one. It started off with Finn Balor having to vacate the WWE Universal Championship due to a shoulder injury that was caused by Seth Rollins giving him a buckle bomb onto the barricade. Crazy enough, Balor popped back his dislocated shoulder and completed the match, and won. If that hasn’t increased the respect of the WWE Universe towards Finn Balor, then it is hard to find something that will.
Latest updates say Balor will be out for 6 months. There were 4 matches that determined who would qualify for a fatal 4 way next week on Raw to crown the new WWE Universal Champion. Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Big Cass and Roman Reigns were all successful, and they will face off against each other next week in Houston, Texas.
Another significant event on Monday Night Raw was the long anticipated debut of Bayley onto the main roster. Bayley easily got the best reaction of the night, with the familiar Brooklyn crowd going wild over the prospect of Bayley challenging Charlotte for the WWE Women’s Championship. Bayley already established herself as the top babyface of Raw, given that Sasha Banks will be out of action for the next month.
Also, The Dudley Boyz announced their departure from the WWE after a full year of their return. Raw ended with Roman Reigns standing tall over Chris Jericho, who he defeated to qualify for the Fatal Four Way next week. The dark main event after tonight’s Raw in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center saw SmackDown Superstars John Cena and WWE Champion Dean Ambrose team up.
They defeated Seth Rollins and AJ Styles, who is also from SmackDown. The three Smackdown Live stars have frequently been appearing on Raw dark matches, as they were advertised for Raw much prior to the draft, and thus WWE had to fulfill legal obligations by making sure they appeared on the show.
In fact, a few weeks ago AJ Styles appeared on Raw in Anaheim, California, appearing during a commercial break. He proceeded to insult the crowd and the city he was in. He also insulted Monday Night Raw while he was at it, stating that he was a ”Smackdown Guy”. Cena then showed up and gave him the attitude adjustment, which concluded their abrupt untelevised appearance.
The finish saw Ambrose hit the Dirty Deeds on Rollins as Cena looked on. Here are some clips of the Raw dark match:
