Monday Night Raw had two game-changing moments – one in the form of heartbreak and one in the form of sheer happiness. Two of the most formidable faces of NXT gave us such defining moments in a matter of 2 days. Brooklyn’s been part of quite a journey in the last 3 days.
This was also a night of thanking the fans for their support, be it Balor, the Dudleys, The New Day or NXT’s hottest free agent who is finally on Raw – the Brooklyn audience and the fans all around the world should watch this episode for the appreciation doled out their way. This was a decent show, a decent fallout to the past couple of days of great performances.
Here are the five points to note from this episode of Monday Night Raw-
Rude Shock
Monday Night Raw kicked off with the commentators talking about how Finn Balor injured his shoulder and is suffering from a torn labrum following a running powerbomb on the barricade at Summerslam. Graves mentioned that Balor popped his shoulder back in and went on fighting. But the pain escalated throughout the night and he had to take an MRI.
Balor is out for almost 6 months which meant he would have to relinquish the title he won last night. Chants of ‘Finn’ and ‘You deserve it’ echoed through the arena and the audience was aptly heartbroken when Balor vacated his title and gave it to Mick Foley.
Well, he’ll always have Brooklyn and he’ll always be known as the first ever WWE Universal Champion.
Moving On
While Balor left the ring in a class act after thanking the audience and complimenting Rollins’ performance, Seth Rollins’s music stomped the entire moment. Rollins nonchalantly crossed paths with Balor and the former Universal Champion wasn’t too impressed with this, but that was that.
Rollins walked out to take advantage of the moment and automatically assumed that he’ll get the Universal Championship until Zayn, Jericho, Owens, Enzo and Cass, Roman Reigns – all walked out one by one.
A tournament began to determine the new champion with a series of matches eventually leading to a fatal four-way match next week to determine the new champion. Owens, Rollins, Big Cass and Roman Reigns face each other next week.
Guys, IT’S BAYLEY!
A night that began with a disappointment was redeemed with the debut of the heart and soul of NXT. Bayley finally made it to the main roster. She is now part of Raw and immediately challenged Charlotte for the title, but she didn’t get the match she wanted. She still has to earn her stripes and so she faced Dana Brooke.
And of course, she won her first match on the main roster. But what makes Bayley so endearing maybe are the moments which are so unscripted, like picking up a fans’ merchandise when they dropped it accidently on the floor or not knowing where to get the mic while in the ring and being genuinely excited about finally making it to the main roster.
All behold! The Hug Life is upon us!
She’ll be back
Speaking of the Women’s Division, there were rampant speculations that former Women’s champion Sasha Banks was suspended after being removed from advertisements for future WWE events. She was removed for more than 30 days of advertising which coincides the 30-day suspension policy WWE has.
It was all eventually cleared out when news came that she has to rehab from some nagging back injuries. Well, she will be back sooner than later, so the rumor goes again. The back injury has been of course written into the storyline and Charlotte’s taking all the credit for it. Glad to see the heel back in her true form.
Reign of Terror
Braun Strowman is enjoying probably the best days of his career so far. Squash matches have been pretty generic and uninteresting in the WWE but the murderous rage and presence of Strowman suits so well with this format. And it takes two to tango, so WWE has done a great job of having his opponents talk about why they’re willing to face Strowman.
That gives the match a story instead of being just another squash match. You are, for mere minutes, invested in knowing something about the other wrestler since you already know what their fate is going to be.
