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One day after a good No Mercy event, WWE's red brand rebounded fairly well with a post-pay-per-view Raw. Several matches stood out, including Braun Strowman vs. Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins vs. Sheamus, and Roman Reigns vs. The Miz. Even Goldust had a solid contest with Finn Balor. The wrestling was alright and new story directions were set, so kudos to WWE for all of the stuff they did right. Now, it's time for the negatives.
This was not a Raw filled with many botches per se, but there were still plenty of outrageous moments deserving of endless banter. Standout out developments that are sure to be the talk of the Tuesday morning water cooler chatter range from the Finn Balor feud that never ends to several shocking developments relating to Enzo Amore and his Cruiserweight Championship Celebration.
Also, The Miz may or may not be encouraging his pregnant wife to drink. The jury's still out on that one. Maybe somebody should tell them that's unsafe. Anyways, let's kick the countdown off with Braun Strowman blood!
5. Braun's arm blood
At the previous night's No Mercy, Braun Strowman's face stood out early in his match against Brock Lesnar for some curious damage. He was bleeding, even though he endured very little offence from the Universal Champion up to that point. On this episode of Raw, the Monster Among Men had a similar incident.
Strowman answered Curt Hawkin's call to be part of his historic losing streak, absolutely destroying him. He chased him out of the ring and through the crowd, laying waste to Curt at the top of the entrance ramp. This scuffle ended with a memorable spot as Hawkins took a Powerslam through a section of LED lights.
Evidently, this move hurt Braun as well as his opponent. Just look at his right arm in the above gif while he's calling out his challenger from the back. A trickle of blood is evident. Sadly for Curt, he suffered an epic beatdown and the match never got properly started. This didn't count for his goofy streak.
4. Shooting with Enzo
Enzo Amore got plenty of face time with the Raw General Manager on this night. In one of the earlier interactions with Kurt Angle, the Certified G talked his way into getting a big celebration for his Cruiserweight Championship victory. After Kurt agreed to the brouhaha, he tried to offer some advice to the far more novice competitor. Outrageously, Enzo declined.
It's hard to tell just how deep the reality is mixed in with the kayfabe in an interaction like this. Was this a scripted line to fit in with the narrative of a young wrestler who's ego is out of control? Or is Enzo beyond whatever malfeasances he's exhibited backstage and he's currently in on the gag as much as everyone else? We'll never truly know, but lines like these are fun to dissect.
3. Not the wisest drink choice
Miz kicked Raw with his talk show segment, MizTV. Long before his guest Roman Reigns challenged him to a match, he was in a celebratory mood. He explained how he was prepared to return home quickly so that he could be with his pregnant wife, ready to discuss how their unborn child would not grow up to be a loser like Kurt Angle's son.
In addition to insulting Kurt's baby boy, Miz excitedly told his wife to "keep the champagne on ice because daddy's coming home soon." It's unclear if Miz is simply instructing Maryse to chill the champagne solely for his consumption and his only, but it sure sounds like he's suggesting that they will both drink it together in celebration of his win over Jason Jordan at No Mercy. If that's the case then that's a horrible idea to drink any sort of alcohol with your pregnant wife.
2. The feud continues
Oh no...why must the feud continue?!
This rivalry is logically over. Finn Balor in Demon paint defeated Bray Wyatt at SummerSlam. Then, Finn Balor without the paint (the normal guy) defeated Bray yet again. That's two straight wins under two different personas. It's been definitively proven that Wyatt cannot defeat Balor regardless of how he's dressed.
Earlier on Raw, Balor confirmed the rumours in a backstage interview that he's going to be Brock Lesnar's next challenger for the Universal Championship. Finn also began a side feud with Goldust after a backstage kerfuffle, so he has plenty on his plate right now. That doesn't leave room for any more stories, especially not a rivalry he ended one day prior.
Despite this author's disdain, this feud apparently isn't over. After Finn defeated Goldust, the arena went dark and the fireflies came out for a rendition of "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." Oh joy.
1. Neville threw away future Cruiserweight bids
Enzo Amore celebrated his Cruiserweight Title in the main event of Raw, which is pretty outrageous for the sub-205ers to get that spot. Then, Amore was given the opportunity to shoot on just about everybody. The biggest burns were directed towards Gran Metalik's "gut" and Neville's inability to ever sniff the Raw main event. Whether Enzo is liked backstage or not, it doesn't change the fact that right now he's allowed to be entertaining as he pushes any and all boundaries on the mic.
Perhaps the most outrageous development from this entire segment was Neville's disregard toward the no contact clause that Kurt Angle granted for this night only. The former King of the Cruiserweights laid waste to Enzo Amore anyway, sacrificing another opportunity at the purple belt.
This is actually a good thing as it likely signals that Neville can now graduate to the Intercontinental division. Let's keep our fingers crossed for that!
