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This week of Raw has been filled with many surprises owing to the nature of the product WWE decided to offer its viewers.
The Raw Reunion was at the forefront of delivering some memorable moments, as we saw the 24/7 Championship change hands several times and many Hall of Famers become 24/7 Champions. Apart from that, there were certainly some interesting bookings on this week’s shows which had been missing for some time.
Other than that, SmackDown also saw the return of a legend as Shawn Michaels took centerstage on Miz TV and made things very interesting between The Miz and Dolph Ziggler.
NXT continued to be as consistent as it has been over the past several months and delivered a solid show which was packed with its own shocks and surprises.
In this article, we will look at the 5 most shocking moments from WWE this week, and how they can possibly impact the storylines going forward.
#5 The Shawn Michaels Show
Whenever The Heartbreak Kid is in the spotlight in WWE, we know who’s going to steal the show. This was exactly what happened on SmackDown Live this week, as HBK joined The Miz in the squared circle for an episode of Miz TV. Miz wasted little time asking his guest his take on the argument that Raw Reunion took opportunities away from younger Superstars.
As HBK was putting his point forward, Dolph Ziggler interrupted the proceedings and went on to say that if he ever becomes one of those "happy to be there" guys, he should be put out of his misery.
While we knew that there was a rivalry brewing between Ziggler and The Miz, it was interesting that WWE decided to add Micheals to the mix. What made things even more interesting was the fact that Ziggler delivered a Superkick to HBK to end the segment.
While it seemed like WWE is teasing a feud between Ziggler and Michaels rather than The Miz, it’s possible that Michaels will be the special guest referee whenever they clash.
#4 Candice LeRae’s revenge
This week on NXT, Io Shirai faced former America Ninja Warrior competitor Kacy Catanzaro. Shirai was on top during the match when her past came back to haunt her.
Shirai had betrayed LeRae about a month ago, and LeRae hit the ring and took the fight to her former friend, avenging the shocking betrayal.
With a steel chair in hand, LeRae was ready to end Shirai’s career if she had the chance and show the world who she really is. This was a great segment that shocked almost everyone and added so much more to LeRae’s character and Shirai’s future.
The LeRae of the indies will hopefully get a real chance going forward, and will not just be Johnny Gargano’s wife on television, but something much more.
An eventual showdown between the two women will surely be a treat to watch and we could have a future NXT Women Championship contender come out of this rivalry.
#3 Continuation of Drew McIntyre & Cedric Alexandar’s story
When Drew McIntyre and Cedric Alexander’s match for Raw was announced for the July 15th episode of Raw, we were more than certain that the booking was made simply to show McIntyre’s dominance once again.
As the match went on, we were impressed by Cedric’s skills once again, though did not believe for a minute that he would pull off such a major upset over The Scottish Psychopath.
While we believed that WWE would not have the patience to surprise us once again, we were again proven wrong as they continued this feud forward and booked another match between the two men this week on Raw.
However, things ended before they could begin as McIntyre cut off Cedric Alexander on the entrance ramp and beat him down before hitting him with a reverse Alabama Slam onto the apron.
Now it seems like we have a real rivalry on our hands which could do both men some good as it will help establish McIntyre as an even bigger villain and Cedric as a big mid-card babyface.
#2 Foley & The Fiend
The Raw Reunion brought us many more memorable moments than we could have bargained for, as the biggest names the industry has ever seen came out on the red brand together.
While many Superstars of yesteryear played a major role in the matches and segments that we saw on Raw last week, no one played a bigger role than Mick Foley.
The man who brought us the 24/7 Championship took to the ring and spoke about his career’s best moment.
While we were certain that Foley’s night wouldn’t just end there, we were really shocked to see The Fiend appear and take out the legend with the Mandible Claw to end his night.
While it was obvious that Bray Wyatt was getting in a feud with Finn Balor with SummerSlam approaching, it was great to see Foley take the fall to give Wyatt’s new persona a grand push ahead of The Biggest Party of the Summer.
#1 Pete Dunne’s challenge
This week on NXT, the North American Championship was the center of attention as Velveteen Dream hit the ring to discuss his rivalry with Undisputed Era's Roderick Strong.
While Strong interrupted Dream and the two kept at it for a short while, both men were not ready for the man who made his return soon after.
The former United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne made his way out to the middle and surprised the two rivals by snapping Strong’s fingers. Dunne then went on to eye Dream’s title, making his intentions completely clear.
While Dunne has no real history with Dream at this point while Strong has a much stronger case at hand, it will be interesting to see how this storyline goes forward. A strong triple-threat match can surely come out if booked right and the winner between them will not be an obvious choice.
