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It was an okay episode of RAW until the final moments of the main event of RAW came along. Kevin Owens and Randy Orton battled in the middle of the ring, and the referee calling the shots went about unnoticed.
And yet, when Randy Orton had Kevin Owens down for the count, the referee executed a fast count to have the Viper pick up a pretty big win. This is something that came out of nowhere and is definitely the biggest talking point coming out of this week's episode of RAW.
So why has WWE suddenly decided to introduce a referee into this storyline, you ask? I think I can provide 5 reasons as to why this may indeed be the case, dear reader.
Feel free to chime and let me know your thoughts as well.
#5 Yet another Screwjob takes place in Canada
I'm certain that there's no need to go into a history lesson with regard to what happened with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels in Montral all those years ago, which remains a dark day in the history of wrestling. I suppose that over time old wounds have healed and now, it has become such a part of pop culture, that WWE does a version of it every time they visit Canada.
While the show was not in Montreal this week, one could see how this whole segment was a modern-day version of the Montreal Screwjob that happened back in classic 90s WWE. Bret Hart has said on more than one occasion that this is a very touchy subject for him, but I doubt that WWE seems to care about it and they pulled off this particular angle anyway.
In any case, it is what it is.
#4 To make Owens look strong even in defeat
One of the central issues with pairing two top superstars in the main event match is that there has to be a winner and a loser. Both Kevin Owens and Randy Orton are top-tier superstars and the best way to make Kevin Owens look strong in defeat was to have him defeated by very dubious means indeed.
A classic case of a Superstar who lost her sheen after losing her big match was Asuka who became only a shell of what she used to be perceived as after she did the job to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania not long ago. Another example of the same is Goldberg in his WCW days who was never the same after he lost to Kevin Nash at Starrcade.
While those are extreme examples, WWE could not afford to have Kevin Owens lose clean when he's on fire at the moment. And therefore, by carrying this angle out they had Randy Orton win the match but at the same time, Kevin Owens did not lose way too much of his momentum either.
#3 To prove that Seth Rollins' cult will keep on growing
The AoP kept cutting backstage promos until they were allied with Seth Rollins and unleashed their reign of chaos upon the world at large. And then it was Murphy who joined the fold and became the right-hand man for the Monday Night Messiah thereafter.
A lot of people remarked at that point that this was one of the rare occasions when a faction in WWE had more than three members. Very seldom have we seen a group with more than four members in the company, with the notable exceptions being the Ministry of Darkness and The Corporation, of course.
But much like the nWo, Seth Rollins' cult will keep on growing and again much like the nWo, this is a cult that has a dirty referee. Only, the motivation here isn't money or power, it is an evangelist who convinces people to follow the wrong path with his falsehoods and promises.
Let's just hope that this storyline is more successful than the nWo angle.
#2 This storyline has been carried out in the past memorably
If you've been watching Impact Wrestling ever since Anthem took over, they have been doing some good stuff that often goes under the radar because not as many people watch the show as WWE. In any case, one of the things that they carried out quite beautifully was the idea of a dirty referee in John E. Bravo, who joined the Johnny Impact- Taya Valkyrie fold. It was Impact Wrestling's hottest storyline for a while and Taya and Bravo are still quite a pair.
Also, the storyline has obviously been done in WCW as was mentioned with Nick Patrick and we all remember the whole Little Naitch storyline as well. A lot of storylines get repeated from the wrestling world with varying degrees of success and the idea of a dirty referee is something that has a ton of potential, in my personal opinion. It's already the biggest thing to come out of a show as we head into a major pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia.
#1 Punishment for Kevin Owens
You can be a bad guy and break all the rules and more often than not, you get a free pass in WWE. But if you are a good guy, you are supposed to live your life by a certain code and one of the things you are not supposed to do is lay your hands on a referee.
And this is why I believe that the assault from Kevin Owens upon the referee that followed the main event match could be a device to punish him and have the audience gain sympathy for the beloved babyface. Every action has consequences and Kevin Owens will have to bear the brunt of them on live TV.
Maybe this results in someone like Triple H or Shane McMahon entering into a long feud with Owens. I know we've seen way too much Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens already, but there's a readymade storyline in place now.
We all know that Kevin Owens refuses to go to Saudi Arabia and maybe a punishment could be WWE's way of explaining his absence.
