8 surprising moments from Raw and Smackdown Live this week

After a reasonably entertaining Money in the Bank pay-per-view that produced exhilarating moments, high octane action and intense drama, WWE decided not to linger on the fall out of the show and pave a new path to the 2018 Extreme Rules pay-per-view.

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This week WWE's two marquee brands rolled full steam ahead to the aforementioned pay-per-view in high speed as a new champion was crowned, new number one contenders were determined, and new rising stars were established in a matter of few surprising moments, and to any longtime WWE fan out there, this is not a regular occurrence.

From a fan favorite receiving a push, no one thought Vince McMahon would sanction to the revival of numerous careers, the red and blue brands produced engaging content that would surely make fans intrigued for the follow up next week. Furthermore, WWE achieved that by following a straightforward method, surprising fans when they least expected.

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#1 "Stone Cold" Rousey

A more vicious, more violent and a more badass Ronda Rousey is what WWE needed to present all along.

The Ronda Rousey WWE portrayed on Raw this week should be the Ronda Rousey WWE fans get to see every week, as for far too long the creative team presented Rousey as a happy go lucky babyface that is wooden on the mic and hard to connect with. However, that all changed when Rousey got robbed by Alexa Bliss at Money in the Bank 2018 when Bliss cost Rousey her chance to become a WWE Women's Champion for the first time in her professional wrestling career.

But that booking decision at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view finally lead to WWE booking Ronda in a manner that suits her demeanor, from her merciless beatdown of Alexa Bliss to surprisingly laying out Kurt Angle and the referees, Rousey has arrived in WWE with this excellent segment that kicked off Raw this week.

#2 Dolph Ziggler steals the show

A push that no one thought would come.

Almost a few months ago Dolph Ziggler was laying in a pit of obscurity, as the former World Champion had no direction, no narrative and no real reason to stay in the company any longer as many suggested the talented star take his abilities to another promotion where he would be valued.

However, no one would've fathomed that today Ziggler would be known as the six-time IC Champion, as he shockingly beat Seth Rollins for the championship on Raw this week. With Drew Mcintyre by his side, Ziggler's new run has taken off to a blazing start, as he now has a platform to rejuvenate his career, build up Mcintyre as a more dangerous beast and inject momentum into the Raw mid card division, as Rollins was carrying it for the past few months.

#3 Kevin Owens: A master of continuity

When you get thrown off a 20-foot ladder, it will hurt, and that is something KO understands.

It is unfortunate that Kevin Owens has fallen so far down the WWE food chain ever since his lost his Universal Title to Goldberg in twenty-three seconds. As his run on Smackdown Live was disappointing, his partnership with Sami Zayn had not reached the potential it could have, and his recent singles run on Raw has taken a chunk off his credibility as "the prizefighter" WWE once presented him as.

If one thing is sure, it is that Owens might be the most intelligent wrestler on the Raw roster, as no matter how bad the material the WWE creative team hand him, KO manages to find a way to make it sound believable, interesting and hilarious at the same time. Moreover, this week on Raw was no different as Owens perfectly sold his injuries throughout the entire night in perfection, delivered a promo that made a whole lot of sense and gave an exceptional narrative based performance in Raw's main event, as he did all that by keeping kayfabe the entire time.

#4 Lashley brings back a familiar move

While Lashley's character might still be a little bit bland, WWE is taking the right steps to mold him into a relentless ass kicker

The truth is that WWE's awful handling of Bobby Lashley has made the former United States Champion feel boring, from monotonous promos to lackluster matches, Lashley has not been booked as the freak of nature many fans wanted him to be. But, that might be changing for the better, as this week on Raw Lashley made his claim for a Universal Title opportunity against the man no one has managed to beat, Brock Lesnar.

And obviously, when it comes to the Universal Title scene, Roman Reigns is around, which prompted GM Kurt Angle to book a multi-man number one contender match at Extreme Rules for the Universal Title, but before that significant bout Angle booked Lashley and Reigns against The Revival, a team that was sadly just on Raw to eat the pinfall.

The surprising thing about this is that the move that ended the match was a spear, but not from " the big dog" as usual but from Lashley. The spear has been a regular finishing move of Lashley for years now, and the fact that WWE allowed him to use it again in the era of Roman Reigns was a surprising moment.

#5 The evolution of Elias

No one would've fathomed that Elias would one day be considered Universal Title material, but in the name of kayfabe, this man is awesome.

One could compile a playlist of Elias 'greatest' hits, and undoubtedly the number one song on that list would be the one he performed on this week's episode of Raw. While it might not be the best WWE centric song anyone has heard, it evidently conveyed a strong message about "the drifters" future motivations, his current emotional state after being beat by Seth Rollins and an odd revelation that Elias does not fear "the beast."

As at Extreme Rules there will be a multi-man match to determine the number one contender to Lesnar's title, no one really expects Elias to pick up that career-changing win. However, if WWE continues using the story elements around them to evolve wrestlers personalities, it can result in more fleshed out characters like Elias who do not stay stuck in one tune for the years on end.

#6 The booking of Sanity's debut

The concept of Sanity's controlled chaos is well known, but after weeks of waiting for the stable's debut, WWE could've done much better.

Sanity arrived, raised chaos, and left. That is is the basic concept of Eric Young's group of monstrous allies, but after weeks of delaying their debut in the blue brand, WWE built up the idea of wanting to expect something landscape changing from Sanity's debut. While taking out The Usos was a standard way to introduce a team such as Sanity, it had no impact or lasting impression that would make Sanity's arrival feel special.

And the fact that there 'surprise' assault on The Usos was just a way to ignite a programme between the teams is actually surprising when WWE could've had Sanity's debut been more memorable and consequential for the entire Smackdown Live roster, as they could have had them target AJ Styles, the Blugenn Brothers, or just wreck the entire arena. Therefore, a mere beatdown that fans have seen a thousand times before isn't something worth remembering.

#7 Daniel Bryan mauled by the Bludgen Brothers

A scenario that makes little sense at the moment, but hopefully, this leads to an electric programme.

When WWE announced a gauntlet match to determine the new number one contender for AJ Styles WWE Title at Extreme Rules, many predicted that Daniel Bryan would persevere in his classic underdog style and win the entire match.

Even though Bryan beat a game Big E and outsmarted a focused Samoa Joe to progress through the match But WWE had other plans, as Bryan was abruptly eliminated by The Miz courtesy of a vicious assault from The Bludgeon Brothers.

While many feel this assault on Bryan was random, out of place and just downright confusing, there no denying that it was surprising as this storyline could result in some exciting prospects for the blue brand.

#8 It's fricken Rusev Day!

Rusev is finally getting the push he needs to evolve into a legitimate main event player.

At the peak of his popularity, Rusev was possibly the most over superstar in the entire WWE, as his natural charisma, comedic timing, and just plain athleticism were enough to draw fans towards the likable "Bulgarian brute."However, Rusev's thunderous crowd reaction, soaring merchandise sales, and excellent matches were not enough to force WWE to rethink their booking plans, as Rusev lost marquee matches at major pay-per-views.

But as the saying goes expected the unexpected especially in wrestling, as Rusev is now the number one contender for the WWE Title at Extreme Rules, and that was not a sentence no one ever thought they would hear, and that makes it the biggest surprise of the week.