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WWE RAW Reunion turned out to be a much bigger success than anticipated. While there was undoubtedly a lot of skepticism over the over-obsession with nostalgia, WWE did a decent job with the entire show.
While it did start off rather slow, the pace picked up in a big way and it felt as though some storylines genuinely progressed through the course of the 3 hours. The show had a somewhat surprising ending as well, with no angle to top it off. It was simply 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin cutting an unscripted promo about the WWE family and raising a toast with the legends to this family. There were no stunners, no shenanigans or anything of the sort.
It was simply a feel-good ending to close the show and with that, we take one step closer to SummerSlam. Here are a few things WWE subtly told us on the show.
#5. The OCs are going to be around for a while
At WWE RAW Reunion, AJ Styles reformed The Club and named them "The OC", i.e, The Original Club. They were given the faction name and were nearly even given the faction-burial treatment at the hands of DX, but thankfully, that wasn't the case.
AJ Styles was protected via a DQ and The OC went away when DX and the nWo members Kevin Nash and Scott Hall came out, rather than getting attacked by all of them and buried right away.
WWE was very smart with this, knowing that AJ Styles is an important player for them. What seems to be clear is that now that there really isn't much of a brand split and that Styles is on RAW, the OC is going to last a while. It's certainly going to last longer than The Club did back in 2016.
See WWE RAW REUNION Results, Highlights of event, & more on WWE RAW REUNION Results page
#4. The "session" with RVD
During the Sami Zayn vs Rey Mysterio match, Rob Van Dam made a return and helped Mysterio get the win. Afterwards, one half of the NXT Tag Team Champions Montez Ford was searching for his partner Angelo Dawkins.
He saw Dawkins standing to the side, putting eyedrops and seeming dazed. Ford asked him what was going on and Dawkins mentioned RVD being around. He said Mark Henry was there with him and was "drinking champagne" in the bathroom, while Ric Flair, The Godfather and more were there too.
While Ford and Corey Graves seemed confused, it was quite clear that it was a reference to Rob Van Dam's open consumption of marijuana. They've done something similar with Kane and RVD before when they were a tag team, all of it in references.
It was a funny little touch and The Street Profits did a great job of making the segment hilarious.
#3. Samoa Joe has a very specific role in WWE
Samoa Joe is as legitimate as it gets and WWE is well aware about this. When Samoa Joe was brought into WWE, Triple H told him straight up that he wasn't being paid to train. He was brought in to be a long-term anchor of NXT, but as things changed, he eventually got his main roster opportunity.
Even on the main roster, he's proven time and again that there's nobody more intense on the microphone as he is and his style certainly makes him back up his words. Unfortunately, WWE only seems to view Joe as someone who needs to be built up to put over other stars. The term for it as a "jobber to the stars" and it seems as though WWE doesn't view Joe as a proper main event talent or a World Champion. He's there to put over bigger stars.
#2. The Fiend is going to be a huge part of WWE programming
The Fiend Bray Wyatt appeared for the second week in a row and his next victim wasn't a current superstar, but a legend in Mick Foley. Foley was out and was ready to give us a throwback to his favorite WWE career moment, when he won the WWE title from The Rock in January 1999.
Then, the the screen stopped and the lights faded and everybody knew what happened. Michael Cole even called it brilliantly, screaming "Not here! Not now!". It was a rather scary moment and Wyatt confronted Mick Foley. Though he didn't outright attack him, he did shove his glove into Foley's mouth, similar to what Foley used to do with Mr. Socko, his mandible claw.
He took out Foley and it has become quite clear that WWE plans to make Bray Wyatt a huge part of WWE programming. And the best part? He's hardly going to wrestle!
#1. Nostalgia is great, but 24/7 is greater!
The WWE 24/7 Championship has seen some incredible nights so far, but the RAW Reunion night may have been one of the best. We saw the title change hands a whopping 9 times, going from R-Truth to Drake Maverick to 78-year old Pat Patterson to 72-year old Jerry Briscoe to the first-ever female 24/7 champion Kelly Kelly to Candice Michelle to Alundra Blayze to "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase to Drake Maverick and finally back to R-Truth.
Sure, the nostalgia factor was all well and good and WWE really made sure to squeeze it out as much as they could, but the reality is that it didn't even hold a candle to how entertaining the 24/7 championship segments were.
WWE made the perfect decision by having the title centered around R-Truth and Drake Maverick and the other legends did a great job as a supporting cast in their story. We love this title! Now, all we need is a Carmella win...
