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The first episode of WWE Monday Night RAW for September is officially in the books and what a show it was! It started off with the main event scene, where Braun Strowman and Seth Rollins were all set to sign their contracts.
They were, of course, interrupted again by AJ Styles, who tore the contract and made threatened to physically assault Michael Cole. It led to a tag team match between The OC and the tag team champions and though they won, they were on the receiving end of a beatdown from five other men. But we'll get back to that.
The main talk of the show, of course, has been Bray Wyatt's Firefly Fun House and the very end of RAW where we see a rather shocking heel turn. The King of the Ring tournament progressed and we now know the semifinal match-up - but there's controversy! Here's what WWE subtly told us on the latest episode of RAW!
#5. The Clash of Champions main event will be chaotic
What seems quite clear is that the main event of Clash of Champions won't be a singles match between Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman. AJ Styles and The OC have been looming over them for the last few weeks and given that Styles tore the contract today, it's evident that he will be in the mix as well.
This probably means a Universal Championship match and a United States Championship match at the same time, which means that things are really going to get interesting. Seth Rollins could walk into Clash of Champions with two titles and walk out with three - or even zero, for that matter.
Either way, it's going to be chaotic and there's no doubt that the OC will be involved in the main event in some capacity as well.
See WWE RAW Results, Highlights of event, & more on WWE RAW Results page
#4. The reason for the King of the Ring controversy
As expected, Cedric Alexander was unable to defeat Baron Corbin due to his leg injury and a premeditated assault prior to his match. He went out like a warrior and the general assumption was that he would be facing Ricochet in the tournament semifinals.
It makes sense because Ricochet is the one who's being pushed right now and it was a little more than a couple of months ago when Ricochet pinned Samoa Joe clean to become the United States Champion.
However, there was a controversial finish where Ricochet had his arms on top of Joe, but they were both flat on their backs. The referee made a three count, not knowing who he made it for. As a result, there was no finish and no winner.
John Cone later spoke to Baron Corbin and revealed that both superstars got a pass and the Semifinal match will be a triple threat. As you can imagine, Corbin was furious about it. However, it seems evident that the reason behind the triple threat match is that they probably want to protect Samoa Joe. While there could have been other ways to do it, this isn't something we have seen in a King of the Ring tournament before.
#3. Bray Wyatt will likely be challenging for the Universal title soon
There were rumours over the past few days about Bray Wyatt facing either Braun Strowman or Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship at WWE Hell in a Cell. While it's still a month away, the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento (the host venue of the PPV) advertised Wyatt vs either Rollins or Strowman and The Monster Among Men even replied to that tweet.
Either WWE is teasing fans by addressing those rumours, or those were the plans all along. He had an interaction with a puppet Vince McMahon and fed him money to convince him to face either Seth Rollins or Braun Strowman.
He acknowledged his past with both of them, stating that they both took something very important from him. He doubled down by saying that both of them are selfish and not team players like him, referring to his relationship with Mercy The Buzzard, The Ramblin' Rabbit, Abigail and the others. The subtleties of the episode were fantastic and it seems clear based on Wyatt's "See you in hell" message that he will be challenging for the Universal Championship right off the bat next month.
#2. Why Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman won't be walking out with the Tag Team titles
Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman, though they have had their tense moments, have hardly ever shown signs of splitting. Granted, they're a temporary tag team and it's better if their characters addressed it that way as well.
Braun Strowman even expressed a bit of insecurity over 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin hosting the contract signing next week, but this was only much after the beatdown he and Rollins suffered at the start of the show.
There was even a moment during their tag team match where Strowman bulldozed through Rollins. The cracks will start showing in a matter of time and that will be the major deciding factor with regards to their tag title match.
They'll be facing the newly formed team of Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler for the tag titles before the main event. Expect Ziggler and Roode to walk out with the titles. It's going to be one of those cases where two big egos clash and it leads to tension within the match, costing them. It'll only add more drama to the main event, which is going to be really interesting to see.
#1. Why Bayley turned heel
The biggest shocker of Monday Night RAW was undoubtedly the fact that Bayley turned heel at the very end. For context, the main event saw a tag team match that had RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch team up with SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley to face the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross.
It ended in a DQ when Sasha Banks attacked Becky Lynch. She started beating her down with a chair until Bayley interjected and snatched the chair from her hands. Throughout the show, they had questioned both Bayley and Banks on the status of their friendship and there was some good character continuity there.
However, at the end of it, Bayley took the chair herself and assaulted Becky Lynch. The reason why she turned heel was probably because WWE wanted to throw a wrench in all the women's plans and shake up the division entirely. Bayley was SmackDown's leading female babyface star, but the heel turn leaves that spot entirely open.
Moreover, we have no idea where Charlotte Flair sits in all of this. It's going to be really interesting to see how it's done, but it's clear that the heel turn was done in order to shake things up big time.
Bayley gives us a HUGE update on a top Superstar's upcoming return RIGHT HERE.
