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Every year, RAW makes two trips to the United Kingdom. These are pre-taped shows, and therefore most of the smart' fans are already aware of the results before they take place. This week, RAW came to us from Manchester, England. For a UK show, it wasn't bad at all.
It's time to look back at the action that transpired in the three hours, and slot the events that transpired as either a 'best' or 'worst'. Here is our summary of this week's action from Manchester. Let us know your 'Best and worst' from the show, in the comments below.
#1 Best: Trolling the Manchester fans
Sheamus and Cesaro are the top heel tag team on RAW, and they did something awesome to get a rise from the Manchester crowd in attendance. Soccer is perhaps the most popular sport in Europe and in many other parts of the world, and there exists a massive rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United.
To heel heat from the crowd, Cesaro and Sheamus decided to dress up in complete Liverpool jerseys and even sang- 'You'll never walk alone', the anthem of Liverpool F.C. This little act of defiance attracted a lot of heel heat right before the team won the RAW tag team championships.
These little touches and flourishes can really add to a show. Kudos to The Bar for raising the bar right here.
#1 Worst: Depriving fans of a dream match
It's quite amusing to see how many of the Champion vs. Champion matches taking place at Survivor Series are heel vs. heel contests. Whether it is Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya or The Miz vs. Baron Corbin, or even in certain ways Jinder Mahal vs. Brock Lesnar, there's not a pure babyface in sight.
Therefore, the matchup that is The Bar vs. The Usos is in many ways, a disappointment. Not because the match will not be a good contest because it certainly will. It's just that the fans will have a difficult time rooting for one of the teams because of the lack of heat that is present.
We wonder if the titles will switch hands again on the go-home episode of RAW before Survivor Series, next week. Or if we're going to get yet another dream feud.
In any case, The Bar and The Shield had a great match and it was a good way to cap off the night.
#2 Best: Mini invasion
Manchester certainly felt the power during the main event match when The New Day made a cameo appearance from the audience. They did not directly get involved in the action at hand, but they certainly influenced how the main event would play out during the show.
We wonder, with Roman Reigns returning next week if this is leading to the dream feud we all wanted. The Shield vs. The New Day. This has to be the only justification for Roman Reigns to not be the fifth man in team RAW if he's returning as early as next week.
For what it was worth, this was a great distraction and certainly helped capture our interest when it was almost waning.
#2 Worst: Alicia Fox in the ring
Alicia Fox certainly is a unique character and makes for a unique team captain, in a lot of ways. However, when she steps into the ring with competitors who're as good as Sasha Banks and Bayley, her weaknesses are exposed.
She's a step behind the others. The Women's Revolution has passed her by. Even though she's a far better in-ring performer compared to what she once was, she's not in the same league as the other women.
A run in NXT won't be a step-down but a way for Fox to refocus and work on her basics before she comes back once again. It could do her a world of good, really!
#3 Best: Only Sasha, not Bayley
WWE sometimes has no patience with their plots, and we are glad to see that this wasn't the case with Sasha Banks and Bayley. They're telling a story of a friendship that is deteriorating with time, and we love it, WWE!
This week, we saw that Sasha Banks and Bayley teamed up to defeat Nia Jax and Alicia Fox. Sasha Banks went on to the Survivor Series team. However, Bayley was not chosen to be a part of the team by team captain Alicia Fox.
One of the women is bound to turn heel in the future, and it will certainly give her a fresh coat of paint. We wonder which of the two women it will be that unleashes her evil side.
#3 Worst: No heat for champion vs. champion matches
We heard passing remarks this week from The Miz about Baron Corbin and from Alexa Bliss about Natalya. However, with only two weeks of SmackDown Live and one week of RAW to go until Survivor Series, there's an amazing lack of heat for the champion vs. champion contests.
It does not help that the Universal Champion is a part-timer, who does not show up on RAW for two consecutive weeks, leading into a pay-per-view. Even if AJ Styles does face Brock Lesnar, will anyone care, not having seen The Beast in such a long time?
Unless the champions face off in the go-home shows, the pay-per-view is going to feel extremely underwhelming. And it should not!
It would be unfair to the champions on both the WWE rosters if it did!
#4 Best: Pete Dunne vs. Enzo Amore
The United Kingdom Champion made his RAW debut when WWE came to the United Kingdom. It was only fitting for Pete Dunne to be the man who knocked Enzo Amore's lights out. Not even the botched entrance from Kurt Angle could ruin the events that transpired.
We know that Pete Dunne will also be a part of 205 Live, with other members of the WWE United Kingdom roster. We cannot wait to find out how that eventually pans out.
All in all, this was an okay if forgettable week of RAW. Let's hope that WWE does indeed pull a rabbit out of the hat in the go-home show before Survivor Series in Houston.
Here's a delightful picture of our favourite wrestling couple to end this particular countdown.
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