The 5 biggest news stories from this week's RAW

Another week, and another episode of Monday Night Raw in the books. And if we’re being totally honest, it wasn’t all that bad.

It’s rather sad that the majority of wrestling fans have been conditioned to expect Raw to be an awful show week after week, and so we tend to find ourselves tentatively tuning in to Raw as we nervously watch through our fingers. But this week? Yeah, not bad at all.

The WWE has promised change, and it seems that we’re slowly getting some steps in the right direction where Raw is concerned. SmackDown? Well, that’s generally been pretty good for the majority of the last year. It’s Raw that’s been the clear problem, but it’s a case of “so far, so good” where 2019 is concerned for the red brand.

Coming out of the January 14th edition of Raw, though, and there were some major talking points to take from the show. Not just talking points, but there were a couple of legitimate surprises; something which has seemed a lost art on Raw for years, particularly where it pertains to genuinely great surprises that deliver something that the watching audience wants to see.

With that all in mind then, let’s take a look at the 5 most shocking moments from this week’s outing for the WWE’s flagship show.

5) Strowman loses his Universal Championship shot

Braun Strowman will no longer face Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble

One of the biggest talking points from this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw is the news that Braun Strowman has been pulled from the Universal Championship match at the upcoming Royal Rumble event.

Previously, The Monster Amongst Men was booked to face Brock Lesnar for the title, but those plans have been scrapped.

The reason for this remains unknown, with some online outlets reporting that the plan was always to pull Strowman from the match; the logic there being that Brock was always going to emerge victorious and the WWE didn’t want Braun losing yet again to Paul Heyman’s Beast.

Other reports suggest that Strowman is possibly not quite 100% after his recent surgery, while some lay the real blame for the former Tag Team Champion’s removal on the truly awful promo Strowman cut on the previous week’s Raw.

Either way, Lesnar vs Strowman is off. The biggest question now for fans of Braun is just what lies ahead for him. Is he healthy enough to compete in the Royal Rumble? If so, surely he’s got to be one of the favourites to win the entire Rumble match.

But Rumble or not, the Road to WrestleMania certainly looks a little more complicated for Strowman right now – with the most logical idea seemingly to have Strowman battle former stablemate Drew McIntyre at the Showcase of the Immortals.

4) The Women’s Tag Team Championships have returned

The new Women's Tag Team Championships were unveiled by Alexa Bliss

It’s absolutely about time that the WWE has a set of Women’s Tag Team Championships to be competed for across both the Raw and SmackDown rosters, although one slightly baffling part of all of this is how so many on-screen talents are referring to this as a first-time-ever scenario.

For those of you who are either a) old enough to remember, or b) historians of the business, you’ll be well aware that the WWE has actually had Women’s Tag Team Championships before. Jumping Bomb Angels, anyone? How about The Glamour Girls?

Those titles were in existence from 1983 up until 1989, but now the company is finally bringing back said championships. And this week’s Raw was a huge moment for the female tag division, with Alexa Bliss revealing the belts themselves.

For months, we’ve heard how Women’s Tag Team Championships were being planned, and then we’d even heard how they were definitely happening. That was all well and good, but there was nothing concrete on just when the WWE were to bring back these belts. Now, that’s all been revealed.

Added to the first look at the belts, we were subsequently told that the straps would be on the line at next month’s Elimination Chamber PPV, with teams from both main rosters challenging to become the first tandem to hold these reintroduced titles.

3) Bobby Lashley, Intercontinental Champion

Bobby Lashley wins the Intercontinental Championship for the first time

It’s fair to say that we were all likely hoping for the Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins feud to come to an end sooner rather than later.

Despite their paths having been long intertwined, this most recently rivalry between the former Shield brothers has felt a little off; not helped any by Ambrose spending the first few weeks of his heel turn complaining about people’s hygiene.

Once the Ambrose vs Rollins vs Bobby Lashley match was announced for this week’s Raw, many logical sorts would have presumed that this would be the concluding part of this latest chapter in the Ambrose and Rollins story. Those same people, however, would never have thought that Lashley would actually win the match and become the new Intercontinental Champion.

That in itself is a major shock, and it also throws up a slew of questions about what lies ahead. Having just lost the title, one would have to imagine that The Lunatic Fringe isn’t finished with Lashley just yet. But then that throws up questions over a heel vs heel rivalry. Or is it a case of Ambrose turns babyface again already? Surely not.

At least hopefully this means that Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins will go their separate ways for the foreseeable future, with Rollins likely to challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 35. As for Ambrose? We’ll have to wait and see what lies ahead for the former WWE Champion.

2) Balor vs Beast

Finn Balor will challenge for Brock Lesnar's Universal Championship

As the main event of the recent NXT TakeOver UK: Blackpool event played out, fans in attendance began chanting “Are you watching Vince McMahon?” And that in itself is something that many a wrestling fan has wondered over the last few years, with the voice of the paying fans seemingly ignored time after time by Vinny Mac.

One such example being former NXT Champion and the first ever Universal Champion, Finn Balor.

Fans have been clamouring for Balor to be showcased in a more prominent spot on the roster, with many even calling for the Irishman to switch over to the SmackDown brand in order to be refreshed and repositioned. While that SmackDown move has yet to materialise, this week’s Raw was a huge jump in the right direction for Finn.

As a result of Braun Strowman’s removal from the Universal Championship match at the Royal Rumble, in his place we now have Finn Balor, with Balor winning a four-way battle against John Cena, Drew McIntyre and Baron Corbin to earn himself a shot at Paul Heyman’s Beast.

Considering Balor was often lost in the shuffle or left battling the likes of Elias and Jinder Mahal throughout 2018, the past couple of weeks have seen a massive upturn in the fortunes of the former Bullet Club leader.

Sure, we all know that Lesnar will end up retaining the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble, but just being in the ring with Brock can make somebody a bigger star. Plus, the likes of Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan have all managed to put on absolute classics with Lesnar, something that Finn Balor will be hoping to replicate.

1) Cena takes the pin

Finn Balor pinned John Cena clean in the middle of the ring

It’s a sign of the changing WWE environment, but John Cena getting pinned on Raw was again a massive sign of approval towards Finn Balor.

Cena has been the WWE’s poster boy since debuting on the main roster back in 2002, going on to become one of the most consistent top level stars in the company’s history. Like him or not, Cena’s longevity as “the guy” has far surpassed legends such as Steve Austin, The Rock, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, and his in-ring work is often massively underrated. When it comes to the crunch, time and time again Big Match John has stepped up to the plate to deliver.

In 2019, however, we have a John Cena who is no longer that figurehead, that poster boy, or even that ever-present top star. Instead, we have a Cena who makes sporadic appearances when his star power is needed. And that star power was perfectly utilised on this week’s Raw as the 16-time World Champion was pinned clean in the middle of the ring by Finn Balor.

Such a simple thing can have such a major impact in increasing the credibility of Balor, particularly amongst younger fans who still hold Cena up on a pedestal as the best in the business. Plus, that decision similarly protects Drew McIntyre and Baron Corbin in how they can now proclaim how they lost their shot at the Universal Championship despite neither of them being pinned.

For years, we’ve often heard how Cena buried talent and refused to lose (hey, Nexus!), but now we’re seeing the other side of the coin, and hopefully this week’s Raw is a nice indicator of how the WWE plans to use the ridiculously talented Finn Balor going forward.