The August 15, 2016, edition of Monday Night Raw will be the go-home episode for SummerSlam. As we are in the brand split period, WWE will not be having further buildups with SmackDown, which in turn, increases the importance of the show. From what happened last week, WWE does have some work to do before they roll out SummerSlam and their primary focus perhaps would be the same.
All of the feuds that WWE is building up for the biggest pay-per-view of the summer could use some final minute preparations. Here is a look at the possible segments that WWE could come up with on this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw.
Wrapping up the buildup
The Charlotte and Sasha Banks feud took a big turn last week when they added a new stipulation to the match. According to this, Dana Brooke will be banned from ringside and it opens the door for a one on one showdown between Sasha and Charlotte without much overbooking.
This week on Raw, WWE will be making their final moves to sell this feud and it would be interesting to see whether they would use Dana Brooke for Raw as she will be banned for Sunday night. Another interesting part will be the superstar that gets the upper hand. The pendulum could swing either way, but whoever gets the push, will have momentum on their side.
Entertainment redefined
Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs. Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens is perhaps the most entertaining feud in the current WWE product. All four men have proven themselves to be great talkers and this helps them to attain the ‘entertaining’ status. The way Owens and Jericho get under the skin of WWE fans is currently unmatched whereas the right amount of insult and humor from Enzo and Cass adds excitement.
The main purpose of the makeshift tag team between Owens and Jericho would be SummerSlam, but it would be good if WWE sticks them together even after the pay-per-view as they could be a great addition to the Tag team division.
Wedding crasher is back
Roman Reigns seemed to be heading in the right direction when WWE booked him as a silent menace a couple of weeks back on Raw. After losing out to Finn Balor in the WWE Universal Championship qualifier, Reigns showed up next week and took out Rusev. He also stared at the United States Championship and made his intentions clear to the world without uttering a word.
While this was a strong booking, in the week that followed, WWE went back to committing the mistake that made Reigns look bad till now. They tried to make him look funny with the microphone and it ended up being disastrous. Despite this, he has a match with Rusev at SummerSlam and WWE needs to book him strong ahead of this.
Demon and Architect
For Seth Rollins and Finn Balor, last week was all about setting up their rivalry for SummerSlam. While we are aware of the importance of their fight, WWE decided to go one step further and added a new dimension to it. They could’ve simply let the WWE Universal championship define the stake, but thanks to the promos from Rollins and Balor last week, the feud has found a personal touch.
WWE has already burned out their promo idea and this week, they could be forced to let Rollins and Balor to use physical means. Getting the adrenaline pumped just days before SummerSlam is the right path to go and the WWE bookers are well aware of this.
The Huge Return and Invasion
It cannot completely be called a ‘return’ as Lesnar showed up a couple of weeks back, but then again, it's Brock Lesnar that we are talking about. He is a rare specimen and whenever he shows up, he draws. Contrary to the expectations that we had, the Orton vs. Lesnar feud is turning out to be a solid one. WWE has booked the superstar perfectly amidst the light schedule of Lesnar and the fact that they are on two different brands.
As this week is the homecoming edition of SummerSlam, we can expect another invasion angle with Orton coming out to confront Lesnar on Raw. Hopefully, it would be the last time that WWE lets superstars cross between brands as it derails the momentum of the brand split.
