Last week's episode of Monday Night Raw carried huge expectations as WWE was going to crown a new Universal Champion. While many expected a clean cut decision and a new title holder, WWE went on to take a different path altogether and gave us one of the most memorable finishes to RAW in recent history.
Kevin Owens was crowned the new champion with the help of a returning Triple H and this booking decision ended up breaking the Internet. And this week, everyone will be eagerly waiting to see what WWE will come up with. So here is the five point preview of this week's Monday Night Raw.
Squash party continues
WWE's love for Squash matches was evident in the weeks that went by. Braun Strowman and Nia Jax had been fed with such matches and though it is not going to do anything for them in the longer run, it is indeed keeping them busy. However, it wouldn’t be late before the fans get bored with such booking decisions and turn their backs on both Strowman and Nia.
WWE needs to break off the trend before such a turn happens and for that, they need to find credible feuds for both these superstars. Unfortunately, the chances of this happening are low this week and we could only get the continuation of the squash party that we've seen for the weeks that went by.
The Mid card developments
The mid card of Monday Night Raw is something that WWE needs to work up. The Cruiserweight division will only come up in a couple of weeks and the United States championship seems to be going nowhere after Roman Reigns was taken into the Universal championship match. The feud between New Day and The Club got a new boost thanks to the involvement of Dana Brooke, but it would be interesting to see how long WWE could feed off from this.
Superstars like Neville, Sami Zayn, Chris Jericho, and a string of others still do not have any storyline to show and it might be because Raw does not have a pay-per-view around the corner.
Getting Bayley close to Charlotte
The intention of WWE is to make Bayley the top woman baby face of Monday Night Raw. With Sasha Banks out injured, Bayley is clearly the best candidate to get the role and her debut suggested the same. However, for Bayley to be taken as a serious contender, WWE should stop all the foreshadowing and let her make a claim for the Women's championship.
Just like mentioned in the slide earlier, the absence of a pay-per-view around the corner might well be the reason why WWE is delaying the eventual showdown. Even if that is the case, WWE needs to find something for Bayley and Charlotte to be engaged in until then.
Why Hunter Why?
While the win of Kevin Owens was a major surprise to most of the fans, a bigger surprise came through the way it happened. Last week saw the return of Triple H to WWE programming and while we expected him to help out Seth Rollins win the championship, he ended up helping out Kevin Owens instead. The obvious question raised here is: Why did Triple H help Kevin Owens?
Questions like these are what makes the WWE programming compelling and WWE should think about incorporating such questions into their storytelling more often. WWE fans will also want to know whether Stephanie McMahon had an idea about the whole fiasco as it could open up friction between her and Mick Foley.
The New Champion is here
Let's not take away the spotlight from Kevin Owens just because Triple H is back on the programming. Owens has been exceptional since he debuted in the main roster and it was only a matter of time before he got such a big push. He might've won the title with the help of Hunter but that is not going to stop the fans from cheering for him.
Elsewhere, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins will have their own complaints about how the fatal-four way match turned out. And one more additional character that we need to watch out for is Chris Jericho as Owens winning the championship could mean a whole lot to their relationship and we might even get a full blown feud between these two with Owens turning face.
With the reaction that Owens got last week after winning, it wouldn’t be a bad decision to turn him face as well.
