The Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view has rolled through, and Brock Lesnar is no closer to being unsettled from his throne as the undisputed king of the Red brand. Samoa Joe came close with his cleverly conceived sneak attacks and mind games, but not close enough.
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And yet, he did have the Beast rattled, and that was enough to earn him another opportunity to fight for the Universal Title at Summerslam in the eyes of the Raw General Manager, Kurt Angle. Only, a certain Samoan Superman stands in his way.
But Angle has his own problems to look to, having promised the mysterious caller over the phone that he will ‘come clean’ this week on Raw. What grizzly surprise is in store for the viewers on that front? Will Angle’s big reveal have any implications on his job?
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While these questions naturally pique the interest of viewers, the other Superstars on the show seek endlessly to further their own respective ends as we build on towards SummerSlam.
Covering all of these points and more, here is our preview for this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw.
A Samoan affair
Samoa Joe did enough at Great Balls of Fire to convince Kurt Angle that he deserves another chance to work his way back up to the WWE Universal Title and a rematch with Brock Lesnar. But a fellow Samoan Powerhouse was having none of it as he too staked his claim for a Title shot.
And Kurt Angle, sensing an opportunity, set both of them on a collision course on this week’s episode of Raw. The winner earns a shot at Brock Lesnar’s Universal Title at SummerSlam.
As it is, Samoa Joe and Roman Reigns dislike each other, and the Title shot at stake only furthers their incentive to leave it all in the ring when they square off.
Only, will we have an outright winner when these two Samoan badasses do battle? Or will a demon from Reigns’ past, Braun Strowman, resurface to exact his revenge?
A Big Lesson
Big Cass may have had it incredibly easy when he took out Enzo Amore like he was little more than trash at Great Balls of Fire but gloating about it on the fallout episode of Raw was perceived distastefully and up stepped WWE’s resident giant, BIg Show, to give him a taste of his own medicine.
Having been sent reeling away in retreat from the ring last week, Big Cass truly found out how it felt to be on the receiving end of a beating when you’re outsized by your opponent.
Will he be able to repay Big Show in kind for the beating that he got dealt on Raw? Or is Big Cass nothing more than what he accused his former partner Enzo of being – all talk?
A step away from the Bar
No sooner had Sheamus and Cesaro barely managed to see off the challenge of the Hardy Boyz for the Raw Tag Team Titles, the opportunistic duo of Dash and Dawson struck when the iron was hot.
The Hardy Boyz are a legendary tag team tandem and had just fallen short after giving the Bar the fight of their lives. Who better to take out if the Revival wanted to make a statement and insert themselves into the Title picture then?
The manner in which they did it, however, may earn them the ire of the WWE Universe, but we’ve seen how the Revival function in NXT and if that’s any indication to go by, they’re only bothered about getting the job done – no matter what it takes.
And all that stands between them and a Raw Tag Team Title opportunity now may just be the Hardy Boyz.
A Shield reunion?
Dean Ambrose was understandably irate after getting goon-ed on by the Miz and his cronies last week, but despite telling Seth Rollins to stay out his business, he needed the help of his former Shield brother to overcome the odds.
This week, Ambrose seizes the initiative as he opens Raw, presumably to call out the Miz and his entourage in an attempt to face him face to face.
While he may be looking to go about his business in a straightforward manner, you can bet that the cunning operator that Miz is will ensure that he has a trick or two up his sleeve. Will Seth Rollins needs to join forces with Dean Ambrose again to nullify the numbers game?
More importantly, is this brief marriage of convenience a beginning of something special?
Kurt Angle’s predicament
The Kurt-Angle-mystery-person saga has wound on for a number of weeks now, distracting and distressing the General Manager, but looks set to come full circle this week on Raw.
Who was he talking to on the phone and trying to get to appear on Raw this week? And what was the announcement that could possibly threaten his job?
Rumours abound that it could be his “long lost son” or some big reveal along those lines, but as we know in the WWE, the only thing we can expect is the unexpected. Will Kurt Angle’s big revelation really be earth-shattering as we’ve come to expect?
Or is this just the way for the Authority to wedge themselves back into the fold after being conspicuously absent since WrestleMania 33?
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