This episode of Raw was hyped for Vince McMahon’s return to announce who will run SmackDown. It had Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens continuing their theme of fighting forever. But the biggest moment of the night was Ambrose making everyone believe in him as a champion with a stellar segment between him and Rollins (who sold the champ’s promo really well)
The episode saw the chasm deepen of the sibling rivalry between Stephanie and Shane McMahon, with each handling individual shows and plenty of Brock Lesnar mentions - like his victory at UFC 200 and him being on the cover of 2K17.
Here are the 5 points to note from Monday Night Raw
Spoken like a true champion
Sure, Reigns and Rollins are being built for a huge SummerSlam clash but Ambrose came just in time to remind you that he is Dean. Freaking. Ambrose.
What you about Dean Ambrose’s reign before this segment may not be the same after the segment got over just like Ambrose’s demeanor.
He brought the serious mode on and wiped the glow off Rollins’ face with his words. The champion talked about the amount of blood he’s spilled, the body parts he’s lost and the sludge he’s crawled through to get to where he is today.
If he was willing to do all that to win the biggest prize in WWE, what do you think he’s willing to do to keep the prize? This was vicious, breathless and a resilient promo from the dude who’s being called a transitional champion but make no mistake, he deserves to be in a blaze of glory
P.S.:Next week, Ambrose and Rollins face each other for the WWE Championship
Rollins Report
Seth Rollins’ promos have long been about trampling Roman Reigns and this week he was back doing it again and more by debuting the ‘Rollins Report’ which had him manipulating snippets from Reigns’ previous interviews to answer his questions. The result was hilarious and Detroit agreed with Rollins when the former champ declared that Reigns should be ousted from Battleground’s main event.
WWE is making this a big deal - this feud between Rollins and Reigns and if rumors are to be believed they will main event SummerSlam. It also means that Ambrose’s reign won’t be that long and he’s just a transitional champion but that did not keep Ambrose from delivering one of the best promos in his entire WWE career
Con-Vince
Vince McMahon was back to announce the commissioner of SmackDown. His segment was the main event and his two children joined him in the ring to know who’s running SmackDown Live.
It was all about convincing Vince and competition. He was a bit disappointed that both siblings haven’t gone all Game of Thrones (the Baratheons, not the Lannisters) over each other but now he wants them to actually tear each other apart competing. Shane McMahon was chosen to be the Commissioner of SmackDown Live while Stephanie McMahon was given the sole charge of Raw.
Stephanie sealed the segment with a slap, or so it seemed. Shane only returned the favor with a kiss but the segment became inadvertently entertaining when Stephanie tripped while walking down the stairs.
Next week both of them have to choose their general managers.
Ryder vs Rusev
Zack Ryder has been rumored to get a push by getting into a feud with Rusev. And that rumor came true on Raw this week. After Sheamus decimated Ryder, Rusev came out to decimate him some more and finally accepted Ryder’s challenge for the United States Championship.
This is the second championship that Ryder is eyeing this year. He won the Intercontinental Championship in a miraculous, spectacular moment at WrestleMania. Rusev has long been one of the greatest US Champions ever and a great wrestling character. Ryder is the ultimate underdog against the Bulgarian Brute. This is going to be interesting.
Make Darren Young great again
Speaking of title matches and number one contenders, the IC Title has a challenger now, After weeks and weeks and months of having ‘Make Darren Young Great Again’ segments with Young and Bob Backlund, these two finally showed up in live and living colour on Raw for a battle royal to determine the new challenger to Miz’s throne. The match was slow and it did not help that it opened Raw. Darren Young won the match to earn the right to face The Miz for the title he beloved to him.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
