The go home Raw for Money In The Bank began with a silent prayer for the victims of possibly the biggest mass attack in America, the Orlando shooting. And then the show went on.
This was the go home edition of Raw before Money In The Bank with one of the most hyped segments being what the company called a reunion of sorts of, the most successful faction in recent history, The Shield.
You see, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns were guests on The Ambrose Asylum.
And John Cena and AJ Styles got the lone contract signing segment of the show.
The road to the live Smackdown show continued as well.
On that note, here are the 5 points to note from this edition of Monday Night Raw.
#1 Wrestlemania Caliber
The match between Rollins and Reigns has been touted as Wrestlemania caliber and that trend continued this week as well. Ambrose introduced Rollins as the scum of the earth and the audience welcomes Reigns with more boos than Rollins.
This wasn’t an electric segment when it began but it quickly gained energy towards the end with Reigns delivering a solid, seamless promo on the history of The Shield and remarking on Seth’s betrayal.
And then Ambrose creeping in between and mentioning that he might just win the Money In The Bank and cash it in on anyone who has the championship between Reigns and Rollins.
This Shield Triple Threat is not just Wrestlemania caliber, it’s Wrestlemania Main Event caliber.
In the end, Rollins attacked both Ambrose and Reigns. Reigns gave Rollins the Superman Punch only to get hit by Dirty Deeds from Ambrose.
#2 The Clash
Hands down, John Cena is the best hype guy WWE has right now. He began the contract signing segment and put everything perfectly in perspective, putting Styles over in the most John Cena way possible. He wasn’t modest about himself. He knows he is the face who runs the place and walks with that air around him.
And Styles has always been one of Shane McMahon’s favorites and so McMahon presented an interesting idea- two contracts. One which had AJ Styles Vs John Cena match imprinted on it and one which had AJ Styles (with The Club) Vs John Cena written on it.
Styles just had to choose which one to sign.
A thrilling series of moments followed with Styles going on a rant on if Cena thinks he can beat him in a singles match then he’s wrong, about how if Styles had been here 15 years ago, there will be no John Cena.
Cena asked him to shut up and prove him wrong by signing the contract that does not include The Club. Styles obliged and there we have a classic build up to MITB.
#3 The Battle of Wits
Enzo Amore and Big Cass finally had a promo interaction for the first time on Raw with The New Day and they began with many sexual innuendos based off Francesca II, on the build up to their fatal four way tag team match at MITB.
But that was just a mere build up to the actual battle of wits which we never witnessed since The Vaudevillians came to interrupt and that led to The Club coming out as well.
We then had a generic heel vs face 6 man tag team match which was fun nonetheless with many cool spots and despite the fact that everyone was making fun of Kingston for his choice of shoes, he had possibly the best move of the night but still ate the pin for the heels to win.
#4 Questions Galore
Charlotte ate a second loss to Paige in the matter of two months. Are these wins going to get Paige in the title picture? Or are we going to see Sasha Banks make an appearance at Money In The Bank to clearly state her intention to take the title away from Charlotte?
Are we moving to a singles match between Banks and Charlotte or will Paige make her way in? Will Charlotte survive without her father and now that the odds have been evened with Brooke and her facing Lynch and Natalya?
Will there only be one title for the division once Raw and Smackdown split? The Women’s division has so many great possibilities going for it. It just remains to be seen how the New Era plays out for them.
#5 Potpourri
This is the build to a pay per view named after a much exciting ladder match. So, all members of the said match were present during the main event match between Jericho and Ambrose. Cesaro was the special ring announcer. Alberto Del Rio was the special time keeper and Zayn and Owens were on commentary.
These guys, as you might have witnessed last week, are easily entertaining together and funny. The main event wasn’t all that special but it ended the right way. There was a good match, trash talking, funny moments and utter chaos in the end.
This is the best MITB combination in a long time. Apart from Del Rio, everyone is a promising winner. Jericho has been so hilarious and great so far, but him winning will be a contrarian message for the ‘New Era’
What will be utterly superb is anybody amongst Ambrose, Zayn, Owens and Cesaro winning.
And we head into MITB with all of them being booked on an even keel, with the suspense still being retained, despite Chris Jericho sitting pretty to close out the show with the MITB briefcase in his hands.
Was that a sign of things to come?
Bayley gives us a HUGE update on a top Superstar's upcoming return RIGHT HERE.
