WWE Raw: 5 biggest questions from this week’s episode (July 29, 2019)

With SummerSlam closing in, Raw has been trying to get the party started for the summer in the grandest fashion possible.

Being the flagship show, there is no doubt that WWE is focusing more on the red brand to ensure that their second biggest event of the year ends up being as big a success as possible.

To make this possible, this week’s Raw was filled with many different segments and matches which built towards SummerSlam specifically and gave us some interesting angles going further into the event.

However, we were left with a few big questions after the show which we hope WWE will answer soon. In this article, we will look at the 5 biggest questions we have from this week's Raw:

#5 Is this the big break Mike Kanellis was hoping for?

A match for the newest and hottest title in WWE kicked off Raw as R-Truth and his partner Carmella battled Drake Maverick and his wife Renee Michelle in a Mixed Tag Team match.

While Truth managed to pin Maverick after he ate a superkick from Carmella, the post-match chaos resulted in Mike Kanellis emerging as the new 24/7 Champion.

While this was his first championship in WWE, and the Superstar would have hoped that his wife Maria would be proud of him, he faced humiliation at the hands of the former Diva of the Year once again.

Mike was later asked to lay down and lose the championship to Maria by herself, which was more than humiliating for the talented Superstar who was without any storyline until the past few weeks. Now that he is in the picture, all he’s been getting is humiliation, which is heartbreaking for such a talented athlete.

While many would argue that some Superstars have had to go down this road in the past thanks to the creative, and at least he is getting some screen time now, one wonders if this is the big break Mike was really hoping for.

See WWE RAW Results, Highlights of the event, & more on WWE RAW Results page.

#4 Why did Dolph Ziggler mock HBK again?

Come on, really? Once again WWE brought out Dolph Ziggler to mock their two-time Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels on live television.

Last week, Ziggler delivered a superkick to the legendary Superstar after a scuffle broke out between the two on Miz TV. This week, while Michaels wasn’t a part of the show, Ziggler came out and mocked the Superstar once again before his match with Seth Rollins.

While it makes sense to cash in on what fans and critics have been talking about for years, it makes no sense to have Ziggler mock Michaels at this point in his career and that too when he seems to be heading into a rivalry with The Miz.

While WWE could use this angle to book the match between Ziggler and The Miz, it makes no sense why they would have Ziggler mock HBK again even if its to get him more heat. Instead, WWE should have focused on Ziggler mocking Miz and giving him a reason to challenge The Showoff.

Will WWE insert Shawn Michaels into the mix as a special guest referee for their bout at SummerSlam to up their ratings? It seems more than likely now.

#3 Why did Nikki Cross have to take the loss?

Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss squared off in one of the night's most high-profile matches where interruptions were almost guaranteed.

During the match, Lynch delivered a Bexploder suplex. Bliss landed and clutched her ankle which forced the officials to call for the bell, awarding the match via stoppage to the Raw Women's Champion.

While the match was over, there was more to come as an angered Nikki Cross demanded a match against Lynch which she was granted. Surprisingly, WWE allowed Lynch to pick up a convincing win over Cross with the Man-handle Slam.

This was quite odd as the entire segment was basically positioned to allow Natalya to hit the ring and apply the Sharpshooter to her SummerSlam opponent as revenge for the events from earlier in the day.

WWE could have gotten to this point through many different ways, and allowing Lynch to defeat Cross who was on the rise not too long ago seems to be the worst way.

#2 Why did Ricochet enter the Gauntlet Match last?

To determine the No. 1 contender for AJ Styles' United States Championship at SummerSlam, WWE booked a Five-Man Gauntlet match featuring Rey Mysterio, Cesaro, Ricochet, Sami Zayn and SmackDown Live's Andrade.

With such a loaded match, you’d expect WWE to go down the same way it has in the past and build a huge underdog in the process just like they did with Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston some months back.

However, this match was booked differently as Mysterio and Cesaro started the match with Mysterio scoring the first pinfall. Sami Zayn entered next and Mysterio caught him with a small package for another quick fall.

Andrade entered second last and sent Mysterio packing, allowing Ricochet to come in last and take the victory after all was said an done.

This match did give us the contender we wanted but did not do so in the manner we would have really liked. Ricochet entering last and picking up the last fall to win the match did not make his win seem as convincing as entering the match first or in the middle would have.

#1 Is Rollins the new Reigns?

Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler squared off in one of the main events of the night which ended up much better than we’d have expected.

While the two men were getting close to the final moments of the match, Brock Lesnar's music played and the Universal Champion stalked towards the ring, forcing Rollins to take his eyes off his opponent.

Lesnar broke all hell loose on his SummerSlam opponent once again, unleashing a series of German suplexes before throwing him into the guardrail.

What was worrying for WWE was the fact that the fans seemed to have little sympathy for their top babyface, similar to what was the case with Roman Reigns for a long time.

We heard the fans chant “one more time” as Lesnar tore through Rollins, showing that the fans are not very much interested in him anymore after his recent fallout with the fans on social media.