Last week was epic. It got Raw more attention in a while since it marked the return of Triple H and him betraying his protégé Seth Rollins. This week a lot of dynamics were at play and it provided for some thrilling moments.
Rollins is still using the Pedigree, though. Nia Jax and Braun Strowman again dominated. Strowman has now moved on from local talent to roster talent with Sin Cara trying to avenge the unmasking of Americo last week. He was destroyed too. Cesaro aimed to make a comeback but was beaten again by Sheamus. It’s 3-0 for Sheamus. The women’s division was well on display in this episode.
Here are the 5 points to note from this week's episode of Monday Night Raw-
1: The Kevin Owens Show
After the blistering turn of events last week, Mick Foley walked off carrying the baggage from last week on his face and confronted Stephanie McMahon, who was busy arranging a celebration for Kevin Owens. He tried his oratorical best to get the commissioner to admit whether she was aware of whatever her husband was going to do last week. Stephanie was successful in convincing him that she was embarrassed. And as soon as Foley left, there was a moment that lasted for a split second but worth a thousand words when Stephanie lifted her eyes to look quite sinister. You may or may not have seen it that way, though.
Owens, the champion of the Universe, walked out looking sharp in a SUIT! After chiding the crowd for their ‘You Deserve It’ chants like a true heel, he proceeded to be narcissistic. He mentioned that Triple H only made things right after Owens had done 98% of the work. After officially making Raw the ‘Kevin Owens Show’, out came Seth Rollins.
2: The Architect and The Queen
Rollins cut a determined promo, addressing Stephanie McMahon, asking her why he deserved the things that happened to him last week after he carried the company and tore every ligament in his foot to give his all to her business.
Rollins was livid, providing the segment with the absolute chaos that it needed. He threatened everyone in the ring enough for the Raw commissioner to suspend him indefinitely. Well, he did beat up Owens. However, Foley made sure he doesn’t look like a fool or Stephanie’s puppet. He reversed McMahon’s decision by arguing that these two need a rematch and he was allowed to do so even if he was yelled at backstage for it.
The dynamic between McMahon and Rollins was quite convincingly played out with the audience cheering every word of what Rollins said. And Rollins is no pawn. He knows the ‘king and queen’ too well. He won’t be played ever again. He is fearless. Babyface turn complete!
3: The Best Friends
The Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens relationship played out for quite a few segments tonight. Jericho first made his appearance when Owens confronted McMahon and Foley after the GM made a match between him and Rollins for Clash of Champions. Y2J called Foley a stupid idiot for putting his fellow Canadian friend in such a position. Foley booked a match between him and Rollins which Y2J lost convincingly.
In this show, Jericho called KO his best friend and they even shared a hug.
By the end of the show when Roman reigns walked out to avenge his unfair loss last week, Jericho again came to the aid of Owens only to be speared by Reigns. They’re certainly going to build a Jericho Vs Owens feud, right? Right.
4: Of clipboards and notes
Charlotte made her protégé Dana Brooke take notes during her match against Bayley. The announcers noted too that Bayley’s only been on Raw for three weeks and she’s been given this huge opportunity.
A knee injury did not stop Bayley from taking the victory in a match that had the audience invested the whole time. Charlotte slapped Brooke later on for being a liability.
Now, with this, Bayley has the opportunity to face Charlotte for the Championship. And there is also the dynamic between Charlotte and Brooke which saw a dominant display by the champion. Brooke is going to live with it after what we saw later.
5: Bad News Banks
Is this going to be a Daniel Bryan kind of situation? One could have thought that when the segment began. It was la little bit like his Royal Rumble return kind of situation.
Sasha walked out to talk about the Women’s Revolution and how WWE has come a long way by letting go of bra and panties matches, the butterfly title and the term ‘diva’. The women have come a long way to finally be considered superstars. Just like the men. She says she had to fight and struggle to get to where she is and that’s why she gives her everything in the ring, getting injured in the process. It soon seemed like a retirement speech but Brooke came out to decimate Banks for Charlotte.
Banks easily put her in the Bank Statement, announcing later that the bad news in for Charlotte because The Boss is coming back for her title at Clash of Champions.
