After two weeks of great programming, Raw returned to being mediocre again with this latest episode. There is so much promise in the Rusev-Reigns feud, in the Sasha Banks reign in the new era, in the new feud for the new Universal Championship between Rollins and Balor and add to that, the feud between Lesnar and Orotn has been great so far.
But this night was anything but great. If there has to be any episode which can be a roadblock towards the build up to Summerslam, then let’s just say this was it. Here are the 5 points to note from this weeks episode of Monday Night Raw-
1. Unlikely, but sure!
An unlikely match has come about for Summerslam. Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens are set to face Enzo Amore and Big Cass at Summerslam. Sure, the company was building towards it if last weeks’s strange interaction was anything to go by with Jericho locking horns with Enzo and Kevin Owens suddenly arriving to do commentary.
KO has got Jericho’s back and if there is anything that can be said for these four characters, it is that they’ll set the microphone on fire. Atleast, we can trust Owens to not get carried away by sexual innuendos put forth by Amore.
This was an unlikely match but it would be worth to see how the company builds up to it.
2. Raw Vs Smackdown
Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton’s feud took a huge leap with that RKO ‘OUTTA NOWHERE’ on Raw last week. Lesnar returned the favor in predictable fashion, but this has been worthwhile. So far so good. All of the build up has led to a Raw Vs Samckdown match at Summerslam with the brands living vicariously through them.
Daniel Bryan and Mick got into a war of words that was quite redundant. It did not do much to further the feud. The interesting part was that a reshuffle may be in order with Bryan leading the way saying that some superstars are better off being on Smackdown than on Raw.
Maybe that should happen as it’ll freshen things more.
3. 15 years in the making
Speaking of Lesnar and Orton, this has been the best match, build up wise, going into Summerslam. The is that fact that these superstars had their first interaction 15 years ago when Lesnar trampled Orton to mark his presence in the WWE.
Both superstars in their twenties then, haven’t interacted much ever since. They did face off once during the build up to Wrestlemania 30, but it was not much to boast of.
But this feud has been worth the time and effort because of how minimal their interaction has been. So much so that most feuds should have their opponents not brawling or meeting each other much. Distance is sometimes really, really good. They’ve waited 15 years for this feud. Few more weeks to go now!
4. Bummer!
The Rusev-Reigns feud is quite promising and many fans have been eating up last weeks’ interaction. This week Lana and Rusev came out to relive their wedding experience in front of the live audience in the arena, after which Reigns just came out to spoil the party.
The audience was far from excited about this experience that Lana and Rusev were doling out but we all knew where all of this was going. There was a huge cake at their disposal and obviously Lana or Rusev were going to get that all over them.
That happened and it wasn’t that entertaining.
5. Fun things
Braun Strowman squashing local talent hasn’t gotten old. This has been the most entertaining streak of squash matches and it has been precisely so because WWE has decided to show more form these local talents instead of them just waiting for their destiny of getting trampled.
This week, Jorel Nelson was asked why he agreed to a match with Strowman, he answered it with silence waiting for his impending doom. Also, Big E being hurt and The Club making jokes about his situation with bad puns was hilarious.
Plus, Brooke won’t be ringside for Charlotte’s match against Banks at Summerslam. Yay thing!
