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What's the story?
This week's episode of Raw has been very well-received by the WWE Universe as the show was cohesive and featured many entertaining and high-impact moments.
F4Wonline.com reports that Paul Heyman had a major influence throughout the show. It was the most 'Paul Heyman Raw' that the fans have witnessed.
The Executive Director of Raw came up with the idea of having a Gauntlet match, among other segments and matches that were a part of the show.
In case you didn't know...
Raw has often been subjected to immense criticism for its lengthy run-time. The three-hour show is usually littered with too many pointless segments that fail to hold the attention of the fans.
This week was refreshingly different though. WWE kicked off this week's episode with a Mosh Pit Mixed Match challenge featuring R-Truth & Carmella going up against the team of Drake Maverick & Renee Michelle.
A highly-engaging Gauntlet match followed that was booked to determine the challenger for AJ Styles' United States Championship. We were even treated to a title change as Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson of the OC defeated The Revival and The Usos to become 2-time Raw Tag Team Champions.
Maria Kanellis made history by winning the 24/7 title while being pregnant. Seth Rollins got victimised by Brock Lesnar in one of the most brutal beatdowns in recent memory.
Alexa Bliss' injury-prone nature was woven into the storyline as she had to forfeit her match against Becky Lynch. It was all-out pandemonium in the main event segment as Cedric Alexander wiped out a massive heard of superstars by leaping off the LED boards. This happened after the scheduled Samoan Summit segment was cancelled and Samoa Joe and Roman Reigns began to brawl with each other. Drew McIntyre, The OC and The Usos added to the chaos which ended with the babyfaces having the last laugh.
The heart of the matter
As per F4Wonline.com, it was Paul Heyman's pitch to have a Gauntlet match to determine the #1 contender for the US title. Ricochet defeated Rey Mysterio, Andrade, Cesaro and Sami Zayn to punch his SummerSlam ticket.
It was also noted that the idea was to make new stars in the Gauntlet match and to ensure every competitor came out looking good, specifically Andrade and Ricochet. Heyman is a big fan of the Gauntlet matches as Kofi Kingston and Seth Rollins saw their respective stocks rise because of the match in recent past.
Overall, the latest Raw offering had the 'heaviest Paul Heyman influence' till date.
What's next?
We are well and truly in the Paul Heyman era, and it's only bound to get better in the weeks to come. The build towards SummerSlam promises to be must-see TV if Heyman is given the freedom to run the show.
See WWE RAW Results, Highlights of event, & more on WWE RAW Results page
