Monday Night RAW Highlights
A Very Different Opening
I am one hundred and ten percent guilty of being one of those fans who sits down every Monday night and has a good moan about the opening. I have lost count of how many times I have mentioned that I want to see something different to kick start the show for once instead of your typical Stephanie McMahon/Triple H/Seth Rollins opening. Now, asking for an actual match to kick start things may be pushing it just that tad too far but the WWE did leave all fans rather surprised last night when we got a very different opening segment. I don't know about you but I cannot remember the last time the WWE Women's Champion opened Monday night RAW with the chance to actually deliver a strong promo. The women's divsion actually getting the chance to kick start the flagship show is just something we are not used but something that put a massive smile on my face. When I talk about wanting something different this is exactly what I mean. Last week Sasha Banks claimed that it was the era of women's wrestling and this week she proved her point when her and Charlotte where given the chance to open Monday Night RAW. It was the first time the WWE really have given the women the chance to stand in the spotlight and given them the opportunity to take part in what is an important time of the show. It marked a real change in the WWE and the start of great things for the Women's division in particular. The segment only expanded when Chris Jericho and Enzo Amore soon made an appearance also setting up a mixed tag team match for the first match up of the night. This may have been one of the most random openings to Monday Night RAW we have seen in a while but it was different and it put the spotlight on the right people. We had one of the new guys, we had two women and we had a veteran, so for those of you still moaning how about you cut the WWE some slack and enjoy the little difference we got after asking for it for so long.
Mixed Tag Team Matches Make a Comeback
Following from my first point last night we got to see the return of mixed tag team matches, something that I have missed seeing on WWE TV for a long time. Now, I know these are still fairly regular over in NXT but mixed tag team matches are just something we don't see very often over on RAW and Smackdown and so to see the four competitors that we got to see compete only made everything better. We had the current women's champion, Enzo Amore who just happens to be one of the most over/popular WWE superstars of today, a WWE veteran in Chris Jericho, and one of the most athletic superstars on the roster right now, Charlotte all in the same ring at the same time. Again it was something different to start the show and a nice change up to what we are used to seeing as the opening match of Monday night RAW. Hopefully we get to see more mixed tag team matches from now on. They're a great way to add something different to the show, change things up, push the women's division, and develop storyline's even more.
Seth Rollins & Finn Balor Come Face to Face
During last weeks episode of Monday Night RAW we found out that Seth Rollins will go one on one with NXT Graduate Finn Balor later in the month at WWE SummerSlam where the two will compete to become the first ever WWE Universal Champion. Last night these two superstars came face to face for the first time in their WWE Careers and what a moment it was. Here we had to of my personal current favourite WWE superstars, two of the men at the very top of the RAW roster and two men that are sure to steal the show at SummerSlam later this month. It was interesting sitting back and watching as these two superstars made it clear how they felt about one another and slowly a story was being built. We realised very early on that these two men have a lot in come and one of those things is their NXT history. While Seth Rollins was the first ever NXT Champion it was Finn Balor who went on to make history of his own when he became the longest reigning NXT Champion of all time. This was something that was highlighted during the show last night and I have to admit that as an NXT fan it felt so good seeing two of the biggest stars to come out of developmental on top of the RAW roster both fighting to become the first ever WWE Universal Champion. Now, of course fans are going to be very split during this match and last night that became even more clear however it was clear that for this week it was Balor who had the fans eating out the palm of his hands and it was Balor who got one up on Rollins just that little bit. It was great seeing these two superstars come face to face for the first time and even better to see them collide for the first time.
Roman Reigns sets His sights On The US Championship
That's right ladies and gentleman, last night for the first time in what seems like forever, the WWE got it right with Roman Reigns when they put him in a program that will do him nothing but good. Following his United States Championship match against Mark Henry Rusev took hold of the mic to make bash the United States once again and claiming that there was no man on the RAW roster that was capable of stopping him and taking away his title. Now, I have to say it because it was all I could think about last night but come on.... was it just me or did every single second of that promo feel like Rusev was just targeting Kurt Angle and it was only matter of time before the man himself came out to face him? I was sitting there on my sofa so confident that we would be seeing Angle make his return and trust me when I say the disappointment could not be more real! This really was the perfect timing and it's safe to say the WWE had me tricked last night. We did however see Roman Reigns make his own appearance and gave Rusev a little run for his money when he made it clear he was coming after that US Championship. Finally! Finally, after all this time they have got it right with Roman. This is exactly what he needs. If he can focus on working on the mid card section of the roster, building himself up, slowly winning over the fans and putting a title like the US Championship on him. Not to mention that the fans are pretty much left with no choice but to cheer for Reigns here. I love Rusev as champion but I would not complain about Reigns picking up the win at SummerSlam and seeing a title change. He would make a great US Champ and would bring a lot to that title. This could be the start of something great for both Roman Reigns and the United States Championship.
Jinder Mahal Makes WWE Return
I mentioned in my prediction post last night that with Smackdown LIVE bringing back both Rhyno and Shelton Benjamin Monday night RAW going to have to pull out at least one little return despite the already stacked roster. After rumours all the rumours over the weekend it was in fact Jinder Mahal who made a return tot he WWE last night. After defeating Heath Slater in a nice heel way Mahal earned his spot on the roster and I have to say that I'm glad to see him back. I was never the worlds biggest Jinder Mahal fan but he clearly is a strong talent with a lot of potential, I just hope that the WWE manage to get things right with him a second time round!
RKO out of Nowhere!
It was hyped for an entire week and it's what I spent all night waiting for, the return of Brock Lesnar. The last time we saw the beast was all the way back at at Wrestlemania where defeated Dean Ambrose in a no holds bards street fight. We know that later in the month at the SummerSlam pay per view Lesnar will go one on one with Smackdown LIVE's Randy Orton. A match fourteen years in the
making, this is one that I cannot wait to sit back and watch days after my birthday. It's like a little later Birthday present from the WWE. Last night the WWE spent the entire show getting us all ready and excited for the return of Brock Lesnar and as the night grew so did the anticipation and I could not wait for our night's closing segment. Of course Paul Heyman did a fantastic job introducing Lesnar and selling the SummerSlam match up between his client and Randy Orton. We had already heard a great deal from Orton regarding the up and coming match and so it was great to finally hear from Heyman. There really is no man better at selling a show and a singles match than Paul Heyman. He had me hanging one every single word as per usual and I found myself ten times more excited for this match at the end of the show than I was at the start. During his little promo Heyman stated that Brock Lesnar would never receive an RKO from Orton and just like that out nowhere the viper appeared and hit an epic RKO that sent the arena going insane! It was one of the highlights of the night and the fact that Orton was not suppose to be on RAW only made this better and it really did set up that Smackdown LIVE VS RAW feel not mention how brilliant it was seeing Orton gain momentum and push this feud even more.
EXTRA'S
Sami Zayn and Seth Rollins delivered a fantastic match that was highlighted as the strongest match of the night. Nia Jax and Braun Strowman continued to look dominate taking out two more local competitors, and the Club sent another huge message as they attacked the New Day once again.
I thought we had a decent show this week. It may not have lived up to last weeks in my personal opinion but it was another strong show that I did really enjoy. As always you can let me know what you thought of the show by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.
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