WWE Monday Night RAW Highlights
Seth Rollins Crashes the Party
Last week's episode of Monday Night RAW ended in a dramatic way with Triple H making his shock return to WWE TV attacking both Roman Reigns and in a surprise twist, Seth Rollins allowing Kevin Owens to walk out as the new WWE Universal Champion. I mentioned in last weeks Highlights post
that this was one of my favourite endings to a show of the entire year and I commented on how much I approved and loved those final moments of the night. This week's show kick started with Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley hosting a celebration for the new champ. With Balloons, fireworks and confetti this was a celebration for a deserving champion and a brilliant way to open the show this week. The newly crowned champ took to the mic where he took a shot at the live crowd and the WWE universe and spoke of deserving the championship more than anyone else. The party was soon cut short however with the appearance of Seth Rollins who had a lot to say to Stephanie McMahon following her husbands' actions seven days ago. Accusing Stephanie of being a part of Hunters little plan Rollins didn't hide his anger and attacked the commissioner and general manager verbally demanding a title shot as expected. Owens was able to sneak in a couple of comments here and there Rollins was the man who stole the show here and targeted Owens telling the world that he has always been Hunter's favourite from the moment he stepped into NXT. The segment ended with Mick Foley announcing that Owens will defend his WWE Universal Championship against Seth Rollins as Clash of Champions in three weeks time only moments after Stephanie planned to suspend Rollins. I really did like this opening. I do wish that Rollins focused more on the actual title but the build up for Rollins VS Triple H kick starting strong last week and continued onto this weeks show very very well. This week I will be uploading a blog post talking about how I would book that match and the build up so keep an eye out for that over the next thew days.Bayley Pins the Champ
Since debuting on the main roster three weeks ago and becoming a part of the Monday night RAW women's division Bayley has been on fire and has found herself undefeated. In her debut night she was able to pick up a pinfall victory over Dana Brooke in her first one on one match on Monday Night RAW and seven days later did the exact same, pinning Dana in a mixed tag team match that saw the former NXT Women's Champion team up with the current WWE Tag Team Champions, the New Day. Following her strong start and consistent performance Bayley was given a non-title match against Charlotte this week on RAW as she looked to finally get a victory over the champ and edge closer to capturing that title. The match itself was decent. It could have been a lot longer making it a lot stronger. We have in the past seen these two women compete in much better matches that have allowed them both to stand out a lot lot more. However, there were a couple of solid spots that made this match and they both did a great job of telling a story throughout the match helping their storyline in the long run. The closing moments saw a brief distraction from Dana Brooke lead to Bayley taking advantage and hitting a Bayley to belly and picking up a clean victory over the champion ensuring that one day soon Bayley will get a title opportunity. The WWE really haven't wasted any time with Bayley and while I do want to see her as champ one day I do wish they would slow down just a little but I do feel as though this really is the beginning of something great that will go down between Sasha Banks and Bayley next year around Wrestlemania season.A New Start for Bo Dallas
If there is any former NXT Champion the WWE have failed over the years it's Bo Dallas. At the start of his career, Bo looked to be the most promising superstar in NXT. A guaranteed major part of the future of the WWE. There was a time where he was the longest reigning NXT Champion, competed in some of the strongest matches in XNT and the face of the developmental brand. However, once he got his call up everything just went south and he very quickly became a joke and a complete jobber up on the main roster. Last night Bo made one of his first TV appearances since the brand split and we were all left surprise to see a little dash of the old Bo Dallas. Working a simple squash match against a local competitor Dallas made an impact for the first time in ages! Dominating the match completely he sent a message and for the first time in a long time I got to see the Bo Dallas that first grabbed my attention all those years ago. Now, I'm not going to jump too far ahead and make bold predictions. He's far from being crowned WWE Universal Champion but he's on the right track and if the WWE can keep this new attitude up as a thing and set him off in the direction he was always supposed to go in than he could be in for some great things in the near future.
The Boss is Back
Back at the SummerSlam pay per view Sasha Banks took a serious knock back down. After a brutal landing left Sasha favouring her lower back the Boss lost her title to Charlotte and took some time away from the ring. Hours before the show Sasha tweeted out that she would be on this week's episode of Monday night RAW and promised that she had some "bad news". I remember reading this and feeling as though the walls wee closing in. With a year of bad news and serious injuries I straight away assumed the worse and every part of me did not want to believe that she was going deliver the news that she would be taking more time out of action or worse. The WWE saved Sasha segment until the end of the show just before the main event building it up all night long as the entire WWE Universe questioned what the Boss had to say. Making her way to the ring not looking like herself she took to the mic and began talking about the women's revolution. Mentioning names such as Mae Young, The Fabulous Moolah, Lita, Trish, Alundra Blayze and more she highlighted them as the women who paved the way, set the bar and inspired her. She spoke of how proud she was to be a part of a time that saw the end of Bra and Panties matches and in her own words the horrible butterfly title. Over the years Sasha has been very vocal about how she feels about the history of women's wrestling in the WWE and seeing her so emotional and passionate talking about the evolution of women's wrestling as a very special moment. She went on to talk about why she does what she does and the whole thing did feel as though she was leading up to telling us she was going to have to take more time out or worse. Eventually, she got on to talking about the fact she had seen the doctor and had some bad news however she was interrupted by Dana Brooke who promised to finish what Charlotte had started at SummerSlam. But the Boss had something up her sleeve and after hitting the Banks statement on Dana she told the protege to pass the message on to the champ that at Clash of Champions the Boss would be taking back her title. I personally loved how this was all done. I loved seeing Sasha Back, I liked the little tease she gave us and I loved the closing moments of the segment. I cannot wait to see these two women collide at Clash of Champions as I'm sure they will tear the house down!
Lets Not Forget about Roman Reigns
The whole show last night focused greatly on Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens following Triple H's shocking action when he took out Rollins but there was one man we all forgot to talk about, Roman Reigns. Last week also saw Triple H take an opportunity away from Reigns and he was not about to forget that. The main event last night saw Kevin Owens go one on one against Sami Zayn in a non-
title match. After picking up a clean victory Owens was surprised to see Roman Reigns come down to the ring and I have to admit that I was rather happy to see him for once. The longer the show went on the more I began to fear that they had moved on from Reigns and weren't focusing on him at all in this story. I mentioned last week that I do not want to see Reigns stay in the championship picture for long but for now it's needed and he really does need to be apart of this story. The closing moments of last night's show saw Mick Foley announce that next week Reigns will go one on one against Owens and if he picks up the victory than the Clash of Championship WWE Universal title match will become a triple threat, something I'm hoping does happen for the sake of the story. Again I'm very happy with how this was done. I liked that they saved Reigns' part until the end of the show and I liked the whole ending involving Jericho too.
Extra's
This week also saw some great progression for Nia Jax and Braun Strowman who have moved onto bigger things. Strowman took on Sin Cara in a singles match and Jax was able to enter a new story with Alica Fox thanks to one last squash match. I'm also liking the work between Titus O'Neil and Darren Young! Something I'm going to be talking about in more detail over the next thew weeks.
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