Did this Weeks Monday Night RAW Get You Excited for The Royal Rumble
This week's episode of Monday night RAW-focused around the final stop before this Sunday's Royal Rumble pay per view. Final announcements were made in regards to who will be entering the Royal Rumble match, momentum was key, superstars competed against one another for their spots in the Rumble, and a championship match between Roman Reigns and Chris Jericho were all the bigger talking points of the night.
Repetition Results in Lack of Interest
For the past month or so I have sat here time and time again and complain about what the WWE have provided us with in the opening of Monday Night RAW. Now, I completely understand that regardless of what wrestling promotion you watch there will always be bigger stars, stars who will shine brighter and bring in more attention and money for the company. Monday night RAW is no different. The WWE know for a fact that guys like Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, and Chris Jericho generate money and attention. They are four of the most popular superstars in the WWE today and of course, are extremely well spoken about. However, for the past five weeks or so these men have been the main focus point and no good has come out of it what so ever. In fact, since the brand split, it has been these four along with Braun Strowman the WWE have shoved down our throats. Every single week it's these superstars opening and closing the show competing in very similar matches all against one another and for weeks now fans have been moaning a heck of a lot and I completely understand that also. I personally am a fan of or at least respect every single one of these superstars, in fact, Chris Jericho, in particular, is someone I have been a huge fan of since I was a kid, however, when the same content is being provided every single week you cannot expect me to remain interested. The opening to every show is extremely predictable and regardless of whether or not the end result to these matches are predictable no one cares. During last night's episode of the show Roman Reigns kick started things off and within ten minutes the exact same scene we have seen for weeks had been created and a United States Championship match between him and Chris Jericho had been made official. Now, there is no doubt in my mind that these two can put on a fantastic match up. They are two very talented yet very different superstars and we have seen what they can do when sharing the ring together. However, because of the sheer fact that we have seen this so many times before no one cared. There was literally no interest in this match what so ever from fans. We were not being presented with anything different, this is something we have been forced to witness for weeks now and so I wasn't given a reason to stay awake and pay attention to this match. I am seriously hoping that these superstars can move onto something new and fresh heading into the rest of Wrestlemania season after the Royal Rumble because this really is becoming a huge issue not just for these individual superstars but Monday Night RAW as a whole.Who is Heading to the Royal Rumble
The highlight of the night for me came from the first hour and that brilliant matchup between Seth Rollins and Sami Zayn. Moments before we had seen a backstage segment that involved Sami Zayn looking to announce his involvement in this year's Royal Rumble match, however, Stephanie McMahon who had been on the phone to general manager Mick Foley informed Zayn that he would have to earn his place in the Rumble match and to do so he would have to defeat former World champion, Seth Rollins in one on one action later on in the night. Several moments later Foley would also announce that only one of the two men would be able to take part in Sunday's Royal Rumble match, the man who walked away with the win last night would, therefore, earn his spot in the Rumble this coming Sunday. Now, at first I wasn't keen on this idea and I do still have mixed opinions. On the one hand, I believe this was great creative move and gave me something to look forward to I also, on the other hand, hated the fact that only two of these men would be in the Rumble. I believed that both men deserved a place and both men could have and should have had a big part to play. The match last night however between the pair was fantastic. Both former NXT champions it was amazing seeing how far both men have come over the years and they really did provide us with the standout match of the night. It was a tough one to call without a shadow of a doubt. At first, I deemed the match to be rather predictable. In my eyes, it was clear Rollins was going to slide through into the Royal Rumble match. He has been a focus point for weeks now and it just seemed to be the obvious choice. However, the match was so back and fourth, we had so many close calls and false endings that the longer it went on the more I found myself backing Zayn and believing he genuinely ha a chance of walking away with the victory. They both showcased some fantastic wrestling and every single person in the crowd was hooked onto the action in the ring. It was actually refreshing to see such a strong, entertaining match on Monday night RAW. I'm always moaning about the lack of standout matches on RAW and this really was one of them. It was also yet another showing of simple storytelling showing to be what's best. It was a basic story being told but one that really did have everyone hooked. As I said, the longer the match went on the more unpredictable this match became and those closing moments were done so so well. With Rollins looking to be closing in on a victory, the former champion was distracted with the music of Triple H as we were all led to believe the game would finally be returning to Monday Night RAW and face off against Rollins. However, there was no appearance from Hunter and instead, Zayn was able to take advantage and capitalise on the distraction with a quick roll up that saw him pick up that all important victory. Brilliant. Honestly, I absolutely loved the way this was done. We didn't need to see Triple H on the show last night. There was no need for him to make an appearance only six days before the Royal Rumble, it wouldn't have done anything for the pay per view. It did, however, do wonders for this feud between Triple H and Seth Rollins. It's something I really have been disappointed with over the past few weeks but it was great to see some fire added back to this feud and we can really start seeing the story build up and heat up as we hopefully begin to work towards a one on one match between them at Wrestlemania. For now, I thought this was fantastic storytelling. We saw Hunter back in the driver's seat, playing mind games with Rollins and reminding the young star who is in control. Triple H made Seth Rollins and he can easily end and break Seth Rollins and this is something that really shined through during the show and this segment last night.Effects of Braun Strowman's Push Come to Play
Since the brand extension in the Summer last year the WWE have spent a great deal of time building up Braun Strowman. They really have taken the time out to make him into a big big name and make him feel like a big star. During the show last night a huge segment took place involving some of the names that will take part in Sunday's Royal Rumble match. As the New Day looked to focus the attention back on them and promise to walk out the Rumble as winners and headline Wrestlemania to become the new WWE Universal "champions" they were interrupted by Enzo and Cass and it was only a matter of time before Big Cass announce that he too will be entering the two thousand and seventeen Royal Rumble match, something we all did see coming to be fair but something I'm glad was announce on the show last night. It all seemed to fit and make sense in this segment. Rusev, Lana and Jinder Mahal soon joined the party where former United States Champion Rusev also announced he will be entering the Royal Rumble on Sunday. We had some great back and forth work between the two superstars before Titus O'Neil made an appearance. I tweeted out last night that I have actually been really entertained by Titus over the past few weeks. I really do think the WWE have something going here with him and I hope they keep him as a weekly figure on the show and his booking gets stronger. He was very entertaining (as was everyone else here) in this segment and I was honestly interested and entertained throughout the whole thing. The segment concluded with a big tag team announcement being made and Braun Strowman was revealed as the man joining the team of Rusev, Jinder Mahal and of course, Titus O'Neil. Now, I love this segment and I di feel like it was an entertaining part o the show but the moment Strowman's music hit everything felt more important. We really did get to see just how well the work the WWE has put in with building Strowman up has paid off. He really did feel like a big, important star and like a big deal. His appearance alone made this match feel like a much bigger deal and it was great to see. I do hope the WWE continue to work on Strowman and keep his momentum up. He has been doing so well recently and has been on such a high and I honestly think he is worth the investment.Goldberg...Goldberg...Goldberg...
The final point I want to talk about in today's little blog post is the one and only Goldberg and the impact he had on this week's show. Now, I strongly believed that it was important to have a big name on the go home show last night. Last night was all about giving the road to the Royal Rumble one last push. It was one last chance for fans to gain excitement and want to willing pay to watch the pay per view and what better way to do than by putting Goldberg on the show last night. The moment you put Goldberg's name on something it's going to generate attention, drawing in an audience and that's exactly what it did last night. I was super tired throughout the show this week thanks to a crazy few days but I wanted to try my best to stay awake until the end just so I could catch Goldberg and what was going to bring to the show this week. That's just the effect he has. During the show last night it was Goldberg who ended the go home episode in the main event where he looked to address the nights closing segment was without a shadow of a doubt the highlight of the night for me. I honestly did not see the show taking that turn. While Golberg cut a promo in the ring he was soon joined by Paul Heyman, Brock Lesnar and a huge surprise, The Undertaker as the three superstars closed the show in the ring staring at each other. There wasn't any need for a brawl. Having these men all on the same show, in the same ring at the same time was such a big deal and real satisfying moment for all wrestling fans. It had me super excited, something that doesn't happen and It really did leave me even more excited for Sunday's pay per view.
I am so glad I can finally sit here and say something positive about Monday Night RAW. This was easily the best show we have seen for a while from the red brand. It's still not touching Smackdown LIVE but I managed to remain entertained and interested in most of the night. I also did feel as though the WWE did a good job in getting me excited for the up and coming pay per view. The segments, matches, promos, and interviews all did a fantastic job in making me even more excited for the Royal Rumble match and the other matches on the card. There was a good structure to the show where we were actually given a reason to stay awake throughout the show thanks to something strong being booked for each hour of the show. I will, of course, be live tweeting throughout the Royal Rumble pay per view this Sunday and a full review of the show will be uploaded on Monday. For now, you can let me know who you will be backing this Sunday by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.
Question of the day:
How do YOU feel about Seth Rollins not being apart of the Royal Rumble match this Sunday?
Recent Blog Posts:
Last Week in Wrestling
How I Would Book Finn Balor's WWE Return
WWE Smackdown LIVE Highlights
WWE Monday night RAW Best and Worse Moments
WWE Unite Kingdom Championship Tournament Review
Five Female British Wrestlers You Should Know
Five British Wrestlers to Watch in 2017
Five British Wrestlers you Should Know
Social Media Links:
Comments
Post a Comment