We found out last week that Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Brock Lesnar will face each other in a triple threat match to determine the #1 contender for Triple H’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship. How does this episode of Monday Night Raw fair for each competitor, and who will gain momentum heading to Fastlane?
Opening Promo
Out comes Brock Lesnar, to stand there menacingly while his advocate Paul Heyman does all of the talking. Heyman warns Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose, his opponents at WWE Fastlane, that Lesnar will take them both to “Suplex City.” After Heyman smack-talks Lesnar’s opponents, Ambrose decides to interrupt, which may not be the smartest idea.
Ambrose goes right up to Lesnar, and tells him that he wants to go to Suplex City, and he’s not afraid of Lesnar. Either Dean Ambrose is out of his mind, confident, or both. Probably both.
Kalisto vs. Rusev(w/Lana)
Rusev, undoubtedly the best member of the League of Nations (which still exists), takes on the United States Champion Kalisto who has been on a roll as of late. This seems like a random matchup, until we’re shown that Alberto Del Rio, the man Kalisto beat to win the US title, is on commentary. He is on commentary because, announced at the start of the match, Del Rio will get his US Title rematch against Kalisto at Fastlane.
After tons of back-and-forth action, Kalisto gets the count-out victory after hitting a hurricanrana into the barrier. Winner (via count-out): Kalisto
Backstage Segment
Roman Reigns are in the office of the Authority, talking to Stephanie McMahon about their match against each other and Brock Lesnar at Fastlane. Stephanie tries to plant the seed in one of their minds about turning on the other one. She said “Absolute power corrupts absolutely. It’s just a matter of time.”
We find out that the best friends will take on the New Day in the main event tonight.
The tone shifts to Renee Young backstage with Brie Bella to get her comments about Nikki Bella. Nikki is forced to rest at home for three months after having neck surgery last week, and will document her recovery on social media. Charlotte interrupts and gloats about how she caused Nikki’s injury, and gets more heat that she has been building up for weeks.
The Usos vs. Curtis Axel & Adam Rose (w/Heath Slater)
I have nothing against the Usos. (Also, according to Lillian Garcia, they are the “Grammy Award winning Tag Team of the Year.”) However, they have nothing to their characters other than saying “Uce,” and feuding with New Day showed how vastly different the two teams are. Even their opponents, the Social Outcasts, have some depth behind each character. Apparently Bo Dallas Bo Rida is not at Raw tonight because he’s in the studio mixing beats.
Apparently Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt are absent from this week’s episode of Raw to fly to Florida to tend to their ill grandfather, Blackjack Mulligan.
As unfortunate as it is that so many Superstars are injured (Cesaro, John Cena, Seth Rollins, and Sin Cara just to name a few), there is a silver lining. A group like the Social Outcasts have the television time to expand as characters and legitimate threats in the roster. It forces WWE to create more stars, and every member of the Social Outcasts has the potential.
After a superkick to a mid-air Curtis Axel, and a splash to Adam Rose, the Usos pick up the victory. Winners: The Usos
MizTV feat. AJ Styles
The Miz does a great job a catching the casual audience up on who AJ Styles is. The only problem is that the Miz hasn’t let Styles talk at all, and just promotes how great he is, the self-proclaimed “Father of the ‘Yes!’ Movement.” After taking two Superstars under his wing in Alex Riley and Daniel Bryan, he offers his hand to Styles.
Another problem is that all AJ Styles has heard is that he hasn’t been good enough to be in the WWE, and that he is now in the “big leagues.” The Miz goes off about how Styles doesn’t deserve to be in the WWE, and Styles has enough and attacks him, proving his worth, and ending MizTV the way it always does.
Brie Bella (w/Alicia Fox) vs. Charlotte (w/Ric Flair)
After the backstage segment earlier tonight, Brie Bella will try to avenge her sister Nikki after what Charlotte said about her injury. Charlotte has come into her own after turning on Becky Lynch, and has shown a lot more personality and charisma.
Ric Flair starts to distract the ref, but unfortunately causes Charlotte to take a little too much time locking in the Figure Eight, and Brie Bella rolls up Charlotte for the win. Winner: Brie Bella
Big Show vs. Erick Rowan (w/Luke Harper & Braun Strowman)
This match was incredibly short. After not too much fighting, Big Show hits a chokeslam on Rowan for the win. Winner: Big Show
Immediately after the match, Braun Strowman and Luke Harper attack Big Show and the numbers game gets the better of him. Apparently without their leader, Bray Wyatt, the rest of the Wyatt family can still get the job done. Strowman and Rowan double team to scoop slam the Big Show onto the steel steps, and we can expect Big Show to try to get some revenge next week.
Titus O’Neil vs. Tyler Breeze
Titus O’Neil has been a great public figure for the WWE, from feeding the homeless to taking honors students to Smackdown. I wouldn’t be surprised if they pushed O’Neil more because of his positive image. What is more unfortunate, however, is that it seems to be that the Primetime Players are no more.
Tyler Breeze, like the Social Outcasts, has the opportunity to become a big star during this injury-ridden time WWE is experiencing. It doesn’t help his chances that him and Summer Rae split, since they were actually having good chemistry.
After hitting Breeze with the Clash of the Titus, Titus O’Neil picks up the victory. Winner: Titus O’Neil
Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler
In a rematch from last week, this is sure to be a solid match. Both Owens and Ziggler are two of the best in-ring performers in the company, but there is no reason that the fans should care about this match. According to Michael Cole, this has been an intense rivalry, but I’m pretty sure Ziggler hasn’t been doing anything and Owens was just feuding with Dean Ambrose. Ziggler hits the Zig Zag for the win, meaning we will probably get a grudge match at Fastlane. Winner: Dolph Ziggler
Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch
Before the match, Sasha Banks cuts a promo about how she has parted ways from Team B.A.D. and will pursue the Divas Championship on her own. Team B.A.D. enters and all three Divas mention that even though they will part ways, they will still be friends. This is essentially the only way to quickly put Sasha Banks in the title picture without a month long feud beforehand.
During the match, Team B.A.D. pulls Banks out of the ring and attacks her, feeling betrayed by her after she decided to go own her own. Naomi and Tamina start to beat down Banks outside the ring, and Becky Lynch comes to even the odds and fend them off. Winner (via disqualification): Sasha Banks
Two matches announced for Thursday Night Smackdown: Roman Reigns vs. Rusev; AJ Styles vs. The Miz
The New Day vs. Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns
New Day definitely has the ability to be a threat to Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose, probably the top two stars in the company (whose name isn’t Brock Lesnar). Even though the New Day isn’t feuding with their next Tag Team Championship challengers, the benefits are that they keep the belts longer, and hopefully they won’t face the Usos again. After a Superman Punch to Kofi Kingston, Dean Ambrose hits Dirty Deeds on Big E for the win. Winners: Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose
After the match, Brock Lesnar comes to the ring, and New Day takes advantage of the distraction to attack Ambrose and Reigns. Everyone clears the ring except for Dean Ambrose, who gets hit with a F5 from Brock Lesnar to end Monday Night Raw.
