Aug 2, 2016

RAW Misses Early, But Recovers Late (8/1/16)


We can all probably agree that the second Raw of the supposed "New Era" largely wasn't very good. The show had some low moments that seemed to revert back to the pre-draft era. For awhile it seemed that maybe last week was a dream and it didn't really happen. But luckily for all, the show picked up in a massive way in the final hour. Let's hit the biggest takeaways from Monday's episode.


The biggest story of the "New Era" thus far has been the immediate rise of Finn Balor. After winning two matches last week (one over former champion, Roman Reigns), Balor was set to be interviewed by Michael Cole in the ring. Balor began his promo but was quickly interrupted by his Summerslam opponent, Seth Rollins. They had a very strong back and forth and solidified their roles and the angle. Balor dissed Seth saying that he had everything handed to him every step of the way in WWE, while he himself fought for what he had and took the spots of all the people that previously outranked him no matter where he was wrestling. The crowd really came alive for this as it was apparent that they began to realize the excellent match the two seemed destined to have for the new, Universal Championship.  This was a fantastic promo segment and a continuation of great booking for the two wrestlers. Last week, Balor immediately made an impact and was able to get over over the course of one night. On tonight's Raw, Balor didn't wrestle but rather was just featured. It was a smart move in that it preserves the allure of Balor and keeps him from being overexposed for the time being. Seth was saved last week, but was featured in an in-ring role on this show.

Skipping ahead, Rollins had an excellent match with Sami Zayn to cap off the wrestling portion of Raw. It was certainly the best match of the show. Rollins won, but Zayn fought valiantly and wasn't hurt by the loss. Rollins proved he could beat one Raw's best competitors, strengthening him for his upcoming match with Balor. So far, the build for this feud has been fresh and exciting as the anticipation for the Universal Championship match grows.

The beat down that The Club laid on The New Day was brutal. I don't agree with the finish of the match as it seemed nonsensical to have a pinfall if the angle was going to be the focal point. I would've rather seen a DQ, but hey, that's just me. Anyway, after The New Day's victory, The Club destroyed them. And when I say destroyed, I mean damn near killed. After the segment, Big E appeared to be injured in the backstage area. The Club got some heat and The New Day looks as vulnerable to lose their championships as they ever have.


The final segment of the show saw the return of Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman. Heyman delivered another classic promo hyping the Lesnar vs. Randy Orton match at Summerslam. When it comes to textbook ticket selling promos, Paul Heyman probably can't be topped. Personally, Heyman completely sold me on this match even though I wasn't too excited for it when it was announced. He did an epic job of selling Orton's RKO as a dangerous equalizer without underselling Lesnar's perceived invincibility. The promo was really flowing as Heyman had entered his promo zone. Then, all of a sudden, Orton appeared in a flash and hit an RKO legitimately out of nowhere on Lesnar. The crowd went wild for this as we were given clear cut proof that Orton could strike with his finisher from any angle. Orton bailed into the crowd, just as Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon rushed out from the back to confront the SmackDown Live invader. Through Heyman's hype and Orton's brilliant flash-RKO, the Summerslam match received an incredible shot of life.

To wrap it up here, Raw missed its mark for much of the night, but was highlighted with a few very strong segments. It couldn't live up to last week's hot-shot booking, but still accomplished its goal of building for Summerslam. WWE will have to continue to search for the middle ground between last week's show and this one. Regardless, what was worth while on this week's Raw elevated Summerslam, and that's all we can really ask for.

Brady Sauvageau
The Heater

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