The first Monday Night Raw of the "New Era" marked a night that no one will be able to forget. From top to bottom, this show was filled with great moments and clear-cut proof that WWE is making a concerted effort to change its way of doing things. Let's hit the top stories.
Sasha Banks Wins the Big One
It was very surprising that WWE decided to go ahead and switch the Women's Championship before Summerslam. Regardless of that, Banks and Charlotte had a good match. It wasn't perfect by any means, but the context of the win is what made it so special. After winning the title, Banks was interviewed in the middle of the ring. The fans gave her a great ovation, chanting "yes" and "you deserve it." Sasha was emotional, but composed herself and delivered a great promo. This signified the true rebirth of women's wrestling on the main roster. It'll be interesting to see where WWE goes for a Summerslam program. Seems likely that the rematch will take place there.
Finn Balor's Debut, Booked to Perfection
After Balor won the first fatal four-way match to advance in the show's mini tournament, you had to wonder if WWE was going to give him the win. Personally, I bit my nails all night praying that they'd seen the light and wouldn't beat him on his first main roster show. To my surprise (and many, for that matter), Balor got the clean win over Roman Reigns to set up the main event of Summerslam. The first ever WWE Universal Champion will be crowned on that show.
Balor's win tonight signifies that WWE has seemingly turned a corner. Reigns has now lost three straight matches clean. Before his 30-day suspension, this would have been unimaginable. Instead of going with the same old routine, WWE made a star over the course of a single Raw. Balor looked magnificent and beat one of the company's top stars. He was made legitimate instantly and appears to be a great threat to Seth Rollins at Summerslam. Got to tip the hat to WWE on this one. They really came through and surprised me in a very positive way. As for Reigns, the company has to be careful. Though things haven't worked out for him as they had planned, they can't completely give up on him. He needed to lose tonight, but look for him to bounce back in a lesser role on his journey to reclaiming the top spot in the company.
A Fresh Looking RAW
As a whole, Raw just flat out felt new. We got a ton of new camera shots, much improved commentary, less talking segments, and consistent, sensible booking. Angles were set up, such as Gallows and Anderson challenging The New Day for the Tag Team Championships. Enzo Amore and Big Cass looked strong. Corey Graves seamlessly slid into his new announcing role, which was a much needed improvement to the show's commentary team. Hell, we even got a couple squash matches.
Let's be real here. Squash matches are important. Arguably, WWE's biggest issue over the past year has been 50/50 booking. Trading wins and losses has resulted in a huge roster of wrestlers that all seem the same in terms of positioning. Outside of a small handful of people, no one comes off as a star. Tonight was very different, though. Nia Jax had a strong showing in her squash match. It protected her and her lack of experience. No one in the current Women's Division had to take a pointless loss to accomplish that. Braun Strowman also benefitted from the same type of situation. He debuted a new look that had to have changed many people's perception of him on the surface. It remains to be seen if he'll be able to put together the ring work, but this is a great start. If WWE keeps its booking on this kind of consistent level, they'll be able to create way more stars than they have in recent memory.
WWE hit a grand slam tonight. This really makes SmackDown Live destination television tomorrow evening. After all, it's supposed to be a competition. Expect the first "New Era" SmackDown to swing for the fence in response to a high-quality Raw.
Things are really looking up in WWE. It's going to be an exciting and interesting ride.
Brady Sauvageau
The Heater
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