Fans of WWE, and wrestling in general, constantly criticize, second guess, and lament the decisions of the WWE creative team.
Everyone who enjoys wrestling has done this. Sometimes it’s totally warranted. Like why was Finn Balor dressed like The Demon against Baron Corbin at Summerslam , but not Roman Reigns for his first Universal Title match in two years? Or how come we never found out what was in Shane McMahon’s lock box. And don’t get me started on the WCW/ECW Invasion Angle.
There are plenty of times we give them undue guff. Remember how most of us crapped all over The New Day? Or Elias? Or Team Hello No? Mr. Socko?
Last night, after a somewhat confusing Summerslam where there were way too many screwy finishes, the WWE came into Monday night with a game plan.
That plan was to blow away any expectations we had.
They unexpectedly gave us Finn Balor’s long-awaited rematch for the Universal Title.
They gave us a big “cash in” moment (or so we thought) — which was kinda expected, but the air of unpredictability still looms.
Then there was the absolute unexpected reunion of The Shield.
The Shield reunion was, at least for this writer, out of the blue. It came out of nowhere, and the crowd became unhinged. And you know what — it’s been a while since that happened. The WWE took the crowd who was crapping all over Roman, and turned those boos into mind melting cheers.
Cynics might see The Shield’s return as “keeping Roman strong.” (Honestly, WWE has made far too many champions not named Brock or Cena weak, so this is a change of pace). However, I see this as a “a grey area” that we haven’t had in the title picture in a long time.
We don’t know if Roman’s a heel. We don’t know if he’s a face.
And what about Seth and Dean? Does this change their direction in WWE?
Then there’s Braun Strowman — were his acts cowardly for cashing in after Roman and Finn had a barnburner? Isn’t he supposed to be a walking one man army who can defeat anyone? Or was he screwed by The Shield?
The only intrigue we had with the Universal Title in the past two years was “Is Brock Lesnar going to show up?”
Now, at least for the moment, we’ve got something interesting brewing.
Could WWE Creative screw this entire thing up? History shows that can. But for now, we’ve got something special here.
Here’s what else happened on RAW:
- Ronda Rousey Makes Stephanie Tap: Wanna know why? People all over the internet complained that Ronda destroyed Alexa Bliss, but had a hard time with Stephanie at Mania. This puts that to bed.
- Triple H Rambles On: Listen, this guy just signed Matt Riddle so I won’t be too hard on him. But that promo kinda went all over the place.
- Baron Corbin is Running RAW: Corbin is fine in the role, but the “crooked GM” bit is old.
- Dash & Dawson Beat B-Team: The Top Guys proved they have sick finishers…but they aren’t winning the belts.
- AOP beats Titus Worldwide: That’s because they’re going to Authors of Pain
- Lashley beat Corbin: Nobody cares.
- Elias beats Hawkins: Whenever Hawkins ends the streak, the place is going bananas.
- The Riott Squad beat Bayley, Sasha & Ember Moon: They always find new wrinkles for this long-running feud.
- Dean beats Dolph: One has to wonder if Ziggler is on his way out.
