Monday Night RAW in Long Island was a night of what could be for WWE.
At points the show was great — the in-ring work was crisp and competitive and storylines were built from it. We got a fantastic return for Bray Wyatt. Also, you can never go wrong with a scintillating Paul Heyman promo. And hell, we got a ton of laughs from R-Truth and Drake Maverick.
But, then you had moments where you’re left scratching your head wondering exactly what the hell WWE was thinking. Sudden squashes, pointless storylines, and logic gaps hamstrung the many positives of the show.
Here’s what worked, and what didn’t work on Monday Night RAW in Long Island…
What Worked: Paul Heyman’s Promo – Paul Heyman’s promo work over the past two nights has been great. To be honest, his promos had become kind of redundant for the better part of 2019. Redundant, like say, putting the Universal Title back on Brock after a three month pause. Regardless, Heyman did a great job of putting over Brock, referencing his “stroke” in WWE, and putting over everyone in the cross-brand all-star battle royal — something WWE promos don’t often do (making other people look good).
What Didn’t Work: Mike Kanellis – Yikes. This is just B-A-D. Good for Zack Ryder for winning a quick squash in Long Island, where he normally is on the other side of a beat down. This whole thing with Mike and Maria, right now, is absolutely painful to watch. Congratulations on signing a new five-year deal, we’re going to make Mike look like a bitch. I’m hoping this angle turns Kanellis into some sort of vicious, angry brute force type. However, the more this continues, the more I see this “played for comedy” and it being one of the low points of the show week in and week out.
What Worked: Bray Wyatt’s Return – Yowee Wowee. I have to say the whole thing was great. Finn’s music getting warped. The lights flickering. The mask. The laugh. Sister Abigail. The disappearance. I want Bray to run through more people like this. I’m hoping for big things for Bray’s return.
What Didn’t Work: Everything with Finn Balor – So let me get this straight. Finn Balor turns into The Demon at Wrestlemania to beat Bobby Lashley for the Intercontinental Title. But faster than you can say “Lio Rush” Finn was off TV seemingly for months, only to return and lose the title to Shinsuke Nakamura on the Extreme Rules pre-show. He comes to RAW (I think he was drafted there?) and squashed in under a minute by Samoa Joe. Then he beats up Joe and celebrates with “Balor Club?” Yowee Wowee that sucks.
What Worked: The 24/7 Title – Drake Maverick, R-Truth and Renee Michelle have been an absolute delight to watch. Their segments are great fun and a lot of laughs.
What Didn’t Work: Retreading Wrestlemania with Little Logic – So we’re really going with Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar again? We saw a near three month chase for Seth, and he won in dramatic fashion. Then Brock takes a three month vacation, and wins the belt back. Yawn. Brock Wins. Brock Disappears. Yawn. Repeat. It’s also ludicrous that the “no rematch” idea applies to Seth Rollins…but not Baron Corbin who lost three straight PPV matches for the Universal Title. I don’t understand the logic here. Is there money with Seth in the chase? What new way to push this angle can you come up with that we haven’t seen? I just see it being a retread of earlier this year.
What Worked: The Club vs. Ricochet & The Usos – While it was random to have Bobby Roode and The Revival take on Ricochet and The Usos, I did enjoy the fact The Usos are working with Ricochet. Give me variety in this AJ/Ricochet feud. Let’s see Jey Uso vs. AJ Styles, or Ricochet straight-up with Karl Anderson. Let’s build something different than the majority of feuds in WWE these days. And with each passing week Ricochet looks stronger and stronger.
What Didn’t: So Becky’s Not Addressing End of Days? – Becky Lynch took End of Days at Extreme Rules. It was a jaw-dropping moment. Did they capitalize on this AT ALL? Nope. It’s back to The Man being The Man watching the #1 women’s contender match. It was all yucks and sarcasm again. Is this Becky’s fault? Nope. But creatively, shouldn’t this have been addressed by the #1 person in WWE right now? Shouldn’t there be something made of this moment instead of Seth scowling at Baron? Missed opportunity here.
What Worked: Cedric Gets a Win – Speaking of following up on a storyline. Cedric Alexander gets the win against Drew McIntyre. I dig it. Cedric looked good, and I’m hoping this means more for him. As for Drew — he’s gotta pick up wins somewhere. For a vicious “psychopath” he doesn’t win too often.
What Didn’t Work: Natalya is Samoa Joe and Dolph Ziggler – Sorry, Becky vs. Natalya does not even remotely raise a pulse. Is this Natalya’s fault? Absolutely not. She’s really good in the ring. She’s a first ballot Hall of Famer. However, Natalya is essentially the Samoa Joe and Dolph Ziggler of the Women’s Division. In dire need of a credible opponent? Call up Natalya. However, there’s only so many times you can rush someone into the main event picture just to have them lose. It dents their credibility. Did you really think Joe was going to be Kofi Kingston? Did you really think Dolph was going to be Kofi? Of course, not. The same thing applies to Natalya — how many times have we pushed her to the main event without winning the big one? Far too many times. I do have a feeling, however, that Ronda Rousey will return at Summerslam, during this match, to fight Becky Lynch.
