Tonight's episode of Monday Night RAW is going to be very different, for both a bad and good reason. Bad because Seth Rollins' major leg injury forced him to immediately vacate the World Heavyweight Championship title. And good because the fans are going to see some major changes and something refreshingly different for the next few weeks leading to Wrestlemania. RAW is filming in the UK, so there are going to be major spoilers leaking before the show airs in its regular 8 PM PST slot on USA Network.
(Note: I'm totally spoiling myself and reading the live ongoing coverage from /r/SC, WrestlingInc, ProWrestlingNet, and PWInsider. I'm still going to watch it live, regardless of the results.)
Here are the match and First-Round Tournament results:
- Roman Reigns defeated Big Show. Roman Reigns advances! OF COURSE HE DOES.
- Kevin Owens defeated Titus O' Neil. Kevin Owens advances!
- Becky Lynch defeated Paige
- Dolph Ziggler defeated The Miz. Dolph Ziggler advances! With a minor knee injury? Shit.
- Natalya defeated Naomi
- Cesaro defeated Sheamus. Cesaro advances!
- Dean Ambrose defeated Tyler Breeze. Dean Ambrose advances! With a shoulder injury? SHIT.
- The New Day defeated The Usos and Neville
The Second-Round matches will begin next week at the go-home show of RAW:
- Roman Reigns vs Cesaro
- Kevin Owens vs Barrett or Neville (First-Round Tournament continuation on Smack Down!)
- Dolph Ziggler vs Dean Ambrose
- Kalisto or Ryback vs Alberto Del Rio or Stardust (First-Round Tournament continuation on Smack Down!)
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RAW opened up with HHH presenting the World Heavyweight Championship title resting on a table as he praised Seth Rollins. While HHH went at length about how great Rollins was, Reigns shows up and enters the ring. From there, HHH's promo takes a different turn; he tells Reigns that as #1 contender, he can skip the tournament and have the title given to him if he joins The Authority. He even went as far to say that Reigns was strongly considered to be their pick before Rollins. Reigns, being the goody two-shoes he is, turns down the offer and HHH bellows, "Welcome to the back of the line!" This segment firmly established that being The Authority's champion will set you and your family for life. Either Reigns will have second thoughts and accept the offer later on or someone else (another heel) would take up on that offer.
The rest of RAW covered 5 of the 8 First-Round Tournament matches, with the last 3 continuing on Thursday Night Smack Down! As evident with the first match with Reigns and Big Show, the bracket had odd choices and pair-ups, such as Ryback vs Kalisto, Titus O' Neil vs Kevin Owens, and Tyler Breeze vs Dean Ambrose. While it was predictable who would win, it didn't take away from the quality of the matches. Well, at least for the important ones. Cesaro was victorious and incredible as usual against Sheamus (and there was a ton of "CESARO SECTION" signs :D). Owens executed a perfectly brutal looking Pop-up Powerbomb against O' Neil and got great heat from mocking England's blind worship with the Queen. And Breeze, making his in-ring Raw debut, took advantage of Ambrose's tweaked shoulder and worked on it until he was defeated by the small package.
The main event was saved for Bray Wyatt eulogizing about taking away Taker and Kane's powers. AND THEN THEY SHOWED UP. TOGETHER. This was an unexpected surprise and a big fucking treat for the Manchester crowd. Sadly, the Wyatt family came off ridiculously weak and overwhelmed by the two. It also reminded people that practically nothing happens after you get abducted by the Wyatt Family. Another inconsistency is that The Brothers of Destruction also got their powers back, so either they got it back from Wyatt, or there are now 3 supernatural beings with the same powers.
Overall, it was another week with a great and enjoyable RAW and this week is decidedly more crucial with possible changes in the storylines leading to the go-home show and Survivor Series. Another interesting note about the above bracket is that Reigns and Ambrose are positioned directly opposite of each other. There have been heavy, HEAVY talks about turning one of them (specifically Reigns) heel to follow the storyline of Deadly Game, the PPV that centered around the vacated WWF Championship and saw The Rock turning heel against Mick Foley and aligning himself with Vince McMahon. WWE is being forced to get creative in the absence of Cena, Orton, and Rollins. This is a good direction, ratings be damned.
RAW showcased another reason not to turn Ambrose heel just yet. He's so ridiculously silly and charismatic.
Also...
The rest of RAW covered 5 of the 8 First-Round Tournament matches, with the last 3 continuing on Thursday Night Smack Down! As evident with the first match with Reigns and Big Show, the bracket had odd choices and pair-ups, such as Ryback vs Kalisto, Titus O' Neil vs Kevin Owens, and Tyler Breeze vs Dean Ambrose. While it was predictable who would win, it didn't take away from the quality of the matches. Well, at least for the important ones. Cesaro was victorious and incredible as usual against Sheamus (and there was a ton of "CESARO SECTION" signs :D). Owens executed a perfectly brutal looking Pop-up Powerbomb against O' Neil and got great heat from mocking England's blind worship with the Queen. And Breeze, making his in-ring Raw debut, took advantage of Ambrose's tweaked shoulder and worked on it until he was defeated by the small package.
The main event was saved for Bray Wyatt eulogizing about taking away Taker and Kane's powers. AND THEN THEY SHOWED UP. TOGETHER. This was an unexpected surprise and a big fucking treat for the Manchester crowd. Sadly, the Wyatt family came off ridiculously weak and overwhelmed by the two. It also reminded people that practically nothing happens after you get abducted by the Wyatt Family. Another inconsistency is that The Brothers of Destruction also got their powers back, so either they got it back from Wyatt, or there are now 3 supernatural beings with the same powers.
Overall, it was another week with a great and enjoyable RAW and this week is decidedly more crucial with possible changes in the storylines leading to the go-home show and Survivor Series. Another interesting note about the above bracket is that Reigns and Ambrose are positioned directly opposite of each other. There have been heavy, HEAVY talks about turning one of them (specifically Reigns) heel to follow the storyline of Deadly Game, the PPV that centered around the vacated WWF Championship and saw The Rock turning heel against Mick Foley and aligning himself with Vince McMahon. WWE is being forced to get creative in the absence of Cena, Orton, and Rollins. This is a good direction, ratings be damned.
RAW showcased another reason not to turn Ambrose heel just yet. He's so ridiculously silly and charismatic.
Also...
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