After Sunday night’s TLC pay-per-view, this week’s for Monday Night Raw felt like nothing more than a stopgap before the TLC fallout on Smackdown Live on Tuesday. With no major segments or matches announced prior to Raw going on air, there wasn’t anything of note for the fans to look forward to going into the show.
But with Raw’s Roadblock PPV less than two weeks away, would they have anything up their sleeve to take the spotlight from their adversaries and get the WWE Universe talking about them?
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#1 Rollins calls out HHH
After having seemingly forgotten about Triple H in recent weeks, Seth Rollins would reignite his feud with the man who cost him the Universal Championship a few months ago, by calling him out at the start of this week’s Raw.
As expected by Rollins, HHH wasn’t at this Monday’s show, but that didn’t stop ‘The Architect’ from announcing his plan of action in order to get to ‘The Game’.
First, Rollins plans on taking out Chris Jericho in their match at Roadblock, before moving onto Kevin Owens and taking his Universal Championship, which in turn could see Triple H return to try and stop Rollins.
Will Rollins see through his intended plan or will the ‘Cerebral Assassin’ stop him from capturing the Universal Title again?
#2 Big Show returns
The fans have been demanding it for months, and now their prayers have finally been answered; Big Show has returned to Monday Night Raw!
After being revealed as Seth Rollins’ surprise opponent this week, Big Show made his first appearance since the brand split and walked out of his return match, after being berated by Kevin Owens, who was at ringside.
Of course, he didn’t do that until he choke slammed Owens and left him to Rollins, before walking to the back, effectively forfeiting his match by deliberately losing by count-out.
#3 Jack Gallagher debuts on Raw
Finally, Jack Gallagher has arrived on Monday Night Raw. Gallagher was one of the most popular competitors in this Summer’s Cruiserweight Classic but had not made the transition to Raw’s Cruiserweight division, until now.
The ‘Extraordinary Gentleman’ had a decent debut this week, which was well received by the fans in attendance. He defeated Ariya Daivari, who went on to attack Gallagher after the match.
Jack Gallagher’s over the top persona and unique move-set will, hopefully, capture the fan’s imagination and add some much-needed intrigue to the Cruiserweight division.
#4 A ravishing rendezvous
The issues between Enzo Amore and Rusev continued this week when the former would interrupt a heated argument between Rusev and Lana backstage. While Rusev was far from happy to see Enzo once again get involved in his business, Lana stood up for Enzo, before she removed her wedding ring and discarded it on the floor.
The ‘Certified G’ then got the offer of a lifetime, as Lana invited him back to her hotel room to get back at her husband. Big Cass warned Amore about accepting this offer, as he said Lana was trouble, but would Enzo listen to this advice?
We would find out later in the night.
#5 Owens vs. Zayn
While I always enjoy seeing Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn compete against each other, their match this week felt pointless. It was another great match full of exciting action, as is the norm whenever these two are in the ring together.
However, I did find myself scratching my head as to why WWE would give this match away in the middle of a standard edition of Raw. When you have a feud this special, you need to treat it as such, in order for it to maintain that aura, not throw them out there randomly as they did this week.
#6 Ironwoman match at Roadblock
After many had presumed that their bout at Hell In A Cell would be their last, Sasha Banks and Charlotte, have continued their feud, and they continue to make history. It was announced this Monday that the two rivals will face each other in WWE’s first ever Women’s Ironman match at Roadblock.
Now obviously Sasha and Bayley had the actual first ever WWE Women’s Ironman match at NXT Takeover: Respect, but this will be the first on the main roster. Will Charlotte continue her undefeated PPV record and regain the Women’s Championship or will Sasha Banks be able to retain?
#7 Jericho doesn’t need Owens
Tension remained between supposed best friends Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho this week, despite Owens’ best efforts to smooth things over with Y2J. Owens came to Raw with three gifts for Jericho, which all consisted of matches. First, he made Seth Rollins face Big Show, which, as mentioned earlier, backfired on the Universal Champion.
Then he announced two matches for Jericho; he would face Roman Reigns for the U.S. Title on Raw before going on to face Rollins at Roadblock.
This failed to cheer up Y2J, and Owens only made things worse, by trying to help him in his match against Reigns and inadvertently distracting Jericho, costing him the chance to win his first ever United States Championship.
Is everyone’s favourite bromance really coming to an end?
#8 Rusev’s ruse
Enzo Amore ignored Big Cass’ advice earlier in the night and met Lana in her hotel room, and who can blame him? However, this was all part of Rusev and Lana’s plan, as the ‘Bulgarian brute’ went on to ambush Enzo in the hotel room, and dished out a vicious beating to the ‘Certified G’.
I am enjoying this feud more than I thought I would and I am looking forward to Big Cass seeking revenge for his tag team partner.
#9 Tag team triple threat next week
Despite both having tag team title shots in recent weeks, Gallows & Anderson and Cesaro & Sheamus, faced each other in a Number One Contender’s match to decide who would face New Day for another title shot next week.
The match ended in a no-contest, however, as New Day, who were at ringside, got involved after being inadvertently knocked down, when both teams brawled outside the ring.
Therefore, both Cesaro & Sheamus and Gallows & Anderson will get a tag team title shot next week in a triple threat tag team match. Can New Day retain and edge even closer to becoming the longest reigning tag team champions in history?
#10 Charlotte humiliates Ric Flair
After he returned last week and congratulated Sasha Banks for defeating his daughter, Charlotte, and regaining the Women’s Title; Ric Flair appeared on Monday Night Raw again.
This time he was invited by Charlotte, who wanted to publicly apologise to her father after she embarrassed him a few months back. However, ‘The Queen’ humiliated him in front of the world yet again, after slapping him across the face and berating him for supporting Sasha instead of his own daughter.
What role will Ric Flair play in the build-up to Charlotte and Sasha’s Ironman match at Roadblock? Will he seek revenge on his daughter or attempt to make amends with her by helping her to victory? I guess we have to wait a week longer.
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