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The season premiere of RAW was a show that lived up to every expectation and then some more. The show would begin with Brock Lesnar coming out to brutalize Rey Mysterio and his son Dominick in the opening segment.
As a consequence, the match between Rey Mysterio and Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship had to be called off. Mysterio was rushed to a medical facility and we learned that it would be Rusev in the main event instead of the Luchador.
The main event was underway when we learned the inhabitants of the limo that had pulled out in the parking area right before the match. Not only was one of them the returning Bobby Lashley, but the other person in the limo was Rusev's wife Lana!
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What did WWE think when they paired Lashley and the gorgeous Russian as a unit?
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#5 A feud between Rusev and Lashley
Lashley has been teasing his return for a good while now, after suffering an unfortunate injury. Many, myself included, thought wrongly that he would come and insert himself into the picture with Brock Lesnar. I'm guessing that fans are more excited about a match between Lesnar and Lashley than WWE management is.
Rusev too is a man who has been away from the mix for a while now, with various rumors emerging on his status with WWE and the state of his contract as well. He has been back for a while but has done nothing noteworthy since his return to the company. Defeating Mike Kanellis is not a big deal, with no disrespect meant to him.
For these two bulls to clash would be a great storyline for RAW or SmackDown Live, wherever the two men may eventually end up. Maybe they get split and clash at WrestleMania 36?
See WWE RAW Results, Highlights of event, & more on WWE RAW Results page
#4 Lana is better as a manager than an in-ring worker
Lana did try her best to become an in-ring competitor but honestly, it did not pan out in the way that she had hoped it would. Upon seeing her in the ring, nobody would mistake her for Ric Flair or Ricochet, and her in-ring career would quickly fizzle out. Thankfully, one area that she excels at is being a heel and this was something that has brought her back into the mix.
Do not forget that Lana was a big part of Rusev's original ascent to the top. The romantic angle that had been teased between Aiden English and Lana was also pretty buzzworthy for the duration that it lasted on screen. But, in this role, Lana could probably do the same for Lashley that she did for Rusev so very long ago.
Lana is a trained actress and such segments are a cakewalk for the gifted Russian manager.
#3 Lio Rush has gone back to NXT once more
Bobby Lashley can do a lot of things in the ring. He is a physical specimen and also has a legitimate background in MMA, which means that there is a good reason why he's in the position that he's in, working under Vince McMahon.
One of the areas that he is not very good at is when it comes to cutting a promo. To surpass this problem, he had been paired with Lio Rush for a brief spell and to be fair, the partnership did have its fair share of big moments.
But as we saw in the season premiere of NXT, Lio Rush has gone back to being an active competitor once more, and this may be the best career move for him, in my opinion. From the reports that had surfaced, he really wasn't cut out for the politics of the main roster, to any extent.
Which is why Lashley and Lana are a duo!
#2 To conclusively turn Rusev into a babyface
Rusev has been incredibly over at certain points during his already illustrious career. He is an individual who has been a great monster heel, going on an undefeated streak for a very long time. And therefore, it's hard to shake off the notion that he's a heel, at this point in time.
But in this case, it is quite obvious that he'll be the man who has the sympathy of the audience for the betrayal from his wife. Bobby Lashley is also not someone that the audience really gravitates towards and it's quite obvious that he'll be the heel. This basically means that Rusev will be a clear babyface in the days to come.
WWE nixed the Rusev Day angle when it could potentially have had the legs to become the biggest thing ever in the history of the blue brand. Maybe this is his chance at redemption.
#1 Just going off the air with The Fiend would have been anticlimactic
If there's anything to be said about a RAW that has undoubtedly been scripted to a large degree by Paul Heyman, it is that it was not like most other episodes of the red brand that we have seen. There were surprises galore interspersed over the course of the three hours, and I daresay that this was the first time in a while that I was not relieved that the show was over.
Last week ended with The Fiend taking out Braun Strowman during a segment that was lauded by almost everyone. Of course, it would have gone down well this week too, but Heyman wanted something more!
Which is why there wasn't just one major headline at the end of the show, There were two.
Depending on what you want from sports entertainment, you can pick the one you liked more.
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