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One of the most eventful Raw episodes of recent times saw a lot happen in three hours and a new contender for the Universal Championship emerge at the end of the night.
With car-flips and D-grade matches to some A-grade segments and a new Intercontinental Champion, the writers were all over the place when they penned down this week’s episode.
While fans would be upset over the treatment Braun Strowman is receiving, we saw another deserving superstar get his spot for the top championship.
Bobby Lashley won his first Intercontinental Championship by beating two former members of The Shield -- Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins in a surprising turn of events.
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Nikki Cross made her Raw debut and gave an excellent performance which gives the fans someone new to cheer for. The men’s tag team match between The Lucha House Party and The Revival were sadly not up to the mark as we still watch The Revival’s talent go to waste.
Overall one of the better episodes of Raw, we learned a few things at the end of the night which could have some impact going forward.
So check out the 5 things we learned from this week’s Raw, and share your thoughts in the comments below!
#5 Baron Corbin will never be the main event star
Baron Corbin’s services have been used extensively by Raw since the past year. Once the mid-card giant who held the mid-card titles, Corbin is now more of a top guy with a mid-card booking.
Corbin’s work as the Acting General Manager of Raw started off fairly well but fell apart very badly soon after. Since then he has featured in some good matches but remains an ordinary superstar.
Last night he once again got in the face of one of the biggest superstars of Raw and agitated him enough to cost him his Universal Championship shot.
Later in the night, Corbin got the main event match with Finn Balor, John Cena, and Drew McIntyre. At the end of the night, Corbin had the most forgetful performance in the match and seemed like a forceful addition to what could have been a great triple-threat match.
Baron Corbin will continue to play the supporting role on Raw for some time to come, but it seems like he won’t be progressing to the real main event status after all.
#4 John Cena will continue to put wrestlers over
John Cena is an extraordinary athlete. This isn’t just because of all the matches and titles he has won and the number of years he has served as a sports entertainer, but also because of his work as a man who wants to leave the industry in good hands.
While most Superstars want to rack up as many titles and opportunities as they can, Cena has been doing something different since the past couple of years.
Since becoming a part-time superstar and also finding work in Hollywood, he has ensured that he returns to put some deserving superstars over in emphatic fashion for the WWE Universe to start believing in them a bit more than they already did.
This week he was the first to come out and confront Vince McMahon to get a chance at the Universal Championship against Brock Lesnar and mentioned all his accomplishments in the process.
However, later in the night, he took the pinfall to give Finn Balor the chance to go ahead and battle for the Championship as he is the future of the company. While it seemed as though Baron Corbin was added in the match to take the pin for whoever was supposed to be the victor, it was Cena who laid down to put Balor over and give him his chance at the Royal Rumble.
#3 Braun Strowman has the worst character
Braun Strowman was once built as the most lethal force on the roster and the Monster Among Men who every superstar feared. He got his chances at various chances but never got through thanks to his temperament.
Once again, he lost his opportunity to compete for the Universal Championship due to a silly segment on Raw.
Corbin cost him the title at Crown Jewel, and once again cost him the opportunity to compete for it at the Royal Rumble without doing much.
The way the creatives displayed how gullible Strowman was to fall into Corbin’s trap was rather senseless. It makes the fans look like fools who support the big man no matter what and then watch him stumble and fall so easily and lose his opportunities.
While it is possible that Strowman may have not fully recovered to take part in the Universal Championship match at Royal Rumble and that’s why WWE hit the panic button, there were many better ways of letting Strowman lose his opportunity than fall to Corbin’s words again.
#2 Vince McMahon still believes in having ‘beef’
Vince McMahon came out to address the WWE Universe a while after he stripped Braun Strowman a shot at the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble.
As per usual, the segment saw a number of superstars interrupt the Chairman to ask for the chance to win the championship from Brock Lesnar.
John Cena made his way out first, followed by the Scottish Psychopath Drew McIntyre and Baron Corbin.
The last man to come out was the former Universal Champion Finn Balor. Balor claimed that he was the only man who held the title before and hence deserved a greater chance to win it back as compared to the other men.
However, McMahon doubted him, claiming he did not have the “beef” to battle with the likes of McIntyre, Cena, and Corbin and beat Brock Lesnar.
By making that statement, Vince put into the heads of the fans that Balor was the smaller superstar who could not beat Brock Lesnar due to his size and strength. This reassured the fact that Vince would rather have someone of size hold a title than someone with superior skills.
Even though Daniel Bryan holds the WWE Championship, it was surprising to hear Vince make that statement but it was obviously done to put Balor over once he defeated all three men in the fatal four-way match.
#1 Finn Balor will give Brock Lesnar a run for his money
Vince McMahon made it obvious that Finn Balor was the smaller superstar and would have a hard time beating Baron Corbin, John Cena, and Drew McIntyre. However, Balor overcame all odds as usual and pinned Cena for the victory.
WWE usually loves giving the underdogs surprising performances and victories to send the fans home happy at the end of the night.
While Balor’s victory was much welcomed by the WWE Universe, we could see him give Lesnar a run for his money at the Royal Rumble and may even see him become a two-time Universal Champion.
Just like Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero, Balor too is extremely skilled and can defy all odds to beat The Beast.
At Survivor Series we witnessed a dream match between Daniel Bryan and Brock Lesnar which lasted longer than we expected, and once again we will get a dream match between Balor and Lesnar at Royal Rumble which could end up either way.
