Monday Night Raw: Questions and answers

CM Punk and Paul Heyman

After The Hell in A Cell Pay Per View and Monday Night Raw, we have many questions answered. We have a new WWE Champion. We have a new World Heavyweight Champion, and more than one challenger eager to take the title off his hands. We also have a hopeful end to the CM Punk/Paul Heyman feud. And a few new feuds that are just beginning, but with all these questions answered, what new questions should be in WWE fans’ minds?

Should Damien Sandow get another shot at the World Heavyweight title?

The answer to this is clearly yes. The WWE spent a good amount of time putting together a decent push for Sandow by giving him the Money in The Bank Contract back in June, and it would just simply be a huge mistake not to at least see it through. Sandow did look good in the ring with Cena on Monday Night, and even held his own on many reversals and grapples throughout the match. Sandow even mimicked Cena’s STF for a almost victory over the newly crowned World Champion.

To many fans, it may look like the WWE is simply throwing out their push in Sandow, but with a match like that, and the crowd reaction one receives when wrestling Cena, the WWE may still be able to put Sandow in a Triple Threat match against Del Rio and Cena for the title at Survivor Series. Don’t give up WWE fans. Sandow may get his hands on the gold yet!

Is the feud between CM Punk and Paul Heyman over?

Honestly, it really should be. It really only made sense with Brock Lesnar in the picture, and now with Lesnar not returning until WrestleMania season, it seems like it would be best for all parties to just move on. The WWE were fools for thinking Axel could or even deserved to carry out a feud with CM Punk. He is simply not on Punk’s level and just couldn’t bring the intensity to the feud that it needed.

The addition of Ryback didn’t do much for the feud either, as fans felt like it was just a redo of Punk and Ryback’s feud last year for the WWE title. Also, the match at Hell in a Cell did little to silence fans doubts about that being the case. Hopefully now that Punk has defeated Ryback at Hell In a Cell, and gave Heyman the beating of his life with a Kendo stick atop the demonic cell structure, Punk can move on to bigger and better storylines. After Punk was attacked by The Wyatt Family following his street fight with Ryback Monday night, it seems the WWE is looking to go towards a much more satisfying direction with The Second City Saint.

The fact that Daniel Bryan also was attacked by The Wyatt Family on Raw last night, should make this new storyline venture just that much more compelling for fans. With the prospect of Bryan and Punk teaming up to battle The Wyatt Family on the horizon, we can only hope that this is a much better thought out storyline then Heyman versus Punk.

Will Big E. Langston’s push be halted by Curtis Axel’s injury on Smackdown?:

In all honesty, the WWE would be stupid not to continue the push they have given Big E. Langston over the past few weeks. Not that the WWE will care if someone calls them stupid, but just saying. This 5 foot 11, 290 pound beast is definitely what the WWE needs to build up other top talents and make the Mid-card interesting. Langston is a very versatile talent, that is able to both use his size and agility to his advantage over almost any opponent.

What should really impress fans about Langston is his intensity during a match. The man is able to build up so much momentum simply by reversing his opponents signature moves with his sheer power, making match endings more exciting when Langston is in the ring. After the announcement that Axel was injured and unable to compete at Hell In Cell against Langston, the WWE quickly rescheduled the match as Langston versus Dean Ambrose for the United States title, and also made the match for later in the evening, instead of the kickoff show where the original match was scheduled. Although Langston fought valiantly in his first title match in the WWE, his victory was a hollow one, as he beat Ambrose by count out and didn’t win the title.

After the match, Langston was able to hit The Big Ending on Dean Ambrose and give some life to their new feud. Now with Langston feuding with The Shield’s, Dean Ambrose, it seems like WWE will put their plans for Langston on the backburner for now and have Langston build up Ambrose for his eventual post-Shield singles run. I really wish the WWE would see the genuine talent they have with Langston and give him a run with The United States title, but it looks like the WWE is going to favor building the Shield over any other mid card talent on the roster.

The Shield

Will The Shield be splitting up soon?

It really is about time the WWE finally break up one the most dominant factions in the history of the WWE. Since storming onto the scene last year at Survivor Series, The Shield have demolished everyone in their path with quick team work and raw power. The Shield have had a amazing run that including a five month title reign by Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, and a Untied States Championship reign by Dean Ambrose. Ambrose even had the honor of competing in the Money In The Bank Contract ladder match earlier this year.

Although the Shield have been rewarded with long title reigns and endless monumental main event matches, it seems that the WWE has finally decided to break up the boys in black and see what they can do on their own. The first sign of this split was when Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins lost the tag team titles to Goldust and Cody Rhodes three weeks ago on Raw. The next big sign of The Shield’s demise was when Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins were unable to recapture their title gold at Hell In Cell, making their fall just that much more evident.

Now with the titles out of the hands of Rollins and Reigns, and Dean Ambrose touting his title gold on Raw, it seems jealousy will play the biggest factor in The Shields upcoming split. It’s still unclear exactly how the break up will happen, but it seems like it will most likely involve both Rollins and Reigns turning on Ambrose and trying to capture his United States title. The Shield should be warned however, that Dean Ambrose is the baddest man around.

Did the WWE bury Daniel Bryan’s push at Hell In Cell?

Ok, time for some truth. Daniel Bryan is so buried at this point, their having his pushes memorial service this weekend. The WWE has once again taking a viable and versatile talent, and completely buried him with almost victories in big Pay Per View matches, and horribly planned out screw jobs in others. The WWE has essentially done with Daniel Bryan, what they did to Ryback back in 2012. Minus all the momentum for Ryback, because he was a rebranded rookie at the time. They built up Ryback with a bunch of squash matches, had him get surprise wins over many top talents in the WWE, and then had him lose time and time again at Pay Per Views, with the title on the line.

It’s the same thing with Bryan. They built him up for months during his tag team title run with Kane, had him build even more momentum as a singles competitor, then put him in a passing of the torch match with John Cena, only to brutally bury him when it counted. The WWE Universe doesn’t want to back a loser. They want to be in the corner of a guy who can and will get it done for his fans, and the WWE just isn’t allowing Daniel Bryan to do that.

After Bryan was defeated at Hell In Cell, thanks to a surprise Sweet Chin Music by Shawn Michaels, Michaels attempted to apologize to Bryan the next night on Raw and get Bryan to shake his hand. After a few tense moments Bryan grabbed Michael’s hand and put him in the Yes Lock for revenge. After the segment with Michaels, Bryan was viciously attacked by The Wyatt Family backstage, injuring Daniel Bryan and putting him in the hospital for the evening. This move definitely sets up both Punk, who was attacked later that night by The Wyatt Family, and Bryan for a feud with Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt Family.

With that being said , only two questions remain. Who will be the new number one contender for The WWE title, and will Punk and Bryan be working together to battle Bray Wyatt and The Wyatt Family? Hopefully, the answer to the second one is Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Although it looks like Bryan’s run in the main event is over, Bryan will remain a mid card megastar for years to come!