WWE RAW 18th April 2016: 5 Points to Note

Raw was off to a hardcore fanbase this week with London playing host to the show. All the regular big names were on the show and Shane McMahon was again in power. It’s beyond disbelief at this point.

The show’s gotten better with his presence. Obviously, there is a lot of excitement surrounding this particular McMahon. It’s pretty okay to believe that due to the tremendous social media support, again, he will be running Raw up until Payback, or so it seems. And that’s just great news at this point, if that’s what’s meant to be.

Here are the 5 points to note from this week’s show:

1. Heels and Faces

These two should have more segments together

Raw began with Dean Ambrose walking out to the ring to a nice pop for the first official edition of the Ambrose Asylum. His first guest was the man who paved the way for this show. Yep, Shane McMahon was once again in control of Monday Night Raw.

London was just so happy to have Shane-O-Mac and ‘Dean-O’ around.

But then Owens interrupted this little party to address what he thinks is a personal vendetta Shane McMahon has against him. This isn’t exactly Austin Vs McMahon but it’s still pretty darn interesting because of the performers involved. Owens and Shane McMahon should have many more segments together.

Plus, Chris Jericho is hilarious as a heel. The opening segment was precisely good because it had together in the ring, two much beloved babyfaces and two heels who feel wronged by the McMahons’ monopoly. This unlikely friendship between The Prizefighter and The Ayatollah of Rock N Rolla was hilarious.

2. Brothers Reunite

Styles met his ‘brothers’ Gallows and Anderson

AJ Styles met Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows backstage and while the crowd rejoiced at this Bullet Club reunion, the newest members of the roster only had nice things to say about WWE and they thanked AJ for being instrumental in them getting here. But that wasn’t all that we saw of these two.

Roman Reigns came out to speak to this hardcore crowd and eventually Styles made his way out to and just when we thought the segment was done, Gallows and Anderson made their way out and attacked Reigns to the delight of the crowd.

Styles mysteriously stood there not fully impressed or shocked, though he did tell Reigns that he had nothing to do with the attack. If they do go ahead with this stable, then the leadership aspect of Styles role in the group will only increase his stock, or so it seems.

3. Payback Match Card

Natalya will face Charlotte for the Women’s Championship at Payback

The Payback card stacked up this week with a match between Natalya and Charlotte for the Women’s Championship with Bret Hart by his niece’s side. This seems to be walking the same route as the one match they had at NXT where Charlotte won the NXT Women’s Championship. This also marks Hart’s first main roster appearance since he conquered cancer.

The Vaudevillains will now face Enzo and Big Cass in the tag team tournament finals. NXT is still making waves all over.

Also, the opening segment led to the announcement of two more matches for Payback, logically so. Owens and Zayn have their first single match together and Jericho and Ambrose start off what could have been planned for WrestleMania.

4. Apollo Crews

Crews continues his winning streak on the main roster

If there is one thing noticeable about Crews’ matches in the main roster, it’s that most of them are pre-announced. There were some disbelief about why his debut on Raw was pre- announced but it seems WWE is trying to go somewhere with all of this.

Maybe, they feel there is a lot of potential that they want to tap into. His theme song screams victory just like someone named John Cena. Can’t help but imagine these two virtuous babyfaces crossing paths.

But Crews at the moment doesn’t really have a meaningful feud and he’s just straddling the fence from being considered to be shoved down everyone’s throats if he doesn’t have a proper feud going.

5. Great while it lasts

Shane McMahon has been doing a great job

One thing’s for sure, ever since Shane McMahon assumed power, things have been running pretty smooth. This won’t last long. This can’t last long but for now it’s pretty good for the show and it is setting up well for that eventual return of The Authority and a clash for power between the McMahon siblings.

They might very well return for the payback at, well, Payback.

The show was pretty much on track except one vicious attack and that was at the hands of Gallows and Anderson. It’ll be interesting to note what Shane McMahon has to say about the attacks by these two new arrivals.