Monday Night Raw comes to us live tonight from inside the SAP Center in San Jose, California!
The Universal Championship Picture
In two weeks, Seth Rollins is set to defend his Universal championship against Baron Corbin once again. The pair put on a solid world title match in Saudi Arabia this past Friday, but that’s not all Rollins had to worry about.
Brock Lesnar was set to cash in his MITB at Super Showdown, but Rollins beat him down with a steel chair. Lesnar never officially cashed in, so he’s still in possession of the briefcase, and the title shot that comes with it.
With Lesnar holding the MITB still, the dark cloud that is the inevitability that he will once again hold the Universal or WWE title hangs over the entire WWE product. WWE has said that Lesnar is now, “biding his time” as well as making sure to reference that he has a year to cash in.
That means the Brock Party will not be around Monday Night Raw for a while (what’s new).
The Best in the Worlds
Shane McMahon is the biggest star in the wrestling world.
At least, that’s how WWE is pushing him. At nearly 50 years old, McMahon is winning every match, as well as being on every TV show, every single week, every Monday Night Raw.
He beat Miz in their feud, and now all Miz does is host MizTV to put other people over. While it may not have been clean, he just defeated Roman Reigns this past Friday.
At first, it was entertaining. The stuff with Greg Hamilton was great but now, it’s just very annoying. Anytime Shane’s on my screen, I can’t help but cringe. The heel authority angles died almost two decades. They’ve brought it back several times since, most notably through 2012-15.
It doesn’t work anymore. Mr. McMahon vs Stone Cold Steve Austin was the only time it’s actually worked. It worked so well, it could work for anyone, right? Wrong.
It’s boring and bland. Guys like Cedric Alexander, Buddy Murphy, Rusev, Shinsuke Nakamura, and countless others haven’t been seen on TV in weeks. Over 50 WWE main roster talent sit in the back every week and don’t get any TV time at all. Shane McMahon has featured segments every Monday and Tuesday night.
Something has to change.
Raw Tag Team Title Match
Tonight, the Revival take on Hawkins & Ryder for the Raw Tag Team championships.
Hawkins & Ryder have been used once or twice on TV since capturing the raw tag titles at WrestleMania. The Revival have been one of the most featured tag teams in all of WWE since the superstar shakeup, and rightfully so.
The Revival have to win the titles here. WWE has no choice. If Hawkins & Ryder defeat them, that’s it for the Revival. I don’t know how you recover from that. Monday Night Raw’s tag team division is a joke.
Once again, something needs to change. This could be the first step tonight. After this, give the fans Usos vs. Revival forever.
MizTV with Samoa Joe
As stated earlier, since losing his feud to Shane McMahon, Miz has only been hosting MizTV. Samoa Joe reclaimed the United States title last week when Rey Mysterio relinquished it to him due to injury.
WWE is hyping Joe’s next challenger as someone such as Ricochet or Cesaro. I would love for Miz to get an opportunity, however. Like I said, Miz hasn’t been doing anything. He hasn’t gone after a title in months.
Miz deserves a Universal title match, let alone a US title shot. The promos we would get from these two would be amazing. Two of the best workers on the mic in all of WWE would be a great feud to get the US title back to relevancy.
Overall, this could either be a great Monday Night Raw, or a terrible one. WWE has set up opportunities for themselves to fix their mistakes and start over. The US & tag team titles, Shane McMahon’s push, and the Universal title picture (mostly Lesnar) all need to be rethought. I’ve said it before, and i’ll say it again, something has to change.
