PWP Nation’s Zack Heydorn discusses the top five things we learned from the 7/24/17 edition of Monday Night Raw.
5. The Jason Jordan as Kurt Angle’s son story is hanging on by a thread
Last week, the big Kurt Angle reveal was that he has a son from a past relationship that now is a WWE Superstar. That son is former member of American Alpha, Jason Jordan. Last night on Raw, Jordan had his first match and the audience simply did not care. The audience barely cared when the reveal occurred and now that we are a week in they cared even less. Jordan is nearing “we’re getting restless and are ready to boo this dork” territory quickly. Why? First, Jason Jordan just does not have the charisma to pull the story off. Second, the story WWE told was that this reveal regarding Kurt Angle was a shocker. The audience was told it would be a moment that would change Raw forever. After all that, we got Jason Jordan? The payoff just didn’t fit the build and people recognize that. Unless something big happens with Jordan on Miz TV next week, this story could be in shambles just two weeks in.
4. The foundation for a Sasha Banks heel turns has been laid
Last night, Sasha Banks and Bayley stole the show and had the match of the night on Raw. Bayley cleanly won the match and became the number one contender for Alexa Bliss’s Raw Women’s Championship at Summerslam. More importantly than that outcome, we’ve seen the foundation set for Sasha’s heel turn on Bayley. It’s no secret that Sasha Banks vs. Bayley is a big money match for the WWE. The two did tremendous business with their NXT matches and still have a story left to tell on the main roster. Further, they have a palpable chemistry that naturally makes anything they do together feel big. Banks said before the match that the best woman would win. Certainly, its eating her up inside to have lost. With WrestleMania 34 on the horizon, this is the perfect catalyst to turn Banks heel and have the two on a collision course for a major match in New Orleans.
3. Finn Balor = The Demon At Summerslam
After last night’s assault at the hands of Bray Wyatt, Finn Balor will undoubtedly need to reach his “next level” if he is going to defeat the eater worlds. Enter Balor’s alter-ego, The Demon King. We haven’t seen Balor as the demon since he’s come back from injury and this is the perfect moment to reintroduce that gimmick. The demon positioned in a Bray Wyatt feud is money given Bray’s style and it will make for phenomenal theatrics at the second biggest WWE show of the year.
2. The Universal Championship is the premiere championship in WWE
With the likes of Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe, and Roman Reigns competing for it, the Universal Championship on Monday Night Raw is looking like the premiere championship title in WWE. And oh yeah, Brock Lesnar is the current champion. Compare those four guys to the debacle that is the WWE Championship picture on SmackDown Live and it’s clear what the “A” title really is in WWE. The build to Summerslam’s fatal four-way match for the Universal Championship is sure to be memorable given the status of the competitors. Much like the booking of Lesnar/Joe at Great Balls Of Fire, the booking of this championship match makes sense and falls perfectly in line with the main stories on Raw. It’s an exciting time to be a Raw fan and we’ll be debating all of the possible finish outcomes on The Bottom Line this week. Listen to last week’s episode here and subscribe the PWP Nation Network here.
1. Keep Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins as a tag team
Much like Sasha Banks and Bayley, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins have a natural chemistry that radiates through whatever they’re doing. They had it when they were feuding against one another and they had it last night when they were teaming together. I beg you, WWE. Run with this. The main event picture is incredibly full right now. Even though Ambrose and Rollins are main event level players, there just isn’t room for them in that picture right now. Allow them to grow and be entertaining in the tag team division. Sheamus and Cesaro haven’t been on Raw in weeks and those guys would be the perfect opponents for the newly aligned team of Ambrose and Rollins. This pairing in a semi long-term fashion is the perfect way to start a full blown reunion of The Shield with Roman Reigns down the road.
