PWP Nation’s Eron Ramadanov breaks down this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw and reveals what we learned from the broadcast as we lead into WWE Fastlane.
Two weeks after WWE Royal Rumble, WWE has the daunting task of trying to keep people and fans invested and interested in the product on a weekly basis. So much so, they have to find a way to keep you, the viewer, invested in the show for three hours, every single Monday; it also doesn’t help that their roster is banged up with injuries.
On the February 1st, 2016 edition of Monday Night Raw, we saw the progression of the Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns storyline heading into WWE Fastlane, which was the main focal point of the show.
So, with Monday’s show, let’s dive into what we learned from the broadcast:
50/50 booking reigns supreme
Ugh… where do I start?
So last week (1/25/16), we saw Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler in a singles match, where Kevin Owens walked out victorious. Now, this week, we saw the 5,000th encounter between these two men in a singles match, but this time, Ziggler beat Owens.
In a world where NO ONE gets over, add Kevin Owens to that list. Ziggler has been a long standing member in this club, but Owens, Owens has been someone who has, for a while now, avoided it like the plague, as WWE for a short period of time treated him like someone special. Glad to see that’s over.
Welcome to the “Even Steven” booking club, Mr. Owens.
AJ Styles is small
On this episode of Monday Night Raw, WWE wanted to make one thing VERY clear about AJ Styles. With The Miz in the ring during this segment, to JBL on commentary, WWE wants to let you know one thing: AJ Styles is SMALL.
He’s an underdog, who was “a big fish in a small pond,” and is now in the “big leagues,” where he has to prove himself. The Miz with countless references to Daniel Bryan, illustrating that AJ Styles is small and has been fighting for his whole life with a “chip on his shoulder.”
Pile on top of this segment, that AJ Styles, who is NEW to this fan base didn’t get to say a word. No, why try to familiarize him with the audience? They’ve already made him a star by portraying him as a scrappy, underdog. Yes, an underdog. The same “underdog” that is a former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, who helped sell out the Tokyo Dome at Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Japan.
I can hear them now… you, know… the WWE sympathizers, who will say, “but Eron, he came off looking good!”
Once you introduce the idea to the fan base, which a majority of said fan base have no clue who he is, that he’s just some Daniel Bryan replacement and is an undersized, former “small fish in a big pond,” underdog, you’ve already lost the battle.
Welcome to WWE, Mr. Styles.
Charlotte is finally finding her footing as a heel
On a more positive note, it seems like the current reigning WWE Divas Champion, Charlotte, is finding her groove as a “bad girl.”
I’ve been critical of Charlotte and her father for the lack of “heelishness” they’ve showed during their title run, but it seems like since the Royal Rumble, Charlotte and Ric Flair have really found a nice groove together as a good 1-2 punch of arrogance.
I’ve said from the start, for this pairing to work between daughter and father, there has to be a balance of power. Charlotte has to do most of the talking and be center-stage during segments and backstage interviews. I criticized Ric Flair in the past for “hogging” the spotlight away from his daughter, but recently, he’s done a better job of stepping back and letting Charlotte take the reigns as the leader of their small group.
Keep it up, Charlotte. WOOOO!
Poor, Tyler Breeze
Can we now say that the only reason he was brought up to the main roster was so WWE can point to a “success story” from their WWE Network show, “Breaking Ground.” As we saw in the season finale, Tyler Breeze was called up to the main roster after years of being in developmental.
Well, since making it “up” to the main roster, Tyler Breeze has been treated like a total and complete geek, who was used as a jobber to Titus O’Neil… yes, Titus O’Neil.
Hey Tyler, don’t you wish you were back in Orlando? Yeah, me too.
The WWE Fastlane main event is going to be a fun match
To end things on a positive note, I do think the Triple Threat match for a chance to face Triple H for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 32 between Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose will be a really interesting and fun match to end and headline WWE Fastlane.
I think it’s very possible that we see something along the lines of a Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins from the Royal Rumble 2015 type match here. I think the agents who are assigned this match will add some cool spots and interesting dynamics in this match. It’ll be interesting to see how exactly Reigns and Ambrose interact and if they’ll go at it or will they team up against Lesnar.
Also, it’ll be interesting to see who takes the pin in this match. My money is on Ambrose, which I believe is the only reason he’s involved in this match. Lesnar will probably be taken out by the Wyatt Family in some form or fashion, which will lead to the rumored match-up between Bray Wyatt and Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 32.
That’ll leave Ambrose and Reigns to duke it out for the title shot, which will end up going to Reigns.
Even though this match is predictable, it’ll be a fun main event for a B level pay-per-view.
Thanks for reading, everyone!
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