5 Things We Learned From RAW Last Night

WWE has taught us that after big pay-per-views like SummerSlam, it’s OK to hit the snooze button on our fan ship. However, if you were planning a casual following of WWE until Survivor Series, it’s time to wake up.

All of a sudden, next month’s No Mercy feels like WrestleMania. Just last week, it seemed that RAW’s next PPV would be devoted to the rise of Braun Strowman. However, in wake of last night’s RAW, No Mercy may be remembered as the dueling ground for John Cena and Roman Reigns.

WWE is hot right now. We’re used to WWE staving off big matches for big shows, however, WWE is pulling no punches and seemingly trying to create a streak of blockbuster cards. This aggressive booking philosophy is going to make things highly entertaining.

With WWE punching the gas last night on RAW, there was a lot that transpired. Let’s break it down with five things we learned from RAW last night:

Parody Is Not the Answer

Excuse me while I cross pollinate ideas. 

In the NBA one of the biggest complaints is the lack of parody within the league. The Warriors will win 80 games a year until they don’t want to anymore and the NBA will suffer from this utter dominance. 

While there is some logic behind this argument, it’s still inherently flawed. Dominance plays well for any story. If you want parody, go watch 2001 WCW. 

With that in mind, Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss flipping the title back and forth does little to advance either of them. To say the least, Sasha’s 4 reigns with the Women’s Championship have been hallow. I know WWE may be concocting some sort of arc where she’s the girl who can’t keep her belt, but c’mon, that’s not exactly storytelling. 

As the Women’s Revolution still develops, they need stability, not fluidity at the top. Maybe Nia Jax is just that. 

Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose Need New Challengers ASAP

Cesaro and Sheamus are a pair of wonderful WWE veterans. They’re pros in the ring and will always turn in a solid performance. That said, not even Bayley fans think they could actually take the RAW Tag Team Titles back from Rollins and Ambrose.

As one of WWE’s hottest acts, Seth and Dean need the fire to grow. For us to keep caring either they need to change or their opponents do.  For now, it doesn’t look like either is happening. 

Their war of words with the Usos could be quite fruitful but it’s hard to know how serious WWE is willing to take a cross-brand rivalry at the moment. WWE may have to create a tag team from some spare parts of the main roster because Seth and Dean vs. Anderson and Gallows until the Royal Rumble ain’t gonna cut it. 

Jeff Hardy: Solo Artist

Who says WWE can’t surprise us? I’ll go ahead and assume that no one had Jeff Hardy winning the Intercontinental Championship Battle Royal. He did, and it was lovely.

I think most of us expected to see Finn Balor or Jason Jordan score the big win. But Balor’s victory was squelched by another surprise – an apparition of Bray Wyatt. For Jordan, it’s clear WWE is concocting something long term with him and are happy to keep his evolution moving forward an inch at a time.

For the next week, we can safely assume that the Hardy’s are not Broken, but broken up. Who knows how long Jeff will run solo, but it certainly seems that their legal battles with GFW have forced WWE to move on from the prospective BROKEN gimmick. 

Enzo Amore is Goldberg

Eh, not really, but he is undefeated. It’s going to feel dirty to watch him beat the Cruiserweights. These poor, undersized fellows have dedicated their lives to be phenomenal in the ring. So much so that they’ve compromised their character’s personality in the name of in-ring fireworks.

Enzo is the exact opposite. Instead of practicing 450 splashes for the past decade, Enzo has been flapping his gums. He feels a little out of place in 205 Live, but for now, I think that’s a good thing.

The Cruiserweights needed an injection of something, and while this may prove to be little more than a publicity stunt, it has our attention. 

Roman Reigns Still Has Room to Grow

This was fascinating to watch. 

In a fateful twist of irony, John Cena armed himself with every criticism the internet has used against Roman Reigns – and it nearly paralyzed Roman (seriously, he forgot his lines). 

As Reigns fumbled for his words Cena kept the press on and mocked Roman for getting rattled. Reigns responded by upping his intensity and explicit language.

Fortunately for Reigns, his fiery words worked and he was able to make his verbal comeback. Even though Cena dominated the segment, Reigns hung in there. He’s still not a great talker, but one day he probably will be. This feud with Cena while questionably timed could actually serve as a rapid growth period for Roman Reigns. 

We still have nearly a month before these two finally tango – here’s to hoping they have more of these cutthroat promos.