5 Things We Learned On Monday Night RAW

RAW came to us live from Grand Rapids, MI, this week and for once, felt like it had plenty of quality material to fill all three hours.

With only two weeks left until Extreme Rules, there isn’t much in the name of new developments WWE can make as all of their talent is spoken for with their upcoming Extreme obligations.

However, GM Kurt Angle did a great job of mixing and matching the talent to give us some new matches and pairings we had never seen before.

The WWE‘s flagship program has been without it’s champion since the week after WrestleMania, yet the entire storyline right now is using that to its advantage by building up its top five stars for a chance to face Brock Lesnar upon his eventual return.

While tonight’s show went by faster than usual, you still don’t have to watch the whole thing. That’s what we’re here for.

Let us give you a quick recap with the five most important things we learned on RAW.

5. Elias Samson has a bright future

The Drifter looked awfully impressive in his first main roster bout. Samson was in total control over Ambrose for the majority of the match and drew a huge reaction from the crowd when he caught Ambrose with a stiff knee to the face as Dean leapt from the top rope. 

After the suspect DQ victory, Samson didn’t simply rest on the victory. He made sure to show off what we assume to be his finisher, a reverse spinning neckbreaker that looked pretty damn sweet. 

His combo of ridiculous outside the ring gimmick and vicious inside the ring game could be a winner for the red brand.

4. Paul Heyman was brought it in to sell Finn Balor

WWE must have felt Finn Balor needed this. The first Universal Champion could be getting groomed to get another run at his old belt and he was getting somewhat dwarfed by his other, more experienced, babyface Extreme Rules opponents. 

When in doubt, bring in Paul Heyman.

In under five minutes Heyman was able to build up Balor’s credibility more than Finn or the WWE has been able to do in the past month. Heyman said that while Finn may be painted as the underdog by his Fatal Five Way opponents, he believes Balor is the “most intriguing” challenger for the Universal Championship and the most talented performer in the WWE today.

3. Goldust is interesting again

The eccentric WWE veteran was in complete throwback mode as he sat in the director’s chair and explained that he was now in charge of how his film will end.

With the Attitude Era star turning heel so late in his career, it appears as if WWE is going to cash in on the same nostalgia vibes that have kept fans invested with Goldberg, The Hardys and other recent returns.

No one deserves it more than Goldust. He’s still in great shape and, thanks to body suits and makeup, still looks pretty much the same as he did twenty years ago.

2. Alexa Bliss still the best heel on RAW

How a five foot, adorable blonde haired goddess is the best heel on RAW, I just don’t know, but once again Alexa Bliss killed the villain game; this time by hitting 90s throwback, Mickie James, with the kendo stick after the bell. 

Bliss gets more heat from her backstage walks to the ring than most do in an entire career. 

1. Brock Lesnar being gone is just fine

I’m not saying we don’t need Brock Lesnar back at some point, but you could easily make the argument that the Universal Championship is being treated with more value now than it did anytime Kevin Owens held it last year. 

Would you rather have five weeks of guys fighting for a chance to face the Champion or have the Champion losing lazy, non-title matches every other week? 

The build for the Extreme Rules match has been excellent and it will make whomever gets that shot at Lesnar already feel like a champion just for getting him in the ring.