The 5 Things We Learned From RAW Last Night

You would think after the Royal Rumble heated up the proverbial iron that WWE would look to strike again on RAW the following night.

Well, they have different plans.

Instead of capitalizing on the acquisition of Ronda Rousey or making a splash to stir our Rumble hangover, WWE gave us a mostly skippable show.

If you did, in fact, skip it, good for you. And because I know you did well with your extra three hours, here’s a little reward – a neatly packaged summary of all the important things you need to know from Monday’s show.

So here you go: The 5 Things We Learned From RAW Last night

Asuka’s Odd Coronation

I want to like Asuka. About once a match she’ll flip her Kill Mode switch and unleash some really stiff offense on a helpless opponent. I usually cover my mouth in horror.

But that’s about all The Empress of Tomorrow can get from me.

Her promo to open RAW was questionable. Did WWE really just send her out there and tell her to do a Japanese rendition of a Jinder Mahal promo? This won’t work, no matter heel or face.

If this is WWE’s only plan in the build-up to WrestleMania, Asuka will be dead on arrival.

Braun Strowman, Tried and True

There is, was, and always will be beauty in simplicity.

WWE’s formula for Braun Strowman is exactly that. Have him break something and someone every RAW. Who cares if it’s repetitive – just do it so you’ll have it for the pay-per-view video package 4 weeks later.

For every booking gripe we may have, we should remind ourselves how well WWE is doing with Strowman. Sure it could be better, I suppose, but ironically, he’s kind of boxed in his current spot on the card.

He’ll be getting plenty of OMG opportunities as we march to Mania but Championship opportunities won’t come around until SummerSlam.

Miz: 2 Roman: 0

Even though it made little sense to have Roman become Intercontinental Champion just a week after losing it, It was still surprising to see him eat a 3-count.

However, it was the right thing to do. At the moment, The Miz is one of WWE’s hottest Superstars and all signs point the company building around him in 2018 – hopefully, he can slip into the Universal Championship picture by year’s end.

For Reigns, this looks to be the last of him chasing the Miz. Next week he’ll be in hot pursuit of a spot in the Elimination Chamber match, a contest he will most certainly be winning.

Balor Misses Out on John Cena’s Lottery

John Cena’s philanthropic efforts to put over non-WWE guys just ended.

Over the past few years, John Cena, the altruist, laid down for Kevin Owens, AJ Styles, and Shinsuke Nakamura. So when Finn Balor was told he’d be fighting Cena for a sport in the Elimination Chamber, he and his fans probably thought he was the next data point in the pattern.

Wrong.

Balor may one day get another shot at the Universal Championship, but it won’t be anytime soon. He’s had a nice rise as of late, but WWE continues to show us that they just aren’t that into him – at least as a main eventer.

For Finn, a WrestleMania feud with the Miz could be a priceless opportunity.

Gone-da Rousey?

While WWE stopped RAW twice to acknowledge Ronda Rousey‘s Royal Rumble moment, I’m not sure what they actually accomplished.

Rousey joining WWE is a colossal story. This isn’t the Mike Tyson cameo or the Floyd Mayweather one-off, Rousey signed a long-term contract. So where the hell was she?

Well, she probably zoomed backed to Columbia to finished her film obligations, but still, WWE not having her on RAW seems like a missed opportunity.

Getting Rousey accepted by the WWE fanbase will be tricky. At the moment, we all have no choice but to be enamored by the novelty. But how will we feel in March? August? 2019?