WWE Monday Night Raw - 7/2/18

WWE Monday Night Raw
7/2/18
Denny Sanford Premier Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Quick Results:

1. Curtis Axel w/ Bo Dallas defeated Matt Hardy. 
2. Authors of Pain (Akem and Rezar) defeated Titus Worldwide (Titus O'Neil and Apollo Crews)
3. Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins defeated Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre by DQ. 
4. Ember Moon defeated Liv Morgan w/ Sarah Logan. 
5. Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley defeated The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) by DQ.
6. Nia Jax w/ Natalya defeated Mickie James w/ Alexa Bliss. 
7. Braun Strowman defeated Kevin Owens by countout. 

Blog

Holiday editions of WWE programming are usually uneventful and this edition of Raw almost continued that trend until the closing segment.

Kurt Angle officially announced Lashley vs. Reigns at Extreme Rules, and while this match does have sort of a "big fight feel" to it, I would like to see this billed as a number one contender match in order to make it feel more important. The dialogue between Lashley and Reigns, calling each other "ego maniacs" is just weak. Both of them are natural heels but are being held back by portraying babyfaces and being heavily scripted in their promos.

Rollins and Reigns taking on Ziggler and McIntyre was easily the match of the night, despite the non finish. Rollins continues to put on excellent matches and he had some great talent in the ring with him. They did a great job limiting the interactions between Drew McIntyre and Reigns, making fan want to see a one on one match between them. I didn't mind the finish at all, as The Revival attacked Reigns for the dq. This made sense for the match later on in the show with the Revival taking on Reigns and Lashley.

While it would have been great to see Lashley and Reigns have a straight up match against the Revival, the story here was Reigns refusing to tag Lashley in. I am not sure why Reigns hates Lashley so much but the story here was Reigns was "too proud" to tag Lashley in. I am hoping to see Lashley turn full on heel and just attack Reigns going in to their match at Extreme Rules and lighting a fire in their program.

The big visual from Raw was Braun Strowman throwing a porta potty containing Kevin Owens off of the stage. Following this, the ring announcer made it clear that Strowman won the match by countout, taking away the seriousness of this angle. While this segment alone was good, the lead-up to it could have been better. Owens, wearing a Baron Corbin hoodie, made a valid point in asking Angle to send Strowman to counseling like he did to Bayley and Sasha Banks. He also asked Angle to suspend Strowman or fire him. Angle instead makes a match between Owens and Strowman. I am not sure why Angle is condoning Strowman's actions, such as crushing Owens' rental car, but hopefully next week, he will make a logical decision regarding Braun Strowman's actions. Strowman remains a comedy character in the upper mid card so hopefully a conflict with Kurt Angle with heat up Strowman for a future title match against Lesnar. I feel Strowman should be the one to dethrone Lesnar for the Universal title.

I was glad to see Dr. Shelby conducting the counseling between Bayley and Sasha, as it brought back fond memories of the early days of Team Hell No. Unfortunately, these were a big let down. Bayley and Sasha have a believable and relate-able feud, with Bayley constantly getting stabbed in the back by her best friend. Her attack on Sasha last week was well done but this segment was a huge step back. It worked with Kane and Daniel Bryan, who were in a comedy feud, but this was anything but funny.

Speaking of comedy, Finn Balor is someone who should not attempt to be a comedy character. His joke about Corbin's haircut wasn't funny but I am glad he was able to get the upper hand on Corbin. These are two guys that have potential to be big stars but need the support of creative to do it. Both guys are in their mid 30's so hopefully that support comes sooner rather than later.

Other Thoughts:

The AoP are on a good run right now, running through teams, and I hope it is a few months or so until we see them challenge for the titles. The B Team continue their winning streak, but with Bray's injury (due to his wreckless driving), it will be hard to keep people interested in this feud with just one on one matches.

I am not sure how many suspended wrestlers are given promo time on Raw but that was a good way to keep Ronda Rousey in people's minds. Until she returns, the women's division seems to be on hold. No one expects Mickie James to win and I doubt Nia Jax will defeat Alexa Bliss at Extreme Rules, as the real match fans want to see is Rousey against Bliss.

I would not mind seeing a cruiserweight match on Raw every now and then just to see some fresh faces on this show.

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Royal Rumble 2018 Predictions

WWE Royal Rumble
1/28/18
Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA

Note: The Pre-show matches are not included in this post.

Match Card:

1. Smackdown Tag Team Championship 2 out of 3 Falls: The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) (c) vs. Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin. 
2. Raw Tag Team Championship: Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan (c) vs. The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro). 
3. WWE Championship Handicap Match: AJ Styles (c) vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. 
4. Universal Championship Triple Threat Match: Brock Lesnar (c) w/ Paul Heyman vs, Braun Strowman vs. Kane
5. 1st Annual Women's Royal Rumble Match: 30 Participants. 
6. Men's Royal Rumble Match: 30 Participants.

Predictions:


The WWE has not done a great job building up to the 2018 Royal Rumble, making this a difficult event to predict. One might argue that their focus is currently on declining television ratings leading in to Raw 25, but the Royal Rumble is the official start of the "Road to Wrestlemania". Recent Royal Rumbles usually have one or two wrestlers with a ton of momentum going in, making it a fairly easy one to predict but that is not the case this year (at least for the men's rumble match).

The Smackdown tag title match might be a show stealer. Gable and Benjamin have gelled well together while the Usos are the best duo in all of WWE. With that said, I feel the WWE will keep the titles on the Usos and push this feud a little longer, going in to Wrestlemania. If anything, I feel the newly babyfaced Usos will end up facing the Bludgeon Brothers at some point.

Prediction: The Usos will retain the Smackdown Tag Team Championship.

The Raw tag team title match should be entertaining, only due to the dynamic between Rollins and Jordan. They each play their roles really well, and while the match should be good, I do not see it being better than the Smackdown tag title match. Since Rollins and Jordan are a reluctant team, and due to the frequent tag title changes, I do not believe they will win here. Sheamus and Cesaro are a better act with the tag team titles anyway.

Prediction: Sheamus and Cesaro will win the Raw Tag Team Championship. 

Usually, World titles matches at the Royal Rumble are easy to predict, and this one is no different. Owens and Zayn are a great act, but neither of them come off as "main eventers" in this current role. Owens is a top level talent, no doubt, but this comedic character should not be the champion during Wrestlemania season. Zayn is a top level babyface who has not been given a chance yet. AJ Styles is the best wrestler in the WWE now and he should be facing someone like Nakamura or Orton at Wrestlemania, defending his title.

Prediction: AJ Styles will retain the WWE Championship. 

The Universal title match is probably the biggest non-rumble match on this show. Strowman has gained a lot of momentum recently with his actions on Raw, such as dropping scaffolding, flipping over a truck, and throwing Michael Cole off the stage. This extra emphasis on Strowman leads me to believe he will not win and is just being built up in order to be protected. The consensus is that Kane will be pinned by Lesnar and I have no reason to doubt that. WWE has too much money invested in Brock to take the title off of him here.

Prediction: Brock Lesnar will retain the Universal Championship.

The first ever women's Royal Rumble match has already gotten criticism. Virtually no one is a fan of the way Stephanie McMahon introduced the match, causing babyfaces and heels to stop brawling and chant "Yes". The loss of Paige also hurt this match. However, I do believe this match will be memorable. The talent in this match, without Charlotte, Alexa Bliss, and Paige is still great. Becky Lynch, Naomi, and of course, Asuka, along with surprise entrants, are going to make this match great. As for the winner, there is no one on the roster as strong as Asuka. As much I would like Becky Lynch to win here, there is no doubt WWE is behind the Empress of Tomorrow.

Predicion: Asuka will win the first ever women's Royal Rumble match. 

As for the men's Rumble, there are still a lot of empty slots available. While the women's rumble will most likely feature surprise entrants and NXT call-ups, I see the men's rumble being filled with lower card wrestlers. I can see Strowman entering the match but that is about it. Roman Reigns is the clear favorite to win this match, leading to a match against Lesnar at Wrestlemania. The other likely (albeit less likely) favorite is Shinsuke Nakamura in order to face AJ Styles for the WWE Championship in a Wrestle Kingdom rematch. Finn Balor, believe it or not, is also a strong candidate given his recent push on television. With all of this said, the WWE firmly believes Roman Reigns is "the guy" and that is all that matters. He will win the Royal Rumble and will face Brock Lesnar in a Wrestlemania rematch.

Prediction: Roman Reigns will win the Royal Rumble match. 

Predictions for the Future: Reigns will most likely dethrone Lesnar at Wrestlemania. I also believe we will get AJ vs. Nakamura at Wrestlemania but through other means (maybe a tournament on Smackdown). Asuka will win the title from Bliss while Charlotte will spin off into a feud with Becky Lynch. The next big act in the WWE is the Balor Club and I believe they will have a six man tag at Wrestlemania, against Miz, Sheamus, and Cesaro.

Let's see how this goes...

Thank you for reading. Be sure to follow wrestlingfightclub.blogspot.com for more content on pro wrestling and mixed martial arts.