Monday Night RAW Updates/Discussion/Spoilers

[Mike Powers]

So they're acknowledging that Reigns is a heel right? Why else would they match him up against Styles?

[Cory]

Styles winning or the final of March Madness?

Hmm

[Mike Powers]

Huh?

[BamBamBunglow]

So...

Shane was in charge of RAW despite losing.

Ryder lost the IC belt.

Roman got booed out of the building.

Despite losing to Jericho at Mania, Styles is the No.1 contender.

Baron Corbin's RAW debut after winning the Battle Royale ended in No Contest.

Wyatts face turned again LON, despite trying to mess up the Rock.

People were expecting Bayley, got Natalya.

Yup, what a way to render Mania completely and utterly pointless.

Plusses - AJ in the title scene without having to fight through the mid carders. Apollo Crews had a pretty good debut. Enzo & Cass are on main roster. Corbin can be a big bad guy who isn't Kane or Big Show.

Negatives - If they want Roman over as their top Face, do NOT put him with AJ Styles. I mean... Jesus Wept. Styles is over, his merch was unobtainable for his first month in WWE. HE IS POPULAR! Why are we putting Face Vs. Supposed Face? HOW WILL THIS GET ROMAN OVER?! It will be a good match. Cena had great matches against Owens, Cesaro, Zayn et al. and STILL GOT BOOED. If this doesn't lead to a Roman heel turn, or an AJ/Bullet club heel turn, then this is a ridiculous booking move.

Actually... I made that last comment offhand. But I could see that happening. PPV, Anderson & Gallows (Maybe Balor)take out Roman, Bullet Club V2.0 as the new heel group. Yeah, I could see that actually working.

[BamBamBunglow]

OK, now I've had three mahoosive cups of coffee, I'm feeling a it more optimistic about the show.

- First, no Authority any more. YAY! Despite the fact that Shane running RAW basically rendered his match Vs. Taker moot, if it gets rid of 20 minute HHH/Steph ramblings, I'm happy.

- Apollo Crews had a good debut. I know, no build up, etc. etc. but he showed the crowd that he can basically do *everything*. He's like an inverse Neville - rather than a speedy gynmast doing freaky power moves, he's a powerful guy who is a REALLY good gymnast too. Him Vs. Neville I'd loooove to see. Sadly I don't see Tyler Breeze getting much more than this.

- Zack Ryder actually got some TV time. I know, he lost the title, but he's got a feud. ON TV. He's a solid worker, the fans are still behind him some, lets hope his chance keeps going past smackdown.

- Enzo and Cass turned up. THOSE BOYS ARE ENTERTAINING. They are great trash talkers, and they back it up in the ring. Give it a few months, they'll be big players.

- Wyatts face turn seems to be on the cards. This is a great move. Rather than being put to use putting over the good guys "TO MAKE 'EM LOOK STRONG!" They might now get a decent winning streak with some crowd support behind them.

- Cesaro is back! CESARO IS BACK! And went straight into the main event scene. Granted, I've got my doubts that he'll stay there, but he works very very well and always gives us a great match.

- AJ Styles is the No.1 contender. AJ. STYLES. NUMBER. ONE. CONTENDER. Lets be honest, in our hope bookings, we said it should happen. We never thought it *would* happen. I doubt he'll win it straight off Reigns, Reigns is gonna have that belt until at least summerslam (Vince giveth not a shit about what we want, he wants Reigns on top, reigns WILL BE on top), but AJ Styles at least has the chance. He can go to... what's the next PPV? MITB? Payback? Whatever, AJ Styles can now go there and prove he damn well deserves to be there, and can keep himself in the mix. This is an opportunity - not to win the belt - but to prove to Vince that he's worth it later on.

So, all in all, I'm kinda optimistic. It wasn't the best RAW I've ever seen, but it was a different Raw - and it wasn't change for change's sake. We'll see how it goes, but I think there's some good seeds planted here.

[T-Bonizzle]

I've come to expect WWE to make Mania moot the next night on RAW...better to treat WM as a one off, because there is no consequences from the show ever.

[T-Bonizzle]

Also asshole Reigns is entertaining, hopefully they are letting him turn finally. He can still be THE guy Vince wants...just as a heel instead...

[BamBamBunglow]

Also asshole Reigns is entertaining, hopefully they are letting him turn finally. He can still be THE guy Vince wants...just as a heel instead...

I'm glad someone else noticed, I thought I was seeing things. The dismissive little "Shoo" motions to AJ Styles screamed "I'm on my way to Heelsville".

[Cory]

Huh?

What was more exciting/satisfying.

Also asshole Reigns is entertaining, hopefully they are letting him turn finally. He can still be THE guy Vince wants...just as a heel instead...

Never understood why he couldn't be that...my guess is Vince wanted a babyface until Cena could return, but with Cena back in a months time it doesn't make sense to have superCena and superReigns at the same time.

[Fnord]

- As seen on RAW last night, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon were absent from the show. They both are advertised for next weeks RAW from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. The advertised (likely dark match) main event is WWE Champion Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler and Kalisto vs. Kevin Owens, Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus and Rusev. Vince McMahon is also advertised to appear.

[Fnord]

Source: Showbuzz Daily

Monday's episode of WWE RAW, the biggest show of the year with the WrestleMania 32 fallout, drew 4.094 million viewers. This is up 9% from last week's 3.764 million viewers for the go-home episode.

For this week's show, the first hour drew 4.287 million viewers, the second hour drew 4.178 million viewers and the final hour drew 3.816 million viewers.

RAW was #4 on cable for the night in viewership, behind the NCAA championship, post-show and tipoff on TBS. They were also #4 in the 18-49 demographic.

The post-WrestleMania 31 RAW last year drew 5.364 million viewers but did not go up against the NCAA. The post-WrestleMania RAW last went up against the NCAA for WrestleMania 30 in 2014. That episode drew 5.146 million viewers.

[Duckman]

The show had a hot start and end, but dragged badly in the middle.

Plus the crowd crapped all over the big Woman's Title segment and a few of the matches.  That after WM crowd, while some of my own smarky types, really are getting a bit lame.  "We are awesome" chants 30 mins into the show?  The wave?  Let's get some new material smarks.

It's so funny watching which guys Vince brings up from NXT - Corbin (big and tall), Crews (short but great body), Enzo and Cass (big tall dude) - I don't think Corbin or Crews are ready for the main roster, certainly not more ready than say Balor, Nakamura or Joe, but they've got the look Vince likes.

Still Enzo was great on the mic and that was the perfect crowd to debut them in front of.  Let's hope the act stays over when it's the usual RAW crowd in attendance (I think it will because people love singing along with catchphrases and Enzo is so good on the mic).

Not a blow away show, but it was ok.  Better than the usual dross they serve up on a Monday night and the main event match was really good.

Let's all come back in 2 months time, once they WM after glow has died down and we'll see how the new guys are doing and if the show feels any fresher than it has in recent months.

[BamBamBunglow]

The problem with bringing up Nakamura, Joe and Balor is it could lead to a drop in subs due to lack of interest. Word has it Joe is due a call up soon and they want to give him a monster run. (COME ON JOE VS. LESNAR! WM33!)

[Duckman]

Nah man, the WWE Network number isn't that reliant on NXT.  It's still the PPVs that get the most viewers.  NXT is a big part of the network, but moving those guys up to TV now isn't going to cause a big drop in subscribers.  If anything it should increase the number because more people will see them on TV on Monday and then get the Network to watch them work the PPVs...or at least that should be what happens.

All 3 of those guys and American Alpha and Bayley are more than ready for the main roster and should be on there now.  I get why they aren't but it's still not right.

Add those 3 to the WM card, put Bayley in the women's match for the battle of the horse women, along with say American Alpha v New Day for the Tag Titles - and the show would've been so improved.

[J-Reb]

I'm not real thrilled with the Crews debut as I am the others. He's a spot-monkey to me, IMO, and will spend the rest of his career feuding with Neville.

I was ecstatic to see Enzo and Cass debut. I think the Dudley Boyz are the perfect team to get them over. I hope the WWE gives them both mic time to go at it.